Rick and Morty may have started as just another adult-oriented cartoon, but at some point (pretty early on, if I’m being honest) it became a cultural hallmark. The sci-fi comedy series leans into absurdity, and pretty much anything’s on the table when it comes to the show’s scathing satire. At this point, I’d be caught off guard by anyone who hasn’t at least heard of Pickle Rick.

While there are plenty of self-contained episodes, some storylines have carried over between seasons. Some of the best episodes, like Ricklantis Mix-Up, happen to have follow-ups in the new season. Still, IGN’s review suggests Season 8 may be more of a return to “the old adventure/parody of the week formula.”

If you’re planning to watch the new season of Rick and Morty, here’s everything you need to know to stream new episodes online.

How to Watch Rick and Morty Season 8 Online

If you’re just trying to catch a Rick and Morty vibe, the Adult Swim website has a free 24/7 livestream of random episodes. Otherwise, the entire series is streaming on HBO Max. Individual seasons are also available on DVD.

Rick and Morty Season 8 Voice Cast

Season 8 will feature the same voice cast as Season 7, including Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden, who will also be appearing at IGN Live from June 7-8. Here's the main voice cast:

• Ian Cardoni as Rick Sanchez
• Harry Belden as Morty Smith
• Sarah Chalke as Beth Smith
• Chris Parnell as Jerry Smith
• Spencer Grammer as Summer Smith
• Jon Allen as Mr. Poopybutthole

Like previous seasons, Season 8 will likely feature various guest stars, though none have been confirmed.

Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.

As part of its Memorial Day Sale, Amazon has dropped the price on the 65" LG Evo C4 4K OLED TV. It normally retails for $2,499.99, but right now you can get it for $1,296.99 $1196.90 with free delivery. That's nearly half off the list price and the best deal I've seen for the 2024 65" model. It's also $1,000 less expensive than the 2025 65" LG Evo C5, which makes this the far better value. The LG Evo C-series of TV has consistently been our favorite high-end 4K TV for current generation console gaming thanks to its outstanding image quality, low input lag, and high refresh rate.

Update: Electronic Express via Amazon has dropped the price from $1,296.99 to $1,196.90. Electronic Express is an authorized LG reseller with several retail locations in Alabama and Tennessee.

The Best LG TV Deal on Amazon Today

With summer just around the corner, the deals are hot this Memorial Day weekend. Just about every online retailer has dropped deep discounts on a range of products for the holiday. While the sales may not be as great as Black Friday and Prime Day, it’s still a great time to save on everything to prepare for the warm months ahead. Summer essentials aren’t the only discounted items either, with everything from TVs and mattresses to PCs and gaming essentials getting in on the action.

TL;DR: Deals for Today

This might not be a deal, but if you missed out on the first Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy pre-orders, you’re in luck, as you can still grab the bundle and starter kit. Individual cards are also up for pre-order, ensuring you can lock down your favorites before the drop in June.

2025 Apple iPad (A16)

Sonos Move 2

Grill Deals

Blink Outdoor 4

Alienware Aurora R16 Intel Core Ultra 7 265F RTX 5080

LG 65-Inch OLED evo C4

Persona 5 Royal Standard Edition for Switch

Mattress Sales

Whether you need a cheap mattress to plop in a guest room or want a top-end bed for a restful night, there are great Memorial Day mattress sales you don’t want to sleep on. Top brands are offering some of the biggest savings of the year this weekend. Lowe’s marked a bunch of Serta mattresses 25% off, while Casper has its most popular mattresses up to 35% off. Looking to amp up the luxury even further? PlushBeds has knocked $1,500 off the price tag on most beds, and for extra comfort customizations, Sleep Number mattresses are up to half off.

Amazon is also taking part, offering a queen-size bed for just $179 along with a whole bunch of other mattress deals. Amplify your comfort even further since accessories like Tempur-Pedic pillows and mattress toppers are also on sale.

Nintendo Switch 2 Accessory Deals

The Nintendo Switch 2 release date is under 2 weeks away, and if you’re planning on snagging the new handheld, keeping the pricey device protected should be top priority. Luckily, there are plenty of Switch 2 accessory deals happening this weekend.

A few major sales are worth noting, like a JSAUX Protective Case for just $13.99 when you clip a coupon. It wraps the Switch 2 in a shock-absorbing, ergonomic shell for 24/7 protection. When taking the gaming handheld on the go, the over 50% off TZGZT case is a great way to keep it safe and bring along some extra accessories too. Of course, a screen protector is also an absolute must, since a cracked screen is the quickest way to brick the Switch, and a few are on sale today.

MTG: Final Fantasy Pre-Orders

I wanted Journey Together to hit big. After Surging Sparks and Prismatic Evolutions delivered some real heat, it felt like we were on a roll.

But instead of a clean three-hit combo, this set tripped over itself on the way out the gate. Prices were inflated from the start, and now that the market has had time to breathe, this correction is aggressive.

It’s still a solid set. Great art, fun pulls, some nostalgic hits. But a lot of the single prices were built on hype that couldn’t hold.

Collectors thought we’d get another round of rapid value climbs. That didn’t happen. If you're buying now, you're catching cards on the way down instead of riding them on the way up.

Just go in knowing what’s worth grabbing and what’s still floating on leftover launch-day fumes.

Illustration Rares

Articuno had a strong start. Prices hit $55 back in late March, which made sense at the time—it's a fan-favorite Legendary with great artwork.

Since then, it’s taken a 36% dip and now floats around $35. Honestly, that’s still a bit high. I’ve seen near-mint listings at $18.69, and that feels more in line with where this card belongs.

I think it’s a solid pickup if you just want a great-looking bird without the early adopter tax.

Wailord was one of those early hype Illustration Rares that got pumped fast, mostly because it’s Wailord and people have a soft spot for absurdly large water types.

It hit $60 at the end of March, which didn’t last long. It’s now dropped 63.66% to a market value of around $22.49, and I’ve seen copies listed for as low as $14.55. Personally, I think this one’s due for a soft bounce back to $30, but only once the panic listings clear out and the Wailord fans circle back.

My favorite Illustration Rare is N’s Reshiram. The artwork is top-tier, and the character pairing actually adds something meaningful to the card. It started at $39.43, which honestly didn’t feel too far off given the demand at launch.

Now it’s sitting around $17.44. Even the Journey Together stamped variant, which you'd think would carry some extra value, is undercutting the regular one at about $14. That’s a 79.51% drop, and in my opinion, a steal. If you want a chase card without paying chase prices, this is the one.

Special Illustration Rare And Hyper Rares

I have big plans over Memorial Day weekend to get some shopping in. I don't usually buy anything from Memorial Day sales, but with all of the uncertainty about tariffs and prices in the U.S. I've been feeling like I should make my purchases now rather than wait to see if prices go up or not. More specifically, I've been meaning to upgrade my gaming setup for years and it's starting to feel like a now or never situation.

Most of the Memorial Day sales have been live since last week, and I've primarily been browsing the Wayfair sale for various furniture items. I'm specifically looking for a new office chair and desk as well as a nice bookcase to store my games, and the Wayfair sale has overall been the easiest website to navigate so far. I've also been looking at IGN's picks for best gaming chair and gaming desks to help broaden my search to other popular brands.

If you're looking to upgrade your own gaming setup or office during these sales, here are my suggestions for how to go about it.

Start With the Wayfair Sale

You ever wonder who the first person to put peanut butter and chocolate together was? Part of me feels like whoever it was must be loaded; I mean, you’ve combined two already great flavors into something that Reese’s would more or less build a whole brand on. And then part of me thinks it plays out like the hypothetical guy who invented the Chicken McNugget in The Wire. A pat on the back from a big shot, and then it’s back to the basement to figure out a way to make the fries taste better. I don’t know the answer; I hope it's the former. But every now and then, you come across an idea, a combination of things, that’s so good that you wonder how nobody’s ever done it before. And every time my squad and I sprinted back to our time-traveling dropship, stopping only to deal with the Time Reapers that stood in our way, I wondered how the hell nobody had ever said “Hey, what if we combined Overcooked and Gears of War?” pre-Pizza Bandit.

Pizza Bandit’s setup is pretty simple. You’re Malik, a former bounty hunter with dreams of being a chef who is pulled back into the bounty game when he’s scammed out of his pizza shop and his former crew needs his help to get out of a jam. Pizza Bandit’s writing is pretty silly, but that’s part of the charm. I can’t get mad when Albert, the android that upgrades your weapons, tells me he doesn’t know how to apologize for what happened to my pizza shop because he’s just an android, or when my pilot waxes nostalgic about how he misses the fog, or when someone utters the odd nonsensical line. It’s too silly, and the whole setup is just there to, well… set up Pizza Bandit’s wackiness.

See, you’re not just any bounty-hunting crew. You’re a time-traveling bounty hunting crew, and that means you’ll be going all over space and time to get the job done. Don’t ask me how any of this works. All I know is that pizza heals and bullets kill, and that the Time Reapers — nasty little buggers that seem to be invading every timeline — don’t want this pizza shop owner to make any dough. And that’s not gonna fly.

What makes Pizza Bandit unique is that you’re not just shooting stuff. You’re also, well, kinda playing Overcooked. After squading up, my first mission saw my crew (you can play with up to three friends) heading to the Restaurant from N owhere, a hidden outpost run by another bandit crew. Our job: fulfill the pizza orders for other bounty hunting teams, and send them off in time-traveling rocket pods. That meant putting together the right type of pizza, getting it to the oven, making sure we were getting their drink orders right, and adding some extra bullets for when things got spicy, cramming it all into a pod, and doing it on time while fighting off the Time Reapers, who really, really don’t like supporting small businesses.

And that’s where the other part of the Overcooked/Gears of War marriage comes into play. See, the Time Reapers mean business, and you’re not going to talk them out of some time reaping. That’s their whole bag. The only solution, fellow bandit, is incredible violence. I’ve played several builds of Pizza Bandit at this point, and let me tell you, your arsenal is up to the task. You start with your choice of assau lt rifle, minigun, and sniper rifle, but the fun really begins when you start unlocking your secondary weapons by completing jobs. They start simple: landmines, grenades, that sort of thing, but once you unlock the disco ball that attracts enemies and gets them dancing before it explodes? Whew, buddy. And the sentry turret? Perfection. You could slice and dice them Time Reapers with a katana, but have you ever considered using a pizza slicer as big as a man? It’ll change your life.

And the Time Reapers will force you to use everything in your arsenal. You got your standard guys who will just run at you, but there are also Time Reapers that’ll crawl around on all fours, Terminator-looking ones that will leap at you, giant ones with hammers, guys who throw fireballs (these can really ruin your day), the works. You gotta prioritize.

Pizza Bandit is at its best when you’re with a good team, calling out orders. A good match should be shouts of “We need a pepperoni pie!” and “I’m on the Coke!” and “I’m down!” interspersed with lots and lots of gunfire. Simple choices, like when to call down your own, once-a-mission rocket pod full of pizza and supplies, and more complex ones, like where to put it (you can block off a stairway, for instance), spice things up, too.

And here’s the thing: so far, I’ve just talked about Restaurant from Nowhere, which is only the first level. Pizza Bandit isn’t a one-trick pony. One of my favorite levels has you taking over a sushi joint and making sure you have the right stuff on the delivery turntable for your customers. Sometimes that means running downstairs and grabbing a big ol’ tuna, taking that bad boy upstairs, and chopping him up before the Time Reapers whack you and you drop him. Other times that means frying an egg, or making a cucumber roll. You gotta stay ahead of the curve, because new customers are prioritized over old ones, and the Time Reapers aren’t gonna sit there and wait for you to plate your masterpiece.

Sometimes, you’re not even cooking food at all. Another favorite level, Wizard’s Tomb, has you exploring a magically booby-trapped tomb in search of a sarcophagus. You’ll have to navigate the tomb’s traps, solve basic puzzles to reveal the way forward, and take out the arcane heart powering the whole enterprise before getting to the sarcophagus itself, which you’ll naturally transport with jetpacks before booking it back to your ship. It isn’t enough to get any given job done; you gotta get home, too. Just another day in the life of a pizza bandit.

There are more, of course: in one, you’ll defend a cabin with Dr. Emmert Browne (Great Scott, Jofsoft, I see what you’re doing here, and I like it!) while he invents the time travel device that makes your whole business profitable. Winning it all means keeping him warm, satiating his hunger with rabbit or venison, and stopping all those nasty Time Reapers (and Wendigos?) who are trying to stop time travel from happening. You’d think that the Time Reapers would understand time paradoxes, but I guess not. Can’t reap time if there’s no time to reap, y’all.

Or maybe you’ll break into an enormous safe with a laser drill, like you’re roleplaying the opening scene of Michael Mann’s Thief with a drill that’s constantly exploding. That seems safe, right? But hey, apparently there’s a magical cookbook in that vault whose recipes can alter reality, and we’re being paid to get it, exploding drill or not. A Pizza Bandit always gets the job done.

And there’s always time to do your best Breaking Bad impersonation and help a couple of guys cook some “magic powder” and hide it inside some chicken. Oh, and you have to kill and cook the chickens. Only fresh, never frozen, baby. Pizza Bandit is always ludicrous, and its inspirations are obvious, but it’s never less than fun.

Between missions, it’s back to Pizza Bandit (your restaurant), where you can acquire and upgrade your weapons, decorate Pizza Bandit itself, use the ingredients you find during missions to bake and share a pie for some stat boosts on your next run, or get some spiffy new duds for your bounty hunter. The milk carton backpack is a classic choice, if I do say so myself, but I’m still saving up for one of the cat ones. The things we do for fashion, am I right? Then it’s right back to it. A bandit’s work is never done.

Sometimes, you don’t know you want something until you get it. I didn’t know I wanted Pizza Bandit until the first time I played it at PAX two years ago. It was one of those games that generated a lot of word of mouth, but it’s one of those concepts that doesn’t seem like it’ll work until you get a controller in your hands and everything makes sense. I don’t know why we’ve never gotten something like Pizza Bandit before, but once I played it, I knew I wanted more. Pizza heals, bullets kill, and Pizza Bandit rocks. If Jofsoft can stick the landing, we’re in for a tasty slice of New York pie.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for the most recent MCU projects, including Captain America: Brave New World, Daredevil: Born Again, and Thunderbolts/The New Avengers.

With the release of Thunderbolts - or should we say, The New Avengers - the Marvel Cinematic Universe is at a critical point. The upcoming Ironheart series officially caps off Phase 5 of the MCU, while The Fantastic Four: First Steps kicks off Phase 6. We’re now entering the climax of the Multiverse Saga, with all eyes looking ahead to 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday and the debut of Robert Downey, Jr.’s Doctor Doom.

With that in mind, and with the release dates of both Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars recently being pushed by about a half year each, it’s a good time to take a step back and examine just where the MCU is at right now. Who are the key players and teams in the Multiverse Saga? Why are there apparently two Avengers teams, and who’s on each one? Why has Tom Hiddleston’s Loki become the most important character in the Marvel multiverse? Why has the MCU pivoted from Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror to Downey’s Doom? Here’s everything you need to know heading into Phase 6.

The Avengers vs. The New Avengers

Avengers: Endgame ended with Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers passing the torch (or the shield, rather) to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson. Steve made it clear that he views Sam as the rightful heir to the Captain America mantle and the man best suited to lead the Avengers.

In practice, though, it’s been an uphill battle for Sam in getting to a place where he’s willing to shoulder that massive responsibility. 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier showed Sam’s struggle to embrace his new identity as Captain America. 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World did the same for Sam’s role as Avengers team leader. Only now, in the aftermath of Brave New World, is Sam actively working to reassemble Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Exactly which heroes made the cut is still to be revealed, with only Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres (the new Falcon) confirmed to be joining. But based on the cast member chairs featured in Marvel’s bizarre teaser video, we can make some assumptions. We’re expecting Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, and Letitia Wright’s Black Panther to assemble, as they’ve all been featured prominently in the Multiverse Saga so far.

The problem for Sam is that he has some competition now: There’s another Avengers team out there. 2025’s Thunderbolts brings together a team that includes Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, Wyatt Russell’s U.S. Agent, and Lewis Pullman’s Sentry. The film ends with this ragtag team confronting their self-serving handler, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (who’s really become the shadowy Nick Fury figure of the post-Endgame MCU), only to stumble into a press conference introducing them as “The New Avengers.” That’s why Marvel changed (or at least updated) the movie’s name from Thunderbolts* to The New Avengers only days after its release.

The post-credits scene in The New Avengers reveals that there’s some major tension between the two teams. Set 14 months after the New Avengers made their public debut, this scene reveals that Sam is suing the team for trademark infringement. We can probably expect Sam’s Avengers to butt heads with the New Avengers in Avengers: Doomsday. Which, while sure to be entertaining, can only mean bad things for the world at large. 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War already established how badly things can go wrong when the Avengers aren’t united. And there’s definitely a huge threat looming over their heads once more.

The State of the Marvel Multiverse

As the name suggests, the Multiverse Saga has been dedicated to introducing MCU viewers to the larger Marvel multiverse. Films like 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine have all dealt with the idea that there are other universes, each with their own heroes and villains.

No MCU project has been more integral to establishing the nature and scope of the multiverse than the Loki series. Loki follows the version of Tom Hiddleston’s character introduced in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame - the Loki from 2012 who escapes with the Tesseract. As the series reveals, Loki is summarily arrested by the Time Variance Authority, a police force who guard against abuses to what they dub “The Scared Timeline.” Despite himself, Loki winds up joining the TVA and contributing to their mission.

However, what Loki and his variant, Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie, eventually discover is that the TVA is controlled by a being called He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror. Following a devastating war between Kang’s many variants, He Who Remains created the TVA to suppress alternate timelines and prevent his other selves from coming into existence. Only after Sylvie kills He Who Remains does the Marvel multiverse flood back into existence.

Loki Season 2 deals with the continued fallout of that act, as it becomes clear He Who Remains sabotaged the multiverse so that Loki would have no choice but to undo his death. But instead, Loki himself becomes the savior of the multiverse. He now sits on a throne at the center of all reality, literally holding the strands of the multiverse in his hands and observing everything. A buit ironic, considering how he always coveted his father’s throne. It’s a crowning act of heroism that cements Loki’s status as the best character in the MCU.

What Are Incursions and Anchor Beings?

Unfortunately, though Loki saved existence, the multiverse is still in dire shape. A phenomenon known as Incursions is currently rippling across universes. Incursions occur when breaches form between worlds and two universes begin to collide. If the Incursions aren’t stopped, both universes risk being annihilated. Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau narrowly prevented one such Incursion from destroying the MCU (Earth-616) and what appears to be Fox’s X-Men universe (Earth-10005), leaving her stranded in the latter universe. But Incursions are happening more and more frequently, meaning it’s only a matter of time before Earth-616 is threatened once again.

The Multiverse Saga has also introduced the concept of Anchor Beings. As revealed in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, an Anchor Being is a person whose very existence determines the health of a universe. When an Anchor Being dies, their universe eventually withers and collapses. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is the Anchor Being of Earth-10005, which creates a problem when he dies in 2017’s Logan. Of course, this doesn’t really make sense given that Logan never really felt like it was taking place in the Fox X-Men universe, but then again, this universe’s continuity has never made sense. In any case, thanks to Deadpool, Earth-10005 now has a new Wolverine variant calling it home, thereby restoring the natural order of things.

The question is who serves as the Anchor Being of the MCU. Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark would be the obvious choice, but does his death mean the MCU is also doomed? Could that have something to do with the Incursion problem and the worsening state of the multiverse? We’ll find out.

Marvel’s New Young Heroes

If there’s been any one mission in Phases 4 and 5 of the MCU apart from fleshing out the multiverse, it’s introducing a new generation of heroes to replace the Avengers of old. It’s worth taking a look at the key players and what they’re up to leading into Avengers: Doomsday.

2022’s Ms. Marvel series introduced Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan, a Captain Marvel fangirl whose mystical bangle unlocks incredible super-powers. Kamala is also revealed to be a mutant in the final episode, making her one of the MCU’s first mutant characters alongside Tenoch Huerta Mejía’s Namor and the version of Wolverine teased in the She-Hulk series (a news ticker makes mention of a clawed man instigating a bar brawl). These days, Kamala seems to be on a recruiting drive, reaching out to other like-minded teen heroes to form a team, meaning the MCU could very well introduce the Young Avengers soon.

Kamala’s first recruit is Hailee Steinfeld’s Hawkeye, who has inherited the mantle from Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton. We see Kamala recruit Kate in the post-credits scene to 2023’s The Marvels.

Marvel has introduced other key members of the Young Avengers from the comics over the course of the Multiverse Saga so far. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier not only introduced the aged super-soldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) but also his grandson Eli (Elijah Richardson). Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) officially became the superhero Stature in 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. We’ve seen various versions of Kang the Conqueror already, meaning it wouldn’t be difficult for the MCU to introduce Iron Lad, a young version of Kang who rebels against his older self. (Because of his younger age, this would also mean the character could be recast, leaving any Jonathan Majors baggage behind.)

And then there are the sons of Vision and Scarlet Witch. We first met these characters as children in 2021’s WandaVision series, as Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff conjured them into being to complete her idyllic nuclear family. Even though the twins were wiped from existence along with the rest of Wanda’s sitcom-inspired fake reality, their souls have since been reincarnated in new bodies. Billy (Joe Locke) played a major role in 2024’s Agatha All Along, where we saw just how powerful this budding magician is growing, and speedster Tommy was also teased in that series.

At this point, we may very well see the Young Avengers come together for the first time in Avengers: Doomsday. And even if not, it seems only a matter of time before Marvel greenlights an actual Young Avengers movie or series.

It’s also worth pointing out that we’re seeing another, entirely separate batch of young heroes start to emerge in the Multiverse Saga. We like to refer to this group as the Next Avengers, as, like in the 2008 animated film, these characters are mainly descendants of iconic MCU heroes. So far, we’ve met Tony Stark’s daughter Morgan, T’Challa’s son Toussaint, Thor’s daughter Love, Bruce Banner’s son Skaar, and the orphaned Phyla-Vell, who’s effectively been adopted by Dave Bautista’s Drax. These characters are mostly a little young to be forming their own super-team just yet, but we suspect Marvel is arranging the pieces for a big payoff further down the line.

Where Are the Classic Avengers?

Marvel has been busy establishing a new generation of heroes in the MCU, but what about the old one? Where are all the classic Avengers? Will any of these characters return for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars? Let’s break down all the big names and recap what they’ve been up to lately.

Iron Man

Of course, Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark sacrificed his life to restore the countless souls snapped by Thanos. We don’t picture Marvel ever undoing that sacrifice. Plus, the MCU has a new Iron Man in the form of Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart. That said, Downey is returning to the MCU to play Doctor Doom, and that leaves the door open for him to play other versions of Tony Stark from across the multiverse.

Steve Rogers

Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers is happily retired these days, having traveled back in time to settle down with Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter. In the present, Steve is an elderly man and has passed the Captain America mantle onto Sam Wilson. But in the comics, Steve went through a period where he lost his powers and served the Avengers in more of an advisory role. Could something similar happen in Avengers: Doomsday?

Thor

Chris Hemsworth’s Thor has been keeping pretty busy since Endgame, shedding all that extra weight and somehow becoming even more buff than ever. Thor briefly served as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, but his attention soon turned to dealing with the rise of Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder. These days, Thor is happily playing single father, raising Gorr’s daughter Love as his own, and continuing to protect the MCU from evil.

Hulk

Of all the original Avengers, Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner has played the most direct role in protecting Earth since the events of Avengers: Endgame. Banner has popped up in several places, studying the mysterious Ten Rings in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and mentoring his newly Hulk-ified cousin Jen (Tatiana Maslany) in 2022’s She-Hulk series. At the end of that series we saw that Banner has his own issues to deal with, as he’s been reunited with his son Skaar, an unexpected development from his days exiled on the world of Sakaar.

Hawkeye

Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton would be all too happy to retire if the universe would just leave him alone. We last saw Clint dragged back into the fray in 2021’s Hawkeye series, where he dealt with his Thanos-induced PTSD and mentored his young replacement, Kate Bishop. Somehow, we doubt Clint will be able to sit out the events of Avengers: Doomsday. But don’t hold your breath for a Hawkeye Season 2. Renner confirmed he’s turned down Marvel’s lowball offer.

Black Widow

Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff was another tragic casualty of Avengers: Endgame, and like Tony Stark, we don’t envision Marvel resurrecting the dead. Johansson recently reiterated her belief that Natasha should be allowed to stay dead. Still, never say never when the multiverse is in play.

What About Spider-Man?

Tom Holland’s Peter Parker has really been through the wringer since the events of Avengers: Endgame. He had to deal with reintegrating into high school life after being snapped for five years. Then he faced having his secret identity outed to the world and mourned the death of Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May at the hands of Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin. These days, Peter is enjoying being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man again, even if regaining his secret identity has required him to sacrifice his friendships with Jacob Batalon’s Ned and Zendaya’s MJ.

It’s still an open question as to whether Holland will return for Avengers: Doomsday. Given the nature of Doctor Strange’s identity-restoring spell, the Avengers may have trouble tracking him down. But Holland is set to star in a fourth solo movie called Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is rumored to take place alongside the events of Doomsday. We’ll see if Doomsday’s delay means Brand New Day will move into 2027.

The Fallout of Secret Invasion and Daredevil: Born Again

While some Disney+ series like Moon Knight and She-Hulk have been mainly dedicated to introducing their respective heroes, others have proven to have a more far-reaching impact on the MCU. We’ve already covered why Loki is one of the most important projects in the Multiverse Saga, but what about 2023’s Secret Invasion and 2025’s Daredevil: Born Again? Both series speak to the steadily worsening state of affairs in the MCU.

Secret Invasion follows Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos as they unravel a deep conspiracy involving a rogue band of Skrulls kidnapping and impersonating key political figures. Don Cheadle’s Jim Rhodes turned out to be one of those replaced, with the series hinting Rhodey has actually been a Skrull since shortly after the events of 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.

Though Fury ultimately prevents the rogue Skrulls from poisoning Earth and making it their new home planet, the damage has been done. There’s a new wave of anti-alien xenophobia sweeping the globe. The public, still reeling from the traumatic effects of the Snap, is no longer willing to tolerate aliens in its midst.

As for Born Again, the series is effectively Season 4 of Netflix’s Daredevil show, firmly planting characters like Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk in the wider MCU. The series explores what happens after Fisk is elected mayor of New York, as Matt is reluctantly drawn back into his vigilante role.

Born Again Season 1 could have interesting ramifications for the MCU. In the finale, Fisk imposes martial law on the city and outlaws all costumed vigilantes. The situation is reminiscent of what happened with the Sokovia Accords in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, albeit limited to those heroes operating in New York. It should be interesting to see if this development will be referenced in other MCU projects like Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

The Debut of the Fantastic Four and X-Men

The MCU has built up a massive cast of heroes and villains over the years, but two groups have always been conspicuous by their absence. The MCU has no Fantastic Four and no X-Men, a holdover from the days when both franchises were locked up by 20th Century Fox. But thanks to the Multiverse Saga, that’s been slowly changing.

While we’ve still only met a handful of mutants living on Earth-616, several movies have featured characters that we recognize from Fox’s X-Men universe. 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness included Patrick Stewart’s Professor X among the members of Earth-838’s Illuminati. 2023’s The Marvels ends with Monica Rambeau being rescued by Kelsey Grammer’s Beast. 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine is a direct sequel to the previous two Deadpool movies, as Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson runs afoul of the TVA and teams up with a variant of Hugh Jackman’s Logan.

It’s clear from the currently announced cast for Avengers: Doomsday that the Fox X-Men are going to play a big role in the film. Everyone from James Marsden’s Cyclops to Ian McKellen’s Magneto to Channing Tatum’s Gambit is returning (though, strangely, Jackman himself has yet to be confirmed). We’ve speculated before that Doomsday is essentially an Avengers vs. X-Men movie, with both teams battling it out when an Incursion threatens their respective universes. And we’ll be very surprised if Jackman’s Wolverine isn’t among those heroes fighting to restore the multiverse in Avengers: Secret Wars.

Ultimately, we’re expecting Doomsday and Secret Wars to serve as the swan song for Fox’s X-Men characters, whether or not these characters actually survive the inevitable death and rebirth of the Marvel multiverse. But as we head into Phase 7, Marvel will start introducing the MCU’s version of the X-Men. Some fans are even speculating that Phase 7 will kick off “The Mutant Saga.” At the very least, Deadline is reporting that Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier is being eyed to helm the rebooted X-Men movie.

As for the Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness featured a cameo of John Krasinski’s Mister Fantastic (a nod to a popular fan casting choice), but we’ll soon be meeting an entirely new version of the team in 2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. First Steps stars Pedro Pascal as Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing. These characters aren’t residents of Earth-616, however, but rather dwell in an alternate universe that exists as a retro-futuristic 1960s version of our world. First Steps will chronicle the birth of Reed and Sue’s child, Franklin Richards, and pit the team against Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer and Ralph Ineson’s Galactus.

If the post-credits scene to Thunderbolts is any indication, that fight may not go well for the FF. Thunderbolts shows the team fleeing to the MCU ahead of some unknown disaster in their universe. Presumably, either their world was just consumed by Galactus, or their universe is being threatened by an Incursion. Perhaps Galactus’ arrival is somehow connected to the Incursion phenomenon? Whatever the case, the FF will be in the MCU in time to join the cast of Avengers: Doomsday and battle Robert Downey, Jr.’s Doctor Doom. Speaking of which…

From Kang the Conqueror to Doctor Doom

When Marvel kicked off the Multiverse Saga, this overarching storyline originally hinged on Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, a time-traveling tyrant with the power to kill even mighty heroes like Thor with ease. Again, as established in Loki, one version of Kang was responsible for suppressing the existence of the multiverse in order to halt a destructive war with his alternate selves. Now that the multiverse is back, that war now threatens all of existence. Or it did, until Marvel’s Kang plans hit a roadblock.

Majors played another version of Kang in 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This Kang was marooned in the Quantum Realm by his other selves, and he nearly succeeds in escaping before Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man seemingly kills him. Scott is vexed by the idea that Kang may not be gone for good, and that their showdown is the start of a bigger war. The post-credits scene bears that out, as it becomes clear the many variants of Kang are now united in their desire for revenge.

But in the wake of Majors’ legal troubles and subsequent firing, not to mention the tepid response to Quantumania in general, Marvel is pivoting in a very different direction for the Multiverse Saga. The climax of this ongoing storyline will now hinge not on Kang, but Doctor Doom. And for some reason, Doom is being played by Downey. Does that make him a Tony Stark variant rather than Victor von Doom? Is he from The Fantastic Four: First Steps universe? We’re not sure, but you can learn more about the shared history between Doom and Iron Man here.

It remains to be seen exactly how this pivot will be handled in Doomsday (which was originally titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty), and whether Marvel will acknowledge the loose end that is the Council of Kangs or charge straight ahead with Doom. But it is clear that Marvel is looking to draw heavily from the 2015 Secret Wars comic by making Doom the linchpin of the Multiverse Saga.

The comic chronicles the destruction of the Marvel multiverse and the creation of Battleworld, a hodgepodge planet composed of fragments of dozens of dead universes. As its creator, Doom rules over Battleworld as God Emperor, with each territory being governed by a baron who answers only to Doom. It’s a very Game of Thrones/Dune-esque scenario. Only a handful of refugees from Earth-616 and Earth-1610 (aka the Ultimate Universe, where Miles Morales hails from) remember the multiverse as it was, and they set out to make things right again.

Presumably, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will follow some basic version of that plot, with Doomsday showing the final collapse of the multiverse and Secret Wars taking place on Battleworld. That opens the door for Secret Wars to bring back pretty much anyone who’s ever appeared in a Marvel movie or show, from obvious candidates like Jackman’s Wolverine and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man to more oddball choices like Nic Cage’s Ghost Rider and David Hasselhoff’s Nick Fury. Secret Wars could make Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s cameos seem small by comparison.

That’s everything you need to know about the state of the MCU heading into The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Avengers: Doomsday. Look for First Steps to hit theaters on July 25, 2025, while Doomsday was recently delayed until December 2026.

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

Warning: This article contains full spoilers for Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.

Red alert, Tom Cruise fans, because Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is now in theaters. The eighth and (maybe?) final installment in the long-running action franchise seemingly intends to wrap up the Ethan Hunt saga, culminating in the final battle behind the Impossible Mission Force’s top agent and the villainous artificial intelligence known as The Entity. But despite all the hype, The Final Reckoning is something of a letdown, with IGN’s Clint Gage saying in his review that the movie “tries to deal with no less than the end of every living thing on the planet – and suffers because of it.” Given that Mission: Impossible has delivered some of the best action films of the past couple of decades, why does this latest entry feel so limp in comparison?

It’s a more complicated answer than you might expect. A lot of what goes wrong with The Final Reckoning is not contained solely to the film itself, but can also be traced back to cracks in the foundation from previous entries that finally caught up with the filmmakers here. The Final Reckoning tries to present itself as a finale for the entire series, as if this has been one giant story going all the way back to the first film, but that’s not how Mission: Impossible used to work. Let’s take a look at how The Final Reckoning exposes the franchise’s greatest flaw.

One Mission Too Many

Originally titled Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning: Part Two, The Final Reckoning is not just trying to tie up the plot threads from the last film, but also serves as a grand finale for the whole series. Yet even though The Final Reckoning comes in at nearly three hours, the finished product is incredibly unwieldy, simultaneously feeling like it has both too much and too little going on at the same time. There’s an ungodly amount of exposition regarding how we got here, elaborating on all of the things Ethan and his team need to do to save the day, and this takes up so much screen time before they actually start doing any of it. What we end up with is a movie that is constantly insisting that stuff is happening where little of consequence actually happens.

The movie frequently jumps between the massive cast of characters, which not just includes most of the still living recurring cast but also a handful of new members. It’s telling that the opening titles can barely squeeze in all the names before the iconic theme finishes up. The deluge of plot (go here, get this, go there, do that, etc., etc.) makes for a numbing viewing experience that resembles Ethan’s interfacing with The Entity early in the film. A tsunami of words and images assault Ethan, somehow imparting what he needs to accomplish, but with little in the way of emotional context that would make the journey worth investing in. There’s not a lot of weight in saving the world if we don’t care about the world in the first place.

Add in Esai Morales’ Gabriel being a flat villain with no clear motivations, Ethan being separated from his team for a huge chunk of the runtime, and multiple subplots that go nowhere (what’s the deal with The Entity’s cult?), and it becomes clear The Final Reckoning needed some serious reworking both on the page and in the editing suite. The movie doesn’t even fully deliver on the one thing audiences expect from Mission movies: the stunt setpieces. There are really only two (!) of them across the three hours, those being Ethan’s underwater trek into the crashed Sevastopol submarine, and the aerial showdown between Ethan and Gabriel in a pair of biplanes. They’re well-executed for what they are, but given how long the movie is and how much money they spent on it (potentially up to $400 million), surely the filmmakers could’ve sprung for some more, well, impossible missions in their Mission: Impossible movie.

The Serialization Snafu

Beyond the weirdly low number of big set piece moments, the next most jarring aspect of The Final Reckoning is how it treats the franchise’s history. There is a liberal use of stock footage from previous installments, playing clips (sometimes more than once) when characters mention an event or plot element from the older films. In small doses this is perfectly fine, but The Final Reckoning overuses this device to the point of absurdity. Making matters worse is the rather disingenuous way The Final Reckoning bends the previous movies and its own plot into pretzels in an attempt to manufacture a greater sense of finality to this installment that the series hasn’t truly built towards.

It might be hard to remember now since director Christopher McQuarrie has been the custodian of this franchise for a good decade, but the Mission movies only started feeling properly serialized under his stewardship. But going back to the first film, the Mission: Impossible series was made of mostly stand-alone films to start, with each one having little continuity-wise to do with the others. There were some recurring characters and Ghost Protocol made it clear at the end that Ethan is separated from but still looking out for his wife Julia from M:I 3, but otherwise the Mission films weren’t telling one ongoing story. The franchise started off as one of the holdouts from the wave of serialization that took over the film industry at the turn of the millennium.

That all changed with McQuarrie’s era, where he made the sixth entry, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, into a direct sequel to his first film in the series, Rogue Nation. Since 2015, McQuarrie’s Mission films have built on characters and story threads with each subsequent entry, making the franchise feel like a proper saga. All well and good, but trying to reach back further and retroactively tie in the first four movies the same way is cumbersome. Reveals like Shea Whigham’s character being the son of Jim Phelps (Jon Voight from the first film) or that the Rabbit’s Foot, the unspecified MacGuffin from M:I 3, was actually a proto-version of The Entity AI (despite M:I 3 claiming the Rabbit’s Foot was biohazardous in nature) come off as confusing and unnecessary. It’s an unforced error, but there are also some forced ones because of questionable choices made in previous films.

The Sum of Our Choices

To be clear, there is a lot of talent and craft put into The Final Reckoning. McQuarrie proved himself as an action director with Rogue Nation and Fallout, which many agree are the two best entries in the franchise. Cruise is as much of a charismatic screen presence as ever, and he acquits himself admirably in the stunt setpieces we do get. The supporting cast is full of enjoyable personalities like Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, and Pom Klementieff. But surface virtues can only carry a shaky foundation so far, and The Final Reckoning finds itself unraveling at the seams not just by its misguided attempts to tie previous franchise canon together, but because the narrative world established by previous films is not capable of supporting such an ambitious level of scale.

Specifically, The Entity is a threat to all life on the planet. Ethan Hunt and his IMF friends are being asked to safeguard humanity from nuclear extinction. But the audience can’t invest in those kinds of stakes because the world of Mission: Impossible is so thinly sketched. Virtually no element intrinsic to the Mission: Impossible universe has been given any dimension in previous films; not even the IMF itself, since the organization remains nebulous at best and Ethan goes rogue from it in nearly every entry. Plot devices and factions are all simply some version of “The Noun”: the Syndicate, The Entity, the Rabbit’s Foot, the Acolytes, and on and on, with no further elaboration.

This wasn’t an issue before Dead Reckoning because the series wasn’t interested in world-building beyond portraying Ethan Hunt as an unshakable axis upon which the world pivots, using Cruise’s “the last movie star” energy as the IP’s biggest draw. But now The Final Reckoning wants to be seen as the culmination of a world that has no definition.

The ways The Final Reckoning can’t live up to its ambitions can best be summed up with the last scene, where Ethan meets with his team one last time. We have Hayley Atwell’s Grace, Simon Pegg’s Benji, Pom Klementieff’s Paris, and Greg Tarzan Davis’ Theo. This is supposed to be the big goodbye to the franchise, but only Benji is a longtime player. Ethan only met Grace and Paris in the last film, with the latter being a villain for most of that one, and Theo feels like a random tagalong in this one. Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell dies in the first act of The Final Reckoning, and Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust suffered an incredibly ill-conceived death scene in Dead Reckoning. Now to be fair to Ferguson, she wanted out of the franchise, but her chemistry with Cruise and the integral role she played in the team dynamic is sorely missed here. We can’t help but imagine a far more emotionally impactful final scene where Ethan says goodbye to Benji, Luther and Ilsa (and sure, throw in Grace and Paris for good measure) over the one we actually got.

How would that film actually work? It’s hard to say. It likely would have necessitated not doing Dead Reckoning as a two-part film, or perhaps it was unavoidable between the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. All we can do is evaluate the film in front of us, but sadly, despite all the talent of everyone involved, The Final Reckoning is far from Mission: Impossible’s finest hour.

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

Dragon Age star Alix Wilton Regan has given her personal response to the backlash faced by last year's Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and blamed the "mixed reactions" on people who "wanted to see the game fail, or wanted to see [BioWare] fail."

The actor, who plays the Female Inquisitor in both Dragon Age: Inquisition and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, told IGN that she was "absolutely devastated" to see BioWare's latest game fail to find a larger audience, despite mostly positive review scores from critics.

Speaking during a new interview discussing her many iconic video game characters to date — as well as her role in Microsoft's upcoming Perfect Dark reboot — Wilton Regan said she had loved her time as BioWare's Inquisitor, though did not believe the character would now return.

"I feel absolutely devastated for BioWare as a studio that they got such mixed reactions to the game," Wilton Regan said of the response to The Veilguard. "I personally thought it was a really strong game. I thought it was just BioWare being more BioWare.

"I also think a lot of people kind of wanted to see it fail, or wanted to see [BioWare] fail, either because they're just really bad people on the internet — of which there are unfortunately many, as we have discovered."

At launch, The Veilguard was review-bombed online. Criticism of the game being "woke" centred on its inclusion of a non-binary companion character, and the ability for the player to choose to be transgender. On Steam, Dragon Age: The Veilguard now sits with a 'Mixed' player respose, with user-defined tags for the game describing it under "LGBTQ+" and "politics" labels.

"People were attacking the game before it was released," Wilton Regan continued. "It's ridiculous. How can you judge a game, a book, a film, a TV show before it's actually released? You can't. It's an idiotic stance to take."

In January, publisher EA said Dragon Age: The Veilguard had "underperformed" versus its expectations by around 50%, just days after the game's director Corrine Busche confirmed she was leaving the company. Meanwhile, other BioWare staff who worked on the game were laid off.

In the same month, BioWare signalled it had released its final update for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, with no further content announced or expected.

"I only ever want to see the folks from BioWare thrive, because I adore them," Wilton Regan concluded. "And whatever they go on to do next I have no doubt their talents will be richly rewarded. We're really lucky we'll get more gold from them in the future."

A slimmed-down BioWare is now working on Mass Effect 5, which currently does not have a release date.

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

This review contains spoilers for season 2, episode 7 of Doctor Who, “Wish World.”

For long-time Doctor Who fans, the return of a villain like The Rani might sound like an event. It certainly felt like one last week, when she turned up with theatrical flair in the mid-credits sting of “The Interstellar Song Contest” – a neat surprise, powered by Archie Panjabi’s steely presence and a dash of proper mystery. But in this week’s “Wish World”? That spark dies on arrival. Her comeback is just another awkward throwback in an episode that doesn’t know how to handle its past, let alone make the present feel like it matters.

“Wish World” represents the worst instincts of Doctor Who’s Disney era dialled up: glossy, confused, and screaming for attention. It’s a limp cocktail of shameless lore dumping, shallow storytelling, and a truly baffling sense of self-satisfaction. It spends a tiresome 45 minutes of build-up to just point at old names like a magician revealing a bent spoon, hoping the gesture alone is enough to amaze.

The Rani’s return should feel seismic. It’s been 38 years since the evil Time Lord made her last onscreen appearance – 32 if you count her face-off against all the then-living Doctors and the cast of EastEnders in a charity special. That’s a long time, and in theory, this ought to carry the same weight as The Master crashing back into things in 2007’s “Utopia”. That twist didn’t just rely on nostalgia; it weaponised it, using it to amplify character and raise the stakes. Instead, now, we get a Rani written like a stock villain with a backstory cribbed from a half-read wiki page. There’s no sense of danger, no theatrical flair, no mystique. Just a few arch lines, a plot that barely scans, and a breadcrumb trail to yet another dusty Time Lord pulled from the show’s attic: Omega. It’s a name that’ll light up a handful of Reddit threads, sure, but it lands with a shrug for the vast majority who haven’t been revisiting “The Three Doctors” on BritBox. Which is, to be clear, mostly everyone.

What’s baffling isn’t just the lack of payoff, it’s how proudly this outing squanders every opportunity to deliver one. “Wish World” relies entirely on prior recognition, but never lifts a finger to earn that investment in the here and now. It’s obsessed with nods, references, and several meandering mystery boxes, but utterly uninterested in what any of it means. This is fan service at its most vacant, a frustrating mess that treats characters like mere collectibles that get pulled from a shelf when you’re having a fancy dinner party. It’s not quite the sludgy CG necromancy of The Flash, but it’s cut from the same cloth: a hollow echo chamber of reveals with no buildup, and a premise that promises tension but fizzles into a joyless trudge through stiff dialogue and characters who feel barely sketched in. Conrad pops up again with all the charisma of a queue at the post office, Ruby is inexplicably present but does almost nothing, and even Belinda, usually a bright spot, is reduced to exposition and reaction shots. The whole plot moves like it's dragging a piano through quicksand, slowly collapsing under the weight of its pointless name-dropping bore fest of script.

With only one episode left, the finale now has to perform miracles: justify this mess, tie the threads together, and inject meaning where there's currently none. Doctor Who used to remix its past into something alive, urgent, and new; here, it just gawks at its own reflection, hoping a few barely recognisable names will do all the heavy lifting. Once upon a time, Russell T Davies brought heart and clarity to a show left for dead, reviving it with enough energy and emotional force to make it essential playground currency across Britain. Now, it feels like he’s coasting. This isn’t Doctor Who with something to say, it’s a desperate exposition dump, stitched together from scraps of nostalgia and noise. Worst of all, it expects that to be enough.

Alienware has very competitive prices on RTX 5080 equipped gaming PCs during the Dell Memorial Day Sale. Right now you can pick up an Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 gaming PC from $2,349.99 shipped. This is a good price for a well-engineered (and warrantied) rig that can handle 4K gaming at high frame rates. 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 diy PC build, you'll probably spend nearly as much for the GPU as you would for an entire system.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC From $2,350

The prices on the Alienware Aurora R16 model starts range from the bottom end of $2,349.99 to the top end of $3,149.99. Each tier up offers either a CPU upgrade or increased RAM and/or storage:

• $2,349.99 - Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
• $2,699.99 - Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD
• $2,849.99 - Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD
• $3,149.99 - Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, 64GB RAM, 4TB SSD

Alienware Area-51 RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $3,449.99

Alienware's new flagship gaming laptop - the Alienware Area-51 - was released earlier this year. It replaces the m-series laptop and bring to the table a host of upgrades including a sleeker redesign, current generation components, and better cooling potential. As part of the Dell Memorial Day Sale, several variants of both the Alienware 16 Area-51 and Alienware 18 Area-51 gaming laptops are on sale for the first time. They're all equipped with the latest Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, including the RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5080, and RTX 5090. Orders are expected to ship out in mid June.

Featured in this article

The Alienware 18 Area-51 is a large laptop that serves more as a mobile desktop replacement than commuter's laptop that you tote around to work or class on a daily basis. It weighs nearly 10 pounds and measures 0.95 inches at its thinnest point. It also consumes a lot of power (a 360W power brick is included), which means you should keep it plugged into an outlet when you're using it. The larger form factor carries several advantages, like an expansive 18" display, a full-sized keyboard with discrete numpad and a bigger, more aggressive cooling system and can keep noise levels to a minimum, and space to accomodate an RJ45 ethernet port.

Two models are currently on sale for Memorial Day. The $3,150 model is equipped with RTX 5080 mobile graphics and 32GB of memory. The $3,750 model is upgraded with RTX 5090 mobile graphics and 64GB of memory.

As part of its Memorial Day Sale, Adorama is offering an outstanding deal on a very highly rated pair of noise cancelling headphones. Right now you can get a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 noise cancelling wireless headphones for just $175 with free shipping after you apply $55 off coupon code "MEMO0523" during checkout. Note that only the Silver/White model is eligible for this code, NOT the Black model. This is the best noise cancelling headphones you'll find for under $200.

50% Off Sony WH-1000XM4 Noise Cancelling Headphones

eBay Marketplace is kicking off it's own eBay Memorial Day Sale with a limited time 20% off coupon code "MEMORIALDEALS" that works on hundreds of products across tech, home, apparel, and more. eBay is one of the best places to score great deals on both new and used products and even outpaces the Amazon Memorial Day sale on tons of items. Just because you're leery of buying from a private seller doesn't mean you should shy away from this marketplace. Most of the major retailers that you've heard of - including Dyson, Bose, Lenovo, Roborock, and Ecoflow - as well as authorized resellers have their own seller accounts and offer discounts that you can't find elsewhere else. Check out all of the best limited time deals we've found below.

Dyson Memorial Day Deals on eBay

Dyson is one of the most well known household brands around, and its name is synonymous with quality... and premium pricing. But did you know that Dyson has its very own Dyson eBay store with huge markdowns on their certified refurbished products? Dyson offers a 6 month warranty on refub vacuum cleaners and fans and a 12 month warranty on their refurb beauty products and eBay also includes a 2 year AllState warranty that runs concurrently.

Ecoflow Memorial Day Deals on eBay

Ecoflow is one of the largest and most well-known manufacturers of portable power stations. Their products are solidly built with a lot of practical features at an affordable price point. Product support after the purchase is generally pretty good, and firmware and software updates are consistently rolled out. Ecoflow sells certified refurbished power stations through its official Ecoflow eBay store. It offers the same warranty on refurbs as brand new products, which is anywhere from 24 months to 60 months depending on the model you choose.

Bose Memorial Day Deals on eBay

The best Bose headphones and soundbars offer exceptional sound quality through a range of in-ear and over-ear headphones as well as best-in-class active noise cancellation. Paying extra attention to aesthetics, comfort, build, and audio, Bose is the go-to headphone brand if you want immersive sound that will block out external distractions. The official Bose eBay Store carries certified refurbished products with the same 1 year warranty as buying new as well as an additional 2 year AllState warranty that runs concurrently.

Memorial Day TV Deals on eBay

Memorial Day is one of the best times of the year to score a great deal on a new TV. If you don't get in on a TV deal now, your next two chances are Amazon Prime Day in July and Black Friday in November. Electronic Express on eBay currently has the best prices I've seen on several TVs, ranging from a budget Vizio TV model for under $200 to top-of-the-line OLED TVs for over 50% off. Electronic Express is also an authorized reseller for most TV brands, including Samsung, Sony, and Vizio, which means you can the full manufacturer's warranty.

Roborock Memorial Day Deals on eBay

Roborock is one of the largest robot vacuum brands in the world. Its products offer more features than Roomba at a more attractive price point. That doesn't mean they are lower quality. I've owned both Roborock and Roomba models and my current Roborock has lasted longer, performed better, and costs less to maintain than any of the Roombas I've owned in the past. The Roborock eBay Store carries certified refurbished units of their entire lineup of robot vacuums and mops, They carry a 6 month warranty, which is less than the 12-month warranty for new units. Fortunately, eBay is also offering its 2 year Allstate warranty that runs concurrently.

More Memorial Day sales are already live

Several retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Dell, and Wayfair have launched their sale early. We've rounded up all of the biggest retailers that have pushed their Memorial Day sales live with deals worth checking out.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

As part of its Memorial Day Sale, Adorama is offering the best deal on the highly rated Sonos Move 2 portable speaker. It currently retails for $449 and most retailers have it marked down to $336 for Memorial Day, but Adorama has it even cheaper at $309 with free shipping, or 31% off. This is the lowest price I've seen for Sonos' best portable speaker. Adorama is an authorized Sonos reseller and a legitimate, established vendor with a superstore located in New York.

Memorial Day Deal: Sonos Move 2 for $309

Amazon is currently offering the lowest price I've ever seen for a SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless gaming headset. As part of the Amazon Memorial Day Sale, you can pick up the PlayStation version for $228.93 shipped after a massive 35% discont off the $350 list price. The PlayStation version is compatible with the PS5, PS4, and PC, however it is not compatible with the Xbox (you need a separate Xbox dongle). The Nova Pro is our top rated gaming headset of 2025; I've personally use headset on a daily basis for the past few years and love it.

SteelSeries Nova Pro Wireless Gaming Headset for $229

It's officially Memorial Day weekend and that means that there are ton of Memorial Day sales to shop right now. With the threat of tariffs driving up prices in the near future, these price reductions have become way more tempting than they have any right to be. I generally try to avoid spending money on anything (well, except puzzles lately), but I've found myself making some bigger purchases on things like furniture and appliances all week long just in case prices never drop this low again. Uncertainty around the cost of goods has me worried that upcoming sales like Prime Day and Black Friday won't necessarily be the best time to buy everything this year.

That being said, I've been covering Memorial Day sales for years now and while there are definitely a lot of deals worth taking advantage of now, you should still be shopping smart. Certain product categories will have some of their lowest prices of the year this weekend while others only appear to be marked down temporarily. To help you sort through what's worth buying this weekend and where you should buy it, I've rounded up some key items to shop for while the sales are hot.

1. Major Appliances

In my experience, Memorial Day weekend is the absolute best time to buy major appliances. All of the big retailers like Best Buy, Home Depot, Costco, and Lowe's are having discounts on things like refrigerators, ranges, washers and dryers, dishwashers, etc. You can even find sales direct from the manufacturer that are often better than the standard price drops you'll find at the major retailers. LG for example is offering a special promotion that will net you a free fridge when you buy select models. If you need to upgrade the appliances in your home, I'd suggest doing it right now before prices are affected. Depending on what you're looking for, I'd suggest comparing prices on various brands from the sales listed below.

Best appliance sales

2. Furniture

Another big category to consider this weekend is furniture. Memorial Day weekend, or any three-day weekend really, is the best time to buy new furniture at a discount. There are currently furniture deals at every major retailer right now across a ton of different brands. Amazon, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Costco, and more all have some sort of furniture on sale right now. With the summer season nearly upon us there is a general focus on outdoor and patio furniture, but you can also find price cuts on sofas, chairs, tables, and everything else for the home. Overall, I would suggest checking out the Wayfair Memorial Day sale for the widest range of discounts on everything, but there's also more niche sales like Secretlab gaming chair deals that are worth a look. I've gathered all of the biggest sales that include furniture below.

Best furniture sales

3. Mattresses

Although mattresses are also furniture, it exists as a totally separate category when it comes to Memorial Day sales. Every major mattress retailer is having a Memorial Day sale right now and you will even find discounts at places you wouldn't expect, like Walmart and Amazon. Right now is the best time to buy a mattress in 2025, and we likely won't see lower prices even during Labor Day sales later this year. And though you can certainly purchase a mattress from Amazon, I'd suggest sticking to the bed-in-a-box brands like Casper or DreamCloud to save the most money. Purchasing directly from the brand itself will also usually come with a better warranty and return policy as well. Here are a few of the best mattress sales I recommend browsing this weekend, but you should also check your local store if you'd prefer to test them out before you buy.

Best mattress sales

4. TVs

There are a lot of different times throughout the year when you can find the best TV deals and Memorial Day weekend is one of them. While we don't usually see the same massive price cuts as we do during Black Friday, there are already some new low prices on higher-end TVs that are worth a look. The LG C4 has recently dropped to its lowest-ever price, and that's one of the overall best TVs you can buy right now. Outside of that, Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Costco, and all of the usual suspects are offering some sort of TV sale that is worth a look. If you've been looking to upgrade your TV right now and are worried about prices going up before Black Friday, these sales are worth a look. I've gathered a quick list of the best TV deals going on right now to get you started.

Best TV deals

5. Laptops and PCs

If you're looking to buy a new laptop or PC this year, I'd recommend making a purchase sooner rather than later and the Memorial Day sales going on right now are just a good excuse. This is especially true if you're trying to find the best time to buy a gaming PC this year, because GPU prices are already on the rise. The best Memorial Day sales on these higher-end machines tend to be directly from the manufacturers, so that's usually where you'll want to look. Dell, HP, and Lenovo all have their Memorial Day sales live right now. You can also check out Best Buy and Amazon if you're looking for brands like Acer and LG at a discount, however.

What Shouldn't You Buy During Memorial Day Sales?

While it's true that prices are going to go up on a lot of different things this year, there are definitely some product categories you should wait on. The Amazon Memorial Day sale, for example, has discounts across a bunch of different categories despite those discounts not actually being that good. Since there is no catch-all advice I can give that will save you from spending more than you should in every instance, I would recommend doing your research and comparing prices on just about anything before you buy.

That being said, there are a few major categories you should definitely avoid if you can. Although there are some phone deals currently available, right now is definitely not the best time to buy a phone. New iPhone models will be arriving closer to October and that's generally a better time to save money. You also probably don't want to purchase a console or gaming accessories right now as this is generally the worst time to buy those things, even with tariffs potentially raising prices there.

When is the next time to save money?

Memorial Day sales are generally a good time to get some shopping in, but they aren't the only chance you'll have to save money this summer. The next big sales event you can mark on your calendar will be Fourth of July sales. These will be very similar to Memorial Day discounts, but with more of a focus on summer gear and grills. After that, Amazon Prime Day will take place sometime in the middle of July and you can expect Walmart, Best Buy, and Target to all have competing sales.

Jacob Kienlen is a Senior SEO Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and over 8 years of professional writing experience, his expertise ranges from books and games to technology and food. He has spent a good chunk of his career writing about deals and sales to help consumers find the best discounts on whatever they may be looking to buy.

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