We had a number of embargos to hit, and reviews to get out, in the second half of last week, in time for the premiere of Yellowjackets Season 3, Captain America: Brave New World hitting cinemas, and this week’s launch of fantasy action RPG Avowed. So today we’re catching up with the past week’s pop culture news. Below you’ll find the stories that caught our eye.
Film
The 2025 award season always caps with the Oscars in early March, but that ceremony is still a few weeks away, meaning other awards shows are filling the gap. Like last night’s BAFTA Film Awards, where Vatican-set thriller Conclave won Best Film, Outstanding British Film and Best Adapted Screenplay. Epic drama The Brutalist also picked up three awards in the form of Best Director, Leading Actor and Original Score.
The 52nd Annie Awards, which reward excellence in big and small screen animation, were also held recently. All of this year’s nominees and winners are listed here, but in summary DreamWorks Animation’s acclaimed book adaptation The Wild Robot dominated in the film categories, topping all of the nine categories it was contending in, including the all-important Best Animated Feature.
As a side note, in terms of TV, Fortiche and Netflix’s Arcane was seven for seven, also winning every category the League of Legends adaptation featured in.
Yeah, the movie trailers we were most excited for had already dropped in their full-length form before this year’s Super Bowl. However, joining shorter spots for The Fantastic Four and Jurassic World Rebirth during the game were promo clips for the likes of Thunderbolts, F1, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and the live-action How To Train Your Dragon. Watch them all here.
A24 loves to release uncomfortable comedies, and the next out the gate is Friendship, starring Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson, with Kate Mara. In ordinary suburbia, Craig (Robinson) falls under the spell of his charismatic neighbour Austin (Rudd), only to cling to the adult male friendship as Austin pulls away. Having premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Friendship releases in more cinemas on 9 May.
If you need something a little weirder in your movie-watching life, keep an eye out for surreal post-apocalyptic rock opera O’Dessa, which comes to Hulu on 13 March. Stranger Things star Sadie Sink plays the title character, a farm girl with the power, through her music, to retrieve a family heirloom, rescue her love, and lead a rebellion against the world’s despotic rulers.
First look time!
Here’s Karl Urban as action hero Johnny Cage from upcoming Mortal Kombat II. The video game adaptation is out in October this year, finally.
We’re only linking to the first unofficial on-set pics from Masters of the Universe, just in case you don’t want things spoiled for yourself. They show Prince Adam in his signature pink… with a real-world difference.
LAIKA head and Bumblebee’s Travis Knight is behind the camera for this big screen reboot based on the Mattel 80s fantasy action toy line and spin-off media. In this take, Prince Adam/He-Man (Nicholas Galitzine) has been whisked away from Eternia to Earth in childhood, presumably for his own protection. However, a grown Adam finds himself back on his home world with allies like Duncan/Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba), Teela (Camilla Mendes) and the Sorceress (Morena Baccarin), and enemies including Skeletor (Jared Leto) and Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie).
Masters of the Universe is currently set for release in June 2026.
Gaming
PlayStation delivered a stacked State of Play stream last week. You can watch the full 46-minute presentation, or check out all of the announcements profiled here. There really is loads in there, from 2025 release dates for Supermassive Games’ cinematic space horror tale Directive 8020 (2 October) and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (28 August), to the reveal of a Lies of P prequel, the next project from the studio behind Returnal, and Days Gone getting a remaster.
We’re choosing one game to put in the spotlight, and that’s puzzle platformer Darwin’s Paradox!, which has big Abe’s Oddysee energy. From Konami and ZDT Studio, Darwin’s Paradox! sees you harness the abilities of a young octopus (including camouflage, climbing and ink shooting) to escape danger after he finds himself trapped in a seafood factory.
Darwin’s Paradox! is out at some point in 2025 for PlayStation5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC (through Steam).
Moving away from State of Play, last year’s Game of the Year Astro Bot released the first of five new challenging levels, with the next four to release weekly all the way into March.
Meanwhile, inkle revealed that their long-teased boarding school game is out next month. Coming 12 March to Steam, Switch and iOS is Expelled!, which follows a similar formula to the indie studio’s addictive 2021 game Overboard! With the clock ticking, you have 30 – 45 minute runs, representing a single in-game day, to clear your name after a prefect is murdered. As scholarship student Verity Amersham you could try to be good, although lying, cheating, stealing, blackmail and more are all on the table too as you try to worm your way out of trouble.
If you need something to keep you busy before then, simulator fans can join the mile high club (no, not that way) in Cabin Crew Life Simulator, which launches on PC in Early Access on 19 February. This effort from indie developers SOGA Std, is inspired by flight attendants, and puts players in the realistic role of a cabin crew member, serving passengers, managing in-flight sales, handling emergencies, and ensuring a smooth flight experience whether working on a budget airline or five-star private flight.
Lifestyle
Two and a half months to go to Comic Con Cape Town 2025, happening 1-4 May in the Mother City at the CTICC. Now we have our first international cosplay guest announcement. Multi-award-winning cosplayer Yuji Koi, originally from Vietnam, was supposed to attend Comic Con Africa in Joburg last year before last-minute visa issues scuppered her plans. She promised she’d make it to South Africa in 2025, and she’s kept her word! Yuji Koi will be at Comic Con Cape Town on all four days.
Comic Con Cape Town 2025 is also introducing a new After Dark event in the form of an all-star Comedy Night where all proceeds are going to The Children’s Hospital Trust. Taking place on the evening of Friday, 2 May at Protea Hotel Fire & Ice, the show features the likes of Kurt Schoonraad, Siv Ngesi, Rob Van Vuuren, Conrad Koch, Jam Jam the Comedian, Angel Campey and more surprise guests. Mark Palmer hosts.
Comedy Night tickets are R300 per person, and can be purchased through Howler here.