JUN 15 | EDITION #2 - Read Time: 8 minutes

Was this newsletter supposed to go out this morning? Yes. Did I roll out of bed and go to the beach instead? Also yes. Don't judge me and I won’t judge you…deal? Deal.

Last week, I sent out the first edition for testing purposes - which only got delivered to myself, and to my mother (lmao). This week, I’m sending it out to over 52 subscribers who signed up within a day of announcing this project on social media.

I can’t thank you all enough for embarking on this journey with me. Putting your own writing out there is violently uncomfortable and a vulnerable state to be in, so the support is fucking appreciated.

Let's lock in.

Highlights:

• Gaming showcases from Xbox, Bethesda, Summer Game Fest & Ubisoft

• Nickmercs vs Call of Duty

• Dozens of movie dates shifting

• Flash premiere, Transformers review, Secret Invasion Hype

Created by Sean | Subscribe

The Franchise Report

Content updates from our favorite IPs

Per THR, dozens of films are shifting release dates and being delayed due to writer strikes and production delays across Hollywood. We support the writers here, but this is going to make the industry a bit chaotic and unpredictable.

🌌 From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

• Idris Elba is in talks to play the villain opposite Daisy Ridley in the upcoming “New Jedi Order” film. I’m in.

• “Somehow, Palpatine returned. Again.”

• Andor’s budget leaked and it was apparently over $250M - making it the most expensive Disney+ series to date. Now we know why it was so fucking good, I guess?

• Star Wars release date movement:

  • Unnamed title: May 22nd, 2026

  • Unnamed Title: Dec 18, 2026

  • Unnamed Title: Dec 17, 2027

🦸‍♂️ Cape Shit

Marvel

MCU

• RIP to John Romita Sr, a legend in the comic book world. John is credited with creating Wolverine, The Punisher, MJ and Kingpin, just to name a few.

• Marvel is releasing a documentary on Stan Lee that releases on June 16th. Excited to sit down and watch this one, one of the goats who deserves celebration.

• Secret Invasion held a premiere yesterday where attendees saw the first two episodes. Some descriptors that are being used by those that watched: adult, mature, thriller, character-driven, the MCU’s ‘Andor’, etc. SIGN ME UP.

• Tenoch Huerta, who played Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, has been accused of sexual assault. Not a lot has come out on this one yet, but this would now be two big Marvel villains (Jonothan Majors being the other) that have shared similar accusations in the last few months. Brutal.

• MCU release date movement:

  • Deadpool 3 - May 3, 2024

  • Captain America: Brave New World - Aug 26, 2024

  • Thunderbolts - Dec 20, 2024

  • Blade - Feb 14, 2025

  • Fantastic Four - May 2, 2025

  • Avengers: Kang Dynasty - May 1, 2026

  • Avengers: Secret Wars - May 7, 2027

Spider-Verse

• Across The Spider-Verse has crossed over $400M at the worldwide box office. W.

• We got our first look at the in-universe horror short film' ‘The Spider Within’ that follows Miles battling an anxiety attack between the two movies.

• ATSV has been banned in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East due to the ‘protect trans kids’ flag that’s in Gwen’s room. Fuck this, full stop.

• Someone was able to slow down one of the “glitching” scenes from Across The Spider-Verse and caught some incredible layering.

DC

I can’t believe they let Ezra Miller go to the premiere of The Flash - making their first public appearance in what feels like eons. The discourse for this movie has been hell, between Ezra Miller’s ‘troubled’ history, unfinished CGI and controversial cameos. I’m ready for it to be over…will have my review up after my showing later tonight.

• James Gunn went on a podcast and dropped some interesting tidbits:

  • Superman: Legacy will be the first official DCU film.

  • Blue Beetle will be the first ‘DCU’ character in his new franchise.

  • Peacemaker Season 2 will be his next project.

• June 14th was the 10-year anniversary of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel - one of my favorite films of all time. Pure cinema. Masterpiece. Go watch it.

🎥 The Rest

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

It was…fine? The best thing I can say about this movie is that it felt like a Saturday morning cartoon finale. There were some fun “oh yeah, I remember that” moments, but it otherwise lacked any of the spark (pun intended) that the Bay films had. The scope feels smaller, the transforming feels weaker and the action wasn’t as grandiose. I’ll be seated for the sequel, but at this point, it’s just to please my inner 8 year old. 2.5 stars. Letterboxd review here.

Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon

I’m a Zack Snyder stan through and through. After leaving DC, he announced his next big project would be Rebel Moon - a space opera, styled after the Seven Samurai. We officially got our first look and I’m blown away.

• Was originally pitched to LucasFilm as a Star Wars project.

• Will be a new saga with multiple installments.

• Will have family-friendly versions and adult versions - which is a W.

• The craftsmanship, the world-building, and the cast all look top-tier.

• Releases Dec 22nd. When we get a trailer, you can best believe I’ll do a deep dive into it.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

First reactions from Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny are out and they’re pretty mixed. It feels like if you’re a fan of Indy, you’ll enjoy this one, but it’s flawed.

• Described as bloated, too safe and overly reliant on fan service - but a love letter to the franchise.

• Harrison Ford has been hilariously animated for the promotion of this movie - much more present and excited than in any of his recent roles. He just loves Indy.

• John Williams had a surprise performance at the premiere.

Etc.

• TUDUM - the Global Fan Event from Netflix begins on June 17th. Hoping to see something from the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series, but I’ll take some nuggets from Stranger Things, Outer Banks, Extraction 2, etc.

• WB desperately wants Christopher Nolan back non their lot and has paid him a 7-figure bonus for Tenet as a sign of good faith…good lord.

• Neville Longbottom touring WB’s new Tokyo campus, just cause.

The Gaming Industry

What’s new in the world of gaming & esports

This is a shit show.

Massive creator Nickmercs made a controversial tweet under a video that showed some LGBTQ+ demonstrators being violently attacked by anti-groups, and all hell has broken loose. For those not in the know, Nickmercs and TimTheTatman were the first two creators to ever get personal skins within Call of Duty - a huge deal.

This drama reached all corners of the internet and is massive news, so here’s the timeline of events from Gamer Update if you want to follow along:

• Nickmercs under fire for ‘anti-LGBTQ’ comment

• Nickmercs operator skin removed from Call of Duty

• Nickmercs responds to backlash

• Dr Disrespect Quits COD in support of Nickmercs

• TimTheTatman requests that COD remove his skin in unison with Nickmercs

At the time of typing this, Nick hasn’t streamed in almost a week and it feels like he’s trying to avoid being a rallying call for aggression. I’m curious how this situation plays out, but I’m going to bow out of the discussion until something big happens.

Other News

• The CDL pro team London Royal Ravens will relocate to Charlotte, NC. Expanding overseas was a cool idea, but logistically it never made much sense to me.

• A viewer (stalker) got arrested after driving 700 miles to a streamer’s house and lighting her car on fire…what the actual fuck?

• I guess Twitch employees are harassing creators now? Incredibly weird behavior - which again puts Twitch on the negative side of the news for the umpteenth time in recent memory.

• Diablo IV made over $666M within the first five days of release, which is a new Blizzard record. Holy shit.

• The CS:GO community is mourning the loss of a professional player named “Oni”, who lost his life fighting the war in Ukraine. 21 years old. Horrendous. Way too young.

Weekly Rant

Multiple Game Showcases
The 2023 gaming cycle has been absurd and there are no signs of slowing down. We had notable showcases from Xbox, Bethesda and Ubisoft last weekend - let’s do a rundown of the best games we saw.

Starfield

Father Todd Howard has done it again, somehow seemingly merging No Man’s Sky, Skyrim and Red Dead Redemption 2 to create what looks to be one of those games that pushes the industry forward. If I could, I’d bet my life savings that this game is a massive success.

Todd talked about retiring, so it feels like Starfield could be a legacy game for him. He said it feels incredibly immersive - and stated that Starfield is to Sci-Fi fantasy what Red Dead Redemption 2 was to Western fantasy. They also use the temr “nasa punk" to describe the world of Starfield, which I love. If this game is as good as RDR2, you won’t see me leave my cave for a year.

Character creation, ship creation, base building, combat, exploration, narrative, role-playing…this one has it all. If you’re a Bethesda fan (Skyrim, Fallout, etc.), I urge you to watch the 45-minute Starfield Direct presentation - it’s the best I’ve ever seen. If you’re pressed for time, here’s the quick trailer.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Cyberpunk 2077 had an incredibly rough start but has since gained steam after all of the bug fixes and patches. I had a phenomenal time with this game, and I’m eager to jump back into the world.

Phantom Liberty looks like a substantial expansion to the original game and comes loaded with new content new mechanics and new stories. This is a day one for me. Trailer here.

Star Wars: Outlaws

It’s really, really difficult to trust Ubisoft open-world games, but the gameplay they showed looks pretty polished for a game that isn’t set to release for another year.

Kay looks like a great main character, I love the wanted and reputation systems, the gunplay looks dynamic and it’s dealing heavily with the Crime Syndicates - so the story should be compelling. Trailer here.

Some other notables that I’m keeping an eye on include Fable, Avowed, Clockwork Revolution, XDefiant, and Assasin’s Creed Mirage. Trailers below.

Quick Hits

👨‍🍳 Weekly Ranking
In honor of Secret Invasion releasing next week, here’s my ranking of the MCU Disney+ shows. The only correct ranking.

💣 Random

• Erik Voss from New Rockstars stunting on a random background character from Across The Spider-Verse lmao.

• 90’s LAN parties…LOOK AT THIS.

• Dream announced that he’ll go back to wearing his mask and that he will be working to delete all images and videos of his likeness after excessive hate comments. Yikes.

• WHERE WE DROPPIN’ BOYS?

• Ice Spice wants to be a director. So, there’s that?

• A BANGER thread about Jurassic Park from All The Right Movies.

• Is this relevant? No. Does it make me happy knowing that the three live-action versions of Spider-Man text each other in a group chat? Yes.

• Protect Ke Huy Quan at all costs.

📹 Video of the Week
We’ve all been there - it’s a right of passage.

@0verth0se

#cannonevent #milesmorales #acrossthespiderverse #fyp #foryou

�� Read of the Week
Can Warner Bros. Restore Its Movie Glory? by Matt Donnelly at Variety

🖌️ Community Artwork
Star Wars x Anime are meant for each other.

📽️ Trailer Recap

• My Adventures with Superman | Release Trailer

• Skull Island | Release Trailer

• Fable | Announcement Teaser

• Avowed | Official Gameplay Trailer

• Clockwork Revolution | Official Reveal Trailer

• Assassins Creed Mirage | Gameplay Walkthrough

🤝Brand Collaborations

• 100 Thieves x F1 Monaco Grand Prix - F1 continues to grow in the US.

• Riot Games x Collegiate/Scholastic Esports - LoL and Valorant coming to a college & high school near you.

🐦Tweet of The Day
A fan met Oscar Isaac on the street….while he was on Facetime with Pedro Pascal lmao.

👀 Keep An Eye Out

• Jun 15 | Black Mirror Season 6

• Jun 16 | The Flash 

• Jun 16 | Elemental

• Jun 16 | Stan Lee

• Jun 21 | Secret Invasion

• Jun 22 | Skull Island

• Jun 23 | Asteroid City

• Jun 23 | Past Lives

All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.”

Would love to meet some of you and get some feedback for the newsletter. Too long? Too boring? Love it? Feel free to reach out and yell at me.

See you next Thursday!

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