Thanks to making sure we had two reviews up for two of the biggest films of the year on Friday (namely for the great Barbenheimer combo of Barbie and Oppenheimer), we decided to bump the weekly news recap to today. Being the day after San Diego Comic-Con, boy, is there… actually not a lot going on, seeing that many of the big studios passed on the event due to the Actors Strike preventing star-led promotional activities.

That said, this past week saw the passing of legendary jazz singer Tony Bennett at aged 96. No cause of death was provided, but the icon announced an Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2016, before finally retiring last year.

Film

Following a teaser trailer reveal three months ago, there is now a full trailer for upcoming female superhero ensemble The Marvels, which is the next entry in the big screen Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this outing, Carol Danvers AKA Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) finds her powers strangely entangled with two other women who have similar light-based abilities: Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan AKA Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), and Carol’s estranged niece, Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). Also with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Nia DaCosta in the director’s chair.

After previously being scheduled for release on 8 July 2022, 11 November 2022, 17 February this year, and 29 July, The Marvels finally lands in cinemas on 10 November. You’ll probably want to watch WandaVision, Ms. Marvel and Secret Invasion on the small screen to prep yourself.

You can also check out the film’s new poster here.

Out of almost nowhere comes the release of Kenneth Branagh’s next all-star Hercule Poirot murder mystery – following Murder on the Orient Express, and Death on the Nile. And this one has supernatural flavour. A Haunting in Venice is based upon the novel Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie, and set in post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve. Brilliant detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh), now retired, reluctantly attends a séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo, but when one of the guests is murdered, the sleuth is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.

A Haunting in Venice’s ensemble cast includes the likes of Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly, and Michelle Yeoh. The film arrives in cinemas on 15 September.

Netflix has a tradition of delivering a strong set of animated feature films, and family comedy adventure The Monkey King looks to continue the trend, especially if you love the Kung Fu Panda movies. Inspired by the epic Chinese tale dating back to the 16th Century, and featuring Stephen Chow as an executive producer, The Monkey King follows a charismatic, if ego-obsessed Monkey (Crazy Rich Asians’ Jimmy O. Yang) and his magical fighting Stick on an epic quest for victory over 100 demons. Peasant girl Lin (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) joins Monkey as his assistant.

Netflix has released a handy deep dive, with everything you need to know about The Monkey King, plus a poster. The film debuts on Netflix on 18 August.

If you’re extremely excited for a big movie release in the rest of 2023, you may need to dial back your excitement. Though unconfirmed, there is a very good chance that some of the most highly anticipated films will have their release delayed until after the Actors Strike is concluded – so that studios can leverage the movies’ high-profile cast members to promote them. Reportedly affected films include Dune: Part Two, The Colour Purple and Aquaman 2. Variety has the story here.

As a final note, if you missed it on the big screen, it’s been confirmed that Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 is coming to Disney+ next week, on 2 August.

Series

Okay, One Piece, you win. You are the first live-action anime (and manga) adaptation that we’re really excited to watch. Below is the official trailer for the pirate themed adventure, where aspiring young adventurer Monkey D. Luffy assembles a ragtag crew for an a epic voyage in pursuit of a legendary treasure that will change their lives forever.

One Piece premieres on Netflix on 31 August. P.S. It was shot in South Africa.

Lifestyle

In addition to two Call of Duty voice actors, Martin Copping and Chad Michael Collins, two international cosplayers have been added to the Comic Con Africa 2023 guest roster over the past few days.

First up is American Lindsay Elyse, who also is a full-time streamer. Then there’s Dutch cosplayer and content creator Sakura Flor. Both women will be present at the con for its duration.

Comic Con Africa is taking place over four days in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 22 – 25 September at the Joburg Expo Centre.

Gaming

Xbox Live Gold is no more. The subscription, which dates all the way back to 2002 and gives Xbox owners the ability to play multiplayer games online with voice chat – and which includes monthly “free” games and discounts – is being replaced with Xbox Game Pass Core.

Xbox Live Gold becomes Xbox Game Pass Core on 14 September, with the biggest change being the end of the monthly bonus games. Instead, members will have access to a catalogue of 25 games. Xbox Game Pass Core will be the same price as a monthly Xbox Live Gold subscription (that’s R79 pm in South Africa), and Live Gold subscribers will automatically be migrated to the new offer. Here is Xbox’s press release on the long-predicted change.

P.S. Regardless of subscription status, any Xbox 360 titles redeemed via Xbox Live Gold in the past will be kept in a player’s library. However, if you redeemed an Xbox One game, you’ll need to remain an Game Pass Core or Game Pass Ultimate member to continue to access them.

As a sidenote, come 15 August, Microsoft is also ending its select market trial of Xbox Game Pass Friends and Family, which was introduced to South Africa in late February. Friends & Family let one monthly subscription cover 5 players, who didn’t need to live in the same household. Evidently the learnings from this test run/preview will be applied to a global offer at some point.

After rumours and casual announcements, the special guest characters have finally been confirmed for upcoming Mortal Kombat 1’s first Kombat Pack DLC, via a reveal trailer. These include Homelander (from Prime Video’s The Boys), John Cena’s Peacemaker, Omni-Man (from comic and animated series Invincible), and returning Mortal Kombat characters Quan Chi, Ermac and Takeda.

From NetherRealm Studios, Mortal Kombat 1 releases on 14 September for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.