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Final Fantasy XV has been gestating for the best part of a decade in some form or another. We still don’t know anything specific about the release date either, just a proposed 2016 release date.

However, according to developer Kitade Satoshi on the official forums (via Gematsu), the game is in good shape right now. He claims the first half of the game is basically done and that the title is ‘playable’ from beginning to end. He said (translated):

We’re at the point where we can play the game in its entirety from start to finish. From this, everyone on the development team can get an overall view on the game.

The team is just polishing it now, getting it ready for release next year.

This is promising though. It seems the game is really coming together now, which will leave patient fans very happy. Now, if we just had a date…

Final Fantasy XV Is Playable From Start To Finish Says Dev

Last week we saw comic book artist Brett Booth announce he was making the switch from a long and critically acclaimed run on The Flash, for an unknown project starting in March.

Well, I understand this will be on the Aquaman monthly title. Will this be with Dan Abnett? Or Geoff Johns?

There are a lot of DC creative changes going on right now. Look for something on that to follow

He is also working on an Aquaman cover looks like, for February’s issue 49. A taste of things to come?

A salty, salty taste…

Brett Booth Dives Into Aquaman?

Some of our favorite comic artists do work we’ll never see. Private commissions happen all the time and some of the most gorgeous art ends up only being seen by a handful of people… unless the artist is nice enough to post the piece to their social media… or in this case, their wife does.

Allison Sohn is the wife of Adam Hughes (and an artist in her own right) and yesterday she posted this image on facebook showing off a gorgeous 4-part commission that Hughes had recently done.

I’m a huge fan of my own husband’s work- that goes without saying. But sometimes he does something that really stands out for me. This was a set of four commissioned pieces, requested to look like Alphonse Mucha’s The Four Seasons. Done in color Copic Marker with colored pencils and a little paint and ink.

Below Hughes’ commission I’ve posted Mucha’s Seasons, showing that the new pieces are a fitting homage within the theme.

Adam Hughes’ Homage To Alphonse Mucha

Piecing together clues from various actors’ statements, Comicbook.com supposes Captain America and Iron May be showing up in the solo Spider-Man film Marvel and Sony are co-producing.

They note a seemingly innocuous quote from Robert Downey Jr. on last Monday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live in which the actor said to Chris Evans, “By the way, we are going to shoot in Atlanta again, you and I.”

“I know, I’m ready, I’m ready,” Evans replied.

Until recently Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was the only Marvel film scheduled to shoot in Atlanta, Georgia. Spider-Man is now said to be shooting there, according to a recent Superhero Hype interview with star Tom Holland. The actor noted the city was chosen because “they have studios there and I think it’s cheaper to build a New York set than it is to shoot here, because it’s going to be very expensive. We probably will end up here (in New York) for one week or two.”

Are Downey and Evans part of the expense? Comicbook.com noted there is “a lot riding on Sony’s second relaunch of the Spider-Man franchise” and it might prudent to include Marvel’s biggest cinematic stars to buoy the webcrawler’s new status quo.

Of course, this is conjecture, but considering Spider-Man’s upcoming appearance in Captain America: Civil War, why wouldn’t a couple of Avengers want to stop by his solo outing and say hello? Hmm. Does make the solo Spider-Man film seem like an uncomfortable sitcom spin-off from the 1980s, though.

Will Captain American And Iron Man Appear In Spider-Man’s Solo Film?

In 2012, the Red Scharlach tumblr site pointed out just how much of an otter Benedict Cumberbatch was.

Well on tonight’s Graham Norton Show on BBC1, they reversed it, finding otters that didn’t look like Benedict Cumberbatch and getting Benedict to look like the otters instead. And yes, Johnny Depp joined in at one point as guest otter…

When Benedict Cumberbatch Deliberately Made Himself Look Like An Otter

A little Thanksgiving gossip comes to us regarding the future of DC’s TV shows on CBS.

Bleeding Cool has been told by a reliable source to expect Supergirl to meet the Flash and the STAR Labs crew from her fellow show by May’s sweeps week, if CBS orders the last episodes of Supergirl.

Comissioned for 13 episodes, CBS has an option for a “back nine” to bring the season up to 22.

CBS believes Supergirl may need the ratings boost…

Supergirl To Meet Flash On CBS For May Sweeps Week?

Variety reports that Control and Maleficent actor Sam Riley will co-star opposite Scarlett Johansson in Paramount Pictures‘ co-production of Ghost In The Shell.

Based on the Masamune Shirow manga and the subsequent animated film and television series, Johansson will play a female special ops cyborg who leads an elite task force called Section 9 for Hanka Robotics. Danish actor Pilou Asbæk is said to be on board to play Batou, the best fighter in the Section. Both will lead Section 9 against “The Laughing Man” and his attempts to undo Hanka’s cybernetic advancements. Riley will presumably play the antagonist.

Directed by Rupert Sanders, the film is scheduled for a March 31st, 2017 release.

Sam Riley To Battle Scarlett Johansson In Ghost In The Shell

Dwayne Johnson announced via his Instagram feed that his San Andreas co-star Alexandra Daddario will play Summer in the feature film version of the international television hit Baywatch.

“Alex is a one of kind woman (I know from experience) and can’t wait for you guys to see her own the role,” he wrote in the post. He also noted the roles in the film “have become extremely hot properties around Hollywood and as promised, the quality women we’ll cast are stepping into these roles to have fun and make them iconic for the world to enjoy.”

The film stars Johnson and Zac Efron as lifeguards on a Southern California beach. The original series starred David Hasselhoff and featured Nicole Eggert, Pamela Anderson and Jason Momoa over the course of its 11 season run.

Alexandra Daddario Cast In Baywatch Feature

Dark Knight III: The Master Race is solicited as being written by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello. But according to an interview with Newsarama, Frank Miller may not completely see it that way. And wants in.

“I thoroughly applaud what [Brian’s] doing. But now that he’s doing his, it’s now a four-part series,” Miller told Newsarama on Monday. “I’m doing the fourth.”

Indeed, they report,

Miller indicated he was aware of Azzarello’s story, and he emphasized that he supported it. However, he said that after he reads DK3 in full, he intends to create his own fourth chapter (although he did not indicate whether he’d both write and draw the book). According to Miller’s language that the series is now “four-part,” the former “trilogy” would presumably now end after the fourth volume.

“Aware” of the story? The solicits do read,

DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #3
Written by FRANK MILLER and BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art by ANDY KUBERT and KLAUS JANSON

Frank Miller Will Return For Dark Knight 4 – Without Brian Azzarello

According to The Guardian, Sony recently announced their intention to cease production of Betamax video cassettes next March. The end of the product comes after forty years of production and more than twenty years after people stop thinking about the product at all.

In the mid 1970s and early 80s, Sony’s Betamax format and VHS — developed by Sony’s rivals JVC — battled in the marketplace for dominance. Other companies eventually entered the fray, developing their own VHS compatible players. Though superior in quality, Sony’s players and cassettes were more expensive. And, as noted by the Guardian, the porn industry adopted VHS, creating a much larger user base for the format.

But into the mid-80s, video stores still stocked Beta cassettes next to their VHS counterparts. In 1988, Sony admitted defeat and began to manufacture VHS players and tapes. By the end of the decade, Beta would seemingly vanish entirely. Surprising as it might seem, Sony continued to manufacture Betamax players until 2002.

Sony would also engage its competitors in another video format war in the early 21st Century when they introduced the Blu-ray Disc format. Rivals backed the HD-DVD standard with a handful of manufactures attempting to make players compatible with both formats. This format war ended when Warner Bros. announced it was going Blu-ray exclusive prior to the Consumer Electronics Show in 2008. HD-DVD’s backers planned a party for the show, but quickly cancelled their event in the wake of the announcement. In February that year, Toshiba, the major force behind the format, announced plans to discontinue HD-DVD.

Meanwhile, the Guardian also reports VHS tapes continue to be manufactured.

The End of Betamax After Forty Years Of Production … No, Really!

In 2005, Joss Whedon was hired to write and direct a live action Wonder Woman movie.

It didn’t happen.

So he left the project and wrote and directed The Avengers instead. And everyone at Warners performed the world’s biggest simultaneous facepalm.

Well, Manhattan Beach comic book store The Comic Bug got a copy of the screenplay. And, with Jennifer Wenger, Curtis Fortier, Adam Marcus and Debra Sullivan and more, they will be performing the whole screenplay for the audience who attend.

It’s free to turn up, with popcorn and drinks, and is a sequel event to last year’s Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods performance…

Watch Joss Whedon’s Wonder Woman On Manhattan Beach, This Saturday

We have global news that Disney are retiring the “Slave Leia” look,or as some prefer it “Hutt Killer” look for Princess Leia in merchandising. And all started from one comic book creator on Facebook.

And despite the huge oversupply of toys of those figures that portray that look for the character, the idea that there will be no more from this iconic, if troubling image, have spurred demand for what is actually still out there.

The Star Wars Power Of The Force “Prisoner Of Jabba The Hutt” Princess Leia figure from 1997 used to sell on eBay for as little as a dollar.

Not so much any more. Today, one just sold for $20.

The Gentle Giant Bust has jumped from less that $80 in September to $150 (out of box) now.

While the Gentle Giant Deluxe Statue selling for $140 in September has jumped as high as $700.

While Sideshow’s Leia statue selling for $408 in September has now sold for over $740.

The Vintage Collection figure that sold for $80 in October now sells for $145

While the Black Series Leia figure, selling for as low as $10 is now as high as $61.

Princess Leia Slave Figures Jump In Value On eBay

According to Variety, Chloe Grace Moretz will play the title character in Working Title and Universal‘s production of The Little Mermaid.

Plot details are under wraps, and it is unclear how faithfully a new draft, written by Love Actually‘s Richard Curtis, will follow the fairy tale told by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen about a mermaid who gives up her voice to walk and the chance to earn an immortal soul.

The project was previously being developed by Sofia Coppola, who left the project earlier in the year. Variety hears word that the studio’s interest in Moretz was part of her decision to leave.

Currently, no release date is set and production will begin pending approval of Curtis’s draft of the script.

Chloe Moretz To Play The Little Mermaid

Green Arrow, The Next DC Comic to Feel The Cut?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Star Trek is looking to return to its first home: television.

The site reports reboot franchise writer/producer Alex Kurtzman is developing the new series and is currently looking for a writer to take the reins. Currently, no network is attached, but it is hoped the project will be on the air, cable, or streaming by next fall, in time for the series’ 50th anniversary in September 2016.

While fans have clamored for another series since the end of Star Trek Enterprise, THR reports the television rights were caught in a legal jumble between CBS Corps. and Paramount Pictures following a merger between CBS and Paramount’s parent company Viacom.

Kurtzman co-wrote the reboot Star Trek and its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness and is involved in Star Trek Beyond as a producer.

As additional details are expected later today, specifics about the potential series are unclear.

Star Trek To Voyage Again On TV

Watch out, DC Comics’s media partner CBR have spoiled the final page of the first issue of Dark Knight III: The Master Race with an end of issue reveal and surprise about the nature of Batman in the series. It’s approved by DC PR… which may mean there are further twists and reveals to come.

Well, Frank Miller attended Paris Comic Con last weekend and, away from DC PR folk, he gave an interesting interview about the plot of Dark Knight III: The Master Race. Which may suggest something else.

While Batman will always be a major protagonist, in Dark Knight III but Superman will play a greater role. The plot will revolve around the release of the Bottle City of Kandor, the capital of the planet Krypton, the birthplace of Superman.

In the story, Batman frees one million people from the Bottle City. Superman and the other heroes must then join together to fight them to prevent the conquest of the Earth.

The Master Race? It refers to the Kryptonians of Kandor.

Miller sees his role as to make people react he wants angry reactions and furious critics, this is what makes him happy and lets him feel he’s achieved something.

I thinks that’s going to be mission accomplished. Mind you, he says that while he would change a thing about The Dark Knight returns, he does have some misgivings about The Dark Knight Strikes Back regarding how it treated age and would make changes. Expect that to be a theme of The Master Race, not just a change in physicality but maturity and experience – this is a Batman who no one can deceive.

He sees what defines Batman is that he is the smartest man in the world, able to defeat Superman, an now facing millions of Superman. But Frank would still bet on the bat… but he will need others to help him.

Dark Knight III Is About The Liberation Of Kandor And The Master Race Are The Kryptonians – Frank Miller Talks Plot

Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams is fond of “The Mystery Box,” a catchy name for keeping plot details of his projects under wraps. Of course, the Mystery Box has never faced a challenge like Star Wars, with rabid fans flying drones over locations to get a glimpse of walker feet, hanger mounds and other details. One thing the Mystery Box has managed to keep within its confines is Luke Skywalker. Though one or two supposed images of the character, played by Mark Hamill, have surfaced online, Luke’s role in the film is a closely guarded secret. In fact, Luke’s place in the box has been so successful, some have come to believe Luke may actually be Kylo Ren, the character played by Adam Driver.

Meanwhile, Abrams tells the Associated Press that Luke’s lack of face time in the marketing thus far is no accident:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It must be fun to control the flow of information like that. Abrams goes on to mention effects work and scoring are still underway. That’s not too surprising as effects heavy pictures often go to the wire before release.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, effects, Luke and all, opens December 18th.

J.J. Abrams Reminds You That Luke Skywalker Is In The Mystery Box

Level Up: Overcoming Harassment In Games was a planned panel for SXSW 2016, part of the PanelPicker where people can vote on the panels they would like to see at the show. It described itself as,

A panel from experts on online harassment in gaming and geek culture, how to combat it, how to design against it, and how to create online communities that are moving away from harassment. The panel will dive into data around abuse in larger gaming communities. One of our panelists will talk about about ways to actually develop the social aspects of games – including UI decisions and how they can influence accuracy and usage of reporting abuse. Another will dive into UX design choices to stymy harassment in social media spaces.

With questions such as,

What do affordances of online conversation look like and how do you use design to stimulate a conversational space but also allow for robust privacy

How do we create an ecosystem with an online gaming space that allows for safety but also the feeling of open communication?

How do we reframe and take back the narrative around game spaces to create inclusivity and diversity amongst gamers?

With speakers Caroline Sinders (IBM Watson), Katherine Cross (CUNY Graduate Center/Writer for Gamustra) and Randi Harper (Online Abuse Prevention Initiative)

It got picked. A panel about overcoming harassment? The laws of irony dictate only one outcome. Randi tweeted

SXSW just canceled our panel due to the number of threats of violence they have received.

— Literally Boo (@randileeharper) October 26, 2015

@ChrisWarcraft we just received the email canceling it. SXSW got too many violent threats. we're discussing it now.

— Literally Boo (@randileeharper) October 26, 2015

I invite @sxsw or any other conference to chat with us about how to handle attendee and panelist security. We're kind of the experts.

— Literally Boo (@randileeharper) October 26, 2015

SXSW has made no offer to reimburse our airfare or hotel deposits.

— Literally Boo (@randileeharper) October 26, 2015

This was even more ironic in the face of the news that SXSW had already approved a Gamergate-related panel, without having to go through any pesky vote. Motherboard reported,

Prospective SXSW attendees are asking the festival to clarify its security plans after a panel about the controversial online movement about video game culture GamerGate was approved this week.

Although the event, “SavePoint – A Discussion on the Gaming Community,” is not described on the schedule as explicitly GamerGate-affiliated, several of its panelistshave been involved in the hashtag movement.

The panel will be moderated by Perry Jones. It will feature speakers Mercedes Carrera, Nick Robalik, and Lynn Walsh from the Society of Professional Journalists, who appeared on another GamerGate panel in August that was interrupted by a bomb threat.

As well as adding a letter sent to someone who expressed concern by a SXSW representative,

We appreciate your thoughts and always welcome feedback from our community. That said, SXSW is a big tent and we strongly believe in showcasing a very diverse range of ideas and opinions, even if we as a staff don’t always agree with them. If everyone shared the same viewpoint, that would make for a pretty boring event.
Cheers,
-andrew

Then the other show dropped. Here is the letter that SXSW sent out.

This email serves as notice that SXSW Interactive has made the decision to cancel the “Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games” session for March 2016 in Austin.

On the one hand, we are an event that prides itself on being a big tent and a marketplace of diverse people and diverse ideas.

On the other hand, preserving the sanctity of that big tent at SXSW Interactive necessitates that we keep the dialogue civil and respectful — so that people can agree, disagree and embrace new ways of thinking in a safe and secure place. We have already received numerous threats of violence regarding this panel, so a civil and respectful environment seems unlikely in March in Austin. For this reason, we have also canceled other sessions at the 2016 event that focused on the GamerGate controversy.

We are strong believers in community at SXSW — and a healthy community sometimes requires strong management. Preserving the sanctity of the big tent is more important than preserving any particular session.

So that’s the Gamergate-related panel cancelled too – and SXSW choosing to equate the two in this matter. But right now it looks like that “marketplace of diverse people and diverse ideas” they talked about is shrinking rather…

SXSW Cancels Gaming Harassment Panel Over Violent Threats – And Drops Gamergate Panel Too

For the first time since the onslaught of comic based television series started, we are going to have two from the same universe going head-to-head… Gotham vs. Supergirl.

Now we already have Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD going up against iZombie on Tuesday nights, but they don’t really go after the same audience and come from different publishers and where one is a show set in a superhero universe the other is a police procedural set in a zombie universe. So it’s not quite the same. Plus a bad night on ABC would often still be a good night on the CW.

But here we have a Batman prequel featuring a lot of the villains and characters that DC fans love going up against a Superman offshoot featuring a lot of the villains and characters that DC fans love.

Gotham has really been picking up steam in their second season introducing a storyline that seem to be right out of the Court of Owls series. A lot of critics have turned around on this show and are really liking it now that it has the kinks worked out. Supergirl is from executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg who gave us Arrow and The Flash. It’s more of a straight forward, lighter superhero show and gives us a lead that even caught the eye of Jeb Bush.

So what does this TV version of Batman V Superman mean? We won’t really see the numbers until the second week as CBS is running a new episode of The Big Bang Theory at 8 pm then Supergirl at 8:30 with a ninety-minute Scorpion after. That should give the premiere the best lead in the network has to offer. The NCIS franchise may have more total viewers than BBT, but not in the demographic the network wants here. So it will be the following week when the two really go head-to-head.

The potential here is that it could change how networks look at ratings. They currently still cling to the overnights as the best gauge for a shows success even though viewers record and watch more shows now than ever. So if Supergirl flies in and trounces Gotham, then I’d expect Fox to adjust their schedule. They know what they have in the series so I’d expect a move if the numbers drop significantly. If Gotham is too entrenched and Supergirl can’t really make any headway, then there is a chance the series gets axed because of the cost of making it.

But what if the numbers are pretty even? This is where things might change. If the shows are pulling in pretty similar ratings then I think both networks would start taking the +3 and +7 numbers into account along with streaming and webviewers. Why? Because both shows come from the same company, Warner Bros TV, and they will want to stress that both of their series are a hit even against each other… showing that number of viewers of a show when it airs may not be the best judge of how popular a show is. And getting networks to realize that could give shows more opportunities to survive regardless of how many people tune in on a specific night and time.

Gotham V Supergirl And What It Might Mean For Television

According to The Radio Times, the Sherlock Holiday Special will air on January 1st, 2016. The news comes from the mouths of show architects Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss during their appearance at MCM London. Producer Sue Vertue added, “it will go out in America on the same day.”

The special episode, which sees Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman playing Holmes and Watson in the characters’ original Victorian setting, will be called “The Abominable Bride.” Gatiss explained the title comes from Watson’s reference to “Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife,” a case Holmes and Watson undertook, but author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote about.

In the states, PBS has released a new trailer for the special:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sherlock Producers Reveal Holiday Special Title And Premiere Date; Trailer Released

I understand that the Paris branch of Humanoids will be at Paris Comic Con this weekend with a big announcement.

It’s all very hush hush, but word is that it will be Esad Ribić and Mukesh Singh working on Metabaron the new comic in the Metabarons series.

This will be Esad’s first confirmed work to follow up the yet-to-be-concluded million-selling Secret Wars comic at Marvel. He will complete the last four issues of the new 16-part Metabaron comic book series providing covers and interior art.

This sequel to The Metabarons starts in October and is written by Jerry Frissen, based on a story by Alexandro Jodorowsk.

The first four issues are being drawn by young French artist, Valentin Sécher, followed by The Pride of Bagdad’s, Niko Henrichon, and then Indian comic book superstar, Mukesh Singh. Esad will follow them with his final arc.

The Metabaron character was created byJean Giraud, aka Mœbiu, and Alexandro Jodorowsky in The Incal, and later had his own international bestselling spin-off series, The Metabarons, with art by Juan Gimenez (Leo Roa).

Esad art above, Mukesh below….

After Secret Wars, Esad Ribić Paints The New Metabarons Comic For Humanoids

From Amanda Conner…. as seen on last night’s Big Bang Theory.

Stuart: “I know more women are buying comics than ever , but for some reason I can’t get them in here.”

Amy: “For starters you might want to rethink some of this artwork, This woman is actually on a leash like a dog…”

Why do I get the feeling, ironic or not, that this will be on a lot of comic book retailers walls today?

Amanda Conner’s Artwork On The Big Bang Theory