The card-based, narrative-driven RPG Sultan’s Game just dropped its latest update alongside new DLC. There’s new story content, a downloadable soundtrack, new cards, and the base game is on sale for 15% as part of the Steam Summer Sale right now.

For those who aren’t familiar with Sultan’s Game, the story begins with a tyrannical sultan who has experienced every vice and pleasure life has to offer, and he’s grown bored. But then a mysterious sorceress arrives with a card game meant only for the realm’s most powerful people. Each round of the game assigns you a Sultan Card and tasks you with destroying it, but each card has different requirements to defeat it.

Cards come in four different types with four different tiers within those types. The four card types are Carnality, Bloodshed, Conquest, and Extravagance. You sate Carnality cards with nights of passion, feed the hunger of Bloodshed cards with living sacrifices, fulfill Conquest cards by capturing locations, and satisfy Extravagance cards with wealth and treasure.

Each card also comes in one of four tiers of increasing value: stone, bronze, silver, and gold. To defeat a Sultan Card, you must use a card of equal or higher value. So, for instance, if you need to destroy a silver Bloodshed card, then you must kill a character card that’s either silver or gold.

While the game is played with cards, in-world those cards represent real people, so sacrificing cards means killing actual subjects. As you might expect, this is just the kind of game a tyrannical ruler would love. But you don’t play as the sultan — at least, not after the tutorial. You are one of his courtiers who had the courage to call out the game for its cruelty and depravity. Your punishment? The sultan puts you in charge of playing the game and having to make life-or-death decisions to defeat each Sultan Card. If you fail, he’ll execute you.

The beginning of each round will see you draw a new Sultan Card, and you’ll have seven days to figure out how to destroy it. There are activities available each day, and you can choose which activities to send cards in your deck to do. But you’ll need to be strategic about which activities you do each day and which cards you assign to them. Seven days can go by quickly, and there are limited resources at your disposal.

Some of those activities require dice rolls to determine if your chosen cards are successful. When you end the day, text-based scenes will play out based on who did what, whether they were successful, and your rewards. The primary rewards are gold coins (which can be used to gain access to other activities) or information cards (which can be used for a variety of things), but as the game progresses, more events get added with more varied results.

Ultimately, the story will be shaped by how you decide to approach each task and how moral or immoral you choose to be. Will you willingly go along with the sultan or secretly plot behind his back? Will you stay loyal to your wife or spend your free time at the local brothel? How will you treat the strangers that cross your path?

No matter what decisions you make, butterfly effects will follow in their wake, some of which won’t show themselves until long after you’ve made the initial choice. Some decisions might seem innocuous at first, but the story branches they open can continue branching from there and end up with wildly different outcomes.

Many of these decisions will test your morality. That starts as soon as the game begins, when you choose the background of your main character and his wife. Are you kind and charming or strong and intimidating? Are you a slave owner (this is a sultan’s court, after all) or a more enlightened friend of the nobility? Your starting deck and stats will be determined by the choices you make during this setup, but the moral decisions only get more complicated from there.

We won’t give any spoilers here, but we will say that there are some truly dark and extreme choices you can make, and they can dramatically alter the course of the story and the things you experience in your playthrough. You’ll have to grapple with questions like, “Who am I willing to kill?” and “What makes one person’s life more valuable than another?” Some moments might elicit excitement, others fear, and others maybe even disgust. A single playthrough takes about 10 hours, but seeing every ending can easily run you to 150+ hours, so there are lots of different paths to take.

The story has an extensive script, and the latest update refined that script. It also added new Steam badges, community items, and 10 new cards crowdsourced from the community (pictured below). But the biggest new additions come in the form of two DLCs: a downloadable soundtrack and prequel story.

The OST features 15 original tracks by Zeta and international artists, and it’s a fusion of Uyghur Muqam, guzheng, and Western orchestration that’s meant to represent the cross-cultural atmosphere of the game.

The prequel DLC is a digital novella called A Game for the Sultan, which will let fans read the original story that inspired development of the game. Written by the game’s lead writer, it takes place in the sultan’s court, tells a standalone story, and delves into the origin of the dreaded Sultan Cards and how they first corrupted a sultan’s court.

Sultan’s Game and its DLCs are currently exclusive to PC and are available now on Steam. The base game sold more than 600,000 units within its first month of release and is now approaching 1 million sales during the Steam Summer Sale. It’s also reviewed well on Steam, currently sitting at “very positive” with more than 16,000 reviews and “overwhelmingly positive” with 1,600 recent reviews. You can stay up to date on the latest info by following developer Double Cross Studio on Twitter.

Back in Summer 2024, it’s safe to say all eyes were on Cleveland, Ohio. That’s when production on James Gunn’s Superman shifted to The Forest City and transformed several downtown blocks into a facsimile of Metropolis, complete with fake storefronts and a facade of the Daily Planet building. The city’s streets were swarmed with onlookers and paparazzi, all hoping to catch a glimpse of star David Corenswet in his newly revealed super-suit.

Amid all this chaos and hubbub, IGN was one of several outlets invited to the set to speak with the cast and crew of Superman. We previously showed you what we learned from Gunn himself, but equally fascinating was our conversation with production designer Beth Mickle, executive producer Chantal Nong, and costume designer Judiana McKovsky. The trio shed plenty of light on the thrill of transforming a major American city into Superman’s home, as well as the challenges involved in creating a new Fortress of Solitude and a new Superman costume. Read on to find out what we learned on-set, and why the “trunks or no trunks” debate raged right up until the eleventh hour.

How Superman Differs From Man of Steel

Obviously, Gunn isn’t the first director to reboot the Superman franchise on the big screen in the 21st Century. Just as Superman is the foundation for the larger DCU, Zack Snyder previously launched the DCEU with 2013’s Man of Steel. When asked how this particular reboot differs from Kal-El’s recent cinematic adventures, Mickle told the group it all comes down to tone.

“I feel like that's the biggest change that I see, tonally, is the Superman incarnations that we're most familiar with, at least from the 2000s, have been heavier and darker,” Mickle said. “It was very much a part of the tone that those movies had. It just put you into a heavier, heavier space. I think what we really wanted to do was really brighten everything up and really lighten it up and make it hopeful, hopeful, hopeful.”

Mickle continued, “That's really what we blend with the visuals. And the tone, the lighting, the cast, I mean, obviously they're just radiant, effervescent, upbeat... It's far more colorful than any of the other Superman films will be, you'll see. And we really derived our color from Superman's palette. It's lots of blues, reds, golds, but then oranges and greens interspersed and really try to keep it in the primary colors, secondary colors and bright, vivid, saturated color.”

Nong revealed that one of the other main goals with the film was to create a more timeless quality to Metropolis and its inhabitants, not unlike the Richard Donner’s movies or the DC Animated Universe. Superman may be set in the present, but the production design borrows liberally from many different decades.

“When you look up and down the street... the characters, the extras, the picture cars, the sets that we're doing, we want it to feel like it could be anywhere. It could be the '90s, could be 2000s, but maybe it's the '80s,” Nong said. “We do this contemporary just so that you get lost in the nostalgia of it, and it doesn't feel like precisely 2024 or 2025 movie. I think, like some of the leading words we've used are nostalgia, Americana, timelessness, bright, colorful, hopeful, and I don't feel like the superhero movies and definitely none of the Superman felt to that level before.”

“A perfect example is going to be our Daily Planet news office where it's this gorgeous, old, turn-of- the-century building, some great old phones. We brought in really timeless dressing, like tank desks and older mid-century desks, but that were just nicely kept,” Mickle added. “The idea is that they just haven't turned over and gotten new furniture in. But then the screens are modern and the phones are modern, and so it's like they updated the things that would have made sense technologically. So, the technology is actually what does keep us current. And a handful of cars that'll be in the 2010, 2020, a handful of those that'll make it in.”

You might be surprised to learn that the crew wasn’t focused much on establishing a clear visual tone for the larger DCU. Mickle indicated that this is one area where directors of each individual film or TV project are free to blaze their own trail

“I think the idea is for each movie to have its own specific feel and look and tone,” Mickle said. “But I think it was important for this first one coming out and for it being James's voice, and James's voice is often bright and colorful and visual. It was mostly sticking with James's tone, making sure that's what was the leading quote here. But we fully expected everybody else, every other film to make it their own and have their own tone.”

The Innate Goodness of Corenswet’s Superman

Gunn has been very clear on his approach to Superman from the beginning. His version of the Man of Steel is a fundamentally kind and decent guy living in a world where kindness and decency aren’t particularly valued traits. Nong told the reporters that this take is very much embodied in actor David Corenswet.

“This Superman is a guy who has never fit in, and yet there are so many ways that you can think about that,” Nong said. “But for James and for the movie, it's so much about his values. He's a really good, kind man. And if you think about goodness and kindness in the world right now, it's more anomalous than you'd like for it to be. That, I think, is really beautiful. And David very much embodies that. He's very low-key. He's such a good guy. He's always doing things for other people.”

Of course, it’s important that Corenswet be able to capture Clark Kent as well as Superman. Nong related an amusing story that illustrated just how much of Clark there is in Corenswet, even when he’s not actively performing.

‘We were in Atlanta [during preproduction],” Nong said. “I was in my office, and he had put his lunch in my fridge. And I was in a meeting, and he just… he's a big dude. And he was, at the time, gaining weight, so he was even bigger than normal. And he takes it from my tiny fridge, and then it's just like literally starts dropping some of it. I was howling, and then he just quickly exits the room and closes the door. And we were dying. It was just like Clark Kent just showed up in my office. And he hasn't shot a day, and we haven't rehearsed. That's just who he is.”

Transforming Cleveland Into Metropolis

Touring the outdoor set in downtown Cleveland was quite an experience. The attention to detail was immediately noticeable, with practically every street sign and storefront transformed into something referencing the Superman franchise, the wider DCU, or any number of other Easter eggs. The ever-present Jitters coffee shop from the Arrowverse was there, and there were subtler DC references, like the TV shop Quitely and Sons paying tribute to All-Star Superman artist Frank Quitely. According to Mickle, “every street name has lore to it, has something attached to it.”

Interestingly, for all the work that went into transforming Cleveland into Metropolis, that wasn’t originally part of the plan. Mickle revealed that Gunn and his crew originally hoped to film the city scenes in Atlanta, given that much of the interior scenes were already being filmed there. But once it became clear that Atlanta lacked the variety of architecture necessary to create a convincing Metropolis, they had to cast a slightly wider net.

“Back to the idea that we wanted everything to feel really nostalgic and timeless, we knew we wanted to have a nice architecture that went from everything to the cutting-edge glass skyscraper that Sharon Williams has just put up on the public square to the building that we're using right outside here for the Daily Planet, built turn of the century,” Mickle said. “We were hopeful that we could travel to a different city outside of Atlanta to shoot. We initially scouted Atlanta because that's where we're going to be based for all of our stage shooting, and thought, ‘Okay, can we try to make it work here?’ But they don't have quite as much diversity in the periods of their architecture, so that was a little bit hampering.”

Thus began a period of city-scouting, with everything from Toronto to Detroit being considered. But ultimately, Cleveland emerged as the only logical choice.

“Early on, we thought about Cleveland. We thought about Toronto. We thought about Chicago, Detroit. We just did a little research just poking around visuals in other cities,” Mickle said. “But Cleveland, it definitely had the mix of the architecture. Overall, Ohio definitely has the mix of the architectural periods, so that was always in the back of our heads. But then the thing that really ended up getting this here, initially, was in Cincinnati, the original Hall of Justice is based on the Cincinnati's Union Terminal station.”

Mickle continued, “We found that piece of research and just how perfectly matched it is when it has been shown in the past. So, we thought, ‘Okay, it'd be great if we could shoot that exterior for the exterior of our Hall of Justice.’ So, we came out and scouted it and just started walking around the streets in Cincinnati and know how similar it is to Cleveland. And we just thought, ‘Well, if we're already going to be here for a day to shoot that, why don't we actually do a deeper dive in Ohio?’"

Redesigning the Fortress of Solitude

The Richard Donner Superman films remain the gold standard where the Fortress of Solitude is concerned. At this point, even the comics have adopted that iconic, crystalline look to the Fortress’ Kryptonian architecture. As the various trailers have shown, the Fortress plays a significant role in the film. Mickle said that the goal wasn’t really to reinvent the wheel in this area, but to take the Donner aesthetic and run in a slightly different direction.

“We came up with our own re-imagining based on Richard Donner version where it's, again, a crystal palace and all comes up from the great landscape that we shot in Svalbard,” Mickle said. “But we've reoriented our crystal, so it has a different shape than what you'll see in the Richard Donner version. The exterior has a big monolithic, sculptural, asymmetrical shape that James and I really fell in love with.”

Mickle continued, “It was based on the way water and ocean waves splash and hit rocks and how there's just a nice big movement and projectile action that happens with water. And so the idea is that's how it came up and froze. Crystals grow very much the same way from rocks. They kind of come up projectile, reaching. Everything has movement. So that's very much what we brought into our Fortress of Solitude. That's what the exterior is. And then on the interior, we carry all that, the lines and the movement and the shapes. Those sweeping shapes all come on the inside as well.”

On the flip side, Gunn voiced a desire to have a Fortress that’s as home-y and inviting on the inside as it is cold and imposing on the outside. This is a Fortress of Solitude straight out of the Silver Age comics, with all the tools and gadgets and rooms fans would expect.

“James really wanted it to be a man cave,” Mickle said. “He wanted it to be very much based on the Silver Age comics. It's where he has his laboratory. It's where he has a zoo. It's where he has a supercomputer set up. It's where he does his research. It's where he hangs out. We brought a lot of that into the design where it feels like it's kind of man cave carved into stone, with crystals coming through it. And a lot of the language for all of the Krypton technology is very Silver Age-inspired and has a little bit of midcentury wink to it.

Mickle added, “That was, by far, the most exciting, as far as the sets of what we got to recreate. And we all know, the whole art department, we're like, ‘We peeked. It doesn't get better.’ All from design, the direction, the recreating, the Fortress of Solitude, that's literally, there's just nowhere to go from here.”

Creating the Kent Farm

Superman also introduces its own take on the Kent family farm, with Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell portraying Clark’s parents. This is one area where Gunn wanted to strike a very different tone from the typically vast, Rockwellian versions of the Kent farm in previous adaptations. This farm is small and humble, perfect for conveying Clark’s humble origins.

“James was really clear that he wanted the Kent farm and the homestead to be a big departure from what we've seen before,” Mickle said. “We didn't want it to be this idyllic two-story farmhouse with a wraparound front porch and gloriously maintained, just magically, wonderfully, hundreds of acres beautifully maintained by two older folks. He wanted it to actually feel like a very modest but very well-loved homestead. And he had said really early on - single level, small, simple, nothing overly adorned.”

Just as with the hunt for Metropolis, finding the right farm to transform into the Kent homestead took some doing, but the crew eventually found what they were looking for in LaGrange, Georgia.

“We found this fantastic location where the old original farmhouse for the homestead was down the road, but then this was this old kind of a caretaker's ranch house that they had put across the road on the property, but it's still surrounded by hundreds of acres of fields just like you'd expect,” Mickle said. “And it just happened to be empty at the time, that house. It had belonged to the father of the family who had passed away a few years before, but the family really wanted to rehab it, get it back into better shape, do something with it. They weren't sure what to do with it.”

Mickle continued, “And then we came along. It's one of those beautiful stories. We went in. We really tidied up. We mitigated any of the issues. We took care of some leaky areas and kept the old shed carpet just because it had that old great timelessness, and then really embraced a lot of what was already there, which was really great.”

Supermans Costume: The Great Trunks Debate

Gunn also had some clear ideas about Superman’s costume coming into the project. As McKovsky revealed, Gunn was very adamant that he wanted the costumes in the film to be functional, not skintight spandex. They needed to look like legitimate uniforms the characters put on when they go to work, and that’s especially true for Superman himself.

“I think the thought behind the costume is to not overthink it,” McKovsky said. “It is not a fake muscle suit. It isn't muscles built into some fake suit. Again making Superman very relatable. It's David. And it is a suit. It is a uniform. He puts it on to go fight. It isn't a magic suit. James was very adamant that it is a uniform that he goes out to fight in. It is clothing.”

That fact is reflected in the textures and materials used for the costume. Corenswet’s costume was sewn from wool, a material chosen after some trial-and-error.

“It is heavy. It is wool,” McKovsky said. “The fabric is a real fabric. We went through many things. It's kind of a printed stretch, but it has some cotton in it. We started more cotton stretch, and it was a little too wrinkly and not fitted. We went through many fabrics.”

McKovsky continued, “It's a very thin stretch that then has a print to give it a texture because James was very adamant it had a texture and not just flat to make it more modern. That always makes it look a little thicker than the fabric actually is. But I mean it has a little structure in the suit, but not muscle. There's no muscles on the suit. It's David.”

One thing Gunn wasn’t so clear on was whether or not Superman’s iconic red trunks should be a part of his uniform. Many recent live-action Superman suits have shied away from the trunks, adopting a more modern, New 52-inspired look. McKovsky told reporters that the debate raged for a long time, saying “It was a large discussion that went on literally till the night before we shot.”

“I do not do social media, but I do know the amount of tension,” McKovsky said. “And it was also a big deal for us whether it was trunks or no trunks. It was a constant poll amongst everybody, ‘Trunks or no trunks?’ And then we would end up no trunk. And getting the trunks to where we all thought they worked and made sense with this costume was a long... We tried many things, many things.”

For her part, McKovsky was firmly in the pro-trunks camp, and she was determined to make the design work.

“I actually have to admit, I would not give up,” McKovsky said. “I'm going to do my best to make sure they work if we want them, because I'll be the first to say, ‘It doesn't work with this suit,’ but I just refused to give up. And literally, the night before everybody went to Greenland, we looked at it, we shot it, and the minute we saw it, everybody had the same thought.”

What convinced them? McKovsky said that the costume ultimately seemed to be missing something crucial without the trunks to provide balance.

“I think it was just the way it's made and that it's the same kind of weight and that it is close to the original Superman design,” McKovsky said. “It just, it didn't look like Superman without the trunks. It just looked like a blue suit, honestly. It was very interesting. And it was very divided among the crew, very divided. But it's something about we took them off on the last night, and then put them back on, and everyone went, ‘Oh, it's just a blue suit with an S on it.’"

As for Corenswet’s Clark Kent look, McKovsky said that the trick was creating a more frazzled, harried look and portraying Clark as someone who dresses a little bit old-fashioned, highlighting the fact that he’s not full in step with our modern, cynical world.

“I mean, Clark is Clark,” McKovsky said. “The one thing, again, he's not very comfortable, so his clothes don't fit very well. He's not a glamorous Clark Kent. He's kind of goofy, frankly. And his clothes, they're a little old-fashioned. They don't fit well because he doesn't fit well. It was a deliberate choice to have it be kind of not, but it is, I will say right out of the comic.”

Clark’s glasses proved to be one of the most important elements. They are, after all, the closest thing he has to a mask, and the challenge was finding just the right style for a bumbling reporter hiding the fact that he’s also an all-powerful superhero.

“We've tried quite a few,” McKovsky said. “We narrowed it down on the first try that we got this pair of glasses. They're sort of vintage, but they're not. They're modern, but they give a sort of '70s vibe. I mean, James, on this movie, the sensibility is it's a modern-day movie. They have cell phones, there's all of that, but it is classic. We probably talked about this, that the sensibility is very '60s, '70s in it, almost a little '30s at times too.”

McKovsky added, “But it's very '60s, '70s, so his glasses have a little bit of a '70s feel, but they're not. They also don't overwhelm his face. I mean, that was a hard thing. You don't want it to be about the glasses. There's a story point here. They have to look like they're natural to him.”

Designing the Other Costumes in Superman

McKovsky had plenty to say about designing the other costumes in the film. Read on for a breaksdown of some of the major characters and how their comic book costumes translated into live-action.

The Engineer

McKovsky: The Engineer was challenging. I've done quite a few of these movies, and I wanted to do something new. So, the material that we make, I have to say, it's pretty beautiful. It's like this weird, reedy thing under a laser cut, so it comes through. At times, you can see where it comes through from your skin. But I think that was a challenge, how to make that actually work, and be a sexy suit, and still do all the things in the movie that it has to do.

It was, again, working with everyone and , "How do we give a leg up to visual effects so they don't have to do everything?" Because James, the more practical, that's what he wants. He wants the least amount. I mean, of course he's added a lot of visual effects. And we rely on Steph [Ceretti] for everything, but we help him, so he doesn't have to do [everything].

It's not like we're just going to put a MoCap suit on everyone, as in other movies. We don't do that. We make a good base so that they can then take it. And all these suits function. They have a function, so we try and help that.

Guy Gardner

McKovsky: Again, it's clothing. I will say, when I talk to James, he thinks of all superheroes as clothing. He doesn't think of it as some glued-on skin-tight [thing]. He never has in all the movies I've done with him. He doesn't see them that way. He sees them, even though they're superheroes or they could be slightly alien, as human. You want to relate to them. And I think he feels like you can relate to characters more if it's more clothing-based, so I think that's how he looked at all those characters, that it's clothing.

We all start looking at the comic, and we look at all the iterations that have been in the comic, and we go, "Yeah, it's great in a comic. It's not going to work." And also, if the character is funny, you don't need to make funny clothes. Let them be funny. Because there is a heroic part of them, for sure.

I think that's kind of... I mean, I do that anyway. Okay, Chris Evans always says that, "You don't put a hat on a hat." So, if it's already one thing, you don't need to push it and make it funnier or make a caricature. That character could so easily go caricature, and we decided to not go that way at all. Just let Nathan be the Green Lantern.

Lois Lane

McKovsky: Lois, in particular, was an interesting journey. She's a real reporter. It's not about fashion. She's an on-the-ground out there reporter, and it's very low-key. Her clothes, they're very functional. It's not a fashion statement, at all. They're very simple clothes. It's someone who would really go out.

I mean, this movie is very grounded. Having done these movies before, the more grounded you make them, the more you can relate to the characters. If they're so out there, then they're just comic. With Lois, particularly, we kept it really low-key for sure.

Hawkgirl

McKovsky: Hawkgirl was really difficult, actually. I think Hawkgirl was probably the hardest thing to do because there's so many iterations of Hawkgirl. She's got so many backstories. It's like, which one works with this movie?

We went with the approach that they're kind of coordinated, It's a team, and sort of a team. But it's nothing like the comic, except she does have a helmet, which is very comic-based. But any of those iterations, also, I just don't think they would have made the best costume for a movie that's reality-based, so we kind of went away from it. But, again, it was a thing, helmet, no helmet, helmet, no helmet. I'm like, "Helmet. I'm making a helmet." And they go, "I don't think we're ever going to use the helmet." "I'm making a helmet."

So, we made the helmet. I thought, "Oh, we're using the helmet." Because it's pretty cool. When you see the silhouette in the sky, then you really know it's Hawkgirl.

Mr. Terrific

McKovsky: I would say Mr. Terrific is the one closest to the comic, for sure. It's such a great image. And he's the one guy, he's so cool that he can have a suit that looks like a little superhero. Everything on him is very branded. He's got Ts on everything because that's who he is.

And I think that is the one, even though we updated a little, he's got these very cool sneaker boots, and that weren't easy to make and get all the lines to match up. That was a little why-did-I-do-that moment, "Why did I have the lines go right down through the boot?" But he's such a hipster cool guy.

Superman hits theaters on July 11, 2025.

For more on the new DC film, find out 6 huge details we learned about Superman and brush up on every DC movie and series in development.

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

Alienware's Black Friday in July Sale has officially kicked off, and one of the best deals I've seen so far is this Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 gaming PC for just $2,099.99 shipped. This is $250 less than the previous best deal I've seen on the same configuration, and one of the best prices you can get for any prebuilt RTX 5080 gaming PC. The Alienware Aurora R16 is a well-engineered and compact gaming rig with 240mm AIO water cooling, sensible airflow design, and a generous 1,000W 80Plus Platinum rated power supply. In the current market, buying a prebuilt gaming PC is the only way to score an RTX 5080 GPU without paying an exorbitant markup. If you were to try to find a 5080 GPU for your do-it-yourself PC build, you'll probably spend $1,400 for the graphics card alone.

Alienware Aurora RTX 5080 Gaming PC From $2,099.99

Daredevil's Kingpin, Vincent D'Onofrio, has responded to a fan's complaints about the character as seen in Disney+ series Born Again — and while polite, it's as cool a reaction as you'd expect to come from Wilson Fisk himself.

D'Onofrio returned alongside series star Charlie Cox for Daredevil: Born Again, which picks up D'Onofrio and Cox's characters several years after they were last seen in Netflix's abruptly-cancelled Daredevil show, and following their reintroduction into the MCU in other projects.

But while many fans were delighted to see the characters squaring off against each other on screen once more, you can't please everyone. And one of those viewers with complaints decided to share them directly with D'Onofrio via social media, drawing the actor's attention.

"Wilson Fisk got nerfed like the Hulk," said the fan, in response to a post by D'Onofrio. "Not your fault Disney didn't rehire the writers from the Netflix show. Hope Season 2 returns to what made the Netflix show so damn good. But Disney has a track record of ruining reboots."

The message was quickly spotted by the Kingpin actor, who offered this in response:

"I have to say I disagree with all that you say. To be honest my performances have been called many things but never nerfed. Lol. Yet I don't play the part just for you and you don't watch TV just for me. So we are even and I accept your criticism. No matter the lack of good sportsmanship, fairness and legitimacy."

Honestly, it's difficult not to read D'Onofrio's words in his Kingpin voice. Most would have stopped responding there, but the fan continued, further criticising "Disney Fisk" by suggesting "Netflix Fisk would never have a guy locked in cage [sic]. Fisk would've killed him, his family, friends and coworkers."

Step up D'Onofrio again, with a further response:

"I control my characters performance," he wrote. "You are a bit green when it comes to your knowledge on making a show. The detail, the writing, the technologies and the overall structure and architecture in laying out the storyline and executing performances. You keep saying it's the writing that is the problem. You may not like it. Many do though. We can't please everyone but we can please millions and they've said so. Our fans are very loud.

"Let's say I were you and I hated the portrayal of Kingpin as much as you do. I'd stay away from it. I'd champion storytelling that I love instead of dragging writers and someone's performance. As an actor I fail in my eyes everyday and also in my past work many times but I keep trying to get it right. All creative types have that in common. What we don't do is try and ruin millions of others fun when we don't like a piece. Instead we champion the stuff we do like and become inspired by it. Try it. It makes life so much more sustainable and yes, inspiring."

Oof.

Daredevil: Born Again will be back on Disney+ with new episodes next year, including the return of Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones, and yes, more Kingpin versus Daredevil action.

Image credit: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images.

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

Hulu has been around for a while and, for our money, it's one of the absolute best streaming services available. From great movies like Anora and Predator: Killer of Killers to excellent television series like Shogun, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Bear (check out our glowing review of season four here), there is always something awesome to watch. We've also got the highly-anticipated Alien: Earth series on our radar this year, which premieres its first two episodes on August 12 on Hulu at 8pm ET, and on FX and Disney+ at 8pm PT / ET.

Below, we've detailed all of the best Hulu deals and bundles so you can get started on your streaming adventures with its library right away. This includes the Hulu, Disney+, and Max streaming bundle, which starts at just $16.99/month and is currently the best value available for the streaming services following the Disney Plus and Hulu price hikes. To see even more streaming deals, make sure to check out our roundups of the best Disney Plus deals and the best Max deals.

How to Get The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max Streaming Bundle

The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle can be purchased on any of the three streaming services and starts at $16.99/month for the ad-supported tier or $29.99/month for ad-free access across all three platforms. If you're looking to cut down on streaming costs and currently own all three of these, this is an excellent bundle to invest in. It'll save you quite a bit compared to what you'd pay for the three of them separately per month - 43% on the ad-supported plan and 42% on the ad-free plan.

Hulu deal for students — Get Hulu (With Ads) for just $1.99/month

If you're a student enrolled in a university (a US Title IV accredited college or university, per Hulu's website), you can sign up for Hulu (With Ads) for $1.99 a month. That's an excellent deal if you're a student, saving you $8 on the usual monthly price.

Hulu subscription tiers

Hulu: Bundle to Best

If you want a more affordable option when it comes to a Hulu subscription, you can't go wrong with a bundle, and Hulu has several to choose from:

• Hulu + Live TV (With Ads) — Hulu + Live TV (With Ads) is $82.99/month and includes Disney+ and ESPN+. It also gives you access to more than 75 channels with live TV and unlimited DVR functionality. The Hulu + Live TV plan also has a three-day free trial to test out the service.
• Hulu + Live TV (Ad-Free) — The ad-free version of Hulu+Live TV is $95.99/month and comes with ad-free versions of Hulu and Disney Plus, although ESPN still shows ads.
• Disney+, Hulu Bundle Basic — This is the most economic bundle. It will set you back $10.99/month and comes with subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu. It lets you stream on multiple devices at once and comes with ad-supported versions of both Disney+ and Hulu.
• Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Bundle Basic — This bundle adds ESPN+ into the mix alongside Disney+ and Hulu, bumping up the price to $16.99/month. You can also download and watch select content on ESPN+ at this level.
• Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Bundle Premium — This bundle is $26.99/month and comes with ESPN+ (with ads) and ad-free versions of Disney+ and Hulu. You can also download select content across all three streaming services.

What can you watch on Hulu?

There is a bonkers amount of shows and movies you can watch on Hulu. Let's start at the top and simply talk about the verticals on offer with the base subscription, because if we also talk about what is available via Disney+, ESPN+, or live TV, we'll be here forever. (You can also sync up Hulu with Max to gain access to things like The Last of Us and House of the Dragon.)

Here's what you get:

• Network and Hulu Original television shows (AMC, Adult Swim, ABC, A&E, FX, etc.)
• Movies (HBO, Hulu Originals, anime films, etc.)
• Sports (NHL, Soccer, MLB, Auto Racing, NFL, College Football, PGA, Tennis, etc.)
• News (ABC News Live, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, 20/20, The View, etc.)

Hulu television

Hulu has some amazing shows, both those that are finished and many which are ongoing. For comedy, there are plenty of options to choose from, including New Girl, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, What We Do In The Shadows, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Broad City, Abbott Elementary, and so much more.

There are also some big Hulu originals to watch, including The Bear, The Old Man, The Handmaid's Tale, and Only Murders In The Building. With an FX partnership, Hulu is also home to those shows, including Shogun and the upcoming Alien: Earth series.

As far as animated fare, there are modern adult classics like Rick and Morty and Bob's Burgers, as well as Futurama, Family Guy, and King of the Hill. Anime staples like Cowboy Bebop are also available. And if you want to bring more youth-friendly fun, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Adventure Time, and Curious George are just a small sample of what Hulu has available.

The future of Hulu

Hulu isn't going anywhere. Beyond it being awarded the best streaming service by us, it also received a 9/10 in our updated Hulu review. Writer Rosie Knight said, "Hulu's ease of use, solid UI, and ever- expanding catalog has moved it ahead of top competitor Netflix to secure our highest score for a streaming service."

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Original story from Brian Barnett.

Whether it’s ahead of the regular Amazon Prime sales across the year or building up to Black Friday, Audible is regularly dropping special subscription offers, giving you practically free credits to spend on the best fictional audiobooks around.

At the time of writing, for instance, Audible is running a promo where Prime members get three months for free, each giving a monthly credit to exchange, while non-Prime members can pay 99p per month for those three instead of $14.95 (this offer also applies in the UK).

Naraka: Bladepoint is approaching its fourth anniversary, and it’s celebrating with another Naraka Fest Direct. There will be news, reveals, updates, and details about upcoming in-game events and new content, and IGN will host a livestream of the show. We have all the info you need to watch the show live, as well as some ideas of what to expect to be shown.

Naraka Fest Direct Date, Time, and How to Watch

If you’re in the United States, this will be a nighttime show. It’ll begin on Tuesday, July 1 at 9 p.m. Pacific, which means it’ll be at midnight that night in the Eastern time zone. You can watch it live on any of these IGN channels:

IGN.com (our homepage)

IGN’s Facebook

IGN’s Twitter

IGN’s Twitch

IGN’s YouTube

If you can’t stay up late to watch it live, that’s okay. We’ll save the show in its entirety on our YouTube page, same as we did for last year’s Naraka Fest. So it’ll be waiting for you the next morning.

What to Expect from the Naraka Fest Direct

Before last year’s show, we already knew about the new map, Perdoria, that was being added. So we knew a deep dive into its details was approaching. This time around, we’ve gotten trailers letting us know big changes are coming. Naraka’s very world is breaking apart and a shift is rewriting every reality. In the midst of all that chaos, we can see a lightning-like figure traversing different timelines. Is that a hint about a new hero being introduced? We’ll have to wait and see.

Could those big, world-shaking changes also mean a new mode is on the horizon? Naraka: Bladepoint has kept its players engaged through its four-year run by consistently introducing new modes, like the recently added PvP mode Blessed Brutality. Could there be another new mode coming? What about collabs? There have been a bunch of collaborations to this point, ranging from other games (like The Witcher 3) to real-life figures (like fighter Buakaw Banchamek). Maybe there’s another one on the way. You can also bet on there being in-game events and rewards to celebrate the game’s fourth anniversary, but you’ll have to tune in on July 1 to see what they are.

You might already be calling It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Rob McElhenny ‘Mac,’ after watching his beloved character on the raucous comedy series for a whopping 16 seasons (with another now on the way). He is Mac to many of us — and now, the comic has revealed why he will be known as Mac legally as well.

"As our business and our storytelling is expanding into other regions of the world and other languages in which my name is even harder to pronounce, I'm just going by Rob Mac," McElhenny said while alongside creative partner Ryan Reynolds for an interview with Variety in May. And now, as of last week, the actor has filed to make the name change legal, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed.

McElhenny has explained that after purchasing the Wrexham Football Club with Reynolds in late 2020 — a venture that can be seen chronicled in the pair’s FX docuseries Welcome to Wrexham — his work with the team led his production company, More Better Productions, to invest in football clubs (you know, also known as soccer, in case that wasn’t clear) in South America. And it's there that his name has ended up being a pronunciation hurdle with Spanish speakers, which inspired him to make the change.

It got to the point where McElhenny’s surname was such a conversational challenge within their work that Reynolds debuted a hilarious song highlighting the problem while celebrating Mac's birthday in April 2023. "Pronouncing all those Ns and Es and Hs can perplex 'em," Reynolds sang alongside both celebrities and local friends of the football club in the number. "So here's a little birthday gift from all your mates in Wrexham."

That said, the decision doesn’t just affect McElhenny, it’s also a change for his family. "The kids are really not happy about it, because they have that last name," It’s Always Sunny star Kaitlin Olsen — who McElhenny married in 2008 and has two children with — also told Variety. "And so do I, legally!"

At the end of the day, we’re just excited to be able to legally call him Mac forever now. It’s a win for the people.

Season 17 of It’s Always Sunny arrives on FXX on July 6.

Image credit: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Pokémania 2025 isn't slowing down, which means trainers need to be savvy about their sealed Pokémon TCG purchases. Whilst buying at MSRP is become the stuff of legend, it's always good practice to see what products are selling for on the secondary market compared to big box stores such as Amazon. The same goes for Magic: The Gathering. Luckily, I've gone through Amazon's current stock for both and found the best deals of these products to save trainers, wizards and witches a few dollars. I'm amazing, right?

TL;DR: Deals For Today

Amazon is also gearing up for its 4-day Prime Day sale with some early deals and a massive 6-month free prime membership deal for anyone aged 18-24 in the US. then it's $7.49 thereafter. Cool, right? Speaking of staying cool, we've got a great deal on a neck fan and something to help get a cool nights sleep for way below MSRP. Let's get into it:

Amazon Prime Day Is Coming

6 Months Free Amazon Prime For Young Adults

Pokémon TCG Price Comparison

Some of the pricing here by Amazon is insane, but there's some deals to be had when comparing these products to TCG Player. For example, Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection is a massive 56% below market value, so go with Amazon on that one. On the other end of the scale, TCG Player has Cynthia’s Garchomp ex Premium Collection at a massive 48% below Amazon's current price, which is very close to MSRP. I've compared all the prices in the carousel above, but another pro tip is clicking through to eBay to see if there's any new bargains to be had.

Pokémon TCG Classic

The Sam's Club Pokémon TCG Classic deal is back, and it's massively undercutting other big box retailers and the secondary market. Just for comparrison, the top four cards from this set, Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur and Mewtwo, are worth the same price as this discounted offer. This deal is well worth it and should be snapped up as soon as possible.

Mega Evolution Pokémon Cards Are Climbing

I can't believe the X Y era of Pokémon cards came out 12 years ago, but it was an amazing era for the TCG introducing the Mega Evolution mechanic. Mega's will be returning later this year with the start of the Mega Evolutions era and the end of Scarlet and Violet, so snapping up these top Mega cards before prices go even higher is a wise move. We know how it'll play out, no one will be able to grab the new sets at launch, then the nostalgia will kick in and these cards will skyrocket. Just the Charizards and Rayquazzas alone are worth a look.

Magic: The Gathering Price Comparison

MTG doesn't seem to be struggling to keep up with demand despite it being one of the biggest trading card games on earth, but that doesn't stop big box retailers getting cheeky when they notice a peak in demand. Like with Pokémon TCG, i've gone through the majority of MTG stock on Amazon and compared their pricing to market values on TCG Player. The Theros Beyond Death booster made me spit out my tea. Amazon is listing a single booster for $378.08, but these can be picked up any day of the week for $5.59 on TCG Player. Go figure. Another big difference is Marvel's Spider-Man - Play Booster Box. Amazon has their preorder price guarantee on this, but it's still 17% cheaper to preorder on TCG Player.

WAOAW Sleep Mask w/ 3D Eye Cups & Adjustable Strap (Black)

The Silmarillion Deluxe Illustrated by the Author

Tunise Rechargeable Portable Neck Fan

3 Months for $0.99 Audible Deal

3 Months Free Kindle Unlimited

After 16 years, college basketball (CBB) is coming back to EA Sports.

If you're looking for more details than that, then bad news — EA really isn't talking as yet — but in a message posted to social media earlier today, the division responsible for EA's sports games said: "Bring the Madness. Let's run it back."

The message was appended with two hashtags: "CBB" — an acronym for college basketball — and EA Sports' customary "It's in the Game." Oh, and there was an image of a basketball, too.

If you're unfamiliar with basketball and EA Sports' relationship with it, it's worth noting that this is big news, as it marks the first time EA Sports has taken us into the heart of college basketball since 2009's NCAA Basketball 10. It follows the similar resurrection of EA Sports' College Football franchise, which came back to life last July with College Football 25.

Bring the Madness. Let’s run it back. #CBB #ItsInTheGame pic.twitter.com/iBNhGxn2yj

— EA SPORTS (@EASPORTS) June 30, 2025

As for the other basketball video game, NBA 2K25? We thought the latest iteration was Good, awarding 7/10, writing: "A handful of improvements mean NBA 2K25 has a few tricks up its sleeve to be pleasantly surprised by this year, even as many long-term issues continue." It's currently one of the games up for grabs with this month's PlayStation Plus free games, along with the Alone in the Dark remake, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and Destiny 2: The Final Shape.

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.

Considering what it offers, Disney Plus is one of the best streaming services on the block. From classic Disney animated films to the latest Marvel shows and Star Wars movies, excellent kids' programming like Bluey, and so much more, Disney Plus puts an incredible range of high-quality viewing options at your fingertips. And with so much to check out - including Marvel's latest series Ironheart - you'll want to find a plan that best suits you. We're here to help.

At the moment, one of the best Disney Plus bundle deals available is the massive Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle. This starts at $16.99/month to get you all three streaming services with ads. It's one of the best bundles available at the moment, but we've included more Disney Plus bundle deals worth exploring below. If you're looking for more streaming deals from other services, check out the best Hulu deals and bundles and the best Max deals.

How to Get the Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max Streaming Bundle

The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle can be purchased through any of the three streaming services and starts at $16.99/month for the ad-supported tier or $29.99/month for ad-free access across the three platforms.

If you currently own all three and want to cut down on costs, this is a great way to bundle them together and save big on what you'd pay for them separately per month – 43% on the ad-supported plan and 42% on the ad-free plan.

What Is the Paid Sharing Plan on Disney Plus?

In an effort to crack down on password sharing, Disney has added a paid sharing plan for individuals outside of your household. Basically, anyone using your account that's not within your household will have to be added as an "Extra Member" to your account. This costs an additional $6.99/month for the ad-supported Basic subscription and $9.99/month for the Premium ad-free plan, and only one Extra Member slot is available per account. You can learn more from Disney's paid sharing explainer here.

What Are the Different Disney+ Subscription Tiers?

Disney+ is available in a couple of different tiers. You can get the least expensive option (called Disney+ Basic) for $9.99/month, which gives you access to everything except the ability to download select shows to watch on the go. This tier is ad supported. If you want to get rid of ads and be able to download certain shows, you can spring for the $15.99/month or $159.99/year Disney+ Premium package.

What Are the Different Disney+ Bundles?

Want a way to save on your Disney+ membership? Bundles are a great, affordable way to go. As far as bundles go, there are two ad-supported bundles and two ad-free bundles. Here's the breakdown:

• Disney+, Hulu Bundle Basic is $10.99/month and comes with subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu. This plan lets you stream on multiple devices at once and comes with ad-supported versions of both services.
• Disney+, Hulu Bundle Premium is $19.99/month and comes with Hulu and Disney+ with no ads. It also includes Disney+ Premium features like the ability to download shows to watch on the go.
• Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Bundle Basic adds ESPN+ (With Ads) to the mix alongside Disney+ (With Ads) and Hulu (With Ads), bumping up the price to $16.99/month. You can also download and watch select content on ESPN+ at this level.
• Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Bundle Premium is $26.99/month and comes with ESPN+ (With Ads) and ad-free versions of Disney+ and Hulu. You can also download select content across all three streaming services.

Disney+ Gift Cards

If you want to help someone out and give them a gift that will keep on giving, gifting a one-year Disney+ card is a great way to go. It provides all the great things Disney+ offers and it costs a fraction of what it would take to buy even a small sampling of those movies physically.

What Can You Watch on Disney+?

There is a bonkers array of shows and movies you can watch on Disney+. Let's start at the top and simply talk about the verticals on offer here with the base subscription.

Here's what you get:

• Disney
• Pixar
• Marvel
• Star Wars
• National Geographic

Disney on Disney+

On the Disney front, you have awesome classic movies like The Sword In The Stone, Robin Hood, 101 Dalmations, Hercules, and Sleeping Beauty, modern classics like The Princess & The Frog, Tangled, and Frozen, and a wide range of animated shows, including Phineas & Ferb.

You also gain access to a ton of vintage content like Escape to Witch Mountain, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The Love Bug, and a whole lot more. The Disney Junior section is home to absolutely top tier animated shows like Bluey (which, for my money, is worth the price of admission on its own).

There's way more on offer, too, including a ton of Muppet movies, new live-action films and adaptions (including the new Snow White), nature programs, documentaries, Pirates of the Caribbean, and musical programs featuring Taylor Swift (like her wildly popular The Eras Tour), Elton John, Ed Sheeran, and more.

Pixar on Disney+

When it comes to computer generated films, Pixar stands alone. Kicking off the revolution with Toy Story, Pixar has consistently put out fantastic films, and they are all here. From the Toy Story series to Finding Nemo, Cars, and more recent hits like Inside Out 2, there is a ton to love.

Beyond even that, there are incredible shorts like Bao and Party Central, as well as a wide range of originals and series based on major films, such as Dory's Reef Cam, Forky Asks A Question, Cars On The Road, and more.

Marvel on Disney+

The MCU has become a true juggernaut, and there are many viewers who subscribe to Disney+ purely for access to nearly the entire MCU lineup of films and shows.

Whether you are a fan of the blockbuster action films, you are an appreciator of the classic 90s runs of "Saturday morning" cartoons like X-Men, or you are currently vibing to the funky theme of the 1981 Spider-Man series, there is a ton of Marvel to enjoy on Disney+. And with new movies and shows being added to the MCU all the time, including most recently Deadpool & Wolverine and Captain America: Brave New World, there is always more coming.

Star Wars on Disney+

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a film that changed everything. The original Star Wars is a seminal sci-fi fantasy work that inspired generations of creators, but there is still nothing quite like that far away galaxy. Disney+ grants access to all things Star Wars, including the remastered versions of the original trilogy (hopefully some day they'll add the theatrical cuts, too), as well as the prequels and sequels.

You can also stay up-to-date on all the latest shows, including The Mandalorian and the critically-lauded Andor, which just wrapped up its second and final season. There are also fantastic short series like Star Wars Visions, and longer-form series like The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, Young Jedi Adventures, and a whole lot more.

Take a look at our list of Disney+ alernatives for additional streaming services. To play while you watch, see our roundup of the best LEGO Disney sets. For more deals, dive into our Daily Deals page.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.
Original story from Brian Barnett.

Ever since Fortnite Festival inspired the PDP Riffmaster in 2024, more plastic guitar controllers have been coming out of the woodwork. And the Hyperkin Drakong InfinaKore Telecaster Edition Guitar Controller is the latest.

Just like the Riffmaster or the CRKD Gibson Les Paul, the Drakong InfinaKore is a 5-fret plastic guitar. But while Fortnite Festival is the primary reason this guitar controller is coming out, Hyperkin has claimed this guitar controller will have wide compatibility across multiple platforms, stretching back to the Xbox 360, and even including platforms like iOS and Android.

The primary reason this guitar exists is obviously Fortnite Festival, which according to Hyperkin, has grown to an average 2.2 million daily players. But this new guitar controller will also support other 5-fret guitar games, which of course includes Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, but also community favorites like Clone Hero.

Just like the old Rock Band guitars, the Drakong InfinaKore has slimmer fret buttons near the base of the neck to better allow for fret tapping. That's a pretty common feature in guitar controllers, but what sets this one apart is that on the frets above them are four directional keys. For the uninitiated, Fortnite Festival has the strum bar mapped to the up and down keys, and having these arrow keys on the neck allows you to quickly 'strum' without trying to hit the strum bar with your elbow when you miss a note.

The controller will also have a "star power" button near the strum bar, so you can more reliably enter the special mode when the tilt isn't working for whatever reason. All the buttons are also hot swappable, which should help the controller last for years.

Hyperkin has not shared a release date or a price for the Drakong InfinaKore, but hopefully it isn't too far out.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

Jurassic World Rebirth opens in theaters Wednesday, July 2.

There’s a story running through the “World” half of the Jurassic franchise that involves greedy corporations squeezing the last pennies out of that precious dino DNA. InGen or Biosyn or a pharmaceutical company – everybody is lining up for one more crack at cashing in off John Hammond’s original spark of brilliance. Unfortunately, the new Jurassic World Rebirth is an example of art imitating life: All these years after the creative and commercial jackpot of 1993’s Jurassic Park, Universal tries to make good on a massive investment in dinosaurs one last time with… a movie about a company trying to make good on a massive investment in dinosaurs one last time. But instead of a Rebirth for the franchise, they’ve ended up with just another Lost World.

Now, a couple things before I dive back into disliking this movie. Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali could read the phone book to each other while wearing beige sweaters on a cloudy day and I’d be on board. They’re more often than not the most interesting things on screen in whatever movie they happen to be in, and that’s true for Jurassic World Rebirth as well. As covert operations specialist Zora Bennet and her trusted mercenary colleague Duncan Kincaid, Johansson and Ali are at their usual best here.

Rebirth starts strongly enough as well. The promise of dropping Gareth Edwards into the Jurassic world seems like it’s paying off in the opening sequences. The only director who’s worked with both Godzilla and the Death Star, Edwards knows how to create real terror with scale on screen. And there’s a great horror, almost B-movie vibe in the beginning of Jurassic World Rebirth that I’m really into. When the iconic Jurassic Park logo appears on screen, it’s accompanied by a score that would be at home in a classic Universal monster movie. There’s no majesty to it. None of that trademark John Williams flavor of wonder. It’s all creepy creature feature vibes on the soundtrack, and I actually loved it because it’s a new flavor for the franchise.

There’s a boldness to the move of subtitling the sixth Jurassic Park sequel “Rebirth” – it’s kind of a promise that says we’re in store for something different and based on these opening moments, Edwards is coming at this movie with a legitimately new energy that lasts past the cold open. In an early scene where Rupert Friend’s shady corporate exec hires Johansson’s covert-ops expert, Zora Bennett, to take part in his shadiness, the exposition is set against action in the background that very quickly establishes the dynamic between dinosaurs and humans post Jurassic World Dominion. It’s the kind of efficiency in storytelling that I really like, and there’s a funny bit of it right out of the gate in Rebirth.

So, everything is heading in the right direction and then… it starts heading in the same old direction. There’s another as-yet-unheard-of island where inGen did its dirtiest work, and a group of heroes, villains, and other assorted dino chow find themselves in a fight to survive. It’s the same thing the franchise has done with varying degrees of success and pretty consistent degrees of failure since The Lost World.

Edwards may have made Rogue One, but Jurassic World Rebirth follows the playbook of a different Star Wars movie: The Force Awakens, which is, not for nothing, also an episode 7. It’s a legacy sequel that more or less follows the blueprint of the first movie. Rebirth is 1:1 to the original Jurassic Park, but there’s a problem this movie can’t solve. Jurassic Park was a simple machine. For all its big ideas and complexities, it’s about easy-to-like people trying to not get eaten and wondering if maybe we shouldn’t play God.

The franchise has since layered more and more on top of that relative straightforwardness almost every time out, to the point that there’s just too much to deal with in Rebirth. It’s a bit of the “should we do this?” with a dash of corporate greed, a pinch of coexisting with dinosaurs with a gene sequence gap filled in by questions about to whom scientific discovery actually belongs while every character with a speaking role gets a hyper specific emotional journey to go on that also has to get paid off. There’s so much on the table that I really couldn’t care about any of it.

There was actually a moment I knew Rebirth didn’t quite have the same thing working for it as Jurassic Park. It’s one you can see in the trailers where Zora and Jonathan Bailey’s Dr. Loomis run into a herd of Titanosaurs. It’s in a wide, green valley, the characters are awed by what they see. It’s clearly meant to evoke the moment when Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, and by extension the audience, get their first real look at the Brachiosaur. This scene in Rebirth is structured exactly the same down to the cutaway to a wide shot of the valley revealing the whole herd – only in Rebirth, it’s a wide aerial angle, not from anybody’s perspective. It’s completely disconnected from the characters. It’s not the view that Zora’s enjoying in the scene, like it was for Dr. Grant in the original. It’s nobody’s view, just a massive and, frankly soulless shot of a valley full of dinosaurs.

Now it might seem small and myopic of me to be stressed about a single shot, but these are the moments that have a real impact on how a movie lands on you. Whether you realize it or not, shots like this make the difference between the movies you remember and the ones you’re already forgetting by the time the credits roll. If you want to buy into characters feeling awe, you need to be in their shoes, seeing what they’re seeing. It’s an insistence on just remixing the original that really keeps this Jurassic movie from evolving into something new for the franchise.

And that brings me to the Delgado family. This is, like the main cast of the film, a group of actors doing really good work. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is great as a dad crossing the Atlantic with his daughters. He’s capable, smart, empathetic, and relatable – as is his older daughter, played by Luna Blaise. There’s a familiarity to the dynamics of this family: the issues they’re dealing with have all been seen before, but they’re all charismatic enough that I enjoyed spending time with them. The bad news is, there’s no good reason for them to be there. The good news, though, is that superfluous is one of my favorite words. There’s an argument to be made, one that a colleague of mine has already shouted at me, that this family arriving by chance is the best way to get kids involved in a death-by-dinosaur adventure, and maybe it is. That’s not even my issue with it though.

If this had been a monster movie about a group of mercenaries sent to recover DNA from a dinosaur-filled island, hell yeah, I’m into that. On the other hand, if this were a monster movie about a family marooned on one of InGen’s old islands, forced to survive on the strength of their wits with no weapons or designs on profiting off of dinosaurs, I’m into that too. Instead there’s just a family there completely by accident who’s doing their own thing the whole movie. The way they cross over with Scarlett Johansson and her side of the cast is mostly incidental, and the themes they represent don’t really have anything to offer to Rebirth as a whole. If they weren’t there at all, it really wouldn’t have mattered. For example, maybe one character lost a child and so they’re extra determined to get these kids safely off the island. If the Delgados weren’t there, that character would just have to rely on not getting eaten for motivation which is no big loss.

But I’ve gotten this far into the review without focusing much on the main attractions: the dinosaurs. The insanely mutated genetic cocktail that gets loose in the opening sequence looms over much of Rebirth. Edwards and writer David Koepp keep its threat off screen for the most part, in a very Spielbergian show of restraint. And this is, as I said before, the basket in which I was keeping all my ostrich eggs and amphibian DNA: a Gareth Edwards sense of scale.

But where Rebirth’s marquee mega-mutant, half kaiju, half Rancor monstrosity is concerned, its scale feels off. It seems bigger in some scenes than others and felt like it might be changing size and shape to suit whatever particular flavor of terror it needs to inflict in any given moment. Now, to be fair, some of those terrifying moments are pretty cool. This monster does have a personality and honestly, I would’ve liked to have seen more of it. To go back the theoretical, simpler Rebirths that could’ve been, this bizarre, genetic hybrid abomination could’ve carried the B-movie energy of the intro if he had his sights trained on either the team of mercenaries and their shady employer or the family trying to understand each other a little better. Instead, he’s there until he’s not, and he’s just kinda not there until he’s back again.

None of this is to say that I’m docking the movie points because it wasn’t the movie I would’ve rather watched, by the way. I only want to illustrate Jurassic Park Rebirth’s general lack of follow through. For a movie that’s hinting at a fresh start from its title on down, Rebirth plays it frustratingly safe. There were bound to be more cinematic mosquitos they could’ve pulled other DNA from to make something a little different.

But, that is the story of the four Jurassic World movies. Rebirth is, when it comes down to it, just “more teeth,” the mostly cheesy line from Jurassic World poking fun at the absurdity of daring to ask “How do we make bringing dinosaurs back to life interesting again?” What Jurassic World was trying to make fun of, Rebirth ultimately became. It’s a very okay, middling movie, with nothing egregiously wrong about it aside from the fact that it ignores one of the franchise’s most iconic lines. Universal seems, in the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm, so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally here, and if you're looking to pick up some extra items to go with your brand new console, we've found some very nice Switch 2 deals that are worth looking at right now. These range from sturdy carrying cases to keep your new Switch stored in, to screen protectors and a selection of accessories to stock up on.

If you're in the Switch shopping mood, now is a good time to pick up some of these items with great discounts available. And with Amazon Prime Day on the horizon, we've got our eyes peeled for more discounts that could pop up during the sale event. For now, though, have a look through the latest Switch 2 deals we could find below.

TL;DR - The Best Nintendo Switch 2 Deals

Switch 2 Carrying Case Deals

If you're planning on taking your Switch 2 out on any trips or adventures you have planned this summer, a carrying case is a very wise investment. Thankfully, there are plenty of great deals to check out right now on a variety of different case styles, whether you want something slimmer or with a very sturdy build. We're particularly fond of the tomtoc slim carrying case, which is discounted right now.

Switch 2 Accessory Deals

If you've picked up your Switch 2 console and are now on the hunt for some accessories, there are a few deals worth checking out at the moment. From thumb grips to a protective case that can be wrapped around your Switch 2 in handheld mode, we've included some of our favorite deals above that are available at the moment.

Best Switch 2 Screen Protector Deals

Once you've picked up your new Switch 2, it's important to find some extra protection for it. Screen protectors are a worthy investment and, thankfully, there are plenty of deals available right now. Even though these items are usually pretty affordable on their own, the discounts are a nice little treat to take advantage of while they're available.

Best Switch 2 Power Bank Deals

Where to Buy Official Nintendo Switch 2 Accessories

If official Nintendo Switch 2 accessories have been on your radar, we've included where you can buy those as well. Some of these have been going out of stock quick, though, so if something that catches your eye is still in stock you'll want to be quick to scoop it up while it's still available.

Where to Buy Nintendo Switch 2 Games

Most importantly: the games. If you're looking to fill up your Switch 2 library with some brand new games, or Nintendo Switch 2 editions of your favorites, we've included a wide variety of Switch 2 games that are available to preorder or buy above. Again, be quick to grab your favorites while they're still in stock.

Where to Buy Nintendo Switch 2

If you're curious where you can buy the Nintendo Switch 2, have a look through the retailers above. Stock has been in and out online, but keep an eye on our Nintendo Switch 2 buying guide for more updates on restocks and availability.

Even more Switch 2 deals are sure to pop up in the weeks to come. We'll make sure to update this when more noteworthy discounts appear.

In the meantime, if you're curious to see what's on offer for other consoles, have a look at our roundups of the best PS5 and Xbox deals.

We also have an overall roundup of the best video game deals that highlights our favorite discounts at the moment that we've found across each platform, including PC.

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

When Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders began earlier this year, console stock was available at a range of US stores — except for the biggest online retailer out there, Amazon.com.

The lack of Switch 2 consoles and games for sale in the US via Amazon has been frequently remarked upon, but never explained. And now, Nintendo itself has denied a Bloomberg report that discusses an alleged ongoing issue between the Mario maker and Jeff Bezos' megacorp over third-party resellers.

As IGN reported earlier this month, new first-party Nintendo games have been almost completely absent from Amazon.com over the past year, aside from a rogue Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom listing. This changed with Amazon offering pre-orders for the upcoming Switch 2 exclusive Donkey Kong Bananza, which it began offering from June 17.

Still, the Switch 2 itself and various other upcoming Nintendo games, such as Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, remain unavailable to buy or pre-order. And, as noted by IGN today, a previous listing for the Switch 2 has now been removed completely, instead inexplicably replaced with a 404 page that can feature a dog named Bowser.

Today, Bloomberg reported that the ongoing lack of Nintendo products on Amazon was a deliberate move by the Switch 2 manufacturer to combat third-party sellers buying consoles in bulk from Southeast Asia and exporting them to the US to sell for cheaper prices than Nintendo itself.

Amid the threat of Nintendo pulling stock from sale, Amazon allegedly offered to label games sold directly by Nintendo as such, adding an extra layer of authenticity to customer purchases, but to no avail.

For its part, however, Nintendo has quickly denied Bloomberg's reporting. "There is no such fact," a Nintendo spokesperson told Tom's Hardware. "We do not disclose details of negotiations or contracts with retailers."

Takaya Imamura — a video game designer and manga artist perhaps best known for his work on F-Zero, Star Fox, and The Legend of Zelda — has said that despite his lofty credits, there were "so many amazing people" in Nintendo, he felt "inferior" enough that it was a relief to eventually leave the company.

"There were so many incredible people at Nintendo,” Imamura wrote on X, as spotted and translated by Automaton, "and I remember constantly wondering how I could demonstrate my own worth in such an environment," adding there was always "a sense of inferiority lingering somewhere."

"When I left the company, it’s true that I felt a sense of freedom, as if I had been released from the inferiority complex I’d carried for years," Imamura added. "But at the same time, there was also a loneliness in thinking, 'I won’t be able to work with these people anymore…' That said, with only a few years left until retirement anyway, and since game development often takes many years, I felt a stronger desire to move forward at my own pace, doing more freely creative things."

While reading that may come as a surprise, it seems that sentiment is shared by many former Nintendo employees. One former Nintendo designer, Shinji Watanabe, who now heads up Epsilon Software, followed up to liken his former colleagues to "celestial beings," whilst Ken Watanabe, who worked at Nintendo for 10 years before branching out an an indie creator, concurred, said: "There really is nothing but amazing people [at Nintendo]. Trying to find a way to stand out among them was both draining and fulfilling."

On the subject of Nintendo… did you know Super Mario Strikers — or Mario Smash Football, as it's known in Europe — is joining Nintendo Switch 2's Nintendo Switch Online GameCube library next week? It's the first game to have been added to the library since Switch 2 launched earlier this month. And don't forget, an extremely cool replica GameCube controller is also available for maximum nostalgia…

Nintendo Switch 2 is off to a strong start, with 3.5 million consoles sold, but an analysis on the console's launch week sales paints a mixed picture of how well games not made by Nintendo are now selling.

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.

Marvel boss James Gunn wants you to know: the rumors aren’t true. The DC Studios head has officially confirmed that the upcoming Waller television series is, in fact, still in development.

The longtime producer took to Threads recently to confirm the show’s status in response to a fan who asked if the rumors about Waller being reworked into a Checkmate show were untrue. He confirmed that they were untrue with a one-word “yes” response to the fan.

Another fan then swooped in to confirm in no uncertain terms, “So Waller is still in development?” and Gunn gave another one-word “yes” answer.

It’s good to hear a hard confirmation from the DCU boss, considering he recently acknowledged that the series was having some difficulties behind the scenes amid the development process. “Waller has had a couple of, you know, setbacks, frankly,” Gunn explained at a DC Studios press event alongside co-studio head Peter Safran back in February.

Otherwise, details have been pretty sparse about the series thus far. The show was first announced when the DCU slate was revealed back in January 2023 and was positioned as a spinoff of Peacemaker that would explore the aftermath of Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller’s daughter, Danielle Brooks’ Leota Adebayo, exposing the existence of Task Force X at the end of the first season. However, the 2023 strikes did put a wrench in that mix, forcing the team to rewrite to work with the new DCU timeline, which delayed production significantly, as is now obvious.

The series was developed by Watchman writer Christal Henry and Doom Patrol creator Henry Carver — but as of right now, there isn’t much more out there about it, at least for public consumption. That said, this confirmation from Gunn is a huge step forward for the series, which we will hopefully see next year. Fingers crossed, anyway.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

While older devices might feel like rather blunt instruments, Samsung Galaxy S25’s latest suite of AI tools means that every aspect of the device is learning, and tailoring itself, to maximise what you specifically need from it. If you want better gameplay, for longer, the Galaxy S25 will monitor, learn, adapt and improve.

Walking A Tightrope

Mobile gaming has always been faced with the conundrum of how to navigate the contradiction between the opposing goals of power and endurance. Push the hardware too hard, and battery life plummets. Go too far the other way and the experience ends up feeling underwhelming. Samsung is solving this problem with the variety of AI tools and tricks available on the Galaxy S25 and S25 Ultra.

The flagship phone’s upgraded AI system isn't just a collection of buzzwords or background processes; it’s a real-time assistant working behind the scenes to ensure gamers get the best possible performance without torching their battery in the process. As a result, users can benefit from smoother gameplay, sharper visuals, and longer sessions - without the dreaded overheating or mid-battle power warnings.

Real-Time Decision Making

At the heart of the S25’s performance leap is an evolved on-device AI engine that’s purpose-built for real-time decision-making. During gameplay, the AI analyzes multiple factors: CPU and GPU workload, temperature levels, power draw, and even screen refresh rates. AI then makes dynamic adjustments to ensure efficiency.

Importantly, context is considered throughout. Galaxy S25 tailors its approach to each of your games, to ensure whatever you're doing, you're getting the best from your handset. If you’re diving into a high-intensity FPS like Call of Duty: Mobile, the system prioritises GPU performance while intelligently reducing background CPU threads and minimising refresh rate spikes to prevent unnecessary battery drain. By contrast, if you’re playing a puzzle game or a less demanding RPG, AI scales back graphical fidelity slightly in non-critical moments to extend your battery life without negatively affecting your enjoyment.

This granular level of performance modulation used to be the domain of gaming laptops or consoles with sophisticated cooling systems. Using vapour chambers to draw heat away from the device, preventing overheating and maintaining performance during intense tasks like gaming or video streaming, is a key modification. Bringing it to a pocket-sized device is no small feat, yet Samsung has managed to add it to its newest handsets.

Knowledge is Power

What really sets Galaxy S25 apart is how it treats battery life not as a static limit but as a flexible resource. Its AI constantly learns from your gaming habits - what types of games you play, how long you tend to play, and even when you're likely to take breaks. It then adjusts the power distribution to maximise screen-on time without sacrificing responsiveness or frame rate.

For instance, if you typically play during your commute and average 30-minute sessions, AI will prioritise burst performance early, then gradually enter a conservation mode as the session nears its average end time. But if you’re locked into a 3-hour raid on the weekend, Galaxy S25 recognises the extended session and opts for a more sustained balance between heat, battery, and frame pacing.

(Not) Hot and Bothered

Additionally, Galaxy S25’s AI preemptively monitors thermal thresholds. Before the phone starts to overheat, the system makes pre-emptive micro-adjustments, lowering brightness by a few percentage points, tweaking background refresh rates, and selectively underclocking non-essential processes, to keep everything running cool and smooth.

As a result, rather than jarring slowdowns at inopportune moments, or warnings your phone is about to explode, the S25 just makes the changes it needs without bothering you and, crucially, just keeps on going.

Snappy Performance

It’s not just about staying powered longer though. The S25 also improves visuals thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor, with the phone leveraging machine-learning to enhance rendering in real-time.

Galaxy S25 helps with predicting frames and upscaling, meaning games that aren’t natively optimised for high frame rates can still deliver a smoother experience through smart interpolation and anti-aliasing enhancement.

Behind the scenes, the tech analyzes incoming frames, sharpens edges, and improves texture detail without requiring additional rendering overhead. Games that previously struggled at 45fps now appear closer to 60fps, with less ghosting or jitter, especially on the S25's 120Hz AMOLED display.

In addition, Galaxy S25 can identify performance bottlenecks on the fly and dynamically respond. That means you’ll see less lag if you need to quickly swap from a game to a chat app, and far less chance for delayed inputs to cause you problems during critical moments in-game.

Galaxy S25 works Smarter, Not Harder

With the Galaxy S25 and S25 Ultra, Samsung is making a clear statement: the future of mobile gaming isn’t just about raw specs, it’s about smart, adaptive performance.

Games are only going to become more demanding in future, and AI on Galaxy S25 means it can adapt without you having to manually adjust settings or really intervene at all. Indeed, you can trust the device will grow along with you, learning and tweaking itself the more time you spend together.

The convergence of mobile hardware and artificial intelligence feels inevitable, but the S25 marks one of the first times it’s been done with such a focus on gaming. For players looking for a device that won’t just keep up, but will actually optimise itself in real time, Samsung’s latest flagship model might be the smartest play yet.

Sponsored by Samsung. Ultra Camera Just Dropped On Fold: The New Galaxy Foldable Is Coming

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the most exciting the series has felt in years, and it's now down to just $49.99 on Amazon for PS5 and Xbox.

It's the first big discount the game has had since its release earlier this year, and comes courtesy of Amazon's early Prime Day sales.

Dropping from $70, that's a sizable $20 off the list price, and an increasingly more appealing price point for anyone previously unsure of Ubisoft's latest open-world RPG.

She may have just made a return to movie theaters, but if you simply can't wait to add M3GAN's sequel to your physical media collection, M3GAN 2.0 is now available to preorder as a 4K steelbook. Preorders are available from both Amazon and Walmart, and the former has a standard 4K and digital copy available to preorder, too. If you want both M3GAN 2.0 and its predecessor, there's a two-movie collection up for preorder as well. Head to the links below to secure a copy today.

Preorder M3GAN 2.0 4K Steelbook

Ever wondered what would happen if you asked an idiot to do something an idiot can’t do? Wonder no more, as we set ourselves the task of using the AI features on the Galaxy S25 Ultra to compensate for our many, many shortcomings. From poor framing to poor lighting, Galaxy AI consistently helped us share the photos we INTENDED to take…

Can Samsung’s Galaxy AI turn me into the new Ansel Adams?

As someone who’s always loved the idea of photo editing, but never had the patience to learn how to do even the most basic of tasks, when I heard of the Galaxy AI1 camera features on the Samsung S25 they instantly appealed. Could they really be as intuitive and quick as I’d heard, or would I lose patience and go back to binge watching old Taskmaster episodes instead?

Because I am a self-starter, and in no way because my internet had gone down mid-ep, I decided to conduct a little experiment to see if the S25’s AI could actually help a lost cause like me.

You’ve Been Framed (badly)

I took a photo of my much-loved Beatles’ Yellow Submarine LEGO set to put the Samsung through its paces but unfortunately things got off to a bad start. Don’t get me wrong, the image quality was great, more thanks to the S25’s AI-enhanced ProVisual Engine than anything I did. The colours were vibrant, things were looking good… but I had singularly failed to get the top of the submersible’s periscope in shot. Idiot.

In honor of the 1990 movie’s 35th anniversary, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be re-released in theaters on August 17 and 20 via Fathom Entertainment, Saga Arts, and Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.

Book your tickets at Fathom Entertainment.

A new featurette, Turtles Unmasked, will be screened before the movie that includes never-before-seen archival footage, extended deleted scenes, and behind the scenes home movie footage as well as commentary from the film’s director, Steve Barron. Turtles Unmasked was produced in collaboration with the creators of TMNT: Evolution, Mutation & Reboot.

The voice cast of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – the first live-action movie in the franchise – included Brian Tochi (Revenge of the Nerds, Police Academy 3: Back in Training) as Leonardo, Corey Feldman (Stand By Me, The Goonies) as Donatello, Josh Pais (The Station Agent, A Beautiful Mind), as Raphael, Robbie Rist (Balto, “Doc McStuffins”) as Michelangelo and Kevin Clash (“Sesame Street,” Muppet Treasure Island) as Splinter, the Turtles' master.

Judith Hoag and Elias Koteas co-starred as the Turtles’ allies April O’Neil and Casey Jones, respectively.

The original Ninja Turtles comic book was created in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Turtlemania exploded in the late ‘80s, with the success of the indie comic and subsequent animated series and toyline paving the way for the 1990 live-action movie.

Eastman previously looked back on how the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie conquered Hollywood, telling IGN in 2023:

“I can't say enough about how gifted and talented Steve Barron the director was. They brought in a writer named Todd Langen who wrote the script. And the icing on the cake could not have been better, Steve Barron's relationship with Jim Henson, they brought in the Henson Company to create the costumes to help bring these Turtle characters to life. And it was literally a perfect storm of things that lined up and allowed that opportunity to happen the way it did.”

Eastman and Laird maintained creative control over how the heroes in a half shell were adapted for the big screen. “We were inspired by some creators that lost control of their characters through the companies they worked for,” Eastman told IGN.

“Years ago, that was the nature of the business, and we knew how lucky we were to own our characters. So anything that was going to be done with them we wanted full say and approval on.”

For more Ninja Turtle coverage, learn how to read IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics in 2025, get details on the new VR game TMNT: Empire City, and watch the TMNT: Splintered Fate Xbox launch trailer.