The minds behind South Park are feuding with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration after the long-running Comedy Central show aired an extended segment mocking the leader’s behavior and politics, among… other things.

Clips from last night’s South Park Season 27 premiere, titled Sermon on the ‘Mount, flooded social media feeds today as fans of all kinds gathered to see how creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone chose to pick apart the 47th President. While the heavily stylized, satirical series is known for its ruthless takedowns of celebrities, politicians, and everyone in between, its criticisms of Trump feel especially fierce.

Hey, Satan! pic.twitter.com/JQzbcWVUbm

— South Park (@SouthPark) July 24, 2025

The 22-minute episode begins quietly enough as the citizens of South Park seek answers from a president who can “only arrest and sue people” while making everyone’s lives far worse. After the entire town bands together, the show’s new take on Trump is revealed to be a much more accurate depiction of the sitting U.S. president.

Many familiar photographs of Trump, including what appears to be an edit of his infamous 2023 mugshot, are used to portray the character, who has a funny-yet-familiar voice and mouth that separates his chin from the top of his head. This version of Trump then proceeds to take flak for inflicting tariffs on Canada, bombing Iran, and more, calling direct attention to real-world events that have transpired since 2025 began.

Parker and Stone only heat up their criticisms from there, as the show follows a Trump that laughs while threatening to sue White House artists for painting him in a particular way.

“Why is my dick so small?” South Park Trump asks the artists at one point during the Season 27 premiere.

A similar jab can be seen multiple times throughout the episode, as Trump can then be seen taking all of his clothes off before getting into bed with Satan. On more than one occasion, South Park Trump’s behavior, voice, actions, and dialogue also suggest the character is a new version of the South Park movie’s Saddam Hussein, who features many of the exact same traits.

Trump White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers released a statement addressing how the South Park Season 27 premiere depicted the President.

“The Left’s hypocrisy truly has no end — for years they have come after South Park for what they labeled as ‘offense’ [sic] content, but suddenly they are praising the show,” Trump White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Rolling Stone. “Just like the creators of South Park, the Left has no authentic or original content, which is why their popularity continues to hit record lows. This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention. President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country’s history — and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.”

It’s unclear if future episodes of South Park will continue to lambast Trump and his actions, but Parker and Stone do include one last stinger toward the end of the new episode. Just before its conclusion, one of 50 of what are called the “South Park Pro-Trump” PSAs is played. In the clip, what appears to be a live-action deepfake of Trump can be seen shuffling through the desert before removing all of his clothes.

“His penis is teeny tiny, but his love for us is large,” the PSA voiceover says.

So can we talk about how Cartman saying "I love you man" to Butters during the end credits was actually Trey saying that to Matt in case it's all over for South Parkpic.twitter.com/oiK2i08EVt

— Ericka ♡ (@NeonTravesty) July 24, 2025

As the episode comes to an end, Eric Cartman (Parker) and Butters (Stone) deliver one last line that seemingly pokes fun at fears of cancelation following its criticisms of Trump. It’s one of a few other moments from the premiere touching on the controversy surrounding its parent company, Paramount, and the lawsuit it recently settled with Trump for $16 million.

The case saw the President sue Paramount based on accusations that CBS News had deceptively edited an interview with 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The deal had previously faced criticism from Stephen Colbert of The Late Show, which CBS announced was coming to an end after 33 years on the air just last week. Colbert had called the settlement “a big fat bribe” just days earlier.

“I didn’t want to come back and be in the school, but I had to because it was part of a lawsuit and the agreement with Paramount,” South Park’s Jesus Christ says through clenched teeth in the Season 27 premiere. “The guy can do whatever he wants now that someone backed down, OK?”

The character continues: “You guys saw what happened to CBS? Yeah, well, guess who owns CBS? Paramount! Do you really wanna end up like Colbert?”

Parker and Stone signed a five-year streaming deal with Paramount+ reportedly worth $1.5 billion earlier this week after Paramount had moved to delay the show, sparking criticism from the creators. Stone celebrated the news on social media yesterday.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Let's make this simple: You want to know if there are any post- or mid-credits scenes in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The answer is yes, there's both.

There’s a lot riding on The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It’s the film that finally introduces the iconic team to the MCU (even if they aren’t on the right Earth just yet). It’s a film that’s striving to do big box office numbers in a very crowded summer movie season and coming off the heels of two underperforming Marvel movies. And, of course, it’s directly laying the foundation for 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday and the rise of Robert Downey, Jr.’s Doctor Doom.

We'll get into the specifics of how First Steps ends and how it does (or doesn't) set up Doomsday when our full Ending Explained breakdown drops tomorrow. But for now, there's one all-important question that needs to be answered.

Does The Fantastic Four: First Steps Have Any Post-Credits Scenes?

Come on, this is a Marvel movie. Of course it does.

Sticking to the traditional MCU formula, First Steps includes both a mid- and a post-credits scene. They're both worth sticking around for, albeit for very different reasons.

So there you have it. Check back here on Friday for our full ending explained update.

IGN's Clint Gage gave The Fantastic Four: First Steps a 7 out of 10 in his review, writing, "With The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Matt Shakman directs a film that’s for sure interesting to look at even if it doesn’t quite rise to the scale of its planet-eating antagonist, a force of cosmic nature that doubles as a metaphor for parenting in a way that makes me feel seen as a father. These First Steps might not be the great strides I was hoping for, but they are sure footing for the Fantastic Four to officially leap into the MCU."

For more on the FF, learn about the Fantastic Four that almost was and see our ranking of the Fantastic Four movies.

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

If there is one moment of real connection in director and co-writer Joseph Khan’s frenzied horror-comedy Ick, it occurs less than three minutes before the ending credits begin to roll. After managing to escape a lengthy tentacle monster attack during what ends up being a rather deadly prom, a surviving teen asks, “Are we done now, or…?” After nearly an hour and a half of being whisked from half-baked scene to half-baked scene, watching absolute bedlam practically materialize out of thin air, and struggling to recall any details from prior scenes that could help me understand how we arrived to certain seemingly major developments, I found myself asking the very same thing.

Early peeks at this nostalgia-fueled alien thriller promised commentary on the dangers of mass apathy shrouded in big laughs and pulpy action, all to the tune of early 2000s radio royalty like All-American Rejects and Wheatus. Instead, Ick skips past any sharp satire with its almost punishing pace and a broken jukebox approach to sentimentality with needledrops so on-the-nose that they’re rendered ineffective. To make matters worse, the actual storytelling isn’t comprehensive enough (nor are the jokes funny enough) to save any of it with memorable characters or any sort of payoff at the end.

Ick follows (or, more accurately, attempts to keep up with) Hank Wallace (Brandon Routh) a former high school football star who endures a rather lengthy rough patch between his teen years and middle-aged adulthood, when he eventually becomes a science teacher at his old high school. This rough patch, I must add, is fully documented in a whirlwind montage that crams far too much backstory in the almost eight minutes before the title card even appears. The wall-to-wall, whooshing quick cuts feel visually reminiscent of Shaun of the Dead or Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (where Routh also appeared in a funny cameo). But unlike those instances, where speedy cuts were only sparsely and strategically used as scene transitions, this panicky pacing carries on throughout the entirety of Ick.

It’s consistently overwhelming, downright sloppy in places, and there doesn’t appear to be a good enough reason for the breakneck tempo in the first place: it doesn’t effectively enhance the story’s comedic or frightening qualities. It does, however, add to the confusion by trying to pack more into 90 minutes than that timeframe can accommodate, making the whole ordeal feel much longer than it actually is.

Ick’s bewildering temperament is made more aggravating by the story’s near-refusal to dig below the surface of anything, even when the dormant creature known as the Ick inexplicably reaches a critical mass and begins attacking the town. There isn’t any solid explanation as to where the Ick came from, how this small town has managed to coexist with it for decades (while it was dormant, its slimy tendrils were still visibly everywhere), or why it suddenly needs to attack at all. Perhaps it’s just a visual ode to iconic horror, or commentary on how time and complacency has desensitized the general public amid serious danger, but failing to metaphorically tie this tentacled blob to any societal ill feels like a missed opportunity.

The same lack of exploration also applies to the town’s occupants, who are nothing more than thinly rendered high school archetypes. Routh, for his part, seems to loosen up halfway through and lean into the foolishness when he’s not attempting to play the part earnestly, but those scenes don’t last long enough to allow his or anyone else’s performance (such as the criminally underwritten Mena Suvari as Hank’s high school girlfriend) room to breathe. Ick also doesn’t appear to press all that hard against the well-worn cliches that Hank represents beyond the fallen hometown hero. Early scenes touch on the hypersexual nature of ‘90s-era high school thrillers and the desperation to cling to former glory, but not enough to make any hearty observations or even crank out a few cheeky digs.

Ick’s younger cast, led by Malina Pauli Weissman as the Gen Z voice of reason, Grace, largely exist to lampoon #wokeness. Some of it works, like in the case of Harrison Cone’s Dylan, who weaponizes his feigned social awareness to get away with being a creep and a bully. Beyond that, the angle doesn’t yield any creative jokes or insights that might’ve at least made the pokes at basic empathy worth it. Even Grace’s supposed twist of a storyline feels like an haphazardly inserted afterthought amongst the mayhem that goes nowhere.

As the Ick ramps up in presence, the action mainly remains one-note: Inky roots creep up the bodies of victims, seemingly siphons their life force, then fully possess their new host, lather, rinse, repeat. To its credit, Ick’s special effects are mostly serviceable, even if the action they support is largely forgettable. Sprawling and invasive, the monster does look fairly menacing, even in its dormant state. There are definitely scenes when the attacks reach peak aggression and the quality begins to look strained, but as a nod to the classic creature features of yesteryear (which Kahn clearly harbors an appreciation for) it actually fits.

Still, Ick’s big, climactic moments aren't particularly memorable and we aren’t given a reason or chance to care enough about the characters to feel anything about their fate, positive or negative. At most, the mounting danger results in a refreshing cameo from Debra Wilson, who lands the movie’s best wisecracks as an overextended and ultimately unhelpful military leader. She also delivers on one of the more overt themes: the ineffectiveness of government during times of real crisis. The commentary’s a little light, but it is there, for what it’s worth.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Ick is its failure to really nail the nostalgia beyond a somewhat predictable soundtrack, a misstep that really only matters when nostalgia is a central part of the story. Film and TV are rife with examples of well-placed music – Netflix’s Beef, for instance, is a buffet of expertly deployed early 2000s bops that bring heft or energy to its more emotional moments. Ick, on the other hand, opts for the spray n' pray method of musical direction, throwing the era’s most obvious pop-rock tunes into a blender without much thought other than to say, “Hey, remember Hoobastank?” The choices aren’t terribly inspired or all that exciting, which is especially baffling considering Kahn’s extremely diverse videography as an award-winning music video director. It’s a soundtrack you’ve heard time and time again, and putting it in this context doesn’t merit a revisit.

So much of this would be forgivable – the one-note characters, the exaggerated visual cues, even the myopic view of the era’s music – if Ick actually took the time to say anything meaningful. But if Kahn has any real perspective on the state of our society or the era of film this is meant to reflect, it’s almost entirely overshadowed by chaotic editing and a startling lack of cohesion.

San Diego Comic-Con 2025 was the home of a number of Critical Role Prime Video announcements. During an SDCC panel, we finally got a release date for The Legend of Vox Machina spinoff The Mighty Nein, but The Legend of Vox Machina itself was the subject of two reveals: a 2026 release window for Season 4, and a renewal for a fifth and final season.

Alongside these announcements, the Critical Role crew revealed a new clip for The Legend of Vox Machina Season 4 in which the main characters plot a heist designed to steal a secret scroll from a heavily guarded vault inside a Cobalt archive. This is all part of the team’s bid to save the world from the apocalypse, of course.

Lucasfilm has released two first-look Star Wars images: one for Maul - Shadow Lord, and another for Ahsoka Season 2.

In a post on StarWars.com, Lucasfilm revealed the first still from Maul - Shadow Lord. Announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan in April, Maul - Shadow Lord is a brand-new Disney+ series featuring fan-favorite villain Darth Maul. It sees Sam Witwer reprise his role as Darth Maul from Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (Witwer's voice was also featured in the closing scene of Solo: A Star Wars Story.) The new series is set after the final season of The Clone Wars and will see Maul "plotting to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire." Expect it out at some point in 2026.

The mainline Pokemon games make up one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. From Pokemon Red and Blue to the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, these games have amassed a huge audience that just keeps coming back for more.

If you haven't played all of the Pokemon video games in the series, however, you may find yourself in a bit of a dilemma trying to figure out where to start in 2025. Most of the major titles in the series are excellent standalone games to dive into, but if you want to start from the beginning, there are two different ways to play in order: Chronologically or by release date.

Jump to:

• How to Play in Chronological Order
• How to Play by Release Order

Which Pokemon Games Should You Actually Play First?

Choosing where to start boils down to what Nintendo console you currently have, though the recent Delta emulator may change that for you. If you only have a Nintendo Switch, you can start with Let's Go Pikachu or Let's Go Eevee, which are kind of like remakes of the original Yellow version from 1998. You can also play Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl for another remake experience. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is also an option, but it is very different from the other mainline games.

If you're wanting to dive right into Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, it's worth noting that you likely won't be missing out on any overly pertinent information from the previous games. The only games in the main series you might not want to jump right into is Black 2 and White 2 as those are sequels.

How to Play the Pokemon Games in Chronological Order

The Pokemon timelne may seem pretty linear at first glance, but without enough obvious details to go off of, it can be pretty confusing to try to follow the chronology from title to title. Luckily, a now deleted tweet from Toshinobu Matsumiya has given us a starting point for some of the games. For the rest, we can only make educated guesses based on a few key details witin the games.

1. Pokemon Legends: Arceus

The first game in the chronology is very clearly Pokemon Legends: Arceus seeing as it's set in a time when the relationship between humans and Pokemon was only just starting to form. You spend a large portion of your time running around a vast open wilderness catching and battling wild Pokemon, and the people you interact with are clearly just beginning to understand the world of Pokemon. This game features crafting and research tasks, which greatly differentiates it from the usual gym battle formula we are used to.

Though we don't know just how long ago Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes place compared to the other games in the series, we do atleast know that it seems to feature the ancestors of Diamond and Pearl characters.

2. Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow

As the original games in the series, Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow are up next in the timeline. Bringing the first-generation Pokedex and introducing us to the classic Pokemon game formula, these best-selling games are what started it all.

Although we can't know for sure that these Game Boy games are up next in the timeline, the deleted Tweet from Game Scenario writer Toshinobu Matsumiya confirmed that the series starts with these. The technology featured in the game is also fairly limited compared to some of the newer games -- though still advanced enough to bring fossils back to life!

Bonus: Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are remakes of the original Red and Blue games and thus are at the same exact point in the timeline. Much of the plot is the same as the originals with some key differences -- including visiting the Sevii Islands after becoming champion of the Elite Four.

3. Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald brought all new Pokemon and throws you into the Hoenn region -- which is some distance from both the Kanto and Johto regions. Considering this game features the third generation of Pokemon and some new technology, it seems most likely that it would take place after both Red and Blue and Gold and Silver. However, according to that same deleted tweet from Matsumiya, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire take place at the same point in time as FireRed and LeafGreen.

This also means that Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are at the same point in the timeline here seeing as they are remakes.

4. Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal

As the second game in the series (in terms of release date) Pokemon Gold and Silver take place three years after the events of Red and Blue. With some exciting new Gen 2 Pokemon and some of the best post-game content in the series, Gold, Silver, and Crystal were an excellent follow up to the original games. By traveling to the Kanto region after becoming the champion of Johto, you get a firsthand look at the passage of time. You even get to battle the protagonist from the first games, Red, who is quite strong.

This placement in the chronology also applies to the remakes: HeartGold and SoulSilver. Although the remakes offer some additional content, they are essentially just updated versions of the originals.

5. Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum

In terms of series release order, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl came a few years after Ruby and Sapphire. However, we now know from that deleted tweet from Matsumiya that Diamond and Pearl actually takes place at the same time as HeartGold and SoulSilver. This may seem a little bit confusing considering the advancements in technology we see in Diamond and Pearl, but we can likely just chalk it up to the actual date the games were created rather than the chronology within the Pokemon universe.

This would also mean that the remakes, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are set in the same point of the timeline. Though the timeline gets a bit wonky with the inclusion of Fairy-type Pokemon considering those weren't introduced until X and Y.

6. Pokemon Black and White

Featuring the fifth-generation of new Pokemon, Black and White was the second mainline game to come out on the Nintendo DS. Although we don't know exactly when the story takes place in the Pokemon universe, we do that it takes place after Diamond and Pearl thanks to Matsumiya's tweet. Since there aren't any obvious links to the previous games, we can only assume that Black and White takes place more than 3 years after Red and Blue.

7. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2

As a true sequel to Black and White, Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 offer a fairly obvious transition through the chronological timeline. We see changes where gym leaders pass on their duties to the next generation, Team Plasma has advanced their plot, and there is a new Champion. Between all of these things, we know that roughly two years have passed since Black and White, progressing the timeline forward in an uncharacteristically linear fashion.

8. Pokemon X and Y

As the first game in the series to allow payers to explore and battle in 3D, Pokemon X and Y was a fresh take on the classic Pokemon formula. While this is largely due to it being the first title in the series to be a Nintendo 3DS game, it definitely helped set up future games. While we don't know exactly when the game fits in the chronology, thanks to Matsumiya we atleast know that X and Y take place at the same time as Black 2 and White 2. However, it's possible that it is set in a different universe due to Mega Evolution being a thing.

9. Pokemon Sun and Moon

Happening a few years after X and Y, Pokemon Sun and Moon takes us to the Alola region. While we don't have any information from Matsumiya about where this game fits in the timeline, it features a few characters from X and Y that indicate that time has passed between games. An adult Red and Blue also make an appearance, though their exact age isn't revealed, so we still don't know exactly how much time has progressed since Red, Blue, and Yellow.

This also means that Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon take place at the same point in time as they are essentially remakes of Sun and Moon with some additional content.

10. Pokemon Sword and Shield

With the arrival of the Nintendo Switch came the first Switch-exclusive mainline Pokemon game: Sword and Shield. Featuring a brand-new region, new Pokemon, and the introduction of Gigantamax, Sword and Shield is essentially a soft reboot of the series. So that being said, we have no idea where it fits on the chronological timeline. There aren't really any hard references to the previous games, so there is no way of accurately fitting it into the known Pokemon universe.

One of the only clues we have about the timeline comes in the form of new technology. The addition of the Rotom Phone seemingly places us further in the chronology than Red and Blue at the very least, but that's all we can really gather. It's possible that Pokemon Sword and Shield simply takes place in an entirely different universe than any of the other games.

11. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

As the latest entry in the series, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet brings all-new Gen 9 Pokemon and the open-world Paldea region to the Nintendo Switch. There haven't been any obvious clues revealed about where it lands on the timeline, so we unfortunately don't have enough information to try to accurately place it. That being said, if it follows the chronological structure of previous mainline games, it's possible that it takes place at the same time as the events of Pokemon Sword and Shield.

How to Play the Pokemon Games by Release Date

I you want to play the games in the order they were released rather than try to attempting to go through the convoluted chronological timeline, here are all of the mainline Pokemon games by release date:

1. Pokemon Red and Blue - February 27, 1996 - Game Boy
2. Pokemon Yellow - Game Boy - September 12, 1998 - Game Boy
3. Pokemon Gold and Silver - November 21, 1999 - Game Boy Color
4. Pokemon Crystal - December 14, 2000 - Game Boy Color
5. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire - November 21, 2002 - Game Boy Advance
6. Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen - January 28, 2004 - Game Boy Advance
7. Pokemon Emerald - Sepember 16, 2004 - Game Boy Advance
8. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl - September 28, 2006 - Nintendo DS
9. Pokemon Platinum - September 13, 2008 - Nintendo DS
10. Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver - September 12, 2009 - Nintendo DS
11. Pokemon Black and White - September 18, 2010 - Nintendo DS
12. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 - June 23, 2012 - Nintendo DS
13. Pokemon X and Y - October 13, 2013 - Nintendo 3DS
14. Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire - November 21, 2014 - Nintendo 3DS
15. Pokemon Sun and Moon - November 18, 2016 - Nintendo 3DS
16. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon - November 17, 2017 - Nintendo 3DS
17. Pokemon Sword and Shield - November 15, 2019 - Nintendo Switch
18. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl - November 19, 2021 - Nintendo Switch
19. Pokemon Scarlet and Vilolet - November 18, 2022 - Nintendo Switch
20. Pokemon Legends Z-A - TBA Late 2025

Upcoming Pokemon Games

We finally got an official gameplay reveal of the next mainline Pokemon game during this year's Pokemon Day. Titled Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the upcoming game is set in Lumiose City, within the same Kalos region as Pokemon X and Y. The city itself is in the midst of a technological evolution to support trainers and Pokemon thriving together.

As a Legends game, Z-A's starter Pokemon are a throwback: Chikorita and Totodile from Gen 2 alongside Tepig from Gen 5. Like in Legends: Arceus, these familiar starters will be getting new final evolutions. The gameplay trailer also showed off new battle mechanics, like positioning, dodging, and aiming your Pokemon's attacks.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A will launch on the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 on October 16, with a Switch 2 bundle with the game (sorry, no special edition) releasing on the same day.

The Home opens in theaters Friday, July 25.

From Danny McBride writing Halloween sequels to Chris Rock starring in a Saw movie and Jordan Peele’s entire career shift, recent years have found a lot of famous funnymen prove they can also do horror with the best of them. As the latest comedian to jump into that world, Saturday Night Live veteran Pete Davidson does decent work in The Home, playing things straight and doing his best to make his character Max feel relatable, but it’s an uphill battle he can’t win in a movie that is as flimsy and inadvertently silly as this one.

The story focuses on Max, who we know is Very Troubled because he wakes up in a drug den and then goes and tags a building with graffiti that reads “Our future is burning” as his red spray paint splatters back on his face, evoking blood. It’s subtle, but you might get the idea this guy is in a bad place in his life! And that sort of clumsy and awkward storytelling unfortunately is par for the course here.

One thing leads to another and Max ends up being given a community-service sentence to work a temporary job as an orderly at a retirement home, where he discovers some very strange and disturbing goings-on. Yes, it’s a time-honored horror movie tradition to leave us to ponder why characters don’t just leave when things get weird and dangerous, but The Home is especially egregious in this regard. Without any sort of genuine, slow build-up to let us believe Max might first feel some connections to this place, it’s preposterous that he doesn’t bail on his very first day after discovering two of the elderly residents having sex wearing bizarre masks, and then witnessing a woman suddenly begin to bleed from the head while doing pool exercises. His legal issues don’t hold up as a credible reason for him to stick around or to not at least contact someone about the hugely troubling signs that something is very off, and yet Max initially seems more curious or bothered than properly freaked out by the rapidly escalating strangeness.

Co-writer/director James DeMonaco is best known for The Purge series, and while those films are certainly inconsistent, there is a lot to enjoy in them and the heightened world DeMonaco created. The Home, though, seems like it’s trying to at least begin in a more grounded, realistic setting, but feels incredibly and often laughably heavy-handed from the start.

To its credit, there is some mildly interesting mystery to be found as Max begins to do some investigating into what’s going on in this place, especially in regards to the fourth floor and what he’s been warned are especially troubled occupants. Yet Max’s reactions continually don’t read true, and would-be scary scenes often play as more goofy as a result. When Max inevitably ventures onto a forbidden floor and a snarling, out-of-control old man lunges at him, his response is to say “I’m not gonna hurt you,” rather than, you know, getting the hell away from this guy.

DeMonaco is going for some messaging here, but it’s muddled and hard to decipher until near the end, where parallels to real life discussions and debates about different generations and who’s in control are made blatant. It feels like too little, too late as far as resonating or helping The Home to hit home, even if there is some last-minute amusement to be had with how things suddenly get a lot more direct and pointed. The final sequence does at least allow for some over-the-top visceral confrontations that feel like DeMonaco veering back into The Purge terrain, where he’s much more in his element. (Also, while most of the gore isn’t done with much panache, if you’re sensitive to harm being done to eyeballs, this movie might elicit a reaction.)

Prior to that, though, The Home pays lip service to how the elderly can often be discarded or overlooked, while mostly leaning into a lot of easy and tired, “Aren’t these old people so creepy?” imagery. It doesn’t help that some of the scenes here are very similar to 2022’s X, including Max seeing an old woman hauntingly staring out a window at him or a sequence where one of the residents crawls into bed with him while he sleeps. But unlike Ti West’s film, where the elderly Pearl was an evocative character given enough nuance to allow us to understand the twisted pain and jealousy that guided her, here it all feels surface level and hollow.

The supporting cast is at least filled with a pretty impressive, recognizable group of, “Hey, it’s that guy/gal!” veteran character actors as the retirement home’s staff and residents, including John Glover, Bruce Altman, Ethan Phillips, and Mary Beth Peil. Their presence at least keeps The Home a bit more engaging than it might otherwise be, particularly Glover, who looks to be having a lot of fun as an eccentric acting class teacher. But with such a weak story at the center, all the support in the world can’t hold this up as a horror movie worth watching.

The Legend of Vox Machina spinoff The Mighty Nein finally has a release date and guest voice cast confirmation.

As announced during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, The Mighty Nein hits Amazon's Prime Video on November 19. While it of course stars the main Critical Role cast, The Mighty Nein also includes a long list of guest voice actors, including Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler in the X-Men movies and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday), Mark Strong (Kingsman, Assembly Mage in The Legend of Vox Machina), and singer-songwriter Tim McGraw.

Other big names to guest star include Anika Noni Rose from The Princess and the Frog, Ming-Na Wen (bounty hunter Fennec Shand in Star Wars), Moana star Auli’i Cravalho, and the one and only Number One himself, Star Trek’s Jonathan Frakes.

The Mighty Nein guest voice actor cast:

• Mark Strong
• Alan Cumming
• Tim McGraw
• Anika Noni Rose
• Ming-Na Wen
• Auli’i Cravalho
• Rahul Kohli
• Robbie Daymond
• Jonathan Frakes

Critical Role is the Dungeons & Dragons livestream sensation, which now has two of its fantasy role-playing campaigns adapted into animated shows for Prime Video. The Legend of Vox Machina (Season 4 is on the way) is based on Critical Role’s first tabletop adventure, whereas The Mighty Nein adapts Campaign 2. It is set in the same world as Vox Machina (Exandria), but takes place around 20 years later, with its main cast playing different characters.

Here’s the official blurb:

The Mighty Nein follows a group of fugitives and outcasts, bound by secrets and scars. But when a powerful arcane relic known as The Beacon falls into dangerous hands, they must learn to work together to save the realm and stop reality itself from unraveling.

Expect an hour-long new animated series starring Critical Role founders and cast members Laura Bailey (The Last of Us: Part II), Taliesin Jaffe (World of Warcraft), Ashley Johnson (The Last of Us), Liam O’Brien (Marvel’s Avengers), Matthew Mercer (Baldur’s Gate 3), Marisha Ray (Fallout 76), Sam Riegel (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and Travis Willingham (Marvel's Avengers). The Mighty Nein is described as being "intentionally darker, grittier, and edgier" than Vox Machina. A clip shown during the Comic-Con panel featured the main characters very much not taking an interrogation seriously.

Which is it - The Mighty Nein or The Sensual Seven? Whatever it is, looks like it comes exclusively to Prime Video on November 19th! pic.twitter.com/OE5Lc5IQOR

— The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein (@LVMandM9onPrime) July 24, 2025

The Mighty Nein main character descriptions:

• BEAU (Marisha Ray): Beau is a Cobalt Soul monk with attitude. Part MMA fighter, part kickass detective, she's on a secret mission to root out corruption within her own organization and abroad.
• CALEB (Liam O’Brien): Caleb is a disheveled – some might say filthy – wizard with a penchant for fire magic. He's on the run from his past that continues to haunt him.
• FJORD (Travis Willingham): Fjord is an orphan sailor. After his ship blew up in a deadly scheme, Fjord washed ashore without a scratch and with magic powers. But he's still trying to figure out if the powers are a gift or a curse.
• JESTER (Laura Bailey): Jester is a loveable chaotic prankster who was born and raised in an upscale brothel. After pranking a powerful politician with no sense of humor, she's forced to go on the run with her best friend, an invisible god named the Traveler.
• MOLLY (Taliesin Jaffe): Molly is the flamboyant tarot reader for a traveling carnival. His endearing wit is a stark contrast to his mysterious ability to manipulate blood to his will.
• NOTT (Sam Riegel) : Nott the Brave is a foul-mouthed alcoholic goblin girl and a master of stealth and crossbow. She drinks to hide from her painful past, which she hopes her new friend, Caleb, can help her solve.
• YASHA (Ashley Johnson): Yasha is a barbarian woman from the wastes of Xhorhas in the Kryn Dynasty. Her roving mercenary work has earned her the harrowing moniker: “The Orphan Maker.”
• ESSEK (Matthew Mercer): Essek Thelyss is a Kryn elf and elite spy for the Dynasty. He will stop at nothing to protect the ones he loves.

It's a busy time for Critical Role, which just this week confirmed it has a video game on the way.

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.

Spider-Man is one of the most iconic superheroes of all time, but he didn’t swing onto the big screen until director Sam Raimi helped bring 2002’s Spider-Man to life. Since then, Spider-Man has become one of the most profitable superheroes, with pretty much every film adaptation taking the box office by storm.

While it may be easy to watch the films in release order, there are those of us who love watching stories in chronological order to experience these stories in a whole new way. Luckily, the release order and chronological order of the Spider-Man movies and spin-offs are the exact same, so it really just comes down to how you want to watch all the films that tell the complete story of the Spider-Verse (pun intended!).

This guide will help you in your quest to watch all the Spider-Man movies and their spin-offs. Whether you want to watch just the main movies with Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, or you want to have the complete picture and future-proof your Spidey knowledge with various spin-offs, we have you covered.

Below, you can find a mostly spoiler-free look at how to watch all the Spider-Man movies and their spin-offs in chronological order. You'll also see a few lists on Spider-Man movies in release order or with a particular actor. And if you want to just find out how to watch the Spider-Man spin-offs like Venom and Kraven and the like, check out Sony's Spider-Man Universe in Chronological Order.

Jump to:

• How to watch in chronological order
• How to watch by release order

How Many Spider-Man Movies Are There?

While the wider Spider-Man Universe includes over a dozen movies, there are ten total films led by Spider-Man himself. Eight of those movies are live-action — three led by Tobey Maguire, two by Andrew Garfield, and three by Tom Holland — and two are animated, featuring a variety of Spideys. That animated film, Into the Spider-Verse and the sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will be followed by Beyond the Spider-Verse.

For a full list of how to stream all of the films, take a look at our guide on where to watch the Spider-Man movies in 2025.

Spider-Man Movies in Chronological Order

1. Spider-Man (2002)

2002’s Spider-Man is the one that brought Peter Parker into the world of live-action on the big screen. Starring Tobey Maguire as everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, this film gave us many memorable moments, including the upside-down kiss that may still be one of the most iconic kisses of all time.

Oh, and it features Willem Dafoe and his fantastic first performance as Harry Osborne/Green Goblin and J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, roles they would both reprise in future films beyond the Maguire-era.

Read our review of Spider-Man.

2. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Tobey Maguire’s journey as Spider-Man continues in 2004’s Spider-Man 2, and this time he must face off against Alfred Molina’s Doctor Otto Octavius when a tragic lab accident turns the Doctor into a supervillain. This second film in the Maguire era took place two years after the first and gave us the legendary scene featuring Spider-Man saving a runaway train with nothing but his spider-strength and web-slinging prowess.

Read our review of Spider-Man 2.

3. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Spider-Man 3 is the last film of Sam Raimi’s trilogy and the final entry starring Tobey Maguire as the titular hero. Whereas the first two films focused on one main villain, this third entry packed three baddies into its runtime, including Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Venom (Topher Grace), and a new Green Goblin (James Franco). This movie, which takes place about a year after Spider-Man 2, is probably the most polarizing of the first three films, but it did give us Spider-Man’s Black Suit and that must give it some points, right?!

Read our review of Spider-Man 3.

4. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man saw Marc Webb swing into the director’s chair, and was the first to star Andrew Garfield as the web-slinging hero opposite Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy. The Amazing Spider-Man is another take on Spidey’s origin story and features some history about Peter’s parents. The big bad in this movie is Rhys Ifans’ Lizard, a mutated scientist who once worked with Peter’s father.

Read our review of The Amazing Spider-Man.

5. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the second and last film in the Garfield era and, much like the last film in the original Spider-Man trilogy, it featured a trio of villains. like. Taking place two years after the original, this sequel introduced Jamie Foxx’s Electro, Paul Giamatti’s Rhino, and Dane DeHaan’s Green Goblin, and was supposed to set up future entries in the franchise featuring Venom and the Sinister Six. Unfortunately, the film’s mixed review and lower box office performance contributed to all of those plans being scrapped.

Read our review of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

6. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

While Captain America: Civil War is obviously not a Spider-Man movie, it did introduce the world to Tom Holland’s version of Spider-Man. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) recruits Holland’s Peter Parker after he has already become Spider-Man, and we get to see him facing off against or teaming up with many of the MCU’s greatest heroes.

Read our review of Captain America: Civil War.

7. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Spider-Man: Homecoming, Tom Holland’s first solo film as Spider-Man, arrived in 2017 with Jon Watts at the helm. It takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War, and tells the story of Peter Parker handling the twin challenges of high school and proving to Tony Stark that he’s ready to join the Avengers. Despite that, he still takes it upon himself to improve his skills and stop crimes as Spider-Man alongside hanging out with his friends MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon). Homecoming also introduces us to Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes/Vulture, a villain who will appear again down the line.

Read our review of Spider-Man: Homecoming.

8. Venom (2018)

While there is no Spider-Man in 2018’s Venom, Tom Hardy’s version of the iconic Spidey villain does have a role to play in Holland’s Spider-Man story as future films will see their paths almost cross. It remains to be seen if Holland’s Spider-Man will ever actually run into Hardy’s Venom, but this character will undoubtedly have an important part to play in the future of the web-slinger, one way or another.

Read our review of Venom.

9. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is another Spider-Man story separate from the mainline films, but it is one well worth a watch. The story centers around Shameik Moore’s Miles Morales, but Spider-People from many different multiverses quickly enter the picture and build a cast of characters, including Hailee Steinfeld’s Spider-Gwen, Jake Johnson’s Peter B. Parker, John Mulaney’s Spider-Ham, Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Man Noir, and more.

Read our review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

10. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War features a large cast of the MCU’s greatest heroes, and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is one of them. He plays an important role in Infinity War and his growing friendship with Tony Stark is one of the highlights.

Read our review of Avengers: Infinity War.

11. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

While certain plot reasons keep Tom Holland’s Spider-Man out of Avengers: Endgame for much of the movie, he still makes his presence felt in key moments of this film’s story. Also, it is the culmination of 21 MCU films before it and deserves a spot on the watch list.

Read our review of Avengers: Endgame.

12. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Taking place after the events of Avengers: Endgame and dealing with much of what happened in that film, Spider-Man: Far From Home begins in New York City before taking Holland’s Peter Parker to Europe for a school trip. He wants to take a trip undisturbed from the world of superheroes, but the universe has other plans for him. Throughout Far From Home, Holland crosses paths with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), and Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), who claims to be a hero from a different universe. Make sure to stick around for the post-credits scene here!

Read our review of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

13. Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Much like the first Venom film, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is very much adjacent to the Spider-Man films rather than directly tied in. However, this film builds up the world of Tom Hardy’s Venom, and includes a post-credits scene that brings these two worlds closer together than ever.

Read our review of Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

14. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Spider-Man: No Way Home picks up right after the post-credits of Spider-Man: Far From Home and is the most recent mainline Spider-Man film to be released. After Peter and his friends’ lives are turned upside down, he goes to Doctor Strange and asks him to make things right by making everyone forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

However, things go awry and the multiverse opens up, bringing many familiar faces from previous films into the MCU. No Way Home is as much the next chapter in Holland’s story as it is a continuation of the Maguire and Garfield eras, and the fan service is just so wonderful, especially if you have seen the previous films.

Read our review of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

15. Morbius (2022)

Morbius, much like Venom, has very little in the way of Spider-Man specifically, but it helps build out the wider universe. We know Morbius takes place in the same universe as Venom as there are certain nods like a reference to the events “in San Francisco,” but the connection to Spider-Man is a bit more unknown. Morbius is a Spider-Man villain, and the film also sees the return of Michael Keaton’s Vulture, who looks to have a bigger role to play in the future of Spider-Man, hinting that Morbius could take place in the MCU or Sony or even a bit of both.

Read our review of Morbius.

16. Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse (2023)

Across the Spider-Verse is another animated film that seemingly sits outside of the MCU. That being said, it dives deep into the multiverse and could eventually be pulled into the rest of the Spider-Man universe similar to how the other films were brought into the fold with No-Way Home. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a direct sequel to Into the Spider-Verse, taking place about a year after the last film ended.

The film is largely centered around Miles Morales getting pulled further into the multiverse to join Gwen Stacy and a team of Spider-People to take on a powerful new threat.

Read our review of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

17. Madame Web (2024)

While the Spider-Man spin-off Madame Web is connected to our favorite web-slinging hero, the events of the film don't feature him. Sure, there may be some spoilery links we won't ruin here, but this is a mostly standalone story in the Spidey-verse that you can watch at any time.

This film stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb and tells her origin story. We follow her as a paramedic in Manhattan who begins to develop powers to see the future and and tries to come to grips with trying to change what's to come. She is joined by Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O'Connor, who are all "bound for powerful destinies... if they can all survive a deadly present."

Read our review of Madame Web.

18. Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

Tom Hardy had his last go-round as Eddie Brock, as well as Venom, in 2024's Venom: The Last Dance. Our review said "Venom: The Last Dance trips over its own tendrils and lets a boring, generic plot, and bad action distract from the surprisingly resilient central relationship between Eddie Brock and his symbiote bestie."

Read our review of Venom: The Last Dance.

19. Kraven the Hunter

The Aaron Taylor-Johnson-starring Kraven the Hunter didn't fare well with critics, and appears to be the last live-action movie for now in the Sony/Marvel universe. And just think, none of these guys ever even got to meet Spider-Man!

Read our review of Kraven the Hunter.

Spider-Man Movies in Order of Release

• Spider-Man (2002)
• Spider-Man 2 (2004)
• Spider-Man 3 (2007)
• The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
• Venom (2018)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Avengers: Endgame (2019)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
• Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
• Morbius (2022)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse (2023)
• Madame Web (2024)
• Venom: The Last Stand (2024)
• Kraven the Hunter (2024)

Tobey Maguire Spider-Man Movies in Order of Release

• Spider-Man (2002)
• Spider-Man 2 (2004)
• Spider-Man 3 (2007)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Andrew Garfield Spider-Man Movies in Order of Release

• The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Tom Holland Spider-Man Movies in Order of Release

• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Avengers: Endgame (2019)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Upcoming Spider-Man Movies

Following the release of Kraven the Hunter, Sony's Spider-Man Universe appears to be on hold, at least in terms of live-action movies not starring Tom Holland as Spidey. But still, there are more projects on the way...

Beyond the Spider-Verse

The third Spider-Verse movie, Beyond the Spiderverse, is in development. While originally slated to release in 2024, we got official confirmation at CinemaCon that the new release date is June 4, 2027.

Nic Cage will also be continuing in his Spider-Verse role as Spider Man Noir for a live action Amazon series from producers Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Orien Uziel.

MCU Spider-Man

Tom Holland's Spider-Man will continue in the MCU with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It's scheduled to release on July 31, 2026, with Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi) on board as director. Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) recently joined the cast; she'll reportedly play either X-Men character Jean Grey or Mary Jane Watson. Jon Bernthal will also be reprising his role as the Punisher.

Outside of those two movies, other updates include Kevin Feige confirming Miles Morales won't appear in live-action in the MCU. We've also gotten exclusive reveals of the upcoming Spider-Man Magic: The Gathering expansion. For more info, check out our full list of upcoming Spider-Man movies and shows.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Wicked: For Good isn't arriving in theaters until November later this year, but LEGO is getting ahead of the upcoming release with some really cool sets. Alongside several other major announcements (including a LEGO Game Boy) LEGO has revealed a new Emerald City Wall Art set. At just over 1,500 pieces, it's the latest addition to the LEGO Art line targeted specifically at adults and it's set to release on September 1.

LEGO released a line of Wicked sets for the first movie last year, but they were designed mostly for kids. This year the company seems to be putting more of a focus on its adult audience as this is the second Wicked set specifically made for the 18+ market.

LEGO Wicked Emerald City Wall Art Preorders Are Live

Hot off the press from Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender 20th anniversary panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 is the first image from Avatar: Seven Havens.

IGN was in Ballroom 20 for the reveal, and captured the image below.

BREAKING: The first image from Avatar: Seven Havens has been revealed at #SDCC pic.twitter.com/W0hxqy6MgK

— IGN (@IGN) July 24, 2025

Co-creator Bryan Konietzko said this Earthbender is named Pavi, who we see with her cat monkey, Geet, and her mentor Jae, who is an Airbender. This image shows the city in which they live, Allura.

Avatar: Seven Havens is a 26-episode, 2D animated series following a young Earthbender who is the next Avatar following Avatar Korra. It's co-created by Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael DiMartino and the aforementioned Konietzko.

Konietzko said: "It's something totally different. We like to change up the style. We like to make each project its own thing. As you can see, it still feels like Avatar, but the world is very different. You'll have to tune in to find out why."

Nickelodeon has said Seven Havens is 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 will be split into two seasons comprising a 13-episode Book 1 and a 13-episode Book 2. This is the first mainline TV series from Avatar Studios.

Meanwhile, during the panel, Konietzko also teased The Last Airbender: The Legend of Aang, a new animated feature film due out October 9, 2026. Konietzko didn't show anything of the film, but did say the footage that has been animated is 2D animation with deep canvass environments. "There is nothing that looks like this," he said, before adding: "it's just gonna blow you away." Expect more at next year's SDCC.

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.

Marvel's First Family launches back onto the big screen this week with The Fantastic Four: First Steps - a retro-futuristic Jack Kirby-inspired endeavor that officially brings this pioneering comic book supergroup into the MCU. This isn't the first Fantastic Four movie, of course; heck, it isn't even the first Fantastic Four movie to feature Silver Surfer and Galactus as its villains. But it does, however, look like it will be the first FF flick to deliver the goods.

With Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben once again clobberin' their way into our hearts, we've decided to rank the four (yes, four) Fantastic Four movies that came before this.

Where will The Fantastic Four: First Steps ultimately rank on this list? Well, we'll need to give that a little bit of time, so that everyone gets a chance to see it and also to sidestep any possible recency bias. We do know that our reviewer, Clint Gage, gave the film a 7 out of 10, saying it's a "family dramedy that only stops working when it tries to be too much of a superhero movie."

For now though, we'll dip into the past and list these suckers from terrible to "it's fine." Here is our official ranking of the previous Fantastic Four flicks!

4. Fantastic Four (2015)

Josh Trank's abysmal Fantastic Four movie was naturally going to come in dead last. It's a colossal misstep on just about every level, swapping out the family dynamic and cosmic camaraderie elements for humorless sci-fi slog. It all feels like stoic strangers sharing a nightmare, tweaking so much of the standard formula that it barely feels recognizable as a Fantastic Four movie. Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell starred in a catastrophe that Trank himself even disavows, claiming that his version, a better version, of the film was buried by Fox, who then made their own theatrical cut. We'll have to take his word for it, but consider that just about anything would be better than this film.

3. The Fantastic Four (1994)

Even though most everyone involved was tricked into thinking this movie would get a theatrical release, and even though indie cinema icon Roger Corman made it on a nothing budget, it's still an earnest, honest Fantastic Four movie. So it just so happens that an impressively faithful-to-the-material Fantastic flick, which was fated to be shelved, came about because producer Bernd Eichinger needed to make a movie to retain the superhero rights. Everyone looks the part down to their hairstyles; we even got the best, or at least most accurate, Dr. Doom to date. So aside from rubber costumes and shoddy effects, this film is eons better than the $120 million dollar fiasco listed at number four.

It's worth noting that the actors from this movie -- Alex Hyde-White, Rebecca Staab, Jay Underwood, and Michael Bailey Smith -- all have small roles in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

2. Fantastic Four (2005)

The 2005 Tim Story Fantastic Four film is...fine. It gets the quartet right as characters for the most part and offers up a serviceable full-costumed Dr. Doom, albeit with a villain arc that feels very Norman Osborn-esque from 2002's Spider-Man. It's an origin story that spends two-thirds of the movie dealing with the Four's origin, though to be fair, no one was necessarily burned out on origins back in 2005 when Marvel franchises like Spider-Man and X-Men were still shiny and new. Where the movie is most lacking is in the third act, which falls flat as a climactic clash between our heroes and a rather low-blood sugar Doom. There's nothing drastically wrong about this movie, even with its tweaks, but it's also a rather unexciting outing. Still, it's because this movie was a modest hit that we actually had, briefly, a Fantastic Four franchise.

1. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis returned for this souped-up sequel, which allowed the Fantastic Four to exist as public-facing celebrity superheroes without having a lengthy origin story to bog things down. Aside from the new Phase 6 movie coming out, this is the only other Fantastic Four movie where we just get dropped into a lived-in FF universe where our heroes are beloved global champions. Sure, Rise of the Silver Surfer has Reed doing a silly, stretchy dance at his bachelor party, and it wasn't confident enough to give us Galactus as Galactus (he appears as a cloud, which was the way superhero movies solved adversaries for a long time - see also: Green Lantern, Dr. Strange, the Loki series, etc.), but it was also a better team adventure than the first film, even borrowing a bit from Superman II by having Dr. Doom remain as a secondary antagonist to the new cosmic threat.

Which is your favorite past Fantastic Four movie? Let us know down below...

Matt Fowler is a freelance entertainment writer/critic, covering TV news, reviews, interviews and features on IGN for 17+ years.

San Diego Comic-Con 2025 is nearly here, and in celebration, IGN has teamed up with Humble Bundle to offer an incredible collection of 38 graphic novels, including Godzilla: Half Century War and Lost Marvels No. 1: Tower of Shadows, for only $24 instead of $797. Furthermore, your purchase also supports the Binc Foundation, which helps bookstore and comic shop employees and owners facing unforeseen hardships.

The Official IGN SDCC Comics Bundle will be available from July 24 to August 14, and it features such publishers as ABLAZE, Dark Horse, Dynamite, Fantagraphics, Humanoids, IDW, Oni Press, and Titan Comics.

Joining the two mentioned above, the comics you'll get at a steep discount include such hot titles as Adventures of Red Sonja TP Vol. 01, Black Hammer Volume 1: Secret Origins, and Cimmerian Volume 1.

The full list of graphic novels you can unlock for just $24 are as follows;

The Official IGN SDCC 2025 Comics Bundle

• Belit & Valeria Volume 1 (ABLAZE)
• Cimmerian Volume 1 (ABLAZE)
• Cimmerian Volume 2 (ABLAZE)
• Cimmerian Volume 3 (ABLAZE)
• Cimmerian Volume 4 (ABLAZE)
• Black Hammer Volume 1: Secret Origins (Dark Horse)
• Hellboy: Weird Tales (Dark Horse)
• Lone Wolf and Cub Volume 1: The Assassin's Road (Dark Horse)
• The Witcher: Ronin (Manga) (Dark Horse)
• Usagi Yojimbo: 40th Anniversary Reader (Dark Horse)
• ADVENTURES OF RED SONJA TP VOL 01 (Dynamite)
• RED SONJA (2019) TP VOL 01 SCORCHED EARTH (Dynamite)
• VAMPIRELLA ARCHIVES HC VOL 01 (Dynamite)
• VAMPIRELLA SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT VOL 01 (Dynamite)
• VAMPIRELLA SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT VOL 02 (Dynamite)
• Lost Marvels No. 1: Tower of Shadows (Fantagraphics)
• My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book One (Fantagraphics)
• See You In San Diego (Fantagraphics)
• MAJNUN & LAYLA (Humanoids)
• SWORDS OF GLASS (Humanoids)
• THE INCAL: PSYCHOVERSE (Humanoids)
• THE METABARONS VOL 1: Othon & Honorata (Humanoids)
• THE TWILIGHT MAN (Humanoids)
• 30 Days of Night (IDW)
• Beneath the Trees (IDW)
• Godzilla: Half Century War (IDW)
• Locke & Key Vol.1 (IDW)
• They Called Us Enemy (IDW)
• Cemetery Kids Don't Die (Oni Press)
• Faceless And The Family (Oni Press)
• Hobtown Mystery Stories V1 (Oni Press)
• Man from Maybe (Oni Press)
• Midnight Radio (Oni Press)
• Blade Runner 2019 Vol. 1 (Titan Comics)
• Conan the Barbarian Volume 1: Bound in Black Stone (Titan Comics)
• Gun Honey Volume 1 (Titan Comics)
• Heat Seeker #1 - A Gun Honey Series (Titan Comics)
• Rebel Moon Volume 1: House of the Bloodaxe (Titan Comics)

For more, check out everything you need to know about San Diego Comic-Con 2025 and all the exciting details of our SDCC live show, featuring Project Hail Mary, King of the Hill, Peacemaker, Alien: Earth, The Toxic Avenger, and more.

Humble Bundle is part of IGN Entertainment, the division of Ziff Davis that includes GamesIndustry.biz, IGN, and MapGenie.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.

This year has already seen some great new LEGO sets, but if you're a Marvel fan looking to build something new for your collection, the LEGO Iron Spider-Man Bust coming out on August 1 is well worth considering (preorders are live at Amazon and LEGO Store). And with Spidey's next cinematic adventure on people's minds right now, it's a good time to work on a LEGO set like this one.

Coming in at the relatively low piece count of 379, the set was quick and fun to put together. While it's recommended for ages 18 and up, landing it in the LEGO sets for adults category, it's not overly complicated and only took me a couple of hours to (Avengers) assemble it. Most kids who are Spidey-fans should get by just fine with this set.

The bust features Spidey's head and shoulders, with the top half of the Iron Spider suit visible. The head and legs of the suit are movable, allowing you to pose them for display, which is a cool touch. The set overall has a nice amount of detail, and even comes with a plaque to set up on the bottom alongside a minifigure of the hero himself decked out in the full Iron Spider suit.

This build also features two interchangeable bases. One centers the plaque while the other leaves space for both the plaque and minifigure on both sides of the bust. I chose to build the latter, so my mini Spider-Man could be shown off alongside the larger bust. I didn't want him to feel left out (he's still feeling pretty lonely after the loss of Mr. Stark.)

The opening pages of the instruction booklet offer a little extra detail about this Spider-Man suit and when it was first shown off in Spider-Man: Homecoming. From the mind of Tony Stark, the Iron Spider suit has been a highlight of Spidey's adventures in the MCU.

The set comes with the instruction booklet and four bags that contain pieces for the bust itself and its base. Bag one kicks things off by having you constuct the Spider-Man minifigure. He comes with a mini Iron Spider suit with little legs attached. I'm a big fan of him.

With mini Spidey built, the next steps focus on building the bust's core, which is eventually placed on top of the base pedestal. There are 22 steps in this process, which help to make a solid support system to eventually build out the rest of the bust from. It's from this center piece that you'll add more of the suit, build out Spider-Man's shoulders, and attach his head.

After this, you have to choose which of the two base options you want to build. One base allows you to set up the plaque front and center, while the other option uses two A-shaped plates to branch out the base to hold both the plaque and minifigure. Again, I chose the latter, but it's easy to swap to the other base if you'd prefer to just have the plaque. The instruction booklet guides you to different pages to build the base of your choosing. Once completed, the core of the Spider-Man bust gets placed on top of it.

This is when we get to dig into bag number two and start building out the bust. Naturally, the first focus is the front and back of the suit, which feature a vibrant collection of red and blue pieces, plus the gold accent lines, capturing that mixture of Spider-Man's classic suit colors with Iron Man's sleek metallic touches. From here, you build out the sides of the suit – again in colorful patterns of red, blue, and gold - capped off with big blue shoulders at the end.

Bag three focuses on building the neck and head/mask part of Spidey's suit, complete with some sweet lenses. Once the head is constructed, you'll then attach a longer LEGO piece with a ball joint at the end to the 'neck' area, which can then be slotted into the main part of the suit.

With this addition, you're able to swivel his head around to various positions, depending on how you want to show him off once you're done. It's one of my favorite parts about this build. I like that you can pose the head to give it a little extra personality once it's on display.

The fourth and final bag features the pieces for the legs of the Iron Spider suit. Much like Spider-Man's head, these are also poseable, so you can place them in various positions once you're all done. Before putting together the legs themselves, you first assemble a harness for them to hook into that can be fitted into the back of the suit.

I like that you can pose the head to give it a little extra personality once it's on display.

Once added on, the legs can be assembled and attached to the sides of that harness, where they come up and over Spidey's shoulders. If you want to move them around, you can do so from the back joint, middle joint, and the tips at the very top.

And with those final pieces slotted in, the Iron Spider-Man Bust is complete. You can see the full set below.

With just 379 pieces, this set is on the smaller side – as detailed on LEGO's store page, it measures 6.5 inches (17 cm) high, 7.5 inches (20 cm) wide and 4.5 inches (11 cm) deep – which makes it a great fit for a smaller space like on a bookshelf. Again, it only took a couple of hours to complete, so if you're a fan looking for a quick LEGO Marvel set build with a fun design to add to your collectible shelf, the Iron Spider-Man Bust is worth it.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 phone is now available for purchase, giving Android fans a brand-new flagship device to consider in the growing foldables market. Luckily, it's also one of the best you can buy at the moment. If you want to give it a shot, you can currently buy an unlocked Galaxy Z Fold 7 at major retailers like Best Buy and Amazon, or you can purchase it directly from Samsung.

However, this is one that's likely to put quite a dent in most folks' wallets. The base version of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 with 256GB of storage lands at a whopping $1,999. If you need even more space, you could be looking at up to $2,419 to reach 1TB of storage. That's a lot of space, but it's also a lot of money.

You can currently get a Galaxy Z Fold 7 with 512GB of storage at the same cost as the 256GB version until pre-orders end at midnight on June 25. That's double the storage for the base price of $1,999 – but only if you act fast. Amazon is currently offering the best version of this deal by including a bonus $300 gift card on top of the storage upgrade. You can check out all of the details below.

Where to Buy the Galaxy Z Fold 7

As someone who has loved dragons for longer than I can remember, including rocking dragon button-up shirts in high school as my “style” and theming my son’s bedroom around the scaled creatures, I was happy as a wyrm and his hoard when Wizards revealed they were releasing Dragon Delves: Adventure Anthology for Dungeons & Dragons. This collection puts front and center one of the namesakes of the TTRPG, featuring 10 adventures, while also highlighting the legacy of the creatures in this long-running franchise. After peeling back the pages and seeing what it has to offer, I find this book to be a fine addition to my shelf, but I wish it went further to really give these mythical creatures the celebration they deserve.

Dragon Delves is a collection of 10 short adventures, each one focused around chromatic (Green, Red, Blue, White, Black) or Metallic (Gold, Silver, Brass, Bronze, Copper) dragons that can be dropped into your existing campaigns or played back-to-back in a campaign that takes players from novice level 1 heroes up to level 12. It would have been nice if the designers offered some manner or tips, or recommendations for GMs to adjust the included quests for higher levels, but worst case, you could always just choose higher level enemies of a similar style, young dragons instead of wyrmlings, for example, to raise the challenge. There is a good variety of quests in this anthology, from solving mysteries behind corruption, sentient bags of holding, or uncovering forgotten verses of a song, but all of them will, at some point, have you and your party cross paths with a dragon.

All but one really hit for me. The one that didn't is the Gold Dragon’s adventure, “Baker’s Doesn't,” which involves a golden dragon named Briochebane that bakes bread, and has the party dealing with animated candy creations and visiting places like Candied Apple Orchards and Taffy Factories. Outlandish and silly in TTRPGs isn’t an automatic turn-off for me. Hell, in my own homebrew campaign, the party encountered an island of sentient vegetables and took a cauliflower puppy back with them. But in the scheme of Dragon Delves, this quest just doesn’t feel like it belongs among quests like “Death at Sunset” or “Shivering Death”. That said, its whimsical nature could be perfect for a little jaunt in the Feywild or to add a bit of levity to your campaign after an emotionally-packed couple of sessions.

This book's real strength is how easy it makes it to drop the adventures into a campaign. Each of the 10 stories has been designed to last only one or two sessions, with the first page of each one providing simple and clear directions on where these can be dropped in, the level of characters it is for, the general plot points, how to prepare, and what state blocks you will need.

This book's real strength is how easy it makes it to drop the adventures into a campaign.

For example, the Silver Dragon’s “The Will of Orcus” adventure states, “It can take place anywhere there are mountains and settlements,” and is for level 4 characters. All of those important bits of information you need can be gleaned from just a quick glance. As a GM, the faster I can get the info, the better, and I think the layout and design are wonderfully done here in Dragon Delves (and honestly, all of the updated 2025 5th edition books).

One thing of note, while this anthology contains the details of the adventures, it does not have any stat blocks for the creatures, so whoever is running these will also need the Monster Manual (see it at Amazon) – either 5th Edition book will suffice. The fact that this book doesn’t contain any unique stat blocks is a bit of a bummer. I would have loved to have blocks for each of the 10 dragons that are the focus of each one, which would give them something slightly unique or tweaked from their stock counterparts in the Monster Manual. Also, where are my updated gem dragons at, Wizards?!

In addition to the quests, this book also showcases how the visuals and designs of each dragon have evolved over the course of Dungeons & Dragons' nearly five-decade-long lifespan. I appreciate the two-page spread of artwork, but when I heard that this book would also showcase the history of the dragon types, I expected more. I would have loved to see blurbs from Wizards’ designers on how, if any, the approach and gameplay design of the various types have shifted or changed over the years. How has Wizards approached its stat blocks, or despite “dragons” being in the franchise's name, why is the team as reserved in showcasing or highlighting them? Much of this art I could obtain simply by searching Google; give me the information or material that has been hoarded away in the Wizards’ vaults.

Whether they are spewing acid, lightning, or breathing the more traditional fire, dragons have been, and always will be, really, really cool. There is a reason that these scaled creatures have become so closely ingrained and intertwined with the fantasy genre. Dragon Delves: Adventure Anthology gives players some relatively quick outings to enjoy and drop into their story whenever parties have a hankering for some dragon goodness. That said, this book never reached the heights of excitement I had imagined when I first heard about it. The fact that it relies solely on the basic stat blocks from the Monster Manual and there aren’t any fun adventures for higher-level parties is a bit disappointing. The fact that Tiamat, arguably the most recognizable dragon in Dungeons & Dragons, is absent is also a strange omission.

Dragon Devles comes off more as a great introductory package for dragons, and for newer or younger players just learning how to play D&D, it's a fun collection of quick stories. But for more experienced players, or those hoping for setups for big confrontations with some ancient dragons, you may want to look elsewhere. Personally, I was hoping for and expecting more, but hopefully this anthology just marks the beginning of more dragon-centric books and campaigns to come.

Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.

Ubisoft has announced a release date for Claws of Awaji, its first Assassin's Creed Shadows expansion. The major new add-on will arrive on September 16 as a paid DLC, or for free to those who pre-ordered the game.

Included within it is a new region — the island of Awaji — fresh gear, abilities, outfits, enemies, and 10 hours of new story content that picks up Shadows' main plotline for those who've now seen the game's main end credits roll.

What new revelations lie in wait for Naoe concerning her family? Will Yasuke get to take down some more Templars? There are now less than two months to go until we find out.

A fresh roadmap of other content coming to Assassin's Creed Shadows includes a big progession update on July 29, featuring the addition of New Game Plus mode, a level cap increase from 60 to 80, further upgrades for all hideout buildings, and the ability to upgrade Knowledge ranks to 9 and 10.

It's also with this update that the game's third Animus 'Project' will arrive, offering further free rewards for undertaking weekly missions, including new modern day lore.

New Game Plus will unlock as soon as you hit the credits of the main game, and let you restart the game's story again from either the very beginning or after Naoe inherits ownership of your hideout. Handy! Story, location and objective board progression will be reset, but you'll keep your character level, gear, skill points, Knowledge rank and Hideout. Finally, completing the game again via New Game Plus will unlock unique rewards, so you can show off just how many hundreds of hours you have played.

Early in September, another free update will add several fan-requested quality-of-life improvements, including the ability to fast-forward the time of day, better unfog the world map when synchronising with viewpoints (finally!), and yet more improvements for your hideout. PC players will also be able to toggle an uncapped framerate in cutscenes.

There's no further word on Assassin's Creed Shadows' likely arrival on Nintendo Switch 2 today, but if Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot is to be believed, it doesn't sound like it'll be long.

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

Donkey Kong Bananza has been out for a week now, and speedrunners are already figuring out incredibly fast ways to beat the game in as little as an hour and a half. While they're sure to find ways to cut that time down even more in the coming weeks and months, one really interesting trick has been discovered with a strange side effect: it skips getting Pauline as DK's companion.

Warning! Spoilers for the ending of Donkey Kong Bananza's Lagoon Layer follow. Read on at your own risk!

In a normal playthrough, Pauline bursts out of Odd Rock near the end of the Lagoon Layer when she and DK play music together and activate DK's Kong Bananza transformation. It's a critical story moment both in that it actually introduces Pauline into the story proper, but also because the cutscene is required to get Kong Elder to open the door to the next layer.

However, speedrunners have found a trick that lets them skip the whole thing. The drop to the next layer is hidden in a building that DK can actually clip into under the right circumstances. This video shows the trick in action, but it essentially involves hanging from a pipe close to a barred window into the building, and rapidly entering and exiting Photo Mode to get DK to clip through the bars and into the room with the hole. This works regardless of whether DK has Pauline or not, which means DK and Odd Rock can journey to the next layer together without progressing the story.

Unfortunately for Odd Rock lovers out there, you can't actually progress the game much farther this way. The next sublayer is a boss fight arena, and while you can collect a few Banandium Gems in there with Odd Rock's support, the boss won't actually spawn if you don't have Pauline with you. Weirdly, you will hear a bit of Pauline's (not Odd Rock's) dialogue as you approach the arena, but with no boss to fight there's also no way to manifest the big hole in the ground that leads to the next main layer. So you're soft locked until you go back and properly get Pauline.

That said, knowing how fast speedrunners work at breaking these things, I wouldn't be surprised if we hear about them solving this new problem sometime soon and doing something that results in some crazy no-Pauline tricks, or maybe even ways to skip Odd Rock entirely. After all, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom runners figured out how to play as Link instead of Zelda. Video games are just wacky like that sometimes.

Donkey Kong Bananza is out now, and we love it, having given the game a 10/10 in our review. As our reviewer said, "Donkey Kong Bananza is a truly groundbreaking 3D platformer, with satisfying movement, powerful abilities, impressive destructible environments, and clever challenges that all come together in complete harmony to create Nintendo’s first Switch 2 masterpiece."

If you, like us, can't get enough of Bananza, we have plenty of walkthroughs to aid your journey underground, including Banandium Gem locations, starter tips and tricks, and a full walkthrough.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

We’ve grown used to supply shortages after a new game console comes out. I don’t even remember how many months it was after the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S came out that you could just go online and order one without any issue. To date, the Switch 2 stock seems to have been more available than other recent consoles (it’s the fastest-selling console in US history, after all). But generally since launch, if you looked for a Switch 2 at any of the usual retailers online, it’s almost certainly been unavailable. Until now: Nintendo Switch 2 is currently in stock at most retailers.

Get a Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle

Get a Nintendo Switch 2

Amazon Switch 2 Invites Are Going Out Fast

You Can Easily Preorder the Switch 2 Pokemon: Legends Z-A Bundle

When Eddie Alcazar was growing up, his favorite game was Street Fighter. And now, he’s taken that love and integrated it deeply into his new animated series Bullet Time. Alcazar, who spent years working in the video game industry - including a stint at EA contributing to the Medal of Honor series, developed Bullet Time as an ode to games and the fans who love them.

“I spent about eight years in the video game industry working on a lot of different titles, and they've always been a huge part of my childhood,” Alcazar says.” I think Mario was the very first game I ever played (but) my favorite game is Street Fighter. Once Street Fighter came out, that was very revolutionary. And so I wanted to do something that I was knowledgeable in and that I could have fun with. And I felt like it was almost in a way, Beavis and Butt-head when they watched music videos.”

Magic: The Gathering’s new space-themed set Edge of Eternities is just days away, making this an ideal time to check in on the competitive meta of the long-running card game before the second half of the year brings us spaceships and Spider-Man.

Using data from MTGDecks.net, we’ve got some of the best decks around in top-tier play. Naturally, some are pricier than others, but if you’re looking for something to put together with your own collection, here are some great options.

5 - Vivi Cauldron

Just in case there was any lingering doubt about the wild success of FromSoftware's juggernaut Elden Ring series, today publisher Bandai Namco confirmed its DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, has sold over 10 million copies, and its co-op spin-off title, Elden Ring Nightreign, five million.

The base game itself has now exceeded 30 million copies sold.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a single-player DLC expansion for FromSoftware's hit RPG featuring an all-new story set in the Realm of Shadow, complete with new weapons, items, enemies, and boss encounters.

We thought Shadow of the Erdtree was a 'Masterpiece', and awarded it a rare 10/10, writing in IGN's Shadow of the Erdtree review: "Like the base game did before it, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree raises the bar for single-player DLC expansions. It takes everything that made the base game such a landmark RPG, condenses it into a relatively compact 20-25 hour campaign, and provides fantastic new challenges for heavily invested fans to chew on."

The base game similarly received a 10/10 when we reviewed it on release back in February 2022, but Nightreign — another standalone adventure — didn't fare quite as well, securing a 'Good' 7/10 in our Elden Ring Nightreign review. Nonetheless, Bandai reported that it sold more than 2 million copies in under 24 hours.

"When Elden Ring Nightreign is played exactly as it was designed to be played, it’s one of the finest examples of a three-player co-op game around – but that's harder to do than it should be, and playing solo is poorly balanced," we wrote at the time.

Earlier today, we reported that Sony has acquired a 2.5% stake in Elden Ring publisher Bandai Namco. Sony said the 16 million-share acquisition forms part of a broader "strategic partnership" with Bandai Namco and "will focus on expanding the fan community for IP such as anime and manga around the world and strengthening engagement."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, yes, there's an Elden Ring movie under way. Director Alex Garland recently revealed he's currently on his seventh playthrough of the epic fantasy RPG, and still thinks "it's Malenia who's the tough one."

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.

The DC Extended Universe was set to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but its become pretty clear that its track record didn't end up being as successful. As time went on, the films started becoming more standalone and only contained smaller references to the wider universe and story. This was made even more clear when Joker and The Batman shed off all their DCEU connections and began telling their own stories.

Despite that, there is still a lot to enjoy in the collection of films that began with 2013’s Man of Steel. Fans can obviously watch the films in the order that they were released, but there were a few entries that take place before some of the films that came before them. If you want to watch the DC films in chronological order, this guide was made specifically for you.

If you're interested in catching up on the DCEU movies before the new DCU arrives, we’ve listed all of the films in chronological order and release order below.

Jump to:

• How to watch in chronological order
• How to watch in release order

How Many DCEU Movies Are There?

There are 16 movies in the DCEU if you count both Suicide Squad films. The Batman and Joker are technically standalone films, and upcoming DC comic adaptations are primarily part of James Gunn's DCU reboot.

The DCEU Movies in (Chronological) Order

1. Wonder Woman (2017)

Despite being the fourth installment of the DCU, 2017’s Wonder Woman takes place earliest in the timeline. This film marks the second appearance of Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and follows her introduction in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Primarily a period piece set during the first World War, the film introduces audiences and Diana to US pilot Steve Trevor after he crashes on Themyscira, the hidden island of the Amazons. Soon after, German soldiers invade Themyscira, and certain other events that follow lead Diana and Steve to leave the island and travel to London.

Read our review of Wonder Woman.

2. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

As with Wonder Woman, its 2018 sequel is a period piece, this time primarily set in the year 1984. The events of this film bring Wonder Woman to face off against Cheetah (Kristen Wiig) and Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal). Wonder Woman 1984 takes place before all other DCU films besides the original, and doesn’t feature too many tie-ins to other characters or movies.

Read our review of Wonder Woman 1984.

3. Man of Steel (2013)

Man of Steel is the movie that kicked off the DCU and introduced the world to Henry Cavill’s Superman. The film begins by showing audiences the destruction of Kal-El’s home planet of Krypton before depicting Earth in roughly the year 2013. Clark Kent grows up and becomes the legendary Superman (spoilers, in case you hadn’t heard by now), and is accompanied by some familiar faces along the way, including Lois Lane (Amy Adams), General Zod (Michael Shannon), Martha Kent (Diane Lane), Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner), and more.

Read our review of Man of Steel.

4. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Very loosely based on a pivotal fight in the classic DC comic The Dark Knight Returns, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice takes place eighteen months after the events of Man of Steel, and tells the story of how Batman (Ben Affleck) reacts to the idea of an alien as powerful as Superman having free reign.

This film marks the first time Batman and Superman have starred in a live-action film together, and it also introduced audiences to modern film versions of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons), and more.

DC fans were also treated to a live-action version of the Superman villain Doomsday as well as a tease of DC Comics’ ultimate baddie, Darkseid.

Read our review of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

5. Suicide Squad (2016)

The first of the Suicide Squad films takes place about a year after Batman v Superman and even features a quick cameo by Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight. Unlike the classic superheroes featured in that film, however, Suicide Squad stars a group of imprisoned criminals and supervillains who are recruited by government agent Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) to join what is officially known as Task Force X. The group is tasked with completing a seemingly impossible mission in exchange for a reduction of their prison sentences. However, if they stray from the mission, nanite bombs implanted into their necks will explode.

A divisive film, Suicide Squad nonetheless features an all-star cast. Will Smith stars as Deadshot, Margot Robbie gets her debut performance as Harley Quinn, and certain other recurring characters get their first bit of screen time, including Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney). Oh, and this is the film that introduced the world to Jared Leto’s take on Joker.

Read our review of Suicide Squad.

6. Justice League (2017)

Justice League takes place about one year after the events of Suicide Squad and stars the returning cast of Batman v Superman. The film deals with the fallout of the death of Superman, and also features Steppenwolf and his parademons as the main villains. J.K. Simmons also makes his first appearance as Commissioner James Gordon.

Mostly shot by Zack Snyder, Justice League was finished by Joss Whedon after Snyder exited the project due to personal tragedy.

Read our review of Justice League.

7. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)

While many thought it would never happen, Zack Snyder’s Justice League finally saw its much-requested release in 2021. It is mostly the same overarching story, meaning it is set in the same place in the timeline. However, there are many differences between the two cuts of the film, including the return of Jared Leto’s Joker, a more prominent role for Darkseid, and the introduction of Martian Manhunter.

Read our review of Zack Snyder's Justice League.

8. Aquaman (2018)

Jason Momoa’s first solo DC film came in the form of 2018’s Aquaman. The film is set about a year after Justice League, but it takes a bit of time to dive deep into Aquaman’s origin story. Alongside the story of Aquaman’s rise to power and his attempt to protect Atlantis, the movie also introduced Mera (Amber Heard), Vulko (Willem Dafoe), King Orm (Patrick Wilson), Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), and classic Aquaman nemesis Black Manta (Yahya Abdul Mateen II).

Read our review of Aquaman.

9. Shazam! (2019)

2019’s Shazam! introduced audiences to orphan Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a teenager who is chosen by an ancient wizard named Shazam to be his new champion. With the powers he’s granted, Batson transforms into an adult superhero also named Shazam (Zachary Levi), and has to face off against obsessive scientist Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), who is intent on claiming Shazam’s power for his own.

Shazam! is mostly a standalone story, and only includes a few references to other DCU characters and moments.

Read our review of Shazam!

10. Birds of Prey (2020)

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is set about four years after the events of Suicide Squad and picks up after the Joker and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) break up. As Quinn recovers from the split, she crosses paths with crime lord Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) and his unhinged right-hand-man Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina).

As she struggles against Sionis and attempts to save a young pickpocket named Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), Quinn is joined by disgraced cop Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), the vigilante known as the Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Dinah Lance, also known as the Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett).

Despite being a loose sequel to Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey is another example of a DCU film that is mostly disconnected from other films in the franchise, but this is where it would fit into the timeline.

Read our review of Birds of Prey.

11. Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

We know that the first Shazam film takes place around late 2018 and it has been confirmed that Shazam 2 takes place 2 years later. That would mean the movie takes place sometime between late 2020 and early 2021. It is unclear if Zachary Levi's child-like super hero will continue on in the DCU, but it's possible that James Gunn will decide to keep him.

Read our Shazam! Fury of the Gods review.

12. The Suicide Squad (2021)

Also a sequel to Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad was directed by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), and is a new take on Task Force X. While it does include some returning characters, such as Harley Quinn, Amanda Waller, Rick Flag, and Captain Boomerang, the story is centered largely around the mercenary Bloodsport (Idris Elba) and fellow teammate Peacemaker (John Cena).

As has been the trend in these later films, The Suicide Squad is very much separate from the DCU’s main story that was being built up in the earlier years, but there are a few nods to the wider world, including of all things a giant, mind-controlling starfish from space named Starro the Conqueror, who was once the first villain the orignal comic book Justice League ever fought!

A huge success, The Suicide Squad is the first film in the franchise to spawn a streaming show in the MCU style, an offbeat miniseries featuring the return of Peacemaker.

Read our review of The Suicide Squad.

13. Black Adam (2022)

Black Adam was meant to usher in a new era of DCU movies, but with many lackluster reviews it didn't end up getting too far. Now that James Gunn has taken over direction of the universe, Dwayne Johnsons isn't likely to be one we'll see again.

As for the timeline of this movie, Black Adam is set after the events of Justice League and The Suicide Squad. This can be seen from the comic books, merchandise, and references from other movies. There's also the Black Adam post credits scene that features Superman alive that gives away it's placement on the timeline.

Read our Black Adam review.

14. The Flash (2023)

The Flash, timeline-wise, is set sometime after the events of Justice League (2017), but it also jumps around in time. Centering on Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), the film follows Barry as uses his newfound super powers of speed to go back in time and change a devastating moment from his past. But changing the past has consequences, and Barry will have to find a way to set things (and time) right.

Read our The Flash review.

15. Blue Beetle (2023)

Blue Beetle is a very standalone tale that can be watched at most any point in this timeline. It's also an interesting film as Xolo Maridueña's Blue Beetle will be part of the DCU despite this movie being part of the old DCEU. EIther way, Blue Beetle is an entertaining tale of Jamie Reyes fusing with an alien device called a Scarab and getting superpowers. This causes problems with those who wish to use these power for themselves, and Jamie needs to rise up become the Blue Beetle to save everything he loves.

Read our Blue Beetle review.

16. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has the distinct honor of closing out the DCEU. Unfortunately, it wasn't the grand ending everyone was hoping for. However, there are parts to enjoy and this film can be safely watched at the end, as it was meant to be, as it picks up after the events of the original film and follows Arthur Curry's reign as the King of Atlantis. He still has Black Manta to worry about, especially now that he has an ancient black trident of great power, and he has to free his brother Orm from prison to save everything.

Read our Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom review.

Bonus: Joker (2019)

2019’s Joker is a wildly successful film that earned over a billion dollars at the box office despite being entirely entirely unconnected to the DCEU. While Jared Leto’s Joker starred in 2016’s Suicide Squad, his behind-the-camera antics led to his eventual replacement. Director Todd Phillips cast Joaquin Phoenix in a new take on Batman’s most famous villain. Additionally, its separation from the DCEU means you don’t need to watch any of the other DCEU films to understand Joker’s story.

Read our Joker review.

Bonus: The Batman (2022)

Originally intended as a DCEU vehicle for Ben Affleck to produce, co-write, direct, and star in a feature film based on his version of the character, The Batman was eventually reworked into a standalone film by Matt Reeves after Affleck left the project.

The Batman takes place during Bruce Wayne’s (Robert Pattinson) second year as the Dark Knight, as he attempts to solve the mystery of multiple murders in Gotham being committed by The Riddler (Paul Dano). As a new take on the franchise, the movie also introduces new versions of Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), Commissioner Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), and Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), as well as classic Batman villain Penguin (Colin Farrell) and mob boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro).

Read our The Batman review.

All DCEU Movies in Release Order

• Man of Steel (2013)
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
• Suicide Squad (2016)
• Wonder Woman (2017)
• Justice League (2017)
• Aquaman (2018)
• Shazam! (2019)
• Birds of Prey (2020)
• Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
• Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
• The Suicide Squad (2021)
• Black Adam (2022)
• Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
• The Flash (2023)
• Blue Beetle (2023)
• Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

Upcoming DC Universe Movies

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom marked the end of the DCEU timeline, so upcoming movies are instead considered part of the "rebooted" DCU from James Gunn's DC Studios. While the first "Gods and Monsters" chapter of the DCU actually kicked off in December with the TV series Creature Commandos, perhaps the most anticipated part of this reboot is James Gunn's Superman movie (which just released in theaters). Outside of Gunn's DCU, we'll also (eventually) get to see a follow-up Matt Reeves' The Batman.

Upcoming DCU Reboot Movies and Series:

• Peacemaker Season 2 (August 21, 2025)
• Supergirl (June 26, 2026)
• Clayface (September 11, 2026)
• 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)

Other Upcoming DC Movies:

• The Batman Part II (October 1, 2027)

For those interested in knowing what DCU movies are coming out next, we've got you covered. You can also read our guide to what DC comics will help you prepare for the big reboot.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Retired WWE legend and ‘80s icon Terry Gene Bollea a.k.a. Hulk Hogan has died at 71.

The wrestling icon's family confirmed with US Weekly that the entertainment star and athlete passed away earlier today. TMZ Sports, which was first to report the news, said that medics were called to his Clearwater, Florida home this morning. Audio from operators at the time signals the call was related to “cardiac arrest,” but a formal cause of death has not been revealed.