After a glut of new film and series trailers last week, this week has been more conservative. Meanwhile, the gaming industry has been busy, cramming in awards, expos and other announcements in the last few weeks of 2022.
On the obituaries front, actress Kirstie Alley has died aged 71 from colon cancer. While a controversial figure in her later years, Alley is probably best remembered for her starring roles in Cheers and Veronica’s Closet on TV, and the Look Who’s Talking trilogy and Star Trek II on the big screen.
Now on to this week’s batch of pop culture news highlights.
Film
The chaos never seems to end when it comes to Warner Bros. Discovery and their DC Cinematic Universe. Recently appointed to steer the ship at renamed DC Studios, co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran are reportedly sweeping the board of in-development projects to create a clean foundation for their ten-year plan.
The Hollywood Reporter published an exclusive look at the changes, which include the scrapping of Patty Jenkins’s Wonder Woman 3, cancelling the Black Adam sequel, and effectively ending the Snyderverse with no more outings for Henry Cavill as Superman and Jason Momoa as Aquaman. In a particularly wild claim, the latter could be recast as space antihero Lobo.
Gunn responded to say the article is only partly true, but acknowledged entering “an unavoidable transitional period as we moved into telling a cohesive story across film, TV, animation, and gaming.”
The Wonder Woman news is especially odd as Gal Gadot went to social media just the day before the Hollywood Reporter reveal to talk about how excited she is for the character’s next chapter. This may imply that she is still open to playing the Amazon princess, while writer-director Patty Jenkins has walked after refusing to compromise her existing script to fit Gunn and Safran’s plan.
For something a little less dramatic, here are new posters for two 2023 blockbusters. First there’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, a fantasy adventure that seeks to capture the playful spirit and unpredictability of the iconic tabletop role-playing game. It comes to South African cinemas on 7 April. Then there’s upcoming superhero movie Blue Beetle, featuring the DC Universe’s first Latinx hero on the big screen. The basic plot: A teenager gains superpowers when an alien artifact grafts onto him.
Series
Just over a month to go until video game adaptation The Last of Us hits HBO Max on 15 January. So that means it’s time for the official full-length trailer. (The teaser was released 2 months ago). Here we have Pedro Pascal’s Joe and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie embarking on a cross-country mission in a post-apocalyptic America populated by zombies of a very different kind. Although the human threats are just as deadly. The Last of Us comes from Craig Mazin, the Emmy award-winning creator of Chernobyl; and Neil Druckmann, the creator of the acclaimed Naughty Dog video game on which the series is based.
For a better sense of what to expect story wise, there’s now the full official trailer for The Witcher: Blood Origin, the 4-episode prequel series set 1200 years before the events of The Witcher. Taking place in the elven Golden Era, seven strangers join together to fight an oppressive empire. But, when gateways to other worlds are opened and a power-hungry sage unleashes a new weapon, the Seven must create a monster in order to defeat one – resulting in the first proto-Witcher. Blood Origin premieres on Netflix on 25 December.
This one seems to have arrived out of thin air. Coming to Netflix on 26 December is limited series Treason, from the writer of Bridge of Spies. Charlie Cox plays the youngest ever head of Britain’s MI6 in this twisty espionage thriller full of secrets, lies and suspicions. Also in the cast are Olga Kurylenko, Ciarán Hinds, and Oona Chaplin.
Last week we reported that Mike Flanagan’s YA horror series (based on the works of Christopher Pike) The Midnight Club had been cancelled after one season. As promised, Flanagan took to his Tumblr page to explain how things would have played out in the never-to-happen Season 2, and wrap up all the loose plot threads.
One final bit of TV news: dark and quirky “Lord of the Flies with teenage girls” hit Yellowjackets has a release date for its second season: 24 March 2023.
Gaming
Before we jump into the big international news of the week, don’f forget that it’s rAge this weekend in Johannesburg. After a three-year absence thanks to pandemic lockdown restrictions, South Africa’s Really Awesome Gaming Expo is taking place Friday 9 December to Sunday 11 December at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.
Gaming demos, esports, gadgets and technology, cosplay and artist’s alley shopping are the big drawcards at rAge, which has just received the Gauteng Tourism Authority stamp of approval.
Day passes are R180 per person online | R190 at the door, and R400-R420 weekend passes are available as well.
Still staying in South Africa, remember when streamer Disney+ launched locally in May, and console apps (as an alternative to the Disney+ app on smart TVs) were promised within a month? Turns out it was a pretty long month. This past week, on 6 December, the Disney+ app for Playstation 5 consoles finally arrived. The Xbox app, for Series X|S and One generation consoles, released in late September.
The Game Awards 2022 took place on Thursday, 8 December (watch a recording of the *gulp* 4-hour livestream here). And while we feel the standout announcements and reveals from the event deserve their own dedicated post, here are the big winners, including for the prestigious Game of the Year, which went to FromSoftware’s challenging action-RPG Elden Ring:
- Elden Ring – 4 wins (Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Role Playing Game)
- God of War Ragnarok – 6 wins (Best Narrative, Best Score & Music, Best Audio Design, Best Performance, Innovation in Accessibility, Best Action/Adventure)
- Stray – 2 wins (Best Indie Game, Best Debut Indie Title)
Check out the full list of category nominees and award recipients here.
Also boarding the Game Awards hype train was Wholesome Games, which squeezed in another of their short Wholesome Snack presentations to celebrate the occasion, while showcasing cosy indie games. You can watch the bite-size 21-minute Wholesome Snack: The Game Awards Edition here, which included world premieres, updates and release announcements.
For us, the most exciting news was that cooperative adventure Blanc – which features a fawn and wolf cub working together to navigate a snowy wilderness – has a locked-down release date: 14 February 2023. Blanc is coming to PC (Steam, Epic Games Store) and Nintendo Switch.
P.S. also check out the similarly themed Way to the Woods, out in March 2023 for PC and Game Pass.
One other gaming news tidbit: Under Microsoft’s ownership of the franchise, Call of Duty will be coming to Nintendo gaming platforms and Steam.