House of the Dragon, Sandman, and Harley Quinn will be heading to Comic-Con… but don’t expect any major DC movie announcements.

Although Warner Bros. Discovery is making its debut at San Diego Comic-Con, Warner Bros' plans remain unclear.

“Warners, including DC, will have no presence on the convention floor,” The Hollywood Reporter reports. “[It’s] a move that breaks with decades of precedent. The company had one of the bigger presences on the floor, with movie and TV costumes on display. In some years, A-list stars such as the cast of Justice League or Watchmen appeared for signings.”

A press release said fans should "stay tuned for additional panels from Warner Bros. Pictures."

Notably, several shows from The CW will also be absent, including The Flash, Superman & Lois, and the upcoming Supernatural prequel, as the network faces a possible sale. Meanwhile, the appearance of Warner Bros. Discovery brings several fan favorites back to Hall H – a move that’s likely intended to reassure fans as the company faces widespread disruption. Whether or not this will lead to even more high-profile projects remains to be seen.

In the meantime, Game of Thrones will be bringing its upcoming prequel, House of the Dragon, to Hall H with fans hoping we might even get some news about the upcoming Game of Thrones sequel following Jon Snow.

What else is in store for Game of Thrones? Find out about the upcoming Jon Snow spinoff, and everything we know about House of the Dragon.

Neil Gaiman’s Sandman will also be there with a special presentation followed by a Q&A.

“Prepare to enter the Dreaming as the live-action adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s beloved DC comic series arrives in Hall H of San Diego Comic-Con. There is another world that awaits us when we close our eyes and sleep — a place called the Dreaming, where The Sandman, Master of Dreams (Tom Sturridge), gives shape to our deepest fears and fantasies. But when Dream is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for a century, his absence sets off a series of events that will change both the dreaming and waking worlds forever.”

Want to find out more about The Sandman? Check out our who's who guide to all the characters in the recent Sandman trailer, and get your first look at Lucifer.

The upcoming Season 3 of Harley Quinn will also make its debut, with an advanced screening of the first two episodes of the new season.

Find out more about Harley Quinn including when you can watch Season 3, and details of a pretty cool cameo from the upcoming season.

Update: The headline has been updated to more accurately reflect the status of the DC Extended Universe at San Diego Comic-Con.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

It looks as though Stranger Things Season 4 is about to get serious. A new poster teasing Season 4 Part Two depicts Eleven squaring up to the villainous Vecna – a showdown that’s been a long time coming.

The scarred face of Stranger Things Season 4’s big bad is lit by the unmistakable hue of the Upside Down… so, does that mean Eleven will be heading into the unknown for a face-off against her own literal and personal demon?

Friday. Friday. Friday. Friday. #StrangerThings4 pic.twitter.com/NvlA1qBiQs

— Netflix (@netflix) June 27, 2022

Spoiler Alert: Stranger Things spoilers follow here

Obviously, Vecna is no joke. We’ve already seen him in action, taking both Chrissy Cunningham and Fred Benson into the Upside Down, not to mention, trying to get his hands on poor Max.

Thankfully, Mike, Will, and the gang figured out a way to pull her back – using music to anchor her in reality and open up a way back to the Rightside Up. But will the same work for Eleven? I can’t help thinking now is the time for Mike to get working on a mix tape...

Either way, Stranger Things Season 4 is definitely going in a much darker direction. The Duffer Brothers even teased a much “darker” finale:

“I don’t really want to say, but I would be concerned about the characters going into Volume 2, for sure,” said Ross Duffer. “I hope that that is sort of the sense, because it is a darker season and the kids are no longer kids. And there’s sort of an ominous feeling that things might not go well. Now, whether they do or not, you’ll have to watch.”

Whether or not that means Eleven isn’t exactly safe remains to be seen.

But it looks as though she’s going to face her biggest challenge yet when it comes to fighting Vecna.

Read more about Stranger Things Season 4 with our guide to everything we know about Vecna, not to mention our biggest questions going into the season finale.

Stranger Things stars Milly Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Maya Hawke, Joseph Quinn, and Jamie Campbell Bower.

The Duffer Brothers created the series, producing Season 4 alongside Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Iain Paterson, and Curtis Gwinn.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series has come and gone, marking the latest small-screen story set in that galaxy far, far away. But there’s plenty more to Star Wars than just film and TV. The comic Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, by Charles Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli, serves as a perfect counterpoint to the show, and fans who enjoyed the series would be remiss not to read it.

Dark Lord of the Sith, published by Marvel, ran for 25 issues between 2017 and 2018. Like Obi-Wan, the comic is set between Episodes III and IV, and thus explores a rawer Vader, one who still hasn’t let go of his old life and is adjusting to his role as the Empire’s iron fist. In the Obi-Wan finale, Vader declares, “I [killed Anakin Skywalker].” Dark Lord of the Sith is the story of how he did so.

Visions of Obi-Wan

The comic opens during the last moments of Revenge of the Sith, recreating the well-memed instance when a despondent, freshly-armored Vader cries out with a drawling “nooooooo” over how much he’s lost. Since we see what’s going through Vader’s mind, the emotion is felt more than in the film itself. This instantly establishes one of the comic’s greatest strengths: montage and panel-by-panel contrasts. The juxtaposition of a choking Padmé and gleeful Sidious is particularly effective.

Vader’s first assignment is to acquire a new lightsaber. After killing Jedi master Kirak Infil'a and journeying to Mustafar, Vader must corrupt the saber’s kyber crystal so it will shine red as blood. Darth Sidious instructs his apprentice, “Teach it your pain. Teach it your anger. Hear it sing a hymn of darkness. Make it bleed.”

The crystal fights back, imploring Vader to return to the light. The yellow in his eyes fades, replaced by their natural blue. He slays Sidious and returns to Obi-Wan, begging for atonement by execution, only to be met with true forgiveness instead. But just as this fantasy Obi-Wan refuses to strike his former friend down, Vader refuses to turn his back on the dark. As Vader finishes turning the crystal red, he declares, “This is all there is.”

This is the first of these sorts of visions in the book, where Vader imagines different courses his life could’ve taken. Issue #13 opens with Vader returning to the conclusion of his Mustafar duel with Obi-Wan, only this time, it’s he who strikes his master down; Obi-Wan’s impassioned “You were the chosen one!” speech is delivered even as he burns just like Anakin did. Outside this fantasy, though, Vader is alone, with only dreams of vengeance sustaining him.

The strength of the book’s art really comes through in these moments. Marvel’s first Darth Vader comic, by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca, was a strongly written series held back by off-putting art. Larroca’s work, which relies on an especially heavy-handed use of photo references from Star Wars movies, was less pencils and more traced stills. Seeing familiar scenes and actors’ faces painted over with ink was distracting and left the moments feeling stiff and uncanny.

Camuncoli’s art is slicker and more animated, lending itself to the fantasy of Vader’s imagination better. Camuncoli and Francesco Mattina’s cover to issue #8 depicts a levitating Vader meditating before a sun, his armor levitating in pieces behind him. The issue’s interior art doesn’t disappoint either. A splash page of Vader in meditation shows how discordant his mind is even when at peace. Vader himself appears as a black-red mass of energy, humanoid only in its shape, while his severed limbs are pure white. He hovers above a raging black sea while the sky above him screams with cries of purple lightning. Some flocks of blue, glowing butterflies are the only signs of the light remaining in Vader. The surreality of this image requires a less photo-realistic touch, and Camuncoli delivers.

Origins of the Inquisitors

Aside from Vader himself, the main protagonists of Dark Lord of the Sith are the Inquisitors, Jedi hunters in the employ of the Empire. They’ve been recurring faces in Star Wars media since their debut on Rebels, but Dark Lord of the Sith explores their origins.

Obi-Wan introduced a new Inquisitor, Reva/the Third Sister (Moses Ingram). An anti-hero playing the role of a villain, Reva had one of the strongest character arcs of the Disney+ series. The other Inquisitors, not so much. The Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend), in both Obi-Wan Kenobi and his previous appearance in Star Wars: Rebels (where he was voiced by Jason Isaacs), was just a snobbish bully. Dark Lord of the Sith explores more about where he came from.

The Inquisitors debut in the series’ second arc, “The Dying Light.” They turn out to be former Jedi who, like Anakin, fell under the sway of the dark side. We already know why Anakin fell; love and fear of losing it. Reva fell in a quest for revenge against Vader, who slaughtered her fellow younglings during Order 66. The Jedi who became the Grand Inquisitor, on the other hand, fell for a much colder reason. Why did he forsake his Order? Not to save or avenge those he loved, but for knowledge. By turning to the dark, the Grand Inquisitor learned secrets of the Force his Jedi superiors would’ve never permitted him to. To complete his quest, he plans to read every book in the Jedi archives.

Despite their common origins, Vader is no more forgiving of them than he is their shared prey. During lightsaber sparring, he robs two of their right arms and one of an eye. He claims it’s to teach them lessons in loss, but it’s clear he just wants them to know his exact pain. Near the end of the series, he kills two Inquisitors whose crime was falling in love with each other. The Sixth Sister observes that Vader is, “Dying to fight, dying to die.” Spreading pain is all that distracts him from his own, but he’s still in search of a permanent end to it.

Accepting Your Path

The final arc of the series is “Fortress Vader,” where the Dark Lord constructs the Mustafar citadel that’s often been his base of operations since its debut in Rogue One. Vader picked the planet for more than just its memories. Mustafar is strong in the Dark Side of the Force, and Vader believes he can channel that energy to tear open the door to a world beyond and reunite with Padmé. In the penultimate issue, he succeeds in opening the door.

Issue #25, the final and best chapter of the series, is almost completely a vision quest, where Vader walks through his whole life. He remembers his childhood on Tatooine -- in a moment recalling a famous Phantom Menace poster, Vader bursts from the young Anakin’s shadow. He recalls his adventures with Ahsoka Tano during the Clone Wars and glimpses their future duel in Star Wars: Rebels. In place of narration, there are echoes of moments past and moments yet to come. For instance, when Vader makes it to the Jedi temple and slaughters the Jedi Council single-handedly, the words of his grandson, Kylo Ren, reverberate across time: “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.”

That is what the Force is trying to teach Vader, but he remains torn. After dispatching the Jedi, he meets apparitions of Obi-Wan and Palpatine. In a masterful use of text placement, Vader’s own most famous proclamation, “I am your father,” appears between a close-up of the pair, their heads on opposite sides of the panel.

When Vader finally makes it to Padmé, he appears as Anakin again for a moment. But she refuses his pleas, declaring “Anakin Skywalker is dead!” before hurling herself to her doom. But when Palpatine contacts his apprentice, asking if his time on Mustafar has been a success, Vader answers, “Yes.” What he found wasn’t what he sought, but it was what he needed. By retracing the steps of his past, he accepts they are unchangeable and that his path is forward, not behind.

In an interview with StarWars.com, Charles Soule highlighted the bookend between his first and final issues. “[Vader] goes from no to yes in the series…” he said. “What he realizes in 25, and it was a very pointed choice to not show possibilities, everything he’s seen is stuff that’s already happened… What’s the point of doing anything other than this? This is all there is for me.”

However, while Vader’s path is set, it doesn’t end in darkness. Before he returns to reality, the last thing he sees is a figure wielding a blue lightsaber, his old lightsaber, in the distance. Both Dark Lord of the Sith and Obi-Wan Kenobi are about their titular characters learning to move forward; sure enough, their paths are leading them to the same place.

Spy x Family Season 1 is now streaming on Hulu and Crunchyroll.

After a memorable and action-packed premiere, the first season of Spy x Family went onto cement itself as one of the best new anime shows in years. It’s a comedy with all the elements of a winning family sitcom (but turned up to 11), with literal life or death situations, dazzling animation, and poignant commentary on family and class, all while introducing some of the best characters of the year, regardless of medium.

The show follows the Forgers, your run-of-the-mill family with a spy dad, an assassin mom, and a mind-reading kid — only they have no idea about each other's secret lives, except for the child who can read their every thought. Spy x Family works as the kind of funny and heartwarming family sitcom that dominated ABC’s TGIF lineup in the '90s, and like every great sitcom, this works in no small part due to the characters.

We already met Anya in the premiere and I wrote at the time that she was a strong contender for best character of the season, which remains true. Anya is to Spy x Family what Baby Sinclair is to ‘90s comedy Dinosaurs – basically, the adorable child character that steals every scene they are in, who will inspire a ludicrous amount of merch. But unlike the baby dinosaur and many other kid characters, Anya never borders on annoying, and her hilarious reactions to the crazy things around her don't get old; instead they improve every scene.

Anya's telepathic power isn't just there for comedic purposes, but to act as a metaphor for how kids can be more receptive than adults give them credit for. It's a brilliant touch to make Anya the only person in Spy x Family to see through everyone's lies, as this is a show quite literally built on deceptions. Everyone has something to hide, everyone presents an image of themselves to the world that is meticulously crafted to avoid suspicion, and it is no coincidence that the show seems to be set in the '60s or '70s, the golden age of espionage, where lying was the order of the day. This makes the fact that Yor and Loid are completely oblivious to each other's secret lives despite the incredibly obvious clues understandable. It's not that Yor is too dumb to realize that the goons with machine guns trying to kill Loid are not his patients practicing some new therapy technique, it's that she is too focused on not letting her own secrets spill that she doesn't imagine that other people have equally big ones.

Speaking of Yor, she is another very strong contender for best character of the year: an awkward, quiet, clumsy, funny badass who jumps at the chance to protect her makeshift family from anything that would threaten it, often with deadly intent. And like any great sitcom, Spy x Family also offers some poignant commentary and even a couple of life lessons here and there, like its exploration of societal views and expectations towards women, especially single women. She might be capable of taking down a whole army by herself using nothing more than a hairpin, but Yor being an unmarried adult woman? Now that is a threat to the safety of the nation. Spy x Family manages to strike a great balance between commentary, drama, action, and slice-of-life comedy without undermining any of those respective elements in the process.

At its heart, this is an anime about family, and how the ideal family unit is an idea very much influenced by a specific view of class and privilege. Though not the sole focus of Spy x Family, it still manages to have a poignant message on how much harder it is to have to fight to achieve a certain status when you're not born into it. Even without the fate of the world at stake, the Forgers know their current position is very fragile, and they'll do anything to keep the illusion of their perfect family together.

As an adaptation, Spy x Family is spectacular. It takes a slower approach than most anime adaptations in terms of manga chapters per TV episode, taking its time to set things up and giving the show an almost slice-of-life tone and pace where the mundane takes a lot of importance. And yet it also manages to elaborate and expand on tiny details with incredible results, like a whole episode dedicated to the best dodgeball match since Hunter x Hunter, or a delightfully wholesome party for Anya at a castle. Spy x Family is just getting started, but its first season provided a weekly source of comfort and laughs that, like the best sitcoms, you could easily picture yourself watching every week for a decade. Move over, Tanners, Bankses, and Winslows: the Forgers have arrived and they are not going anywhere.

Ninja Warrior's signature obstacle course is being tested for possible inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

According to Deadline, Olympic athletes may soon be facing a new kind of challenge, as obstacle sports are being considered for the Modern Pentathlon. The tournament currently consists of five disciplines: fencing, swimming, laser pistol shooting, running, and equestrian show jumping, but organizers are looking to potentially replace the riding discipline.

Format owner Tokyo Broadcasting System Television (TBS) is said to be collaborating with several partners to trial the "ninja competition" that was made popular by Sasuke aka Ninja Warrior. The first test competition will be held in Ankara, Turkey on June 27, with another scheduled to take place the day after, following the 2022 Pentathlon World Cup Final.

"Sasuke/Ninja Warrior, which continues to win fans around the world, represents the culmination of TBS's long history of content development," said Miho Takashima, who manages the format globally. "We look forward to working with the UIPM [Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne] and FISO [Fédération Internationale de Sports d’Obstacles] to further expand the possibilities of obstacle racing."

Ninja Warrior started off as a Japanese sports entertainment reality TV show called Sasuke in 1997, which saw 100 competitors participating in a four-stage obstacle course. The series then expanded globally, spawning local versions in at least 18 other countries, including the United States, which adopted the format for the launch of American Ninja Warrior in 2009.

A sports video game based on the series, titled American Ninja Warrior Challenge, was released in 2009 for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The people that accepted the challenge and picked up the game had to compete across a series of daunting obstacle courses from the hit show to achieve Total Victory and earn American Ninja Warrior status.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Thumbnail image credit: TBS.

Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima seemingly worked on a concept akin to Amazon's The Boys before putting it on hold for being too similar. Now that he's put that out there, leads on the TV show say they want the legendary developer to work on a tie-in game.

Kojima said he was "warming up" the project for a long time - with Hannibal's Mads Mikkelsen picked out as the lead in his mind - and was about to start it just as The Boys' first season was released. Sharing the concept on Twitter (below), Kojima said he stopped watching The Boys after episode three of the first season.

"I thought I'd watch the rest of the show," he said. "Actually, I watched a few episodes that were delivered at the time when I was about to start a project that I had been warming up for a long time, and put it on hold because the concept was similar (different settings and tricks).

Kojima said his concept would have included "a buddy (male/female) thing with a special detective squad facing off against legendary heroes behind the scenes. I was thinking of Mads as the lead." The Boys tells the story of a team of regular humans tasked with policing (and occasionally violently killing) superpowered individuals.

1/2
"THE BOYS," which I quit after 3 episodes of season 1. I thought I'd watch the rest of the show. Actually, I watched a few episodes that were delivered at the time when I was about to start a project that I had been warming up for a long time, pic.twitter.com/UpI00pUIHQ

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) June 26, 2022

It's not clear whether Kojima's concept was for a game, a movie, or otherwise, but the implication seems to be that it's not currently in the works. Kojima is currently working on a cloud project for Xbox, and we've heard tell of a horror game called Overdose and a Death Stranding sequel.

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke responded to Kojima's tweets, declaring he was a huge fan and wanted to collaborate on a video game adaptation of the series. "Please come and make a The Boys game. We can team up and conquer," he said. Antony Starr, who plays Homelander in the series, concurred, saying that he seconds that notion.

The Boys Season 3 is currently airing, and we said the latest episode was great. The series has impressed overall, as in our 9/10 review of Season 2, IGN said: "The Boys is filled with memorable characters and plenty of that stylized and irreverent drama we love."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Warning! Spoilers for the Westworld Season 4 premiere are in the article below. Be sure to check out our full review of the premiere right here.

It's been two years since Westworld's thrilling Season 3 finale aired, and we were left with some pretty big questions concerning the fate of our favorite characters: Is Dolores really dead, is the Man in Black himself or a host now, and what was the deal with Bernard and that VR headset?

While the Season 4 premiere, titled "The Auguries," doesn't answer all those questions, we spoke to executive producer and co-showrunner Lisa Joy to break down some of the key scenes we saw this week.

Is the Man in Black a Host, and Why the Hoover Dam?

Joy confirmed that Ed Harris' iconic Man in Black character is not the same person as when we first met him. "He was attacked at the end of last season, by his doppelganger that Charlotte Hale sicced on him," Joy told IGN. "Now we are seeing what's happened, which is the human Man in Black's worst nightmare is that he has become a host and worse yet, he's a host that works for Hale and does her bidding."

But why the Hoover Dam? Well, according to Joy, the well-known American structure has been taken over by a private enterprise, in this case, a drug cartel. However, its importance stems from its ability to output power and hold large amounts of data.

"It's just this constant source of water power, which could be used to power some pretty big data storage facilities," Joy explained. "The Man in Black is quite interested in securing that facility and the information stored within it."

Is Dolores Dead, and Who Is Christina?

Evan Rachel Wood's Christina appears to be living a fairly normal life as a video game developer with her gorgeous girlfriend played by Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose. But what does Christina have to do with Dolores and is Dolores truly dead?

"Dolores died last season," Joy said, confirming that Dolores Prime is no more and Christina is a different character altogether. "I just wanted to tell the story of a girl in the city trying to make it as a writer. All things that I can really relate to and I wanted to cast the sort of perfect human. Evan is such a great actor that I figured she would still be the best person to play that role. So we put her in, we changed her hair color and I'm just hoping nobody notices that it's the same character that played Dolores because I really love Christina."

Teddy Is Back, But What Does that Mean?

At the end of the Season 4 premiere, we see James Marsden's Teddy Flood looking up at Dolores Christina on her balcony. He's back! But why? The character was absent from Season 3, but Joy wouldn't divulge his complete story arc for this season. Still, she did say she's thrilled he has returned.

"Just giddy-making for me and everybody else. It's been hard to be away from James," Joy said. "Wyatt, unfortunately, drove him to death, but we always knew that Marsden would come back for another season. He was kind enough to sit tight for us. Then here he is at the end of the episode, and you see a glimpse of Teddy. We'll learn more about who he is and what he wants as time goes by and it's a thrill to be working with James again."

There are seven more episodes to go and plenty of mysteries left to uncover in Westworld's fourth season, so be sure to come back to IGN in the coming weeks for more chats with the creators and actors of this mind-bending franchise.

And for more on the world of entertainment, check our latest review of The Boys, Steve-O saying Jackass was a "bad influence" on kids, and all the burning questions we still have after the Obi-Wan Kenobi finale.

David Griffin is the Senior Editor, Features and Content Partnerships for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

The iconic representations of Team Rocket, Jessie and James have been battling the main protagonists of the Pokèmon franchise for decades. The delightfully dressed duo is never seen without their trusty Pokè-pal Meowth, and they always have a sassy—and often rhyming quip—for their opponents.

You may already be familiar with the iconic Jessie (in Japanese: ムサシ Musashi), but do you know more than the basics of her biography? Let's dive into a list of the top ten interesting things to know about Jessie, the dastardly, magenta-haired leader of the Team Rocket trio.

1. Her First Appearance

Jessie first jumped onto TV screens in the second episode of Pokèmon’s first season "Pokémon Emergency!" The episode saw Ash Ketchum, the lead protagonist, head to Viridian City in the hopes of healing his badly injured Pikachu. Unfortunately for the young Pokè-trainer, it just so happened that the city was under siege by Team Rocket, who were there to steal rare Pokèmon and look good while doing it. Jessie is first introduced when she and Team Rocket ransack the hospital, through the roof no less! Shockingly (pun absolutely intended) they’re beaten back by a group of Pikachus. It was a humiliating defeat of the kind that the group would come to be known for, but was an impactful introduction to some of the show’s most entertaining recurring villains....

2. She Trained in a Classic Pokèmon Region

Like every member of Team Rocket, Jessie trained in the Kanto Region. It was at the Team Rocket training academy that Jessie was teamed up with James and Meowth. Kanto is the oldest region in both the Pokèmon game andis named after the region of real-life Japan. It's also the home of Ash Ketchum, who lives in Kanto's Pallet Town. Jessie’s time at the academy is the closest information we have as to where her hometown might be, though in The Bridge Bike Gang (Season 1, Ep. 6), she does say that she and James could almost call Sunnytown their hometown.

3. "Chainer Jess" Was Once Part of a Biker Gang

Speaking of The Bridge Bike Gang, that's where it’s revealed that Jessie was part of the titular group. The current incarnation of bike punks accost protagonists Ash, Misty, and Brock on a new bridge as they try to cross to Sunnytown. It's only when Team Rocket shows up that viewers learn more about Jessie's eventful upbringing. The team arrives on outrageous unicycles, causing the gang’s kids to get googly eyed over "Chainer / Big Jess" and "Little James." How did she get that name? Well, it’s because she always swung a chain around as she rode her bike. Once a badass, always a badass.

4. She Has a Dark and Snowy Past

One of the more interesting things about Jessie is that she's actually a legacy member of Team Rocket. Her mother was also a member of the nefarious crew of villains but sadly died while she was on a dangerous mission to try and locate the Mythical Pokèmon, Mew. Her loss in an avalanche led to Jessie ending up in foster care. In the Indigo League Christmas special Snow Way Out! (Season 2, Ep 10), it’s revealed that despite her mother's death, she loves snow because it reminds her of eating snow sushi as a child in foster care. It's a very sympathetic take on a tragic past, and only makes Jessie more endearing.

5. Jessie’s Name Might Have an Unexpected Inspiration

According to legend (and several sources), the English character names of Jessie and James are inspired by the famed American outlaw Jesse James. While his reign was far more violent than the Pokèmon-centric shenanigans of Team Rocket, the reference makes sense. Jesse James was a famed train robber, and while our Jessie—and her partners in crime—are pretty terrible at their jobs, they are technically famed Pokè-stealers! This is a great bit of history that establishes the type of person Jessie is without the audience ever actually needing to be told. Really smart stuff.

6. Meet Jessie’s Rival: Team Rocket Continues the Wild Western Theme

During their time at the Team Rocket training academy, Jessie met her rival Cassidy and his partner Butch, along with a Raticate. The pair's English names continue the western theme of Jessie and James, this time based on Butch Cassidy, another old West outlaw. Like Jesse James he was a train and bank robber. Cassidy was active in the late 19th and early 20th century, and just like Jesse James he became an infamous national figure. Once again, it's a smart nod to the notion of Team Rocket as modern day bandits and also a really great reflection of the team they were created to rival in both name and criminality.

7. Jessie Really Loves to Sing

Jessie and James are known for their dramatic flair, which even extends to musical numbers. Whenever the beat drops, Jessie is ready to belt out a tune, especially if it's about catching Pikachu or annoying Pika's Pokèmon trainer, Ash. In The Song of Jigglypuff (Season 1, Ep. 42), she performs a particularly outrageous one with her teammate in sailor-inspired gear. In it, her classical vanity comes out as she sings that she's the "gorgeous one." That's far from the only ditty she's performed, though—most well known hit is likely Double Trouble, which featured in many episodes of the English dub of the anime thanks to the Pikachu's Jukebox segment.

8. Like Most of Our Favorite Anime Characters, She Loves Food

From Sailor Moon's Usagi to Naruto's titular character, all the way through Dragon Ball Z's Goku, one of our favorite anime protagonist traits is a love of food. Despite not being a protagonist herself, Jessie continues that long tradition with a voracious appetite and passion for delicious snacks.

[team rocket, jessie, james]
dining together, like family

♡ #anipoke #ロケット団 pic.twitter.com/neIBLH9Nx7

— daily team rocket! (@TeamRocketDaily) January 10, 2022

Though their villainous ways are usually more focused on stealing Pokèmon, Team Rocket is often seen searching for food as well, and when they do manage to eat they're very enthusiastic about it. Of the three, it’s Jessie who definitely channels her hunger the most intensely. It's easy to imagine her and Usagi chowing down on some snacks together.

9. Jessie Shares a Voice With Other Famous Pokè-Character(s)

While Jessie is certainly unique, she does share one quality with other characters in the series! Her voice actor in the English dub is Rachel Lillis who also voices none other than Misty, one of the protagonists Jessie regularly harasses. That's not all, though, as the talented voice actor has also brought a ton of Pokèmon to life too. In the movie series she voiced many different Pokèmon, including Jigglypuff, Vulpix, Goldeen among others. It's pretty wild to imagine Jessie essentially arguing against or trying to catch herself, but that's the magic of voice acting and talented performers like Lillis.

She's not only a Pokèmon icon either, with the voice of Jessie also appearing in classic anime like Boogiepop Phantom, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Berserk, and many, many more.

10. She's the Most Prolific Female Pokèmon Character of All Time

Jessie isn't just a fashion icon, singing star, survivor, and all-time great Pokèmon character, she's also broken boundaries for a female character in the franchise. She's the only female character who's been in all 23 Pokèmon movies, from 1998's Pokémon: The First Movie to 2020's Pokèmon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle. She holds that impressive record in the anime series too, as the only female character appearing in every generation. It's no surprise that she's become such an iconic and beloved character, when she's been on screens causing chaos for decades. She's still looking good doing it, too. We salute you, Jessie!

Have any fun facts we may have missed here? Let us know in the comments!

Ready for more anime? See below!

For more Pokèmon, be sure to check out:

Rosie Knight is an Eisner-winning journalist, author and comics writer. She co-hosts Crooked Media’s X-Ray Vision podcast, discussing pop culture from superhero movies to prestige television to the best fantasy novels and, of course, comics.

A Marvel movie marathon may be in order! With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on Disney+ now and Thor: Love and Thunder fast approaching, you might be wondering which Marvel Cinematic Universe movies you should watch (or re-watch) to prepare for the next epic superhero event. Or perhaps you've just seen one of the Avengers movies and want to embark on a huge re-watch. But at this point, how exactly does one watch all the Marvel movies in order? Well, we've got you covered.

Fortunately, you don't actually have to re-watch all 28 MCU movies and binge every single TV series to get caught up. We're breaking down the essentials here, the ones that introduce key characters or deal directly with the Infinity Stones that are so important in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

Be aware that while Disney+ series like Loki are open to inclusion, we're ignoring earlier projects like Marvel's Agents of SHIELD and the various Netflix shows that may or may not be part of the official MCU canon. For completists, we've also put together a quick rundown of every MCU movie and D+ series in the proper chronological order. Read on for more, and you can also learn about the next Marvel movies and release dates too.

Beware of some spoilers ahead!

1. Captain America: The First Avenger

Steve Rogers' character arc is a huge part of the first three phases of the MCU. That's especially true in Endgame, as the man formerly known as Captain America comes to terms with his failures and inability to move on in a post-Decimation world. For that reason alone, it's worth going back to the first Cap movie and reliving his early World War II exploits. Plus, this film gives necessary context to the Steve/Bucky relationship as the two friends are finally reunited (sans brainwashing) in Infinity War before being cruelly torn apart again.

There's also the fact that Captain America: The First Avenger revolves heavily around the Tesseract, the Hydra artifact that Red Skull used to power his army and which contained the first Infinity Stone to be introduced in the MCU - the Space Stone. Not to mention that Infinity War finally addressed the fate of Red Skull himself.

• See it on Amazon

2. The Avengers

The Avengers marks the first time Earth's Mightiest Heroes banded together to fight a common enemy. This movie is the true launching point for much of what's unfolded since in the MCU. Not to mention that it technically showcases the first conflict between the Avengers and Thanos's forces, though that fact wasn't made clear until the mid-credits scene.

Perhaps most importantly, The Avengers hinges on Loki's efforts to steal the Tesseract and acquire it for Thanos. That story finally comes full circle in Infinity War.

• See it on Amazon

3. Thor: The Dark World

While not generally regarded as one of the better MCU movies, Thor: The Dark World makes one important contribution by introducing another Infinity Stone, the Reality Stone, found in the destructive weapon known as the Aether. This film also sets the stage for the downfall of Asgard in later MCU movies, ending with Odin being betrayed and replaced by his adopted son, Loki.

• See it on Amazon

4. Guardians of the Galaxy

Prior to Infinity War, most of Thanos' screen time came in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy. This film more firmly establishes his role as a shadowy power player on the intergalactic scene, as well as his habit of raising women like Gamora and Nebula to be his fiercely loyal assassins. The Thanos/Gamora relationship is a crucial part of Infinity War, and Nebula has an equally important role in Endgame.

The first Guardians movie is also notable for introducing the Power Stone (encased in the Orb everyone is after in this film), which is among the first Thanos adds to his Infinity Gauntlet. Plus, one of the biggest selling points of Infinity War and Endgame are that they feature the first team-up between the Avengers and the Guardians, so it doesn't hurt to see where the latter team got their start.

• See it on Amazon

5. Avengers: Age of Ultron

The road to Infinity War becomes a lot clearer in the second Avengers movie. This film introduces the Mind Stone, revealing it to have been hidden within Loki's mind-controlling staff and serving as the catalyst for the birth of Vision. Vision and his stone later became major plot catalysts in Infinity War and WandaVision.

But in a larger sense, Avengers: Age of Ultron is all about alluding to bigger, darker events awaiting the Avengers. Tony Stark has a nightmare/hallucination about the team being destroyed by an unstoppable cosmic threat, influencing his reckless decision to create Ultron. Similarly, Thor is haunted by visions of extinction - visions which would shortly come to pass for Asgard. This is all important foreshadowing for movies like Infinity War and Thor: Ragnarok.

• See it on Amazon

6. Captain America: Civil War

Every Avengers movie is essential viewing in the road to Endgame. And given that Captain America: Civil War is basically The Avengers 2.5, it's among the most critical MCU movies. Civil War is most crucial when it comes to establishing the state of the Avengers in Infinity War, showing how the fallout of Age of Ultron and the ratification of the Sokovia Accords drives a wedge right down the middle of the team. One of the biggest challenges facing Cap, Iron Man and the rest in Infinity War is that they aren't united against this powerful new threat. That thread pays off in Endgame when the gang finally gets back together.

Civil War also introduces two new MCU heroes who become vital in Infinity War - Spider-Man and Black Panther. Both characters have since had their own solo movies, but you learn everything you really need to know about the two in Civil War.

• See it on Amazon

7. Doctor Strange

Infinity War marks the first time we see Stephen Strange and Wong fight alongside the Avengers, so it doesn't hurt to go back and watch their MCU debut in 2016's Doctor Strange. This film is also important in that it introduces the Eye of Agamotto, a time-manipulating artifact that houses the Time Stone. That stone, and the visions of the future it bestows to the doomed Doctor Strange, are both critical to Infinity War and Endgame.

• See it on Amazon

8. Thor: Ragnarok

The most recent Thor movie does quite a lot to alter the status quo of the MCU and pave the way for Infinity War. This film chronicles the destruction of Asgard, as hinted in Age of Ultron, and Thor's rise to power as the new king of a homeless people. The post-credits scene directly sets up the events of Infinity War, as the resilient Asgard is finally decimated by Thanos and the Black Order.

Thor: Ragnarok is also a key chapter in the story of Thor's relationship with his brother, Loki. It's also a big movie for Hulk, explaining what the character has been up to in the years since Age of Ultron and why his return to Earth is such a big deal.

• See it on Amazon

9. Black Panther

In terms of its ties to Infinity War/Endgame, Black Panther isn't quite as essential as the other films on this list. The title character himself is already introduced in Captain America: Civil War. That said, it's still worth adding it to your watch list. One of the major action sequences in Infinity War takes place in Wakanda, and as one of the survivors of Infinity War, T'Challa's bodyguard Okoye has a role to play in Endgame. Plus, Black Panther is one of the best MCU films to date, and there's never a bad time to re-watch it.

There's also the fact that the MCU will have to deal with the tragic passing of actor Chadwick Boseman. Marvel is moving ahead with a sequel called Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, one which will honor Boseman's memory rather than recast the T'Challa role. However the MCU moves forward, Black Panther shows us why T'Challa and is kingdom matter so much.

• See it on Amazon

10. Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War delivers a massive superhero epic that ties up most of the loose ends from the first decade of the MCU. The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy finally join forces to take on Thanos. And surprisingly, the movie ends not on a triumphant note, but with complete and utter failure. Infinity War raises the stakes as the survivors prepare to confront Thanos one more time in Endgame.

• See it on Amazon

11. Avengers: Endgame

As its name suggests, Endgame is the culmination of everything in the MCU up to that point. The fourth Avengers movie shows us a team grappling with its own failure, struggling to find a way to undo Thanos' act of cosmic genocide. Fortunately, there's still plenty of fun to be had along the way, culminating in the most epic and emotionally stirring battle scene in the entire MCU. Multiple heroes are given the sendoffs they deserve, while others are positioned for even bigger and better things.

• See it on Amazon

12. Spider-Man: Far From Home

The second MCU Spider-Man movie is both an epilogue to Endgame and a taste of things to come in Phase 4 of the MCU. Most importantly, this sequel is all about Peter Parker stepping up to fill the void left by heroes like Iron Man and Captain America and becoming more than just a friendly neighborhood hero.

• See it on Amazon

13. Loki

Loki isn't the first Marvel series to hit Disney+, but it is the one with the clearest impact on the larger MCU. This six-episode series follows the Loki variant who escapes custody in Avengers: Endgame, as he's forcibly recruited to help the Time Variance Authority stop another, even more dangerous version of Loki. The final episode is a real game-changer for this cinematic universe, setting the stage not just for Season 2 but also films like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and (presumably) the next Avengers movie.

14. Spider-Man: No Way Home

The third Spider-Man movie is even more important to the larger tapestry of the MCU than its predecessor. No Way Home opens immediately after Far From Home's shocking post-credits scene, with Peter Parker facing the ultimate secret identity crisis. This sequel becomes the first MCU movie to delve into the concept of the multiverse, beating Doctor Strange 2 to the punch. And it also delivers Marvel movie fan service like no other, bringing back many of the iconic actors from Sony's Spider-Man movies and (we hope) laying the groundwork for a full-fledged Spider-Verse movie in live-action. If you want a sense of Spidey's role in the MCU going forward, this movie is essential viewing.

15. Eternals

As if having an Oscar-winning director like Chloé Zhao isn't enough incentive, Eternals is worth watching for the hints it provides about the future of the MCU. Eternals sheds far more light on the cosmic beings known as the Celestials and their designs for Earth, with the promise of much more to come. Both the mid-credits scene and post-credits scene introduce pivotal new characters who will surely play a key role in Phase 4 and beyond.

16. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

No Way Home might be the first MCU movie to explore the multiverse, but Doctor Strange 2 digs far deeper into the concept as it sends Stephen Strange, Wanda Maximoff and America Chavez on a whirlwind journey across multiple worlds. Even though the main conflict proves surprisingly intimate for an MCU movie, Multiverse of Madness offers plenty of teases for what's to come over the next few years. It introduces the superhero cabal known as the Illuminati and strongly hints that the MCU is preparing to adapt a major Marvel Comics crossover. This sequel has the added benefit of recapping the important beats from WandaVision, meaning you don't have to watch that series if you don't want to (though you should anyway).

This list was originally published in November 2021 but has been updated to reflect the latest releases and streaming information for 2022.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

This is a non-spoiler review for Westworld's Season 4 premiere, "The Auguries," which premieres Sunday, June 26 on HBO.

Westworld, which is now a few gas stations away from its former buzzed-about glory, is back for a fourth season, unspooling a premiere designed to catch us up on four major characters and where they've now all landed seven years after the Season 3 premiere ended in global riots and chaos. This season opener -- titled "The Auguries" -- is good-but-dry set up for the larger story to come, but as usual Westworld’s holding its cards close to the vest. There's suitable action and intrigue — and of course questions that won't get answered until later -- but “The Auguries” also lags in places, stumbling under the weight of a few retired gunslinger cliches.

At the top here, let's address the Dolores in the room; namely, how in the heck is star Evan Rachel Wood is back when Dolores, at least Dolores Prime, in her original host body, was toast at the end of the previous season. As "Christina" now, Wood’s character is the latest puzzle box to theorize about. She lives a simple, somewhat secluded life as a writer for a game company who specializes in NPCs and side missions. So is she human? Probabbbly....not.

The world Christina lives in, at this point in Season 4, doesn't thread into the other adventures this episode covers -- that of William, Caleb, and Maeve -- and on top of that it also doesn’t feel like a full existence. You could compare it to the first two episodes of Marvel's Moon Knight where it was clear that Oscar Isaac's character wasn't experiencing a whole life experience, just leftovers and residuals. Whoever, or whatever, this incarnation is, her life is almost just as flat as her life was as a host in the Westworld park. In some regards, even less so.

Christina's day-to-day is peppered with elements from Dolores' past -- some being fun Easter eggs and some just being a more obvious crossing of streams with Dolores' life -- as well as rom-com tropes, like a blind date and a roommate (Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose) whose only goal seems to be to motivate Christina to get out there meet her dream man. Not to try and get ahead of the story too much, but all signs so far point to this being some sort of simulation, or even The Sublime itself, especially given that Christina's clockwork routine finds itself being invaded by a "unknown caller" (12 Monkeys' Aaron Stanford) who's desperate to find Christina and get answers about something called "The Tower."

Christina's episodic arc wraps up with a blast of the past, which has already been made public (though I won't spoil it here, just in case), and while it's nice to see this particular character again it's not exactly the jolt of adrenalin or inspiration this saga needs to kick off the season, as Westworld’s a show some feel lost the plot a few years ago -- or, in the very least, was growing in scale and building toward something huge. Instead, the show has now shrunk back down to more grounded, human (not all cases) stories and dialed back the apocalyptic elements.

The second big seasonal mystery now, after Christina/Dolores’ new digs, involves Ed Harris’ William, who only exists in diabolical host form. Presumably still working with Charlotte/Dolores, William is after something — perhaps the Sublime Key that Serac (Vincent Cassel) wanted in Season 3 — though nothing about his endgame is clear yet. He’s got unlimited wealth on his side and multitudes of host mercenaries to do his murderous bidding (as well as some “flies” that are able to…well, you’ll see). He’s got his sights set on the reclusive Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) and the “family man” Caleb (Aaron Paul) and it's these new attempts on their lives that spur the duo back into action.

It’s here that Season 4 falters the most, at least here at the outset. In the (future) world now, as we find it seven years later, humans revolted after discovering their lives were being molded and limited by the mighty A.I., Rehoboam, and thusly...robots are forbidden. The Rehoboam element of Season 3 presented a fascinating escalation of Jonathan Nolan's society-shaping algorithm ideas from CBS' Person of Interest and Season 3 seemed to point toward a war for Season 4.

That story's been short-sheeted, sadly relegated to off-screen action (and a quick flashback), and in its place is a much blander reset. On top of this, Caleb’s story goes through some soapy steps to get him back in the game: a daughter he wants to protect (so much that he has to leave, right?) and a saint of a wife who's had to live with Caleb growing increasingly restless with an inert family life. Season 3 took us to a grand high and perched us on the precipice of revolution and now the momentum’s shifted almost too much in the opposite direction.

Of course, there are still seven episodes to go after this and Westworld is never without tricks up its sleeve. At times, “The Auguries” is filled with bullet whizzing, knife (and katana) slashing, axe chopping mayhem and yet it still feels like one of the quietest starts for a season of the show in a while. There’s no doubt, though, that it’s going to go big again and that Dolores/Christina, once more, holds the ultimate key to an epic finish.

This post contains full spoilers for The Boys. If you haven't watched yet, check out our spoiler free review of The Boys, Herogasm!

The Boys Season 3 opens with Starlight (Erin Moriarty) in an interesting position. When Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) offers her a chance to co-lead The Seven thanks to Homelander’s (Anthony Starr) failing numbers, she’s put in an odd predicament: decline and continue to skate by doing her best to keep the Supes in check, or put herself in a position where she can affect real change. She’s presented with a similar offer in The Boys’ long awaited “Herogasm” episode by way of Congresswoman Neuman’s (Claudia Doumit) offer, but Starlight makes the most interesting call of her character arc to date when presented with the chance to girlboss her way to the top. Her time at the top is short lived, though, as she immediately gets knocked down to second place by the “Herogasm” finale.

When you first look at Annie January, it’s easy to assume that she’s never had a hard day in her life. Yet, Starlight has suffered documented assault and abuse spanning well past her bible-thumping dance mom. She’s not naive, she’s simply refused to let the world around her make her hard. And damn, what a breath of fresh air that is with the Butchers of the world always being the loudest people in the room. (Love you, Karl Urban!)

This girl just got presented with the mutilated body of her oldest friend, Supersonic (who actually was the sweet idiot most people think Starlight to be). It would have been the easiest thing in the world for her to take Neuman up on her offer to take Homelander down. Victoria’s got the political standing and knows enough of Vought’s dirty little secrets to keep America’s highest profile domestic terrorist in check, and Starlight has the following to goose her numbers in a way that gets Neuman even more political power. But this isn’t the Starlight of the Season 3 premiere, and she’s seen what happens when you lay down with dogs.

By “Herogasm,” Starlight is more alone than ever before. She’s being forced to makeout with Homelander (Anthony Starr) on live television while he murders her friends and brings the man who assaulted her back into the Seven; Hughie (Jack Quaid) is off being the twerpiest he’s ever been because he can’t deal with the fact that Starlight’s saving him all the time; Maeve (Dominique McElligott) may or may not be dead; and we’ve already discussed what happened to her former beau. Yet, this (sometimes infuriating) ray of sunshine still refuses to do things the way the Butchers or the Homelanders or the Neuman’s would. Perhaps more impressive than that is that Season 3 has managed to present her approach in a way that doesn’t seem preachy or mightier-than-thou. She just wants to do what superheroes are supposed to do.

Another unlikely team up with Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) is just what the doctor ordered for the aggressively alone Starlight. They may not always see eye to eye, but the two are often on the same page. Besides, the diner scene between MM and Starlight was the second best moment of Season 2 (sorry, I’m an easy mark for lady team-ups and kicking the hell out of Nazis so the team-up between Starlight, Kimiko and Maev wins out), so getting the pairing again this year was exciting all on its own. Add in the fact that the two are wildly different characters with the same ultimate mindset? Yeah. That’s the goods.

Both MM and Starlight are there when the other needs a hard dose of reality, but they also know when to get out of the other’s way. This takes us to the final moments of “Herogasm,” and Starlight’s most impressive moment of the series.

“Homelander helped make me America’s sweetheart. He’s going to regret that,” she tells MM before he turns on the camera to record her message to the American people.

“Most heroes don’t care about you,” she starts before explaining to the millions watching live that Supes only care about their image and that Homelander is the worst of them all. She warns about Maev and the corruption at Vought, and apologizes for not coming forward sooner before finishing with, “and one more thing? I’m not Starlight anymore. My name is Annie January, and I fucking quit.”

Oh, yeah, and that message was broadcast on the personal Instagram account that Neuman hoped to exploit for her own benefit. Annie January’s done laying down with dogs, but she’s not above learning a couple of their tricks if it means she can use them to actually benefit people her own way.

The real question for Annie is what happens now? Homelander took the beating of his life in this week’s episode, so you’ve got to wonder just how deranged he’s going to be in the remaining two episodes of Season 3. Will she get tossed in with Maeve? Vought and Homelander could somehow force her to go on record saying it was all a lie, while Neuman could choose Annie’s going rogue as the moment to make good on her head poppin’ threat so she could ultimately pin it all on Homelander and get him back in line.

Regardless, here’s hoping that Starlight’s Dawn of the 7 poster tagline, “In their darkest hour, she shines brighter than ever. But will it be enough?” wasn’t foreshadowing to the untimely death of the woman who has become one of The Boys’ most interesting characters.

Amelia is the Streaming Editor here at IGN. She's also a film and television critic who spends too much time talking about dinosaurs, superheroes, and folk horror. You can usually find her with her dog, Rogers. There may be cheeseburgers involved.

Limited series Chloe premieres June 24 on Prime Video.

Portraying the ills of social media is a familiar cautionary tale for all kinds of storytelling these days, but Chloe, Prime Video’s mystery/thriller limited series, smartly uses the guises of the platforms as the conduit to solving a murder. Created, written, and directed by Alice Seabright, Chloe plays well as both an engaging true crime mystery and as an intimate exploration of the lives of two seemingly disparate women, Chloe Fairbourne (Poppy Gilbert) and Becky Green (Erin Doherty). Seabright uses the unreliable nature of social media to frame Becky’s desire to unravel the truths behind the persona of her internet obsession, Chloe. What ensues is a tangled web of deception, secrets, and unexplored pain that results in outcomes both expected and unexpected.

The series opens with Becky in bed, scrolling her social media feed in the middle of the night. In particular, she eats up the minutiae of Chloe Fairbourne’s, a posh-looking 30-something with the perfect “gram” life filled with gorgeous clothes, food, friends, and a doting husband. It’s the antithesis of Becky’s reality which finds her of the same age, single, working as a temp, and living in a cheap flat with her mum who has early onset dementia. But Becky’s not a loser. She’s a very resourceful, smart woman stuck in stasis. With a simmering anger fueling her, she approaches everyday life as a series of gates to leap over so she can graze wherever she sees fit. Becky crashes parties for the free food, potential one-night stands, and opportunities to knick the random expensive coat or bauble. But her world tilts when she sees from friends’ comments on Chloe’s feed that the object of her fixation has shockingly died. And then it gets spooky when Becky discovers from the police investigating Chloe’s death that two middle-of-the-night missed calls she thought were from a lover were actually from Chloe.

Becky then shifts into proactive mode, throwing herself into finding ways to ingratiate herself into Chloe’s circle of friends. Assuming the name of Sasha, Becky uses Chloe’s feed to locate those closest to her and then charms herself right into their midst. From Chloe’s BFF Livia (Pippa Bennett-Warner) down to Chloe’s grieving husband, Elliot (Billy Howle), no one is immune to Becky’s relentless charm offensive to win the trust of those closest to Chloe so she can unearth how she died, and then find out what could have precipitated the sudden loss of such an externally “perfect” woman.

Taking her cues from the lack of transparency when it comes to the facades people project onto their social media, Seabright weaves that unreliable narrative into the spine of Becky’s life and her all-consuming pursuit of the truth behind what happened to Chloe. What initially seems random in regards to Becky's connection to Chloe, with just a little digging, becomes very clear and shifts the lens of the series from arbitrary to specific. And Becky herself is as unreliable and as slippery as it gets. Erin Doherty plays Becky with a spiky, remorseless precision as she goes about her investigations with an almost amoral focus. Yet she’s not performed as a manipulative monster, only capable of thoughtless and selfish things. Doherty does a brilliant job bringing forth Becky’s complexities, which makes her a fascinating character to follow. As her own secrets spill forth and she bends under the weight of leading this double life without being discovered, Doherty makes this flawed woman oddly sympathetic. She’s scrappy and messy, but also trying to do the right thing in taking care of her increasingly ailing mum with whom she has a very complicated relationship.

There’s also something thrilling about watching Becky cleverly attempt to steamroll these people who are a means to an end for her. Like the audience, she finds herself succumbing to their stories of regret, shame, and sadness about Chloe’s fate. And as she gets closer to Livia and Elliot, Becky might as well be a doppelganger walking in the ghostly remains of Chloe’s footsteps. She wrestles with just accepting their stories as true, fully immersing herself in this other woman’s posh reality, or sticking to her gut instincts to remain neutral as she toils to avenge Chloe’s death which feels more nefarious the more she unearths.

Chloe is like curling up with a great page-turner by Gillian Flynn or Anne Rivers Siddons, just with a more pragmatic and contemporary British point of view. The appeal isn’t the environments or the settings (though Chloe’s home is certainly a house to covet), but the strength of the characters and the secrets they keep. Doherty and the rest of the excellent supporting cast draw you into this world of relatable and screwed-up people. And we, the audience, are rewarded with the stories of Chloe and Becky’s ultimately connecting in a very poignant exploration of friendship, the regrets of youth, and the perils of losing oneself in someone else.

Warning: the below contains full spoilers for The Boys Season 3, Episode 6, "Herogasm," which aired on Prime Video on June 24, 2022. To refresh your memory, check out our review of last week's episode.

"Herogasm" is simultaneously the closest and farthest The Boys has felt to its obscenely inappropriate and excessive comic book source. There's no downplaying the episode's title, a callback to an all-out superhero suck-and-stuff fest featuring [redacted], [definitely redacted], and most of all, [burn my eyes levels of redacted]. Although, showrunner Eric Kripke does what his streaming adaptation has done best with The Boys this season — replace the comic's most needlessly graphic moments of exploitative boundary pushing with emphasized urgency behind character development beyond savagery. Kripke shows his boys, girls, and supes a bit more compassion than comics writer Garth Ennis, which has turned an otherwise bottomless nihilistic superhero commentary into an engaging action-drama with far richer personalities at odds.

Consider the episode a Part II, fulfilling promised consequences from "The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies" with explicit parallels. Hughie (Jack Quaid) and Starlight (Erin Moriarty) confront their relationship after Hughie confesses his power trippage on V24. A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) butts heads with Blue Hawk (Nick Wechsler) after the latter handicaps his brother in a racist outburst. Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) sets his crosshairs on Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) whether Butcher (Karl Urban) takes a bullet as collateral or not. There's no storytelling hesitation or stretching last episode's juiciest subplots — "Herogasm" allows for multiple climaxes, whether in tears or explosive enjoyment.

The fracturing of Butcher's demoralized squadron separates the primary team but doesn't suffer from mismatched pairings. Butcher and Hughie's allegiance with Soldier Boy allows Butcher to assess how his destructive qualities are rubbing off on Hughie, which Karl Urban translates into Butcher's first glimmer of regret since yelling at Ryan (Remember Homelander’s son?). Starlight and M.M. recreate the magic from their diner exchange in Season 2 ("To fathers and sugar."), as their union pairs so well after being hurt by those they care about dearest. Frenchie (Tomer Capone) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) continue their feud with Russian mobster Little Nina (Katia Winter), which hopefully has run its course because outside Frenchie and Kimiko's romantic admissions, it's been the weakest element of Season 3 thus far. Maybe that's by comparison given how Butchie and StarMilk are such hot couplings — and even at that, it's shocking how well The Boys breaks up the band yet loses no momentum.

The show's depiction of violence has altered over the last few episodes, abandoning the fun-filled fiendishness that jokily presents brutality like The Deep's (Chace Crawford) botched dolphin rescue or Termite's penis-popper sneeze at the beginning of this season. Bloodshed isn't for caustic entertainment value anymore. Everyone's reaching their wits' ends, whether that's Kimiko's disgust over herself as a monster with or without powers or Butcher's inability to sacrifice his teammates for Homelander's (Antony Starr) death. The comics refuse to acknowledge when enough pulpy superhero vulgarity is enough — Kripke's series cares more about how extreme gore changes those who've seen too much. It's a savvy alteration, proven by A-Train and Blue Hawk's altercation that utilizes jaw-dropping ruthlessness as a storytelling device beyond another mutilated corpse.

Of course, "Herogasm" is about superhero fornication as pyros walk around with flaming dongs and ice conjurers manifest icy sex toys. The return of Love Sausage allows the seriousness to dissipate as Kripke introduces TNT Twins Tommy (Jack Doolan) and Tess (Kristin Booth), sleazy Payback members who host Herogasm for C-level supes with superpowered fetishes. The Boys holds nothing back as "big chocolate bear" M.M. gets glazed for the good of his partnership with Starlight, reminding us that even at the show's somberest, it'll still shock, challenge, and take viewers places they're probably not ready to witness. Perhaps never as fearlessly as Ennis' comic books, but that's so far been the show's enduring signature and creative superiority in Season 3.

Do you know what the best part of "Herogasm" is, though? Seeing Homelander afraid. Soldier Boy and Homelander tumble and brawl amidst the writhing sex-seekers, tossing lines about which is the superior version of Homelander or Soldier Boy. It's the moment The Boys has been teasing since Butcher first injects V24 or Homelander considers himself untouchable — Homelander realizes Soldier Boy and Butcher pose an actual threat together. Antony Starr takes us on a psychological journey as Homelander reveals his nastier split personality by talking back into a mirror, then returns to the same mirror, fixated on a bruise around Homelander's eye. What an incredible moment that colors the entire episode as we see Homelander like never before: frightened. Jensen Ackles is chewing his way through fast-food cheeseburgers as the perfect antithesis to Starr's braggadocious and full-of-himself Vought superchild, remorseless like a heat-seeking missile of vengeance with only hatred in his heart. Hope comes in the form of Butcher, Hughie, and Soldier Boy striking fear into Homelander, who has no answer.

Other highlights of this excellent episode include Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) outright fleeing from Soldier Boy because he's seen the bastard in action to Starlight's bombshell social media confession. It even squeezes in a good "Aquaman bones fish" zinger for good measure. Thanks, The Deep! Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie), meanwhile, reveals a heart as frigid as Stan Edgar's (Giancarlo Esposito), while it's up to the American people to believe Homelander's "facts" or the media's "lies." In order to rebuild, something must be broken — methinks The Boys is following this model by battering its characters before reassembling them in the next few episodes.

Warning: This post contains full spoilers for The Umbrella Academy Season 3. If you're not finished yet, check out our The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Review.

The Umbrella Academy has returned for its third season, and this new storyline has brought the Umbrella siblings to an alternate timeline that saw Reggie adopt six different children and turn them into the Sparrow Academy. Throughout season three, the Umbrella siblings have had to not only deal with the "freaking Kugelblitz," but also Allison being the one to reset the universe once more and causing our heroes to lose their powers.

To breakdown all the wild moments of Season 3 and to tease what's in store for The Umbrella Academy in a potential season 4 that has yet to be confirmed, IGN spoke with executive producer Steve Blackman, Emmy Raver-Lampman (Allison), Tom Hopper (Luther), and Robert Sheehan (Klaus) to get all the details right from the source.

Reggie's Memories and the Mystery of the Sparrow Academy

As previously mentioned, Reggie did not choose to adopt the Umbrella siblings, and instead would adopt new kids in 1989 and help them become the Sparrow Academy. In the finale, we also learn that Reggie told Luther that he put him on the moon for a reason. However, did this version of Reggie share the memories of himself from other universes, or was he just assuming that sending Luther to the moon would help save his wife, Abigail?

"This is the same Reggie from season two," Blackman said. "The only difference between this Reggie is he didn't adopt this family. He has the same memories up to '63. He didn't adopt these kids. He adopted new kids in '89, but his plan has never changed. What he wants to do with his wife on the moon has been consistent since the day he arrived on the planet. It's just now a different family that he thought he could control. Unfortunately, Sparrows have turned on him, sedated him, and shoved him in an office, which he wasn't planning for."

Speaking of the Sparrow Academy, most of its members met untimely ends in Season 3, and this new timeline our heroes find themselves in may not even have a version of the Sparrows in it. We do get a glimpse of Ben in the mid-credits scene, meaning they may still be out there, but we get no hint of Sloane or anyone else making it through.

If Sloane is really gone, this could be a huge problem for Luther, who was murdered by his father after he married her. Now, Luther is somehow back, but Sloane is nowhere to be found. If this remains, this could put Luther at odds with Allison - the person responsible for this latest reset.

Allison's Big Reset and Her Rocky Relationship with Viktor

Allison and Viktor have always had a strong relationship, but this latest season turned it upside down. While Allison was more than supportive of Viktor's transition, she still couldn't forgive him for protecting Harlan, the young boy who would go on to kill their mothers with a blast of power he couldn't control.

Despite it being tough to watch on screen, Raver-Lampman enjoyed the challenge of exploring this new dynamic between the characters.

"I really enjoyed it," Raver-Lampman said. "Viktor and Allison have always been on the same page and in the same corner for the most part, and have been really, really close, but it was so, so, so, so exciting as an actor to dive into a different dynamic between these two characters. Elliot and I are really, really close friends in real life, and so it was really hard to go to work and pretend like I hated him for six months. But I think we found a great balance of making it as real and grounded and authentic as possible. And it was fun.

"We kind of saw such opposite sides of that relationship in the same season," she continued. We have this really intimate, private moment between the two of them where Victor explains the journey that he's going on with Allison and lets her into where he is and what he wants and what he's exploring for himself. And then a couple episodes later, they hate each other. And so the pendulum swing was so extreme, but it made for really fun days at work and hopefully really good TV."

For those hoping for a big reconciliation between the two characters in the future, Raver-Lampan gave a spark of hope while also admitting it is pretty fun to be at odds with Viktor.

"I think we see some magic dust of that at the very end, when Allison asks Victor, 'Do you trust me?' And he kind of powers himself down," Raver-Lampman said. "So I think it will always be love there somewhere underneath all of the shenanigans that are afoot. But I think maybe. Maybe? I think, yeah, I don't know. I can't tell what's more fun to play, them not liking each other or them trying to get back to being on the same page again. But who knows. With this show, the world is our oyster. We can literally do whatever we want. So that's what's so exciting."

Alongside dealing with Viktor, Allison also had to contend with PTSD from being a Black woman in the south in 1963, the loss of her daughter and husband, and being the one responsible for the most recent universe reset. These issues could lead to a lot of anger for a character, but Blackman explains that it was something more for Allison.

"Allison's story came from a place of PTSD, having been in Jim Crow south in 1963 and having no voice because her throat was literally cut and she was in a place where nobody wanted to listen to her because she was a woman of color," Blackman said. "Having her daughter ripped away and now her husband gone, Allison goes on a dark road this year.

"And I talked a lot with Emmy who plays Allison, and we really wanted to challenge Allison to come apart at the seams, not from a place of anger, but from a place of pure pain and loneliness, and she does not know how to place that pain. And she unravels this season."

In regards to the choice of having Allison reset the universe instead of Viktor, Blackman shared that it was in part because they "didn't want Viktor to end the world again." However, "there is a connection with Viktor and ending the world that we'll learn in other seasons."

The Powerless Academy

The finale of The Umbrella Academy's third season has left our heroes without their powers, and that will obviously have to be dealt with in a potential season 4. Even though a new season has not been officially announced, Blackman has plenty of ideas on how to deal with the new development.

"I can only say I have a pretty good idea what the fourth season is," Blackman teases. "It hasn't been picked up yet, but I know where I want to go with it. I think one of the themes will be, are we better off without the powers? I mean, in some ways this is a gift Reggie's given to them because he was the one who programmed the machine.

"He didn't hit the reset buttons, Allison did. But in many ways, I think Reggie thinks, look, you complained about your powers, your whole life. Now you're normal. Quote, unquote, stop your bitching and get on with your lives. But is it like missing an appendage to lose your power? I think that's a fun place to go next year."

Having no powers will be a big change for The Umbrella Academy's characters, but it looks to be a positive one for Luther actor Tom Hopper as he won't have to spend so much time, at least for a short while, in wardrobe getting his muscle suit on every time he has to go on set.

"Going to set, I always get called earlier because they're, 'Tom, we've got to get the suit on you.' And I've been trying to get that down and down and down, all the time," Hopper joked. "But just the heat element, I think, will be nice, to get rid of. And also, I get to choose nice clothes. I don't have to be stitched in every season and have clothes made to fit the suit, not fit me."

On the other hand, Sheehan thinks it is going to be a tough go for Klaus, a character who has recently been defined by his immortality.

"It's a shame because I think the issue for him is his immortality, or the conquering of it, had everything to do with the newfound self-respect," Sheehan said. "And so now, I think he feels fragile again. He feels like a little baby bird; like a stiff breeze could knock him over. So, I think now he has to find himself in absence of that. Yeah.

What the Future Holds For The Umbrella Academy

In closing, Blackman shared with us his hopes for a fourth season of The Umbrella Academy, and he teases that fans of the graphic novel will have a lot to look forward to.

"Well, I will only say this: I think obviously there's a way they're going to get their powers back because they need their powers," Blackman said. "I think we want to dig deeper into some of the unanswered questions within the graphic novel. There are some big, big story points and I don't want to say them out loud, that the fans are crazy and know the answers of. We're going to do that next year.

"We're going to come full circle with some things that the fans are like, please just tell us the answer to this. That's what next year's going to be about, is really coming to the end of certain things."

Oh, and don't think we didn't take the opportunity to talk about Dr. Phinneus Pogo, the advanced chimpanzee that has taken a hold of our hearts, and ask why we didn't get more of him during this season.

"We love Pogo. I would put Pogo in every scene," Blackman said. He's so expensive. He's millions and millions of dollars for every scene, so we have to be limited. But Pogo is a delightful, fun character. If we could do more of him we would."

For more, check out our review of The Umbrella Academy's third season, our explainer of the ending, and who exactly the Sparrow Academy are.

Disney+ has released an official first look photo for its new Santa Clause series, but festive cheer appears to be in short supply as Bernard is missing from the lineup.

We're now halfway to the holidays and in celebration of that fact, Disney Plus decided to hand out an early gift by sharing a photo of Tim Allen and the rest of the cast of its new series, officially titled The Santa Clauses, but it landed like a sack of coal for some people after they realized that one character had been struck off the list this year.

Christmas cheer turned to abject fear when several spectators noticed the absence of Bernard the Head Elf. Santa's sarcastic helper was played by David Krumholtz in 1994's The Santa Clause and its 2002 sequel, but he did not return for The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause in 2006, yet some people were hoping he would reprise the role again.

Where is Bernard!!!!!!!!?????

— Mark🦁(@MZappa777) June 23, 2022

THE PEOPLE DEMAND TO KNOW!!! And what about Judy who gave him the pajamas and hot coco?! She’s the Martha Stewart of the Santa Clause franchise and deserves BETTER

— Alyssa Morrello (@AlyssaMorrello) June 24, 2022

Hold up if you’re bringing back the Santa Clause with Tim Allen, we don’t want it unless Charlie & Bernard & Lucy & Curtis & Comet & Mrs Clause & the baby are all there too

— Brianna (@briannamaria95) June 24, 2022

I need Charlie and Bernard, even in cameos. It’s not the Santa Clause franchise without them.

— Xan (@ZanyXannie) June 24, 2022

we are all wonderin’ what what happened to the hottest elf?, yes, he’s an adult now but come on Disney you guys could make up a reason on why he looks older than other elves, I’ve read fanfics of conspiracy theories on why he’s older 🤷🏽‍♀️ He’s the son of the last Santa or somethin’

— Milkshakescos (@milkshakescos) June 24, 2022

As the last tweet points out, the actor who played Bernard in the original movies is now 44 years of age, which may explain why he isn't back, but we know it doesn't lessen the pain. Bernard isn't the only character missing either. There's quite a few cast members from the original films who are noticably off-duty at Santa's workshop, including Scott's son Charlie.

The photo does, however, feature Tim Allen's Scott Calvin aka Santa Claus and Elizabeth Mitchell who is reprising her role as Carol Calvin, otherwise known as Mrs. Claus. The two actors are joined by Allen's real-life daughter, Elizabeth Allen-Dick, playing her dad's on-screen offspring alongside Austin Kane who is starring as Cal, Scott and Carol's eldest son.

Kal Penn is appearing in the role of Simon Choksi, a game inventor and product developer, and Rupali Redd is starring as Grace, Choksi's angelic daughter. They are pictured center-right in the photo, next to Devin Bright as Noel, Santa's trusted right-hand elf, and Matilda Lawler as Betty, Santa's Chief of Staff, who are both dressed in festive regalia.

The Santa Clauses will catch up with Scott on the brink of his 65th birthday, as he sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa while also preparing his family to leave the North Pole to return to normal life. We will find out whether he's successful in that quest when the series premieres on Disney+, though no offical release date has been announced yet.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Cardy and Dale are here and they've brought a brand new host with them! Mat.J has arrived and he wants to tell us why you should be playing Neon White. We also have some good chats about Evil West, Ms. Marvel, and at the end we have a big old spoiler session with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Want to get in touch to talk about digging graves? Cakes? Issues with the name Clive? Feel free to send us an email at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast #649: The One That Isn't Just on Spotify

• IGN UK Podcast #649: Phil's Big Night Out 2022
• IGN UK Podcast #648: Geoff's Big Night Out 2022
• IGN UK Podcast #647: Some Great New Star Wars? Stranger Things Have Happened
• IGN UK Podcast #646: Gollum, Sméagol & Irene
• IGN UK Podcast #645: Chip 'n Dale 'n Cardy 'n Joe

It’s official – Harley Quinn is back, arriving on HBO Max this July. The hit animated series starring Kaley Cuoco as the iconic Harley Quinn doesn’t have a confirmed release date just yet – but it will be back at some point in July, according to a Warner Media press release.

That’s good news for fans, who will be dying to see where Harley goes next…

ANIMATION TAKES FOREVER! In the meantime, enjoy my Season 3 teaser filled with gorgeous coloring book pages of me and Ives. #DCFanDome pic.twitter.com/72GBpPND3r

— Harley Quinn (@dcharleyquinn) October 16, 2021

At the end of Season 2, Harley and Ivy (now officially a couple) headed out on the road to cause chaos and mayhem on a cross-country road trip that Harley describes as their “Eat, Bang, Kill Tour.” A spin-off limited comic book series aptly named “Eat, Bang, Kill Tour” depicts their antics as they find themselves pursued across the country by Commissioner Gordon.

Season 3 will pick up where they left off, heading back to Gotham with Commissioner Gordon hot on their heels… and it looks as though we can expect to see even more DC characters, with Nightwing, John Constantine, Mad Hatter, Clock King, and Amanda Waller already confirmed. There’s even a cameo with director James Gunn, so expect it to get a bit meta.

Elsewhere, Harley Quinn’s Kite Man will be starring in his own spin-off – a show that’s described as “Cheers for villains” which sees him running a bar where supervillains hang out.

IGN’s Harley Quinn Season 2 review says: “the series looks to be even stronger in its sophomore outing. The new status quo and stronger emphasis on Gotham's villains help create a darker tone while still delivering all the zany, deep cut DC humor fans could ask for. Season 2 may well succeed where Birds of Prey never quite did - exploring what happens when Harley sets out to become her own woman.”

Kaley Cuoco stars as Harley Quinn alongside Alan Tudyk, Lake Bell, Rahul Kohli, Diedrich Baker, Tony hale, Matt Oberg, and Ron Funches. Harley Quinn was developed by Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dean Lorey with Halpern and Schumacker serving as showrunners.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Warning: Full spoilers follow for Westworld Season 3.

Westworld's third season wrapped way back in May of 2020 with the episode "Crisis Theory" (read our Season 3 finale review), capping off the HBO series' journey to the "real world" of the futuristic society where theme parks are populated by robot "hosts." Or so we thought. But now, trailers for Westworld Season 4, which debuts on Sunday, June 26, continue to feature what at least appears to be a world outside the parks. Of course, with Westworld, one never can tell...

Westworld of course stars Evan Rachel Wood as the host Dolores Abernathy, who, having gained sentience over the course of the previous seasons, left the Delos park where she lived for decades as, essentially, a slave, now on a mission to take down humankind for the sake of her fellow 'bots. Or so we thought...

A lot happened in the Season 3 finale of Westworld, so let's delve into some of the key points and try to figure out how they might play in Season 4.

Westworld Recap: Is Dolores Dead?

Year three told the story of what happened to Dolores after she had escaped the Westworld theme park at the end of the previous season. Setting up shop in a near-future L.A., she created a bunch of copies of herself, or more specifically, copies of her mind, but in different bodies, all as part of her grand plan for the season...

But did Dolores Prime die in the Season 3 finale? She seemed to be gone by the end of "Crisis Theory," even if she sacrificed herself in order to achieve her true mission. After being captured by Vincent Cassel's tech genius Serac, Dolores had her mind probed by the uber-AI system known as Rehoboam. It was looking for the key to accessing the "Sublime" (the Valley Beyond artificial reality where many of the hosts escaped to last season). The thing is, Dolores didn't actually have the key -- she had hidden it with Jeffrey Wright's character Bernard (more on that in a second) -- and so as Rehoboam dug deeper, deleting her memories as it went along, it found nothing... except for a trap.

Dolores managed to hack Rehoboam while it was hacking her, and gave control of the AI to Caleb (Aaron Paul). In so doing, Caleb, with some clutch help from Maeve (Thandie Newton) and her samurai sword, commanded Rehoboam to erase itself, which it did and which would now allow for humankind to live out their lives by their own accord -- for better or for worse -- instead of under the guiding influence of Serac's ultimate computer. The last thing we see before the credits roll is Caleb and Maeve watching as the city around them burns. Yes, Dolores' true plan was to free humankind. "This is the new world," says Maeve, while "Brain Damage" from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon plays. "And in this world, you can be whoever the f**k you want."

So which Dolores will we be getting in Season 4? When the Season 3 finale dropped, showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy insisted that the Prime version of her was done, telling Variety: "Dolores is gone. We’re not yet discussing publicly the direction the show is taking, but the fun thing about this show is, you know, from the beginning Lisa and I wanted to make a show that constantly reinvented itself, that could be a different show every season. I think it’s important with a show in which death can be impermanent — these are robots, after all — to mark the occasion with Dolores. That version of that character is gone. We love Evan Rachel Wood and we haven’t started talking publicly about exactly what the show looks like going forward. But it looks very different."

Her mind had been wiped last we saw her, a lifeless husk laying on the platform beneath Rehoboam's giant orb. Still, we also know that Dolores duplicated her mind in other hosts in Season 3, creating divergent Doloreses, if you will. Most of those were seemingly destroyed throughout the season, but at least two remain: The Dolores inside a Charlotte Hale host body (Tessa Thompson) who had turned against Dolores Prime by the finale, and seems set to be an antagonist in Season 4. And then there's also Clifton Collins Jr.'s host. He had been a recurring character named Lawrence (a.k.a. El Lazo) in the previous seasons and popped up briefly in the Season 3 finale under the guise of a cop, although Bernard figured out that his body was housing another copy of Dolores. Surely transplanting the Lawrence host's pearl (brain) into a fresh Evan Rachel Wood body wouldn't be too much effort, even though she wouldn't have the same memories from Season 3 that Dolores Prime did.

In the trailers for the new season, we see that Evan Rachel Wood is back as a Dolores... or rather, according to the actress, a character called "Christine." She told EW recently that her character is "much more human this season." She seems to be mirroring her Season 1 version, where she was on the cusp of realizing she was living in an artificial reality, essentially. "This is the story about a girl," she says in the trailer. "Every single day she wakes up, the more she sees it. But nobody else can. There's something wrong with the world, and it's her fault."

William: The Man in Black or The Host in Black?

The Man in Black is dead. Long live the Man in Black! Ed Harris' character, also known as William, Delos' big bad boss, spent Season 3 struggling with his inner demons. He was institutionalized through the trickery of the Charlotte Dolores, where he participated in a therapy session with various versions of himself from the past (and perhaps the future?), including the young incarnation who was a regular character in Season 1 of Westworld and played by Jimmi Simpson. In "Crisis Theory," William is committed to "saving the world" from the host uprising, and we last see him in the first of two post-credits scenes.

It is there that he entered a Delos International facility in Dubai where, after stating that the hosts are "breeding" and shooting a security guard in the head, he made his way down to the basement-level research lab and found exactly what he expected: host shenanigans. The Charlotte Dolores was there, telling William he's right on time, and that yes, he is going to save the world -- for the hosts. A duplicate of William, in full Man in Black get-up, then appeared and, after a brief struggle, slashed William's throat. We then saw that he was right about the breeding thing -- the facility is full of host-making machinery.

The idea that the Man in Black would go full host certainly calls back to many fans' impression of him from before the show debuted, as he was clearly designed to evoke the Gunslinger robot played by Yul Brynner in the original 1973 Westworld film on which the show is based. And while it sure seemed as though the real William was a goner after his post-credits run-in, the trailer for Season 4 would seem to indicate that Charlotte/Dolores has somehow kept him alive, if trapped.

Still, existence of a Man in Black host (or duplicate) does track with the post-credits scene from the end of Season 2 where a version of the character still existed in what was apparently some distant point in the show's future. Speaking of which...

Bernard Gets Dusty

Jeffrey Wright's Bernard is the last person we see in the Season 3 finale, in the second post-credits scene. As noted above, while Dolores had led Serac (and the viewer) to believe that she held the key to accessing the Sublime, she had actually placed it with Bernard, apparently because she couldn't fully trust herself with it.

Earlier in the episode, Bernard paid a visit to Gina Torres' character Lauren Weber, who is now an elderly woman but also the wife of the late Arnold Weber, the co-creator of the hosts and the human that Bernard was based on. Back in Season 1, Bernard thought he was actually a human, and part of the trickery engineered by Dr. Ford (Anthony Hopkins) to maintain that illusion was the false memories he had of his dead son Charlie, as well as video calls from Lauren -- or at least the simulation of the same. But here Bernard had the chance to finally meet the older Lauren face to face, which was also a nice chance for Gina Torres to return to the role as the two characters mourned the loss of Charlie.

Returning to the motel where he was hiding out with the injured host Ashley Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth), Bernard dons a VR headset to finally access the Sublime. And then he seemingly shuts down and the scene cuts away. But later, in that final post-credits scene of the episode, we see that Bernard comes back online. The only thing is, clearly some time has passed. Like, maybe, a lot of time. He's covered in dust, and it's possibly not just regular old dust but fallout from a nuclear war or some other disaster. It seems clear that the Westworld timeline has jumped far ahead in this scene. After all, this is how Joy described the time period that the Man in Black was in at the end of Season 2: "In the far, far future, the world is dramatically different. Quite destroyed, as it were."

Quite destroyed sounds very dusty, doesn't it? So what do you think all this means for Westworld Season 4? Let's discuss in the comments!

This story orginally ran in May of 2020. It was updated on June 23, 2022, with the latest information about Westworld.

Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin has revealed details about the Jon Snow spin-off, confirming that the rumored project is real. According to the 73-year-old author, the working title is “Snow,” and it was all Kit Harington’s idea.

“Our working title for the show is SNOW,” he said in a blog post. “There are four live-action successor shows in development at HBO… SNOW has been in development almost as long as the other three, but for whatever reason it was never announced and it never leaked… until now.”

The upcoming Jon Snow spin-off was confirmed just a few days ago, with Kit Harington returning as the iconic Game of Thrones character.

And it looks as though Harington has his own creative team working on the show.

“It seems as though Emilia Clarke has already mentioned that SNOW was Kit’s idea in a recent interview,” he added. “So, that part is out. Yes, it was Kit Harington who brought the idea to us. I cannot tell you the names of the writers/showrunners, since that has not been cleared for release yet… but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific.”

Quite who they are remains a mystery, but it looks as though Martin himself will be on board.

“I am involved, just as I am with THE HEDGE KNIGHT and THE SEA SNAKE and TEN THOUSAND SHIPS, and all the animated shows,” he confirmed. “Kit’s team have visited me here in Santa Fe and worked with me and my own team of brilliant, talented writer/consultants to hammer out the show.”

Martin also confirmed that Snow, along with the other spin-offs, is still in the script stage. That means it’s unlikely we’ll see the show heading into production anytime soon.

“Outlines and treatments have been written and approved, scripts have been written, notes have been given, second and third drafts have been written,” he confirmed. “So far, that’s all.”

Whether or not Snow makes it to our screens remains to be seen – especially after Game of Thrones executives canned a previous spin-off after spending $30 million on a pilot.

Still, a Jon Snow series? With Kit Harington on board? It feels like this one is a dead certainty.

What else is in store for Game of Thrones? Find out everything we know about House of the Dragon as well as the other Game of Thrones spin-offs.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

In news that is certainly set to raise some eyebrows, Amazon announced an experimental feature for its voice assistant, Alexa, that will let it imitate the voices of dead relatives.

At Amazon’s annual MARS conference, the company showed off a demo in which Alexa reads a bedtime story to a child using the voice of his dead grandmother.

Amazon’s head Alexa AI scientist Rohit Prasad said the feature is meant to highlight Alexa’s “human attributes” which have become more important “in these times of the ongoing pandemic when so many of us have lost someone we love.”

Prasad added that while AI can’t eliminate “that pain of loss” it can carry on the memories of the deceased.

Amazon claims that its AI will be able to imitate someone’s voice after listening to just a minute of their recorded voice.

Details of how this new AI works aside, the internet is already discussing the ethics of such a tool. After all, anything that was the subject of an episode of Black Mirror can’t possibly be something people are clamoring for.

It should be noted that Amazon isn’t the only company experimenting with using AI to memorialize deceased loved ones. In 2021 Microsoft patented a tool that could potentially turn deceased relatives into chatbots users could communicate.

And it’s clear that raising the dead with technology is becoming the norm, as seen with instances in which CGI was used to bring back Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One, or Anthony Bourdain’s voice in a recent documentary about the travel author.

Would an AI imitating deceased relatives interest you? Personally, I’d rather not though it doesn’t seem to be stopping tech companies from exploring the field.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.