Polygon

Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

Porky Pig and Daffy Duck fight sentient bubblegum monsters animated with John Carpenter-style body horror in The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, which pops onto Max following its March theatrical release. For a less zany, more psychological spin on horror, today’s the day to watch Orphan and Carry-On director Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Woman in the Yardon Peacock. For some video game-inspired sci-fi fun, rent the time travel comedy Escape From the 21st Century, where three nerds gain the ability to jump into their future adult bodies whenever they sneeze, or The Jurassic Games: Extinction, where contestants fight dinosaurs to the death.

Here’s everything new that’s available to watch on streaming this weekend!

New on Hulu

F*** Marry Kill

Genre: Comedy thrillerRun time: 1h 37 minutesDirector: Laura MurphyCast: Lucy Hale, Virginia Gardner, Brooke Nevin

A true crime fan (Lucy Hale of Pretty Little Liars) becomes convinced that one of the three guys she’s seeing is a serial killer who’s been targeting women through dating apps. Using clues revealed through her favorite podcast and her own investigations, she’ll have to piece together who she actually wants to be in a relationship with, and who’s a murderer.

Survive

Genre: Post-apocalyptic thrillerRun time: 1h 30mDirector: Frédéric JardinCast: Émilie Dequenne, Andreas Pietschmann, Lisa Delamar

A family trip at sea takes a very unexpected turn when the Earth’s magnetic poles reverse, causing the oceans to flood the land and leaving their boat stranded in a desert. Before the waters come back, they’ll need to cross the hostile land to find another stranded vessel while being pursued by some very angry crabs.

New on Max

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Genre: Animated science fiction comedyRun time: 1h 31mDirector: Pete BrowngardtCast: Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol

Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (both voiced by Eric Bauza) get a job at a bubblegum factory to pay for home repairs in this feature film spinoff of Pete Browngardt’s Looney Tunes Cartoons. Unfortunately, the factory is at the center of an alien plot to turn the denizens of Earth into zombies, and the duo have to fight a horrifying gum monster to stop it.

New on MGM Plus

A Working Man

Genre: Action thrillerRun time: 1h 56mDirector: David AyerCast: Jason Statham, David Harbour, Michael Peña

Entertaining on a screen of any size, Jason Statham’s latest thriller follows Levon Cade, an ex-black ops soldier trying to start a new life as a Chicago construction foreman while fighting to retain custody of his daughter. But when his boss’ daughter is kidnapped, Cade must put his old skills to use by running and gunning his way through the Russian mob.

New on Peacock

The Woman in the Yard

Genre: Psychological horrorRun time: 1h 27mDirector: Jaume Collet-SerraCast: Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Peyton Jackson

Still injured from the car accident that killed her husband, Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler of Carry-On and Station Eleven) struggles to care for her two kids in their rural home. Things get really stressful when a mysterious woman covered in black clothing appears in their front yard saying only “Today’s the day.” As she gets closer, the family is plagued by misfortune until Ramona has to confront her head-on.

New on Tubi

Please Don’t Feed the Children

Genre: Science fiction thrillerRun time: 1h 34mDirector: Destry Allyn SpielbergCast: Michelle Dockery, Zoe Colletti, Andrew Liner

After a virus carried by kids turned adults into cannibals, anyone under 18 is rounded up and kept in camps. A group of renegade teens looking for freedom across the border take refuge with a woman who welcomes them with milk and cookies but then holds them prisoner. To survive, they’ll have to learn her twisted secret.

New to rent

Escape from the 21st Century

Genre: Science fiction comedyRun time: 1h 38mDirector: Yang LiCast: Ruoyun Zhang, Elaine Zhong, Yang Song

Fans of Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer should check out this high-energy film about three teenage nerds who get the power to travel 20 years into the future into their adult bodies. Discovering that the world isn’t as good as they’d like it to be, they fight for their future through a training montage and battles spiced up with stylized animation.

I Don’t Understand You

Genre: Horror comedyRun time: 1h 36Director: David Joseph Craig and Brian CranoCast: Nick Kroll, Andrew Rannells, Morgan Spector

Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells of Big Mouth play a gay couple looking to celebrate their anniversary with a dream vacation in Italy before they adopt a child. Unfortunately, they end up accidentally killing a nice old lady in an isolated farmhouse, and the language barrier leads to a series of miscommunications and dark comedy twists.

The Jurassic Games: Extinction

Genre: Science fictionRun time: 1 h 42mDirector: Ryan BellgardtCast: Todd Terry, Ryan Francis, Todd Jenkins

The sequel to 2018’s The Jurassic Games continues the premise of a virtual reality competition where death row inmates fight dinosaurs to entertain audiences. The prisoners fight and ride raptors and even use power-ups to turn into dinosaurs themselves while trying to fight the game itself from the inside and shut the spectacle down for good.

Pins and Needles

Genre: HorrorRun time: 1h 21mDirector: James VilleneuveCast: Chelsea Clark, Kate Corbett, Ryan McDonald

When her car breaks down on the way to campus, a diabetic biology grad student looks for help and instead finds herself drawn into a twisted experiment meant to find a way to extend the lives of the wealthy. As her insulin supply dwindles, she’ll need to find to escape in time.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

After revolutionizing the anime industry with one of the most popular first seasons in the genre’s history (followed by five more that were just as successful) and the highest-grossing anime movie of all time, the Demon Slayer franchise is ready for the beginning of the end. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, the first movie in the trilogy that will close up the story of Tanjiro, Nezuko, and the Demon Slayer Corps will debut in theatres in the United States and Canada on Sept. 12, 2025, and its first explosive official trailer is here, ready to get fans hyped up for the event.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is based on the manga by Koyoharu Gotoge. The anime, produced by Ufotable, conquered the hearts of fans worldwide thanks to its beautiful visuals that complement the fast-paced story and the compelling characters of the manga. The story follows Tanjiro Kamado, a young boy who finds his family slaughtered by demons, and his sister, Nezuko, turned into one of the flesh-eating creatures. In an attempt to protect her and find the culprit behind the massacre, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps, an organization dedicated to the eradication of demons by killing their progenitor, the elusive Muzan.

In this final trilogy of movies, Tanjiro, his companions Zenitsu and Inosuke, and the mighty Hashira (the strongest Demon Slayers) find themselves trapped inside the Infinity Castle, the demons’ stronghold, where they fight for their lives against the Upper Moons, Muzan’s strongest subjects. Exciting battles and heart-wrenching drama ensue. As those who read the manga know, no one is safe in this final battle between good and evil, and some beloved characters may not see the light of day.

It will be interesting to see if one or more of these final movies will manage to surpass Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, the unbeaten king of anime movies, which grossed over $507 million worldwide. This first official trailer shows that, as usual, Ufotable is not pulling any punches, and this will be another visual spectacle for fans.

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Celebrity cameos are a huge part of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, the PlayStation 5 game about going “Oh hey look, it’s that guy” while you navigate the apocalypse. The cast of Death Stranding 2 — both the main cast and the characters who pop up in bit parts — is full of stars from various countries, but a lot of these cameos are missable if you don’t know where to look.

In this in-progress Death Stranding 2: On the Beach guide, we provide a list of all celebrity cameos we’ve found so far along with details about where to find them.

Full main cast list of Death Stranding 2

The main cast of Death Stranding 2 is filled with a mix of recurring characters from the game’s predecessor and new characters exclusive to this sequel.

Here’s a list of the main characters in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, with numbers corresponding respectively to the screenshots in the gallery above:

Sam — Portrayed by Norman Reedus, known from the TV series *The Walking Dead.*Fragile — Portrayed by Léa Seydoux, known for roles in movies such as Blue is the Warmest Color and Spectre.Tarman — Portrayed by George Miller but voiced by Marty Rhone. George Miller is the director of the Mad Max franchise, and Marty Rhone is known for being the narrator in Street Fighter 6.Higgs — Portrayed by Troy Baker, a prolific voice actor known for roles in video games like The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid 5, and Persona 4.Tomorrow — Portrayed by Elle Fanning, known for roles in movies such as the Maleficent movies.Dollman — Portrayed by Faith Akin, but voiced by Jonathan Roumie. Faith Akin directed the movie, Head-On, and Jonathan Roumie portrayed Jesus in The Chosen.Rainy — Portrayed by Shioli Kutsuna, known for her role in Deadpool 2.The President — Portrayed by Alastair Duncan, known for his role as Mimir in God of War and God of War: Ragnarok.Neil — Portrayed by Luca Marinelli, known for his role as Milton in Rainbow: A Private Affair.Lucy — Portrayed by Alissa Jung, known for her role as Mary of Nazareth in Ihr Name War Maria.Heartman — Portrayed by Nicolas Winding Refn but voiced by Darren Jacobs. Nicolas is the director of Drive, and Darren is known for voicing John Constantine in DC: Dark Legion.Doctor — Portrayed by Debra Wilson, known for her many roles in gaming, such as, just this year, Inquisitor Lödwyn in Avowed and Commander Thira in Doom: The Dark Ages.

All celebrity cameos in Death Stranding 2

Death Stranding 2 not only features celebrities in its main cast but also deploys many as celebrity cameos in the form of preppers. A prepper is someone who lives isolated across the game’s maps, where Sam can make deliveries to. Above are images of most of these celebrity cameo preppers, with a few we haven’t encountered in our playthrough yet.

Here’s a running list of these celebrity prepper in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach we’ve confirmed so far alongside where to find them:

Cécile Brun — assumes the role of The Dowser, and you find her at The Dowser location on the map. She is one half of the French art duo Atelier Sento.Colas Koola — assumes the role of The Lone Commander, and you find him at The Lone Commander location on the map. He is the co-director of Stray.Craig Malanka — assumes the role of Glenn Rain, and you find him at Rainbow Valley. He’s the vice president of global marketing for games at Sony Interactive Entertainment.Errolson Hugh — assumes the role of Alex Weatherstone, and you find him at Former Geophysics Research Lab. He is the founder of clothing brand ACRONYM.Gen Hoshino — assumes the role of himself, and you find him at The Musician location on the map. He is an actor and singer-songwriter known for the ending theme of the anime series Spy x Family.Ian Spriggs — assumes the role of Norberto Puente, and you find him at Ciudad Nudo del Norte. He is a 3D digital artist.Jon McElroy — assumes the role of The Inventor, and you find him at The Inventor location on the map. He is a former director at Annapurna Interactive.Kate Siegel — assumes the role of Olivia Westbury, and you find her at West Fort Knot. She is a renowned horror actress known for her role in The Haunting of Hill House.Lauren Mayberry, Martin Doherty, and Iain Cook —play themselves, and you find them at the Animal Shelter. The trio is known as the music group CHVRCHES.Liv Corfixen — assumes the role of The Hydrologist, and you find her in Heartman’s Lab. She’s an actress known for her role in Only God Forgives and is the wife of Nicolas Winding Refn, the actor of Heartman.Lizzielou Corfixen — assumes the role of The Chronobiologist, and you find her in The Chronobiologist location on the map. She’s an actress known for her role in Secrets We Keep and is the daughter of Nicolas Winding Refn.Lola Corfixen — assumes the role of The Metagenomicist, and you find her in The Metagenomicist location on the map. She’s an actress known for her role in Copenhagen Cowboy and is the daughter of Nicolas Winding Refn.Ma Dong-seok — assumes the role of Samson Hook, and you find him at F2 South Distribution Center. He is also known by the name Don Lee and has appeareed in films like Train to Busan.Mamoru Oshii — assumes the role of The Pizza Chef, and you find him at The Pizza Chef location on the map. He is known from his work as the director of Ghost in the Shell.Mike Flanagan — assumes the role of Mike Northcoate, and you find him at the Northern Environmental Observatory. He is the Director of Midnight Mass.Molly Quinn — assumes the role of La Madre. You find her at Villa Libre. She’s an actress known for her role as Molly Ravager in The Guardians of the Galaxy films.Olivier Pichard — assumes the role of Peter Gates, and you find him at the Western Environmental Observatory. He is the other half of Atelier Sento, along with Céline Brun.Patrick Claude — assumes the role of Victor Frank, and you find him at the F5 East Distribution Center. He is returning to play his role from Death Stranding.Ray Khalastchi — assumes the role of Benjamin Rivera, and you find him at the C1 South Distribution Center. He is the director of product development at XDEV, a UK-based PlayStation studio*.*S.S. Rajamouli and S.S. Karthikeya — assume the roles of The Adventurer and The Adventurer’s Son, and you find them at the Adventurer location on the map. S.S. Rajamouli is the director of Baahubali, and S.S. Karthikeya is his son, a movie producer.Swann Martin-Raget — assumes the role of Ridge Frost, and you find him at the Eastern Environmental Observatory. He is the producer of Stray.Usada Pekora — assumes the role of The Data Scientist, and you find him at the Data Scientist location on the map. She is a V-tuber from Hololive Production.Vivien Mermet-Guyenet — assumes the role of Leon Easton, and you find him at East Fort Knot. He’s the co-director of Stray.Yoann Lemoine — assumes the role of The Mechanic, and you find him at The Mechanic location on the map. He’s a musician known as Woodkid and performed the theme of Death Stranding 2.

For more Death Stranding 2: On The Beach guides, here’s our recommendation on where to find the Artist and where to find the Inventor.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

If you’re participating in the full-ticketed Pokémon Go Fest: Global 2025 event, then you’ll get access to a new Special Research set focused on the Pokémon Volcanion.

You will need to login during the Go Fest event (on June 28 and 29 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.) to get the research. Once you do so, you’ll be able to finish it at your leisure — though keep in mind that the perks throughout Go Fest will likely make completing this easier, so it’s best to do it while you can.

This research does have a ton of rewards, including rare encounters with Pokémon like Klefki and just generally nice rewards like XL Candy.

Below, we list all the steps to the “Full Steam Ahead” Volcanion Special Research set.

‘Full Steam Ahead’ Special Research Tasks and rewards

‘Full Steam Ahead’ step 1 of 6

Spin 12 PokéStops or gyms (1 Incense)Use an Incense (20 Poké Balls)Catch 12 Pokémon (1 Lucky Egg)

Rewards: 1 Star Piece, Pikachu (red top hat) encounter, 2,025 XP

‘Full Steam Ahead’ step 2 of 6

Make 10 nice throws (1 Incense)Explore 2 km (Klefki encounter)Complete 6 Field Research tasks (20 Great Balls)

Rewards: 20 Ultra Balls, Flabébé (orange) encounter, 2,025 XP

‘Full Steam Ahead’ step 3 of 6

Catch 30 different species of Pokémon (Popplio encounter)Power up water-type Pokémon 20 times (25 Popplio Candy)Evolve 5 water-type Pokémon (3 Popplio Candy XL)

Rewards: 5 Zacian and Zamazenta stickers, 1 Super Incubator, 1 Rainy Lure module

‘Full Steam Ahead’ step 4 of 6

Catch 30 different species of Pokémon (Fuecoco encounter)Power up fire-type Pokémon 20 times (25 Fuecoco Candy)Evolve 5 fire-type Pokémon (3 Fuecoco Candy XL)

Rewards: 5 Volcanion Sticker, 1 Poffin, 1 Lure Module

‘Full Steam Ahead’ step 5 of 6

Earn 10 hearts with your buddy (Carbink encounter)Hatch 3 eggs (1 Incense)Evolve 6 Pokémon (3 Golden Razz Berries)

Rewards: Volcanion T-shirt cosmetic, Volcanion encounter, 25 Volcanion Candy

If you’ve already caught a Volcanion from attending an in-person Go Fest event, you’ll get 25 Volcanion Candy instead.

‘Full Steam Ahead’ step 6 of 6

Catch a Pokémon on 7 different days (2,025 XP)Earn 2 candies exploring with Volcanion as your buddy (2,025 Stardust)Send a gift to a friend (2,025 XP)

Rewards: 1 Rare Candy XL, 5 Volcanion Candy XL, 2,025 XP

Thanks Leek Duck for providing details on the above.

Did you finish that already? There’s still more to do for Pokémon Go Fest 2025. Check out our rotating habitat schedule guide to see when you can find certain critters.

We also have tons of guides for everything Zacian and Zamazenta, including raid guides for the both of them, an explainer on how their Crowned forms work, and a list of free codes to score extra Crown Energy. We also have an explainer for the Zacian and Zamazenta Special Research, which you’ll have if you bought the Go Fest 2025 ticket.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

Pokémon Go‘s big yearly event is upon us. Pokémon Go Fest 2025 comes with its usual perks, including rotating spawns and the global debut of the Crowned forms of Zacian and Zamazenta.

The Crowned forms are the main feature here, encouraging all players to hop into raids to score energy to turn their Hero of Many Battles form puppies into big dogs. This event also features the global debut for Volcanion, but only if you have the paid ticket for the event. As usual with these events, there’s a ton of perks (including increased shiny rate for wild spawns) locked up behind the $15 ticket, but free players can still take advantage of fun spawns and Crowned Zacian and Zamazenta.

Below we dive into the perks and rotating spawns for Pokémon Go Fest: Global 2025.

What time does Pokémon Go Fest start and end?

Pokémon Go Fest 2025 will run on June 28 and 29, starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m. in your local time. There are a few ticket-holder bonuses that also last outside of that time window, like the halved Stardust cost for trading, but the bulk of the good stuff will only be available from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Though you are highly encouraged to play throughout the day to make the most of your ticket purchase, and ensure you have plenty of time to complete each habitat’s Collection Challenges, even if you only log in once each day, you will unlock the Special Research to complete at your leisure.

Note that Zamazenta will be in raids on Saturday, June 28 and Zacian will be in raids on Sunday, June 29, so if you want both dogs, you’ll need to raid on both days.

Pokémon Go Fest 2025 habitat spawn schedule

These habitats will rotate all throughout the event (which is a change from last year, where they only rotated on Saturday), even if you don’t have a ticket. Each habitat will rotate in twice per day and be around for an hour before it rotates out.

This time, each day also has additional spawns that will be around in addition to the rotating habitats.

It should also be noted that the costume-wearing Pikachu and Falinks (as seen in the above image) seem to be locked behind raids only — and maybe snapshot encounters? Neither of them are listed as an available spawn on the Pokémon Go website.

Moonless Volcano (10-11 a.m., 2-3 p.m.)

HoundourNumelDuskullGothitaGolettFletchlingFlabébé (red)SkrelpFuecocoCarbinkTorkoal (ticket-holder Incense only)

Galvanic Dojo (11 a.m.-12 p.m, 3-4 p.m.)

MachopElectabuzzTeddirusaScraggyChespinFlabébé (yellow)PanchamDedenneCrabrawlerMienfooSkiddo (ticket-holder Incense only)

Hypnotic Tundra (12-1 p.m., 4-5 p.m.)

Alolan SandshrewSwinubSphealPiplupSnoverMunnaElgyemFlabébé (blue)BergmiteFrigibaxPachirisu (ticket-holder Incense only)

Fae Swamp (1-2 p.m., 5-6 p.m.)

ClefairyTentacoolMawileGulpinVenipedePopplioMareanieMorelullTogeticFlabébé (orange)Klefki (ticket-holder Incense only)

Saturday all-day spawns

ChanseySkarmoryLarvitarShieldonShelmetVullabyOranguruGoomy

Sunday all-day spawns

Galarian Farfetch’dCuboneRaltsKarrablastPawniardDeinoPassimianJangmo-o

Pokémon Go Fest 2025: Global ticket bonuses

If you buy the ticket for Pokémon Go Fest for $14.99, you’ll get the following:

Special Research that allows you to catch VolcanionSpecial Research that allows you to power up Zacian or ZamazentaAccess to a global challenge that unlocks special bonuses every hourAccess to Collection ChallengesSpecial Incense encounters for Unown D, E, H, I, L, S, O, R, and W, as well as Incense encounters for Torkoal, Skiddo, Pachirisu, and KlefkiIncreased chance to find shiny PokémonThree surprise snapshot encounters per dayIncreased heart gains for buddy PokémonThe ability to open up to 40 gifts per dayThe ability to complete up to six special trades per dayHalved Stardust cost for tradingUp to nine free raid passes from spinning gym photo discs

Pokémon gated by real-money tickets usually do release for everyone, just later. If you’re not in a rush to get Volcanion or you don’t care for these other perks, you can always save your money and get the mythical Pokémon later.

Outside of that glorious shiny buff, one of the bigger perks here is access to Torkoal, Pachirisu, and Klefki, three Pokémon that are usually regional exclusives.

Did you finish that already? There’s still more to do for Pokémon Go Fest 2025.

We also have tons of guides for everything Zacian and Zamazenta, including raid guides for the both of them, an explainer on how their Crowned forms work, and a list of free codes to score extra Crown Energy. We also have an explainer for the Zacian and Zamazenta Special Research and the Volcanion Special Research, which you’ll have if you bought the Go Fest 2025 ticket.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

The Crowned forms of Zacian and Zamazenta are getting their time in the spotlight as part of Pokémon Go Fest 2025, allowing you to power up these puppies into their big strong forms – that can even be used in Max Battles, even though they’re not Dynamax.

Unlike previous special Legendary Pokémon that use energy, these are not fusions. You don’t need two Pokémon to get a Crowned version or anything like that. You just need a Zacian or Zamazenta, as well as their respective energy.

You can also turn any previously caught Zacian or Zamazenta into their new shiny forms, as long as they know the right move.

Below we explain how to get Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta in Pokémon Go, as well as how their Adventure Effects work, along with other information we have on these two powerful Legendaries.

How to get Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta in Pokémon Go

To turn your Hero of Many Battles Zacian and Zamazenta into their Crowned versions, you will need to do the following:

To get Crowned Sword Zacian, you’ll need to have a Zacian that knows the move Iron Head, 1,000 Crowned Sword Energy, and 30 Zacian Candy.To get Crowned Shield Zamazenta, you’ll need to have a Zamazenta that knows the move Iron Head, 1,000 Crowned Shield Energy, and 30 Zamazenta Candy.

Once you have these items, you can just select the “change form” button on the Pokémon’s respective information screen to turn them. The move Iron Head will turn into their respective specialty moves, Behemoth Blade or Behemoth Bash.

To get the Crowned Energy, you’ll need to take on raids for the respective energy and Pokémon (and you can grab a handful by redeeming some codes). As you’d expect, you get Crowned Sword Energy from Zacian and Crowned Shield Energy from Zamazenta. Zamazenta will be in raids on Saturday, June 28 and Zacian will be in raids on Sunday, June 29. The ticketed event Special Research for Go Fest Global 2025 also gives you enough energy to upgrade either Zacian or Zamazenta, depending on which branching choice you make.

Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta Adventure Effects, explained

Yes, these Pokémon are super strong and they also have Adventure Effects. Unlike previous Adventure Effects (like Origin Forme Dialga and Palkia’s) that only affect things outside of battle, Zacian and Zamazenta effects power you up in battle.

Crowned Sword Zacian knows Behemoth Blade, which strengthens your Pokémon’s attacks in raids and Max Battles for six minutes.Crowned Shield Zamazenta knows Behemoth Bash, which strengthens your Pokémon’s defense in raids and Max Battles for six minutes.

These are pretty straight-forward effects, thankfully. According to datamines, Behemoth Blade boosts attack by 10% in raids and 5% in Max Battles. Similarly, Behemoth Bash boosts defense by 10% in raids and 5% in Max Battles.

Both effects cost 5,000 Stardust and five Zacian or Zamazenta Candy to activate. You can extend the duration of the timers on these effects by spending the aforementioned amount of resources to make it last up to 24 hours total.

Can you revert Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta to their original forms?

Unlike previous energy-using Legendary Pokémon (like Kyurem or Necrozma), you can revert your Crowned doggies back into their Hero of Many Battles form freely without worrying about energy cost. Once you initially turn them into their Crowned Forms, you can swap back and forth with no extra cost.

That being said, there isn’t too much of a reason to do this, as the Crowned Form versions are much stronger than the meager Hero of Many Battles forms, but… it’s nice to have the option!

What else do we know about Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta?

Yes, both Zacian and Zamazenta can be shiny!

Both of these very strong dogs can be used in Max Battles, despite the fact that they are not Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon.As per usual with Adventure Effects, you can only have one active at once – which means you cannot stack both Zacian and Zamazenta’s, nor can you throw White Kyurem’s or Origin Forme Dialga’s into the mix.Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta cannot be transferred to Pokémon Home. You’ll need to revert them to their Hero of Many Battles forms to do so.

Did you finish that already? There’s still more to do for Pokémon Go Fest 2025. Check out our rotating habitat schedule guide to see when you can find certain critters.

We also have tons of guides for everything Zacian and Zamazenta, including raid guides for the both of them and a list of free codes to score extra Crown Energy. We also have an explainer for the Zacian and Zamazenta Special Research and the Volcanion Special Research, which you’ll have if you bought the Go Fest 2025 ticket.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

We’ve all seen our fair share of battle arenas, but a battle arena in the form of a floating, rotating, basically shape-shifting block? That’s new. It’s called (what else?) The Cube, and it’s a massive multiplayer shooter from Atomic Heart developer Mundfish.

Of all the 2025 Summer Game Fest announcements, The Cube struck me, thanks to its ambitious hexahedronic design. To learn more, I recently sat down for a remote video interview with Robert Bagratuni, CEO of Mundfish, who was accompanied by communications director Christina Omelchenko, who translated between Russian and English for the duration of our conversation.

All the world is a cube

For a game this centered around a specific shape, there can be but one opening question: Why a cube? The answer is unexpected: “Why not a triangle, or a pyramid, or a sphere? We want to troll the guys who believe our Earth is a plane,” Bagratuni explained.

Aside from the tongue-in-cheek intention to “troll flat-earthers,” there’s a more serious rationale behind the design as well.

“Originally, with most of the things in the universe, if you think of a perfect shape, it’s typically considered something aspheric, like the stars, the planets, and so on,” Bagratuni said. “My cube is a very different entity as it’s lit up from the top by the sun, where it’s very bright in the middle of the day. On the bottom face of the cube, it’s dark, and on the side faces of the cube, there’s a twilight zone.”

“This concept gives so much variability of what you see, how the settings change, and how the lighting changes,” Bagratuni added. “Plus, it really plays with your brain; how you perceive the experience. You can be standing on the side tile of the cube and have a vertical horizon. It just gives such a different experience.”

As if navigating a static floating cube doesn’t sound nauseating enough, The Cube will consist of rotating planes that constantly shift the lay of the land. Imagine running and gunning across a levitating Rubik’s Cube while some invisible power is twisting its tiles — such a complex design naturally comes with quite a few development challenges.

Bagratuni said that The Cube’s concept poses a monumental technological task for his team: “It’s a challenge for the developers to create a system that allows thousands of objects to move simultaneously online, in real time. Millions, millions, millions of objects.”

But The Cube’s development team came up with a complex system to deal with the problem. “We call it a split-rendering system that allows for a smooth rotation,” Bagratuni said. “This is our own technology that we developed and are super proud of. It was one and a half years of hard tech work to deliver that experience.”

Atomic at heart

But enough about twisting planes. What actually happens on those planes?

As shown in The Cube’s reveal trailer from Summer Game Fest, the die-shaped world is frequented by your fellow players as well as unfriendly monstrosities in all shapes and sizes: a massive tumor-shaped creature with claws, something that looks like a living tree with a birdhouse stuck on its head, and — let’s hope they’re on our side — lovely humanoid robots.

Although some gameplay details remain a mystery for now, Bagratuni said that The Cube entails more than just fighting and surviving; RPG elements, such as a storyline and character progression, will shape your adventure.

“The experience of The Cube will definitely be story-driven and not just raids, grinds, and things like that,” he said. “We want to make sure that there is deep character progression and you can develop your character in different directions, thus creating a character build that is super tailored to how you want to experience The Cube.”

Set in the same universe as Atomic Heart, you should expect a sci-fi world full of anomalies and absurdities, with mind-blowing technological advancements and perhaps a shady laboratory or two. Based on the trailer, some old Atomic Heart acquaintances are likely to make an appearance — hello there, Granny Zina!

Despite this strong connection, “It is not necessary or super important to play Atomic Heart to understand what The Cube is,” Bagratuni explained. “Though of course, narratively speaking, The Cube is a very important part of Atomic Heart’s world and it’s very interconnected with its events.”

“I guess playing Atomic Heart would be enriching if you want to dig deeper into the lore. But what we want to do is make sure it’s easy to jump into The Cube and not get frustrated by not understanding what’s going on.”

I tried to prod a little for more intel on character builds and class systems, but Bagratuni declined to elaborate. “As we move forward with preparation for the launch, we’re going to be revealing more and more,” he said. “The first trailer announcement was only a glimpse of what we are going to show you.”

But based on what I’ve seen and heard about so far — from its head-spinning physics to its engrossing narrative trappings — The Cube seems to be a creative twist on the MMO genre. As Bagratuni said in our call, “Crazy things are happening there.”

From Polygon via this RSS feed

The Equalizer 3 wouldn’t qualify as the jewel of Denzel Washington’s filmography, but it belongs on the crown. Skeptics: Please watch this one on Netflix before it’s gone on July 1.

Washington has two Oscars and nine nominations to his name, plus multiple Tonys for his stage work, and he’s devoted a good portion of his career to bringing the work of playwright August Wilson to screens. He is rightfully regarded as a god-tier thespian. And yet Washington is no stranger to pageturner-y fluff, which he elevates with the same swagger he brings to Shakespeare. His three Equalizer movies are the middle ground between the stoic forcefulness of his award-worthy dramatic turns, and the multiple movies he made with hyper-dynamic director Tony Scott, in which he manages trains. (Unstoppable and the Taking of Pelham 123 remake.) But The Equalizer 3 perfects the formula.

As the Equalizer, Washington plays ex-Marine and DIA officer Robert McCall, who is supposedly out of the hero game, except that he keeps getting recruited by those in need, over and over and over again. He can’t help it! He loves to do good, using his honed sense of sight and sound, which director Antoine Fuqua treats like a superpower.

The first in the series, 2014’s The Equalizer (also on Netflix) is kind of a mess: Washington is stuck dealing with sappy drama before Fuqua overplays his John Wick-level skills. There’s no balance, no tension, and fewer beatdowns than you might expect a movie in which McCall needs to take down Russian sex traffickers. But the one time the Equalizer sets his watch to his the exact amount of time it’ll take him to slice through a room full of goons, then executes his plan in ice-cold fashion… Well, that’s gold.

The Equalizer 2 (also on Netflix!) inches closer to what works without fully cracking a plot that gives Washington much to chew on. And what works is watching the star smack guys around. Also, like another TV adaptation franchise, the Mission: Impossible series, it acknowledges that putting your hero on a train is an easy way to create momentum in and outside a fight scene.

Fuqua turns the tables in The Equalizer 3 to maximum effect: As we have noted before, McCall essentially becomes Michael Myers in the threequel, stalking and hunting and knifing his way through unsuspecting victims. Luckily, the target of his slasher mayhem is the Italian mafia, who are very unkind to the locals of the Amalfi Coast! And in each action sequence, Washington strikes terror.

On top of the horror-tinged cinematography from legend Robert Richardson, Fuqua wisely avoids treating McCall as unkillable, which he seemed to be in the past installments. The opening sequence finds McCall plowing through baddies — hoping to avenge a couple bankrupted by cyber-crime, which puts him in good company with The Beekeeper and Thelma — but in the end, he takes a devastating shot to the back. Bad! Luckily, a local stumbles across his unconscious body and nurses him back to health. The respite of laying low and drinking espresso brings him closer to the village, which is plagued by mafiosos. His ruffling of feathers catches the eye of a CIA agent played by Dakota Fanning, who co-starred with Washington as the little kidnapped girl in 2004’s Man on Fire, and is now somehow old enough for a role as a CIA agent.

There’s a surprising amount of sensitive dialogue between Washington and his Italian company as he learns of their constant fear and the mafia stranglehold on their businesses. Fanning is a formidable performer opposite him when she enters the picture, with a number of fair questions as to why vigilante justice is even mildly acceptable to a man of honor. All this is threaded between actual action scenes, unlike the oil-and-water combo of The Equalizer, and Fuqua and Washington never mask the fact that a 68-year-old man is performing the stunts. The punches the Equalizer takes hurt as much as the ones he delivers. (Tom Cruise could learn this lesson.)

There are many great Denzel Washington action movies that rank above The Equalizer 3 in the pantheon — here they are, in fact — but in this era, it’s easy to see a “3” in a title and completely dismiss the effort. The Equalizer 3 deserves the attention — at the very least, to prepare you for The Equalizer 4.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

If you bought the $14.99 ticket for Pokémon Go Fest 2025, you’ll have access to the “A Hero’s Journey” Special Research, which sets you up with resources one of the two Legendary dogs, Zacian and Zamazenta, including enough Crowned Energy to power one of them up.

This research will only be available to you if you both buy the aforementioned ticket and you login during the event period on June 28 or 29 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. in your local time. After you start the research, you can complete it at any time with no time constraints, though keep in mind that the bonuses available during Go Fest will likely make it easier to complete it, so it’s best to play during the event.

Below, we list all the steps for the Pokémon Go “A Hero’s Journey” Special Research quest, along with some insight on which choice you should pick between Zacian or Zamazenta.

‘A Hero’s Journey’ Special Research quest

‘A Hero’s Journey’ step 1 of 6

Power up Pokémon 10 times (1 Fast TM)Use a Fast TM (1 Charged TM)Use a Charged TM (3 Potions)

Rewards: 2,025 Stardust, 3 Super Potions, 2,025 XP

At this point, you’ll be tasked between choosing between two steps: “Crowned Sword Journey” or “Crowned Shield Journey.” The steps will mostly be the same (with some type swapping depending on your choice), but the rewards will be different:

Selecting “Crowned Sword Journey” will give you Zacian Candy, alongside enough Crowned Sword Energy to upgrade it to its Crowned form.Selecting “Crowned Shield Journey” will give you Zamazenta Candy, alongside enough Crowned Shield Energy to upgrade it to its Crowned form.

Neither of the choices actually give you the Legendary Pokémon.

Just pick whichever one you want the energy for! You can still raid the other option, so it’s not like picking one will permanently lock you out of the other option or prevent you from getting it.

‘A Hero’s Journey’ step 2 of 6

Make 5 nice throws (5 Zacian/Zamazenta Candy)Power up fairy-/fighting-type moves five times (1,000 Stardust)Earn 5,000 Stardust (3 Pinap Berries)

Rewards: 2 Premium Battle Passes, Frigibax encounter, 3 Silver Pinap Berries

‘A Hero’s Journey’ step 3 of 6

Catch 3 steel-type Pokémon (3 Hyper Potions)Battle in 2 raids (3 Max Revives)Earn 10,000 XP (1,000 Stardust)

Rewards: 25 Zacian/Zamazenta Candy, 5 Zacian/Zamazenta Candy XL, 2 Premium Battle Passes

‘A Hero’s Journey’ step 4 of 6

Win 2 raids (3 Rare Candy)Power up steel-type Pokémon 10 times (3 Max Potions)Use 5 superefffective charged attacks (3 Razz Berries)

Rewards: 500 Crowned Sword/Shield Energy, Skiddo encounter, 1 Max Mushroom

‘A Hero’s Journey’ step 5 of 6

Earn 2 candies exploring with a fairy-/fighting-type Pokémon as your buddy (500 Crowned Sword/Shield Energy)Change Zacian/Zamazenta’s form (1 Max Particle Pack)Win 2 Max Battles (1,000 Stardust)

Rewards: 2,025 Stardust, 5 Zacian/Zamazenta Stickers, 2,025 XP

‘A Hero’s Journey’ step 6 of 6

Claim reward! (2,025 XP)Claim reward! (2,025 Stardust)Claim reward! (2,025 XP)

Rewards: 5 Zacian/Zamazenta Candy XL, Go Fest 2025 pose, 25 Zacian/Zamazenta Candy

Thanks Leek Duck for providing details on the above.

‘A Hero’s Journey’ choose a path outcome: Should you pick Zacian or Zamazenta?

So, yes, you will be tasked with choosing between Zacian and Zamazenta for this research, but as mentioned above, it doesn’t lock you out of getting the other dog. You will still be able to raid, catch, and upgrade the other Legendary. The research will just give you candy for the Legendary you pick, as well as enough energy to upgrade it right off the bat.

That being said, if you can only prioritize one, should you pick Zacian or Zamazenta?

Based on meta, Crowned Sword Zacian seems to be the all-rounder choice. According to PvPoke, it’s the best candidate in Master League PvP (with Crowned Shield Zamazenta coming second), and it’s the #7 top raid attacker according to the Pokémon Go Database (with Zamazenta at #14 — which is still pretty good).

When you look a bit closer, Crowned Sword Zacian is the #2 attacker in both its types (fairy and steel) and Crowned Shield Zamazenta is the #1 steel-type attacker. However, Crowned Shield Zamazenta gets outclassed as a fighting-type attacker by many other things, making it not a worthwhile investment as that specific type.

Each of them also has their own Adventure Effect:

Crowned Sword Zacian knows Behemoth Blade, which strengthens your Pokémon’s attacks in raids and Max Battles for six minutes.Crowned Shield Zamazenta knows Behemoth Bash, which strengthens your Pokémon’s defense in raids and Max Battles for six minutes.

These buffs are a bit expensive to use (5,000 Stardust and five Zacian or Zamazenta Candy per six minutes), but Zacian can help make the difference if you come up close on soloing certain raids.

That being said, Zacian is more of an all-rounder and mayhaps the “better” pick among the two, but even so, you should pick with your heart. Do you think Zamazenta is the cuter dog of the two? Then pick that one! Did you play Pokémon Sword so you have an allegiance to Zacian? That’s a good enough reason for me! Pick with your heart.

As usual, don’t stress too much about your choice. Just pick the one you want.

Did you finish that already? There’s still more to do for Pokémon Go Fest 2025. Check out our rotating habitat schedule guide to see when you can find certain critters.

We also have tons of guides for everything Zacian and Zamazenta, including raid guides for the both of them, an explainer on how their Crowned forms work, and a list of free codes to score extra Crown Energy. We also have an explainer for the Volcanion Special Research, which you’ll have if you bought the Go Fest 2025 ticket.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

Helldivers 2 launched in February 2024 to critical acclaim, winning a multitude of awards, including Best Ongoing Game and Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards. Aside from some server issues resulting from the sheer number of players attempting to access the game, Helldivers 2 launched without a hitch… until May 2024, when it was announced that, going forward, PC players accessing the game via Steam would be required to create a PlayStation Network account.

The backlash was swift and intense, with the game’s Steam user score dropping dramatically as PC users aired their frustrations. Two days after the announcement, Sony backtracked, announcing that it would not be moving forward with the mandated PSN account-linking. By May 11, Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilstedt was teasing a “review bomb cape” cosmetic on Twitter (formally X), and now — 417 days after the PSN controversy — the review bomb cape is finally here.

“In honor of their unquestioning commitment to the defense of Managed Democracy, the Helldivers have been awarded a commemorative cape,” developer Arrowhead Game Studios shared on social media. “The new uniform piece will be available in all Super Destroyer Armories as soon as the rollout is complete.”

The cape — which is named “Pillars of Freedom” — is available to all players (both on PlayStation and Windows PC). It features a design depicting the game’s Steam user review score graph in the wake of the controversy, with long red lines representing the thousands of negative reviews the game received in the wake of the initial announcement that PSN account-linking would be a requirement.

Arrowhead did note that it may take “some time for the item to arrive” in players’ inboxes.

Although the account-linking controversy upset both players and Arrowhead devs, players ultimately got their happy ending — and a free cape!

From Polygon via this RSS feed

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced plans to send $126 million in refunds to 969,173 Fortnite players who say they were charged for unwanted in-game items, like cosmetic skins. The consumer protection agency is also reopening the claims process, allowing additional players affected by the issue to file claims of their own.

The refunds and reopening of the claims process is a result of a 2022 lawsuit against Epic Games. The Fortnite developer agreed to pay $245 million in a settlement after the FTC claimed that Epic had used “deceptive practices” to bamboozle players into making unwanted purchases.

“Epic Games, the company responsible for Fortnite, agreed to pay money to settle FTC allegations related to in-game purchases,” reads a statement on the FTC’s website. “According to the FTC, the company unlawfully charged players for unwanted purchases, let children rack up unauthorized charges without their parents’ permission, and blocked some users who disputed wrongful charges from accessing their purchased content. The settlement also requires the company to get positive consent before charging users, and banned it from locking players out of their accounts for disputing unauthorized charges.”

Players must be 18 years of age to file a claim, but underage players can have their parents file a claim on their behalf. Refund eligibility applies to any players who were charged in-game currency for unwanted items between January 2017 and September 2022, had a child make charges to their credit card without their knowledge between January 2017 and November 2018, or had their account locked between January 2017 and September 2022 after disputing wrongful charges with their bank or credit card company.

Players can choose to receive their payment via a check (which must be cashed within 90 days) or a PayPal deposit (which must be redeemed within 30 days).

This isn’t the first round of refunds Epic has had to pay out in relation to the Fortnite settlement. The FTC first issued refunds in December 2024, paying out a total of $72 million to 629,344 Fortnite players. In total, nearly 1.6 million players have received refunds as a result of the settlement, and the number is likely to rise now that the claims process has been reopened.

Fortnite players who wish to file a claim now have until July 9 to do so via the FTC’s official website.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

Nautilus, which premieres on AMC on June 29, tells the origin story of Captain Nemo from Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, portraying him as an Indian prince seeking to use the eponymous submarine to get vengeance against the British East India Company. While the series has elements of the fantastical, it’s rooted in history that showrunner James Dormer (Medici, Beowulf: Return to the Shadowlands) got to experience firsthand while working as a low-ranking British diplomat in New Delhi at the time India was celebrating 50 years of independence.

“We brought out the royal yacht and the Queen came and I organized a small film festival and the headline in the newspapers at the time was ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ which wasn’t what we were looking for,” he told Polygon in a Zoom interview. “Quite often people from the high commission would be pulled into Bollywood movies to play nasty East India Company villains.”

That same villainy is on display in Nautilus, which opens with Nemo (Shazad Latif), French engineer Gustave Benoit (Thierry Frémont), and many other captives from around the world forced to work on the Nautilus, which the East India Company hopes to use against China. Nemo, Gustave, and their allies steal the vessel and are pursued by the company’s most advanced battleship over the course of the 10-episode season.

“[Executive producer Xaviier Marchand] brought [Nautilus] to me as a pitch, and I just fell in love with the idea,” Dormer said. “My kids are half Bangladeshi, so it was a kind of a story that wasn’t too dark that they couldn’t watch it. It was really interesting to be able to look at that world through the eyes of an Indian hero.”

Dormer admits it was tricky to produce a family-friendly story about the British Raj, combining scenes of child labor and displays of racism with classic pulp antics like a little dog and a kid who are constantly getting in trouble.

“We do go to some quite dark places looking at what the British did,” Dormer said. “It’s not like you’re doing Indiana Jones where there’s a white hero running around stealing people’s relics. You’re telling a story from the point of view of people who have been oppressed. You have to feel the weight of that on them sometimes.”

While Dormer had watched Disney’s 1954 adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, he hadn’t read Verne’s novel until he was tapped for the show. He was surprised by how topical it was, dealing with oppression and environmentalism – a subject Dormer brings to Nautilus in the second episode when the crew saves a pod of whales. He tried to keep to the spirit of Verne’s work while adding more action.

“There was also a lot about mollusks, which isn’t inherently dramatic, so we had some license to pimp it up,” Dormer said. “With Nemo, I wanted to hold on to the darkness of his character, which is obviously harder when you’re telling a long-form story because you can’t have a character that’s just bitter the whole way through. You have to take him on a journey. Shazad was amazing. No matter how bad the lines I threw at him were, he was able to make them resonate and feel real.”

Dormer was thrilled to have the budget to live up to his ambitions for the series, which is packed with sea monsters and naval battles.

“There was a scene we wrote where Nemo jumps onto a whale, and then there’s another ship that gets broken in half,” he said. “I write that stuff assuming that it’s then going to get cut back and they’re going to end up in a little rowing boat or something. But with this show, it was like, ‘let’s do that, and can we actually do it bigger.’ It was really liberating. I feel we just sneaked in at the end of peak TV. 700-odd people worked to build huge sets and there was a manual for how the Nautilus worked that someone put together. I feel very privileged to have been a part of it.”

The first two episodes of Nautilus premiere on AMC and AMC Plus on June 29. New episodes will be released weekly on Sundays.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

Magic: The Gathering is gearing up for yet another collaboration, this time with Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog in a trio of Secret Lair one-off, limited edition card sets.

Unlike the previous Final Fantasy collab, a wide release crossover with four pre-built Commander decks and an entire set of cards sold in randomized packs, the Sonic collection will be limited to three Secret Lair releases, which are timed releases for specific and rare cards. The Secret Lair either includes new versions of iconic Magic: The Gathering cards, with art tied to a specific collaboration, or entirely new cards, and Sonic got both of these.

The first Secret Lair x Sonic: Friends & Foes collection includes seven new cards: Sonic, Super State, Shadow the Hedgehog, Miles “Tails” Prower, Dr. Eggman, Knuckles the Echidna, and Amy Rose.

Secret Lair x Sonic: Friends & Foes

Meanwhile, Sonic: Chasing Adventure and Sonic: Turbo Gear, two previously existing collections, will receive new artwork, which can be seen below.

Secret Lair x Sonic: Chasing Adventure

Magic: The Gathering is giving some of its classic artifacts a Sonic-themed makeover with Turbo Gear. These cards are also made to work well with the Secret Lair x Sonic: Friends & Foes set, like teaming up Knuckles with The Reaver Cleaver to turn it into “Knuckles’s Gloves” for an unexpected combo.

Secret Lair x Sonic: Turbo Gear

All three “Secret Lair x Sonic the Hedgehog” drops will be available in both regular ($29.99) and foil ($39.99) versions on Magic Secret Lair starting at 9 a.m. PT on July 14.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

Semiwork Studios is delivering the first major patch for REPO, bringing even more content to players with the new Museum Update on Thursday, June 26.

A new map called the Museum of Human Art headlines the latest patch, v0.2.0, for players to retrieve and extract profitable artifacts in this cooperative operation — see what I did there?

Semiwork Studios released an eerie trailer to commemorate the massive update, showcasing the new map, valuables, expressions, emotes, public matchmaking, and more comical multiplayer shenanigans. A new feature called Moon Phases is also seen in the teaser, which increases the difficulty every five levels for those who want a deadlier experience. Players can check out the active moons in the escape menu.

Additionally, the update adds several new upgrades and items to help you get rich or die tryin’, such as the Photon Blaster, Pulse Pistol, Boltzap, Tumble Wings, Crouch Wings, and more. A much-needed revamped battery UI has been included in the patch to accurately represent every stock on the battery, showing the exact usage, and the extraction points now feature a warning graphic alerting the player which valuables and artifacts are at risk of being destroyed.

Along with these great additions to the REPO experience, Semiwork Studios addressed various bugs with enemies, weapons, UI, and even security vulnerabilities to combat hacking.

Check out the full list of patch notes here.

REPO is available on PC now.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

Resident Evil Requiem will be a game that “pushes the Resident Evil series forward,” says its director, as Capcom focuses on the concept of “addictive fear” for next year’s survival horror game. And if you believe the people making Resident Evil Requiem, a superhero protagonist and clear fan favorite like Leon S. Kennedy is just not a good fit for that kind of experience.

But whether that actually disqualifies Leon from appearing in Resident Evil Requiem remains to be seen. Capcom hasn’t quite ruled out the former Raccoon City police department rookie from showing up in the game, or even being playable.

Resident Evil Requiem’s only confirmed playable character thus far is Grace Ashcroft, an intelligence analyst for the FBI who is investigating her mother’s death — an incident which might just be related to the events of 2003’s Resident Evil Outbreak.

Unlike many other Resident Evil stars, Grace is not a superhero, says Requiem producer Masachika Kawata in a video featuring the game’s creative leads. She’s “more like a typical horror game protagonist,” overcoming challenges “with her wit and ingenuity,” but can fall back on her FBI training. “She can handle action and firearms, especially as she’s an FBI agent,” Kawata said, “but her movements can be timid or hesitant.”

Game director Koshi Nakanishi says that Grace is “introverted and easily scared,” so that she experiences the game’s horrors “from the same perspective as the player,” but is also able to act with “calm deductive reasoning.”

Nakanishi also addressed the elephant in the room, as Resident Evil returns to Raccoon City. Where’s Leon?

“We always thought about making Leon the protagonist,” Nakanishi says, “but making a horror game based around him is difficult. He wouldn’t jump at something like a bucket falling. No one wants to see Leon scared by every little thing. So he’s actually quite a bad match for horror.”

Hmm.

Capcom’s coyness around the potential of Leon appearing Resident Evil Requiem is, of course, the smart play. The publisher-developer can’t reveal everything out of the gate, but if Mr. Kennedy doesn’t appear in some capacity — say, the way Chris Redfield did in the Ethan Winters-starring Resident Evil 7 biohazard and Resident Evil Village — that would be a big surprise. This is Leon’s town, after all, and Requiem’s creators are talking a lot about balancing the concepts of action and horror in their next game, which they are trying to accomplish by offering both first-person and third-person perspectives.

Personally, I’m betting on an older (Leon would be in his 50s at this point of the RE timeline) and wiser Mr. Kennedy showing up at some point. It seems many hopeful fans are too. And we’ll know for sure soon enough. Resident Evil Requiem is slated for release on Feb. 27, 2026, on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

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Pragmata, Capcom’s long-long-delayed sci-fi action game, blew us away at this year’s Summer Game Fest. A clever mix of quick-turn puzzles and shooter action, the PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X game is poised to be one of the big releases of 2026 (if Capcom can actually get it wrap it up on time after all these years).

But since the first-look footage and gameplay reports out of SGF, a few creative thinkers have wondered if there’s more under the surface of the game than Capcom is letting on. Mainly, that it’s a secret Mega Man game.

Unfortunately, during a Spotlight showcase on Thursday, Capcom did little to confirm or deny the theories. If Pragmata’s young robo-protagonist Diana is secretly connected to Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, and all the nonsense first introduced in the NES Mega Man from 1987, the studio is staying mum. But we did see plenty of new footage featuring Diana using her blue metal puffy coat (that, in fairness, looks a lot like Mega Man’s arm!) to hack robots for her surrogate dad with a gun, the playable astronaut Hugh.

Theories that Pragmata was Capcom’s AAA attempt at a Mega Man revival took off in forums and conspiracy-tinged YouTube videos shortly after SGF. The evidence at the time was… tenuous. Diana’s design was the big tell, as well as the Mega Man connection to the moon and sentient robot viruses. The early mission of Pragmata finds Diana and Hugh outrunning rogue bots in a lunar base — maybe a Sigma connection? Others wonder if Pragmata’s obligatory evil sci-fi conglomerate that ruined everything, the Delphi Corporation, was a tip off.

“Delphi was the home of the Oracle and was dedicated to Apollo, the god of among other things, medicine and light,” reads one mildly shitposty Reddit speculation thread. “Dr Light.”

Most of the “evidence” for Pragmata as a secret Mega Man game has been met with eye rolls, but you know what, I understand why fans of the side-scroller are holding out hope. Sine 2018, with the release of Mega Man 11, Capcom has offered little clarity on the future of the franchise. There have been mobile games and a fleeting animated turn in Amazon’s Secret Level anthology series, but nothing in the way of an honest-to-goodness new Mega Man game. The Twitch chat on Capcom’s Spotlight stream echoed the desire: Every other comment was “SHOW US MEGA MAN.”

Pragmata arrives in 2026. Is it a secret Mega Man game? Probably not. But as of the Thursday stream, there is also no new officially announced Mega Man currently in development at Capcom. So don’t blame the dreamers.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

The daily reset time in Persona 5: The Phantom X is when your dailies refresh, allowing you to complete daily goals and collect rewards.

If you’re playing on the global server, the daily reset time happens at the same time every day, but the time of day will be different depending on your time zone. It could happen in the early morning or late at night, but you’ll always have 24 hours to complete your daily missions and collect your rewards.

Here’s when the daily and weekly resets occur in Persona 5: The Phantom X, and what refreshes at reset.

Daily reset time in Persona 5: The Phantom X

For the global Persona 5: The Phantom X server, daily reset happens at the following times:

1 p.m. PDT for the west coast of North America4 p.m. EDT for the east coast of North America5 p.m. BRT for Brazil9 p.m. BST for the U.K.10 p.m. CEST for western Europe/Paris5 a.m. JST for Japan/Tokyo6 a.m. AEST for Australia/Sydney

After this time, you’ll receive new daily goals, login rewards, and five action points.

Weekly reset time in Persona 5: The Phantom X

For the global Persona 5: The Phantom X server, weekly reset happens at the following time on Sunday:

1 p.m. PDT for the west coast of North America4 p.m. EDT for the east coast of North America5 p.m. BRT for Brazil9 p.m. BST for the U.K.10 p.m. CEST for western Europe/Paris5 a.m. JST on Monday for Japan/Tokyo6 a.m. AEST on Monday for Australia/Sydney

After the weekly reset, you’ll receive new weekly goals to complete. However, your weekly goals are separate from the weekly supply sets that are also found in the Phantom Pass menu.

Weekly supply set reset time in Persona 5: The Phantom X

The weekly supply sets will refresh at the following times on Monday:

1 a.m. PDT for the west coast of North America4 a.m. EDT for the east coast of North America5 a.m. BRT for Brazil9 a.m. BST for the U.K.10 a.m. CEST for western Europe/Paris5 p.m. JSTfor Japan/Tokyo6 p.m. AEST for Australia/Sydney

The weekly supply set is a reward that you’ll receive every week, and your rewards will depend on how many daily goal rewards you completed during the previous week. If you complete more daily goals, you’ll receive more rewards from the weekly supplies.

Below, we’ve listed out all of the rewards for the weekly supply sets along with the number of daily goals you need to complete:

Daily goals completedRewards0One Gold Ticket, one Coffee Aid, one MaraThon Energy, and 10,000 money4One Gold Ticket, one Coffee Aid, and every reward listed above8One MaraThon Energy, 10,000 money, two random gift sets, and every reward listed above

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Nintendo has revealed what will be the first post-launch addition to the GameCube library on the Switch 2: knockabout soccer title Super Mario Strikers, coming next week.

Super Mario Strikers joins Soulcalibur 2, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and F-Zero GX on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service on Thursday, July 3. Like all GameCube games on Nintendo Switch Online, it’s exclusive to Switch 2.

First released in 2005, Super Mario Strikers aimed to do for soccer games what Smash Bros. does for fighting games or Mario Kart for racing games — introduce an anarchic, cartoon gameplay style, power-up items, and an all-star cast of Mario characters. (Just to emphasize the connection, its original title in Europe and Australia was Mario Smash Football.)

While it wasn’t a massive hit on the scale of those other games, it’s a fun little sports title, especially in local multiplayer. It plays fast and loose with the rules of the sport, with shoving players out of possession fully allowed, and Super Strikes that score two goals at once.

Super Mario Strikers was one of seven titles Nintendo highlighted as future additions to the Switch 2 GameCube library when it was announced. The others, presumably arriving in the coming months, are Super Mario Sunshine, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Chibi-Robo!, Luigi’s Mansion, and Pokémon Colosseum.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

League of Legends and Valorant developer Riot Games is endorsing and embracing the spread of sports betting in its esports competitions, the company announced Thursday. In a change announced by president of publishing an esports at Riot Games John Needham, Riot will allow esports gambling sponsorships for Tear 1 League of Legends and Valorant teams in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

Riot says it’s doing so for a variety of reasons — one being that esports betting already exists across its competitive games, and according to Needham, “70% of bets across all sports are placed in unregulated markets with bookmakers who aren’t licensed.”

“We believe it’s better to engage in allowing betting sponsorships — thoughtfully, carefully, and with the right protections — than to sit on the sidelines while risks to fans and integrity go unchecked,” Needham wrote in a post on Riot’s website.

Needham says that League of Legends and Valorant esports teams have pushed for the change in allowing sports betting sponsors “to open up sponsorship opportunities with betting brands to generate additional revenue for their financial health.” Riot will also benefit from the revenue earned from gambling on League and Valorant, but pledges to invest a portion of that money back into its esports programs.

Riot says it will put certain “guardrails” in place. It promises to vet and approve the gambling companies who want to sponsor teams; restrict ads for gambling on official channels; and will bar gambling sponsors from putting their logos on team jerseys.

“The last thing we want to do is disrupt LoL Esports and VCT broadcasts with an influx of sports betting ads,” Needham says. “So we’ve established at the onset that Riot-owned broadcast and social channels will stay betting-free, which means no ads, no sponsored segments from betting partners, and no betting partner logos on team jerseys. It will be up to each team to craft how sports betting related content shows up on their channels within the guidelines of the sponsorship program, content platform ToS, and local regulations.”

Riot says it’s also requiring teams to “create and assess their own Internal Integrity Program” to “ensure competitive integrity, safeguard players and young audiences, and uphold responsible betting practices” — a clear acknowledgement that betting in sports sometimes leads to player misconduct, irresponsible and underage gambling, and other behaviors that damage the integrity of games.

“We know sports betting isn’t for everyone, and that some fans have strong feelings about it, and we respect that,” Needham wrote. “However, the reality is that betting activity already exists around our sports and will continue whether we engage with it or not.”

Sports betting in the U.S., where Riot is headquartered, was illegal at the federal level until 2018. Since then, gambling on professional sports has exploded and been embraced by leagues. Broadcasts of those games are infested with gambling ads, and players say that the rise in legalized sports betting has negatively changed how fans treat them.

The World Health Organization says that gambling can threaten people’s health, leading to “increased incidence of mental illness and suicide” and drive poverty. Around 5.5% of women and 11.9% of men globally experience some level of harm from gambling, the WHO said, citing a 2024 report from The Lancet Public Health Commission. Other studies have shown gambling to be a precipitating factor in deaths by suicide.

Reaction to Riot’s announcement from League and Valorant communities on Reddit appears to be largely negative, with some fans worried about increased toxicity, match fixing, and gambling addiction, especially among younger viewers and players, even as esports sponsorship capital dwindles.

“I hate gambling and how pervasive it is,” wrote one League fan.

“I don’t love it, seeing how online sports betting has quickly become endemic among young men,” said another, “but it was inevitable at this point as the ecosystem really needs increased revenue and barring a direct buy-in price for viewership this is probably the most lucrative way to do so.”

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The “pretend you won” option in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a small, but radical little choice. It pops after you fail a boss fight and lets you skip the encounter entirely with a brief text explainer telling you how things would’ve unfolded if you won. You might get a lower ranking or miss one or two non-essential scenes for choosing this option, but there’s no judgment, no restrictions, no downside to bypassing something frustrating and choosing to engage with the parts of the game you really like. It’s a brilliant, elegantly simple design choice, and I would be far less keen to keep playing Death Stranding 2 without it.

I’m not saying this as someone who hates boss fights in video games or who usually struggles with them, either. I beat Messmer in Shadow of the Erdtree before FromSoftware nerfed him, and I liked it.

I like Death Stranding 2‘s bosses as well, on a conceptual level. They’re evocative encounters made all the more impressive by how Kojima Productions turned mechanically straightforward moments into memorable set pieces. They are basic, though. If you strip away the emotive music, the sound effects, and the unusual influences some of these enemies have over the environment, you’re left with the equivalent of a standard boss fight from any mid-2000s 3D game. A small arena is home to a big boss with maybe three attacks, and you attack it, run away, and repeat. That’s it.

The redeeming feature of Death Stranding 2‘s boss fights is that they’re spectacles with an integral role of the story, not just encounters thrown in as progress checks or to give you something to shoot at. Take the tutorial boss fight, for example — the Giant BT that appears in the middle of Deadman’s recorded message for Sam. Sure, the idea is to teach you how to handle giant enemies, but it’s also another disruptive moment for Sam following a string of unwanted interruptions and emotional turbulence.

His time with Lou is interrupted at the start of the game. The appearance of Beached Things in the region interrupts his trip home. He (sort of) reunites with Deadman, and the arrival of the Giant BT interrupts that as well. You have to wait to hear the rest of Deadman’s message until you deal with the boss, after that message cuts off at a cliffhanger moment. While I appreciate the thematic unity of all the interruptions, I don’t want to replay the same boss battle several times just to see what Deadman had to say.

“Maybe it’s a skill issue,” you say, and sure, fine, I’ll admit it. I’m not the best at correctly timing a dodge after the camera decides to lock onto the sky or when Sam randomly takes ages to recover from a hit and can’t evade an incoming instant-death attack as a result. There’s never enough depth in these fights to make replaying them with a different approach enjoyable, either, and any spectacle wears thin after a while.

And that’s exactly why Death Stranding 2‘s “pretend you won” button is such a good, necessary choice. As enjoyable as some of these battles can be under the right circumstances, this is not a combat game. It’s a vibes game and a story game best played at your own pace. I’m perfectly happy soaking up the atmosphere of a boss fight and appreciating its position in the parade of misery that is Sam Bridges’ life once, maybe twice, before moving on, and thankfully, Kojima Productions respects my time enough to let me go when I’m ready.

From Polygon via this RSS feed

Nintendo has patched Mario Kart World with an apparently small change to the way courses are selected in online lobbies. But the change has infuriated players who were already frustrated with the style of racing in the first open-world Mario Kart game.

In short: By changing the way the “random” option works when voting on the next course to play, Nintendo has made it impossible to guarantee that the next course will be a three-lap circuit race, in traditional Mario Kart style. In doing so, it has pushed players even more firmly toward the unpopular “intermission” races, which feature a cross-country drive to the chosen circuit followed by, usually, a single lap at the destination.

Mario Kart World’s main online mode is ranked online lobbies. They way they work is that, after completing a race, everyone can muck around in free roam for a minute while voting on where to race next. Three options are presented, and they’re all adjacent tracks to the one that’s just been raced — so they’re all options for “intermission races” that include the drive to the next location.

Alternatively, you can pick “random.” If it won the vote, this option would teleport everyone to another circuit somewhere else on the map, where they would participate in a “normal” three-lap race. Prior to the patch, the random option had become overwhelmingly popular due to players’ distaste for intermission races, which tend to involve more straight-line driving along freeways, dealing with hazards, and less technical cornering.

Post-patch, the random option can pick from the three offered “intermission” races as well as teleporting players somewhere else — and seems weighted to pick the intermission races quite often. There’s no longer a way for players to vote for a guaranteed three-lap circuit.

Polygon has asked Nintendo for comment on the reasoning behind this change. But it certainly seems as though Nintendo, in defiance of players’ wishes, is doubling down on the way the developers want Mario Kart World be played, with players progressing organically from point to point around the world map.

Nintendo is so committed to this playstyle that you can easily play Mario Kart World for dozens of hours without ever encountering three-lap versions of many of the tracks. (You can choose them as an option when setting up Vs. mode races, and when racing in friends-only lobbies.) And now the developer has made it even rarer to encounter this kind of race online.

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In almost every way, Sam Bridges from Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and its predecessor is the purest archetype of a video game character. He’s a stoic white dude with a gravelly voice. He’s a man of few words and determined action with strong feelings he buries deep. He’s got dark hair and stubble. He’s got a normal, dependable, single-syllable first name and a thematically appropriate surname. Like so many modern examples of the form, he’s a dad now. He is Gruff Video Game Man.

Gruff Video Game Man is the cliché who stares grimly out at you from so many boxes, posters, and trailers. He’s Max Payne, he’s Sam Fisher, he’s Marcus Fenix, he’s Joel Last of Us. He’s that guy from the new Call of Duty trailer who’s so bland he’s actually difficult to see; he’s the empty shell you pour yourself into.

He’s also the antithesis of “diverse” — heteronormative, masculine, and super white. He’s the expression of the lack of imagination among game developers, and the small-minded caution of game marketers, that have artificially constrained the demographic reach of video games for decades.

Here’s the thing about Sam Bridges, though. He is also Norman Reedus, an actor and a real human. And once Gruff Video Game man becomes a real person, he ceases to be Gruff Video Game Man at all.

Many actors have played Gruff Video Game Man before. Troy Baker, for example, portrays Joel in The Last of Us games, not only delivering his voice lines but using performance capture technology to express his movements. But Joel doesn’t look like Baker; he isn’t Baker. He’s a designed character, an archetypal ideal that’s been etched out by Naughty Dog’s artists and then filled in by Baker’s performance.

Hideo Kojima, the director of the Death Stranding games, is responsible for perhaps the ultimate Gruff Video Game Man: Solid Snake (or Naked Snake, Big Boss, etc.) from Metal Gear. Tall and rangy, with his trademark headband and the almost parodically grizzled voice of David Hayter, Snake is pure iconography. He’s a great character design, but he’s not really a person.

Kojima has taken a very different approach with Sam Bridges, even though the character is similar on paper. Kojima Productions’ unbeatably good 3D scans and performance capture mean that Sam doesn’t just sound like Reedus, he looks like him and moves like him, and even stands like him. It’s much closer to a filmed performance, where the actor becomes the character rather than puppets them.

And while Reedus — the tough guy from The Walking Dead and The Boondock Saints — is definitely gruff, and white, and all the rest, he’s also him. He has features you’d never design into some common-denominator of hunky manhood, even though he’s unquestionably a hunky man. He’s kind of stocky, with sloping, rolling shoulders and a bullish neck. He’s got an unreadable squint, a downturned mouth, and lank emo hair. His physicality is dense and bulldog-like, but he also has a quietness, a stillness, an interiority that speaks of vulnerability as much as strength. He also has that weird trick that great movie actors have, where the less he does, the more presence he has.

Kojima Productions has successfully captured all of this. That means Sam is much more than the collection of clichés he might appear to be, because he’s a person, with all the individual quirks that go with it. Reedus’ performance and Kojima Productions’ technology can’t make him a deeper character than he’s written — he’s still a pretty simple, stoic, reluctant-hero type. But those elements can, and do, give him humanity.

This trick can work for NPCs as well as player characters — and the scans and performance capture don’t have to be cutting edge, either. Cyberpunk 2077’s Johnny Silverhand is theoretically a pretty corny character, but because he is Keanu Reeves, he’s actually cool. You feel excited to hang out with him. If a likeness and performance have been captured just well enough, it can transform your relationship to a character.

But what Reedus and Kojima Productions have achieved with Sam does more than that — it dignifies a whole game. Maybe it even does the impossible, and dignifies Gruff Video Game Man himself. In an ideal world, he wouldn’t still be so dominant, and we’d have a wider spread of video game protagonists to choose from. And if all of them had the realness and humanity of Sam Bridges/Norman Reedus… just imagine!

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Jonathan Bailey, who catapulted to fame in Bridgerton, wooed musical theater fans everywhere in 2024’s Wicked and this June checks a prerequisite heartthrob box of playing a nerdy paleontologist in Jurassic World Rebirth, will only earn more nerd cred with the release of a new behind-the-scenes look at his dino sequel.

Loyalists and skeptics will likely melt over the just-like-us dorkiness on display in the video titled “Jonathan Bailey Joins the Orchestra,” in which Jonathan Bailey does indeed join the Jurassic World Rebirth orchestra, conducted by two-time Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat.

“I played in an orchestra when I was 18,” Bailey says in the behind-the-scenes video, and making it sound deeply cool that he played in an orchestra when he was 18 despite there being no chance of that being cool whatsoever. “If you could have told me at that age that one day there was an opportunity to play with a 105-piece orchestra at Abbey Road with Alexandre Desplat conducting both the John Williams score and his own original score, I would not quite believe it.”

What could have been a cheap stunt to create a moment of connection between a hot new talent and the 32-year-old score motif Williams’ cooked up for Steven Spielberg’s original film is, unfortunately, packed with clips of Bailey wailing on the clarinet and even picking up a solo from Desplat. Yes, it’s all staged and rigged so Bailey doesn’t look like total poseur but there are certain techniques you can’t fake — I could never blow through a reed the right way in order to actually play a clarinet and so I feel deeply triggered by this video.

As if the 37-year-old actor wasn’t enviable in every way — a movie star who dreams of joining the woodwind section??? — he ends on this note.

“The only thing I would say to young kids is: Find something you love and keep going because you never know when it all comes into alignment like that.”

Folks, he’s running.

Jurassic World Rebirth opens in theaters on July 2.

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The next freebie on the Epic Games Store is not just worth your time — it’ll also respect your time. Sable, an open-world exploration game developed by Shedworks and released in 2021, is free now until July 3 and offers a desert to explore from the air-conditioned confines of your own home.

Sable first caught my attention not through its gameplay, but through its soundtrack. Composed by Japanese Breakfast, Sable’s music is full of extremely chill and calming bops, making it the perfect music for writing. After listening to it too many times to count and buying it on vinyl, I figured at some point I needed to check out the game behind the music and dove into Sable myself. What I found is an open world, exploration-focused journey that allows you to enjoy it for as long or as little as you want.

You play as Sable, a young woman who leaves her village to search for and discover what type of life she wants to live. Those answers come in the form of masks. Everyone in the desert world of Sable wears a mask, and those masks exemplify what a person does; some of the masks Sable can acquire include the cartographer’s mask, the machinist’s mask, and the guard’s mask. While the majority of the masks are purely cosmetic, they’re so much more important than just a new style of headgear for Sable; they represent the possible paths her life may take her.

Exploration is the main draw of Sable, and exploring its world rewards you with some of the more fun masks. You’ll find the sandwyrm mask after trudging through the dead husk of a sandwyrm, like you’re Boba Fett taking an afternoon stroll through the Sarlacc pit (except Sable doesn’t have to worry about being swallowed and digested). The orange dome of the whale ship mask is earned through exploring the hulls and wreckages of spaceships scattered around the world of Sable. While climbing rocks and canyons is fun, nothing beats wandering about a derelict ship, making those exploration sections some of my favorites. The game relies on environmental storytelling, not explicitly stating to whom those spaceships belonged or what happened to their people, though audio recordings found deep within the ships offer hints.

Sable grants you the freedom to explore at your own pace. You’ll spend most of the game flying about on Sable’s customizable glider, and the pastel colors and excellent shading of the planet will make you feel like you’re in a comic illustrated by Moebius. The visuals, working in conjunction with the game’s music, offer Sable and its world a personality that many open-world games — and their same-same forests or cities — don’t have.

Perhaps what makes Sable so inviting is its ability to offer you a conclusion at any time. Once Sable has acquired a mask, you can return to her village and initiate the conclusion to her story. Maybe you want her to be a merchant, one of the easier masks to obtain early on, and are ready to leave the world of Sable. Or maybe you want to collect every mask Sable has to offer.

There are some puzzles to solve and standard video game quests to complete, but the bulk of Sable — and the bulk of its appeal — is about enjoying the little moments that comprise its player-guided journey. The game respects your time and will allow you to finish it when you want, meaning you can snag it for free without consigning it to join your ever-growing backlog.

Sable is available for PS5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

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Some roles are a stretch. Other are more like a leap of faith.

Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* is headed to digital and Blu-ray, and Polygon has exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of Florence Pugh gearing up for her death-defying stunt. The charming, never-before-seen clip shows Pugh working through nerves and anxiousness as she prepares to take her tower leap from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s Merdeka 118 — the second-tallest building on the planet, alongside the production crew behind the anti-hero-centric film.

Director Jake Schreier recently explained in a featurette called “The Jump” that the stunt was incorporated into the film’s opening sequence to give the “movie more weight and a little bit more surprise…to up the stakes.”

Pugh’s behind-the-scenes confessions add to Schreier’s admission, humanizing the cinematic stunt, explaining that they took the jump “really, obviously, unbelievably, seriously,” and it was admittedly scary. However, there was magic in the light and the “sensation of being caught.”

The behind-the-scenes clip also takes a moment to honor the real MVPs of Marvel’s gargantuan successes: the film crew. Shots of various stunt riggers, coordinators, production designers, and managers are shown working hard to ensure that Florence Pugh is safely secured before, during, and after her stunt.

Along with the featurette “Around the World and Back Again,” the Thunderbolts* digital and Blu-ray releases will include deleted scenes, a deep dive into Sentry’s character, additional commentary from Schreier and the rest of the cast, and even a blooper reel.

Marvel Studios will release Thunderbolts* on digital on July 1 and 4K/Blu-ray on July 29.

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