Spoilers follow for Paradise through the end of Season 1. Paradise Season 2 will debut on February 23.

Paradise, the wildest post-apocalypse series on TV, is back on Hulu for a second season this week. Starring Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, and James Marsden, the Dan Fogelman-created series was a huge hit in Season 1, and it looks like it won’t let up in the second season either. But even with a short-for-streaming gap between seasons (a year instead of the now default two- to three-year hiatus), you might be a little confused about the timeline as you jump into Season 2…

…And that’s because the timeline is confusing. Like other flashback shows such as Lost – or more to the point of the whole Fogelman of it all, This Is Us – while there’s plenty of action happening in the “present,” there’s also a lot of jumping back into different points in the past. So with that in mind, particularly given some plot points coming up in Season 2 (no spoilers here), you’re probably going to want to check and recheck the timeline of Paradise to make sure you know who was where, when.

While we won’t hit every single plot point from the first season, we are going to break down major events – and some seemingly minor ones that may have ramifications as the series moves forward. So let’s get into it, starting back in… the ’90s?

The Paradise Timeline

1997

Actually, before we even explain why we’re in 1997, aka the year Titanic took over the box office, it’s also important to note that this timeline is gonna ditch the dates pretty soon. The reason for that? Most of Paradise takes place in the “present day,” all centered around the before and after of a future (for us, the viewers) event that’s referred to as “The Day.” Again, we’ll get there in a second, but for the moment we’re starting with a real year, when Bill Clinton started his second term as President.

We got this specific year in Season 1, Episode 5, "In the Palaces of Crowned Kings," when future President Cal Bradford (Marsden) told his dad that he wants to be a teacher. Instead, the overpowering father Kane (Gerald McRaney) forces him into politics, kicking off a series of events that leads to Cal’s murder at the beginning of Season 1.

The legendary voice behind God of War's recent iteration of Kratos, Christopher Judge, has teased that we'll likely get more news about the franchise in "late summer."

According to a recording from streamer and YouTuber Fuzhpuzy at Canada's Fan Expo, Judge, who may not have known he was being recorded at the time, confirmed that while he would not be "playing in the remake" — that role is for Kratos' original voice actor, TC Carson — "you'll be hearing about what we're doing probably late summer."

The suggestion here is that Judge is back working with Sony Santa Monica on a separate God of War project unrelated to the studio's early work beginning to remake the franchise's original trilogy (and the new side-scrolling spin-off Sons of Sparta, which was largely made elsewhere).

Interestingly, Judge also explained that the recently announcement remake starring TC Carson will boast "all the new technology in it, add more stuff, a new fighting system."

It's our biggest clue yet that an all-new Sony Santa Monica God of War game is on the way. It's been pretty quiet ever since 2022's God of War: Ragnarök in which Kratos and Atreus set out on a mythic journey for answers before Ragnarök arrives, visiting each of the Nine Realms in the brutal and epic sequel.

There had been a live-service multiplayer game in the works, but at the beginning of 2025, Sony canceled two unannounced live-service projects that had been in development at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, with the latter thought to be a multiplayer God of War game. Then, towards the end of the year, details and images of the canceled game leaked online, confirming the rumors had been true.

As for Amazon's upcoming adaptation of Sony Santa Monica's God of War series? The live-action Prime Video TV series based on the popular ancient mythology-themed video game is picking up speed. Ryan Hurst will play Kratos, Callum Vinson will play Kratos’ son, Atreus, and Teresa Palmer, Max Parker, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Alastair Duncan, and Mandy Patinkin join as Sif, Heimdall, Thor, Mimir, and Odin, respectively.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Invincible creators Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker are reuniting for a new story set in this popular superhero universe. The two are working to tell the origin story of Ella Mental, a new character making her debut in the fighting game Invincible VS.

This origin story will be published as a recurring backup feature in the pages of Capes, a Skybound series also set in the Invincible Universe. Currently, Skybound is republishing the original six issues of Kirkman and Mark Englehert's Capes as a remastered series. Beginning in Capes #7, co-writer Benito Cereno will join the series as it begins exploring new storylines, and Kirkman and Walker will kick off their Ella Mental backup story.

Hershel Wilk awakes in a small, dirty apartment in the city of Portofiro. Why she’s here, she does not know. Her mission objectives were supposed to be provided by her partner, codename “Pseudopod”, but he’s unresponsive – he just sits there in his underwear, staring at nothing, his senses on lockdown. In his pockets are an invoice for socks and a lipstick-printed business card that simply reads “All you need is miracle.”

It’s not just Hershel who needs a miracle. Developer ZA/UM needs one, too. Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is an espionage RPG that follows the playbook of the studio’s previous game, Disco Elysium, incredibly closely, right down to opening on a confused protagonist in a run-down room. It’s another high-concept, combatless, dialogue-driven game about following threads and investigating leads. But capturing lightning twice is no easy feat, and simply repeating Disco Elysium’s triumphs is no guaranteed road to success. Thankfully, there are fresh ideas here that expand and evolve ZA/UM’s formula, making for what appears to be, on the surface, a more traditionally accomplished video game, but potentially at the cost of crafting a less interesting artistic creation.

I recently spent around six hours with Zero Parades, playing through the entire upcoming Steam Next Fest demo, plus a significant amount beyond it. That meant exploring a wide section of Portofiro, a vibrant hub of criss-crossing cultures, painted in shades of Central America and Southern Europe. It’s made up of six districts, stretching from docklands, through a central marketplace and winding back alleys, and up to a hillside housing project. While perhaps small by traditional RPG standards, this is a much larger playspace than we saw in Disco Elysium, and that’s not just reflected in your step count.

The city is alive. Rather than a decaying echo of times gone by like Revachol was, Portofiro is active. Every street is home to an oddball with their own strange perspective and, often, their own weird problem in need of solving. In the “Bootleg Bazaar” you’ll find two children transfixed by Sixty-Six Wolves, a cartoon that seems suspiciously like foreign propaganda. A few stalls down there’s Petre, a “Format Fetishist” obsessed with a type of vinyl record that wipes itself clean after a single play. Further up the road, you’ll bump into Kurt, a man so consumed by the need to follow imported fashion trends that he’s landed himself in crippling debt. Each is a window into a place where personal obsessions are the tools through which sinister powers manipulate the world.

I will, of course, need to play Zero Parades to completion to judge if its writing around this and other topics can match the unbelievably lofty heights of its celebrated predecessor. And I understand if you’re skeptical – ZA/UM’s controversial firing of key Disco Elysium creatives in 2022 has left many fans wary of both the studio’s management and the current team’s ability to craft something as meaningful. Based on my experience of this demo, though, I feel positive about the writing’s quality, with the odd caveat.

The skills, for instance, which once again form the pieces of your fractured psyche and comment on your choices and the world around you, lack defined voices and feel largely interchangeable (with the exception of Statehood, which bellows your home country’s party line in all-caps). But when it comes to the city’s collection of strangers, it appears the current writing team has successfully penned a cast possessed of a similar blend of literary prose, otherworldly Lynchian vibes, and off-kilter political humour. And, as I cross-referenced their tales with those of others, I began to paint a picture of this deeply troubled world, where techno-fascist superpowers, communist republics, and investment banks battle for power, using secret police forces as knives and pop culture as rifles.

Finding my place among all that initially felt overwhelming. As a spy, it’s my job to be a disruptor, to exploit those tensions for the gain of my home state. But, as previously mentioned, Hershel has no idea what her mission is. You simply need to talk and talk and talk until you find the threads relevant to your objectives, and there is no shortage of people to pull them from. But soon I began to see the connections. A representative of EMTERR, the world’s super bank, could be the starting point for solving Kurt the fashionista’s financial woes. A group of grizzled veterans impatiently waiting for their turn to dial into the “Miracle” sex line suddenly makes that business card I discovered make sense. And the suicidal Dr. Gonza’s medical know-how could diagnose Pseudopod’s condition… but first I’ll have to bring him the teeth of a medical board “narc” to halt his hanging attempt. As you collect these leads, Portofiro begins to feel like a Venn diagram of multiple overlapping quests, much like the cities of Baldur’s Gate and Athkatla did in BioWare’s seminal Infinity Engine RPGs.

While Disco Elysium certainly shared some DNA with the classics, it held many traditional RPG ideas at arm’s length. Zero Parades is less shy about being a video game. That feeling starts with the increased size and scope of its city, but is cemented in its more wholehearted embrace of regular skill checks and, importantly, building a gameplay system around failing them. You have a trio of pseudo health bars – Fatigue, Anxiety, and Delirium – which fill when you stumble through conversations and interactions in their respective field. For example, elongating an early phone call by asking all of the wrong questions will cause your anxiety levels to soar. Fail too often, or keep digging down into a dark memory hole that you shouldn’t, and you’ll take a permanent penalty to one of your stats.

There are interesting mechanical wrinkles to this system. Skill checks typically involve rolling two dice, but you can choose to "exert" yourself, adding an extra die to increase your chances at the cost of damaging one of those pressure bars. It’s vital to learn how to manage your stressors, then, to keep the bars balanced. Smoking, for instance, will reduce your anxiety, which in turn gives you another opportunity to exert yourself.

Another example of this more crunchy, systemic approach can be found in “Dramatic Encounters”, which turn moments of peril into a series of turn-based decisions, creating a sense of life-or-death drama in a game devoid of combat. It’s essentially Disco Elysium’s late-game tribunal sequence transformed into a defined mechanic. The example in my demo saw me attempt to evade an enemy agent through a busy marketplace, and the branching decisions offered classic spy fiction options: Do I pause to analyse, or act on gut feeling? Try to flee, or hide in plain sight? A skill check on my “Nerve” stat – a test of how cool I can stay under pressure – succeeds, and I walk straight past my hunter, confidently blending into the crowd.

While this example is fairly low stakes, at every junction I nonetheless held my breath as I picked my next move, anxiously waiting to see if my choice paid off. I’m very interested to see how this approach will be applied to other spycraft staples – perhaps tailing, deploying bugs, or even straight-up assassination – as success here will likely be the thing that helps Zero Parades feel distinct from its predecessor and truly cement it as an espionage RPG, rather than Disco Elysium with a 00 license in its wallet.

Zero Parade’s most interesting push into more traditional video game territory, though, is how it uses the city’s physical space to structure its branching quests. My final few hours were spent completing tasks that await beyond the Steam Next Fest demo, and the majority of that time saw me searching for a hidden jail, inside of which awaited a prisoner with vital information. The way you find this jail is determined by a number of different factors; there’s your personal method of investigation, of course, but your character’s stat build and your own ability to interpret the world’s clues also come into play. From what I can tell, this results in at least two completely different routes to the jail: breaking into a subterranean tunnel, or via poetry. Yes, poetry.

It was that second, more artistic path that I took. After quizzing a reluctant boatman who clearly knew about the jail but refused to talk, I was able to use my “Blueprints” skill to track his involuntary eye movements and approximate the prison’s location. Poking around the region he kept gazing at led me to the offices of a poetry magazine, the Noscorrentes Review, which featured a suspicious locked gate that only contributing writers were permitted to pass through. So, how do you convince a pretentious editor that you’re a genuine, publish-worthy poet? Well, dumpster diving through the publication’s trash will secure you a poem, but it’s in the garbage for a reason. And so the only option is to literally write a verse yourself, digging deep into your own soul to increase the chance modifiers on your “Poetics” skill check. The task provides an insight into Hershel’s painful past, but also – most importantly – creates a composition worthy of the magazine’s pages. The editor lets me past the locked gate, and there, in the basement of the Noscorrentes Review, is the secret jail. It’s real. And it’s a path to even more trouble… but I won’t spoil that here.

This branching path, effectively creating two entirely separate questlines that take place in entirely separate locations, reminds me more of RPGs like The Witcher and Baldur’s Gate than it does the almost immersive theatre approach of Disco Elysium. That’s not to say that Zero Parades is a traditional role-playing game. Far from it. But it’s clear that ZA/UM’s attempt to build on its established formula has taken it down a path that makes this project more recognisably a video game than the parameter-defying art experiment that was Disco Elysium. It’s a feeling only reinforced by the espionage genre and the more global approach to its story. There are factions, and one of them is an evil empire! That’s video game stuff.

Although on the surface they run the risk of appearing as less experimental design decisions, I don’t think these are poor choices. In fact, they are what I think make Zero Parades interesting. I left the studio feeling as if I’d just played a fascinating RPG with a strongly defined, richly realised setting, spearheaded by a protagonist who could navigate that world’s obstacles in a myriad of compelling ways. And yet, despite this, Zero Parades still feels beholden to Disco Elysium, as if its ambitions are caged by the reluctance, or refusal, to stray too far from the safety of beloved ideas. Elements like the sentient skills feel like they are template, rather than tradition. In many ways, it feels willing to risk being an imitation in the hope of capturing lightning twice. I doubt that was a risk worth taking, and yet I still think the odd chimera of old and new that ZA/UM has produced may prove to have merit in its own right.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.

Director Steven Soderbergh has branded Disney's decision to scrap plans for his Star Wars movie The Hunt for Ben Solo as "insane", after more than two years of "free work" from himself and actor Adam Driver.

The revelation that Lucasfilm had been developing a Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker sequel starring Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was first discussed last year by Driver, to excitement but then immediate dismay from fans who couldn't believe the idea had been abandoned. It is the only completed script to date that Disney has turned down for a Lucasfilm project.

Last month, the outgoing Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy also aired her frustrations with the project's demise, and said the movie's script had been "great." In a comment that some took as a swipe at Disney management's hesitation, Kennedy also said: "Anything's a possibility if somebody's willing to take a risk."

Now, Soderbergh — the director of Ocean's Eleven and Contagion — has commented further on the project's cancellation, and told BKMag that "it was no surprise that she [Kennedy] was frustrated."

"We were all frustrated," Soderbergh said. "You know, that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and [screenwriter] Rebecca Blunt. When Adam and I discussed him talking about it publicly, I said, 'Look, do not editorialize or speculate about the why. Just say what happened, because all we know is what happened.'

"The stated reason was 'We don't think Ben Solo could be alive,'" he continued. "And that was all we were told. And so there's nothing to do about it, you know, except move on.

"And as I posted, I'd kind of made the movie in my head, and just felt bad that nobody else was going to get to see it. I thought the conversation was strictly going to be a practical one — where they go, what is this going to cost? And I had a really good answer for that. But it never even got to that point. It's insane. We're all very disappointed."

Ever since the project's death has been made public, superfans of the Star Wars sequels have come out in full force, desperate to see the story of Han and Leia's son come to life, even going as far as to fly "Save The Hunt for Ben Solo" banners over Walt Disney Studios in California.

Driver played Ben Solo/Kylo Ren throughout Lucasfilm’s Sequel Trilogy, with his final appearance in 2019's divisive The Rise of Skywalker. "I always was interested in doing another Star Wars," Driver said previously. "I always said: with a great director and a great story, I'd be there in a second. I loved that character and loved playing him."

But while Lucasfilm "loved the idea," according to Driver, and "totally understood our angle and why we were doing it," it's believed that both Disney CEO Bob Iger and co-chairman Alan Bergman were against the pitch moving forward. Still, with Iger now following Kennedy out the door, perhaps there's a new hope in fresh leadership?

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

The next major Destiny 2 update, Shadow and Order, has been delayed by three months, until June 2026.

In a series of messages posted to Bluesky, developer Bungie admitted the expansion was "undergoing large revisions," and "will be delayed" from its original March release.

"This update is being changed and expanded to include sizable quality-of-life updates and as a result, will also be renamed. This update will now launch on June 9, 2026," the studio said. "We will provide exact details closer to release covering previously announced Weapon Tier Upgrading, but also additions like expanding Tiered Gear to all Raid and Dungeon activities, Pantheon 2.0, Tier 5 stats for Exotic Armors, and more."

The studio is, of course, preoccupied getting Marathon out of the door after last week's State of Play reaffirmed its March 5 release date. Nonetheless, the delay intimates the studio may be struggling to juggle everything on its plate, particularly as it alludes to "sizeable quality-of-life updates."

"Through June, we will continue to have routine bug fixes and stability improvements, continued portal modifiers, Guardian Games (March), and the return of a more frequent Iron Banner cadence (April)," Bungie added. "In terms of communications, we will be focusing on providing you with updates about our live game content, community activations, and general upkeep through the TWID and our Destiny social channels."

The statement closed on thanking players for their "continued patience and support," and said there'll be more information on the next major update and future plans for Destiny 2 "closer to launch."

"Raids and dungeons getting tiers and pantheon 2.0 is great, but will there even be anyone left playing by then?" asked one player on the Destiny 2 subreddit. "I still log on every week and play a little bit, but nobody can deny that renegades was not meant to last six months."

"Not to be a total downer, but that really gives me age of triumph 'final update' style vibes of making all the endgame viable," added another fan. "Not to mention this is just a major update in the end. It isn’t gonna have expansion level content, but its now releasing right around when the next expansion was supposed to, which I assume is also delayed at least three months. Even with way more content in this update, renegades being the expansion for nine months at least now is very bad."

"Until June is rough. The population is going to be absolutely dire by then…," one player commented, to which someone replied: "Dire[?] It's dire right now. Falling off a cliff."

At the time of writing (when, admittedly, much of the U.S. is asleep), there are 10,463 players online right now on Steam. Once Human, eFootball, and single-player Hollow Knight: Silksong all have higher concurrent counts.

It’s undoubtedly a tough time for Bungie and Destiny 2, with parent company Sony recently saying the studio has failed to meet its sales and user engagement expectations. In its latest financial report, Sony said it had recorded a 31.5 billion yen (approx. $204.2 million) impairment charge as a result of Destiny 2’s underperformance. That was significant enough to drag down profits at Sony’s Game & Network Services Segment, which includes Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Following the launch of The Edge of Fate expansion in July, Destiny 2 saw a slump in player activity, and Bungie's team is feeling the pressure. "For years now, Destiny has been on this steady hardening of the core [audience],” game director Tyson Green told IGN back in November. “More and more core players are staying and playing the game, but relatively few [new] people come into the game. There's a tightening and contraction, and this presents problems for a game that you're trying to maintain as a live service, especially when you want to keep serving those core players with great, compelling expansions."

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

A new Game of Thrones prequel is set to dramatize the events of Robert's Rebellion, and debut on the UK stage this summer.

Game of Thrones: The Mad King is a new collaboration between franchise creator George R.R. Martin and the UK's Royal Shakespeare Company, written by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke. Tickets are set to go on sale in April.

The play will tell the story of a crucial period in Westeros history, around 15 years before the original Game of Thrones book and TV series, when King Aerys II Targaryen was overthrown and Robert Baratheon took over, backed by the Starks and Lannisters.

The events of Robert's Rebellion will be familiar to A Song of Ice and Fire fans, as the brief civil war is frequently referenced, and indeed acts as essentially the catalyst for the events of the main Game of Thrones narrative.

Key participants include Robert and Stannis Baratheon, Ned Stark and Tywin Lannister, who take arms against King Aerys and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. It is of course Jaime Lannister who eventually kills Aerys, earning himself the nickname of Kingslayer. Notably, the time period ends with the birth of both Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow — the latter of whom has his true parentage hidden.

"A long winter thaws in Harrenhal, and spring is promised," reads an official blurb. "At a lavish banquet on the eve of a jousting tournament, lovers meet and revelers speculate about who will contend. But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the bloodthirsty actions of the realm’s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot. Far away, the drums of battle sound.

"Family bonds, ancient prophecies, and the sacred line of succession will be tested in a dangerous campaign for power. Who will survive? Who will rise? 'Wars aren’t won by those with most cause, but whose story’s best told.'"

The announcement of a Game of Thrones prequel stage show — with events and characters that will also be familiar to existing fans — follows the successful launch of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which offers a similar concept. That is now playing in both London and New York, and includes a handful of extra plot details that TV viewers will likely find interesting. A filmed version for Netflix is also on the way.

"When I first wrote Game of Thrones, I never imagined that it would be anything other than a book," George R.R. Martin said in an accompanying statement. "It was a place for my imagination to exist without limits. To my great surprise, it was adapted for a series and viewers have been able to enter the world of my imagination through the medium of television. For my work to now be adapted for the stage is something I did not expect but welcome with great enthusiasm and excitement. Theater offers something unique. A place for mine and the audience’s imagination to meet and hopefully create something magical."

While the main Game of Thrones TV series has now long since ended, its wider franchise is continuing on with gusto. The very well received prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is wrapping up the end of its first season with a second already confirmed. Meanwhile, HBO has begun teasing the upcoming third season of its other prequel series House of the Dragon.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Key details setting up the plot of Spider-Man: Brand New Day have popped up online, and now fans know exactly how long it has been for Tom Holland's hero since the events of No Way Home.

A description of Brand New Day's setting is included in a product page for the movie's art book, which is now available to view via publisher Penguin Random House's website.

Essentially, this synopsis sets up where the movie begins — so there are no major spoilers here. Regardless, the confirmation that Brand New Day takes place a full four years after No Way Home is new information — as is the tease for what happens next.

"Four years have gone by since we last caught up with our friendly neighborhood hero," the description reads. "Peter Parker is no more, but Spider-Man is at the top of his game keeping New York City safe. Things are going well for our anonymous hero until an unusual trail of crimes pulls him into a web of mystery larger than he's ever faced before.

"In order to take on what's ahead, Spider-Man not only needs to be at the top of his physical and mental game, but he must also be prepared to face the repercussions of his past! As Spider-Man: Brand New Day wows moviegoers the world over, discover the behind-the-scenes magic of the film's visual development — from early concept sketches to final character designs. Explore environments, costumes, and exclusive insights from the next chapter for Marvel's neighborhood hero!"

Alas, the book itself isn't available until August 4, after the movie's arrival. Still, though, there's some interesting things to consider here.

A four-year gap is a lengthy period of time for Peter to have grown apart from his former girlfriend and best friend, MJ and Ned. Both of them will also now be close to finishing, or indeed fully finished with studying at MIT.

"Are they actually going to start with a 4+ year jump from where we last saw him at the end of No Way Home?" wrote Marvel fan Vladmerius on reddit. "Are we potentially going to completely skip the college years? Full on adult Spider-Man would be pretty sick, as much as I enjoy the college years."

That time gap would also leave ample room for Spider-Man to have taken done the many, many villains expected to appear within the film — such as Michael Mando's returning Scorpion and Marvin Jones III's Tombstone — alongside a rogues gallery that is rumored to also include Tarantula and Boomerang.

Mention of an "unusual trail of crimes" pitches the movie as street level — something fans have been keen to see after Tom Holland's previous multiversal and indeed outer space shenanigans in past appearances. As for Peter Parker being "no more," it's clear there's been no quick reversal of Doctor Strange's spell to make the world forget the man behind Spidey's mask.

In terms of where this places the movie within the broader MCU, it's now expected that the film's events will take place in 2028, just before those of the forthcoming Avengers: Doomsday. Finally, Peter himself will now be aged 21 or 22 — something fans have noted means he can finally have a beer.

"Pretty big plot implications," wrote Marvel fan CrumblingSaturn. "Just drunk Spider-Man, drinking and swinging around on his webs." Added mctaylo89: "I'm picturing an office worker watching a drunk Spider-Man sloppily bumping into the window as he thwips about."

Last month, Cretton described Tom Holland's return in Spider-Man: Brand New Day as a "tonal shift" from the actors' first trilogy, and a "new chapter" of Peter Parker's story. Fans are still waiting for the film's first full trailer, though what appeared to be grainy footage of an upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day teaser hit the internet just before Christmas, featuring dialogue that positioned Sadie Sink's mysterious character as a villain — initially, at least. "You're a mess, Spider-Man," Sink's character can be heard to say. "Don't get in my way. Otherwise, it won't just be your friends who don't remember who Peter Parker is."

Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives in theaters on July 31.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

The Pokémon Company International is supposedly set to reveal the fourth English Mega Evolution set soon, as leaked production schedules suggest that it will be called Chaos Rising - rumored to be the Western release of Japan’s Ninja Spinner set.

If true, Mega Greninja ex will be officially stepping into the spotlight for the next expansion. Here’s everything we know so far, including the release date, expected card lists, and when preorders should go live.

Pokémon TCG Chaos Rising Release Date

Supposedly, Pokémon TCG's next Mega Evolution expansion, Chaos Rising, will release on May 22, 2026. According to the report at Pokébeach, this also means that pre-releases will take place from 9th to 17th May.

This means that if you attend a local tournament during this window, you can get an early access "Build & Battle Box". This includes a 40-card ready-to-play deck and four Chaos Rising booster packs. This pre-release window would be the first time we’ll see Mega Greninja ex in the wild as well.

Chaos Rising Card List Expectations

Serebii claims that Ninja Spinner has 83 cards in its main set. While it still doesn’t have an official card list in Japan, we can guess, based on previous sets, it’ll have about 40 secret rares, totalling about 120 cards.

We expect the Ninja Spinner card list to be officially revealed in the next few weeks, which will give us a hint as to what we can expect in the Western release.

We do know that the set includes all the Kalos starter Pokémon - Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie. Unsurprising, given its cover star!

What Impact Will This Have on Pokémon TCG's Meta?

A Japanese translation of Mega Greninja ex from Bulbapedia talks about a "Mortal Shuriken" ability - “Once per turn, if this Pokémon is Active, you can discard a Water Energy to place 6 damage counters on any 1 of your opponent's Pokémon.”

This pairs perfectly with its "Ninja Spinner" attack (120+ damage). The card states: “You may return a Water Energy from this Pokémon to your hand to do 80 more damage.”

That’s a total of 260 damage, including the 60 from its ability. Very ninja-like of it.

I’m a little scared about the impact the rumored Supporter card AZ’s Tranquility will have on the meta. This card lets you switch your Active Pokémon and heal 80 damage - a potential life-saver for high-HP Mega Evolutions. It just so happens that Mega Greninja ex has 350 HP, making it one of the highest HP Pokémon cards ever released.

Early rumors from the Japanese printing suggest the artwork features Greninja riding its own water shuriken. Considering the popularity of Greninja and its ridiculous stats, it wouldn’t surprise me to see this chase card reach $500+ on the secondary market.

When Will Chaos Rising Preorders Go Live?

At the moment, preorders for Chaos Rising are not available, as we're still waiting for an official announcement from The Pokémon Company.

But, once they are available, you’ll be able to find them in all your usual retailers - if you’re quick! We don’t expect these to stick around for long, especially at MSRP.

If you’re in the US, set your alerts for Pokémon Center US, Amazon, Target, Best Buy and Walmart. If you’re in the UK, keep your eyes on Pokémon Center UK, Smyths and Amazon.

There’s also dedicated TCG resellers like TCGPlayer or Magic Madhouse, but, as third party sellers, we can’t predict the prices we’ll see. We expect to learn more information about Chaos Rising in the next few weeks, so check back to see the latest updates, and follow IGN Deals for live stock information.

What's Next for Pokemon TCG?

Before Chaos Rising lands on May 22, there's plenty more for fans to get excited about. For starters, Pokémon’s 30th anniversary celebrations are on February 27, but you’ll be able to celebrate early as the commemorative Pokémon Day 2026 Collection dropped on January 30, alongside Ascended Heroes.

Announced back in December 2025, this is a very small release with one confirmed card: a unique stamped foil promo card of Pikachu looking cute as standard, along with a logo’d metallic coin, and a trio of TCG booster packs from different sets.

Pokémon TCG: 2026 Release Calendar – At a Glance

• Ascended Heroes – Jan. 30, 2026 (Out Now)
• Pokémon Day 2026 Collection – Jan. 30, 2026 (Out Now)
• Perfect Order – Mar. 27, 2026 (Preorders Live)
• Chaos Rising – May. 22, 2026

Looking ahead, as Ascended Heroes has already set the foundation of what the Mega Evolution set’s expansions are going to look like, Perfect Order’s going to kick things up a notch.

Just announced earlier this year, and arriving on March 27, 2026, Perfect Order is going to be honing in on many of the Pokémon featured in the Legends: Z-A game.

Among the cards announced from the 120-card set so far, we know we’re going to be seeing many of the game’s starring Mega Pokémon; Mega Zygarde ex, Mega Starmie ex, and Mega Clefable ex; but also some surprising extra additions like Meowth ex.

For the moment, the only place to preorder Perfect Order is via TCGplayer and other resale markets.

For more on celebrating Pokémon's 30th anniversary this year, I'd also highly recommend checking out the TIME magazine exclusive celebration covers, all of which feature in the top of the best seller Amazon charts this week, and can be bought for just $14.99 each.

Sara Heritage is a freelance contributor at IGN.

Bethesda boss Todd Howard has confirmed that Starfield is not getting a huge 2.0-type update.

At the end of last year, a cluster of Starfield fans said they'd gained an early glimpse at improvements coming to Bethesda's sci-fi role-player. One saying they were "stoked" by what they saw, while another suggested they were "excited for the future of Starfield."

However, another fan tempered expectation by stressing that the changes are relatively modest in scope, adding that this "probably isn't a Cyberpunk 2.0-scale update," referencing the major additions that helped improved CD Projekt's RPG.

And now Howard, too, is dampening anticipation by similarly stressing this is "not Starfield 2.0."

“Obviously, we’ve been working on a lot of Starfield content. I can tell everybody we are going to be talking about [the new content] really soon,” Howard told Kinda Funny, as transcribed by Kotaku. “We’re moving into a phase where we’re ready to talk about Starfield. And really show that in the right way, and what’s coming to the game. We’ve been doing a lot of work that we like a lot.”

Howard added: "You know, I’ve seen some of that, so for expectation-setting, I think it’s the kind of thing where if you love Starfield, we think you’re going to love this. It’s updates and things that change the game, not in an isolated way, but sort of meta. Using outer space and things in ways that we haven’t."

Interestingly, he also candidly stressed that ​​"if Starfield is something that didn’t connect with you right away, or you bounced off it, or found it boring in places, I don’t think this is going to change that fundamentally."

Though Howard was coy about timelines, he did say we may find out more "soonish."

In August it was reported that Bethesda had delayed Starfield's second expansion due to "weak sales" of its first, Shattered Space, which launched in September 2024 to a 'Mostly Negative' Steam user rating. Todd Howard had previously talked of Starfield expansions releasing annually. Another reported reason for the delay was Bethesda's plans to launch Starfield on PS5, with both the second expansion and the game's multiplatform rollout potentially happening simultaneously.

Fast-forward to earlier this month, and a new Microsoft report suggested Starfield was getting new content soon, and it looks like we’ll shortly hear about that heavily rumored PlayStation 5 version, too.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.