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Just when you thought that 2020 couldn’t possibly throw any more surprises your way, Samsung has gone and launched its own fragrance to celebrate the launch of its new Ecobubble washing machine. Yes, you did read that right: Samsung has made its own perfume, called Freshly Laundered – Eco Edition.

Just in case the association with washing was missed, the perfume comes in a bottle replica of a washing machine. Oh, and it’s made by Expert perfumer Sarah McCartney, and smells like freshly-laundered washing, too. According to research provided by Samsung, freshly washed laundry is the top scent according to British adults.

To accompany the new fragrance, there’s an advert starring Max Whitlock, the Team GB Olympian, which you can watch below. It’s a homage to the infamous Brad Pitt Chanel No 5  advert. As Samsung explains, Whitlock “sends up some of the industry’s clichés by seductively running his hand over the edge of a washing machine and spraying himself with perfume before sniffing a Union Jack flag”.

Related: Best washing machine

Just in case you were thinking that it’s all a joke, the Freshly Laundered – Eco Edition fragrance will be available to anyone that buys a 2020 Ecobubble washing machine from the Samsung experience space in Kings Cross between 8 and 23 October. I’ve got a bottle, and can confirm that it definitely looks like a washing machine and it does smell like freshly laundered washing. For those that want the details, the fragrance contains four musks that “evoke the smell of a fresh garden and fresh water, paired with aromas of lily of the valley”.

Details of the actual washing machine are slightly thinner on the ground, but the new Ecobubble machines are built to be the most efficient yet, have a new interface to make the machines easier to use and there’s Smart Control + technology, which learns behaviour patterns to recommend future washing cycles.

I’ll bring you a full review of the washing machine when samples are available.

The post Samsung launches its own perfume appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Amazon Prime Video has revealed that The Expanse will debut its fifth season on the streamer on December 16, 2020. The commerce and tech giant also released the first official trailer for the upcoming season during its NYCC 2020 panel. You can watch the exciting new trailer for Season 5 of The Expanse in the video below, or at the top of the page: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/08/the-expanse-season-5-official-trailer-2020-steven-strait-dominique-tipper"] Here's how the streamer describes Season 5, which is based on the fifth book in author James S.A. Corey's (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) Expanse saga, titled Nemesis Games: "Season five of the series picks up as multitudes of humans leave the solar system in search of new homes and vast fortunes on the earth-like worlds beyond the alien Ring, and a heavy price for centuries of exploitation of the Belt finally comes due and a reckoning is at hand. For the crew of the Rocinante and the leaders of the Inner Planets and the Belt, the past and present converge, bringing forth personal challenges that have wide-reaching repercussions throughout the Solar System. Amos (Wes Chatham) returns to Earth to confront his past and the legacy of the life he fought to leave behind. Naomi (Dominique Tipper) reaches out to her estranged son in a desperate bid to save him from his father’s toxic influence. Bobbie (Frankie Adams) and Alex (Cas Anvar) confront the collapse of Mars as they chase a shadowy cabal with ties to terrorists and criminals. Holden (Steven Strait) wrestles with the consequences of his own past with the Protomolecule, the aliens who built it, and the mystery of what killed them." What did you think of the trailer for Season 5 of The Expanse? Let us know in the comments. And for more on The Expanse, be sure to check out our review of Season 4 right here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He's also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

CRISPR gene editing promises to revolutionize medical science, and two of its pioneers are getting a prestigious award for their efforts. Emmanuelle Charpentier (shown at left) and Jennifer Doudna (right) have received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemist...

Amazon’s series adaptation of William Gibson‘s The Peripheral has found its star: Chloë Grace Moretz. Moretz will play “a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow’s America.” Gibson’s The Peripheral is the first entry in The Jackpot Trilogy Series, with the second book in the series – Agency – having been published in January of this year.

Variety has the scoop on The Peripheral casting Chloë Grace Moretz as its lead. The series comes from writer, executive producer, and co-showrunner Scott B. Smith, with Greg Plageman serving as executive producer and co-showrunner. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy will also executive produce as part of the big deal they signed with Amazon in 2019. Splice filmmaker Vincenzo Natali will direct and executive produce.

Here’s the somewhat wordy synopsis for The Peripheral book:

Flynne Fisher lives down a country road, in a rural America where jobs are scarce, unless you count illegal drug manufacture, which she’s trying to avoid. Her brother Burton lives on money from the Veterans Administration, for neurological damage suffered in the Marines’ elite Haptic Recon unit. Flynne earns what she can by assembling product at the local 3D printshop. She made more as a combat scout in an online game, playing for a rich man, but she’s had to let the shooter games go.

Wilf Netherton lives in London, seventy-some years later, on the far side of decades of slow-motion apocalypse. Things are pretty good now, for the haves, and there aren’t many have-nots left. Wilf, a high-powered publicist and celebrity-minder, fancies himself a romantic misfit, in a society where reaching into the past is just another hobby.

Burton’s been moonlighting online, secretly working security in some game prototype, a virtual world that looks vaguely like London, but a lot weirder. He’s got Flynne taking over shifts, promised her the game’s not a shooter. Still, the crime she witnesses there is plenty bad.

Flynne and Wilf are about to meet one another. Her world will be altered utterly, irrevocably, and Wilf’s, for all its decadence and power, will learn that some of these third-world types from the past can be badass.

William Gibson is a legend, having given birth to the cyberpunk subgenre, so any new series adapted from something he wrote is bound to get attention. Amazon greenlit the series adaptation back in 2019, with Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, saying: “This story calls for a masterful level of talent to bring acclaimed author William Gibson’s science fiction thriller to life. We are excited to partner with Warner Bros. Television, Oscar-nominated writer Scott B. Smith and Vincenzo Natali in bringing this fantastic new series to our global Prime Video customers.”

The post ‘The Peripheral’ Amazon Series, Based on William Gibson’s Novel, Casts Chloë Grace Moretz appeared first on /Film.

Gamers love edgy color schemes and pretty lights, so Razer’s new prepaid debit card naturally has an LED.

A day after the UK government announced its highest number of new coronavirus cases in England, the reason behind the drastic rise has reportedly been revealed. According to reports from Daily Mail, The Independent and Evening Standard, a Microsoft E...

Today the Justice Department announced that a 2016 US presidential candidate has been indicted for tax evasion. After John McAfee was arrested in Spain, the Tax Division unsealed an indictment from June 15th claiming that he failed to file tax return...

On the heels of author Neil Gaiman announcing on Twitter that the adaptation of his landmark DC Comics series The Sandman will "begin shooting in 3 weeks, lockdowns permitting," Collider is reporting that Tom Sturridge (Velvet Buzzsaw, Mary Shelley) will have a starring role as main character Dream.

Gaiman has infamously maintained for years and years that The Sandman would not be adapted until production techniques caught up with capturing the series surreal story and immense scope, so every development nailing down how this is becoming a reality brings about lots of excitement for what's in store. Serendipitiously, the 11-episode Netflix adaptation has received extra time to polish scripts due to the coronavirus-caused delays.

Production was set for earlier this year, but was delayed due to COVID-19. During August's DC FanDome event, Gaiman gave a rare update on the series: "We've taken advantage of [the COVID-19] pause button just to try and get the scripts as close to perfect as possible… Right now, as the universal pause button is starting to come off, we are starting to cast again, we are starting--I'm getting these inspiring and wonderful emails with production designs, with places that I've only ever seen in the comics before now being rendered in 3D, and I'm being asked to comment on it, and that's amazing."

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The story of a 2018 mobile game that became a 2020 hit, and where it goes from here.

When you think of people investing in state-of-the-art technology products, your mind probably turns to yacht-owning billionaires dropping obscene amounts of money on AI products you’ve never heard of. This persistent and unfortunate association betw...

Warning: The below article features spoilers for both The Boys Season 2 (up through Episode 7) and the comics on which The Boys is based. This is your final warning.

For two seasons, Black Noir has remained the most mysterious character on Amazon's superhero send-up The Boys. On the surface, the darkness-themed supe with ninja-like powers is a clear parody of Batman, especially given his place in the trifecta of Black Noir, Homelander (Superman), and Queen Maeve (Wonder Woman). But we know virtually nothing about him, besides a vague sense of his powers (standard fare including super strength and an inhuman tolerance for pain) and the fact that he has either a naive soft side, or a sick sense of humor.

So although it didn't seem like much on the surface, it was a big deal when, during Black Noir's fight with Starlight at Vought Tower in Episode 7, we finally caught a small glimpse of Noir's face. It was all thanks to Queen Maeve's knowledge of Black Noir's secret kryptonite: an allergy to tree nuts. Maeve pulled up the bottom of Noir's cowl so she could shove an Almond Joy in his mouth, in the process revealing some things about the supe and throwing some fan expectations into chaos.

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The Boys got bloody in Season 2's penultimate episode.

Did The Boys just have its Red Wedding? On one hand, no main characters died during the head-popping orgy at Vought's congressional hearing. But at the same time, the hearing, which should have been a triumphant event for The Boys Season 2's penultimate episode, abruptly devolved into a bloodbath. The carnage was completely out of control. And that combined with the lasting impact it's going to have on the characters and the story makes it comparable in my mind.

That wasn't all that happened in "Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker" of course. The cold open, which showed a seemingly normal man being radicalized by an onslaught of propaganda, fearmongering, and right-wing memes, was chilling and terrifying. Butcher reunited with his parents, revealing how his younger brother Lenny died. Lamplighter helped Hughie get into Vought tower to rescue Starlight, but chose to kill himself in The Seven's conference room instead of helping. Kimiko finally started teaching Frenchie her secret sign language. We got a small glimpse of Black Noir's face. And Homelander and Stormfront disrupted Becca's life in a major way.

Through it all, there were a ton of hidden Easter eggs and references to moments from the comics. Without further preambling, here are 34 things you might have missed in The Boys Season 2, Episode 7, "Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker."

1. Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker

Appropriately, the episode's title is taken from a chapter of the comics that tells Butcher's backstory. The phrase comes from the classical nursery rhyme Rub-a-dub-dub: "Rub-a-dub-dub, Three men in a tub, And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, And all of them out to sea."

2. Soldier Boy

The man in the opening scene is clearly a huge fan of supes. He has The Seven merch everywhere, including Stormfront Funko Pops, action figures, and posters. One poster is for Soldier Boy, a character who will be introduced in Season 3.

3. Alex Jones

Although it isn't identified explicitly, the voice of the podcast or radio show the man is listening to throughout this opening resembles the voice of extremist right-wing radio host Alex Jones, whose show InfoWars peddles propaganda and dangerous conspiracy theories.

4. Comics shout-outs

One of the radicalized man's posters appears to be a blown-up version of a comics cover. It features the names Avina, Bowland, and Rybant, which are shout-outs to creators involved in The Boys comics: colorer Tony Avina, letterer Simon Bowland, and editor Joseph Rybandt.

5. Dancing in the rain

The news chyron here features another reference to Congresswoman Victoria Neuman's "college dance videos," further cementing her comparison with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

6. Frosted A-Trains

The store where the clerk is murdered by the radicalized man features many The Seven-branded products, including our personal favorite, Frosted A-Trains, glimpsed in the background here.

7. An unending cycle of brutality

When Mallory remarks that Butcher "would be happy with an unending cycle of brutality," she's parroting a similar exchange from the comics. In the 10th volume, from which this episode takes its name, Mallory tells Hughie that Butcher is fighting "a self-sustaining, neverending conflict in which he can mete out the brutality and cruelty that lie at his core: Forever."

8. The Sacred Heart cheerleading squad

Congresswoman Neuman remarks that Lamplighter has "f***ed half the Sacred Heart cheerleading squad." That may not seem like so grave a crime, unless you're aware that the Sacred Heart to which she refers is likely none other than Convent of the Sacred Heart, "New York City's oldest independent all-girls school for grades Pre-K-12." Yikes. When we chatted with actor Shawn Ashmore following Lamplighter's introduction this season, he let slip that the character has had sex with underage girls--which may relate to what The Boys used to blackmail him in the first place.

9. White chocolate unicorn frappe

Although Starlight meets her mother at a place called Jitter Bean, the "unicorn frappe" to which she refers is a Starbucks product. Incidentally, Jitter Bean Coffee does appear to be a real place, but the real version's logo is different, and they don't have locations in New York.

10. Serge

Mallory uses Frenchie's real name here: Serge.

11. Journey

Hughie's shirt of the week features the 1970s San Francisco band Journey. You're no doubt familiar with their iconic hit "Don't Stop Believin'." Specifically, the shirt is for the band's 1981 Japan tour.

12. Deep Does It in the Blowhole

Lamplighter's collection of The Seven-themed porn DVDs includes classics such as "Deep Does It in the Blowhole," "Translucent: The Invisible Cock," "Queen Maeve: Pleasure Slave," "Big Black Noir," and "Starlight Pulls an A-Train," not to mention the unnamed "Homelander cucks your wife" video they're actually watching.

13. Thoughts and prayers

Stormfront and Homelander use the phrase "thoughts and prayers" to condone the convenience store murder. The words have come to symbolize the right-wing tendency to feign empathy, often in the context of gun violence and mass shootings in particular, without actually doing anything; thoughts and prayers aren't action, legislation, or charity, and they help no one. It's a deliberate choice to have Stormfront and Homelander using this language here.

14. One nation under God

The words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance are another loaded issue. Contrary to what right-wing provocateurs like Homelander contend, the words were not originally present in the mantra. President Eisenhower had it added in 1954.

15. SJWs

Stormfront uses the term "SJW," which stands for Social Justice Warrior. The term was popularized by the 2010s hate group GamerGate. Another popular GamerGate pejorative, "cuck," is used throughout the episode in scenes with Hughie and Lamplighter.

16. Lenny

In the conversation between Butcher and his father (which is itself a mini Easter egg for Lord of the Rings fans, as both actors--Karl Urban and John Noble--were in those movies), we finally learn what happened to Lenny, who was mentioned by Butcher's aunt in a previous Season 2 episode. It turns out Butcher's brother killed himself, and Butcher believes it was because of abuse from their father.

17. SAS

Butcher's dad mentions that Butcher joined the SAS. The acronym stands for "Special Air Service. They're a special forces unit division of the British Army.

18. Two deaths

Frenchie's truism about dying twice (once when you die, and again when someone says your name for the final time) is a well-known quote. He attributes it to American psychiatrist and Stanford professor Irvin Yalom, who said the following in his 1989 book Love’s Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy: "Some day soon, perhaps in forty years, there will be no one alive who has ever known me. That’s when I will be truly dead--when I exist in no one’s memory. I thought a lot about how someone very old is the last living individual to have known some person or cluster of people. When that person dies, the whole cluster dies,too, vanishes from the living memory. I wonder who that person will be for me. Whose death will make me truly dead?"

19. Shark head

Deep's cult wife is wearing an appropriate novelty hat during their photobooth shoot at Alistair's birthday party.

20. Toxic personality

Alistair informs The Deep and A-Train that Eagle the Archer, who appeared in episodes earlier this season, is now a "toxic personality" as far as the Church of the Collective is concerned. This is a play on the Scientology concept of a "suppressive person," which is what Scientologists label anyone who leaves the cult or speaks out against it.

21. Mister Marathon

Lamplighter says he and Mister Marathon used to "sneak college girls" ("they were applying") into Vought Tower through this side entrance. Mister Marathon was A-Train's predecessor in The Seven. This is not the first reference to him this season; maybe he's another formerly prominent supe who will be popping up in the future?

22. Comics Maeve

Maeve's attitude and persona after Elena leaves in this episode match the version of her in the comics, where she's more jaded and cynical, keeps beefy dudes around in her bed 24/7, and drinks and smokes constantly.

23. Lego Blindspot

The movie that Ryan recreated using Legos is the 2009 Sandra Bullock movie The Blind Side. He's also done Dances with Wolves and Terms of Endearment--his mom's favorites. What a sweet kid! Hope nothing terrible happens to him.

24. Things that kids are into

Stormfront wonders whether Ryan is "into any things that kids are into," like NBA 2K (a video game series) or PewDiePie (a gaming influencer who, relevantly, has amplified hateful language in real life).

25. Homelander movies

This episode gives us the titles of some official Homelander movies (as opposed to, you know, the cuck-porn parodies): Homelander: Origins, Homelander: Rise of a Hero, Homelander: Darkest Day, and Homelander: Brightest Night. During this conversation, Stormfront also mentions Vought Land, an apparent Disneyland parody with The Seven-themed roller coasters (which could make it a combination of Disneyland and Six Flags).

26. Cuppa char

When Butcher accepts the cup of tea at Vogelbaum's, he calls it a "cuppa char." According to Post Magazine, "The word char/cha--as in "a cup of char" (reducible to "a cuppa")--as this working-class drink was referred to in 19th-century colloquial British English, would have come from Hindustani char, likely introduced by British India ser­vice­men."

27. Lamplighter's statue

Shortly before burning himself to death, Lamplighter laments that Vought took down his statue in The Seven's conference room. Those who've been paying attention might remember the exact moment the statue was altered, in an establishing shot at the start of Season 2.

28. Black Noir's face

We get a rare shot of Black Noir's partially-unmasked face in this episode. He appears to have dark skin, although it's hard to tell with this lighting. He also appears to have burns or some other type of scar on his face, which may explain why he never takes off his mask. Black Noir is played by actor Nathan Mitchell, who is Black; however, Homelander says in an earlier season 2 episode that Black Noir doesn't identify as any race (although Homelander's word can't exactly be trusted). In addition, these shots of half of Black Noir's face are going to throw comics fans for a loop, though to say why could be a major spoiler, depending whether and how the show adapts certain elements from the comics.

29. Almond Joy

The Almond Joy saving Starlight from Black Noir is a callback to earlier in the season, when Starlight and Hughie shared a cute moment on their road trip. Black Noir reaching helplessly for his EpiPen is a nice touch.

30. That sweaty young man from Believe

The last time Hughie and Starlight's mother met was the Believe Expo in Season 1 Episode 5.

31. "I'll piss on his coffin"31. "I'll piss on his coffin"

Butcher is not joking--check out this page from the volume of the comics from which this episode takes its name.

32. Reindeer games

33. Bye-bye Shockwave

One of the people who gets head-exploded at the hearing is Shockwave, who was to be the new speedster in The Seven. Guess A-Train is back in for sure?

34. You'll Never Truly Vanish

The song that plays over the closing credits this week is a repeat--it's Starlight's Translucent tribute song from earlier in the season.

Ever since YouTube Premium's series Cobra Kai landed on Netflix, the world finally knows how good this show truly is. In fact, it's the No. 1 show in all of streaming right now. Now, fans of the series can get really excited as Cobra Kai has been greenlit for a Season 4 and the trailer for Season 3 has finally arrived.

Netflix revealed the premiere date for Season 3 is just around the corner on January 8, 2021. And with that, you can check out the new trailer below. Warning: If you haven't finished Season 2 yet, you may want to pass on this because there are a bunch of spoilers.

At least we all know Miguel isn't dead, and that has to count for something, right? Season 2 left everyone with many questions after the high school karate riot, and we'll finally get the answers we're looking for this January.

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This week Starlight is in trouble, everyone has family issues, and we compare Black Noir, Queen Maeve, and Lamplighter's storylines to the comics.

This is a spoiler-filled review of Raised By Wolves Season 1. All episodes are now streaming on HBO Max, and the show has already been renewed for a Season 2. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ridley Scott may have only directed the first two episodes of Raised by Wolves, but his DNA can be found all over the series — whether through his direct hand as Executive Producer, or his four-decade reign as an influential, big-budget genre filmmaker from whom modern sci-fi storytellers often draw. One needn’t look further than the show’s first season finale for an obvious retread of Alien (1979), though I don’t use “retread” as a pejorative. How can I, as an avowed admirer of Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), Scott’s glorious return to the Alien series, and to tales of androids, and to sci-fi-gothic-horror? The show’s tenth hour, as engrossing and intense as the preceding nine, is directed by Scott’s son Luke and written by show creator Aaron Guzikowski. It’s chilling, thrilling, and deviously fun, and it builds on a season’s worth of winding sci-fi mysteries that deepen with every episode. And though the series is still far from providing concrete answers — don’t fret, its swift Season 2 renewal bodes well for this — each mystery cuts to the heart of its major characters, engaging them in a story where faith, technology, and interpersonal drama may as well be one and the same. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/05/raised-by-wolves-official-trailer-2020-travis-fimmel-amanda-collin"] If you haven’t watched the show yet, or still need some convincing, feel free to check out our spoiler-filled or spoiler-free review of its premiere episodes. Those initial three chapters (“Raised by Wolves,” “Pentagram” and “Virtual Faith”) form an unconventional narrative bedrock, beginning with a moody, atmospheric initial forty minutes that act as an extended prologue, followed by more than two hours of the show rapidly throwing new sci-fi concepts at the wall to see what sticks. Pretty much all of it does. A brief recap: The show is set years after Earth becomes uninhabitable, and follows reprogrammed warrior android Mother (Amanda Collin), service android Father (Abubakar Salim), and their sixth and lone surviving human son Campion (Winta McGrath), an embryo they brought to term on the far-away planet Kepler 22-b. In tow are the remaining members of religious cult The Mithraic, led by Marcus (Travis Fimmel) and his wife Sue (Niamh Algar), who the second episode reveals are actually atheist soldiers Caleb and Mary, who have since adopted not only Marcus and Sue’s appearances and roles, but also their young son Paul (Felix Jamieson). The Mithraic and the android family are at odds to begin with, since a key Mithraic belief surrounds the impurity (and soullessness) of androids and their inability to raise children, while another belief involves a prophecy about a young orphan raised in a barren land. The Mithraic scouts sent to Kepler initially believe this to be Campion, though the shifting nature of such beliefs takes center stage as the show wears on.The Mithraic-android conflict is exacerbated when Mother kidnaps — or rescues, depending on how you look at it — Paul and four other Mithraic children from the Ark, a ship ferrying the remaining members of their order to Kepler. Mother crashes the Ark, leaving the remaining handful of Mithraic lost and squabbling, while she and Father attempt to raise the Mithraic children as atheists, and as their own (though the kids continually hatch plans to escape).This is, by and large, the premise as it stands at the end of the third episode, which also hints at the possibility of pre-existing Kepler inhabitants. The status quo doesn’t change drastically from a geographical standpoint; the Mithraic and the family do go on to switch places midway through the season, with the cult now occupying the family’s farm as Mother lurks in the crash-landed Ark while planning a rescue mission of her own. Although, en route to this switcheroo, a number of haunting mysteries begin to emerge.Mother discovers a Mithraic pod and uses its VR function to interface with archived memories of her creator. Marcus, meanwhile, begins hearing a ringing voice, which he attributes to the Mithraic deity Sol, and several characters even catch a glimpse of a ghostly figure resembling Campion’s long-dead sister Tally, who fell down one of the planet’s enormous caverns many years ago. These strange happenings might appear unconnected on the surface, though they each feel linked to the nature and history of this new planet, which the characters don’t fully understand. Occasional plot contrivances do arise along the way, as one might expect of such a hefty and fast-paced show. Some of these are, indeed, contrived; the character of Hunter (Ethan Hazzard), for instance, appears to have an unmotivated change of heart in order to restore Father to his original paternal settings, after the Mithraic render him a mere servant. But most of the time, the show’s most convenient developments involve characters learning new information from some mysterious source, whether prophetic cave paintings that pertain to the premise, or the echoing voice purporting to be the Sol. The result may be similar to an actual contrivance, as these goings-on accelerate the plot and thrust the characters into seemingly inorganic conflict — like Paul suddenly learning that Marcus and Sue aren’t really his parents — but the narrative function of these reveals is also perfectly aligned with the show’s thematic core. Raised by Wolves begins as a psychological exploration of what it means to be human. It centers Mother and Father’s emotional evolution as parents who wrestle with their programming, while mirroring this theme through Marcus and Sue, atheists forced against their own violent wiring for survival, who adopt the mantle of parents long before becoming attuned to the role. Similar questions of one’s natural function, one’s role as a mortal creation, and one’s role as a creator have reared their heads in Scott’s Alien films and in Blade Runner (1982). But in Raised by Wolves, these questions take on a more fanatical bent, as they explore the role of human belief, and the role of faith and mysticism in shaping the human psyche. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/03/hbo-maxs-new-ridley-scott-show-exclusive-featurette"] The one glaring hole in the premise — the half-baked history of the Mithraic-Atheist wars back on Earth — reveals itself to be less of a bug and more of a feature. The show’s “Mithraism” may feel like thinly veiled Catholicism, and its “non-believers” seem to have equally staunch and radical beliefs (to the point of suicide bombings!), but this shift in specifics depoliticizes the premise just enough. Considerations of real-world politics, therefore, rarely interfere with our reading of the show’s deeply personal approach to fanaticism. Marcus (or Caleb) may be an atheist, but what defines him in relation to the Mithraic isn’t a core difference in belief, but rather, an eerie similarity despite that difference. He was raised as a soldier from an early age, taught to purge the “weakness” of emotion in favor of violent masculine prowess. The Mithraic, similarly, were taught the art of war as a means to attain spiritual purity. Both groups were made to compartmentalize the impetus behind their violence, and were taught to justify it through faith; for The Mithraic, this meant faith in Sol; for Marcus and the atheists, it was faith in a masculine self-image dependent on militaristic glory. And so, when Marcus is plagued by visions and voices at the foot of an enormous temple, it’s easy for him to switch from one mode of “belief” to its apparent polar opposite. Both structures offer him glory and kinship. Both sets of beliefs are paths to the violent forms of domination beaten into him years ago. This fluid nature of belief is a tenet of the very same programming that allows Mother to be taken advantage of. As a creature seeking answers about her existence, she laments being unable to create life the way Tempest (Jordan Loughran) can; while Mother has been re-programmed to be a protector, her primary protocols as a necromancer lead her to be a destroyer of life, first and foremost — she protects by killing. And so, after Mother comes face to face with an apparition in the form of her creator, reformed Mithraic Campion Sturgess (Cosmo Jarvis), she begins to believe that her physical changes, which allow her to become pregnant, are part of some greater plan. She doesn’t “know” this for sure, but rather, she infers it from the limited information she has, and her conclusions are all in service of her own quest for self-actualization. Her beliefs, like those of the Mithraic, become recursive, with actions that begin to justify themselves. Mother’s belief in her own biological pregnancy, and her new role as humanity’s savior, are intrinsically tied to her newfound faith. She occupies the same physical and spiritual space as Mother Mary in Catholic scripture (characters like Paul even call her pregnancy divine), but more pertinently, her belief in the veracity of this mission is clouded by her rediscovered love for the real Campion Sturgess. What makes her now feel human isn’t just this new biological function, nor is it just Sturgess reprogramming her as an act of benevolent love, but rather, a mystical combination of the two. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=raised-by-wolves-season-1-photos&captions=true"] She is both creator and creation, a dual form of divinity that has formed the bedrock of many a human civilization, as we seek to answer fundamental questions about life's origin and its continued existence. Mother feels human not only because she can create life, but because she has begun to view this feat of downloaded ones and zeroes — a mere hardware update, if you will — as divinely inspired; a gift from her own creator, which leaves her convinced of some greater plan. But who, or what, is taking advantage of Mother? The show features various clues about what else might really be happening on Kepler, though it plays its cards close to the chest. Some other culture, some other humanoid civilization already exists here, and Kepler is also awash with feral, four-legged creatures who bear terrifying humanoid faces. In the final episode, Mother and Father speculate on the connection between these “more” and “less” evolved humanoids (and a Neanderthal-like skull they chance upon), with an assumption about these creatures “de” evolving. It’s an inelegant reveal (if it’s a reveal at all) because putting words to these mysteries doesn’t do them enough justice. What do we know about the civilization on Kepler thus far? The “people” inhabiting it possess shimmering tarot cards — both mysterious ciphers and digital windows into memories —which resemble the cards belonging to a non-Mithraic faction on Earth. There also exists an enormous dodecahedron structure out in the desert, with seemingly mystical powers, which the Mithraic surmise was built by intelligent life. It feels like another mixed religious metaphor, given its resemblance to the Islamic Kaaba. But strangely, this dodecahedron shape reappears to Mother, both in a vision (or memory) triggered by the cards, and in a horrifying relic she chances upon: it seems as if an android was placed within a similarly shaped mechanism, either to be tortured or sacrificed. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/24/hbo-maxs-raised-by-wolves-official-trailer-2"] These discoveries open up new and exciting narrative possibilities, but the most vital question they lead to is of the “chicken-or-egg” variety. What came first? The mechanical contraption, or the enormous temple-like structure? Was one the inspiration for the other? Similarly, since the cave paintings Paul chances upon appear to speak of events within the narrative, what is the connection between them? Are they new records of things which have recently unfolded? Or are they prophecies from long ago, about things which had not yet come to pass? One could have a field day speculating about what the answers actually are, but for the characters, who don’t yet have a clue about the logistics, the “answer” is simple. The androids, the Mithraic, and now the atheists who have shown up at the end of the season, have all chanced upon things that, to our eyes, might appear to be long-forgotten ruins — except they belong to a civilization that might still exist. The context behind these discoveries might still be far away from a genre and narrative standpoint, but from a sociological perspective, discovering these relics would be akin to “discovering” Stonehenge while the people who built it were still somewhere in the vicinity. The answers to a grand archeological mystery would be just within our grasp. However, the characters in Raised by Wolves have also descended upon a world in motion and claimed it as their own, and they seem to be experiencing the dire consequences of having done so. The show features winking references to Star Trek — “I’m a doctor, not a bloodbag!” says lovable medical droid Karl (Carel Nel) — though it can’t help but play like a version of Trek filtered through a horror lens. Starfleet’s Prime Directive, one of non-interference with developing civilizations, is broken constantly, though the colonial considerations of doing so are rarely dramatized. In Raised by Wolves, it feels as if the planet itself is rebelling against these outside forces, manipulating them into squabbles through some energy in the ground or in the air, and haunting them through visions of loved ones who have fallen into its core. These consequences reach their crescendo in the final episode, when Paul turns his gun on Sue after learning her true nature, and when Mother gives birth — in true Ridley Scott fashion — to an alien serpent, which seems to grow rapidly into a creature resembling the many fossils littering the planet. (Could this be why the “voices” deterred Marcus from killing Mother? Was this their grand and devilish plan?) The delightful horrors in the season finale feel more Lovecraftian than Lovecraft Country. They turn Mother’s fears quite literally inside out, as she’s forced to confront the horrifying miracle of birth in a uniquely grotesque manner. And, if the writing weren’t already deft enough, the entire pregnancy scenario also provides Mother and Father with vital dramatic fodder, prodding at petty jealousies and feelings of inadequacy buried deep in the parts of their programming that make them hurt in ways that feel most human. The finale’s larger goings on are certainly discomforting — or deliciously enjoyable, if terrifying practical aliens are your thing! — but the most explosive scene in the final hour may actually be a subdued confrontation between the android couple, whose tensions finally boil over. These characters are, of course, repressed by their very nature, but their expressions of guilt, anger, and betrayal feel like confessions that have been waiting an eternity to escape their lips. It’s genuinely hard to watch. By the end of the tenth episode, the characters are grouped in new permutations once more, only this time, they’re separated by distances that can’t be traversed in a couple of hours. Sue might be dying from a gunshot wound. Marcus, now a fanatical Mithraic, has run into his atheist brethren. And whatever malevolent force had been manipulating Mother — call it the planet, or Sol, or the show’s sadistic authors! — seems to have won. The final image, of the alien being soaring through the air, as if part-Kepler serpent and part-Necromancer, is as terrifying as it is exciting. It opens up brand new mysteries about the nature of creation on this planet, and sets the stage for these characters to confront even deeper questions about the nature of their beliefs. Whatever’s really happening on Kepler, this much is certain: it will continue to push and contort these characters, and rattle them to their core.

The Google Pixel 5 is finally here and packs the usual array of quirks that set the range aside from the Android-based pack. One of the most exciting new features is Hold For Me, but what exactly is it?

The Google Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4a 5G range includes a new Google Assistant feature called “Hold For Me.” It removes the most annoying part of the calling experience since the invention of the telephone – waiting on hold for your call to be answered.

With Hold For Me, Pixel 5 owners will be able to use the Assistant as a surrogate who’ll take on the burden of listening to the 18th play-through of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, so you don’t have to.

When calling a toll-free (freephone) number common for customer service and call centre queries, the Assistant will offer the on-screen option to Hold For Me. When a representative finally comes online, the Assistant will notify you and you can return to the call.

Related: Google Pixel 4a 5G

In a blog post, Google explains: “With a preview of Hold for Me on Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5 in the U.S., Google Assistant can wait on the line for you whenever you call a toll-free number and a business puts you on hold. Built on the smarts of Duplex and Call Screen, this new feature lets you go back to enjoying the things that matter to you, and Google Assistant will notify you once someone is on the line and ready to talk. And Hold for Me works on your device, so the entire call is private to you. Goodbye endless hold music, hello more free time.”

You can see the feature in action in the animation below.

Unfortunately, as Google mentions above, the feature is only available in the United States right now, with no news on whether a global rollout will be forthcoming at this point.

Google says this builds on the company’s existing Call Screen tech, which helps users avoid 25 million spam calls and saves them 2 million minutes every month. We’d imagine this feature will save them many more. Hopefully, it’ll trickle down to all Android 11 devices soon enough.

The post What is Hold For Me? Pixel 5's most useful feature explained appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

The sixth episode of The Boys: Season 2 is an important one, with X2: X-Men United's Shawn Ashmore making his full debut as Lamplighter. This mysterious superhero has been at the heart of one of the show's bigger mysteries, and now fans finally know why Lamplighter vanished from the public eye, what he's been up to and what exactly went down that fateful night he first clashed with Butcher's team. IGN was able to chat with Ashmore over the phone to find out more about what drew him to the character and the fun of playing a hero who couldn't be more different from the X-Men franchise's Iceman. Read on to learn more about how the TV series changes Lamplighter and the challenges of playing the character, but beware of spoilers for The Boys: Season 2, Episode 6! [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-boys-season-2-gallery&captions=true"]

How The TV Series Changes Lamplighter

As faithful as the TV series is to the comic book version of The Boys in terms of the basic plot, it tends to introduce some pretty significant changes when it comes to the individual characters and their respective back-stories. That's certainly been the case with Season 2's biggest new addition, Stormfront, and it remains true with Lamplighter as well. In the comics, Lamplighter is depicted as more or less an analogue to Green Lantern. He's a hero who can control and shape fire in the same way Hal Jordan forms constructs out of his ring's energy. That Green Lantern influence isn't quite as obvious in the show, in part because we mostly see Lamplighter as a retired hero who carries his trusty lighter rather than his flaming staff. In general, The Seven are a pretty direct riff on the Justice League in the comics, and slightly less so in the TV series. One of the darkest reveals in the comic (and one of the biggest changes between the comic and TV series) comes as readers learn The Seven tried and failed to stop the 9/11 terrorist attacks due to their own selfishness and incompetence. Even though the US government covers up the truth, Lamplighter retires shortly after. Butcher and his original team decide to blackmail The Seven with the threat of revealing the truth to the public. In response, Lamplighter takes it upon himself to kill Gregory Mallory's grandchildren as a way of intimidating The Boys into silence. [caption id="attachment_2412675" align="aligncenter" width="640"] In either version of the story, The Boys have a special reason for hating Lamplighter.[/caption] That merely escalates the feud between the two teams. To keep the peace and prevent The Seven's public image from being soiled, Homelander turns over Lamplighter to Butcher and his team, who proceed to savagely beat the hero before shooting him and throwing his body out of a plane. However, Vought recovers the body and restores Lamplighter to life, albeit as a glorified zombie with no higher brain functions. While the TV series retains some of these elements, the execution is much different. A series of flashbacks show Mallory and her team attempted to blackmail Lamplighter into becoming their mole within the Seven. Instead, Vought dispatches their creation to assassinate Mallory. Or so he thinks. He instead winds up murdering Mallory's grandchildren. The guilt of that act compels him to retire, and he takes up a new role in overseeing Vought's test subjects in a psychiatric institute. In the end, Lamplighter helps his enemies survive the superhuman jailbreak, and Mallory reluctantly agrees to spare his life. It's a far more noble end to his story compared to the comic.

From Iceman to Lamplighter

Ashmore told us that as a longtime superhero and comic book fan, he was eager to be involved with The Boys after watching Season 1. In fact, he tested for several different Season 2 roles before keying in on the idea of playing Lamplighter, a character about as different from Iceman as possible. "I actually auditioned for several characters on the show, but when Lamplighter came up, I thought, 'Man, this would be cool to sort of come back to do something in the superhero space that's completely the opposite of what people think of me as Bobby Drake Iceman and in that area.' So I just thought it'd be fun. I thought it'd be different. And it's exciting to be on the show, but also to come back to the superhero genre and do something totally different." Ashmore suspects that appealing role-reversal is what helped him land the part in the first place, with showrunner Eric Kripke and his team exploring a very different side of an actor made famous by the X-Men movies. [caption id="attachment_2412673" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Ashmore's latest superhero role is certainly an ironic shift from his X-Men days.[/caption] "I haven't really talked to Eric about it directly, but I'm pretty sure that knowing The Boys and knowing the tone and the attitude that they take, that was definitely a big part of potentially them casting me or thinking about me for the role is that it's just unexpected," said Ashmore. "And sort of in the face of what the normal thing would be for a superhero show. And I love that. So yeah, it was fun to be a completely different type of character in the same genre." That all being said, while there's a definite irony in the idea of Ashmore playing a character with the exact same powers as Iceman's nemesis Pyro, Lamplighter wasn't specifically intended to be a spoof of the X-Men movies. As Ashmore explains, the show's interpretation of the character had already been established before he auditioned for the role. "I mean, it seems to me that that kind of makes sense," said Ashmore. "But again, Lamplighter was Lamplighter before I was cast, so it wasn't as if they were like, 'Oh, we'll cast Shawn, who people know as Iceman, and then make Lamplighter a fire character,' or more of that. So I think it was just the direction that they took. And then again, I think my casting sort of poked fun a little bit at the whole situation." [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=%22It%20was%20fun%20to%20be%20a%20completely%20different%20type%20of%20character%20in%20the%20same%20genre.%22"]

Giving Lamplighter New Depth

As we've explored, Lamplighter's story takes a very different turn in the TV series versus the comics. Where's he's mostly a figure of ridicule in the source material, Episode 6 works to give Lamplighter depth and explore how his shared rivalry with Frenchie is one built mostly on a misunderstanding. This episode humanizes Lamplighter in a way the comic doesn't. "To me, it was very clear when I read even the sides for the character and then when I read the script, what their intention with Lamplighter was," said Ashmore. "To stir up the pot with The Boys, to bring back this character that had such an effect on all of them, from Mallory on down, and Frenchie obviously, and everybody that was involved at the time. So that made sense to me... This was a great way into where Vought was taking this experimentation and how they're using V and how they were going about that. Ashmore continued, "To me, it made really good sense in the second season to have this character pop in, stir up the pot with the boys, threaten Vought, and sort of go from there." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/24/amazons-the-boys-season-2-review"] But humanized or not, Lamplighter is clearly a very dark and flawed person in any version of this story. We were curious if Ashmore had trouble getting into the mindset of the character and inhabiting a world where "superheroes" are often little more than sociopathic mass-murders. How tough is that process? "Surprisingly easy, mostly because the material is so good," said Ashmore. "And again, I think what works with The Boys is that our supes, they're the villains, I guess you could say, quote-unquote, but they're really not. They're just people, flawed people, and Lamplighter's no different. He's done horrible things. He is a murderer. He's done some very, very bad things. But what was interesting to me is that I don't think that Lamplighter's played as a villain and I certainly didn't look at him like that. He was just a human being who has this ability who got caught up with Vought and with this fame and success, and just got caught up in these trappings and in this machine. And then everything else that happens sort of happened. I don't think that he was an evil person. He's just done some very evil things." Ashmore continued, "And so I think we see both sides of Lamplighter. It's not straightforward, like, 'Well, he's the bad guy and now the boys are coming after him.' He's had to sort of atone and look at the things that he's done now that he's not in The Seven. Now that the machine that protected him and built him up is gone, now he's left to look at what he did and who he is. I thought that was interesting. And that's how I approached the character. And that's how I tried to play the character. Not that he's just this evil sup and that he's a sociopath and a murderer. He is all those things, but there's a lot more to him." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/the-boys-creator-breaks-down-that-insane-whale-clip-from-season-2"] This encounter with Lamplighter also promises to have a lingering effect on The Boys and Frenchie in particular. Frenchie's decision to save Lamplighter's life is a reminder of the true enemy he and his friends are trying to destroy. "I always looked at it that The Boys are fighting Vought more than they're fighting the supes," said Ashmore. "And obviously Butcher has it out for Homelander for a very specific, personal reason, but the rest of the team is fighting the system more than they're fighting the supes. And I think as we're seeing this season so far, aside from characters like Stormfront and Homelander, the other supes are flawed and trying to make amends and in a free-fall, everybody from A-Train to The Deep and Queen Maeve. We're all seeing the other sides to these characters." Ashmore continued, "And so I think that this will open the door a little more, potentially, for The Boys to see the other side of their enemy. Whether that means they're going to stop fighting them or not, I don't think that that's true, but I think it will give a bit of insight into what these people - the supes - were put through to become who they are and what they've become." For more on the series, check out IGN's review of The Boys: Season 2, Episode 6, and find out about the series' superhero college-themed spinoff. [poilib element="accentDivider"]

2020 has been a real rollercoaster ride for fans of the many current live-action DC superhero shows. On one hand, The CW is expanding its DC lineup with shows like Superman & Lois and Stargirl: Season 2, while HBO Max is building on the backbone of the DCEU with shows like The Batman prequel Gotham PD and the John Cena-starring Peacemaker. On the other hand, there's been the widespread delays and premature season finales brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the surprise revelation that Supergirl's sixth season will be its last. One thing is clear at this point - the state of the DC TV landscape is shifting and will continue to shift in 2021. But where is this all leading? Does Supergirl's end mean the Arrowverse's days are numbered? Is WarnerMedia taking a page from the Marvel Studios playbook and trying to consolidate its TV content under the HBO Max umbrella? Let's explore what we know right now and why you shouldn't necessarily worry about the future of the Arrowverse just yet.

Why Is Supergirl Ending?

Saying Supergirl was "canceled" is a bit of a misnomer. The series was recently greenlit for a new season alongside most of the current CW lineup, and now we're learning that season will be the show's last. Presumably this wasn't a shock to the cast and crew, and the writers have been plotting out Season 6 with the goal of tying up all loose ends. Fans needn't worry about the series ending on an unresolved cliffhanger, a la the Dean Cain/Teri Hatcher series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman from the '90s. Star Melissa Benoist indicated as much when she tweeted, "I’m so excited that we get to plan our conclusion to this amazing journey, and I cannot wait for you to see what we have in store. I promise we’re going to make it one helluva final season." At this point we can only speculate as to The CW's reasons for ending the series. Maybe it was decided Season 6 was a natural ending point in terms of the ongoing storyline and Kara Zor-El's character arc. Six seasons is a pretty healthy run, after all. Perhaps, like departing Batwoman star Ruby Rose, Benoist has grown tired of the heavy physical commitment involved in being an Arrowverse star and the need to spend so much of the year filming in Vancouver. Benoist's recent pregnancy announcement could also have a lot to do with the decision to end the series now. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/03/batwoman-kate-kane-wont-be-recast-new-character-to-lead-series-after-ruby-rose-exit-ign-news"] Or the show's end could come down to ratings. Mind you, Supergirl is among the more heavily watched Arrowverse shows, coming in second only to The Flash for average weekly viewers during the 2019-2020 TV season. But the series has also seen a steeper decline in viewers than its fellow Arrowverse shows from year to year. Coupled with the fact that the effects-heavy Supergirl is likely among the most expensive shows on The CW, the network may have decided to move on. However, the most likely answer is that The CW didn't see a need for two Arrowverse shows centered around the Superman franchise. Supergirl's end may have been inevitable once Superman & Lois was given a full series order. And that's assuming Superman & Lois wasn't conceived as a Supergirl replacement from the very beginning. There are also rumblings of Warner Bros. working to make Supergirl a big part of its DC movie universe. Even though the studio seems much more tolerant lately of having multiple live-action versions of the same character coexisting, Warners may feel the TV series conflicts with its larger plans for the character.

The Future of the Arrowverse

With the news of Supergirl ending and so many recent DC TV announcements centering around HBO Max, some Arrowverse fans are concerned about the long-term fate of this shared universe. The fear being that WarnerMedia is echoing Marvel Studios' approach to the MCU and consolidating its focus around one TV universe directly tied to its theatrical films. We'll get to that topic a little later in this article. But strictly in terms of the Arrowverse's future, there's not currently much evidence to suggest Warner Bros. Television is pivoting away from the Arrowverse or ending its long-running relationship with The CW. If anything, recent announcements argue the opposite - that The CW is committed to keeping the Arrowverse around at a scope similar to what we've seen in recent years. Supergirl may be ending, but it's got a direct replacement in the form of Superman & Lois. Stargirl is leaving DC Universe and making its permanent home on The CW, and we suspect the network sees that show as a natural fit for the Supergirl audience. Even DC Universe's Swamp Thing: Season 1 will be airing on The CW this fall, though we wouldn't necessarily take that as a sign The CW plans to un-cancel that infamously troubled and expensive DC series. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-flash-season-7-dc-fandome-trailer-images&captions=true"] The network's handling of the Batwoman situation is also an encouraging sign. If The CW had any real plans to scale back its DC lineup, then theoretically losing Ruby Rose's Kate Kane would have been a perfect excuse to cancel Batwoman. Instead, Rose is being replaced by new lead actress Javicia Leslie, whose character Ryan Wilder is inheriting the mantle of Batwoman. Why go through that trouble if the network isn't committed to Batwoman's long-term future? Right now, Green Arrow & The Canaries is the biggest question mark regarding the future of the Arrowverse. Arrow's penultimate episode served as a backdoor pilot for this potential spinoff, but The CW has yet to announce whether it's moving forward with that project. The network's uncharacteristically long silence on that front is a little odd, but there are any number of reasons why The CW might opt to shelve Green Arrow & The Canaries for the time being. For one thing, the prospect of creating a martial arts-heavy superhero series in the midst of a pandemic might be unappealing for everyone involved. The lack of momentum on that front doesn't necessarily reflect a waning interest in the Arrowverse as a whole. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Right%20now%2C%20Green%20Arrow%20%26%20The%20Canaries%20is%20the%20biggest%20question%20mark%20regarding%20the%20future%20of%20the%20Arrowverse."]

Rebuilding the Arrowverse After Crisis

Ultimately, the Arrowverse doesn't appear to be shrinking so much as evolving. Similar to how Avengers: Endgame marked the end of one era for the MCU and the start of another, the recent Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover was a watershed moment for the Arrowverse. It was the big payoff for a storyline that began way back at the beginning of The Flash in 2014. And just as Marvel is pivoting to new characters and new franchises in Phase 4 of the MCU, the Arrowverse is slowly beginning to rebuild and establish a new direction in the aftermath of Crisis. The pre-Crisis Arrowverse was built around four superhero pillars - Green Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and those lovable goofballs who call themselves the Legends of Tomorrow. The post-Crisis Arrowverse may be shifting focus to a different lineup of heroes - including both veterans like Black Lightning and Superman and newcomers like the Mia Queen Green Arrow and the Ryan Wilder Batwoman. The Legends could eventually be phased out in favor of a different team (as it is, only a handful of the original Season 1 cast are still series regulars). Heck, Crisis ended with the debut of the Arrowverse's Justice League. Maybe The CW is planning to eventually replace both Supergirl and The Flash with an ensemble series starring both Benoist and Grant Gustin. Warners actually has a vested interest in swapping out the current Arrowverse lineup for newer shows. Not only do new shows mean fresh starting points for Arrowverse newcomers, these shows become huge assets in the streaming wars. Currently, Netflix holds the exclusive streaming rights to most of the existing Arrowverse lineup. Batwoman is the first of these shows to head to HBO Max instead. Why continue to produce DC shows that benefit a direct streaming competitor when Warners can pivot to other characters and wind up with more content for the HBO Max library? They don't need to phase out the Arrowverse; they just have to transform it. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/18/crisis-on-infinite-earths-crossover-review"]

Is DC Repeating the Marvel/Netflix Controversy?

Many Marvel fans are still fuming over the abrupt, untimely end of Netflix's various Marvel shows. Following the surprise cancellations of both Iron Fist and Luke Cage in 2018, it quickly became apparent Netflix and Marvel were ending their working relationship. The Disney+ streaming service is seen as a major culprit behind that split, along with Netflix's reluctance to keep spending money on properties it doesn't own. With Marvel's Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige taking a more direct hand in the TV side of the MCU, the Netflix shows and their murky continuity have been axed in favor of big-budget Disney+ exclusives more directly tied to the MCU movies. At this point, it's unclear when we'll see characters like Daredevil and Luke Cage in the MCU, and whether those characters will be rebooted/recast when they do return. The concern many fans seem to be voicing lately is that DC could be heading in a similar direction. Between Gotham PD, Peacemaker, Justice League Dark, Greg Berlanti's Green Lantern series and all the various ex-DC Universe shows like Doom Patrol and Harley Quinn, WarnerMedia is clearly betting big on DC content being a huge selling point of HBO Max. Gotham PD and Peacemaker specifically represent what seems to be a growing trend of using these lavish, star-studded prestige series to expand on an existing cinematic universe and create more movie/TV synergy. That trend isn't even limited to DC, as Dune is also getting an HBO Max-exclusive prequel series. Does the Arrowverse still have a place in this new, streamlined DC machine, or is it doomed to go the way of Netflix's Marvel Universe? [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-flash-movies-possible-dceu-cameos&captions=true"] Again, we don't see a lot of evidence to suggest the Arrowverse is on the way out. Perhaps if the Supergirl news is followed by similar announcements for The Flash, Legends and Batwoman, like with Netflix's Marvel cancellations, the situation will change, but for now that appears unlikely. For all the money it's throwing into the streaming wars, WarnerMedia is a fairly conservative company at heart. There's always been a sense Warners doesn't want to keep all its eggs in one basket where DC TV shows are concerned. Even with so much DC content being consolidated at either HBO Max or The CW, there's still the occasional outlier like Epix's Pennyworth. Warners also allowed The Sandman to find a home at Netflix rather than produce and stream the series themselves, likely because of the show's reportedly massive budget. With their longer seasons and relatively smaller budgets, the Arrowverse shows are probably seen as a safer, more mainstream-friendly alternative to the HBO Max exclusives. Plus, Greg Berlanti continues to play a heavy role in many of these DC TV projects, and we doubt the company would want to upset one of their most valuable producers by abruptly tanking the shared universe he helped build. There's no reason the Arrowverse can't continue to coexist with HBO Max's DC lineup. If anything, WarnerMedia seems finally eager to lean into the idea of a live-action DC multiverse where several incarnations of iconic heroes are allowed to flourish and occasionally interact. If fans can see Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton and Robert Pattinson all play Batman on the big-screen within a one-year period, then why can't the Arrowverse continue alongside a lineup of DCEU-connected streaming shows? With Marvel leaning more and more into one unified, interconnected cinematic universe, DC's best bet may be to do the exact opposite. As Crisis on Infinite Earths showed us, every one of these shows is part of something bigger. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

The rules of time-travel have been debated by scientists and sci-fi fans alike for years, but now a student physicist has been able to "square the numbers" to show how paradox-free time travel is theoretically possible. This means that should someone be able to time travel, the dreaded butterfly effect might not be as inevitable as has been feared -- but that doesn't mean a time-traveler might not still face unintended consequences. In a peer-reviewed paper published in Classical and Quantum Gravity, University of Queensland student, Germain Tobar, collaborating with the university's physics professor Fabio Costa, mathematically discovered how, "time travel with free will is logically possible in our universe without any paradox.” The math involved in all this is enough to make Will Hunting scratch his head but Tobar, like a different Matt Damon character, has been able to "science the shit" out of theorizing how one could travel through time without causing those pesky logical paradoxes that bedevil many a science-fiction protagonist. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/27/explaining-the-most-complicated-part-of-avengers-endgame"] One such example is the so-called grandfather paradox wherein, as their paper puts it, "a time traveller could kill her own grandfather and thus prevent her own birth, leading to a logical inconsistency." Or, someone going back in time to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from happening would then nix the very reason why they ever traveled through time. Yes, it's like those arguments about time travel in Avengers: Endgame all over again! “This is a paradox – an inconsistency that often leads people to think that time travel cannot occur in our universe," Costa said. "Some physicists say it is possible, but logically it’s hard to accept because that would affect our freedom to make any arbitrary action. It would mean you can time travel, but you cannot do anything that would cause a paradox to occur.” Tobar basically said, hold my beer and went about proving that, theoretically, one can travel through time, exert free will, and not create any such logical paradoxes. Because classical dynamics and Einstein's Theory of Relativity are at odds with each other on the matter, Tobar's paper calculated how closed time-like curves (CTCs) "are not only compatible with determinism and with the local 'free choice' of operations, but also with a rich and diverse range of scenarios and dynamical processes." Or, as Popular Mechanics succinctly puts it, "as long as just two pieces of an entire scenario within a CTC are still in 'causal order' when you leave, the rest is subject to local free will." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-sci-fi-movies-on-netflix&captions=true"] Tobar's calculations show how theoretically one could time-travel and exert free will in a way that wouldn't prevent the reason why they went back in time. But it could make them wish they had never time-traveled to begin with:

"In the coronavirus patient zero example, you might try and stop patient zero from becoming infected, but in doing so you would catch the virus and become patient zero, or someone else would. No matter what you did, the salient events would just recalibrate around you. Try as you might to create a paradox, the events will always adjust themselves, to avoid any inconsistency."

In the words of those venerable time travel experts Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan: bogus! For more science coverage, learn about the possibility of life on Venus, evidence of a parallel universe where time runs backward, why the moon is rusting, and the discovery of underground lakes on Mars.

CD Projekt Red is reportedly enacting mandatory six-day workweeks to finish work on Cyberpunk 2077 in time for its November release. The studio previously promised employees that there will be no mandatory crunch to finish the highly-anticipated RPG. In a report published by Bloomberg, CD Projekt Red studio head Adam Badowski sent an email to staff explaining the decision to crunch before the launch of Cyberpunk 2077. Badowski even addresses how the crunch decision reverses earlier promises from the company saying they wouldn’t require it. “I take it upon myself to receive the full backlash for the decision,” Badowski reportedly wrote in an email. “I know this is in direct opposition to what we’ve said about crunch. It’s also in direct opposition to what we’ve said about crunch. It’s also in direct opposition to what I personally grew to believe a while back — that crunch should never be the answer. But we’ve extended all other possible means of navigating the situation.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/01/cyberpunk-2077-rtx-showcase-trailer"] Crunch is a term across a variety of industries where employees are asked to put in extra hours, sometimes days, to complete a project before a deadline. The commitment extends far beyond the typical workday or week, meaning employees typically stay late into the night and weekends to meet strict goals. CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwiński gave an interview to Kotaku in 2019 saying that it would like CD Projekt to be known as a studio that’s humane to its developers, and discussing its “non-obligatory crunch policy.” For more on crunch and its impact on game developers, read about the worrying trends in mental health within the games industry. IGN has reached out to CD Projekt for a comment but has not heard back in time for the publication of this story. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

If there’s one thing you don’t miss from your pre-pandemic life, it’s probably your commute to work. But Microsoft is convinced that daily commutes have unique benefits, and it wants to revive those benefits by replacing your daily commute with morni...

Get ready to enter the Multiverse. DC has long been playing in different universes and timelines, but their sprawling DC Fandome event has made it clear that the Multiverse is going to be a more tangible part of the DCEU going forward. And one of the biggest announcements that speaks to that choice is the arrival of the JSA in Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s upcoming DC movie Black Adam. The Justice Society of America has long been a core part of the animated and TV landscapes of DC, with their most well-known characters popping up time and time again. The team itself was also recently introduced in a very big way in DC's Stargirl series. So what does all of this actually mean for the upcoming (sort of) Shazam spin-off Black Adam and its recently announced roster of heroes? Well, let's just say this isn't exactly your grandad's Justice Society of America. The latest casting news on the project has Aldis Hodge (One Night in Miami, The Invisible Man) in talks to play Hawkman, according to The Hollywood Reporter. So let’s dig into what the arrival of the JSA could mean for Black Adam and the bigger DCEU! [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/black-adam-introduces-the-justice-society-of-america-dc-fandome-official-teaser"]

Justice Society of America Members in Black Adam

While the membership of the JSA has varied greatly over the team’s eight-decade history, the Black Adam movie will be featuring a pared-down membership:

• Atom Smasher
• Hawkman
• Doctor Fate
• Cyclone
• Black Adam (?)

Judging by the concept art teaser that played at DC FanDome, it sounds like Black Adam will be fighting the Justice Society in the film… but of course don’t these things usually end with everyone making friends to fight a bigger threat? So maybe Black Adam will join the JSA by the end of the film… [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/black-adam-dc-fandome-official-teaser"]

What Is the JSA?

The JSA is a classic Golden Age superhero team -- the first superhero team actually -- that was born out of the minds of Sheldon Mayer and Gardner Fox. The team debuted in 1941's All-Star Comics #3 -- predating the Justice League by almost two decades -- and featured a lineup of powerful heroes: Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Spectre, Atom, Hour-Man, Sandman, Jay Garrick’s Flash, and Alan Scott's Green Lantern. Eagle-eyed fans will notice that a couple of Black Adam’s characters are from that original lineup, as both Doctor Fate and Hawkman will be appearing in the upcoming superflick. (The Stargirl TV series, meanwhile, has featured a selection of those characters both in their classic forms, and as reimagined modern versions, alongside heroes from the Seven Soldiers of Victory including Starman and his titular legacy successor.) The JSA's adventures eventually ceased as superhero comics fell out of favor in the early 1950s, but in time the Silver Age of comics brought new versions of heroes like the Flash and Green Lantern back to popularity. In 1961, the new Barry Allen Flash met his counterpart from the JSA, Jay Garrick, and soon the concept of alternate Earths established that the JSA had been from Earth-2 while the "modern" heroes were from Earth-1. The JSA’s connection to the World War II era led to them being depicted as older characters who often mentored younger heroes, and the different Earths were eventually merged in 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=black-adam-first-trailer-screenshots&captions=true"]

Atom Smasher

The first hint that Black Adam wouldn't feature the full original iteration of the JSA was the announcement of Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I've Loved Before) being cast as Atom Smasher. The character first appeared in All-Star Squadron #25, a WWII-set series from Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler, and Jerry Ordway that gave the creators a chance to tell stories of the JSA in what they saw as their heyday. The period yarns were all set in the Earth-2 continuity which allowed the series to reimagine the adventures of the Golden Age heroes without disrupting their current continuity while also opening up space to introduce fresh faces and new legacy characters like the godson of the Golden Age Atom, Albert Rothstein, a.k.a. Atom Smasher. Just like the original Atom, the hero can manipulate the molecular structure of his body, and he even gained these powers in the same way as the original Atom, via a supervillain known as Cyclotron. Though the Golden Age Atom received his abilities during a battle, Albert inherited his from the maniacal villain who was his grandfather. Despite his grim origin, the hero was always far more interested in following in the do-gooder footsteps of his heroes in the Justice Society of America, first as the teenage super Nuklon and later as the fully fledged JSA member Atom Smasher. Atom Smasher is a particularly interesting character choice when you set it alongside Dwayne Johnson's eagerness to frame Black Adam as an anti-hero rather than a straight-up villain. During the '90s JSA run written by Geoff Johns and David Goyer, with art by Stephen Sadowski, Black Adam joins the JSA alongside Atom Smasher and Stargirl. If we look to that series as inspiration, we could see Johnson's powerful antagonist become an ally to these more traditionally heroic characters, at least for a little while. Basically, Black Adam and Atom Smasher are deeply connected in the comics, and you can expect to see Johnson and Centineo going on an emotional journey together in the film.

Hawkman

Next up is probably the most well known of Black Adam's antagonists. Hawkman, who will reportedly be played by Aldis Hodge, has appeared in numerous DC animated movies and shows while also playing a major role in the early seasons of the long-running CW superhero series Legends of Tomorrow. Like most Big Two heroes, Hawkman has lived through multiple iterations with many people holding the mantle, but the usual suspect is Carter Hall, an Indiana Jones-style archeologist; it seems unlikely that we'll see his alien Thanagarian cop iteration, Katar Hol, in this film. That doesn't mean his is a simple story though, as Carter Hall's Hawkman is actually a contemporary reincarnation of Khufu, an ancient Egyptian royal. The Shazam movie featured a sequence which told the story of Black Adam, and it looked like he was in ancient Egypt. Plus there's the fact that Hawkman's entire backstory is filled with time travel, multiple lives, and DC's mysterious Nth metal. Hawkman's wings are powered by that magical compound, which is also connected to his origin as he was stabbed by a dagger made of Nth metal and cursed to live again and again and again. Though the Shazam movie leaned into the Egyptian version of Black Adam's origin, in the Johns JSA run mentioned above the team retconned Adam to being from Kahndaq, a fictional North African nation. Don't despair, however, as Hawkman still plays a key part in that lore, as Black Adam served under Khufu, who would later be reincarnated as Carter Hall. Something very interesting about these JSA choices is it seems the film is essentially building a team around Black Adam, with everyone having some deep-seated connection to the villain/anti-hero and his comic book history.

Doctor Fate

Doctor Fate is the only Justice Society character here who will have featured in both the Stargirl series and the Black Adam movie -- as well as, get ready for this throwback, Smallville. He’s a very interesting choice as the massively powerful hero doesn't have a substantial pre-existing relationship with Black Adam in the comics. Still, the origins of his magical helmet and powerset do lean into some very Shazam-style tropes. In his Golden Age incarnation, Doctor Fate awakens a wizard in a tomb and becomes a hero... that sounds a whole lot like Billy Batson and his origin story, so there's a lot to play with there. But seeing as we've been talking about Egypt, let's skip forward a few decades and talk about a smuggler known as Jared Stevens. Hired by two previous Doctor Fates to steal the helmet and amulet from an Egyptian tomb -- *cough* sounds like a good way to build in a backstory with Adam *cough* -- Stevens was first introduced during 1994's Fate #0 and played a part in Johns and Goyer's time on JSA. It would make sense then that this is the version of Doctor Fate that we'll see (although, to be pedantic, he never truly took that mantle and was known only as Fate). It would be super cool to get a classic iteration of the character but we've seen that onscreen before and this version has an interesting connection to one of the biggest surprises from the Black Adam panel. There was plenty of concept art shared during the expansive show but one image showcasing a small purple gem next to Adam got fans talking. In the comics, that artifact is home to the demonic entity known as Eclipso -- who was also recently introduced in Stargirl, thank Grodd for the Multiverse -- who opens up another layer of connection to Jared Stevens. During his stint as a hero, Stevens had to face down threats from the mysterious Gemworld, the home of iconic teen heroine Amethyst. And in some parts of Eclipso canon -- specifically the New 52 era -- it's revealed that he was imprisoned in his gem by the House of Amethyst on Gemworld. Could that be the connection here? Does Stevens come up against Adam whilst they're both hunting for Eclipso? Perhaps they already know each other due to that connection? If so, then that's another hero with a bone to pick with Johnson's yellow and black-suited character. [caption id="attachment_239789" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Does this purple gem hint at villain Eclipso being part of the Black Adam movie?[/caption]

Cyclone

The final confirmed member of Black Adam's Justice Society of America is an interesting one. A legacy character with ties to both a classic Golden Age hero and their android replacement, Cyclone, a.k.a. Maxine Hunkel, is the granddaughter of the original Red Tornado (another Sheldon Mayer creation). An older, unnamed Maxine first appeared in 1996’s future-set Kingdom Come series by Alex Ross and Mark Waid but a younger version of the character was retroactively added to the JSA by Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglsham a decade later. Though at first it may seem that she doesn't have a connection to Black Adam, Cyclone’s dark origin story introduced a thread that could be key. Maxine was recruited to the JSA by Mister Terrific and Power Girl during Johns and Eaglesham's 2007 JSA relaunch. It's there that we find out she gained her powers due to being kidnapped by the mad scientist T. O. Morrow, who was also the creator of the second Red Tornado. In some kind of horrific experiment, he imbued Maxine with the same technology that he used to create that android hero and years later she manifested her powers, joining the up-and-coming DC Comics team. So what does that have to do with Black Adam? His antagonistic history with T. O. Morrow introduces an easy potential connection that could very likely be built on during this exploration of the JSA. In 2006, DC embarked on an unprecedented experiment: 52 was a weekly series that aimed to put out a new issue every Wednesday for a year... and they achieved it! Featuring some of DC's biggest creators, it was a huge moment for the company and it's also where Black Adam and T. O. Morrow faced down. During the event, Black Adam hunted down the scientist for the part that he played in the creation of the Fourth World's Four Horsemen of Apokolips. Now, while we don't necessarily think Black Adam will be getting deep into Darkseid lore, we do know this Adam is more of an anti-hero. Could he inadvertently run into Maxine while hunting down T. O. Morrow -- maybe in flashback? Perhaps he even saves her from him? If so, it could mean that her connection to the antagonist is a positive one, which would add an interesting layer to the team. [poilib element="accentDivider"] We'll have to wait until the Black Adam film hits to find out, but what do you think of this Justice Society of America roster? Is our sleuthing outrageous or does it actually make quite a bit of sense? Are you just stoked to see the Rock finally become Black Adam? Let us know in the comments! Note - Sept. 25, 2020: This story has been updated with the latest information about Black Adam.

A third Tron movie has been rumored for some time, and in August, it was reported that it's finally happening. Tron 3 will follow 1982's cult sci-fi adventure Tron and 2010's Tron: Legacy, and is set to star Jared Leto (Blade Runner 2049, Suicide Squad). Leto is now in training for the role and has posted a picture on Instagram and Twitter of him "starting the Tron workout."

The image shows Leto in a sleeveless shirt looking very intense. Of course, the Tron 3 workout probably isn't very different from any other kind of workout, and frankly it's hard to find a photo of Leto where he doesn't look intense. But fans of the inventive sci-fi series will be excited that things are finally happening with the next movie. Check the picture out below.

While it's very early days for Tron 3, we know that it'll be directed by Australian filmmaker Garth Davis, who previously helmed 2016's Oscar-nominated drama Lion. Leto is co-producing the movie, and Jesse Wigutow (It Runs in the Family) has reportedly written the most recent draft of the script. The film has not been given a release date yet.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

And now for something completely different: Bill Murray is being threatened by '70s mellow rock band The Doobie Brothers for unlicensed use of their song "Listen to the Music" in an advertisement for his golf shirts.

In a filing unearthed by The Hollywood Reporter, the easygoing band surprisingly bares its fangs--their attorney Peter Paterno chastises Murray, writing: "It seems like the only person who uses our clients' music without permission more than you do is Donald Trump… We'd almost be OK with it if the shirts weren't so damn ugly."

For those who didn't even realize Bill Murray has a golf-shirt business, you can go over to William Murray Golf's official website and decide for yourself about the actor's sartorial tastes. However, to be fair, it should be noted that golf is a sport where wardrobes are typically garish--anyone who has ever caddied for a summer knows this all too well. (The lawsuit also finds Murray joining his Chicago hometown fellow superstar Michael Jordan in being called out for bad taste: In 2012, Jordan, a man who has long lived by his own rules, was banned from La Gorce Country Club in Miami for not abiding by the dress code, and his repeated wearing cargo pants cited as the inciting offense.)

Continue Reading at GameSpot

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Samuel L. Jackson is reportedly reprising his role as Marvel's Nick Fury in a Disney+ streaming series. According to Variety, Jackson is attached to star in the Nick Fury series with Kyle Bradstreet (Mr. Robot) serving as writer and executive producer. Reps for both Jackson and Bradstreet declined comment per the trade. Variety says it's "highly likely" that the Nick Fury show will indeed go to series, joining the ranks of WandaVision, Loki, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Hawkeye, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Jackson previously made a cameo as Nick Fury on Agents of SHIELD so this won't be his first time reprising his role for the small screen. While there's no word on plot details for the Nick Fury series or when exactly during the spymaster's long career it will be set, it seems possible that it could explore Fury's work alongside the Skrulls that was teased during the end credits scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/02/spider-man-far-from-home-wtf-questions"] That scene revealed Fury to be working in a space station alongside the Srulls. As we reported in our breakdown of the end credits scene:

"This teaser strongly suggests SWORD will be making its MCU debut soon. Short for Sentient World Observation and Response Department, this sister agency to SHIELD is tasked with monitoring the cosmos and defending the planet from alien attacks. SWORD is traditionally staffed by a mixture of humans and friendly aliens, which makes the Skrulls perfect allies as Fury spearheads this major project."

What would you like to see the Nick Fury series be about? And which characters would you like to see join him in it? Let us know in the comments. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-phase-4-official-lineup&captions=true"]

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It turns out most Vikings weren't as fair-haired and blue-eyed as legend and pop culture have led people to believe. According to a new study on the DNA of over 400 Viking remains, most Vikings had dark hair and dark eyes. (Sorry, Chris Hemsworth and Travis Fimmel.) Nature's study sequencing the genomes of 442 Viking remains from Viking-inhabited areas like northern Europe, Italy, and Greenland -- human remains dated between 2400 B.C. to 1600 A.D. and which were buried with a variety of Viking artifacts -- reveals far more genetic diversity than previously thought about the people who came from the land of the ice and snow. The Vikings, after all, were a scattered group whose sea-faring for trade, exploration, and conquest saw them settle far and wide during the Viking Age that lasted from roughly 700 A.D. to 1100 A.D. Not only did many of the studied Vikings turn out to not be blond or blue-eyed, their genetic admixture shows they weren't a distinct ethnic group but rather a mix of various other groups, "with ancestry from hunter-gatherers, farmers, and populations from the Eurasian steppe." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/vikings-season-6-official-clip-comic-conhome-on-ign"] The study revealed which Scandinavian countries influenced outside regions the most. "The Danish Vikings went to England, while the Swedish Vikings went to the Baltic and the Norwegian Vikings went to Ireland, Iceland, and Greenland," according to the University of Copenhagen's Ashot Margaryan. Three particularly genetically diverse areas -- one in modern Denmark, and one apiece on the Swedish islands of Gotland and Öland -- were likely key trading centers. The conclusions of this genetic analysis suggest the very idea of being a Viking was likely more a way of life or job. As Science Alert puts it:

"(The) results also reveal that during the Viking Age, being a Viking was as much a concept and a culture as it was question of genetic inheritance, with the team finding that two Viking skeletons buried in the Northern Isles of Scotland had what looks to be relatively pure Scottish and Irish heritage, with no Scandinavian influence, at least not genetically speaking, that is."

“These identities aren’t genetic or ethnic, they’re social,” archaeologist Cat Jarman informed Science magazine. “To have backup for that from DNA is powerful.” And as Science magazine also highlights, "several individuals in Norway were buried as Vikings, but their genes identified them as Saami, an Indigenous group genetically closer to East Asians and Siberians than to Europeans." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=movies-and-shows-to-prepare-you-for-valhalla&captions=true"] Fascinatingly, the DNA study also revealed that two of the remains found hundreds of miles apart -- one in the U.K. and one in Denmark -- turned out to be a pair of cousins. For more Vikings coverage, discover what showrunner Michael Hirst recently revealed to us about what's in store for Vikings' final season and why the sequel series, Valhalla, will be on Netflix instead of the History Channel. [poilib element="accentDivider"]