Digital monsters, superheroes, and Santa Claus are what you can expect this fall anime season. There's a new season full of anime to check out this Fall like the return of the highly anticipated My Hero Academia for its final season, the beautiful Star Wars Visions with Volume 3, and Science Saru's Sanda just in time for the holidays. Across Crunchyroll, HIDIVE, Hulu, and Netflix, as well as others, there are a lot of places to enjoy anime at the moment.
Check out some anticipated series in the video above or the slideshow gallery below, followed by the full list of new Fall season 2025 anime and where to watch them in the U.S. and their respective streaming platforms. Anime listed are available now unless otherwise stated.
Digimon Beatbreak (Crunchyroll, Hulu, Disney+)
Digimon, Digital Monsters, is back with a new anime this fall season. Digimon Beatbreak follows Tenma, a young boy who has an unusual connection to technology. It’s through this anomaly that he meets the Digimon known as Gekkomon. Toei Animation is, of course, producing the series like it has before, so fans can expect more Digimon action to enjoy. Between this series and the new Digimon Story: Time Stranger game, it’s a great time to be a Digimon fan. Digimon Beatbreak is available now on Crunchyroll, and Hulu.
Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider (Crunchyroll)
Another new series this season showcases Kamen Rider but not in the way you may think. Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider follows a 40-year-old man who is a lifelong fan of Kamen Rider and has aspirations of being a superhero himself. Of course it’s not a realistic goal, but a turn of events has pushed him towards realizing his dream. LIDENFILMS, the studio behind Tokyo Revengers and Call of the Night, is producing this series, so expect some butt-kicking action in this wild adventure of finding one’s purpose. If you’re a fan of similar series like Samurai Flamenco or just love Kamen Rider, this new anime is worth checking out this season. Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider is available now on Crunchyroll.
May I Ask for One Final Thing? (Crunchyroll)
Speaking of LIDENFILMS, the studio is producing another fun series this season with May I Ask for One Final Thing? The series follows Scarlet, a princess trapped in an arranged marriage with a despicable and arrogant prince. When an embarrassing twist pushes her over her tipping point, Scarlet put on some fighting gloves and punches a bunch of despicable fools! The premiere is exciting, and it’ll be interesting to see how Scarlet navigates the consequences of her actions and the political landscape as the season progresses. May I Ask for One Final Thing? is available now on Crunchyroll.
Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 (Disney+ | October 29)
A galaxy far, far away returns in anime form with Star Wars: Visions Volume 3! This anthology series yet again showcases an eclectic group of anime studios tackling unique short films set in the world of Star Wars. Some studios are even producing sequels to their shorts from earlier seasons. From David Production of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fame to Wit Studio and Trigger, there are many celebrated studios that anime fans may recognize. If you’re looking for quick quality hits of anime or you’re just a Star Wars fan interested in the anime medium, this series is worth checking out. Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 premieres October 29 on Disney+.
Disney Twisted Wonderland: The Animation (Disney+ | October 29)
Another series from the world of Disney drops this season as well. Disney Twisted Wonderland: The Animation follows Yuu, a high school student who gets mysteriously transported into a magical world and ends up at a school of magic that closely resembles the Queen of Hearts’ domain from Alice in Wonderland. The anime is actually based on a game of the same name with the creator of Black Butler, Yana Toboso, working on the concept and character designs. If you’re interested in the drama of Black Butler with a touch of Disney villains, this series may be a good fit for you. Disney Twisted Wonderland: The Animation premieres October 29 on Disney+.
Dusk Beyond the End of the World (HIDIVE)
Another new series this fall season is Dusk Beyond the End of the World. The series follows Akira, a young man who gets caught in the middle of growing tensions around AI development and a loved one. After what seems to be the end of his life, he wakes up hundreds of years later and eventually runs into a familiar face. P.A. Works, the studio behind Shirobako and Akiba Maid War, will helm production on this series. Intriguing future story aside, the action sequences are quite impressive from what we’ve seen so far. If you have some time outside of the many returning shonen anime this fall, this series may also be worth a watch. Dusk Beyond the End of the World is available now on HIDIVE.
Sanda (Amazon Prime)
Just in time for the holidays, this series about a descendant of Santa Claus might be one of the oddest this fall season. Sanda follows a young boy of the same name as he wraps his head around a sudden attack by a fellow classmate and a mysterious transformation that has him resembling Santa Claus. That’s right! This young kid transformed into a buff Santa! Studio Science Saru is producing this series, and it looks amazing from what we’ve seen so far. From the familiar use of color to the absurd character moments, Science Saru is showcasing their expertise yet again with what looks to be a fun and wacky series. If you’re a fan of Dan Da Dan and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, this series is right up your alley. Sanda is available now on Amazon Prime.
SPY x FAMILY Season 3 (Crunchyroll, Hulu, Disney+)
The lovable Forgers family is back this fall for season 3 as the secret balancing act of Loid, Yor, and Anya continues, but we seem to be learning more about the supporting characters this time around now that this pretend family has a good foundation. Wit Studio and CloverWorks return again to helm animation production, so expect fun and visually stunning sequences like the dueling excavators from the season premiere. Spy x Family Season 3 is available now on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Disney+.
One-Punch Man Season 3 (Hulu, Disney+)
Another highly anticipated return this fall is One-Punch Man! It’s been six years since we last saw the all powerful Saitama and the scheming Monster Association in Season 2. J.C. Staff, the studio behind Bakuman and Food Wars!, are back after the previous season to continue to produce animation for Season 3. After so many years, expectations are high, so it’ll be interesting to see how the series steps up from prior seasons as the Monster Association and Garou are still not done with their plans. One-Punch Man Season 3 is available now on Hulu and Disney+.
My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON (Crunchyroll, Hulu, Disney+)
Last but not least, a superhero anime epic is about to reach its conclusion with My Hero Academia’s final season. Last we left Deku and the gang, the major battle between the heroes and villains has settled down a little, with a few standouts still duking it out. It’s been almost exactly a year since the last season, and now fans will finally get to see this long-running favorite come to an end. Bones Film is producing the final season, so we expect to see some amazing visuals and character moments to send off this celebrated series. My Hero Academia Final Season is available now on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Disney+.
Those are some anticipated new and returning anime available to watch this fall 2025 season. If you want more anime, check out our list of the spring 2025 anime and summer 2025 anime in case you missed the last batch of new series.
All the New Anime Arriving in Fall 2025
Here’s the full list of anime coming out in Fall 2025 that will be available to watch in the US:
I first read The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson back in the mid-2010s, and ever since I have theorycrafted how I would play a Knight Radiant in my TTRPG campaigns. Conceptualizing how shardblades would function or how best to make a spren that wasn’t just a reskinned familiar. Thankfully, I can put that tiring task behind me thanks to the release of the official Cosmere RPG, which, after a VERY successful crowdfunding campaign, has been released. At long last, I can role-play my Windrunner character with my spren partner, Malbifina (Mal for short), and stand against the Desolation.
Developed by Brotherwise Games in close collaboration with Brandon Sanderson himself, the initial offerings for the Cosmere RPG focus solely on Roshar and the systems of the Stormlight Archive books, with three offerings: The Stormlight Handbook (the Player’s Handbook), The Stormlight World Guide (the Dungeon Master’s Guide), and Stonewalkers (a standalone campaign you can play through). For those who aren’t familiar with the Cosmere or Sanderson’s work, the Cosmere is a large galaxy-spanning, progressively more interconnected series of (mostly) epic fantasy novels by Brandon Sanderson. Composed of multiple worlds, each with its own unique and cleverly crafted magic systems, one of which is Roshar, home to Stormlight (magic lightning), spren (manifestations of different emotions and feelings), the Knights Radiant (super paladins), and millennia of war. We have a comprehensive reading guide, so to find out more and get a better picture, I suggest you head there and take a look.
Cosmere utilizes a D20-based system, similar to something like D&D or Pathfinder, where you will use a 20-sided die to make various skill checks, with other dice used to fulfill other needs (such as dealing damage). The action economy will also feel familiar, with basic actions during combat falling into either Actions, Reactions, or Free Actions territories, with Actions requiring anywhere between one and three of your pool per turn. Generally, on your turn, a player will have two or three action points they can use, with more powerful Actions requiring multiple points to pull off. Thanks to its intelligent use of icons denoting the different types and how many points an action takes to use, the whole process is rather new player-friendly and quick to grasp. But just because aspects may feel familiar doesn’t mean that the Cosmere RPG doesn’t do anything new, however.
Considering this is a system that was designed in part by Brandon Sanderson, a man with the ability to write an inhuman amount of books in a short period of time, it shouldn’t be a surprise that narrative and story play a large part in the actual mechanics of the Cosmere RPG, too. A special d6, referred to as the “Plot Die”, isn’t used for every check and is instead reserved for those moments that the GM deems as moments critical to the plot and story they are telling. Moments where the stakes could be raised, granting unforeseen opportunities that impact the story or granting you an “Opportunity,” which is a special resource that can be spent. On the flip side, your roll of the plot die may instead cause a complication to arise in your plan, perhaps causing you to get in an ally's way during a crucial moment, or another blunder that results in a failure.
This intertwining of narrative and story development also seeps into the character creation process and progression, resulting in a more open and flexible system that I found particularly enamored by. Before anything, you select your ancestry from either Human or Singer (and yes, you can mess around with Singer forms), which will help dictate what areas of the world or lore you specialize in. As a human, you can pick from what region you hail from, giving you an edge on checks on topics, legends, houses, and language, for example, that would make sense for your character to have. With your ancestry picked, you start fleshing out the sort of person they are.
Instead of picking a specific class like Warrior or Druid, players instead choose a Heroic Path, such as a Hunter, Leader, or Agent, each with its own unique skill tree and specialization lines that you can dive into. There are six base Heroic Paths (Agent, Envoy, Hunter, Leader, Scholar, and Warrior) available in the Stormlight Handbook, each with three specializations, and each has a special Key Talent that helps set each path apart from the others. When you level up, you aren’t leveling up a class but your character themself, meaning if you want you can continue down the path you have chosen already and unlocking new Talents (the abilities of the path) if you want, or you can freely choose a new path to start traveling down that makes sense for where your character finds themselves at that moment. No having to deal with complicated multi-class rules or different hit dice for health, none of that. It makes the idea of making a complicated and multi-faceted character more approachable and incentivized, and also just makes the leveling process quicker.
Once you hit level two, though, things really get exciting as, if you wish to, you are able to begin down a Radiant Path of your choice, and yes, all of them are here: Stonewards, Bondsmiths, Windrunners, Skybreakers, Dustbringers, Edgedancers, Truthwatchers, Lightweavers, Elsecallers, and Willshapers. Each Radiant Path will grant you a spren of your own you can come up with, access to that Radiant’s associated Surges, and of course, spending Stormlight and Investiture. If you have read the Stormlight books, then let’s be honest with ourselves, being a Knight Radiant is a big selling point of these books for us, but if you haven’t read them, think of these orders as super Paladins. Each order has access to pretty awesome powers, a little familiar, and eventually, you can even recruit squires to work with you. And just like the Heroic Paths, each Radiant Path features three talent trees you can dive into, with two focusing on a specific surge, Abrasion and Division, for example, with Dustbringers, and then a path that improves your bond with your spren, allowing you to swear further Ideals as a Knight Radiant. Yes, this is awesome, and yes, I have come up with more spren friends than I care to admit to since getting these books. Come at me, Unmade!
I've found that more role-playing is always a good thing in TTRPGs.
To help further define your character, you will also establish a purpose for them, something that drives the character in what they do, which will lead you to create goals for them to strive for. A goal may be something as simple as seeking revenge on someone to something more nebulous, such as finding new ways to heal others, but you are also required to come up with obstacles or character flaws that you have to contend with while striving for your goal. Perhaps in your pursuit of your goal to find new ways to heal others, your character could be blinded by some of the harm done in trying to confirm a hypothesis, or be willing to test ideas that may not be completely safe. Making this goal and obstacle component front-and-center not only helps the GM plan and tailor adventures to individual characters, but also makes the players think more about the characters they are playing as people and not just a character sheet. I've found that more role-playing is always a good thing in TTRPGs.
While I may enjoy the mechanics of the Cosmere RPG, as a fan of Sanderson’s books, I would dare say I may like these RPG books more for the details they reveal and how they dive deeper into the world of Roshar and Cosmere as a whole. Since you are able to play as a member of any of the orders of Knights Radiant, I loved looking through the descriptions and breakdowns of not only the various ideals, but also their respective Surges (i.e. the special abilities of a particular order). Reading through these books, especially the World Guide, gave me a better idea of the cultures and visual identity of the peoples of Roshar.
Brandon has stated that the material in these guides will be considered canon with the events in his books, and as such, a great amount of care has been taken by the team to consult and confirm with his lore keepers that everything fits. For readers who may not have finished Wind and Truth, the latest entry of the Stormlight Archive that was released in December 2024, you will want to be careful of spoilers.
In a strange way, the wealth of information these books present also really drew my attention to what the Cosmere RPG doesn’t give me to play around and roleplay with, and it’s here where a vast majority of my complaints reside. Take, for instance, the Heralds, legendary heroes that have held back the evil forces of Odium between desolations. Beings that entire religions on Roshar have been built up around, and whose influence is felt in nearly every facet of the lore. The books have nice sections talking about them, featuring gorgeous artwork, but the RPG is utterly lacking in details for folks that may want to try playing as one.
As someone who is typically in the “forever GM” chair, the fact that none of the books give me basic stat blocks for them is shocking to me. Why aren’t there rules or stats for the Honor Blades? Going even a step further, the fact that the rules don’t give me details for big bads like the various Unmade or even the shards of Odium, Cultivation, or Honor, just bum me out. To a lesser extent, I wish that these first books gave us at least a little tease on what fans may expect from how the other magic systems may operate or the direction they want to take with them. The Ghostblood Enforce enemy does feature “Burning Pewter” which only serves as a buff, and doesn’t give much of an idea on how burning metals will differ from using Stormlight. I realize that each of the worlds will eventually get their own tomes of goodness that dive deep into these things, but couldn’t we have gotten a small, itsy-bitsy tease of how allomancy or AonDor may work?
In addition to the physical books that will be available to the masses in November, Cosmere is seeing relatively frequent updates and additional supplemental materials being added to the Virtual Tabletop service. Not only are you able to snag digital versions of all the books right now, allowing you to build your characters and run games, CosmereRPGNexus.com also has scenarios that you can run and provide you with details and rules to create custom higher-tiered enemies to contend with. If you would prefer just having PDFs, though, you can purchase them all at Drive Thru RPG, too.
For diehard Sanderson fans, even if you have no desire to play a TTRPG, these books, particularly the World Guide, is a must-buy just for lore and the information it provides on Roshar. As TTRPG books, they do well enough, but the item and enemy offerings are lacking in terms of options, especially when compared to other fantasy RPGs. As both a longtime TTRPG player and lover of the Cosmere, it surprises me that some of what has been omitted has left me a bit disappointed. It just comes off as “just wait for the second Roshar set” to me.
The physical Cosmere RPG books will be released on November 12, with digital versions available for purchase now on DriveThruRPG or virtually on Demiplane.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Black Phone 2.
It’s time to put on your ice skates and slide down to your nearest cinema, because Black Phone 2 is now in theaters. The much-anticipated sequel to 2021’s surprise sleeper hit The Black Phone, this go-around features The Grabber returning to terrorize Finney and Gwen Blake all over again, but this time as a villainous specter instead of a flesh and blood adversary.
The movie has gone over well with critics after its Fantastic Fest premiere, with IGN’s Matt Donato saying in his 7/10 review that the sequel is a “fresh reinvention of traditional slasher tropes.” By all accounts, it’s a good time at the movies that’s sure to satisfy horror fans hungry for new thrills, and appears to be another winner for longtime horror director Scott Derrickson.
However, like with many of Derrickson’s previous efforts, he turns in a solid film, but not a great one. Watching Black Phone 2 crystallizes what its director does well and what he’s struggled with over the course of his career, and is perhaps the most cogent example of why Derrickson has become the patron saint of “pretty good” horror movies. Let’s take a look at why Black Phone 2 just misses out on being the next great horror classic.
Skating to Success
In many ways, Black Phone 2 is a step up from its predecessor. The 2021 original was a solid entry that admirably balanced drama and scares, and created a modern horror icon in Ethan Hawke’s The Grabber. It was also a movie that tied up pretty much all of its loose ends the first time around: Finney Blake (Mason Thames) successfully kills The Grabber in his final escape attempt and reunites with his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) at the end. There was no obvious direction for a sequel to go. Given that the movie was based on a standalone short story by writer Joe Hill, this makes sense. But The Black Phone was a big hit for Blumhouse, pulling in over $160 million worldwide and becoming one of the most well-known horror films of the 2020s so far, meaning a sequel was likely an inevitability.
Black Phone 2 capitalizes on the original’s fairly definitive conclusion by taking the series in a new direction, doubling down on the supernatural conceit by having The Grabber return as a ghost in the same way his victims did last time around. The villain is now the one calling Finney through the titular phone. Stalking his enemies as an axe-wielding phantasm doesn’t just give the sequel a fresh hook, but it makes sense as an extension of the story since the talking ghosts and Gwen’s psychic powers were already introduced in the first film. Derrickson uses this to make his filmmaking more dreamlike for many key sequences, which is where his acumen as a visual storyteller really shines. Drinking in the majestic snowscapes and surreal imagery is one of Black Phone 2’s biggest pleasures, blowing The Grabber’s drab concrete basement from the original out of the water.
Whereas Finney’s character arc culminated with him finally learning to stand up for himself by defeating a serial killer, the sequel is more Gwen’s story. Here, she comes to terms with the full extent of the powers she inherited from her mother even as they put her in harm’s way because of The Grabber’s ability to attack her on the astral plane. This is a smart move not just because it gives a different character a chance to shine, but it makes full use of the genre shift by allowing wholly new takes on the horror sequences. When Gwen is attacked by a foe others can’t see, it makes her come across as isolated from the living cast at the same time her powers connect her with the dead, including her mother. Yet although there’s plenty to praise, Black Phone 2 stumbles in a major area, namely a script that doesn’t do justice to the film’s best creative choices.
On Thin Ice
Black Phone 2 is co-written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, longtime collaborators who return from the first film. It’s hard to say whether they’re equally responsible for the script’s problems, but the writing is Black Phone 2’s biggest issue because it undercuts the strengths of Derrickson’s direction. Many of the film’s best elements are its visual choices: the decision to shoot the astral plane sequences on 8mm, giving them a grainy, distorted look that adds exponentially to the film’s atmosphere, featuring snowy mountains and frozen lakes as primary locations that are beautiful and ominous in equal measure, or the use of dream logic in key scenes, such as a phone booth materializing on a lake with no immediate justification. However, the movie frays at the seams when characters start talking about these things, often coming across like the filmmakers don’t trust their audience.
The first act is rife with tedious character decisions, such as Finney defaulting to an aimless pothead in his post-Grabber life, or wooden dialogue, including some serious “how do you do fellow kids” lines that make the actors seem like aliens trying to approximate teenage speech patterns. Things improve once Finney and Gwen make their way to a Christian youth camp that their mother worked at decades ago, even if it also uses the contrivance of an all-too convenient blizzard that just so happened to roll in that night. This ensures only the leads and a tiny cohort of camp employees are present and can’t leave as the plot ensues. Add thinly-sketched new faces and the characters treating the events of the first film as sacrosanct (what do you mean “of course everyone’s heard of The Grabber”? Is every serial killer automatically a household name?), and it adds up to a movie that can often feel stifled when people simply start talking.
"Scott Derrickson may not be in the same category as filmmakers who are commonly considered 'auteurs,' but he’s been an underrated genre craftsman for many years.
The worst example of this is the scene following up the reveal that The Grabber killed Finney and Gwen’s mom, instead of the suicide that was suggested by the first film. The reveal itself is expertly done, with The Grabber using their psychic connection to let Gwen watch her mother’s death and her father Terrence (Jeremy Davies) discovering the body afterwards. But instead of allowing the scene to stand on its own as a powerful moment the audience can be trusted to absorb, the movie then has Gwen tearfully explain what happened to both her dad and Finney. It feels less like a family reunion so much as three actors standing around reciting the movie’s Wikipedia synopsis to each other. The writing isn’t always so painfully literal, but the script doesn’t complement Derrickson’s poetic visuals. Sadly, it’s something we’ve seen before in his previous films.
One Step Sideways
Scott Derrickson may not be in the same category as filmmakers who are commonly considered “auteurs,” but he’s been an underrated genre craftsman for many years. As a director with an affinity for horror, he has fairly consistently turned in handsome, commendable entries as far back as 2005 with The Exorcism of Emily Rose, a movie whose blend of courtroom drama and demonic possession has had far more staying power than its initial reviews may suggest. He continued this streak with Sinister, The Black Phone, and now Black Phone 2, making solid three star horror movies his comfort zone. Beyond his love for the genre, Derrickson has an understated but recognizable authorial voice, with a strong eye for building tension, a repeated use of Christian themes and imagery, and a rare gift for drawing great performances out of child actors, which is a talent he used to great effect in the first Black Phone.
Despite all these respectable attributes, none of Derrickson’s movies has become an iconic classic. He’s made multiple movies that evoke The Exorcist, but he’s never made The Exorcist. It all comes down to the fact that his screenplays, often written with collaborators like Cargill or Paul Harris Boardman, have never given him the foundation he needs to let his visuals and thematic interests make his work emotionally resonate with an audience long term. His movies are well-made, fulfill their genre expectations, and are clearly informed by his particular narrative sensibilities, but they don’t linger in the mind months or even years later as the best films do. It’s hard to say whether he hasn’t found the right premise or needs a new co-writer to help his work live up to its potential, but it feels like Derrickson has a great film in him that he hasn’t made yet.
This pattern held true even when he directed a Marvel film, the first Doctor Strange. Commonly considered a middle of the pack MCU entry, it has more going for it than it’s often given credit for. The movie is well-cast, has great and distinctive visuals, and even though it never reaches the same heights as the best of the Infinity Saga when it comes to being a full feature like The Avengers or Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it has specific scenes that are among the best of the Marvel Studios catalog. The Ancient One sending Strange’s astral form on a mindbending journey through the multiverse, Strange using his intellect and mastery of the magical concepts he’s learned to defeat Dormammu via trickery instead of brute force, and the beautiful moment where Strange and the Ancient One speak on the hospital balcony as she’s forced to finally accept her mortality are all fantastic, but they’re shortchanged by the standard Marvel movie script problems like underdeveloped supporting characters and ill-timed humor.
Nearly a decade later, Derrickson is still going strong but also somehow in the same place, and Black Phone 2 speaks to that circumstance. It’s a pretty good movie, but it’s held back by a script that doesn’t afford its characters enough depth and nuance to make it a great movie. Hopefully someday Derrickson crosses that threshold, but for now, Black Phone 2 is yet another entry that exemplifies why its director is still stuck in the doorway.
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles, and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.
John Cena, Dave Bautista, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson are the holy trinity of wrestlers-turned-actors, breaking through to the larger culture and stomping mudholes in the box office. Other wrestlers are landing prominent roles in shows and movies, but none have reached the same heights of mainstream megapower.
Why did these specific superstars emerge from the acting undercard and become major draws? How did they shatter the sports entertainment stigma? And what lessons could an aspiring in-ring thespian learn from their careers?
Suppose you’re a hard-working pro-wrestler who’s tired of making towns and taking bumps, and you’re eager to swap the sweaty canvas mat for a swanky red carpet. Lesson 1: Don’t be too quick to hang up your boots. Hollywood is where the big boys play, but in wrestling, it helps to be the Man.
1. Be “The Man”
The Rock, Batista, and Cena were all “top guys” in their respective eras before jumping to Hollywood. With tons of world championships, pay-per-view main events, and truckloads of questionable merch between them, each had reached the pinnacle of pro wrestling popularity before taking their talents to L.A. You’re unlikely to see a curtain-jerking “jobber” hosting SNL or changing the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe. Wrestling star power gives you a massive head start.
Name recognition obviously plays a huge part, but there’s more to it than that. Call it what you will: aura, rizz, electricity – if there’s an “it” factor, these folks have it. Whether it’s wrestling, acting, music, or anything else, if you’re successful in one medium, you’ve got a big leg up in another.
Before pro wrestling went corporate, a wrestler’s worth was measured in their ability to “draw money,” AKA selling tickets that put butts in seats all around the world. Movies aren’t much different, and not just in Hollywood. The legendary El Santo and his fellow luchadores starred in dozens upon dozens of Mexican action films in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Their in-ring fame and the undeniable drip of masked men in wide-lapel suits transformed them into cinema superheroes.
Status-obsessed Hollywood took a little longer to embrace the inherently carny heritage of pro wrestlers, but times have changed. A bankable star’s face on a poster once all but guaranteed boffo box office, and now that the monoculture has just about tapped out, studios are looking for established, big-name talents – and the followers they bring with them.
You don’t need to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer to have a great career in the movies – workers lower on the marquee have carved out awesome careers for themselves. The likes of Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura worked with skilled and respected cult filmmakers throughout the ‘80s, and countless wrestlers have become immortalized through minor roles and iconic cameos over the decades.
Pre-existing popularity is a huge help, but it’s no guarantee.
Pre-existing popularity is a huge help, but it’s no guarantee. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was arguably the most popular and lucrative pro wrestler ever, and his film career fizzled out after a couple of half-hearted attempts. “The Texas Rattlesnake” was an ill fit for acting, but he eventually found his true passion: shouting encouragement at young people doing obstacle courses in his backyard.
Austin wasn’t even the biggest Hollywood bag fumble. That honor goes to the late Hulk Hogan. The Hulkster was the biggest star of one boom period and a major player in another, but one huge misstep early in his career K.O.’ed his acting ambitions like Sweet Chin Music to the dome. Hogan could have had it all, but he stuck too close to wrestling. Which brings us to our second piece of advice: Don’t be afraid to run wild.
2. Run Wild
The rise of Hulkamania couldn’t have happened without Hollywood. Hogan’s ascent began with his pre-WWE role as “Thunderlips” in Rocky III, which inspired WWE owner Vince McMahon to poach the Hulkster and make him the face of a Rock N’ Wrestling revolution. Soon, Hogan was saying prayers and taking vitamins alongside ‘80s pop icons like Cyndi Lauper, Mr. T, and Richard Belzer. It seemed only a matter of time before he dropped the leg on the movie business, leaving WWE in the dust.
Afraid of losing his biggest draw, McMahon took matters into his own hands. Rather than risk losing control of his top attraction, McMahon would fund his own blockbuster movie and convince Hogan to star with a juicy executive producer credit. The Hulkster accepted, and the two set off to write a film that would launch Hogan’s acting career.
What kind of razor-sharp screenplay would emerge from the minds that brought us the “Kiss My Ass Club” and the “Dungeon of Doom?” What kino would they conceive to cement Hulk Hogan as the next Schwarzenegger or Stallone?
No Holds Barred.
The film was a fiasco, one of cinema’s infamous disasters. Countless bad movie podcasts have spilled innumerable riffs upon its badness, which can be summed up in one word: “Dookie.” As a debut, it couldn’t have really gone much worse.
No Holds Barred had the stink of wrestling all over it. It’s about wrestling, Hulk Hogan plays a barely fictionalized version of his in-ring character, and McMahon’s scatalogical sense of humor is rampant throughout. It’s 93 minutes of insulting sleaze. Today’s corporate, post-Vince WWE displays the broad, relatively safe, and wildly successful appeal of Marvel and Disney, but back then there was still an air of dirtbaggery around the business from which the film could not escape.
It was shilled relentlessly on WWF programming without much success, culminating in a desperate pay-per-view cage match between Hogan and his on-screen nemesis, Zeus “Tiny” Lister, that didn’t even do very well. No Holds Barred is a terrible, oftentimes revolting film. It soured the audience on the grand experiment of wrestlers-turned-actors for a long time – and put an end to Hogan’s Hollywood dreams.
The Hulkster never recovered from No Holds Barred. He carried on in increasingly low-status fare like Mr. Nanny and the TV series Thunder in Paradise. His singular acting legacy is that trailer you kind of remember from The Secret of the Ooze VHS tape. Hulk Hogan made a lot of money working for Vince McMahon, and he made the promoter even more in return. But Hogan’s loyalty to his boss – or his unwillingness to leave his comfort zone – hobbled his acting career in its infancy.
Perhaps if Hulk had just waited for the right opportunity, he could have hooked up with cool directors the way his co-workers did. A skilled filmmaker would have taken advantage of Hogan’s undeniable charisma and adapted to his weaknesses. Instead, the Hulkster hitched his wagon with McMahon and his extremely terrible track record when it comes to anything outside of pro wrestling.
Which brings us to our next lesson: Everyone needs someone in their corner – even the most electrifying man of all. The Rock came to Hollywood well-prepared to be a major player, thanks in part to choosing the right tag-team partner.
3. Tag-Team Action
Dwayne Johnson was destined for success. Born into a Samoan wrestling dynasty to a father who was one of WWE’s first Black champions, The Rock would be the ultimate nepo baby – if he wasn’t so obviously talented.
On his debut in WWE, “Rocky Maivia” was portrayed as a smiling, happy-go-lucky young rookie without much personality. The crowd turned on him so “The Rock” turned heel, tapping into his innate aura to become one of the Attitude Era’s most compelling performers. He didn’t do it alone.
In an unprecedented move for the wrestling business, The Rock convinced WWE to hire Gewirtz as his own personal writer.
In 1999, WWE filmed an MTV special to promote their upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view. That’s where Johnson first worked with a young writer named Brian Gewirtz. Gewirtz had bounced around the TV industry for a few years, snagging credits on several short-lived sitcoms. The Rock smelled what he was cooking.
In an unprecedented move for the wrestling business, The Rock convinced WWE to hire Gewirtz as his own personal writer. Today’s WWE is increasingly cinematic and tightly-scripted, often mind-numbingly so, but in The Rock’s era most wrestlers were responsible for their own “promos.” The “booker” would give them some bulletpoints, but the “worker” was expected to improvise. This was great if you were extremely talented and/or moderately insane, but the majority of the era’s muscleheads were not exactly eloquent.
The Rock changed all of that. He was always a natural promoter and a catchphrase machine, but he clearly saw bigger things on the horizon. Unlike Hulk Hogan, who hesitated when it came to leaving wrestling behind, The Rock embraced his evolution. By hooking up with an industry talent like Gewirtz, Johnson was able to hone his skills for when Hollywood came calling.
Johnson launched his acting career with some TV guest appearances, before making his big screen debut in 2001’s The Mummy Returns, ushering in a bold new era of dazzling and totally convincing computer-generated effects. The Scorpion King left the WWE to pursue acting full time in 2004, leaving Gewirtz behind as Monday Night Raw’s head writer. Johnson would keep busy over the next few years, but his roody-poo roles in mid-tier schlock left The Rock floundering for years.
Dwayne Johnson was adrift, but he had his sights set. He told his agents to make him bigger than Will Smith. They scoffed, so he fired them and found management that could make it happen. With their help, business began to pick up for Johnson, especially after landing the role of Luke Hobbs in 2011’s Fast Five. His anointment by the Fast & the Furious franchise gave the public permission to perceive him as a movie star first and a wrestler second.
When The Rock finally came back to wrestling for two once-in-a-lifetime dream matches against John Cena in 2012, it was huge. He was huge, thanks to countless hours clangin’ and bangin’ in the iron paradise. Freshly tattooed and boldly bald, he was fully reborn as a bigger than life, bigger than wrestling, S-tier star.
The Rock reunited with Gewirtz in 2015, hiring him as SVP of Development for his successful Seven Bucks Productions. A partnership sparked 16 years earlier now had the Hollywood clout to realize their illustrious vision: A bald guy in a brown shirt laying the smacketh down on monsters, bad guys, and natural disasters in movies that make billions of dollars. Gewirtz helped Dwayne Johnson blossom into a big Hollywood player in more ways than one, but as The Rock began to throw his newfound weight around, he risked losing his title as the People’s Champ.
Reports of “D.J.’s” diva-ish attitude abounded, from allegedly showing up late and peeing in bottles to refusing to lose a fight onscreen. Add in his clumsy takeover attempt of the DCEU and the chaos he’s caused behind the scenes in WWE, and it’s clear why The Rock has turned heel in the eyes of many fans. It’ll take a lot of endearing viral videos to rehabilitate Johnson’s image. That or an Oscar.
The Smashing Machine, Benny Safdie’s biopic starring Johnson as fighter Mark Kerr, dazzled at festivals worldwide, creating awards buzz for the first time in the Great One’s career (though the box office wasn’t as kind). Premiering alongside a new, slimmed-down look, The Rock seems open to eating some humble pie and eager to move on to the next stage of his stardom, with more challenging roles from auteur directors.
In short, Dwayne Johnson is entering his Dave Bautista era. Hopefully he’ll learn the most important lesson from “The Animal’s” rise: Check your ego at the door and pick your spots wisely.
4. Pick Your Spots
In wrestling, a “spot” is a preplanned flashy move or highlight in a match. It’s the Thing You Do in a match, the notes between the music. Some are riskier than others. A mad leap off a ladder could make your career or end it, while a technical showcase can either earn the crowd’s respect or shatter their disbelief. While it’s possible to coast off of canned routines, the best wrestlers choose their spots wisely and maximize every minute inside the ring.
Actors also excel at picking their spots, since they can’t exactly shoot every script that comes across their desk – though some will try. Some artists only emerge from hibernation for the occasional tour de force. The Rock played it safe by creating his own cottage industry of assembly-line “Dwayne Johnson” movies. Batista was a little more savvy. He realized that the most beloved movie stars are the ones with an eye for interesting, involving roles.
Dave Bautista wasn’t the most athletic wrestler ever, but all those miles walked inside the pit of danger gave him a knack for making memorable moments. “The Animal” clearly displayed some acting talent beyond “I want to beat that guy up”; it was obvious Bautista had potential, and he was willing to bet on it.
After leaving WWE in 2010, Bautista began his film career on a similar trajectory to Johnson’s, paying his dues in direct-to-video action movies. Also like The Rock, his big break came from being cast in a massive franchise: Drax the Destroyer made Bautista a star. But where Dwayne Johnson used his newfound fame to shape Hollywood in his image, Big Dave took the opportunity to grow himself as an actor.
Bautista’s scene-stealing turn in Blade Runner 2049 as a meek yet massive android in tiny glasses showed more range than basically ever role played by a wrestler up until that point, and he would continue to push himself as unique, atypical characters in movies like Glass Onion and Knock at the Cabin. He even became the first wrestler to voice the American dub of a Studio Ghibli film.
Until The Smashing Machine, smart money had Dave Bautista as the wrestler most likely to win an Oscar first. No matter what kind of film he’s in, Bautista is always improving, pushing himself to sharpen his craft. He’s ranked highest among wrestlers in terms of acting chops, but it’s not like he exclusively goes for artsy films. Big Dave has been in plenty of high-profile blockbusters and the occasional bomb, but he’s learned to lean towards buzzworthy, respectable projects like Dune and Knives Out as opposed to CGI nonsense and Kevin Hart vehicles.
Even beyond his talent and selectiveness (or great agent), Bautista has earned a rep in Hollywood as one of the kindest, most generous stars around. His co-workers love him, he spends his free time rescuing animals, and the only real drama he’s ever been involved in was defending his friend James Gunn when Disney unfairly canned him. He’s just a likeable guy with a ton of goodwill from the audience.
The world loves a babyface, after all, and there’s no bigger “good guy” in the industry than John Cena, a man who embodies our last, and maybe most important piece of advice for pro wrestlers looking to make the leap to movie stardom: Never give up.
5. Never Give Up
Like Hogan, Cena’s acting career started in-house. He starred in WWE Studios’ inaugural The Marine film, starting a franchise that would become a testing ground of sorts for WWE Superstars with acting potential.
Though he incorporated some aspects of his Marine character “John Triton” into his wrestling character, Cena put his movie ambitions to the side for the better part of the next decade. He was still in the prime of his in-ring career, and instead of leaving WWE at the first opportunity he spent the next decade devoting his hustle, loyalty, and respect to the company.
John Cena has granted more Make-a-Wishes than anyone in human history, endured endless publicity appearances and promo shoots, and willingly agreed to spend 20 years of his life dressed like a three-year-old. He even learned Mandarin just to better promote WWE (and himself) abroad. The only place we actually couldn’t see him was at the movie theater – though that was about to change.
The first real hint that Cena had some untapped talent came in 2015, with two surprisingly hilarious appearances in comedies Trainwreck and Sisters. Cena lightened his wrestling schedule as the roles grew more frequent, but he wouldn’t have a grand definitive sendoff until 2025. He would go off to film a movie, come back to hastily FU someone at WrestleMania, then split again.
Maybe it’s the lack of closure that prevented Cena from achieving the kind of singular hit movies that launched the careers of Rock and Bautista. Sure, he’s duked it out with the Decepticons and butt-chugged a few forties over the years, but he’s never enjoyed a Hobbes or Drax style breakout role that truly separated the wrestler from the actor.
Obviously, his stellar run as Peacemaker has made him a big deal – it was the only thing worth salvaging from a billion-dollar cinematic universe. But one pandemic-era underperforming film and a streaming series do not make a megastar. Cena did that himself through sheer perseverance.
Cena is so utterly dedicated to self-promotion that he appears in-character as Peacemaker in various press tours – the ultimate commitment to kayfabe.
Cena pounced on his acting career with the ruthless aggression he displayed for WWE. Junkets? Bring it on. Cameos? Time to go to work! Cena is so utterly dedicated to self-promotion that he appears in-character as Peacemaker in various press tours – the ultimate commitment to kayfabe. You don’t see Robert Downey, Jr. cosplaying as Marvel characters.
Well, now you do, but the point is: John Cena appears to be a really hard-working, dedicated guy just like his character on TV. He never really made that clean break from pro wrestling, and the line between man and Superstar is so blurred we can’t help but root for him. So beloved is Cena that his long-awaited heel turn crashed and burned after fans refused to boo him.
John Cena is more than a mere movie star like The Rock or Batista. He’s an ambassador for the entire art of pro wrestling, and an inspiration for a new generation just now stepping through the ropes of Hollywood. Younger wrestlers are making their move. Modern wrestlers like Becky Lynch, Mercedes Moné, and MJF are getting their acting reps in with some major movies. More importantly, they’re making connections. Wrestling and film are both cutthroat businesses, but savvy politicians like Cody Rhodes are well-equipped to navigate the schmoozing backrooms of Hollywood.
How high are their ceilings? Who will break through? Can the Street Fighter movie possibly be any good with this many wrestlers involved? We’ll sure find out!
There’s no single path to success when it comes to sports entertainers dominating Hollywood, but in a changing industry that’s thirsty for talent, some lessons from the past can help any wrestler step out of the squared circle and onto the silver screen.
While attending Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show in Bangkok this week, IGN was given the opportunity to sit down with Rainbow Six Siege X’s creative director Alexander Karpazis to talk about how much the tactical live-service shooter has evolved in the ten years since its launch in 2015, where it might go next, the possibility of a campaign mode and Switch 2 port, the use of generative AI in development, and more. Read on for our full chat below!
IGN: 10 years is a great achievement for a live service game, particularly since we’ve seen so many others come and go in that time. What do you put the longevity of Siege down to?
Alexander Karpazis [AK]: I think one of the big points is just the sheer depth of the game. Like even within 10 years, I don't think you'll be able to master a game like Siege and as a gamer that's incredibly rewarding. It means that you're on a journey to learn, master and discover new things with a game that's always changing. And I think because of that, it's just grown and resonates with so many people.
IGN: Has Siege evolved in ways that you could have never predicted at launch?
AK: Yeah, absolutely. I mean if you look at 2015 when the game first launched, the Bomb game mode wasn't the number one game mode. It was split between Hostage and Secure Area and Bomb. Back then eSports was something that was very grassroots and new, and now it's become this entire ecosystem where people make their livelihoods off of it, and that's something we could have never anticipated when it first launched. And so in these interesting ways it's built up to be something that is really significant and humbling to be a part of.
IGN: You’ve previously said that Siege X is setting the table for the next 10 years. Do you take it one year at a time? How much of a road map is there for the future? Are there 10 more years worth of ideas in the bank?
AK: When it comes to ideas, we actually sat down and we interviewed the entire team about their ideas for the game, and came up with over 40 pages of concepts that the team still wants to push for. So there is no end in sight when it comes to what we want to do with the game, and it's a balance of short term and long term. We're looking at the seasons ahead of us but also because of Siege X, we're looking at anticipating new technology, new platforms, stuff that's going to come out and it's going to affect the game. And so how can we anticipate that too over a longer stretch of time.
IGN: Hitting a 10-year milestone, does that increase the pressure on your team for the future, or do you feel like you’ve mastered it now and you know what you’re doing?
AK: We're always learning and we'll never stop learning. There's so much that goes into building a game like this, and it really comes down to listening to the community. They'll always be vocal in what they want to see and how things change and so yeah, it's not a matter of mastering where we are right now. It's being comfortable and knowing that we still have to listen to our community, we still have to adapt, and we still have to innovate as well. Maybe we're getting a little bit more comfortable in being uncomfortable, and that's how we keep on rolling the next 10 years.
IGN: On the topic of listening to the community, how much of a challenge is it to balance your team’s vision for Siege X with the wants, needs, and complaints of the players?
AK: It is a challenge, and it isn't. Firstly, because this game's been around for so long I think the DNA is very well understood by players, new and old actually. They know it's a tactical game that has a lot of unique elements like destruction, like asymmetric attacker-defender characteristics. But it does mean that players do want to see change, and more of it more often, and that's where we have to anticipate better, adapt even faster. And in a way, that's sustainable, right? We are humans at the end of the day, the dev team is very human as well, and we want to encourage something that can last another 10 years and not only focus on the short term.
We want to encourage something that can last another 10 years.
IGN: What impact will Ubisoft’s creation of the Vantage Studios subsidiary have on you guys? How do you feel about it, and will it have any noticeable impact on the players?
AK: So when it comes to the player perspective, Vantage Studios is not player-facing so it won't be anything that's noticeable for players in the day-to-day or even long term. And even on the project we're not seeing any major changes, the focus is still on making sure that Siege grows, that it's invested in, and so that's something that we can confirm today. And it means that again, we're still very excited about the future. So it doesn't actually change anything for us right now.
IGN: When Siege X launched in June, it surged on Steam to around 150,000 concurrent players. Now it appears to be hovering around 40,000. Is that sort of drop-off a concern?
AK: Firstly, the players coming to the game, especially like a record number of new players checking out Siege X? It’s always awesome and it’s exactly what we had hoped for. And then yeah, there's always a bit of a tail afterwards, especially as the team was also kind of recovering from launching something as massive as Siege X. There are ebbs and flows, and a lot of it's expected.
So for us, we're really happy with the game. We're happy with where it's going. We have the Munich Majors in November where we'll be sharing even more about where it's going next. And again, excited to see players continue to join Siege and grow from there.
IGN: Is it a similar trend on consoles?
AK: Yeah, it is. PC and consoles share the same player habits that we see all the time.
IGN: At this stage, do you feel like switching to free-to-play was the right thing to do, or is it too soon to tell?
AK: For us, we're seeing the benefits already. We have more new players joining the game than ever before since launch, and that's exactly what we’d hoped for. We're seeing a new generation of Siege players as well, which again is really great even as we try to balance the needs of new players and also veteran players. It is hitting the mark.
IGN: You’ve got so many characters and 10 years’ worth of lore built into the game now. Have you at least entertained the idea of a campaign mode? Rainbow Six Vegas had such an awesome co-op campaign.
AK: It’s absolutely part of the heritage and yes, it is something that our players ask about. All I can say right now is we're still really focused on the PvP aspect. We have been playing around with storytelling within PvP, and we had an event called Assault on Hereford that players really loved, that did build on what our characters are doing, the tone of the game, and we will continue to explore that realm. But yeah, we have nothing to announce right now.
IGN: What’s your stance on the use of generative AI in games development, do you have plans to use it for Siege?
AK: If we just talk about AI at its core, it's something we've always been using, like machine-learning, developing new tools not only for anti-cheat but for things like our AI bots, where they're actually trained on our real player data. So these are all incredible tools that make us faster and more efficient. And so it's not a new concept.
However, when it comes to generative AI, this is stuff that's still really new and so we haven't incorporated it into our pipeline of Siege.
When it comes to generative AI, this is stuff that's still really new and so we haven't incorporated it into our pipeline of Siege.
IGN: What's the fan response been like to the Dual Front mode? I know a lot of players were of the opinion that the District map was a bit too big at launch, are you reevaluating that?
AK: Yeah, there was a lot of feedback on the new mode especially when you're comparing it to veterans and new players. We see new players really jumping in more often than veterans, which is great. It's something that we hoped for. But there are still ways to improve it.
So we will be taking some time to make some bigger changes to the game mode that we’ll be really excited to share for Year 11 - Season One. So at the start of next year. We'll keep on shaking things up and seeing if we can get more good feedback on it too.
It's definitely something that we want to stand apart from core Siege. Core Siege is very much competitive. The main draw is Ranked where it has this kind of competitive progression. Dual Front is still the place where we want to give all of the sandbox ingredients that you have in Siege in a more free form so you can play around with all of it, mixing attackers and defenders, mixing different kinds of strategies to attack and defend too. That's where it really shines. So making sure Dual Front is answering a clearly different need than Core is something that we're focused on.
IGN: We’ve seen Star Wars Outlaws come to Nintendo Switch 2, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows is rumoured to be on its way too. Is Rainbow Six Siege 2 likely to be next?
AK: For us the focus will always be on the platforms we’re on right now, making sure that it's the best experience and when we do new gameplay [that] it makes use of the platforms that we're on. So right now, any new platform isn't necessarily a focus for us. But again, we're a live game, it's 10 years. I learnt a long time ago to never say never, so we'll see as platforms grow and new opportunities come up too.
IGN: Finally, do you have anything special planned for the 10-year anniversary?
AK: We’ve spoken a little bit about it and we'll share even more at the Munich Majors, but our plan is absolutely to celebrate this major milestone with our players. We have a big event planned for in-game. We have rewards that we have planned for our players as well. So yeah, we'll absolutely be taking advantage of this big moment and celebrating it with everyone.
IGN: Looking forward to seeing what you have in store. Thanks for your time.
AK: Thank you so much.
Tristan Ogilvie is a senior video editor at IGN's Sydney office. He travelled to Bangkok as a guest of Gamescom Asia.
Lost Origins saw reprints earlier this year, but now that they've dried up, we're seeing the usual climbs in this Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield expansion. What I didn't expect was to see so many Trainer Gallery cards drop in value, but I think this is more of a market correction.
It was only at the beginning of the year that Gengar and Pikachu were in the pocket money binder at your local TCG and collectables stores, but those days are still a distant memory.
Crashers and Climbers: Lost Origin
With Pokémon Mania 2025 still going crazy, everyone is trying to grab new release sealed product at retail, which means it's a great time to snag some overlooked cards from older sets before they climb up.
For example, I got most of the cards in today's crasher section for around $5 each 12 months ago, so although they're currently lowering in price, they're still a great buy. Let's get straight into it.
Pokémon Card Crashers
Gengar TG06/TG30 is a bit of a risk to play in-game, Netherworld Gate can bring it back from the dead without the need to evolve it, but you also get three damage counters. Screaming Circle can work out well then opponents have a full bench for one Psychic energy, but it's still a risk that might not be worth taking. The artwork itself is fantastic, and it's one of my favorite Gengar cards just for the bold colour and Gengar being fascinated by a washing line. This card has had a brutal crash from $56 to $38, but I see this as more of a correction.
Pikachu TG05/TG30 has the exact same charm, seeing it having a nap with the female trainer from Legends: Arceus. It's such a sweet image and can see why this card is worth over $26. It's come down from over $30, but I'm sure this will grow far past this point in the next 12 months. It's really not worth including in your deck, but it's a cracking pick for a trainers binder.
Gold and black cards never really did much for me personally, so I can see why the value of Mew VMAX TG30/TG30 has dipped from $26.04 to $21.42. But that's besides the point, it's still Mew and there's plenty of people who need every Mew they can find in their collection, so this still isn't bad.
Charizard TG03/TG30 is another card im suprised to be calling a crasher this week. It's Charizard cuddling up with Champion Leon, which is a recipe for a banger card. We're seeing a lot of Trainer Gallery cards go through a bit of a correction right now, but a 25% drop from $23.95 to $17.98 is a bit rough. I'd reccomend picking one up before it ticks back up.
Pikachu VMAX TG29/TG30 is matching that Mew energy. I pulled this from a booster earlier this year, and it's a bit of an underwhelming card despite the rarity. It's not dropped by much, only 9%, and it will probably climb in the next year or two, but black gold cards could have been so much cooler.
Pokémon Card Climbers
Giratina V 186/196 has gone through the roof and into the stratosphere over the last month. In September these we're going for $570, but it's now over $720, and I'm here for it. I'm yet to get my hands on one, but what an incredible work of art this card is. It illustrates the Distortion world perfectly.
It's nice to see Aerodactyl card climbing up in value, especially it's V Alt Art (180/196). It's a gorgeous scene of it slying over a tropical area, with a shedload of detail and some lovely use of color. It's easy to see why this card has been bumped from $129 to just over $180 in the space of a month.
Red and Pikachu, this is peak Pokémon generation one nostalgia at its finest. Showcasing Red checking out a map and Pikachu looking ready for a new adventure, there's no reality where Pikachu V TG16/TG30 twouldn't double in value in a month. At $99.07 right now, trainers would be wise to add this to their collection sooner rather than later.
Pikachu VMAX TG17/TG30 takes this nosgalia and kicks it up a gear into the Sword and Shield era of Pokémon with Pikachu Gigantamax form. The posture of Red ready for another challenge with chonky Pikachu just happy to be standing upright is a cracking scene. This card used to be $10-20 higher than Pikachu V, but is settling in the same ballpark at $96.
Rotom is a cool Pokémon and no one will tell me any different. I'd have one in my phone making it fly around every day of the week, and i'd love to have Rotom V 177/196 in my collection one day. It's cheap and cheerful at $26, but it's climbed up from $22 in a month, so I'd call that a low risk investment.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
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