The upcoming Netflix film Enola Holmes, which is based on the book series by Nancy Springer, is being sued by the Conan Doyle Estate for copyright infringement and trademark violations.
The movie, which stars Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown as Sherlock Holmes' adventurous sister Enola, is not a part of official Sherlock Holmes canon though it does feature the character of Sherlock Holmes, here played by The Witcher and DCEU's Henry Cavill. The lawsuit targets Netflix, Legendary Pictures, Penguin Random House and others, including author Nancy Springer, according to THR.
In 2014, it was ruled that all the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories written before 1923 were public domain, so the Conan Doyle Estate only has a claim to the last 10 original stories written between 1923 and 1927.
Here's where it gets interesting though. The lawsuit "alleges that the difference between the public domain stories and the copyrighted ones is emotions." Meaning, the stories the Estate owns are the later stories where Sherlock Holmes actually shows emotion. After losing both his son and brother, Sherlock Holmes became "warmer" in the final stories.
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Does this mean that any project that features a more emotional and warm Sherlock Holmes would violate a copyright? Can an estate lay claim to a character's emotions? This would mean that any Sherlock Holmes that isn't cold and unemotional would be in violation. The complaint states that Henry Cavill's Sherlock, in the film, is based on character traits that are owned by the Estate.
In 2015, the Estate sued Miramax over Mr. Holmes and that case was eventually settled, though that lawsuit was regarding the movie dealing with Sherlock Holmes' retirement, which is only part of his final stories.
Enola Holmes, which is due on Netflix in September, also stars Sam Claflin as Mycroft Holmes and Helena Bonham Carter as matriarch Eudoria Holmes.
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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
The world’s first high-powered wireless taxis will roll out in the Norwegian capital of Oslo in 2024, with the support of Jaguar Land Rover. The project, named ElectriCity, also involves Nordic taxi firm Cabonline, Norway’s largest charge point opera...
If there's one place to hold a memorial for the esteemed Sir Ian Holm, it's in Middle-earth itself--albeit the online version. Lord Of The Rings Online players across multiple servers celebrated the life of an actor most known within the fandom as playing Bilbo Baggins in the LOTR films, but who also lent his voice to Frodo in the 1981 BBC radio play of the same story.
After the news that Holm had passed away on June 19 at the age of 88, around 300 players on the Evernight server marched to Rivendell to visit the Bilbo Baggins NPC in the Last Homely House in Rivendell, while the song Far Over The Misty Mountains Cold played as an homage to his first ever adventure.
The roleplay server Laurelin had players gather at Bilbo's home, Bag End, where a dwarven minstrel played music for the crowd of mourners.
The writers of the police comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine have thrown out four episodes that were written for its upcoming eighth season due to the ongoing political unrest in the world regarding police.
Actor Terry Crews told Access Online, "Our showrunner Dan Goor ... they had four episodes all ready to go and they just threw them in the trash. We have to start over. Right now we don't know which direction it's going to go in," he said.
China’s own global navigation system is now complete. Today, the country launched the last of the satellites that comprise its Beidou Navigation Satellite System, CNBC reports. Beidou has long been seen as an alternative to the US government-owned Gl...
Apple TV+ is one of several new streaming platforms to launch over the past year, alongside HBO Max, Peacock, and Disney+. The service has now released an early trailer for one its big upcoming original shows, the sci-fi series Foundation.
The show is based on the novel series of the same name by Isaac Asimov, the legendary sci-fi author also known for writing I, Robot. The story focuses on the institute of the title, run by a "psychohistorian" known as Hari Seldon, and an attempt to save the Galactic Empire from destruction. The trailer itself looks incredibly impressive, with an epic scale, lavish visual effects, and an intense performance from Jared Harris as Seldon. Check it out below:
Foundation also stars Lee Pace, Lou Llobell, Laura Birn, and Terrence Mann. The showrunner is David S. Goyer, the veteran DC screenwriter whose credits include Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the show Krypton. Foundation arrives sometime in 2021.
While the final battle in Avengers: Endgame utilized just about every superhero the MCU could muster, pitting them all against the dark forces of 2014 Thanos in an attempt to stop the Mad Titan from rebooting the entire universe, it didn't bring back everyone.
Yes, as wildly successful as the MCU is, over its decade of dominance at the multiplex, not every storyline has paid off. Some characters who were important early on returned to play very important roles in later films (General Ross, Happy Hogan, Frigga, etc.) but some have all-but vanished from the long-running saga completely (Sif, Emil Blonsky, Justin Hammer, and more).
The following list doesn't just spotlight the heroes who took a powder during humanity's last clash against Thanos, but also some of villains still lingering out there in the MCU who may have had a vested interest in saving the world they hoped to one day conquer and/or control. From SHIELD agents and shapeshifters to Asgardians and Abominations, here are some notable MCU players who didn't bother to portal in for the The Battle of Earth.
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Sharon Carter
Last seen kissing Cap goodbye in Civil War, ex-SHIELD agent Sharon Carter, formerly Agent 13, was apparently one of the poor souls erased from existence after Thanos' snap. When Bruce Banner effectively reversed the snap in Endgame, however, Peggy Carter's niece was not among the army of heroes who appeared at the eleventh hour to back up Cap in his final stand against the Black Order.
Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne
Scott Lang, who was neatly tucked away in the Quantum Realm during the Snap, was a huge part of the Battle of Earth. Likewise, Hope van Dyne arrived in the nick of time too, as Wasp, to help defeat Thanos when she was brought back into reality. But Hank and Janet, original Ant-Man and Wasp, were left out of the mix despite having vanished with Hope at the exact same time and place. Maybe there just weren't enough suits to go around.
Nakia
Lupita Nyong'o's Nakia was one of the more noticeably absent faces from the final act of Endgame since other major Black Panther characters like King T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye, and M'Baku were all there in the end, helping rescue all of existence from the dire, dark fate being utterly erased.
Everett Ross
Civil War and Black Panther's CIA agent Everett Ross, despite having helped save Wakanda from being overthrown by Erik Killmonger, wasn't around for the final moments of Endgame to help save the universe from being overthrown by the vast void of nothingness.
Ava Starr/Ghost
When we last saw the swiftly deteriorating Ava Starr -- aka Ghost -- she had been momentarily healed by Janet van Dyne's quantum energy and was seemingly on the road to wellness. But Hank, Janet, and Hope were all erased in the Snap while in the midst of trying to harness more energy for Ava's treatment. So we don't know what Ghost's status is, necessarily. But her phasing ability would have come in super handy against the ravaging forces of Thanos' minions.
Bill Foster
A surrogate father to Ava, Hank's ex-partner, Bill Foster, would never leave her side, even in the most desperate of times. But having been the pioneer of growth technology, and the original Goliath, Bill would have made an awesome tag team partner for Scott as a fellow towering titan in the struggle to save all living things from being wiped out.
Lady Sif
In the movies, Jaimie Alexander's Sif went AWOL after Thor: The Dark World, but she has also appeared on two episodes of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, letting viewers know that Sif was capable of carrying on her own solo adventures. In fact, that's probably where she was during Thor: Ragnarok, when her entire homeward was obliterated. Just... somewhere else. So "off crusading, be back later" is probably also the explanation for her not helping out in Endgame.
Talos
Honestly, who's to say Talos wasn't a part of the big push at the close of Endgame? He can take anybody's form. He could have been there impersonating someone. Heck, he could have been Nick Fury at Tony's funeral since that's who we know he started morphing into after the Snap was reversed. So maybe we give Talos and the other Skrulls the benefit of the doubt.
Nick Fury and Maria Hill
Speaking of Skrulls assuming people's identities: Where were Nick and Maria? Do they only do funerals now? Or was that Talos and Soren as Fury and Hill, way in the back mourning Tony? Post-Endgame, we know Fury went into space and Maria apparently went off the grid, but that doesn't excuse them for missing out on the fun of whooping past-Thanos' giant purple butt.
Karl Mordo
Post-Doctor Strange, Mordo felt betrayed by the Ancient One and Strange and set off to rid the world of sorcerers who misused their magic. Still, you'd think the guy who helped Strange fend off Dormammu and the Dark Dimension would pick up a staff and help Wong and his sorcerers battle Thanos' avalanche of Outriders.
Emil Blonsky/The Abomination
The "Abomination formerly known as Emil Blonsky" hasn't been seen since The Incredible Hulk, but thanks to the Marvel One-Shot "The Consultant" (which takes place after Iron Man 2 and Thor) we know the World Security Council wanted to free him and say he was a hero who was defending himself against Hulk so that he could be a part of The Avengers. And then Marvel's Agents of SHIELD let us know Blonsky was being held in an Alaskan cry-cell called The Vault. Anyhow, he's still out there and could have been pretty useful in the giant war against the Dark Order.
Stakar Ogord's Team
The O.G. Ravager team -- consisting of Stakar Ogord, Aleta Ogord, Charlie-27, Mainframe, and Krugarr (and at one point, Yondu) -- was introduced to fans in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, basically revealing themselves to be an earlier version of the Guardians, resembling even the Guardians' mismatched family dynamic. They were M.I.A. from the fight against Thanos, however, possibly being too far away to reach Earth in time to join the fray.
Justin Hammer
As the quasi-hapless mastermind behind most of Tony Stark's troubles in Iron Man 2, tech-lord Justin Hammer has probably been sitting in prison since Ivan Vanko's assault on the Stark Expo. Regardless, Hammer and his Hammertech, as faulty as it could be, would have come in handy in the struggle to save the cosmos.
The Real Mandarin
Iron Man 3 revealed that A.I.M.'s Aldrich Killian had manufactured a fake terrorist called The Mandarin in order to cover up his explosive Extremis accidents. But then the Marvel One-Shot "All Hail the King" saw actor Trevor Slattery, who played Killian's Mandarin, being busted out of prison by the forces of the real Mandarin, a mythical crime lord. This shadowy figure, who will make an appearance for the first time in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, is definitely out there. Yes, we understand why he'd usually want to remain in the background, as a hard-to-believe legend, but if there was ever a time to drop the curtain on your act, it's when Thanos was, once again, threatening to end everyone's existence.
Any Remaining Nova Corps Members
We were told, rather quickly, in Avengers: Infinity War, that Xandar had been completely destroyed during Thanos' push to get the Power Stone. We assume the Nova Empire was eviscerated along with its home planet, but that might not be the case. Maybe there are some straggling members of Nova Corps out there. And maybe it would have behooved them to get their butts to Earth so that they could help defeat the a-hole who nuked their world.
Anyone From Marvel TV
Obviously, this one's a long shot. When Marvel TV started up, the shows were directly connected to the MCU. Agents of SHIELD was drastically affected by the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier and the Marvel Netflix shows directly referenced the attack on New York from The Avengers. But as the years went on, it was clear this was a one-way street. Marvel movies never referenced the TV shows. And when the time came for Phil Coulson and his TV team to possibly enter the fight at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the movie just used Nick Fury and some random agents to fill the void. After a few years, there was barely a connection between the movies and the TV shows at all. So sorry, no Defenders defending the universe from cosmic creatures.
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Who did we miss? What other no-shows were there in Endgame? Let's discuss in the comments!
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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
It’s no secret that President Trump’s Tulsa rally on June 20th had attendance far short of his campaign’s expectations, but that might have been due in part to a relatively new force in politics: internet-savvy teens. As the New York Times and Vultur...
Stitching a patient back together after surgery is a vital but monotonous task for medics, often requiring them to repeat the same simple movements over and over hundreds of times. But thanks to a collaborative effort between Intel and the University...
This kind of loud snacking may not bother you in the future. (microsoft/)
When social distancing started, video calling quickly stumbled into its role as a fundamental method of interpersonal communication. The tool is not the same as meeting in-person, but simply seeing other faces made typical audio-only conference calls feel hopelessly antiquated. Now, however, after months of distance, video calling’s novelty has faded and the annoying quirks have become more apparent. A barking dog in the background isn’t as cute as it once was, and anyone who eats from a crinkly bag during a brainstorm without muting their mic should go into one of those mega-jails where the Avengers house super villains.
Now, however, companies such as Microsoft and Google are ramping up AI-powered efforts to cancel out annoying background noise during video calls. In fact, Google just started rolling out its noise-canceling feature to some G Suite corporate customers and it will make its way to more users in coming months.
This week, Google gave Venture Beat a demo of the noise-cancelling tech it’s starting to implement. The demonstration is impressive. The presenter, G Suite director of product management, Serge Lachapella, runs through a variety of different sounds, including hand-clapping, bag crinkling, and even hitting a glass cup with a metal hex key. When he turns the noise-cancellation on, the quality of his voice sounds slightly muffled, but clears up after a few moments. More importantly, however, the distracting sounds almost completely disappear.
Lachapella is using a Blue Yeti microphone, which is a fairly common piece of kit for podcasters and streamers, but it’s not the hardware that’s pulling off the magic. Instead, Google relies on an cloud-based AI algorithm that analyzes the audio and pries out the unpleasant distractions while leaving your words.
That’s different from when we typically use the phrase “noise-canceling” in headphone terms. In that case, headphones create sound waves that physically cancel out noise as it tries to get to your ear. In Google’s case—and other companies trying the same thing—a bot is analyzing the audio and stripping the noise from the signal before transmitting it to your headphones or speakers.
Google is no stranger to speech recognition. The Google Assistant has been listening to and parsing words for years now, and just last year, the company introduced its surprisingly accurate Live Transcription function, which reproduces conversations in plain text in real time. Google leveraged that technology with its new AI. With noise-cancellation, the computing takes place in the cloud rather than on the user’s device so it doesn’t tax the local processor even more than a resource-intensive video call would.
The feature will be on by default when it goes out to users, which means you may one day notice that background sounds are gone. You’ll be able to go into the settings and switch it off if you prefer the unfiltered audio. There may be some instances where you’d want to. For instance, singing will likely make it through the filter, while background music may not.
Google isn’t the only company working on trying to clean up video calling audio. Back in April, Microsoft demonstrated a similar technology intended for its Teams video chat functionality. It uses a similar concept: analyzing audio and filtering out sounds that it doesn’t recognize as talking.
Like Google’s plan, Microsoft’s noise suppression will roll out in coming months.
As with most AI-powered technology, both companies expect that their systems will get better at identifying unwanted noise over time. Given wider data sets and more time to learn what it should and shouldn’t filter out will ultimately make it more effective. That’s good, because your chip-snarfing co-workers probably don’t plan on switching to quieter snacks any time soon.
Aside from big-name titles like Horizon and Resident Evil, Sony has also showcased a charming indie game with Pixar-like visuals at the Future of Gaming PS5 event. Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a story-driven action adventure by a small developer called...
Four years ago, a few GIFs and video clips featuring a mysterious game surfaced online. They depicted a cat wandering around a futuristic take on Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, but details were nonexistent. Dubbed HK Project, the title resurfaced...
The 1939 classic Gone With the Wind has been removed from HBO Max following an op-ed from 12 Years a Slave writer John Ridley who said it "romanticizes the horrors of slavery."
Ridley said in his opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times that Gone With the Wind "glorifies the antebellum south. It is a film that, when it is not ignoring the horrors of slavery, pauses only to perpetuate some of the most painful stereotypes of people of color."
Gone With the Wind--which takes place on a plantation in Atlanta--has been controversial for years, but new renewed attention came after the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white police officer in Minnesota.
We're proud to reveal Metal: Hellsinger, a rhythm FPS coming to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X in 2021.
Metal: Hellsinger sees you blasting your way through eight Hells to the beat of metal music composed for the game, with vocals by the likes of Matt Heafy (Trivium), Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), and more. The more on-beat your gunplay is, the more powerful you get, and the more intense the music becomes in turn.
Check out a first look at the game in action below:
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Narrated by Troy Baker, the story places you in the role of part-demon, part-human, The Unknown, and sees you fighting your way through various versions of Hell on the way to destroy The Red Judge. Directed by David Goldfarb (Payday 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2), the game will give you a suite of hellish weaponry, each of which has an ultimate ability.
You can also check out our interview with The Outsiders' David Goldfarb, and an extended look at gameplay, below:
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Alongside a straight story mode, the game will also feature a challenge mode, letting you attempt to violently conquer leaderboards for individual songs, and challenge your friends to beat you.
The Outsiders - a Sweden-based indie studio made up of many AAA veterans - recently announced that it had halted development on its intended debut game, Darkborn. It added that it would have a new game to show soon - Metal: Hellsinger is that game.
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We have far more reveals coming for you this month, as we're running the IGN Summer of Gaming event throughout June – here's the Summer of Gaming full schedule. All month, we're supporting some incredibly important causes – the World Health Organisation and The Bail Project – if you are able, help us support them too at donate.ign.com.
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Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter.
The latest member of the world's most popular smart band family has arrived - Mi Band 5 is a major upgrade over its predecessor. And it achieves that while retaining the $26 starting price in China for the non-NFC version and $30 if you need the NFC.
The first major upgrade would be the AMOLED display, which has grown to 1.1" from 0.95" and as usual, it can be customized with the large selection of official and third-party designs. Animated watch faces are also on the menu.
The sensor set is unchanged - accelerometer, heart rate monitor, barometer and gyroscope with rumors of...
Google has added a number of useful Google Maps features which will aid travellers and commuters adapting to life in post-coronavirus society.
In a blog post on Monday, the company announced as series of measures for the iOS and Android app that’ll provide information prevalent to your destination or current location.
Google gets things started with the public transit updates that will show “relevant alerts from local transit agencies.” These will inform people whether local authorities are mandating masks, for example.
If you’re planning to drive across national borders, the app will alert you whether you’ll need to contend with COVID-19 checkpoints (starting in Canada, Mexico and the US).
In some countries Google Maps is adding testing centre alerts that will remind travellers to verify their eligibility, while listing facility guidelines to ensure they aren’t turned away.
Google writes: “We’re showing these alerts where we’ve received authoritative data from local, state and federal governments or from their websites, and are actively working with other agencies around the world to bring even more of this helpful data to users in Google Maps.”
The company is also listing some of its other recently-added tools that could help those using public transport to maintain social distancing. For example, the Maps app is able to predict just how busy that morning train is likely to be with the feature “powered by tens of millions of contributions from past riders.”
The post says Google is making it easier for travellers to contribute their own experiences. Also starting from today, Google says it’ll be able to see when train and bus stations are likely to be more or less busy.
The company adds: “Simply search for a station in Google Maps or tap on the station on the map to see the departure board and busyness data, where available. Rolling out over the next several weeks, these capabilities are powered by aggregated and anonymized data from users who have opted in to Google Location History, a Google account-level setting that is off by default.”
The Premier League has partnered with EA Sports to use virtual crowd noise from FIFA in real-life soccer matches.
Sky Sports in the UK has revealed its partnership with EA Sports FIFA to deliver a range of "team-specific crowd noises and chants" to complement the restart of The Premier League, which kicks off on June 17 after a hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Those watching matches from home can choose "to watch with the added sound or with stadium noise" to implement the famous atmosphere that will be missed as games are played behind closed doors without a live audience. Apparently, it will be a feature you can alter on your TV using the Sky channel.
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Luckily for The Premier League, the FIFA franchise has been recording chants and crowd tones for the past few years to improve the atmosphere in-game, breathing life into specific stadiums.
Sky Sports Managing Director Robert Webster explained the new features. "We want Sky Sports viewers to still feel it all and have the best possible viewing experience - even if they can't be in the stadiums or watch with their family and friends."
For more from FIFA, check out our review of the latest installment of the beautiful game, FIFA 20, from late 2019.
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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Toon toon black and white army, and follow him on Twitter.
The CW announced Monday that they have fired The Flash cast member Hartley Sawyer over a series of racist and misogynistic tweets he posted in the past.
Sawyer portrayed Ralph Dibny, aka the Elongated Man, on the superhero series. He first appeared on The Flash in a recurring role in 2017 before becoming a series regular in 2018.
"Hartley Sawyer will not be returning for season seven of The Flash," The CW, producers Warner Bros. TV and Berlanti Productions and executive producer Eric Wallace said in a statement (via THR).
"In regards to Mr. Sawyer's posts on social media, we do not tolerate derogatory remarks that target any race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation. Such remarks are antithetical to our values and polices, which strive and evolve to promote a safe, inclusive and productive environment for our workforce."
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In 2012, Sawyer tweeted, "The only thing keeping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me." Several other cited past tweets are sexual and misogynistic in nature.
Although Sawyer has deleted his Twitter account, he has since posted an apology to his Instagram account for his past tweets. "My words, irrelevant of being meant with an intent of humor, were hurtful, and unacceptable," Sawyer wrote. "I am ashamed I was capable of these really horrible attempts to get attention at that time. I regret them deeply."
The Flash's showrunner and executive producer Eric Wallace said on Twitter that Sawyer's past tweets "broke my heart and made me mad as hell":
With the end of DC's Legends of Tomorrow Season 5 on The CW, the long-running series has said goodbye to one of its main cast members. The move comes after series regulars Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford left earlier in the season. Routh was one of only two cast members from Season 1 that was still on the series, alongside Caity Lotz.
The following contains spoilers for the Season 5 finale of Legends of Tomorrow, "Swan Thong." If you haven't seen it yet and don't want to be spoiled, this is your warning. Stop reading now.
The final episode of the fifth season saw Charlie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) announce she was leaving the group of Legends, marking the end of her time on the Waverider. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Phil Klemmer explained that the departure was in the works for quite a while."We knew this would be Maisie's [final season] well over a year ago, which is great because it allows you to have everything be working toward that point of separation," he said
Star Wars' John Boyega delivered an impassioned speech Wednesday in London during a Black Lives Matter protest over the recent killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. During his speech, Boyega noted that his activism might hurt his career but that it's a price he's willing to pay. However, Lucasfilm has since come out in support of their Star Wars lead, declaring him a "hero" that they stand with.
“Look, I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this, but f*** that,” Boyega shouted to a crowd of fellow protestors assembled in London's Hyde Park.
Hoarse and deeply moved, Boyega declared, “I need you to understand how painful it is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing — and that isn’t the case anymore, that was never the case anymore. We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd."
The Arrowverse has run into problems lately. The ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic forced shows like Batwoman, The Flash and Supergirl to end their current seasons several episodes early, and now we know these shows will remain off the air until 2021. That was just the beginning of Batwoman's troubles, however. Star Ruby Rose has made a sudden departure from the series, and in response The CW is reportedly replacing her character Kate Kane with a new character entirely rather than recasting the role.
It's safe to say a lot will be different in Gotham City when Batwoman finally returns to the air next year. But not all change has to be bad, and there are certainly ways the series can play this unexpected shakeup to its advantage. Read on to find out how a new protagonist could be just what Batwoman needs to become even better in Season 2.
Warning: This article contains full spoilers for Batwoman: Season 1!
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Revamping the Arrowverse's Batwoman
Reports indicate The CW isn't looking to recast the role of Kate Kane in Season 2, but instead intends to introduce a new lead character named Ryan Wilder. A leaked casting callout reads, "She's likeable, messy, a little goofy and untamed. She's also nothing like Kate Kane, the woman who wore the batsuit before her."
At this point it's unclear if "Ryan Wilder" is truly the name of this new character or if The CW is relying on a placeholder name to disguise her true identity. It's possible the series will actually be drawing on another preexisting DC heroine to replace Kate Kane, such as Harper Row, Stephanie Brown or Carrie Kelley. That said, the character description above doesn't really correspond to an existing member of the Bat-family. Even if Ryan Wilder is a placeholder for a character like Harper or Stephanie, we imagine the series would diverge quite a bit from the source material. The closest comparison would probably be Arrow's take on Black Canary. While there have been several different characters who use that name in the Arrowverse, none are a direct translation of the Dinah Lance from DC's comics. The new Batwoman may be a similar case.
It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for Batwoman to embrace this change and craft a new version of the character unlike either Kate Kane or her predecessor Kathy Kane from the comics. As it is, the series has never been entirely successful in translating the comic book version of Kate. Rose's version is very different in terms of her personality, her relationships with other costumed heroes and even her fashion sense. Introducing a completely different character would be a way of freeing the series from those expectations and giving writers more room to define the new Batwoman on her own terms with no preconceived expectations. Based on that character description, we might even see a goofier, more lighthearted Batwoman in line with fellow Arrowverse heroes like Flash and Supergirl. It would be a risky change in tone, but one that could pay off.
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Kate Kane's Fate
Of course, this shift to a new protagonist raises questions about the fate of Rose's character after Season 1. Why would she suddenly vanish from the scene so soon after deciding to take up her cousin's mantle? Will Kate Kane be killed off, or is there a chance we might see Rose return to the Arrowverse in a more limited capacity?
The occasional Kate Kane appearance is certainly possible in future crossovers, but given the way Season 1 ended, we suspect the series may be preparing to kill off Kate instead. When Season 1 reached its premature end, Kate's twin sister/nemesis Alice had just uncovered the secret to piercing Batwoman's indestructible suit - a kryptonite bullet. Alice may use this knowledge to assassinate Batwoman and rob Gotham of its protector. We doubt this is the plot twist the writers had originally intended, but it's certainly the simplest way of clearing the board for Season 2.
Killing off Kate now isn't the ideal storytelling move. She hasn't yet had the time to experience a complete, cohesive character arc, especially with Season 1 not reaching its intended conclusion. But given that Rose seems to have no desire to continue the role, it may be the best of a series of bad options.
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The assassination of Batwoman can serve as a dramatic plot catalyst for Season 2. It may spark a new crime wave in Gotham as criminals everywhere realize the city is now defenseless. It may turn the city's residents even further against the Crows, who have seemed more interested in demonizing Batwoman in Season 1 than restoring law and order. And Kate's death could be the spark that catalyzes Ryan's transformation into a superhero. Just as Miles Morales is compelled to become Spider-Man after seeing Peter Parker fall in battle, Ryan may take up the Batwoman mantle in honor of Kate's memory.
The Return of Bruce Wayne: Batwoman Beyond?
Undoubtedly the biggest ongoing mystery in Batwoman: Season 1 has been the whereabouts of Bruce Wayne. As the series opens, Batman has been MIA for three years, and even his protege Luke Fox seems to have no idea where Bruce is. In fact, the only time we've ever seen Bruce in the Arrowverse was during the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, as Kate traveled to Earth-96 and met an aging, morally bankrupt version of her cousin played by Kevin Conroy.
With the series losing Kate Kane, perhaps the time has come to finally address this ongoing mystery and reveal the whereabouts of Bruce Wayne. What better character to introduce in Season 2 as a way of rebuilding the series' momentum and even drawing in viewers who weren't watching before?
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This isn't to say we necessarily want to see Bruce resume his role as Batman. Just as Supergirl has needed to keep Superman at arm's length so as not to overshadow the story of Kara Danvers, Batman would cast too heavy a shadow over the series. That's to say nothing of the logistical hurdles involved. Just because Crisis was able to include a cameo of Ezra Miller's Flash doesn't mean Warner Bros. isn't still limiting what characters the Arrowverse can and can't use.
Bruce has more to offer the series as a mentor to the new Batwoman than as Batman. After all, someone is going to need to mold the reckless Ryan Wilder into a disciplined warrior, and we doubt Luke can do it alone. Kate's death could spark a new wave of guilt in Bruce, compelling him to finally return home and honor his cousin by training her successor. The series could effectively become "Batwoman Beyond," with an older Bruce Wayne guiding a new hero. Along the way, maybe we'll even get the full story behind the reveal that Batman apparently killed the Joker.
It's also worth remembering that Batwoman already effectively cast Bruce Wayne. The Season 1 finale showed Alice surgically altering Tommy Elliot's face to look like Bruce Wayne, setting the stage for Tommy to impersonate Gotham's favorite son in Season 2. If actor Warren Christie is already going to play a Bruce Wayne impersonator, why not have him play the real deal, too? This could add further tension to Bruce's overdue return to Gotham, if he's forced to remain in hiding so long as his former friend is wearing his face around town.
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The Supporting Cast
We have to assume Rose's departure will have a ripple effect when it comes to the show's ensemble cast. Will other characters be written out of the series? Does it make sense to keep focusing on characters like Kate's father Jacob, stepsister Mary and former lover Sophie once Kate herself is gone? Won't Ryan have friends, family and enemies of her own who need time in the spotlight?
The shift from Kate to Ryan could give the series a valuable opportunity to shift focus and recenter itself while trimming some of its more extraneous characters. In the comics, there's an elegant simplicity to Kate Kane. She's a soldier on a mission, and she only has room in her life for those who can help her further that mission (plus the occasional love interest). One of the great mistakes with Batwoman: Season 1 was moving away from that simplicity. The series doesn't need the same large ensemble cast as seen on other Arrowverse shows like The Flash or Supergirl.
It probably makes sense to keep Dougray Scott's Jacob Kane as a recurring character given his role as Gotham's top cop. Assuming Kate is killed off, there's surely a lot of family drama to explore there. But beyond Jacob and Camrus Johnson's Luke Fox, the series might do well to consolidate its cast and strive for the simpler, more direct route taken by the Batwoman comics.
The New Batwoman's Rogues Gallery
If the course of Batwoman: Season 1 showed us anything, it's that the series is better served fleshing out its roster of villains than superfluous supporting characters. The latter half of Season 1 built up a formidable roster of enemies for Kate, not least of which being her sister Alice. Alice's role in the series may only grow more compelling if Kate is killed off. The two sisters came close to reconciliation and understanding more than once in Season 1, but it wasn't to be. If Alice is the architect of Kate's death, will that act weigh on her? How will she react to seeing another woman take up Kate's mantle?
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Season 1 set other wheels in motion on the villain front. While both August Cartwright and his tortured son Johnny were killed off, it was heavily implied August's mother Mabel is still out there (and possibly wearing the face of Kate and Alice's dead mother, no less). Kate's run-ins with Julia Pennyworth have hinted at criminal kingpin Safiyah Sohail becoming a major threat in Season 2. And again, there's always the problem of Tommy Elliot cavorting about Gotham with Bruce Wayne's face. None of these plot threads need to be axed just because Kate herself will no longer be in the picture. Ideally, Season 2 will find a way to balance these existing villains while also introducing other characters with more personal ties to Ryan.
With the Season 1 finale raising the possibility we might actually see the Arrowverse's (modern day) Bruce Wayne after all these years, it's tempting to wonder if the door is now open for more traditional Batman villains to put in appearances. To date, Batwoman has tended to reference the classic Batman rogues only in an offhand way, with characters like Luke Fox alluding to the fates of Joker or Penguin or relics like Bane's mask being glimpsed in Arkham Asylum. Apart from Ra's al Ghul and his daughters playing a major role in Arrow, the Batman rogues seem to be mostly off-limits in the Arrowverse.
We don't necessarily see that changing anytime soon, especially with 2021's The Batman featuring new versions of several iconic Bat-villains. But more importantly, we don't necessarily see the need for the series to suddenly veer into more familiar territory. Again, the series isn't hurting for solid villains right now, and with a new heroine should also come new enemies. Even if Season 2 does establish a Batman Beyond-esque dynamic between Ryan and Bruce, it's not as if many Batman Beyond episodes revolve around the traditional rogues. That dynamic becomes all the more interesting if Bruce is forced to mentor his new partner while confronting an unfamiliar city full of villains he doesn't recognize. A lot can change when you take a three-year sabbatical.
For more on all things Batwoman, check out our full Season 1 review and learn which other Arrowverse series will cross over with Batwoman in 2021.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
"We have decided to postpone the PlayStation 5 event scheduled for June 4. While we understand gamers worldwide are excited to see PS5 games, we do not feel that right now is a time for celebration and for now, we want to stand back and allow more important voices to be heard," the statement reads.
Sony originally had announced last week a PS5 reveal event for this Thursday, June 4, which would have debuted games set for Sony's next-gen console, the PlayStation 5. Since that announcement, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic the world is facing, protests around the United States and the world have been ongoing, centering on police brutality following the death of George Floyd.
Sony has not announced any rescheduling plans for the event or its included announcements. It remains unclear at this time whether planned games will be showcased in the weeks and months to come or if Sony will put together a replacement event down the line.
The PS5 is still set for a holiday 2020 launch, and Sony CEO Jim Ryan recently said the COVID-19 pandemic has not changed the company's plans for the PS5 price. The only aspect of the physical console Sony has shown is the DualSense, the PS5's new controller.
This past week, following a notable uptick in “#ReleaseTheAyerCut online movement, Suicide Squad director David Ayer said that a director’s cut of the film would be “easy to complete.” This news came on the heels of Warner Bros. spending a reported $20 - $30 million to complete Zack Snyder's “Snyder Cut” of Justice League - which is set to release in 2021 on HBO Max.
Ayer is back on Twitter this weekend, answering fans' queries about his original cut of Suicide Squad. Particularly, the choice to beat it "into a comedy" following the mixed reception of Batman v Superman and the blockbuster status of Deadpool. Check it out...
This trailer nailed the tone and intention of the film I made. Methodical. Layered. Complex, beautiful and sad. After the BVS reviews shell shocked the leadership at the time, and the success of Deadpool - My soulful drama was beaten into a “comedy” https://t.co/vrMw8QE2iZ
Ayer was responding to a compliment regarding the original teaser for Suicide Squad, explaining that it accurately reflected his vision of the film which was "Methodical. Layered. Complex, beautiful and sad."
In an earlier tweet, Ayer mentioned how the reshoots were meant to course correct the movie for being "too dark" while also praising the performances of Jared Leto and Margot Robbie...
This was reshot because the tone was “too dark” - My first act was a normally constructed film. I took my inspiration from Nolan. There were real scenes with incredible acting between Jared and Margot. Joker was terrifying. Harley was complex. https://t.co/KeJHmI6EA7
Ayer, soon after, praised Warner Bros. now, tweeting that "The studio is in a great place today and encouraging filmmakers to make their vision"...
They do. They absolutely do. This was just a moment in the past - Those involved have moved on. The studio is in a great place today and encouraging filmmakers to make their vision. https://t.co/AhOhgvn5Qi
In related news, James Gunn's reboot of the Suicide Squad is still headed our way, as Gunn said there's no reason for his film to be delayed due to COVID-19 since it wrapped filming earlier this year.
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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
This addendum appeared on a Trump tweet early Friday morning. (Twitter/)
This afternoon, President Trump signed an executive order to address what he sees as a bias against people with conservative politics by removing some legal protections afforded to social media platforms. The focus of the order falls clearly on Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which states that sites can moderate user content without taking on full responsibility as a publisher—which has long been a controversial statute.
The issue is extremely complex, and it will play out at various levels of government in the coming months. Here are answers to some common questions about how this started, what’s happening, and what it might mean for social media users.
Why is this executive order happening?
On Tuesday, Donald Trump tweeted some negative remarks about voting by mail. Members of Twitter’s third-party fact checking program reportedly flagged the tweets as potentially misleading to readers, and Twitter added a fact checking link below the tweets in question. It said, “get the facts about mail-in ballots.”.
The president quickly accused the company of meddling in the 2020 election for adding the fact checking annotation. He made a promise to “strongly regulate...close down,” social media companies if they “silenced conservative voices.” In addition to angry tweets on the topic, the president promised an executive order regarding social media companies.
What does the order say?
The order reads, “Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube wield immense, if not unprecedented, power to shape the interpretation of public events; to censor, delete, or disappear information; and to control what people see or do not see.” It also states: “As President, I have made clear my commitment to free and open debate on the internet.”
Those statements are difficult to reconcile, however. Twitter didn’t censor or remove Trump’s tweet, but rather added links to information about the topic in question. What started as a debate about fact checking seems to have deformed into a sweeping argument about censorship. With the restriction of Trump’s tweet about Minnesota, however, the issue has gotten even more complex.
When did Twitter start adding fact checking to tweets?
Earlier this month, on May 11, Twitter began running the fact checking labels on tweets that could spread misleading information about the COVID-19 pandemic. At that point, Twitter said it would go so far as to delete content that would spread harmful information. While the president’s tweet wasn’t explicitly about health data regarding COVID-19, the vote-by-mail initiatives have popped up in response to the pandemic.
When Twitter announced the project, it didn’t specify exactly who would be doing the fact checking, but it did say that the panel includes not-for-profit organizations, watchdog groups, and subject matter experts. On that same call, the company also made it clear that it would apply the fact check labels to users regardless of who they were.
Haven’t we heard about this censorship debate before?
Just this week, an appeals court in Washington D.C. struck down a lawsuit brought about by conservative pundit Laura Loomer. The suit claimed that large tech companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, and Twitter intentionally suppressed conservative users, which violated the First Amendment. The appellate court judge—who was appointed by Donald Trump—dismissed the case.
In fact, there have been a number of lawsuits about this same topic, though they have very rarely achieved any kind of success beyond bolstering the plaintiff’s credibility within the conservative community.
What is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act?
“No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” That’s Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act and its meaning has been a subject of debate for both political parties in the past. Some politicians claim it gives tech companies free reign to shape the conversations that happen online, which includes censoring some voices. Others complain that it readily absolves tech companies for heinous things that happen on their platforms, like harassment.
Despite its shortcomings, however, Section 230 is largely responsible for how many sites operate on the internet right now. It allows them to moderate content, but doesn’t hold them legally accountable for anything users may post on the site. In order for platforms to maintain protections provided by the statute, they’re allowed only to remove or restrict content that’s deemed harmful, offensive, or lewd.
What does the order say about Section 230?
A clause in the statute allows platforms to censor or delete content if it’s offensive or possibly harmful. Messing with content outside of that framework, however, would put the platform into the role of a publisher or editor and make it responsible for every piece of content that appears on the site.
The executive order demands that the attorney general, secretary of commerce, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration petition the Federal Communications Commission to make rules that clarify the specifics of the statute. It’s an extremely circuitous route that hinges on several issues that remain unclear—including whether or not the FCC has that power to enforce such rules in the first place.
Late Thursday night, Twitter took further action against a Trump tweet, restricting likes and retweets. In response, the President promised further action against Section 230.
What else is in the executive order?
In an apparent effort to punish platforms that “restrict free speech,” this executive order demands the federal government review its spending on social media platforms. According to Trump, the federal government spends “billions of dollars” on these platforms to buy advertising and the companies are “rich enough.”
Earlier this year, the White House launched a tool for users to report instances of social media companies showing bias. That tool has reportedly gotten more than 16,000 reports, which the President has now tasked the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission with evaluating. Unfortunately, there have been some serious accuracy and security questions about the tool and its results.
What does this mean to the internet?
There’s a lot to unpack in the executive order, which involves a host of government agencies and inevitable legal action. So, if you’re worried about Twitter disappearing tomorrow, or even any time soon, because of this, it’s OK to calm down.
Twitter has claimed it will continue to add fact checking notifications to tweets regardless of who they come from. Facebook, however, said that it won’t be fact checking political speech. One of the order’s final sections lays out a plan for individual states to form a working group in order to enforce their own laws regarding unfair or deceptive practices perpetrated by these platforms. The level of disparity between different states will, in itself, take quite some time to sort out once the group actually forms.
It will likely take Congressional action to actually change the statue itself—even Trump’s own tweet acknowledges that fact. But, it’s unclear how quickly the interim changes will take place, if at all.
Ultimately, this is going to be a long fight and, as the 2020 election inches closer, it will only intensify. The order itself hasn’t actually changed anything, but rather attempts to compel some government entities and agencies to consider taking some kind of actio—if they indeed have the authority to do so. If that sounds confusing, then you’re right.
No one’s going to live sporting events anytime soon. Yamaha hopes it can keep team spirit alive with its new app, though. Remote Cheerer lets fans tap on their devices to support their favorite players -- or boo their challengers. The app is meant to...
Director Christopher Nolan is renowned for his preference for practical effects over CGI. In that case, it may come as no surprise that – during the production of the highly-anticipated Tenet – Nolan opted to simply blow up a real 747 rather than rely on visual effects.
“I planned to do it using miniatures and set-piece builds and a combination of visual effects and all the rest,” Nolan told UK magazine Total Film, via GameRadar. “We started to run the numbers... It became apparent that it would actually be more efficient to buy a real plane of the real size, and perform this sequence for real in camera, rather than build miniatures or go the CG route.”
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According to Nolan the team discovered a stockpile of old planes while location scouting in California, and called the purchase “kind of impulse buying.”
Star Robert Pattinson dubbed the move “so bold to the point of ridiculousness.”
“You wouldn’t have thought there was any reality where you would be doing a scene where they just have an actual 747 to blow up!” said the actor.
This isn’t the first time Nolan has insisted on using genuine aircraft for a production; Dunkirk used real Spitfires and a Spanish-manufactured HA-1112 Buchón (a license-built version of the infamous Messerschmitt Bf 109) for its remarkable dogfighting sequences. However, despite rumours Nolan had planned to crash an antique plane during Dunkirk’s production, all destruction scenes in the movie were shot with replicas.
Nolan recently unveiled the second trailer for Tenet, after which leading man John David Washington revealed that he and the other actors were often just as confused about the movie’s plot as fans watching the teaser.
Despite uncertainly around the operation of cinemas worldwide related to the current pandemic, Tenet’s release date still stands at July 17, 2020.
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Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter sporadically @MrLukeReilly.
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Last seen kissing Cap goodbye in Civil War, ex-SHIELD agent Sharon Carter, formerly Agent 13, was apparently one of the poor souls erased from existence after Thanos' snap. When Bruce Banner effectively reversed the snap in Endgame, however, Peggy Carter's niece was not among the army of heroes who appeared at the eleventh hour to back up Cap in his final stand against the Black Order.
Scott Lang, who was neatly tucked away in the Quantum Realm during the Snap, was a huge part of the Battle of Earth. Likewise, Hope van Dyne arrived in the nick of time too, as Wasp, to help defeat Thanos when she was brought back into reality. But Hank and Janet, original Ant-Man and Wasp, were left out of the mix despite having vanished with Hope at the exact same time and place. Maybe there just weren't enough suits to go around.
Lupita Nyong'o's Nakia was one of the more noticeably absent faces from the final act of Endgame since other major Black Panther characters like King T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye, and M'Baku were all there in the end, helping rescue all of existence from the dire, dark fate being utterly erased.
Civil War and Black Panther's CIA agent Everett Ross, despite having helped save Wakanda from being overthrown by Erik Killmonger, wasn't around for the final moments of Endgame to help save the universe from being overthrown by the vast void of nothingness.
When we last saw the swiftly deteriorating Ava Starr -- aka Ghost -- she had been momentarily healed by Janet van Dyne's quantum energy and was seemingly on the road to wellness. But Hank, Janet, and Hope were all erased in the Snap while in the midst of trying to harness more energy for Ava's treatment. So we don't know what Ghost's status is, necessarily. But her phasing ability would have come in super handy against the ravaging forces of Thanos' minions.
A surrogate father to Ava, Hank's ex-partner, Bill Foster, would never leave her side, even in the most desperate of times. But having been the pioneer of growth technology, and the original Goliath, Bill would have made an awesome tag team partner for Scott as a fellow towering titan in the struggle to save all living things from being wiped out.
In the movies, Jaimie Alexander's Sif went AWOL after Thor: The Dark World, but she has also appeared on two episodes of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, letting viewers know that Sif was capable of carrying on her own solo adventures. In fact, that's probably where she was during Thor: Ragnarok, when her entire homeward was obliterated. Just... somewhere else. So "off crusading, be back later" is probably also the explanation for her not helping out in Endgame.
Honestly, who's to say Talos wasn't a part of the big push at the close of Endgame? He can take anybody's form. He could have been there impersonating someone. Heck, he could have been Nick Fury at Tony's funeral since that's who we know he started morphing into after the Snap was reversed. So maybe we give Talos and the other Skrulls the benefit of the doubt.
Speaking of Skrulls assuming people's identities: Where were Nick and Maria? Do they only do funerals now? Or was that Talos and Soren as Fury and Hill, way in the back mourning Tony? Post-Endgame, we know Fury went into space and Maria apparently went off the grid, but that doesn't excuse them for missing out on the fun of whooping past-Thanos' giant purple butt.
Post-Doctor Strange, Mordo felt betrayed by the Ancient One and Strange and set off to rid the world of sorcerers who misused their magic. Still, you'd think the guy who helped Strange fend off Dormammu and the Dark Dimension would pick up a staff and help Wong and his sorcerers battle Thanos' avalanche of Outriders.
The "Abomination formerly known as Emil Blonsky" hasn't been seen since The Incredible Hulk, but thanks to the Marvel One-Shot "The Consultant" (which takes place after Iron Man 2 and Thor) we know the World Security Council wanted to free him and say he was a hero who was defending himself against Hulk so that he could be a part of The Avengers. And then Marvel's Agents of SHIELD let us know Blonsky was being held in an Alaskan cry-cell called The Vault. Anyhow, he's still out there and could have been pretty useful in the giant war against the Dark Order.
The O.G. Ravager team -- consisting of Stakar Ogord, Aleta Ogord, Charlie-27, Mainframe, and Krugarr (and at one point, Yondu) -- was introduced to fans in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, basically revealing themselves to be an earlier version of the Guardians, resembling even the Guardians' mismatched family dynamic. They were M.I.A. from the fight against Thanos, however, possibly being too far away to reach Earth in time to join the fray.
As the quasi-hapless mastermind behind most of Tony Stark's troubles in Iron Man 2, tech-lord Justin Hammer has probably been sitting in prison since Ivan Vanko's assault on the Stark Expo. Regardless, Hammer and his Hammertech, as faulty as it could be, would have come in handy in the struggle to save the cosmos.
Iron Man 3 revealed that A.I.M.'s Aldrich Killian had manufactured a fake terrorist called The Mandarin in order to cover up his explosive Extremis accidents. But then the Marvel One-Shot "All Hail the King" saw actor Trevor Slattery, who played Killian's Mandarin, being busted out of prison by the forces of the real Mandarin, a mythical crime lord. This shadowy figure, who will make an appearance for the first time in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, is definitely out there. Yes, we understand why he'd usually want to remain in the background, as a hard-to-believe legend, but if there was ever a time to drop the curtain on your act, it's when Thanos was, once again, threatening to end everyone's existence.
We were told, rather quickly, in Avengers: Infinity War, that Xandar had been completely destroyed during Thanos' push to get the Power Stone. We assume the Nova Empire was eviscerated along with its home planet, but that might not be the case. Maybe there are some straggling members of Nova Corps out there. And maybe it would have behooved them to get their butts to Earth so that they could help defeat the a-hole who nuked their world.
Obviously, this one's a long shot. When Marvel TV started up, the shows were directly connected to the MCU. Agents of SHIELD was drastically affected by the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier and the Marvel Netflix shows directly referenced the attack on New York from The Avengers. But as the years went on, it was clear this was a one-way street. Marvel movies never referenced the TV shows. And when the time came for Phil Coulson and his TV team to possibly enter the fight at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the movie just used Nick Fury and some random agents to fill the void. After a few years, there was barely a connection between the movies and the TV shows at all. So sorry, no Defenders defending the universe from cosmic creatures.
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Who did we miss? What other no-shows were there in Endgame? Let's discuss in the comments!
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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
It’s no secret that President Trump’s Tulsa rally on June 20th had attendance far short of his campaign’s expectations, but that might have been due in part to a relatively new force in politics: internet-savvy teens. As the New York Times and Vultur...
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Four years ago, a few GIFs and video clips featuring a mysterious game surfaced online. They depicted a cat wandering around a futuristic take on Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, but details were nonexistent. Dubbed HK Project, the title resurfaced...
Hartley Sawyer as Ralph Dibny on The Flash.[/caption]
In 2012, Sawyer tweeted, "The only thing keeping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me." Several other cited past tweets are sexual and misogynistic in nature.
Although Sawyer has deleted his Twitter account, he has since posted an apology to his Instagram account for his past tweets. "My words, irrelevant of being meant with an intent of humor, were hurtful, and unacceptable," Sawyer wrote. "I am ashamed I was capable of these really horrible attempts to get attention at that time. I regret them deeply."
The Flash's showrunner and executive producer Eric Wallace said on Twitter that Sawyer's past tweets "broke my heart and made me mad as hell":
Hartley Sawyer as Ralph Dibny on The Flash.[/caption]
In 2012, Sawyer tweeted, "The only thing keeping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me." Several other cited past tweets are sexual and misogynistic in nature.
Although Sawyer has deleted his Twitter account, he has since posted an apology to his Instagram account for his past tweets. "My words, irrelevant of being meant with an intent of humor, were hurtful, and unacceptable," Sawyer wrote. "I am ashamed I was capable of these really horrible attempts to get attention at that time. I regret them deeply."
The Flash's showrunner and executive producer Eric Wallace said on Twitter that Sawyer's past tweets "broke my heart and made me mad as hell":
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