I never thought I would be talking about Marvel Television and dinosaurs, in the figurative sense, in the same sentence. But this is 2026, and all bets are off. And so recently, while discussing the announcement that the Disney+ show would be renewed for a second season, Brad Winderbaum characterized the studio as akin to some characters from Jurassic Park. Yes, really. 

In an interview with The Escape Pod, Marvel Studios producer Brad Winderbaum invoked Jurassic Park while discussing Wonder Man season 2's renewal. “It got a green light because we loved it, and because people loved it. If you look at the history of television, there’s a lot of shows that got greenlit for second and third seasons because the fanbase believed in it, and the people behind the scenes believed in it. It definitely did well, and we’re, you know, we’re getting smarter as we make these things hopefully. We’re learning, we’re like velociraptors. We can open doors now.”

In case you haven't rewatched Jurassic Park in a while, the "learning" line refers to a scene where the gamekeeper Robert Muldoon reveals to the cast how the park's velociraptors have systematically been testing the security systems of their enclosure at each meal time. The velociraptors never attack the same place twice, leading Muldoon to say, "They're learning" with a particular dramatic flair. Later on in the film, we see that the velociraptors in the park have learned how to open doors. 

There is still no official word on whether Mike Colter's Luke Cage is set to rejoin the MCU (although he has popped up in some recent set leaks from Daredevil: Born Again season 3), but we do have Marvel's firm confirmation that Jessica Jones is a mother to a daughter in Daredevil: Born Again. 

Krysten Ritter's character drops the bombshell in a new trailer for Daredevil: Born Again season 2 that's been released by Marvel Studios. I know, you might be wondering, "Wait, hasn't the season already begun streaming, though? Why are they dropping a new trailer?" I don't make the YouTube uploading decisions! Check it out below. 

In Marvel comics, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are one of the publisher's foremost superhero couples. And together, they have an adorable young daughter named Dani. Luke and Jessica's trajectories in comics have forever been changed since becoming parents, much like in our world, so it makes sense for the MCU's Jessica Jones counterpart to also be a mother.

"To a certain extent," says Tom Brevoort, "For all that it's driving us absolutely crazy, I like the reaction to Paul."

In case you don't understand which Paul Marvel's longest-serving editor is talking about - and thus aren't staring open-mouthed at this comment from behind your laptop - Brevoort is talking about Paul Rabin, largely considered one of the least popular (or most hated?) new Marvel Comics characters in recent memory. First introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 from 2022, Paul was Mary Jane Watson's new husband who became involved with her during a stretch of time when Peter Parker had gone missing. The character's introduction was met with a staggering amount of vitriol by both old and new fans of Marvel's wall-crawler.

But according to Brevoort, that's better than the alternative. 

It's one of the rules of the slasher genre: every horror icon has one last scare in them before they go. On screen, that usually translates to an Act III jumpscare that buttons up the survivor vs. killer arc with a bang, but there's a way that rule makes it out into the real world as well. That's in the case of Scream co-creator Kevin Williamson, who recently spoke out about a wish he had as he approaches his own Act III  - that is, to make at least one more seminal horror franchise.

Williamson brought up the subject in an interview with The Ankler, published March 26. In case you don't already know, writer/producer/director Williamson not only was the originator of the story that would become the Scream franchise, but also sparked the still-running I Know What You Did Last Summer films and is the mind behind 1998 cult classic The Faculty. But in his chat with The Ankler, Williamson's killer eye was on the future.

"What I’d love to do before I die is to create another horror franchise," said the horror icon and frequent Wes Craven collaborator, "But that all starts with just one movie… You have to make one great movie and see what happens."

Ask every comic book reader what the state of comics is right now, and you're likely to get varying answers. While sales are certainly up and there has been a swell in critical appreciation for certain books, one thing that most fans of the medium will agree upon is that there are problems with the industry. For one self-professed lover of the medium, those problems are pretty clear, and it might behoove those of us who have more trouble pinpointing them to listen to them.

He is, after all, Alan Moore.

The man behind such milestone entries into the medium's history such as V for Vendetta or Watchmen recently sat down with the cultural connoisseurs over at RetroFuturista, a discussion which eventually got onto the topic of what was wrong with comics today. Before that, though, Moore too the time to clarify that, at one point, the comics industry was very much on the right path.

When it came out in 1988, Batman: The Killing Joke left an indelible imprint on the history of not just Batman or DC Comics, but the comic book industry in general. And now, a specialty comics publisher is marking the Alan Moore-written, Brian Bolland-drawn icon with an all-new and tricked-out edition of the story, but don't expect to see this one lining shelves at your local comic book store.

For this new publication, only 47 copies will ever exist.

Argent Comics has announced Batman: The Killing Joke's Avant Garde edition, which the publisher touts as "the world’s first giclée-printed comic book." Giclée printing, as we recently learned from redditor u/urirahimi, is done using a specialty, high-quality inkjet developed for the purpose of printing fine art. Notably, the giclée printing of The Killing Joke will feature not just the original colors of the comic's first run, but also the recoloring published for its 20-year anniversary.

Ever since Absolute Dick Grayson was teased early on in Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, and Frank Martin's Absolute Batman, DC fans have been anticipating the debut of Absolute Robin. Well, the wait is officially over, because we've got the full, unredacted cover for Absolute Batman #20. 

"As the dust settles in the city of Gotham after the loss of [redacted]," DC's description of the issue reads, referring to something happening in the events of April 15's #19, "Robins enter the scene ready to hunt and more than one secret will be revealed in this seminal issue."

Yeah, that's a freaking mech with a huge freaking gun. Someone call Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, because he now has some stiff competition over who has the best mech in DC Comics (Kyle has a habit of creating mech constructs with his power ring). If you've ever thought to blast the Pacific Rim score by Ramin Djawadi while reading Absolute Batman and find someone you're Drift-compatible with, now's your chance. 

When people these days say that things "feel like the 60s again," it's usually a bad thing. But in the past two weeks, it seems an old dream of that decade has been awoken, both in our movie theaters and on our streaming newsfeeds. For just a moment, civil unrest and political scandal has given way to the dream of the Space Age, and that dream is having people look skyward in some very large numbers.

You probably don't need us to tell you that Project Hail Mary is, despite its underdog name, the top Hollywood movie of this year. As of this writing, the film has achieved a whopping $420M at the global box office, making it the second-best earning non-franchise film of this decade. But Ryan Gosling and his practically-produced alien sidekick aren't the only spacefarers to draw in record numbers of viewers recently - just look at what the real-life Artemis II spaceflight is pulling in. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a staggering 18.1 million people watched Artemis launch on April 1, more than double the number of the NASA x SpaceX rocket launch in 2020. 

So what does this mean? In a tangible sense, it has us here at Popverse predicting a huge opening for the upcoming venture into the extraterrestrial, Disclosure Day. Directed by E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind creator Steven Spielberg, the film is already generating a wild amount of buzz, which we think can only be assisted by all the amateur cosmologists that Project Hail Mary and the Artemis II are inspiring right now.

We know that Netflix is keen to give us more One Piece. Season 3 is currently in production even as Season 2 continues to be a hit for the streamer. Fans have barely had time to process the start of the Alabasta Arc in live action. Still, Netflix is already driving the hype for the second half by revealing the official title of One Piece Season 3, and it tells fans exactly what to expect when the series returns in 2027.

Season 2 was given the title “One Piece: Into the Grand Line” to signify that the main crux of these episodes was to showcase just how weird things get in this legendary stretch of sea. We had giants, a man who shoots exploding boogers, and an adorable talking reindeer. One Piece Season 3 is getting a similar title from Netflix that brings the upcoming plot into focus. One Piece: The Battle of Alabasta will be the title of Season 3.

That isn’t really a surprise for fans of the manga, who know that there is a civil war brewing in Princess Vivi’s homeland, stirred up by the leader of Baroque Works. Sir Crocodile, known as Mr. 0, is the mastermind behind everything that happened in One Piece Season 2, so it is only natural that the Straw Hats are on a collision course with him.

Did you have that inseparable childhood friend? The person that always seemed attached to your hip for years, who shows up in all your stories before they get replaced by an eldritch horror from the cursed mountain that overlooks your village? Okay, that last bit might be specific to The Summer Hikaru Died. With the anime getting a second season, you might want to get caught up on the manga first. Just be warned that the release schedule for The Summer Hikaru Died is a bit unusual.

While The Summer Hikaru Died manga has had a handful of hiatuses over the years, new chapters generally appear once a month on the Young Ace Up website, with a same-day English release on several sites. However, the unusual thing about this release schedule is that the chapter doesn’t come out all at once; typically, sections of the new chapter appear in three chunks on the Young Ace Up website in Japan. After the final part of the chapter is published, the manga usually goes on a one-week break before the cycle repeats itself.

The next chapter of The Summer Hikaru Died will be released starting April 14, 2026 as Chapter 46.1 hits the Young Ace Up website. We expect Chapter 46.2 to be released a week later, with 46.3 released a week after that. However, that can change quickly, so we’ll keep an eye out to see when the schedule changes.

If you’ve been waiting for Lucasfilm to make more Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic content, then you aren’t alone. It turns out that some Star Wars writers and editors have also been pushing for more KOTOR, but Lucasfilm hasn’t pulled the trigger yet.

If you aren’t familiar, Knights of the Old Republic (or KOTOR to its fans) is a series of stories set centuries before the films. It began as a popular RPG video game in 2003 before expanding with comics and novels. A new video game partially inspired by KOTOR is currently in development, but as of this writing there are no plans for more comics or novels. However, that isn’t for lack of trying.

“I mean, for me, I’m like, when are you going to start writing KOTOR novels,” Star Wars: Bloodline author Claudia Gray told fans during a panel at MegaCon 2026. “I want to do a bunch of those. I already explained that if there is a book that is the backstory of [core KOTOR characters] Mission and Zaalbar, and I didn’t write it, there will be blood.”

Did you think that Marvel and DC's crossovers would end with Spider-Man/Superman #1? Think again, because the king of Atlantis and the cutest little shark in the sea (and on land) are teaming up for It's Jeff!/Aquaman, an Infinity Comic on Marvel Unlimited. 

It's Jeff!/Aquaman is written by the iconic Kelly Thompson and drawn by Andres Genolet, and its story is as follows: "In IT’S JEFF/AQUAMAN, it’s no day at the beach when Ken the Kaiju terrorizes Coney Island! It’ll take the aquatic alliance you’ve only dared dream of to turn the tide, as everyone’s favorite Land Shark, Jeff, and the legendary Aquaman unite to save the day!" Check out the cover below by Genolet. 

The story will be accessible on Marvel Unlimited, Marvel's digital comic book library streaming service. A press release for the comic notes that "for a limited time, all fans can redeem a digital copy of this brand-new crossover story by using code CROSSOVER26 at Marvel.com/redeem. 

Both Supergirl and Blade have upcoming movies, but before they can reach movie theaters (and our eyeballs!), they have a live-action TV series in the offing... but they might get off'ed in the making of the series, thanks to Mojo.

In many ways, the X-Men villain Mojo is the perfect villain for the current spate of DC & Marvel crossover comics; a deliciously meta TV show tycoon who rules an entire dimension thanks to his saavy (and more than a bit of slavery). In the surprise one-shot Supergirl/Blade releasing tomorrow (that's April 8!) on the DC Go! webcomics platform in the DC Universe Infinite app, Mojo has kidnapped both Supergirl and Blade to star in an "over-the-top vampire romance series." I'd watch that, until I learned the stars were kidnapped to do that... oh yeah, and also real vampires trying to kill them.

"... the Girl of Steel and the Daywalker find themselves trapped on a soundstage where the cameras never stop rolling and the stakes are very real," reads the description for the Supergirl/Blade one-shot. "Forced to battle bloodsucking foes, melodramatic tropes, and Mojo himself, the unlikely duo must team up and fight their way to freedom before the show’s final twist becomes their last."

When it comes to movie stars, they don’t get much bigger than Kong. King Kong kicked off the giant monster genre in 1933 with the original groundbreaking film and nearly 100 years later, Kong remains one of cinema's biggest stars, co-leading Legendary’s MonsterVerse alongside Godzilla. With the release of Godzilla x Kong: Supernova in 2027, Kong’s legacy remains strong. If you’re ready to explore Kong’s cinematic journey, check out our ultimate King Kong watch order guide.

King Kong has starred in numerous films and television shows over the years, with three of them having exactly the same name. The big ape made his debut in 1933’s King Kong, which has inspired numerous remakes such as Dino De Laurentiis’s 1976 film (also called King Kong) and Peter Jackson’s 2005 epic... which is also called King Kong. There have also been sequels, and quite a few outings with Godzilla. Don’t worry, our next section of the guide breaks down how each of these movies are connected. In the meantime, if you want to watch King Kong in order, here’s how to do it.

There are quite a few King Kong movies and television shows, and not all of them are connected. This section of the guide breaks down the various universes within the Kong franchise and how to watch them in order. Think of it as a Kong multiverse atlas.

What would the Superman mythos be like without Lois Lane? We can take that question a step further and ask what pop culture would be like without Lois Lane. The intrepid reporter has been a part of our cultural DNA for so long that it’s hard to imagine what it would be like if she had never been introduced in Action Comics #1.

Bitsie Tulloch, who played Lois Lane on Superman and Lois, reminds us that it’s important to remember her introduction in the context of the time period. “I really love the way they wrote Lois because she really stood her own ground and if there’s one takeaway it is that you don’t need powers to be empowered. That is a choice and you can be brave and just one foot in front of the other,” Bitsie Tulloch told the crowd during the Superman & Lois panel at C2E2 2026.

She continued, “The qualities of Lois Lane that have existed since 1938, which was a moment in time where women weren’t necessarily portrayed in television or movies or comic books or books as being badasses in the workplace, and she was. That had to have inspired a lot of women in the 30s, and onward, and still do. I’ve met people at cons who are like, ‘I’m a journalism major right now because of Lois Lane.’ But I think a lot of it for me was the realization that you can make that choice to be courageous and to stand up for truth and to stand up for justice. I try to do that in my daily life.”

I’ve watched Jurassic Park so many times that I know it by heart. As a kid, it was one of my favorite films, and it still holds up well today. However, despite having the movie burned into my brain, I recently discovered something that I had missed. According to Tim Murphy actor Joseph Mazzello, there was a problem with the T-Rex in the Ford Explorer attack scene, and director Steven Spielberg wasn’t able to fix it.

“With the T-Rex, there was a malfunction on set,” Joseph Mazzello revealed during a Jurassic Park spotlight panel at C2E2 2026. “When that scene happens where the plexiglass from the top of the jeep, when the T-Rex comes down on us, and it’s supposed to kind of like push the plexiglass down on top of us and we’re kind of holding the plexiglass and we’re in between us and the dinosaur. Eventually something went wrong.”

The actor continued, “I was told by a fan actually that the reason it happened is because the T-Rex got waterlogged, and that sounds maybe right, because one take, it came down further than it was supposed to, and faster than it was supposed to, and instead of just pushing the plexiglass, it snapped it in half. And the T-Rex’s tooth fell out. Steven spent a half hour trying to get this tooth back in, and eventually got frustrated and said forget it, we’re just going to keep going. So, if you go back and watch the movie, there is one shot of the T-Rex where her front tooth is missing. And so, if you have Blu-ray or the digital copy, pause it on that scene, and you will see it.”

No, you're not imagining things. Andy Serkis is directing an animated adaptation of George Orwell's satirical masterpiece, Animal Farm. But don't expect all the darkness from Orwell's novella to make it to the screen. 

A new trailer has dropped for the upcoming Animal Farm movie, directed by Andy Serkis, and it looks, dare I say... cute? This isn't Serkis's first time directing, either. He's also directed Netflix's Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle and... Venom: Let There Be Carnage. And you know what? Let the man have fun. 

Animal Farm will be released on May 1, which seems awfully soon. And just for a refresher, Serkis is still directing, producing, and starring in the upcoming film, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which is expected to hit theaters in 2027. Not much is known about The Hunt for Gollum besides Serkis's involvement, plus Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen boarding the film. 

If you've been following Popverse's coverage of Critical Role's The Mighty Nein, you've almost certainly heard talk about how the hour-long episodes have allowed the creators to include more story. Indeed, the animated adaptation of Critical Role's Campaign 2 seems primed to work in much more than its predecessor, The Legend of Vox Machina, got to do with season 1. Still, with 550+ hours of D&D actual play becoming an animated TV series, there's bound to be a lot left on the cutting room floor - and in a recent discussion between the show's creators, we learned of one particular moment that didn't make it.

The discussion in question took place on Critical Role's Beacon streaming service, during their regular Fireside Chat talk series. And the creators in question were none other than Mighty Nein showrunner Tasha Huo and head of animated adaptations/OG cast member Sam Riegel. As with every episode of Fireside Chat, the Rolers took questions from subscribing Critters, and in this episode, one of those questions amounted to - what did you have to cut from The Mighty Nein?

"Do you remember," Huo began, addressing Riegel, "There was Gnoll fight pretty early, and then you guys went into a cave and you killed a manticore and its baby?"

You were probably just as excited as we were to learn that the first issue of the next big Marvel Comics event - that is, Avengers: Armageddon #1  - is coming with its own special Magic: The Gathering card. And also like us, you probably guessed that the already-high demand for this book was going to shoot up even further. Well, here's the thing, Popverse reader, we two aren't alone in our assumptions about the comic's popularity - it seems Marvel, too, is expecting to get a legion of orders for their next book.

Orders, in fact, that they're warning retailers they might not be able to fulfill. 

Here's the story - every week, Marvel sends out a newsletter to its loyal retailers, typically to provide the price and final order cutoff dates (that is, the last day a publisher can guarantee a comic retailer will have their orders fulfilled, as it typically waits until this time to decide how many to print) for their upcoming products. Avengers: Armageddon #1 - the new book by Chip Zdarsky, Delio Diaz, and Frank Alpizar - was part of that newsletter this week, and the information regarding its special promo MTG card was in there too. "All copies of the first printing," it read, "Including all variant covers, will be sold in a special polybag containing both the issue and the exclusive WARSTORM SURGE card featuring art by Ryan Stegman."

Like so many entertainers of his day, Eric Kripke didn't want to predict the future. But as he explained in a recent interview, that's exactly what he and the rest of the team behind The Boys season 5 did. Having written the fifth and final season of the politically-relevant superhero satire before the re-election of Donald Trump in 2024, Kripke & Co. hoped they'd be writing a story that was set in a reality further from the one we're living in.

And now, Kripke's reflecting on how that hope failed.

The interview in question is one Kripke did with TV Guide, which was posted to their social media on April 1. In the discussion, interviewer Kat Moon asked Kripke and stars Karl Urban and Laz Alonso whether the reality of America's political situation ever affected the writing of Prime's hit show.

Marvel's longest-serving editor, Tom Brevoort, has a pretty thick skin when it comes to fan outrage. Having overseen decades of big narrative swings come out of the House of Ideas, he'd have to. And yet, there's still one moment of reader blowback that stands out to him, even decades after the choice in question went down. The reason?

Fans asked for it before it happened.

Brevoort was talking about his witness to unpopular decisions at Marvel (which comes with, we should note, absolute libraries worth of popular ones) on the Word Balloon Comics Podcast with host John Siuntres.

In what might be the height of high fantasy irony, the King is Not Returning.

That is, the King we have come to know and love as the cinematic Aragorn - AKA Viggo Mortensen - who was recently announced to not be returning to the big screen Middle-Earth for Andy Serkis's The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. But here's the thing - the next live-action venture into J.R.R. Tolkien's world might not be completely devoid of familiar royal faces, as several factors point toward the return of Lee Pace's Thranduil.

The first of those factors is an interview that The Hunt for Gollum's screenwriter and producer, Phillipa Boyens, did with Tolkienista and YouTuber Nerd of the Rings all the way back in December of 2024. In a discussion to promote her then-new project The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, OG Lord of the Rings screenwriter Boyens broke off to give her interviewer a peek into what to expect from The Hunt for Gollum.

What did you do for your ninth birthday? Whatever it was, I can’t imagine it was as cool as Joseph Mazzello’s ninth birthday. The young actor spent the day filming the kitchen scene from Jurassic Park. You know, one of the most iconic scenes from one of the most successful movies of all time. Not bad for a ninth birthday.

However, the day wasn’t without its hiccups.

“We’re doing the kitchen scene, and we shot that over two weeks,” Tim Murphy actor Joseph Mazzello told the crowd during the Jurassic Park panel at C2E2 2026. “One of those days was actually my birthday, so that was fun. And I got injured on my birthday because when I was running into the freezer, that particular raptor was on wheels, it was like a shopping cart raptor, and we did like ten times. Something wasn’t working. I’m supposed to go left; it’s supposed to go right.”

"God, let the upcoming Resident Evil movie be good, please."

If you're reading this, there's a decent chance that you have also thought something along those lines, too. There is a lot riding on the upcoming Resident Evil movie adaptation from horror virtuoso Zach Cregger: the burden of a beloved franchise that hasn't quite gotten the treatment it deserves onscreen, and the career of one of horror cinema's brightest stars. Can it work? Or perhaps the better question to ask here is, "Why couldn't it work?"

I bring good news, though. According to a new report from World of Reel, Cregger's Resident Evil movie has elicited "strongly positive" reactions from test audiences recently. World of Reel notes that "Cregger hasn't just made another video game adaptation - he's delivered something lean, mean, and very confident. The runtime is 90 minutes, and it's apparently all gas, no brakes." A member of the test screening described it as "a horror version of [Mad Max] Fury Road." 

What is the next evolution of D&D actual play? 

It's a question we've asked folks from across the spectrum in the brand new fantasy medium, which essentially brings remote viewers into a TTRPG session. We've gotten answers from titans of the industry like Anjali Bhimani and The Dungeon Dudes, and at Emerald City Comic Con 2026, we got to hear from even more pioneers of this new art form.

That is, Critical Role's own Matt Mercer, Travis Willingham, and Sam Riegel. 

We all know that Marvel Studios takes their security seriously, but it turns out they’re even more thorough than any of us imagined. The studio is so guarded with their scripts that they’ve built an actual SCIF for their actors to read them.

If you’re not familiar with a SCIF, it stands for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. It’s a highly secured room where high ranking military officials or politicians can read classified material in a secured setting. You can’t bring your phone or any communication device to a SCIF, and you can’t enter without high security clearance.

The government uses SCIFs for things like nuclear secrets, so it’s crazy to think Marvel Studios is using that kind of security for their scripts. That’s how serious they are about guarding spoilers.

The world fell in love with Krypto the Superdog when he made his live-action debut in James Gunn's Superman last year. As adorable as Krypto is, he also proved himself to be a pretty problematic dog, destroying parts of the Fortress of Solitude and being unable to contain his own prey drive. But that's okay, we still love him anyways. 

We'll next be seeing Krypto in this summer's Supergirl movie, and already, with the release of the film's official trailer, DC fans are stressed about the fate of Krypto. As can be seen in the trailer, the villainous Krem of the Yellow Hills shoots Krypto and incapacitates him, sending Kara on a crusade to save both her dog and a young girl named Ruthye. Now the question remains: would DC Studios really kill off Krypto in Supergirl? Since I myself have used the website "doesthedogdie.com" to look up whether or not an animal dies in a movie before I go see it, I can certainly understand why you, dear reader, are reading this article right now. 

So as of right now, we don't know if Krypto dies in Supergirl, given that the movie won't be released until June. However, there is some hope. In the comic that the Supergirl movie is based on - Tom King and Bilquis Evely's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow - Krypto gets shot with an arrow, but he survives. Of course, the Supergirl movie could take a different approach than the comic, so we'll have to wait and see. 

If I can speak for the public right now, I'd say that the people love their Hannibal Lecter. Whether it's Brian Cox, Anthony Hopkins, or Mads Mikkelsen, we get a kick out of watching a mastermind cannibal like Hannibal Lecter run circles around the people trying to bring him to justice, because he's so unsettling. Hannibal scratches an itch we didn't know we had. 

Arguably, the Joker is in a similar position to Hannibal, which is why it isn't surprising that current Batman writer Matt Fraction is drawing on the character while writing the Joker in his and Jorge Jiménez's run. 

On the BIFF! BAM! POW! Podcast, Matt Fraction called out the Michael Mann movie, Manhunter, and an exchange that Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter have in the film. "There's a line in Michael Mann's Manhunter, where Hannibal Lecter says to Will Graham, 'Well how'd you catch me?' And [Will] says, 'You had certain disadvantages.' [Hannibal] is like, 'What disadvantages, what disadvantages?' 'You're completely insane,' right, is the response." 

Batman might have the greatest rogues’ gallery in comic book media. If you showed your aunt or a random co-worker a picture of Sinestro, Doctor Poison, or Granny Goodness, they probably wouldn’t recognize them. However, even people who have never picked up a comic book instantly recognize the Joker, Riddler, and Penguin. Not only are Batman’s villains some of the most recognizable characters in pop culture, but they also have some of the most tragic backstories and motivations, making them as interesting as Batman himself. With that in mind, let’s break down Batman’s top ten villains.

This list ranks each of the villains based on what they’ve contributed to Batman’s world and the larger DC Universe. For this list, I’ve only considered Batman villains. Lex Luthor and Deathstroke have both had memorable battles against Batman, and they’re both just as iconic as the villains on this list, they aren’t Batman villains. Lex Luthor is a Superman villain who fights Batman at times, just as Deathstroke is a Titans villain who battles Batman occasionally. In the end, this ranking was done at my own discretion. If you disagree with the criteria or have a ranking of your own, feel free to share it in the comments.

Some of Batman’s villains feel like colorful cartoon characters, but Scarecrow feels like he came from a horror film. Dr. Jonathan Crane might look goofy when he’s dressed as a farm scarecrow, but his fear toxins can bring out your deepest fears, something the Dark Knight has learned the hard way. Scarecrow made his first appearance in World’s Finest Comics #3 (1941), and over the years, he’s gone through many redesigns, including a memorable revamp in The New Batman Adventures, where he looked like the Grim Reaper.  

When Matt Murdock was blinded as a child, everything changed. The chemical wastes took his eyesight but changed his body forever. In addition to giving him a unique radar sense, the chemicals heightened Matt’s sense of touch, smell, hearing, and taste.

Is it possible that the chemicals changed the Marvel Comics hero in other ways? Charlie Cox, who plays Daredevil on the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again, was recently asked if Matt experiences heightened emotions.

“I do, yeah. I do think so,” Charlie Cox answered during the Daredevil: Born Again panel at C2E2 2026. “That’s a really good question. No one’s ever asked me that before. Yeah, I do think that, as a byproduct of all the physical sensory stuff, he feels things deeply. And what a great question. No one has ever asked that.”

There's a new Magic: The Gathering set on the horizon, and with it comes a new artifact subtype. And what is that artifact subtype? Book. 

The official Magic: The Gathering website announced the news in an article outlining the game mechanics of the upcoming Secrets of Strixhaven set. Wizards of the Coast didn't reveal a whole lot about the Book subtype, but they did include a tantalizing detail: "After a thorough review by the Biblioplex's Department of Library Sciences, a few existing cards will receive updates to be classified as Books. Stay tuned for a future Oracle update for all the specifics."

Take a look at one of the new Book cards below. 

Admittedly, it has been a long time since I read an American comic. I dove into manga in a big way and didn’t look back. However, in an effort to expand my horizons (and give in to the peer pressure of some of my more persuasive colleagues here at Popverse), I delved into the world of Absolute Batman to see what all the fuss was about.

Before picking up this comic, it had been sold to me in terms that a manga fan like me could understand; if the mainline DC Comics universe was a shonen adventure, Absolute Batman is the seinen counterpart aimed at older fans who can tolerate more violence and darkness. Several people from DC have said multiple times that he drew inspiration from manga for this version of Batman. As a Berserk and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fan, this spoke to me in a way that got me to pick up the series on digital. Don’t we all want to see what happens when Batman really cuts loose?

This stripped-back version of Batman delivered on that expectation, without trying to become something it's not. Absolute Batman answers the question of 'What if Batman was big and broke?' The early issues establish this version of Bruce Wayne as someone with the same motivation as his mainstream counterpart but without the same resources. At pretty much every turn, this Batman chooses the path most violent, stopping just short of actively killing his opponents.

Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there was Tim Story’s Fantastic Four duology. While the films weren’t perfect adaptations of the Marvel Comics, they were an entertaining look at Marvel’s first family.  Plus, as Thing actor Michael Chiklis proudly points out, the movies were profitable. Fantastic Four grossed $330 million on a $100 million budget, and the sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer grossed $301 million on a $130 million budget. Critics and fans had issues with things like the cloud version of Galactus, but the movies made their money back, and there was no reason to think there wouldn’t be a third one.

However, 20^th Century Fox cancelled plans for a third Tim Story-directed Fantastic Four movie, opting to reboot the franchise in 2015. “Quite honestly, I don’t know what happened after the second one,” Michael Chiklis said during a Fantastic Four panel at C2E2 2026. “I didn’t hear from anybody for the longest time. It is what it is, but those movies, correct me if I’m wrong, but they made three quarters of a billion dollars.”

He continued, “I just feel strongly that we all really put in a great effort on those first two films, and I stand by them.”

Life is easier with a good friend by your side. But what happens when that good friend tragically dies?

That question is currently being explored in Daredevil: Born Again. Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson’s friendship was one of the emotional cornerstones of the original Netflix series, but the Disney+ revival took things in a bold direction by killing Foggy at the start of its first season. Foggy’s death has had a profound effect on Matt, which can still be felt in the show’s second season - but it also impacted the man who plays Matt Murdock as well, as it turns out.

“I haven’t read a huge amount of other comics outside of Daredevil, but I struggle to think of a more beautiful, obvious friendship [in the Marvel Universe] than the Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson friendship,” Daredevil actor Charlie Cox revealed during the Daredevil: Born Again panel at C2E2 2026. “The loss of Foggy and the loss of Elden, my friend on set every day, that’s traumatic. It’s hard.”

Scott Snyder doesn’t believe in superhero fatigue. While major media outlets are reporting on superhero films underperforming at the box office, Snyder is proving that the genre is thriving in the comic books. The Eisner Award-winning writer points to the success of Absolute Batman and DC’s All In publishing initiative.

“That was the conversation in the air when we did 'All In,'” Scott Snyder says during a panel at MegaCon 2026. “It was like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and all this stuff was exhausted. It was pre-Superman movie. And there was this feeling of superheroes are done. And there was this obit in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. They were all doing podcasts about how superheroes were over."

Scott isn't once to mince words, and called that whole line of thinking "bullshit."

Things are heating up this year in Al Ewing and Carlos Gómez's current run on Venom. But as the Queen in Black event begins this summer, there's a family reunion of sorts in store in the pages of Marvel Comics - and we have a first look at it, fire and all. 

"Months ago, Dylan Brock was killed by Carnage – and granted an audience with the Eventuality, the ultimate iteration of his father," reads Marvel's description of Venom #260. "He asked five questions and he was given five answers – hints at a dark future waiting for him. Now that future is here..."

As you can see from the cover, Venom #260 takes place squarely within the Queen in Black crossover this summer. And Al Ewing isn't done with Queen in Black. Also kicking off this summer from Ewing is Queen in Black: Hela #1 and Queen in Black: Thor #1. 

Have you ever noticed how television shows and movies contain more male characters? Geena Davis did, and she decided to do something about it. The Thelma and Louise star says that Hollywood has encouraged unconscious gender bias, and she began to take notice when she was watching a show with her young daughter.

“It all started when my daughter was two years old and I sat down with her to watch her first preschool show,” Geena Davis told the crowd during her A League of Her Own panel at C2E2 2026. “I had this Spidey Sense about how women are portrayed from having been in a certain movie with two women. The reaction to that movie was so strong that it made me realize how few opportunities we were giving women to come out of a theater feeling excited and empowered by the female characters. So, I start watching the show with this mindset and within five minutes I’m like, ‘How many female characters are there in this show?’ And I Googled it, and there was one, and a lot of male characters.”

“I started seeing it everywhere. In a movie that came out, in a video we watched, it was like really bereft of female characters. And stuff made for the littlest kids. I went to the thought that we’re training kids to have unconscious gender bias if we show them wildly disparate worlds.”

It’s been a decade since Spider-Man made his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, and we still haven’t seen him suit up alongside Daredevil. Spider-Man actor Tom Holland has expressed interest in seeing the two heroes together, and Charlie Cox has made similar statements. However, the closest we’ve come to seeing them together in the Sacred Timeline was Cox’s brief appearance as Peter’s lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Since it wasn’t the two of them together in costume, it hardly counts.

However, we did get to see a multiverse variant of Spider-Man alongside Daredevil in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season 1. Charlie Cox voiced the animated version of Daredevil, while Hudson Thames voiced Spider-Man. We know from the NYCC trailer that we’ll be getting more Daredevil in season 2, but someone forgot to give Cox the memo. Due to the nature of how the series is recorded, Cox isn’t sure if he’s actually in season 2.

“I actually don’t know if I am,” Daredevil actor Charlie Cox says during the Daredevil: Born Again panel at C2E2 2026. “The show is great. I was in the first season. I don’t know if I’m in the second season. I have no idea. It is an awesome show. When I did the first season of that, I didn’t get scripts. It’s very secretive like our show is, so I just got scenes. So, it’s kind of fun because I know what I say, but then I get to watch it and enjoy it.”

The characters of Spider-Man and Superman are coming together in the upcoming Spider-Man/Superman #1 crossover. Coming on the heels of the smash success of DC's Superman/Spider-Man crossover issue, Spider-Man/Superman's main story is written by Brad Meltzer and drawn by Pepe Larraz.

In addition to this main story, there will be a Gwen Stacy and Lana Lang 'campus crossover' story from writer Joe Kelly and artist Humberto Ramos. We've got a preview page of this story, which you can get a peek at below. 

Don't get it twisted, the redhead in this preview page is Lana Lang, not MJ. Personally, I love that both of the characters have matching headbands on. They're getting their Carolyn Bessette Kennedy on (yes, I know Gwen has been rocking the headband long before Carolyn Bessette Kennedy came back into the zeitgeist because of Ryan Murphy's Love Story show). 

We're on the precipice of the end of a major era in comics.

Iconic superhero comics artist Greg Capullo is mulling retiring from drawing comics. Capullo is a rare breed — having been a top monthly comic book artist in two distinctly different eras, both in the '90s with Quasar, X-Force, and Spawn, and then going on a long hiatus only to return at the top of his form (and at the top of the charts) with DC's 'New 52' relaunch of Batman. In recent years, he's been the go-to artist for DC and Marvel major titles, drawing the DC events Dark Nights: Metal and its sequel Dark Nights: Death Metal, to the DC/Image crossover series Batman/Spawn, the Marvel standalone series Wolverine: Revenge, and the recent once-in-a-generation Batman/Deadpool event from DC and Marvel.

But now, at age 64 and recent upheavals in his art team, Greg Capullo sees 2026 as possibly his last year drawing actual comics.

'How many seasons will Critical Role's The Mighty Nein run for?'

That's a question to which no one has the answer at the moment. However, that didn't stop two of the most important creators on the series from speculating about it. Specifically, those two are showrunner Tasha Huo and voice actor/head of Critical Role's animated adaptations Sam Riegel. Already having been confirmed for a second season, The Mighty Nein's got the momentum to keep on keeping on, but in a recent interview, Huo and Riegel got into specifics.

The interview in question is from Critical Role's Fireside Chat series, the Beacon-based interview show where the creators of the massively popular TTRPG actual play webseries sit down and answer questions from the fans. In December of last year, one of those fan questions directly asked guests Huo and Riegel how many seasons they had envisioned for Prime Video's second animated venture into Exandria. After throwing out some joke answers - "one million," or "nine," said Huo, because of the pun - the creators got more serious.

Those who grew up in the early days of Dungeons & Dragons will remember the strict divide between the jocks and D&D players. The two were in opposing camps, and there could be no parlay between them. However, that has been slowly changing as D&D moves more into the mainstream, and Matt Mercer says that Critical Role has been part of the cooling tensions as he’s seen the fantasy sports crowd flocking to traditional nerd spaces for years now.

We spoke to Matt Mercer about the impact of Critical Role and the actual play industry had on the tabletop industry at PAX East 2026. He commented that the hobby has been growing beyond the typical crowd and now encompasses people who would normally spend their time obsessing about sports.

“So Actual Play has allowed that experience to be widely available, widely inviting, and that - combined with the 5th Edition D&D being the most accessible version of those rules on top of just like the legacy of D&D - all that together made for a massive explosion in tabletop’s acceptance and excitement in pop culture in general,” Mercer reasoned.

"Ah'm the best there is at what Ah do... and what Ah do is solve muhdahs."

OK, so that's probably not actual dialogue from Marvel's upcoming return to the now-iconic Hellfire Gala, but in my humble opinion, it would work. Not unlike the box-office champion Knives Out series, the next edition of Marvel's annual event sees Marvel's Mightiest Mutants at the heart of a glitzy murder mystery tale, where one iconic X-Character will meet a grizzly end, two iconic X-Characters will have to investigate, and the biggest mystery of all will be the disappearance of Logan's shirt.

Welcome to X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1.

It’s not easy balancing a double identity. Just ask Spider-Man. Marvel’s flagship hero has been trying to balance his life as Peter Parker and his heroic career as Spider-Man since his debut in 1962. The results have been mixed.

Charles Soule, who is one of the writers behind Spider-Man’s current Death Spiral storyline, compares the relationship between Spider-Man and Peter Parker to Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader (another character Soule has written for). Both characters try to compartmentalize their other identities, but Soule feels Vader has done it more effectively than Spidey.

“One of the questions that I get asked a lot is are Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader different people, and I think you can apply that sort of analysis to this question,” Charles Soule says during a panel at MegaCon 2026. “Are Spider-Man and Peter Parker different people? Is the worst day for Spider-Man also the worst day for Peter Parker?”

The past year has been a big one for Critical Role and Darrington Press. Their Daggerheart tabletop system, which was officially launched in 2025, got off to a roaring success and welcomed two iconic D&D designers into the Darrington Press staff. But Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford are just two of the new faces at the publisher, which shouldn’t be mistaken for a vanity press for the Critical Role team.

That’s the message we got when we sat down with Chris Perkins, Creative Director at Darrington Press, at PAX East 2026. While Critical Role’s influence is a big part of the Daggerheart system, he assures fans that the company is focused on more than just the pet projects of the cast and crew.

“We’re at a scale now where, and I don’t think this was ever true, but Darrington Press can’t be a vanity press,” Chris Perkins told us. “We can’t just make the game because we want it. We have to, in order to grow and be successful, we have to make the game everybody else wants and sort of what the tastes are and how far can we go in a particular direction and is this product more desirable than that product?”

Kingpin actor Vincent D'Onofrio got swole to play Wilson Fisk in season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again. 

If you've seen the trailers for the new season on Disney+, there are shots of Fisk throwing punches in a boxing ring, leaving his opponent bloodsplattered. In case you've never noticed, boxers tend not to wear a whole lot of clothing in the ring. And, considering that Vincent D'Onofrio has been wearing a fat suit for a few years now in his appearances as Wilson Fisk, the actor needed to take steps to fully sell his character's physique for the boxing scene. 

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, D'Onofrio revealed the extensive training he did for the boxing in Daredevil: Born Again season 2. “The whole boxing match and then the result of that, there was a particular way that I wanted to do that. I didn't wanna be fully clothed. I'm wearing a fat suit for the character; I've been doing that since Hawkeye. We wanted somehow to figure out a way where I could at least show my arms and my shoulders because it's a boxing match. It would be weird if I had long sleeves on. So the task at hand was to build my upper body to a point where it matched the fake girth around my waist. That was a trip. It was an intense workout to grow a couple of inches on my upper body. So that was fun and brutal," D'Onofrio said. 

The year was 2005, the Fantastic Four movie was a theatrical hit, and Marvel was trying to figure out what to do next. The 20^th Century Fox movie grossed $330 million, proving that there was an appetite for Marvel’s first family. According to Michael Chiklis, who played Thing in 20^th Century Fox’s FF film series, this led to discussions of possible spinoffs, including one where Thing would battle Hulk.

“We’re doing the comics for 50 years for crying out loud. There is no end to the things that could be done in this world,” Michael Chiklis says during a Fantastic Four spotlight panel at C2E2 2026. “One thing I wanted to do, and we were in discussions about at the time and it just didn’t happen, was one of my favorite issues from back in the day when I was a kid was Hulk vs. Thing. And they just didn’t do it. They didn’t follow through on it, and I was bummed about that because I thought, man, that could have been so much fun.”

When asked for clarification, Chiklis says the film was discussed as a real possibility after the success of the 2005 Fantastic Four movie. Other spinoffs were discussed too, but those plans were abandoned. “This was a spinoff idea. There were so many ideas being bandied about between the first one and the second one. And quite honestly, I don’t know what happened after the second one. I didn’t hear from anybody for the longest time. It is what it is, but those movies, correct me if I’m wrong, but they made three quarters of a billion dollars.”

If you've been watching any of Popverse's coverage of the most recent Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, you probably know that I simply can't get enough of Daniel Ings's Lyonel Baratheon. His wit, his dance moves, his cavalier attitude - it's all turned me into a huge fan of the knight they call The Laughing Storm, and apparently, I'm not the only person to have converted into this Baratheon groupie squad.

George R.R. Martin feels the same way.

At least, that's what we gathered from the interview Ings did with Square Mile, in which the actor touched on everything from his unfamiliarity with the franchise before nabbing the part to the instructions he got for playing the character ("The brief was 'Captain Jack Sparrow meets Ernest Hemingway,'" he says). But what really caught my eye was a blink-and-you'll-miss it revelation not just about Ser Lyonel's actor, but his creator as well.

The DC Universe has doggy fever, and that’s just fine with me. Last summer audiences around the world fell in love with Krypto thanks to James Gunn’s Superman. But if Superman’s mutt left you wanting more, there is plenty of dog action in the pages of Tom King’s Wonder Woman. The Trinity backup stories have featured tons of cute doggies, including a memorable storyline where Jon Kent and Damian Wayne are transformed into corgis.

According to penciler Belen Ortega, the Bat-Corgi and Super-Corgi storyline happened because King asked her what she wanted to draw and she said corgis.

“For me, coming from manga, which is where you focus a lot on the character emotion and faces, [Trinity] was the perfect miniseries to do with this kind of character because you can focus on the emotion, the tender, the humanity, and plus, drawing dogs, my dogs,” Belen Ortega says during a panel at MegaCon 2026.

Most horror villains have an impressive bodycount; very few have an Oscar.

But after the most recent Academy Awards, Weapons' breakout star aunt Gladys (played by Best Supporting Actress-winning Amy Madigan) entered that elite club, and it probably won't shock you to learn that creator Zach Cregger is now planning on doing more with her. What might surprise you, though, is that he's not doing it alone - as we've just learned, he's calling on the man who wrote Krampus for help.

The story comes from Deadline, in an interview published April 1. I know, that date made me wary of the announcement's veracity too, but seeing as how there's been no takebacks since then, we can safely assume that Cregger's Weapons prequel really is tapping Zack Shields to cowrite the script. Besides 2015's festive horror tale (and personal favorite of yours truly), Shields is also the scribe behind the Godzilla Vs. Kong screenplay.

Kryptonite isn’t Superman’s only weakness. It turns out the Man of Steel is vulnerable to budget cuts.

Superman and Lois premiered on the CW in 2021, but by the time the show began its fourth season in 2024, the network was a different place. Warner Brothers no longer had partial ownership of the CW, which was now owned by Nexstar. Under Nexstar’s ownership the CW shifted its strategy, moving away from scripted dramas and investing in reality television.

The CW gave Superman and Lois a fourth season to finish up their story, but there were conditions. The superhero drama was given a reduced budget, forcing Warner Bros. Television to cut down on cast members and other expenditures.

You can’t say that Matt Dinniman doesn’t deliver; it’s been less than a month since he promised updates “in the next few weeks” about the fate of his Dungeon Crawler Carl TV show, and he’s delivered.

The show is now officially in development at Peacock from Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door production company, with Chris Yost serving as the show’s executive producer and writer; Yost and Dinniman are executive producers on the show, as is Erica Huggins, who’s served the same role on Peacock’s Ted and The ‘Burbs.

Per Variety, the official logline for the series runs as follows: “An alien invasion has wiped out most of humanity and any survivors are forced to fight for their lives on a sadistic intergalactic game show. Sounds bad, right? Now try doing it with bare feet and a stuck-up, self-centered, tiara-wearing talking cat as your partner. Welcome to Dungeon Crawler World: Earth, where the apocalypse will be televised … and Coast Guard vet Carl finds himself stuck with his ex-girlfriend’s award-winning show cat, Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk, as they try to survive the end of the world, fighting monsters, aliens, an insane A.I. and even other survivors … all for the sake of good TV. Survival is optional. Entertainment is not.”

Across decades of Marvel's X-Men comics, Scott Summers AKA Cyclops has earned a reputation as being the one mutant who will reliably follow the plan. But that doesn't mean that the folks bringing you Cyclops stories have to. In fact, as we recently learned, the Marvel Comics creators behind the X-Men line flat-out ignore notes from their editors. Or at least, Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman do.

That's what we got from a recent interview Stegman did with comics YouTubers Paneloids, in which the X-Men artist was discussing the 2025 Age of Revelation event that featured Cyclops as a central character. Apparently, Stegman's editor (and current captain of the X-Men line) Tom Brevoort had a big idea for ol' Slim.

"I'll tell you a funny story about Cyclops's design," Stegman said, "Me and Jed [MacKay] were on a panel with [Brevoort] and somebody was asking about the Cyclops design or whatever. And he said, 'Actually, my initial thought that I pitched to Ryan and Jed was: it would be the future and he has control of his eyes, his powers, so he doesn't need the visor anymore.' and they never said a word."

The Chainsaw Man manga is over, but there is still plenty of material for the ongoing anime adaptation to cover in Part 1 before we even start on Chainsaw Man Part 2. And MAPPA, the studio behind the Chainsaw Man anime, isn’t likely to stop anytime soon. In fact, MAPPA president Manabu Otsuka recently said that manga like Chainsaw Man are why he got into animation in the first place, which is why he risked so much to make the anime happen.

During a column for Bunshun Online (originally translated by Automaton), Manabu Otsuka talked about why he pushed for MAPPA to not just animate the Chainsaw Man anime but to fund it entirely themselves. For context, most anime are funded by a mix of the animation studio, the manga publishers, and external investors, forming what is called a “committee” that oversees production. This mitigates the potential risk for any one organization.

“I felt that Chainsaw Man clearly embodies the reason why I chose to work in animation and the subcultural heritage which I was in love with back when I started working for STUDIO4℃,” MAPPA president Otsuka explained. “It’s the rawness that can’t be contained in an existing framework, and its slightly distorted perspective, juxtaposed with its power to remain solid as a piece of entertainment. It kind of overlapped with the spirit of the creators gathered at MAPPA and the kind of work we ourselves have loved creating until now.”

In case you've been out of the loop, Batman is going strong at DC Comics. Between Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, and Eric Canete's Absolute Batman, and Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez's flagship Batman title, the Dark Knight has been the star of some of DC's top-selling books right now. 

Fraction and Jiménez's run began with Batman #1, which was released in September 2025, and since then, the book has only risen in popularity. On the BIFF! BAM! POW! podcast, Fraction elaborated on the success of Absolute Batman and the mainline Batman title at DC Comics. 

"The reception has been huge, our numbers go up every issue - like that doesn’t happen. DC is weirded out by it. But like, they’re in a really strong place, which is incredible, the energy and the vibe up there is terrific."

If you ever get confused about the MCU’s lore, don’t feel bad, because even the actors have trouble with it. Elizabeth Olsen has starred in numerous Marvel movies, including Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. However, despite the Infinity Stones being prominent parts of both movies - and, for that matter, part of Wanda’s origin story - the actress still isn’t quite sure what their deal is.

“The truth is, you don’t need to know anything to do your job. I’m okay with that,” Elizabeth Olsen revealed during her Scarlet Witch and Beyond spotlight panel at C2E2 2026, adding, “I still mess up the Infinity Stones. The multiverse, I think I have a knack for. Like, I understand that a lot more. The Infinity Stones, I couldn’t tell you what each one was for.”

In fairness, the lore behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe can get very complicated, especially if you didn’t grow up following the comics. For that matter, who can really say what each of the MCU's Infinity Stones did without pausing to check Wikipedia? ("They powered the Infinity Gauntlet" isn't enough of an answer, I'm afraid.)

Hopefully, Alice Cooper has learned by now that school is not out forever. Classes are back in session for Magic: The Gathering's upcoming set, Secrets of Strixhaven. The Magic multiverse's magical school returns for its sophomore year with new professors, new students, and, of course, the power of math.

All of the cards featured in this article, along with their prices, were determined by using TCGPlayer. The market prices of the cards are subject to change once the set comes out. Without much further ado, let's dive into the most expensive Secrets of Strixhaven Magic: The Gathering cards. 

Secrets of Strixhaven marks the return of dragons to Magic: The Gathering for the first time in a minute (Tarkir, anyone?), and the representative of this shift is Lorehold the Historian. At this time of writing, Lorehold the Historian will set you back $46.11 on TCGPlayer. 

What’s in a name? A lot when you’re trying to market and sell a tabletop game. Even a game like Dungeons & Dragons, which has undeniable brand recognition, benefits from a clear label. Which is why it is so odd that Wizards of the Coast has stumbled when it comes to the naming convention of their newest edition of D&D. Well, as of March 2026, it is officially D&D 5.5 Edition because that’s what we’ve all been calling it anyway.

Back in 2014, Wizards of the Coast made a dramatic change to Dungeons & Dragons by introducing D&D 5th Edition. This new set of rules became the focus for the company and effectively replaced the 4th Edition on shelves and at many tables. It was designed to be a simpler, more accessible ruleset. Then, in 2024, Wizards put out updated rules that they alternately called One D&D or D&D 2024. They insisted that this wasn’t a new edition of the game but was an update to the existing D&D 5E rules, yet not a half-edition like D&D 3.5 was.

As you can imagine, this got confusing for everyone involved, and fans were basically calling this D&D 5.5. Nearly 2 years after it launched, Wizards of the Coast has quietly accepted the D&D 5.5 title, according to an update on the DnD Beyond website. In it, they say that they will refer to the 2024 update as 5.5E for clarity’s sake, not because it is a new edition. 

If you've been in comics for as long as Marvel editor Tom Brevoort has, there's not doubt you've seen your share of great ideas that didn't end up on the page. Recenty, Brevoort revealed an instance of exactly that from some decades ago, when he was working on a truly rare event in the comic book world - a Marvel and DC crossover. Specifically, we're talking about the storied JLA/Avengers book by Kurt Busiek and George Pérez.

Brevoort was asked about the ideas that got away when he was a guest on the Word Balloon Comics Podcast with host John Siuntres, and the long-serving Marvel editor was quick to bring up the comic that saw Superman going toe-to-toe with Thor and the (often shared) standoff between Captain America and Batman.

"When we first plotted the story," Brevoort begins, "Kurt [Busiek], George [Pérez], myself, and Dan Raspler, the DC editor, all got together down in Florida after an Orlando con and spent a day just kind of banging out ideas. [...]  One of the ideas that came up that everybody was really excited about was, in issue 3, we were going to enter a world where the two universes have come together. Where the Marvel characters were in the DC world, and the DC characters were in the Marvel world."

If one thing is true of Five Nights at Freddy’s fandom, it’s that the presence of creator Scott Cawthon means a lot. Just look at the success of Blumhouse’s two FNAF movies, which were created in collaboration with Cawthon, for example. (In fact, he wrote the screenplay to the second movie entirely solo, after co-writing the first.) It only makes sense, then that a book about the Five Nights at Freddy’s movies would be more successful with Cawthon attached in some way… like, you know, if he was co-writing the book. Scholastic has some very good news for fans, in that case.

Cawthon is one of two writers behind Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Art and Making of the Movies, a 176-page hardcover coffee table book coming this November that looks at the art and artistry involved in bringing the video game phenomenon to the big screen. He'll be joined by Cala Spinner, who's previously written books across all manner of franchises and pop culture icons, from Peppa Pig and Harry Potter to Batman and The Little Engine That Could. Here's what the cover of the book will look like:

According to the publisher, the book will feature "an inside look at the filmmaking process for both films through animatronic designs and prototypes, behind-the-scenes photographs, and interviews with Production Designer Marc Fisichella and Freddy Fazbear stunt performer Kevin Foster." Also included will be "close looks at designs for costumes, rides, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, and more," ensuring that the hardcover will make the ideal book for any FNAF fan - and a welcome addition to many holiday gift lists, considering that November release date. 

There is a pattern that most gaming consoles follow when it comes to their price. They start high at launch, then become lower as the console’s lifecycle goes on. Then, years later, when the console enters retro status, it becomes expensive again, provided that there is a fanbase to sustain a retro market for it. However, the PS5 is hitting the post-launch price hike point early as Sony raises prices on the PlayStation 5 console due to increasingly expensive parts, thanks, in part, to AI data centers.

The price increases for the PS5 were announced last week and are making the consoles nearly as expensive as they were at launch. Starting on April 2, 2026, a standard PS5 now costs $649.99, up from $549.99 following the last price increase. Compare this to the launch price of $499.99 back in 2020 when the console launched. Nearly six years after the launch of the PS5, Sony’s console has gone up in price rather than down.
It is worth remembering that this is the price for a new PS5 console; used consoles will be more affordable for fans.

While the blog post detailing these price increases doesn’t specifically cite the reasons for them beyond “continued pressures in the global economic landscape,” the fact that we’re still in the midst of a RAM shortage caused by both crypto-mining and AI data centers probably isn’t a coincidence. Add in the ongoing war in Iran that has pushed the price of oil up drastically, and things are looking rough for console fans out there. This isn’t the first time that Sony has increased the price of PS5 consoles, but it comes at a time when many gamers are having their budgets pinched.

It isn’t a surprise to anyone that Netflix is trying to make a push into cinema releases. Their attempts to purchase Warner Bros and the release of KPop Demon Hunters into theaters last year show how important releasing Netflix originals on the big screen can be. So it feels very appropriate that Netflix is reportedly giving Cliff Booth, the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood spinoff film starring Brad Pitt, a full theatrical release later this year.

None of this has been fully confirmed yet, but there is enough evidence mounting that Netflix will be giving Cliff Booth a wide theatrical release in September or October this year. For those who need reminding, Cliff Booth is the Brad Pitt-led spinoff/sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The new movie will follow Brad Pitt’s stuntman character in a script that was written by Tarantino and directed by David Fincher.

The release date for Cliff Booth has always been a thing of mystery, as has every other detail about the movie. We don’t know much about the plot or even the official title yet (it has changed at least once since the movie was announced), but the latest report about the movie seems to be that the release date has shifted to Fall 2026 instead of summer. On top of giving the movie a later debut, Netflix also seems to be eyeing a full theatrical release. Which makes sense, considering the budget is reported to be around $200 million, and it feels unlikely that Brad Pitt would want to star in a straight-to-streaming film.

Critical Role has grown far beyond the initial tabletop game that it once was. It is now a hit TV show and successful production company, with Daggerheart far exceeding their initial sales goals, and will soon be made into a video game by Dispatch developers AdHoc Studio. But even though Critical Role constantly manages to excel at pretty much everything it touches, Matt Mercer says they have a habit of underestimating themselves. But he thinks that is for the best.

While speaking to the long-time Critical Role GM at PAX East 2026, we talked about the remarkable year that Daggerheart, Darrington Press’ new tabletop system, had in 2025. “Our three-year plan, we hit in under six months,” he commented, agreeing that it was a very interesting first year for the system, but that was something the company had some experience with. “Very much so. In a lot of ways, more than we ever anticipated. And I guess we have a history of underestimating ourselves. But, to that point, I prefer to always underestimate than overestimate.”

Fans of Critical Role will recall when their Kickstarter for The Legend of Vox Machina animated series blew past their initial goals, getting over $4 million in pledges in the first 24 hours and blowing past every stretch goal the cast had set. This was something that Mercer admitted was “burned into his soul” during our conversation, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Critical Role fans are always ready and willing to shatter expectations when it comes to supporting their favorite nerdy-ass voice actors playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Who is the most powerful X-Men? Oof, don't ask us - we don't have the time or patience with rage mail to feel comfortable offering an answer. There is one writer, though, who it seems will let you know, and he's got a Marvel-approved subtitle to back him up. We're talking about Murewa Ayodele, scribe behind the appropriately named Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant.

Ayodele recently sat down with the good folks at Adventures in Poor Taste to explain why his recent comic (which he co-creates with artist Federica Mancin) bears such a bold title, especially one that comes courtesy of Marvel's own editorial team. Oh yeah, it was Marvel's own idea to give Ororo that moniker.

"The Earth’s Mightiest Mutant subtitle was an editorial choice," Ayodele revealed, "But I find it extremely fitting, because as we move into this new chapter of the Eternal Storm saga, Storm’s sense of responsibility over the Earth will be ever-present."

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…Darth Vader took on an army and didn’t break a sweat. Star Wars: Vader Down was one of the first major crossover storylines Marvel Comics published after regaining the Star Wars license in 2015. Set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, Vader Down finds Darth Vader marooned on a planet as the entire Rebel Alliance attempts to take him down.

It doesn’t go well for the Rebels.

The storyline, which ran in Jason Aaron’s Star Wars title and Kieron Gillen’s Darth Vader, sees Vader acting as a one-man army against everything the Rebels throw at him.

In 2025, Chris Perkins retired from Wizards of the Coast, where he had worked on Dungeons & Dragons for more than 30 years. Just a few months later, he found himself back in the tabletop industry as Creative Director for Critical Role’s Daggerheart system. For the first time in decades, Perkins is working full-time on a new product and enjoying being able to work on a new system in every sense of the word.

We spoke to Chris Perkins at PAX East 2026, where he was there to run the convention’s Acquisitions Incorporated game. We asked him about the transition from working on D&D, which remains the biggest name in the tabletop industry. Since leaving Wizards of the Coast after more than 30 years, he explained that it was refreshing to be working on something different, but also on something that didn’t come with such a huge legacy.

“There’s no pressure of a 50-year legacy [at Daggerheart]. When you’re on D&D,” Perkins told us. “You have a responsibility to its legacy. You can go in new directions and do new things, I mean, it’s not shackles literally, but with a game that doesn’t have 50 years of expectations behind it, all those expectations have yet to be conceived. And so that’s just a different place and a fun place to find oneself.”

Mattel's effort to take the summer box office by storm continues with their upcoming Masters of the Universe film, produced in partnership with Amazon-MGM Studios. And now, we've gotten the first trailer for the film, directed by Travis Knight (Bumblebee, Kubo and the Two Strings), and it's looking very much like a Mattel project. 

Remember how Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie gave us a story where Barbie herself (Margot Robbie) ventured into our real world, and subsequently discovered that our world is missing the magic and whimsy of her world? A similar idea is at the core of Masters of the Universe. Check it out below. 

In the upcoming film, He-Man has been stuck on Earth for years, away from his home world of Eternia. He lives a whimsy-less life and works a boring office job. But, his ending up back in Eternia gives him the chance to go on a Thor: Ragnarok-inspired adventure, complete with Idris Elba, colorful production design, rock music, synthesizers, lots of lightning bolts, and a muscled blond dude at the center of it all. 

The Fast & Furious franchise is all about family, but as it crosses the line for its final lap, it's also all about home.

That home is Los Angeles, the setting for both the first film and according to star Vin Diesel, the last. Writing in a recent social media post, the Dom Toretto actor and face of the franchise says that with the movie's final flick, the 2028 project Fast Forever, the setting is a conscious effort to end the saga that began in 2001 in the best way possible.

The post in question appeared on Diesel's personal Instagram, on which the action star opened up about the responsibility he and the creative team were feeling as the franchise heads for the finish line.

The partnership between Marvel Comics and Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering card game is reaching a new level: an exclusive MTG card, only available in comic books.

The first issue of Marvel's upcoming summer crossover event Avengers: Armageddon will contain a new printing of the 'Warstorm Surge' MTG card (essentially a variant cover of an MTG card). The art is pulled from Ryan Stegman and Arthur Hesli's cover to the Armageddon / X-Men #1 Comics Giveaway Day comic. The exclusive MTG card won't be just jammed in there; Marvel is polybagging Avengers: Armageddon #1 to hold this variant 'Warstorm Surge' card. 

RELATED: The secret origin of Marvel's Avengers: Armageddon summer event was as a Captain America arc for Chip Zdarsky

After pummeling us with horror, humor, and drama for decades with his Hellboy comics, artist/writer Mike Mignola just launched a new franchise this week with a new hero, hunting gods. With that debut in stores on March 31, Mignola is already coming back and going back to the beginning and looking into the primordial darkness and the secret history of the universe in a new 104-page OGN titled Uri Tupka and the Devils, colored by Dave Stewart and lettered by Clem Robins.

Uri Tupka isn't the hellspawn Mignola character we all know, but a religious man who lost his faith — and is on the hunt to find it. Set in Mignola's new 'Lands Unknown' universe co-created with Ben Stenbeck, Uri Tupka and the Devils follows up after our hero has found gods (plural!), but is still haunted by questions to understand what all this is.

"Uri has found the gods but he still has questions and so he’s gone to look for the answers—In a nightmare castle full of devils!" says Mignola in the announcement. "See Uri change shape, tumble through his own inner workings and take a pretty savage beating. I put the poor guy through the wringer in this one and I feel a little bad about that, but you gotta do what you gotta do, and these “Lands Unknown’’ are not all sunshine and flowers."

When God closes a coffin, He opens a... slasher house?

OK, my metaphor about there being more opportunities in the horror entertainment biz needs some work - maybe a better way to say it is just by telling you that, hot off a creepy cancellation, two scary screenwriters are onto another petrifying possibility. Specifically, those writers are sisters Lilla and Nora Zuckerman, the pair who penned Hulu's Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel series, New Sunnydale. As I'm sure we don't have to tell you, reader, Hulu has staked their hotly-anticipated return to Sunnydale, but the Zuckerman sisters have already found their next calling:

As the writers of Scream 8.

It turns out that people really like that medical drama starring Noah Wyle. No, not ER; we’re talking about The Pitt. HBO Max is already expecting there to be a big audience for The Pitt Season 2 finale. In fact, they think it is going to be so big that it belongs on the big screen, with movie theater screenings of the season finale before it even arrives on HBO.

Just like with the Stranger Things Season 5 finale last year, HBO knows that they potentially have a big event on their hands when The Pitt Season 2 comes to an end. To capitalize on the hype around the final episode, they’ve announced that they are partnering with Alamo Drafthouse to have a series of advance screenings for The Pitt Season 2 finale.

The Alamo Drafthouse locations showing The Pitt Season 2 finale are:

Beyond being one of the coolest comic book writers today, Tini Howard is also a Jeopardy! contestant. And no, this is not an April Fool's joke!

On her Instagram, Tini Howard broke the news that we'll be able to watch her compete on Jeopardy! on April 17, 2026. The post included photos of her beaming at her contestant podium (with an iconic handwritten name display, might I add) and posing with Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings. 

Because all of us absolutely have a million questions about how this came together for Tini Howard, the writer addressed a few things in her post's caption.

In 2019 Marvel Studios seemed unstoppable. Avengers: Endgame broke box office records, making over $2.7 billion, while Spider-Man: Far From Home and Captain Marvel both made over $1 billion. The studio was on a creative and commercial high, and they had plenty of reasons to be excited going into 2020. However, we all know what happened in 2020. 

“Let’s throw in a pandemic,” Elizabeth Olsen remembered during a spotlight panel at C2E2 2026, when recounting her past in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actress, who plays Wanda Maximoff in the MCU, had been filming WandaVision, and things were going well. All of a sudden the entire entertainment industry shut down, and Marvel Studios had to figure out how to pick up the pieces. “We hadn’t finished filming WandaVision, and then we stopped because the world stops obviously. We have been making a show about a bubble, which was really wild, and then we return. We’re one of the first shows that are clear to go back to work after the three month pause.”

Olsen went on, “There was like a three month pause, which is crazy, it was only three months, but we were able to get back to work because Disney being the size of a company that it is, they were able to have nurses and stuff. We were able to go back because we were able to do it as safely as possible, and there was no break, we worked for a month after. We were doing all exteriors luckily, that was what we had left. Just everything that was outside. So, for COVID that was great. And then there were the LA fires or something, which wasn’t great for exteriors, and we had to stop because of smoke inhalation.”

One of the things that has made Critical Role such a success over the years has been the sense of family that fans tend to find amongst themselves. That found family dynamic extends to the stories that get told around the table, and Matt Mercer hopes the same thing happens to people who play the company’s Daggerheart system as well.

“I’d love to see Daggerheart as much as a community as the Critters have been for Critical Role,” Matt Mercer told us when we spoke to him at PAX East 2026. “You know, a place for people to find each other, to find excited storytellers in each other, and make friends through that, and, you know, if Critical Role’s experience has been any indication, find family through it. That’s how tabletop games have always been for me.”

“It’s where friends of mine have gotten married after meeting at the table,” he continued, clearly passionate about giving people the chance to connect with each other. “So for me, having Daggerheart be another extension of that opportunity to empower people to feel like they can tap into that creativity that often a lot of culture, especially American culture, doesn’t seem to value. That, to me, I think is really important.”

Remember that storm scene from the first Jurassic Park film? Shortly before the power goes out, there is a scene where you see hurricane winds along the island’s coast. If you thought that footage looked authentic, it’s because it was. Just as a storm disrupted the fictitious Jurassic Park, a real hurricane also temporarily shut down production of the 1993 film.

Director Steven Spielberg and the Jurassic Park cast were filming on Kauaʻi, Hawaii when Hurricane Iniki hit on September 11, 1992. “We went through a hurricane when we were shooting. Another eventful day,” Tim Murphy actor Joseph Mazzello remembered during a Jurassic Park spotlight panel at C2E2 2026. “And it hit on my birthday,” Lex Murphy actress Ariana Richards added.

“At first, we were going to evacuate, and then Steven was just like, ‘Oh no, I’ve been through these things before. We’re just going to stay.’ Category five hurricane. The biggest one at that point that had ever hit the United States,” Mazzello continued. “But Steven took the opportunity to actually film the hurricane as it was approaching to get some b-roll for the movie because there’s supposed to be a storm in the movie. And that kind of dedication from a director.”

From the very beginning, we all knew that One Piece Season 2 would be a bigger challenge than the first. Some of those challenges are literally bigger, like the giants on Little Garden, but many were style and storytelling choices the showrunners had to make. However, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda made sure they kept the fantasy of the story alive when he gave them a note on Tony Tony Chopper’s appearance in the Netflix series.

During a recent interview, One Piece showrunner Joe Tracz explained how Eiichiro Oda kept reminding them that they were making a fantasy story first and foremost. When it came time to design the horrifically cute Tony Tony Chopper for the Drum Island arc, Oda gave a similar note to the showrunners. “For Chopper, we could have gone hyper real, but Oda from the beginning always said, ‘Think teddy bear,’” Tracz explained. “A real reindeer is a little uncanny. So, in those early conversations about how much do you push the realism versus the fairy tale cuddly quality, he’s always in favor of going with the thing that will move you the most. And maybe a hyper realistic reindeer is not going to move you the way something that looks like the stuffed animal you had as a kid is going to move you.”

That philosophy also extended to the emotional climax of the Drum Island arc. “When you see a cherry blossom tree made up of a mountain peak with spotlights on clouds that are pink from the powder, you either go for a realistic cloud on a mountain, or something that leans into what feels poetic about a tree. That’s the one note he has that I just always feel like I want to take to heart, which is like to be true to the poetry more, sometimes more than the realism.”

This weekend I watched a livestream of the Daredevil panel at C2E2 2026, and I could almost swear Charlie Cox was talking about me. He also made it clear he was one step ahead of me in a game I didn’t know we were playing.

As a writer for Popverse, I watch panels like this with an eye for stories, and I pitch those stories to my editors. And thus, when Charlie Cox was asked which Marvel character he wanted to team up with, I leaned closer to my computer screen, ready to hear his answer. After all, this would be an interesting story that would interest our readers.

However, Charlie had his own ideas.

The ongoing epic of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is… well, bizarre, to say the least. The seventh anime season has begun, which also marks the start of a new era for the franchise with a new universe established in Steel Ball Run. However, the ninth manga storyline, titled 'The JoJoLands,' takes place over 100 years later in that universe. Nearly 40 years after the release of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, the manga continues to maintain a steady release schedule.

Typically, new chapters of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure are released in Japan every month in Shueisha’s Ultra Jump magazine. Usually, the issue containing the new chapters is released in the middle of the month before the month on its cover. For example, Chapter 34 of 'The JoJoLands' was released in the April 2026 issue of Ultra Jump, which hit stores in Japan on March 19, 2026.

The next chapter of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga will be 'The JoJoLands' Chapter 35, which is set to be released on April 17, 2026 in the May 2026 issue of Ultra Jump. Because the release date for the magazine changes slightly month-on-month, we don’t always know exactly what the release date will be for future chapters, but we do know approximately when they’ll be out.

The thing about comic book universes is that they are always about to end because of some intergalactic threat or a dimensional atrocity. For Marvel, they’ve got two of those happening at the same time as Hela and Knull arrive to do what they do best, which is destroy everything. The heroes are fighting back with Iron Man and Beta Ray Bill both leading their own team of Defenders in the crossover event.

Marvel has already announced the upcoming Queen in Black crossover event from Al Ewing and Iban Coello. As part of that storyline, Hela, goddess of death, and Knull. god of the void, are sweeping across existence to destroy everything they touch. Two sets of heroes are being formed to combat this threat. 

In Queen in Black: Defenders of Light and Dark, writer Tom Waltz and artist Zé Carlos have Beta Ray Bill leading Photon, Sunfire, and Dagger in the fight against Hela. Meanwhile, Iron Man, in his new Darkforce armor, leads Darkstar, Agent Anti-Venom, and Cloak to take on Knull. These two revamped teams aren’t who you’d expect to be saving the world, but that is kind of the point. “These aren’t your normal Defenders,” Tom Waltz explained. “And teaming them up to help save the planet might seem unorthodox at first, but maybe a little super hero chaos is just what’s needed to help stop Hela and Knull’s own chaotic machinations.”

We’re lucky to be living in a time when tabletop gaming, and D&D in particular, is becoming bigger and more popular than ever. There are many contributing factors to this, but one can’t overlook the part that actual play series like Critical Role have played in this D&D renaissance. According to Matt Mercer, it is something he’s still getting his head around.

“It’s interesting,” he admitted when we spoke to him at PAX East 2026. “We’ve done a lot of our internal studies, because even we were like, ‘What have we done?’” That data seems to point to Critical Role having a bigger impact than fans might realize. “A lot more than I think we even anticipated, and that comes from internal metrics at partner companies and even big rigs.”

Obviously, Matt Mercer and Critical Role didn’t set out to do any of that. His goal for those nerdy-ass voice actors playing Dungeons & Dragons was simple: showcase how great tabletop gaming could be.

Cassian Andor has one of the most interesting character journeys in the Star Wars saga. We first meet him as a freedom fighter who isn’t afraid to make hard choices in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. We learn more about his background and what drove him to join the Rebellion in the Disney+ series Andor. Many people influenced Cassian’s journey, such as Luthen Rael, who helped push him towards the Rebellion, and Jyn Urso, who inspired him to make his final sacrifice.

But who has a bigger hold on Cassian’s heart?

“Come on, why would you say that,” Cassian Andor actor Diego Luna teased the audience after being asked the question during a spotlight panel at MegaCon 2026. “I mean, listen, there’s room for both in his heart. I mean, they belong to different times of Cassian’s life and journey. And they truly occupy very different spots.”

For more than half of Dungeons & Dragons’ 50-year history, Chris Perkins has been working on the game. He has, by his own admission, written more adventures for tabletop games than just about anyone on the planet at this point, with most of them being for D&D. Which may be why HBO wants him as a consultant on the upcoming Baldur's Gate show. However, that doesn’t mean that he’s leaving D&D behind. Even as he works on Critical Role’s Daggerheart system, Chris Perkins is still playing D&D – just in a very different way than before.

“Oh, I have turned my D&D designer brain right off,” Chris Perkins told us when we spoke to him at PAX East 2026. “It’s out the door. Gone. It’s locked in a closet… So I guess it was April last year when I retired, and I was just looking to basically do nothing for a long time, but very quickly, because I have a lot of friends in L.A., I got into a D&D game as a player, not a DM, and I still feel like I’m living the dream as a D&D fan.”

After almost a year away from Wizards of the Coast while he works on Daggerheart, this is the first time that Perkins has had some distance between himself and D&D.

One of the most iconic villains in the Star Wars franchise is a character who hasn’t been seen in any of the movies. Grand Admiral Thrawn was introduced in Timothy Zahn’s 1991 novel Heir to the Empire, and he quickly became a fan favorite character. Readers fell in love with the cold and calculating strategist, and today he’s one of the few characters from the Legends era to migrate to Canon. In addition to appearing in novels and comics, Thrawn has also appeared in animated projects like Star Wars: Rebels and the live-action series Ahsoka.

When Zahn created Thrawn, his objective was to introduce a new kind of villain to the franchise. “The first thought was I wanted to do something that feels like Star Wars, but not what George [Lucas] has already done,” Timothy Zahn says during a panel at MegaCon 2026.

 “That immediately meant no Death Star, no superweapon, no Vader type, no Emperor type. Okay, what’s left? Vader and the Emperor rule by manipulation and fear. A more dangerous enemy is someone who can inspire loyalty, because the troops will fight their best whether he’s watching them or not. And then you backtrack from that, what kind of person are the troops loyal to? A tactical strategic genius, so they know they’re likely to win whatever battle they’re put into. Someone who does not get emotionally involved in battles to the point where he’s wasting troops for no reason. Someone who will take suggestions from subordinates.”

The latest movie to get the live-action remake treatment from Disney is Moana. The live-action 2026 incarnation will translate the original 2016 animated version, with Dwayne Johnson reprising the role of Maui. So, when can you plan on the release date for Moana (2026) to arrive?

The Moana release date is July 10th, 2026 in theaters. It has been about a decade since the original Moana debuted on November 23rd, 2016. And it's been less than two years since the animated sequel, Moana 2, debuted on November 27th, 2024. Meanwhile, about a year has passed since the most recent Disney live-action adaptation of an animated movie was released, as Lilo and Stitch was released on May 23rd, 2025. Of course, there are a lot of movie release dates for you to bear in mind this summer. Here's the official trailer for Moana:

Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is swinging back onto the big screen, and he's bringing a whole bunch of his rogues' gallery with him... including The Punisher (Jon Bernthal)! The highly anticipated fourth movie in the series, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, will be released in theaters before you know it. So, when can you expect the release date for Spider-Man: Brand New Day to finally arrive?

The Spider-Man: Brand New Day release date is July 31st, 2026. It has been about half a decade since the previous movie in the Spidey series, Spider-Man: No Way Home, was released on December 17, 2021. And it will have been a little over a year since the preceding Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, Fantastic Four: First Steps, was released on July 25, 2025. Of course, there are a whole bunch of exciting upcoming movie release dates to keep in mind this summer. Here's the official trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day:

Last summer, audiences were introduced to Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) thanks to a cameo in Superman. But this summer, Supergirl is crashing a whole movie all her own. So, when will the release date for Supergirl, the second movie in the DCU franchise helmed by James Gunn, arrive?

The Supergirl release date is June 26, 2026 in theaters. It has been a little less than a year since the previous movie in the franchise, Superman, debuted on July 11, 2025. Supergirl is directed by Craig Gillespie from a script by Ana Nogueira. And of course, there are plenty of other theatrical movie release dates for you to keep in mind this summer. Here's the official trailer for Supergirl:

By the Power of Grayskull! The big-screen live-action adaptation of Masters of the Universe is heading to theaters this summer. So, when can you expect the release date for Masters of the Universe to arrive?

The Masters of the Universe release date is June 5th, 2026 in theaters. The movie is the latest entry in the Masters of the Universe franchise, which originated with Mattel's 1992 action figure line of the same name. While there have been plenty of titles associated with the franchise over the intervening decades, this is only the second live-action outing, after the 1987 movie of the same name. Naturally, there are plenty of other movie release dates you'll want to keep track of this summer. Here's the official trailer for Masters of the Universe:

In Masters of the Universe, Nicholas Galitzine stars as Prince Adam/He-Man. Sent to Earth for his own protection as a child, the movie sees Adam discovering his origins on Eternia and laying claim to his true identity. The star-studded cast also includes Camila Mendes, Alison Brie, James Purefoy, Morena Baccarin, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Charlotte Riley, Kristen Wiig, Jared Leto and Idris Elba.

This bold and beautiful era of Star Trek comics from IDW is expanding with a new 5-issue limited series called Star Trek: Red Shirts - Ghost of the 21st Century. Written by Gerry Duggan with art by Scott Buoncristiano, Ghost of the 21st Century is helping ring in the 60th anniversary of Star Trek with a bloodbath and criminal conspiracy!

"Revenge is a dish best served on time delay. From Gerry Duggan (Deadpool, X-Men: Fall of the House of X) comes the next Red Shirts bloodbath…," reads IDW's description of the book. "On the Federation’s farthest frontier, red shirts don’t just die—they’re used. When conscripted security grunt Harry Deubert finds contraband hidden inside a fallen comrade’s body, he uncovers Section Null—a secret Starfleet directorate turning disposable red shirts into assets in a sprawling criminal conspiracy. Teaming with Lyna Taval, an Andorian officer with her own covert agenda, Deubert digs too deep…and becomes a target.
Someone inside Starfleet Security is selling out the Federation. And once Deubert and Taval learn what red shirts are really for, there’s no going back."

If you haven't read the first Star Trek: Red Shirts series by Christopher Cantwell and Megan Levens, fear not, Ghost of the 21st Century works as a standalone story that newbies and seasoned fans alike can jump into. 

If you looking to Elizabeth Olsen for hints about the future of the MCU, then look elsewhere. The actress, who played Scarlet Witch, is just as in the dark as we are.

“I know nothing. I know about VisionQuest because I’ve seen Paul [Bettany, star of the series] in the last six months, and I know nothing about any of [the next Avengers movies],” Elizabeth Olsen promised during her spotlight panel at C2E2 2026.

Even if Marvel offered to clue her in, Olsen prefers not knowing. This way she doesn’t have to be on guard every time she appears at a convention or does an interview. “Honestly, I just don’t know what’s going on. It’s safer for me to not know anything, because then I can’t make a mistake in a situation like this,” she explained. “So I know nothing. And I rather know nothing, to be honest, because I do say things.”

The movie hits theaters in a few months, so it’s time for the first official trailer for DC Studios’ Supergirl, giving audiences more of a clue about what lies ahead for the Woman of Tomorrow — and just what fans can expect from the first real glimpse into a wider DC Universe, post-Superman.

Technically, this is the second trailer for the movie, but December’s sneak peek was officially a “teaser” as opposed to a full trailer. Certainly, this new trailer builds on the tone established in that first trailer, while also underscoring the essential sadness hidden inside Supergirl's origin: it's one thing for Superman to have lost Krypton when he was a baby, but Supergirl watched it happen as a teen, which is definitely the kind of thing that would leave its mark. What becomes of the broken-hearted, indeed. Watch the new trailer:

When you’re fighting against a Galactic Empire, it helps to have friends by your side. Andor showed us the harsh realities of war, as Cassian Andor was forced to make some hard choices in the name of justice. The morally ambiguous anti-hero made some allies, formed alliances, and fought against fascistic rule before dying on Scarif (as seen in Rogue One). But what if Cassian had survived? Which familiar Rebel heroes would he have befriended if he had been given a chance to meet them?

“Han Solo. Right?” Diego Luna suggested to the crowd when asked that very question during a spotlight panel at MegaCon 2026. “We could be playing on those nights with Melshi, and K2, and myself. Drinking at night in Yavin and playing cards.”

Luna was then asked which Star Wars character would not get along with Cassian, and after careful consideration he had what might be the perfect answer.

Ever since the announcement of the Something is Killing the Children live-action movie, fans have been dream-casting Erica Slaughter, the comic's child-protecting, monster-slaying badass who makes a fashion statement out of teeth. And apparently, the series's creator is doing just as much fan-casting himself, as we learned in a recent comic con panel he was hosting. Get this - James Tynion IV thinks the perfect live-action Erica Slaughter is...

Stranger Things' Maya Hawke.

The panel we're talking about, specifically, was the Slaughterverse event at C2E2 2026, where Tynion was the guest of honor. The discussion touched on everything from the crossover Tynion is planning with DC Comics to the original draft of the now-iconic horror series, but maybe the thing fans were most excited to hear about were the Department of Truth author's thoughts on the live-action Erica.

We don't talk enough about how dangerous reading can be for young people... or at least, it is when the book they pick up is the infamous Necronomicon. It's a lesson characters have been learning since The Evil Dead first debuted in 1981. So, when will the release date for the sixth entry in the franchise, Evil Dead Burn, arrive?

The Evil Dead Burn release date is July 24th, 2026. While Evil Dead Burn is itself a self-contained standalone, like the two previous Evil Dead movies, it has been about three years since the previous movie in the series, Evil Dead Rise, was released in theaters. And while Evil Dead Burn is very exciting, bear in mind that it's just one of the upcoming movie release dates to keep on your radar. An official trailer for Evil Dead Burn has yet to be made available.

Evil Dead Burn stars Souheila Yacoub, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Tandi Wright and George Pullar. While the movie is directed by Sébastien Vaniček, original series creator and horror movie legend Sam Raimi will serve as a producer alongside Rob Tapert.

Get ready for Homer's classic story as you've never seen it before, thanks to legendary contemporary director Christopher Nolan. The writer/director behind such movies as Memento, The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception is turning his considerable skill towards classical literature with The Odyssey, featuring the likes of Matt Damon and Tom Holland. So, when will the theatrical release date for The Odyssey arrive?

The Odyssey release date is July 17th, 2026 in theaters. It has been about three years since Nolan's previous movie, Oppenheimer, debuted on July 21st, 2026. The music for The Odyssey will be composed by frequent Nolan collaborator Ludwig Göransson. And of course, there are plenty of other movie release dates for you to keep in mind this summer. Here's the official trailer for The Odyssey:

The Odyssey features an extensive and star-studded cast. Damon plays Odysseus, while Holland plays Odysseus's son Telemachus. Anne Hathaway plays Odysseus's faithful wife Penelope, while Robert Pattinson plays one of Penelope's suitors, Antinous. Zendaya will play Athena and Charlize Theron will appear as Circe. Additional actors include Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Mia Goth, Elliot Page, Bill Irwin and many other big-name stars.

Move over, Mad Monster Party! Not this time, Hotel Transylvania! This summer, if you're looking for spooky fun, Minions and Monsters has your number. The next entry in the Despicable Me franchise sees the yellow Minions facing some of their scariest challenges yet: monsters! So, when will the release date for Minions and Monsters finally arrive?

The Minions and Monsters release date is July 1st, 2026 in theaters. It has been about four years since the previous movie in the franchise, Minions: The Rise of Gru was released in 2022. The Despicable Me franchise, which is the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time, began with Despicable Me in 2010, which first introduced the breakout Minion characters. And while everyone's sure to go see Minions and Monsters, it is just one of the many big-screen release dates to mark on your calendar for this summer. Here's the official trailer for Minions and Monsters:

In Minions and Monsters, it's 1920 and the Minions are searching for monsters to cast in their monster movie. Naturally, this leads to more wacky, spooky hijinks than you can shake a banana at. The impressive voice cast not only features Pierre Coffin as the Minions, but it also includes such impressive additions as South Park co-creator and voice actor Trey Parker, Oscar-winning actor Allison Janney, comedic voice actor veterans Phil LaMarr and Bobby Moynihan, and The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges.

When they said "you've got a friend in me," they really meant "a lifelong friend." This summer, three decades after the debut of the original movie, Toy Story 5 is arriving in theaters. So, when can you plan on the arrival of the release date for Toy Story 5 in theaters?

The release date for Toy Story 5 is June 19th, 2026 in theaters. It has been about seven years since the previous movie, Toy Story 4, debuted on June 21st, 2019. Randy Newman will be returning as a composer for Toy Story 5, marking the musician's tenth collaboration with Pixar. Of course, while Toy Story 5 is extremely exciting, it's only one of the many movie release dates to keep in mind this summer. Here's the official trailer for Toy Story 5:

Steven Spielberg is one of Hollywood's most legendary directors, and for his latest movie, he's heading back to one of his pet topics: aliens. Disclosure Day, which has a screenplay written by David Koepp from a story by Spielberg, stars Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, and several other big-name stars. So, when can you expect the theatrical release date for Disclosure Day to arrive?

The Disclosure Day release date is June 12th, 2026 in theaters. It will have been about four years since the previous movie directed by Spielberg, The Fabelmans, debuted in autumn 2022. Disclosure Day will be the thirty-seventh movie directed by Spielberg. And naturally, there are plenty of other movie release dates for you to keep in mind this summer. Here's the official trailer for Disclosure Day:

In addition to Blunt and O'Connor, the cast of Disclosure Day also includes Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, and Wyatt Russell. The plot of the movie recalls one of Spielberg's most famous movies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Things begin to heat up when a cybersecurity expert (O'Connor) steals clandestine intel regarding the existence of extraterrestrial life and plans to make it public. Meanwhile, a Kansas City weather reporter (Blunt) seems to become a conduit for alien communication during a broadcast. With the highest of stakes in play, multiple parties become embroiled in the world-changing events depicted in Disclosure Day.

Jonathan Frakes has a unique perspective on Star Trek. He’s played William Riker in multiple projects, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: First Contact, and Star Trek: Voyager. He’s also directed numerous Star Trek projects, including selected episodes of Starfleet Academy, Discovery, and Strange New Worlds. For Frakes, the most surprising part about directing Trek is the relationship he’s formed with the new cast members.

“What I found interesting in doing the new shows, Discovery, Strange New Worlds, and Starfleet Academy,” Jonathan Frakes revealed during a Star Trek panel at MegaCon 2026, “[is that] I’m just beginning to realize how old I am, and my sort of place in our family. We welcome all these people into our family, and we all get to know them because they do the cons with us, and we’re on the cruise together with them, and panels with them.”

He continued, “So, they’re new friends, and they’re also new family members, and they’re fascinated about what it means, because a lot of them don’t get it. And you say it, frankly, your life is going to change. And they say, nah, bullshit. Talk to me in a couple of years. But it’s going to change, it’s going to change for the better, and you’re going to be a member of this family. Shatner is our godfather. And now I see them and I go back to work with them in the season later and they say, boy, you were right. And people embrace it with different degrees of fondness and comfort.”

Mulder and Scully weren’t the only power couple on The X-Files. The science fiction drama also included Monica Reyes and John Doggett, two agents with an impeccable amount of chemistry who served as the series' lead characters in the eighth and ninth seasons of the long-running show - and much of that chemistry is owed to the real life friendship between their actors, Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish.

“It was very organic in real life playing the scenes,” John Doggett actor Robert Patrick shared during an X-Files panel at MegaCon 2026. “I knew Annabeth before, and it was just great to let it unfold and let it happen. And it was easy, you know, it was real easy to do. She’s beautiful.”

Unlike Mulder and Scully, the Reyes and Doggett romance never really got off the ground. While the series hinted that there might be feelings between the two agents, their relationship remained professional.