How Palpatine, Darth Maul and Vader Dominated Star Wars Celebration

As much as fans love their noble Jedi and plucky rebels, Star Wars Celebration 2019 showcased how much power the Dark Side still holds over fans and filmmakers alike, as it was the bad guys who stole the show this year.

When fans finally got their first look at Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, there was genuine surprise and excitement when the trailer ended with the familiar cackle of the (presumably) long dead Emperor Palpatine.

This revelation, in turn, triggered a deluge of speculation and theories about how Palpatine could return. We won’t know what the truth of it all is, of course, until Episode IX opens in December, but the apparent return of Darth Sidious will surely remain a hotly anticipated and ravenously searched topic until then.

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Game of Thrones: What Do Those White Walker Spiral Symbols Mean?

Warning: This post contains full spoilers for Game of Thrones through the Season 8 premiere, “Winterfell.”

As we saw in the Season 8 premiere of Game of Thrones, “Winterfell” – which garnered the show’s highest ratings ever – the Night King is back on his death spiral bulls***t. Poor Ned Umber, the newly-annointed young lord of House Umber, was discovered inside his familial home, Last Hearth, as part of a sickening (if artistic) body part mural. Surrounding his corpse, which soon reanimated as a snarling wight, were bits and pieces of stray Umbers pattered into a seven-legged spiral – a known calling card for the White Walkers.

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How the Game of Thrones Premiere Tackled Jon’s Big Moment

Warning: this article contains spoilers for the Game of Thrones Season 8 premiere.

The Season 8 premiere of Game of Thrones featured a moment fans have been waiting eight years to see: Thanks to Samwell Tarly, Jon Snow finally learned the truth about his parents, Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, and the fact that he’s actually the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.

IGN spoke to John Bradley about shooting the pivotal scene with Kit Harington, and how he found the balance between portraying Sam’s grief over losing his father and brother and conveying this vital information to Jon.

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Arrow Pays Tribute to Multiple Black Canaries

Warning: Full spoilers for Arrow Season 7, Episode 18 below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review for Season 7, Episode 17.

Many of Arrow’s biggest problems since Season 4 boil down to an overly large cast. It always seems like there are too many heroes and not enough room to do them all justice. And now with the series rapidly winding down, it’s all the more critical that the show clean the board if Oliver Queen’s heroic journey is going to receive the finish it deserves.

The good news is that the writers seem mindful of the need to streamline things leading into the final season. The series already bid farewell to Echo Kellum’s Curtis, and we recently learned that Emily Bett Rickards is leaving after Season 7. Now it appears that Katie Cassidy-Rodgers is bidding farewell to the Arrowverse, too. “Lost Canary” marked the end of Earth-2 Laurel Lance’s tenure in Team Arrow, and it’s not a bad way for this incarnation of the character to go out.

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PSA: Avengers: Endgame Has Leaked, Be Careful Out There

It appears the ending to the highly anticipated superhero movie Avengers: Endgame has leaked online ahead of its theatrical release at the end of the month. As a result, it might be a good idea to mute Avengers-related hashtags on Twitter and just to be generally extra mindful of social media if you want to go into the theatre without knowing what happens at the end.

Endgame hits cinemas in Australia on April 24 and comes to the United States on April 26, so the leak comes about 10 days before the film’s release. Spoilers are always a concern, but the profile is higher with Endgame considering the dramatic conclusion to Infinity War where Thanos snapped his fingers and wiped out half of the galaxy.

Endgame is believed to wrap up more than 10 years worth of Marvel Cinematic Universe storytelling that began back in 2008 with the original Iron Man. The film marks the end of the MCU Phase 3. Marvel is expected to provide the first details on Phase 4 after the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home in July, so keep checking back for that.

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Brie Larsson, Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Danai Gurira, Paul Rudd, and Josh Brolin star in Endgame. Tickets went on sale last week, and so far presales have far exceeded those for Captain Marvel, Infinity War, Aquaman, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi combined.

Game Of Thrones Season 8 Episode One Winterfell Breakdown!

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Disney+ Price And Release Date Announced For US

Disney+ will launch on November 12, the company announced today. It’ll cost $7/month or $70 for 12 months (which works out to around $5.83 per month). The price and release date is only confirmed for the United States at this stage. This was described by management as the “initial price point,” which suggests it could rise in the future.

Notably, $7 USD per month is below competitor Netflix and other streaming services.

Disney+ will launch first in the United States and then “rapidly expand globally.” Disney’s plan is to release the service in “nearly all” major regions globally within the next two years. However, pricing for other markets was not announced.

In Year 1, Disney+ will offer more than 25 episodic series, including the new Star Wars show The Mandalorian, which will be available at launch, or at least the first episode. There will also be more than 10 new movies/specials for Disney+ in the first year. In terms of back catalog content, Disney+ will have around 7,500 episodes of shows, along with more than 100 recent movies and more than 400 library titles.

Netflix is expecting to get between 60 million and 90 million people to sign up for Disney+ by the end of Fiscal Year 2024. Around 1/3 of subscribers are expected to come from the United States, with 2/3 coming from international markets.

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All content on Disney+ can be downloaded. The service will available on pretty much every screen you can imagine, including game consoles like PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Game Of Thrones Season 8 Premiere: All The Parallels With Season 1

Nintendo Labo VR Kit Review

It’s easy to scoff at the Labo VR Kit’s simple cardboard headset and collection of ridiculous add-ons as little more than Google’s Cardboard with Nintendo branding, but this kit is a surprisingly solid and in-depth introduction to the world of VR. While the display resolution and framerate fall far below the average dedicated VR headset and many of the associated games are extremely simple novelties, there are enough weird and whimsical games and tools included to provide a unique and (mostly) enjoyable experience when used in short bursts. The Virtual Boy 2, this isn’t.

Like Nintendo’s previous Labo kits, the initial focus of Labo VR is on cardboard construction and customization. And while interlocking large cardboard sections or putting the finishing touches on a project can be highly satisfying, the sluggishly paced instruction videos and countless steps involved can quickly turn the building aspect of Labo VR into a chore. The Labo accessories you’re prompted to build are sturdy and well engineered, but you’ll likely never come away from putting one together with the hope that your build time had last longer.

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