Artist and animator Stephen Byrne created this funny fan-made Batman v Superman animated short that shows us what a real fight might look like between these two superheroes. As much as I love Batman, and I always tend to root for the underdog, this pretty much amusingly sums up what would really happen in a fight between these two characters.

To see some of Byrne's previous work click on the following links: FIREFLY Reimagined as a Disney Animated Adventure, Brief FIREFLY Animated Scene Reunites Zoe and Wash, and Drastically Different Fan Designs for Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

For months now, speculation has run rampant about who will sing the theme song for Spectre, the newest film in the long-running James Bond franchise. Adele made quite the impression with her powerful theme from Skyfall a few years ago, winning a Golden Globe, a Brit Award, and an Oscar and setting the bar very high for whoever delivers the next entry in the Bond film musical canon.

Now it appears we know who that will be. Rumors pegged Radiohead, Ellie Goulding, and Sam Smith as the frontrunners for the gig, but Smith's latest post on his social media accounts seem to be a confirmation that he's secured the job:

pic.twitter.com/0anlLMQSWZ

— SAM SMITH (@samsmithworld) September 7, 2015

(That's the Spectre logo on his ring, for anyone unaware of Bond iconography.)

Hitfix reports that we'll first get to hear the still-untitled song tomorrow morning to coincide with tickets for the film going on sale, so we don't have long to wait until we hear how Smith stacks up to the rest of the contemporary Bond artists.

Ridley Scott's new sci-fi movie The Martian looks like it could be one of the year's best films, so I suppose it's fitting that this new mashup from YouTuber Tony D features audio from that trailer with video from one of the best sci-fi films of the past decade: Pixar's WALL-E.

The first video is cool by itself, but it's not until you see the second one — a shot by shot comparison with The Martian's real trailer — that it really sinks in how much time and effort went into this.

More than anything, though, this video just makes me think that Matt Damon needs to provide the voice for an adorable robot in a new movie.

Via: Uproxx

Will Forte's comedy series Last Man on Earth had a great pilot and a wonderful premise, but it quickly — spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen the first season — changed the dynamic by proving that Forte's Phil Miller wasn't, in fact, the last man on Earth. The show just kept introducing new characters until the joyous ridiculousness of Phil crazily destroying things in the pilot felt like nothing more than a hazy dream. But after the drama of the first season left Phil and Carol setting out on their own, these new TV spots for season 2 seem to indicate that the irreverent spirit of those first few episodes might be making a comeback.

Check out the videos below, and let us know if you're excited about Last Man on Earth coming back on September 27th.

Via: Screencrush

Ubisoft has just announced that they're teaming with Malaysian theme park developer RSG to create a 10,000 square meter indoor theme park that will open in 2020 in Kuala Lampur.

According to Ubiblog, Ubisoft Motion Pictures is leading the project and Ubisoft will retain creative control over the rides and attractions while RSG will own and operate the park.

“Ubisoft’s intention for this park is to immerse people in reactive worlds where they can interact with each other and become the heroes of their own life-sized game,” says Jean de Rivières, senior vice president of Ubisoft Motion Pictures. ...

“Ubisoft will produce all digital media for the rides, and help design guests’ journey into the park to ensure the visitors’ experience is at its best.”

Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, and Rabbids are reportedly three of the Ubisoft properties that are being eyed for new attractions and rides so far, and the possibilities seem endless for what kind of things ride designers could come up with. What would an Assassin's Creed ride even look like?

With theme parks in the works centering on The Hunger Games, Middle Earth, and Nintendo characters, it seems like most major media properties will have their own physical spaces for fans to engage with pretty soon.

Via: Kotaku

One of the best-looking films set to come out later this year is Ridley Scott and Matt Damon’s The Martian. This movie looks like it has the makings of a stunning edge-of-your-seat space thriller, and today we have three new TV spots for it. The spots offer us even more footage from the film, and deature some of the trials that Damon will face as he’s stuck on Mars trying to survive until a rescue team can come and save him. 

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return. 

The Martian features a star-studded cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Donald Glover. It hits theaters on October 2nd.

Since the first wave of Star Wars: The Force Awakens merchandise has been unleashed on the world, we have a new set of promo art to share with you. It originates from Les Toiles Heroiques, and the images come from a 2016 calendar, TOPPS trading cards, and more. 

Also, LEGO has released seven new videos that feature some of the vehicles in action. They are not embeddable, so you have to click here if you want to watch them. 

The J.J. Abrams-directed film hits theaters on December 18th.

Last week, Steven Spielberg talked about the future of superhero films, and he feels that they are going to go the way of the western and eventually die. He explained that it's a cycle that movies go through, and that one day audiences will tire of it. Captain America star Chris Evans does not seem to agree with Spielberg's vision. He thinks that there will always be an audience for these films as long as the filmmakers keep "reinventing the flavor and the approach and the tone."

During an interview with Collider, Spielberg's comments about the superhero genre were brought up and Evans started off by talking about technological advances that have been made and how they are the driving force behind the genre:

"I certainly think that given the fact that technology has finally advanced, they’re always going to be looking for other films to match their technological accomplishments. Any film that can incorporate these larger-than-life characters and fantastical locations and plots, the technology wants to prove they can do it so whether it’s superhero film or fantasy in general, that’s going to surge for a while."

As far as superhero movies go, he explained,

"In terms of superhero in general, existing properties that we know and love, it’s going to be a matter of the tone they strike. You could look at Jason Bourne as a superhero. You could take any superhero movie and if you ground it enough, if you make it real enough—that’s what I think [Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors Joe and Anthony Russo] do really well. Certain superhero movies feel like 'superhero movies.' Russo movies almost feel like human stories with a little bit of superhero sprinkled in. So you might get exhausted of the larger-than-life powers I suppose, but as long as the filmmakers keep on reinventing the flavor and the approach and the tone, audiences are going to still go."

I think he makes some good point here. It has been the same with comic books after all these years. The writers and artists have been reinventing the flavor, the approach, and the tone of them for all these years, and there's still an audience for them. Regardless, it's going to be very interesting to see what is happening with superhero movie 15 to 20 years from now. 

What do you think of Evans' comments? Do you think he has a better understanding of the genre and its audience than Spielberg does?

This is Russia-based Cosplayer Tniwe all decked out as Samus in her Zero Suit from the Metroid franchise, and she freakin' looks stunningly phenomenal. The photos that you see here were taken by Aku 悪., and they perfectly compliment the cosplay.

Via: Geeks Are Sexy

We've got another little detail to share with you regarding Mads Mikkelsen's character in Gareth Edwards' Star Wars: Rogue One. While signing a poster for a fan, Mikkelsen revealed the name of the character he'll be playing in the film, and that name is Galen. 

We previously learned that Mikkelsen's role in the film is "very important" to the story and that he is not a villain. Other than that, we don't know exactly what his purpose in the movie is yet. He's a great actor, though, and there's no doubt he'll be awesome in the film. 

The movie is currently in production, and it follows a group of Rebels who are sent out on a mission to steal the plans of the Death Star. 

I should also note that Galen is the real name of the main character from the Force Unleashed video games, Starkiller. I seriously doubt that that Mikkelsen is playing a version of this character, but the name could just be an homage to Vader's powerful secret apprentice.

Star Wars: Rogue One hits theaters on December 16th, 2016.

Via: StarWars7News

"Cursed" is a beautifully animated short film that tells the story of "a villainess who enjoys bringing chaos and disaster." When the villainess becomes infatuated with a man she sees, her evil-doing ways take a very unexpected turn.

The short is a graduation project that was made by Merel van den Broek and Nicole Derksen who both attended the University of the Arts Utrecht. They came up with a very fun story concept, and they did a spectacular job executing it.

The story is told without any dialogue. Everything you need to know about what they are saying is through the facial expressions of the characters. I also love the visual style of the film. I really hope you take the time to watch and enjoy this.

Writer and director Michael Dougherty, the man behind the classic Halloween horror film Trick 'R Treat, is taking on the Christmas in his next horror film, Krampus. Trick 'R Treat is a favorite film of mine, and I'm so excited about seeing Dougherty's vision of this terrifying holiday monster. I had the chance to see some footage from this movie at Comic-Con earlier this summer, and I absolutely loved what I saw!

When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers. All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive.

When talking about the evil shadow of Santa Claus with USA Today, Dougherty says he's more than just evil:

“He’s more complex and nuanced than that. He’s not Freddy (A Nightmare on Elm Street) or Jason (Friday the 13th) or Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), this unstoppable monster that kicks down your door and rampages and grabs you. If you study the myth, there’s something darkly playful about him. He’s having a good time doing what he does and he enjoys the cat-and-mouse aspect of it.”

Even though the film is going to be filled with nightmarish scares, he explains that he also wanted to tap into the heartwarming aspects of the season:

"A Christmas Carol and It’s A Wonderful Life are kind of nightmares that show you these broken characters who experience a darker side of divine intervention. They need to be scared straight. So it was important to elevate it. If you do a horror film without an emotional core, you don’t really have much."

The horror film also stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Stefania Lavie Owen, and Krista Stadler.

The special effects and creature designs for the film were created by Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, who as you know worked on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, King Kong, and more.

The film will be released by Universal Pictures December 4th, and I can't wait!

Last week, we posted a video called "Star Wars Poetry," which offered a visualization of the similarities between the two trilogies in the franchise. It was actually a really cool video that you should watch if you missed it. It also sparked some interesting conversation among our readers. 

Well, the creator behind that video, whoispablo, has released another video that does the same thing. Only this time he focuses on Indiana Jones. It's called "Indiana Jones 4 and the Echoes of the Past." It points out all the similarities between Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the three original films that we all love. As much as I disliked that fourth movie, this video is still fun to watch!

Jesse Eisenberg seems like a pretty critical guy when it comes to the movies he makes. I was actually really surprised when he took on the role of Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He obviously saw something in the role that he really liked. 

While doing an interview with The Today Show, he talked about the movie and had nothing but glowing, positive things to say about it. He even went as far as to call the movie "phenomenal." 

“It’s just the most incredible character. It was written by this guy Chris Terrio, this is his next movie after Argo, who is just this brilliant writer of characters. So this movie is not a cartoonish superhero movie, it’s this very serious, well-acted, well-written, well-directed movie. It’s really phenomenal.”

This really does give me hope that this movie will be so much better than Man of Steel in terms of story development, character development, and script development. Either Eisenberg isn't as critical as I thought, or this movie really is going to be awesome. 

Then this weekend, Jason Momoa appeared at Fan Expo Canada where he also talked about the seriousness of these films, and that Aquaman won't be the butt of any jokes after we see him in the movie. He said:

“I can’t see my busting out a bunch of jokes, I don’t think it will be like that….(The jokes) are cute and funny, there’s a bunch of jokes about him and it’s like, let’s wait. Let’s just wait a little bit and then we can make jokes.”

To be honest, I don't think we'll ever stop with the Aquaman jokes. The world always needs good Aquaman jokes. 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set to be released on March 25th, 2016. You can watch the interviews with the two actors below.

Chewbacca's roar may be one of the most recognizable voices in cinema, and everyone who has seen him on screen has probably tried to mimic that infamous noise at one point. But this is the first time I've heard it used in an EDM remix. 

Eclectic Method is responsible for some of the coolest movie/music remixes on the internet (we've covered a bunch of them here over the years), and now they're back with a new Star Wars-themed song paying tribute to the big guy.

Via: LaughingSquid

You'll find no complaints from me regarding the new look of Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn in David Ayer's Suicide Squad. I love it! The character was a creation of Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, and she was introduced to the world 23 years ago on Batman: The Animated Series. She's sure come a long way since then.

Dini was recently a guest on the Shanlian On Batman podcast and he was asked about the new look of Harley, and he said it is “very much a real-world look.” He went on to say:

"Jared Leto’s version of that is almost like a decadent rockstar, and there’s a little bit of Sid and Nancy to the Joker and Harley look, which I always felt would not be a bad look if they were in a live-action movie."

I found a quote over at Forbes who pointed out that Harley's look in the film seems to have been inspired by one of the punk outfits of Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry (pictured below). Dini went on to say:

“I know it’s jarring to a lot of the people who love the classic Bruce Timm suit, I love it myself. But in that world [of the Suicide Squad movie], I just don’t see it happening. It’s a rougher, more street look. I think it works fine.”

Timm was asked about the new look of Harley a few months ago, and this was his reply:

"It was interesting. I was frankly a little nervous about what Harley would look like, but I thought she looked really cool. So I’m optimistic, we'll see.

"It’s funny, because she started off as just like a one joke idea and she’s gained all these different dimensions from all the stories we did, and the stuff that happens in the comics. I think bottom line the most important thing about her is that she’s funny. One way or the other regardless of what her backstory is, or whether she’s in an abusive relationship with the Joker, or if she’s off on her own, or hanging out with Poison Ivy, or whether she’s a villain or a hero. I think bottomline her stories always have to be fun, if not flat out hilarious (but that would be even better). That’s one of the things I like about the current comic. They understand that, they’re not treating her as another angsty bizarre superhero type character. She’s really weird and funny and kind of chaotic."

It's cool to hear the co-creators of this character backing the film's vision for the character. For the most part, fans seem to be happy with how Harley looks in the movie, and I'm excited to see her in action.

Suicide Squad will hit theaters on August 5th, 2016.

There is a special place in my heart for '90s and early 2000s RPGs. Those were the days of classic JRPGs, featuring epic games with loads of gameplay — more than enough to keep a pre-teen like me busy for weeks, if not months. Games with wonderfully written and even tear-jerking stories like FF IV and Porom and Palom (thinking about it now still makes me sad). Those are the games that shaped my growth into adulthood, so when I saw an opportunity to review the Grandia II remaster, I jumped at the chance.

Grandia II is a classic RPG that implemented revolutionary gameplay mechanics like having encounters being visible (and dodgeable) on the world map, very free form advancement, and mandatory dialog sections where you talk among your own party.

As creative as the game was in 2001, it still stands the test of time. Combat involves an action meter where you can see when each character will be able receive a command and then execute it. But if you get hit with certain abilities between being told to attack and actually attacking, you can be interrupted, which results in a surprisingly deep combat system. Targeting opponents at specific times can make battles much easier, so although you can try to beat the game by just forcing your way through it, Grandia II greatly rewards you for trying to be tactical. The combat can also be incredible slow. Every special move or spell has its own animation that plays every single time. Some of the more powerful abilities even have their own cutscenes, so get ready for lots of waiting.

The graphics are what you would expect from a 15-year-old game. The models are polygonal representations of humans and all of the enemies are angular monstrosities. To be fair, the graphical updates in the re-release definitely make the game look better, but no remastering can take the retro feel out of this game.

The story holds up relatively well, with enough twists and turns to keep you mildly interested. What doesn’t hold up is the dialog. The character dialog is so '90s it hurts. With almost every sentence being a “clever” quip or retort, I would try to get through the majority of conversation by mashing the buttons...not that it helps. The dialog, especially voice acted sections, can’t be skipped. So, on multiple occasions, you are forced to sit and listen to entire conversations, even if you have listened to it before and the only reason you are listening to it again is that the game crashed and you have to replay this section oh my god please talk faster. The story isn't bad enough to prevent me from playing, but I definitely keep going back for the combat, not the "hilarious" dialog.

On the topic of crashes, let us discuss the absolute worst part of the Anniversary Edition: the stability. Modern PC games aren’t renowned for being the most stable pieces of software, but most of them don’t rely on a save point system. On multiple occasions I lost gameplay because of a crash when I wasn’t anywhere near a save point. It definitely made me feel like I was back in the '90s where a freak power outage or ornery sibling would cause you to lose hours of gameplay by simply pulling the plug, but I have grown weak and spoiled by modern gaming and I have little patience with replaying sections of a game because of something outside of my control.

Grandia II Anniversary Edition is exactly what you would expect. It’s Grandia II that runs on modern PCs with minor graphical upgrades. The addition of crashes are an unfortunate blemish on an otherwise good experience. If you like JRPGs or are looking for a nostalgia trip, I definitely recommend picking it up.

After a social media hint tipped everyone off yesterday, Sony Pictures, EON Productions, and MGM have officially confirmed Sam Smith as the singer of the theme song for Spectre, the 24th film in the James Bond film franchise. The song will be called "Writing's On The Wall," and despite a story from Hitfix that said we'd be able to hear it this morning, the official press release states that it will debut and be available to purchase and stream starting on September 25th.

Multi-platinum selling artist Sam Smith has co-written the title song, "Writing's On The Wall," with fellow GRAMMY® Award winner Jimmy Napes.  It is the first James Bond theme song recorded by a British male solo artist since 1965.  Smith's debut album In The Lonely Hour launched at No. 1 in the UK and bowed in at No. 2 in the US, and has since earned five No.1 UK singles, four GRAMMY® Awards, three Brit Awards, six MOBO Awards, Q and AMA Awards.

Commenting on the announcement, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the producers of SPECTRE, said, "Sam and Jimmy have written the most inspirational song for SPECTRE and with Sam's extraordinary vocal performance, 'Writing's On The Wall' will surely be considered one of the greatest Bond songs of all time."  

Smith said: "This is one of the highlights of my career. I am honoured to finally announce that I will be singing the next Bond theme song. I am so excited to be a part of this iconic British legacy and join an incredible line up of some of my biggest musical inspirations.  I hope you all enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed making it."

While we continue to wait for the song to be released, be sure to check out the full synopsis for the film in case you missed it when the film's official poster debuted a few days ago:

A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond on a rogue mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, where he meets Lucia Sciarra (Monica Bellucci), the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal.  Bond infiltrates a secret meeting and uncovers the existence of the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE.

Meanwhile back in London, Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott), the new head of the Centre for National Security, questions Bond's actions and challenges the relevance of MI6, led by M (Ralph Fiennes). Bond covertly enlists Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) to help him seek out Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), the daughter of his old nemesis Mr White (Jesper Christensen), who may hold the clue to untangling the web of SPECTRE. As the daughter of an assassin, she understands Bond in a way most others cannot.

As Bond ventures towards the heart of SPECTRE, he learns of a chilling connection between himself and the enemy he seeks, played by Christoph Waltz.

Spectre opens in the UK on October 26th and in the US on November 6th.

A couple weeks ago, I did a post about one of my new favorite up-and-comers on the indie game scene, a little 2-D arena shooter called Crashnauts. Then the guys over at Fueled By Rockets sent me a build of the game thus far and I've gotten very little else done. This is easily one of the most exciting and addictive local multiplayer games I've played in a long time! People in the GeekTyrant office are getting sick of me asking them to come play with me, because we lose an hour or two each time.

Well, the good news is Fueled By Rockets is making the big push to bring this game to you, too! That's right, they've begun their very humble Kickstarter campaign of only $40,000! (No ridiculously huge $1 million price tags here!) And the best part is, a small donation of $10 will get you a digital copy of the game on PC, Mac, or PS4 at launch! The game is already at a fun and playable state, now they just want to be able to make the big push to build more kick-ass content and more modes of play, and release it on as many devices as possible. The Kickstarter funding will go towards making what is already a really good game into a great one. Keep an eye on Crashnauts, because it has the potential to be the next big thing all your friends are playing. We will be bringing you more updates, discussions with the developers, and livestreams as the Kickstarter continues. In the meantime, click that button below and pledge what you can. This is a game you aren't going to want to miss out on!

After Edgar Wright left Marvel's Ant-Man, he announced he'd next be directing a film called Baby Driver, an action musical car chase movie that centers on a baby-faced getaway driver (appropriately nicknamed "Baby") "who relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. But after being coerced into working for a crime boss, he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom." Ansel Elgort is playing the main character, with Cinderella star Lily James on board as the female lead.

We later found out that the music is actually a much more essential part of the story when THR published this description of the film:

Ansel Elgort is set to star as a young mute man who has an ear condition that forces him to constantly listen to music in order to drown out the constant ringing in his ears. His character is a driver for a group of bank robbers who goes on the run after a heist goes bad.

Wright's movies are typically filled with great music (remember the "Don't Stop Me Now" scene in Shaun of the Dead?), but this one sounds like it will basically be the inner thoughts of the main character since he won't be able to speak himself.

Michael Douglas was once attached to play the crime boss, but now Deadline reports that Jamie Foxx is in talks to play that part. It would have been cool to see Douglas work with Wright after the Ant-Man situation fell apart, but it'll be interesting to see if Foxx can fit into Wright's stylized cinematic world.

A brief note: ComingSoon pointed out something about this film that I'd never heard. Apparently it's at least partially inspired by a music video Wright directed in 2003 for "Blue Song" by a band called Mint Royale. Check that out below. Baby Driver starts filming later this year and is scheduled to arrive in theaters on March 17th, 2017.