Donkey Kong 64 is coming to Nintendo Switch Online next week, Nintendo has confirmed.

The legendary N64 platformer will arrive on June 4, and like other N64 titles will be accessible to any Switch or Switch 2 owner with an active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription.

Originally released in 1999 and developed by famed British studio Rare, Donkey Kong 64 is remembered for its many levels filled with collectibles, its use of the N64's Expansion Pak add-on, and as the birthplace of the iconic DK Rap.

While disliked at the time, the DK Rap has gone on to find cult status (and appear in numerous other things, such as the Super Mario Bros. Movie and various Smash Bros. soundtracks). Today, Nintendo's announcement for the game's Switch re-release also uses the DK Rap as its music.

Donkey Kong 64 will join around 40 other games from the Nintendo 64 era available via Nintendo Switch Online, including other classics such as Super Mario 64, Paper Mario and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. For the full catalog, IGN has a list of every Nintendo Switch Online game available to date.

Today's announcement follows last year's launch of excellent new DK platformer Donkey Kong Bananza for Nintendo Switch 2 (IGN's Donkey Kong Bananza review returned a rare 10/10), and comes amid growing fan speculation that Nintendo's mysterious upcoming Mario movie spinoff slated for launch in April 2028 is actually a Donkey Kong film.

In a bizarre twist, fans have noted that today's announcement has also arrived exactly on the 10th anniversary of legendary gorilla Harambe's untimely passing. Whether intentional or not, it's an apepropriate gesture.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

007 First Light developer IO Interactive has teased what fans can expect from the game's first content update, and it should be a treat. After players complete the main story, they'll notice an ad in the game's main menu that teases new content coming to TacSim, the game's challenge mode. The ad confirms that a future update will add the Valhalla Protocol, a mission that features the souped-up Aston Martin that you briefly see in the main story.

While its role in the main story is small, it appears that the new TacSim update will add a larger course for players to drive through, blasting and blowing stuff up. This would be a pretty big departure from the other content in TacSim. Right now, there's only a handful of levels in the challenge mode, and all of them see James Bond completing objectives on foot. Although epic car chases are a big part of Bond's lineage, 007 First Light only has a few driving sequences, which are brief and very linear. As of right now, there's no release date for the Valhalla Protocol, but hopefully it'll be in the next few weeks.

The 007 main menu is teasing future Tac Sim missions pic.twitter.com/JM9e3nDdUO

— Farzam (@farzam_plays) May 26, 2026

IO Interactive is, of course, best known for the Hitman series, a franchise that has only grown in popularity because of the developer's extensive post-launch support. These games are supported for years after launch, giving fans new reasons to come back regularly. Whether 007 First Light will have the same level of support remains to be seen, but one can hope. It's great to see that there are already plans for a notable piece of new content, but only time will tell if this is something we can expect regularly.

007 First Light is already off to a strong start, with the game being showered in critical acclaim. In our review-in-progress, we called the game "the best Bond has been since GoldenEye." Other reviewers have offered similar praise. The jury is still out with regard to how well 007 First Light will sell but, hopefully, it'll be a success for IO Interactive so we can get more James Bond adventures. IO Interactive previously stated it hopes to make a trilogy of Bond games, but it's unclear what milestones First Light needs to hit to make that a reality.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

Bungie is opening the gates to Marathon next week and letting players jump in on the action, free of cost. As part of Marathon Season 2's launch, the full game will be getting a free trial from June 2nd to June 9th on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC. All of the progress you make during this time will carry over to the full game, so it's a great way to try before you buy. It's a clear move from Bungie to try to win over players, as Marathon has had soft sales and underwhelming player counts for a new game.

Marathon Season 2 also plans to add more PVE content to the game as a way to lure in more players who are turned off by core modes in the game. The extraction shooter genre has had some massive wins, like Arc Raiders, but the premise can be daunting for some, pushing away more casual shooter fans. As always, Bungie has incorporated strong gunplay into Marathon, but some wish it were in a more accessible game. It seems like Bungie is trying to cater to those would-be players with upcoming content.

Despite sales issues, Marathon has received pretty solid reviews. We gave the game a 9/10, noting: "Marathon is a ruthless and unforgiving extraction shooter that’s worth every ounce of hell it puts you through." It's at least a promising sign that Marathon has strong fundamentals, because it's all Bungie will have for the foreseeable future. Destiny 2 is ending live-service support in June, and the studio will be turning all of its attention to Marathon while figuring out what's next.

Reports indicate that Bungie is not actively working on Destiny 3, nor does it have any other titles in production. Bungie is also expected to suffer "significant" layoffs in the coming weeks and months, likely tied to the fact that the studio has more people than it needs with Destiny 2 winding down. Some are protesting against Marathon following the Destiny 2 news, but it remains to be seen if that will have any kind of meaningful impact.

Either way, it'll be interseting to see if Bungie can win people over with Marathon. If not, it may pose major danger for the beloved shooter studio. Sony is likely going to be picky about any future projects that Bungie pitches, given the high costs associated with developing games at the studio's normal scale. We also likely won't see whatever Bungie's next game is until the 2030s, so Marathon needs to become sustainable for the foreseeable future.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

There have been some rather odd claims stating that Backrooms director Kane Parsons didn't actually direct the film, prompting him to respond. The claims began circulating across social media, with some trying to discredit the 20-year-old director's efforts, likely due to his age. Backrooms is produced by acclaimed directors like James Wan (The Conjuring), Shawn Levy (Deadpool and Wolverine), and Osgood Perkins (Longlegs), which led some to believe that they may be running the show and "ghost directing" the project.

Actor Mark Duplass addressed the rumors on his social media pages by stating that it was totally false, even posting a video on Instagram stating that Parsons didn't need any help because he was "intensely prepared." The actor went on to praise Parson's thoughtfulness as a creator, including with his ability to work with actors, something that Parsons wouldn't have had much experience with before.

Parsons himself jokingly addressed the rumors as well in the comments section of a video from YouTuber Dolan Darkest.

"This is actually all true," joked Parsons. "They don’t tell you this, but 96% of all movies released in North America and Europe are actually directed by the same person. They call him 'The Older Gentleman.' He has had all of Hollywood in a chokehold for decades now. They make you sign over all of your intellectual property, life rights, and genetic information to him when you enter the industry. He loves movies."

Parsons gained prominence as a filmmaker in 2022 with the debut of his liminal short horror film, The Backrooms. The teenage creator had made some compelling videos prior to this, but the virality of The Backrooms attracted a lot of attention. By 2023, A24 had recruited Parsons to develop the idea into a feature film. Early reviews for Backrooms indicate it's a strong and promising debut for the young creator and, should the film be a financial success, Parsons will likely have the opportunity to direct more projects.

IGN gave Backrooms an 8/10, noting that it "blends superb visuals and excellent characterization with the lore of the Backrooms to create a terrifying and thrilling big-screen debut for the liminal horror classic."

Young YouTubers and content creators have been getting opportunities to direct feature films, resulting in a new generation of savvy directors that can turn a profit on small budgets. Earlier this month, Curry Barker's Obsession was released and has become one of the most successful films of 2026. Barker has also been tapped to direct a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre film. Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou AKA RackaRacka made waves in 2023 with their film Talk to Me, after years of success on YouTube.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

Ferrari has revealed its new $640,000 electric car, known as the Luce, and it seems to have significantly harmed the legendary company's reputation. The Italian car company is known for making some of the most revered vehicles in history. The cars are almost art-like with the level of detail that goes into producing them, and those who own them treat them with a high degree of care. They're premium, prestigious, and high-value. So, everyone was eager to see what was in store for the company's new electric car only to be outraged.

The car was unveiled with a baby blue color, one that doesn't really scream Ferrari. Not only that, but it's a four-door with five seats, as opposed to a two-door. It's much more roomy, maybe akin to a fancier version of something you'd expect from Honda or Kia rather than a luxury car manufacturer like Ferrari. The car was designed by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, which may explain why it looks the way it does.

Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo tried to mince words to avoid hurting Ferrari too much when speaking with media, but what he did say was still extremely damming.

“I cannot say what I really think," he said. "I would harm Ferrari. We risk the destruction of a legend. So sorry. Take the Prancing Horse off.”

One user on X was much more direct: "Ferrari just killed their brand just like Jaguar did. This is straight to the junkyard trash."

However, Ferrari is aware that this isn't the most appealing car for everyone. Ferrari chief design officer Flavio Manzoni noted to YouTuber Cleo Abram that the car is meant to be "polarizing" and that the company is trying to innovate, rather than lean on the past or nostalgia. Jony Ive also noted that he's familiar with backlash to innovation, but he welcomes challenge when trying to pave a path toward the future.

Still, the Ferrari Luce will move rather fast. The car can hit 60mph in 2.5 seconds, though there are far cheaper electric vehicles that can hit 60mph faster. The Tesla Model S Plaid can hit 60mph in 1.99 seconds for a fraction of the cost of Ferrari's new vehicle. Perhaps Ferrari really is just ahead of everyone else and the Luce will be what we expect from a car 10-15 years from now. Or maybe it'll be something it regrets and looks back on as a total mistake.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

If you’re a fan of life simulators, you’ve no doubt heard critics, developers, influencers, and all manner of social media-savvy people wax lyrical about the complexity of creating a compelling social simulation. As I said in my own inZoi review last year, curating a world that’s both representative of the murky mess that is being human and enjoyable to play is a seemingly impossible undertaking that few have managed. And yet, after spending 35 hours in Paralives crafting families, building homes, and sowing discord among residents, I have a renewed hope. This ambitious challenger to The Sims’ throne has captured not only the practical elements of humanity but, importantly, the weird ones we sweep under the rug, too. While its Early Access start has a lot of room to grow before it slays the reigning king of the genre, it’s certainly on its way.

Your time in Paralives begins on a train, with a quick tutorial for how to handpick the actions of the Parafolk (the name Paralives gives to its digital citizens) as God of this world. You’ll initially do so with predesigned families, including the father-son duo of the ​​Marquez household, who hide secrets beneath their chirpy veneer, and the party-loving trio from the Wolf household, who need to get it together if they want to pay the bills. These families all feel thoughtfully written and have their own issues to connect with, which is a boon for people who prefer a rich backstory to bounce off. But if you’d rather get straight into the nitty-gritty of people pottery like me, you can also create your own household via the Paramaker mode right away.

Comparable in layout to The Sims 4’s Create-a-Sim, the Paramaker mode splits avatar creation into three main sections: Appearance, Clothing, and Personality. From here, you can curate the look of your digital person through a selection of pre-fab facial and body features, dress them in stylish garb, and finally choose what kind of digi-person they will be with various traits. There is also the option to fine-tune your creation by using your mouse to tug and drag at anchor points to twist up their features like putty. It’s a reactive and rewarding process, particularly if you’re working from a reference photo.

There aren’t a great deal of options for customisation just yet, though it’s clear there’s been a particular effort made to replicate the diversity of the real world with what’s available. Hair presets span a variety of textures, including straight, wavy, curly, and coily, plus there’s an option to select hearing aids and prosthetic legs. What’s more, you can layer items like piercings, jewellery, and tattoos to really amp up your character’s personality. This blend of options safeguards your households from the cursed same-face syndrome, and ensures that every person you meet out in the world doesn't look like they're all related either. Clothing, too, has a decent variety and caters to a range of styles from goth to coquette, even including a full-body morph suit – to each their own.

No matter what you pick, Paralives' standout art style evokes the nostalgia of classic Telltale games like The Wolf Among Us. This dynamic comic book approach is not only easy on the eyes, it also helps details like wrinkles, facial hair, and eyelashes really pop. That’s particularly true as your Parafolk emote and perform actions like cooking or scrolling on their phone while ignoring their chores – they’re just like me, for real! By leaning away from the hyperreal and toward the more cartoonish aspects of humanity, Parafolks feel slightly goofier and a lot more likeable than the people of their competitors, conjuring favourable comparisons to The Sims 2. In this way, I found myself connected to their plights more so than the undeniably trendy but slightly soulless inhabitants of Krafton’s InZOI.

Unfortunately, the wheels start to fall off in the Personality section of character creation, which feels quite limited at the moment. You’ll give every Parafolk a Vibe, a Social Perk, and a Talent area, each of which is intended to influence how they move through the world. For example, if you choose the “Good at taking care of other people” Social Perk, that character can make chicken soup for sick friends. Alternatively, if you pick the Gloomy option for their Vibe, they will be happiest when in a bad mood. As you play out their life, you’ll unlock more slots to fill, though these choices don't translate clearly into practical gameplay. And, frustratingly, even with drastically different personalities, most of my households reacted more or less the same to major incidents.

Rounding out the start of each new family, you’ll also need to choose a specific Storyteller, which is a unique mechanic that will dictate the difficulty of your day-to-day life. Storytellers dole out cards every dawn that cause random events to happen in the lives of your Parafolk. One day, you might get a free computer from work. Another day, one of your household members may be encouraged to cheat on their spouse. This system adds much-needed entropy to your household's otherwise routine shenanigans. While many of the prompts seemed repetitive in concept, I found them to be effective in practice — they do well to keep things fresh in the long term, which is one of the biggest bugbears of the genre.

Once you have your household, the next step is to find a home, which once again gives you the choice between a pre-designed estate or an empty block with a budget to spend on all the essential amenities, like beds, baths, and beyond. Similar to the Paramaker, Paralives' build mode currently has a fairly limited pool of items and options, but there's at least enough customisability here to keep you busy building for hours on end.

In construction mode, you erect walls, add windows and doors, and then decorate the space with a selection of modern interior options. It’s an approachable process, thanks in part to a togglable snap tool that ensures your architecture is balanced and beautiful. Still, cowboy builders need not worry as there’s plenty of room to get weird with it, too, and Paralives isn’t keen to hold you to any building code. When renovating your space, you can place items almost anywhere you’d like. As a huge fan of cosy, cluttered spaces, I squeaked with joy when I realised I could stack ramen cups on top of kitchen fridges and select random throw pillows to jazz up plain couches. Yuckier touches like mould, damp, and body hair can also be dotted around for the sickos out there, with Paralives allowing you to make a truly bespoke, if totally gross, living space.

This customisation is a double-edged sword, though – while beautiful, much of the world isn’t actually interactable. Those ramen noodles might create a cool vibe, but they can never be eaten, and the cosy throw pillows will never crumple under the weight of a sleepy character, which feels like a missed opportunity. Such aesthetically pleasing but useless items also crop up in the open world and inevitably lead to deflating moments as you realise you can walk through a moving train completely unscathed. There has been an effort to provide the background city with a sense of liveliness through a daily newspaper and rotation of activities like run clubs and BBQs. Even so, these events can feel rather flat, with locals milling around as if on a timer. As such, Paralives' setting doesn’t feel like an entirely cohesive society just yet.

Moment-to-moment survival comes down to meeting a few basic needs: Hygiene, Hunger, Sleep, and the Toilet. Achieving these needs is a constant uphill battle, though failing them so badly that you die isn’t so easy either. As with real life, Parafolks' days are split between working a job that pays the bills, toying around with home appliances, and chatting with the locals to try and make friends. The way you progress is fairly rudimentary; you’ll often be stuck reading a book to level up skills or waiting out the in-game clock for a work shift to end. Thankfully, there is some reprieve in the socialising portion, with Paralives opting for a refreshingly alternate approach.

Instead of selecting another character and choosing a conversation topic, you’ll need the Parafolk to interact long enough to fill a conversation meter. From there, you’ll have a small pool of subjects to choose from, which includes asking other Parafolk if they’re single in a flirtatious way, telling jokes, and chatting about general life events. At first, I didn’t love this radical style, but it grew on me over my play sessions, and I eventually realised how handy this hands-off approach was. Instead of sitting with one of my household members, clicking topics on repeat, I could move on to another task or person while they were schmoozing, and periodically jump in to keep the conversation flowing. Like spinning personality plates, I could lock in as one started to wobble, before jumping over to another conversation to keep that one in play, too.

Alas, not even expert helicopter parents like me can keep everything in check, and across my time with Paralives, I fell prey to the inevitable chaos of an Early Access life simulator. One day, during some routine cupcake-baking, my house burned down because the firefighters kept spawning just outside my front door without being able to step through it, as if they were mocking me. Soon after, another of my households got stuck in some kind of viral loop, circulating a sickness through the entire family, like a never-ending, festering plague. During this time, they all had to take turns running back and forth between their beds and the home’s single toilet – no prizes for guessing how that shook out.

Such unfortunate occurrences might seem like frustrating, gameplay-halting events that make you want to ragequit. But its spirited art direction and goofy charms manage to make these scenarios feel funny and endearing to experience, as if they were intentional. Where the day-to-day activities lacked the depth to keep me entertained, these scrappy edges showcased more of the rich, chaotic personality that bleeds through all aspects of Paralives, and makes it stand out as a worthwhile contender amongst its more substantial and established peers in the genre.

In the six months since Valve announced the Steam Machine, PC gaming hardware has continued to get more expensive, and now that the Steam Deck has an official price increase, anyone hoping to get a Steam Machine for less than a thousand bucks is probably going to be disappointed.

When I visited Valve to take an early look at the Steam Machine last year, I was told that the price would be competitive with a comparable gaming PC. My gut feeling at the time was that would mean a $1,200 sticker price, which I walked back on once I started doing the math, figuring it would settle at around $800. But I wasn't taking a months-long RAM crisis into consideration.

Welcome to The Desert of the RAM

In the months since this all started, there have been these momentary glimpses of lower prices. I've been using this basic kit of G.Skill Flare X5 RAM as a sort of barometer for the memory market, and right now it's 'on sale' for $404. That's a high price to be sure, but it is about 10% lower than it's been for months. But, like all the other dips that have happened recently, that price will probably bounce back up in a few days.

Even back in January, I was told by analyst Anshel Sag that this RAM crisis would be a long-term affair, and that just continues to be the case. But at least for the first few months, DIY PC builders were facing most of the pain. For a while at least, prebuilt gaming PCs and laptops were eating the price while the manufacturers had inventory to spare. But it seems like those days are drawing to an end.

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have all raised prices on their consoles, and now the Steam Deck has finally followed suit. In the short term, if you're in the market for a handheld gaming PC, you're probably best off trying to find something more affordable. For instance, the lower-tier Xbox Ally is still available at Best Buy for $599. You can even install SteamOS if you want a Steam-Deck like experience.

But I have to imagine it's only a matter of time before the Xbox Ally goes up in price, too. After all, it also has RAM in there. It pains me to say it, but we're probably heading into an era where most gaming devices start at around $1,000. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the PS5 and Xbox Series X get another price bump up to that point, either.

Steam Machine In the Age of AI

In the few posts Valve has made about the delayed Steam Deck, it has referenced the rising costs of hardware as the one thing holding its console back. At face value, it seems like the company is just holding the mini gaming PC back, hoping that prices will drop enough to launch the Steam Machine at a reasonable price. There will come a time, and probably soon, where everything is more expensive, and suddenly a $1,200 Steam Machine feels much more reasonable, especially if the consoles get another price bump.

Because, sure, a $1,200 gaming PC with the equivalent of an AMD Radeon RX 7600 or Nvidia RTX 4060 is a hard sell when the PS5 costs $599. But that math is going to look a lot different if Sony's console goes up to $699 or $799 for the digital version.

We still don't know when the Steam Machine is actually going to come out, but with each passing day, it becomes less likely that it's going to squeeze in under $1,000. I'd love to be wrong, but when Valve finally turns that order button on, don't be surprised if it's accompanied by a four-digit number.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

Wall mounting a TV is a very doable DIY job that will save you money compared to hiring someone else to do it for you. The hard part isn't actually installing the mount properly or even lifting the TV onto the mount, it's actually making sure you have it perfectly level. That's where this practical little doohickey comes in. For a limited time, Amazon is offering a Fanttik D2 Pocket Laser Level for $27.98 when you apply coupon "EP7ZLY2C". You don't need to be an Amazon Prime member.

The laser level is a superior method of leveling than the typical bubble levels that most DIYers like myself are probably used to. It has many practical applications that include mounting your TV, bookshelves, picture frames, artwork, and more. I have one myself and use it all the time.

Fanttik D2 Pocket Green Laser Level for Under $30

USB Type-C has become the standard for charging and data cables alike, so it's good to have extra on hand. If you need to stock up, there's a deal today that drops the price-per-cable to under $2. For a limited time, Amazon is offering a five-pack of Lisen 60W USB Type-C to USB Type-C cables for a mere $7.49 after you apply coupon code "SZECQQWI". That averages out to $1.50 per cable, which as good as you're ever going to get. USB-C cables typically go for about $10 each at your local big box store. Use these to charge or sync any device with a USB-C port, including your Nintendo Switch 2, iPhone 16, or even a laptop.

5-Pack Lisen USB-C Cables for $1.50 Per Cable

With the prices on imported goods continuing to rise, I don't see as many 20,000mAh power banks under $25 anymore. Fortunately, there's one such deal today, although the coupon may not last very long. Amazon is currently offering the Baseus 20,000mAh 45W Power Bank for just $20.99 after coupopn code "L3PTWW4V". Better yet, you don't need to be an Amazon Prime member to get in on the discount.

Baseus 20,000mAh 45W USB Power Bank for $21

Sonos' flagship Arc Ultra soundbar is currently on sale for $899 after a $200 discount is applied during the Sonos Memorial Day Sale. However, there's an even better deal right under its nose. Head over to the recertified section and you'll find a refurbished Arc Ultra for just $749. That's a better savings of $350 and the lowest price I've seen, ever.

If you're on the fence solely because this is a refurb item, don't be. Sonos recertified products go through rigorous testing; they come with all accessories, manuals, and documentation and are reshipped in "pristine" packaging. Most importantly, Sonos includes the same 1-year warranty as buying new.

Save 32% Off the Refurbished Sonos Arc Ultra Soundbar

Same 1-year warranty as buying brand new

This article contains spoilers for the full season of Spider-Noir, which is available on Prime Video and MGM+ now.

Spider-Noir, the first live-action Spider-Man (well, The Spider) series in nearly half a century, dropped in full on MGM+ earlier this week, followed hot on its heels by Prime Video. And as you’d expect, the eight episodes presented both in black and white and color are chock-full of Easter eggs for the comics that… Well now, hold on a second: No, they aren’t.

In fact, unlike your run of the mill MCU or DCU movie that will send you running to the closest fan wiki, Spider-Noir is almost doggedly set in its own universe, mercifully (mostly) free of the hints and teases and eye-popping character names that usually send Spider-Man fans going gaga to explain what the future holds. See, for example, the animated Disney+ series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which gave every single character a Marvel Comics canon identity, from the scientists in charge of Peter Parker’s intern class to a random security guard’s name tag. Instead, this detective story won’t make you comb every frame for clues…

…for the most part. While it’s hard to characterize everything we list below as an Easter egg (is an Easter egg really just a setting or a character name?), there are interesting riffs on the comics classics that we do get, including at least one deep cut character that curiously replaces another, and a portmanteau of sorts for another Spidey villain.

So with that in mind, let’s get into every Easter egg and comic book character we found in Spider-Noir. And if you found something we missed? It would be the cat’s pajamas if you let us know in the comments below, see?

Meanwhile, in Another Spider-Verse…

As soon as the premiere episode, “Step Into My Office,” opens, The Spider is swinging through the city and delivering the following lines of narration:

“Someone once asked me what universe this was. Strange question, it stuck with me all these years later. All I could say for sure was it was the only one I knew of. And that was true then as it is now.”

In case you’re wondering, nobody shows up to recruit live-action Spider-Noir to the Spider-Society. There’s no further explanation of what this line is, or what it means. It’s almost an anti-Easter egg in a way as it leads nowhere and explains nothing. Who asked Ben Reilly (Nicolas Cage) this question? Why did they ask him? Is it something we’ll get to see in Beyond the Spider-Verse, whenever that actually comes out in theaters?

Maybe! But as is, this is in here to explicitly state this is none of the previous movie universes involving Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, or Tom Holland. And neither is it connected to the Spider-Verse movies. Spider-Noir is an entirely different universe, and entirely disconnected from the rest.

The Daily Bugle

Neither a character nor an Easter egg (you can see a theme here, right?), but as The Spider swings through NYC, we pass by a newsstand stocked with the Daily Bugle, the paper Peter Parker famously takes pictures for and J. Jonah Jameson is the editor of in the regular Spider-Man universe. Neither Peter nor Jonah appears here, but the Bugle is – we discover – the paper that fired Robbie Robertson (Lamorne Morris), and where he desperately would like his job back.

“With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"

You probably know this one, right? Still in that opening montage, as The Spider stares at the grave of his lost love Ruby L. Williams (who, to the point we made above, is not a character from the comics), he says that someone once told him, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

A nerd’s favorite fact? Stan Lee originally wrote, “With great power there must also come – great responsibility,” back in Amazing Fantasy #15, the book that introduced Spider-Man. But over time it’s changed to what Ben says here, a phrase intrinsically tied to Spidey.

Ben Reilly (Nicolas Cage)

We should probably mention that Nicolas Cage is playing Ben Reilly – not Peter Parker. In the comics, Ben is the clone of Peter Parker, and has taken on various identities from Scarlet Spider to Chasm. But in this case, Ben is likely not a clone (there’s no indication of that in this show) but rather a way to make him distinct from Peter in the movies. Also of note: In the animated Spider-Verse movies, Cage does voice Peter Parker as Spider-Man Noir, who is different from The Spider. Confusing!

Standard Oil Company

This is more of a “real life” Easter egg than anything, but also in the premiere Ben tracks a man he’s been following to the Standard Oil Company. In the real world, Standard Oil was a monopoly that was broken up by anti-trust laws in 1911, with some companies retaining the name, including the Standard Oil Company of New York. That company was absorbed into another company in 1931, and according to a newspaper Ben is reading in the premiere, the events of the show begin around October 11, 1933. Somebody call Movie Goofs!

Robbie Robertson (Lamorne Morris)

Lamorne Morris’s newspaperman is a classic comic book character, usually depicted as the long-suffering editor of the Daily Bugle and voice of reason tempering J. Jonah Jameson’s frequent anti-Spider-Man rants.

Robbie was played by Hilly Hicks in the 1970s live-action Spider-Man show, and by Bill Nunn in Sam Raimi’s trilogy of films.

…And interestingly, Robbie’s full name is Joe “Robbie” Robertson – though it isn’t until he gets his job back in the final episode that we see his real name displayed on his desk’s nameplate.

Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li)

While she doesn’t steal anything and doesn’t have bad luck powers, the femme fatale at the center of Spider-Noir is Li Jun Li’s Cat Hardy, which is a combination of Felicia Hardy and her anti-hero name, Black Cat. In the comics, Felicia is basically Catwoman to Spider-Man’s Batman, to the point that they have an on-again, off-again romantic relationship. In Spider-Noir, it’s the same with Ben and Cat, who get together briefly… Only to break up.

Spider-Sense

They don’t really explain this at any point in the show, but Ben Reilly – like the rest of the Spider-Mans – has spider-sense. In the comics and some of the movies, that’s the little Peter tingle that lets him know when there’s danger. Instead, in the show it seems to happen when Ben is either getting closer to the heart of a mystery, or in proximity to one of his old army buddies who were also experimented on and given fantastic powers. Basically, Ben gets a weird feeling on the back of his neck, the scene shifts, and sometimes he gets visions of the others with powers. That’s his Spider-Sense tingling!

Flint Marko (Jack Huston)

Jack Huston’s Flint Marko is one of those guys who got experimented on, and is slowly turning into a man made of sand. A “sandman,” if you will. In the comics, Flint Marko is able to change his body into different sand constructs, which is not what we get here; it’s more some bad psoriasis and strong sand fists. More importantly, particularly in the third Raimi movie and occasionally in the comics, Marko is portrayed as a tragic villain who is trying to do the right thing even when he’s forced into crime – which is exactly what happens here on Spider-Noir.

Organic Web Shooters

More of a clarification than anything: Since Ben Reilly’s origin is he was bit by a guy whose DNA was fused with spider DNA, he has organic webshooters, a la Tobey Maguire, versus the mechanical web-shooters of Garfield, Holland (well, up until whatever happens in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, of course), and in (most of) the comics. Also if you were wondering, in the Spider-Man Noir comics, Peter is bitten by a spider that escapes from a spider idol in a warehouse, and is given his powers by a spider god.

Tombstone (Abraham Popoola)

The belle of Spider-Man’s 2026, as he’ll be appearing in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2 and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the character Lonnie Lincoln, aka Tombstone, appears here too, played by Abraham Popoola. And he sort of has nothing to do with any other iteration of the character? Usually Tombstone is an albino gangster with nearly unbreakable skin and sharpened teeth. Here, Lonnie has some sort of crab-type armor and markings, but no different coloration. Also they don’t call him Tombstone?

Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson)

Another character who doesn’t have a ton to do with his comic book counterpart, Brendan Gleeson’s (Irish) Silvermane has a stripe of grey in his hair, and like the comic book character is a mob boss. But Silvermane is usually depicted as an old (Italian) man with a robot body and a (mostly) human head. Mind you, when he was first introduced he was a regular Maggia (the Marvel Comics version of the Mafia) mob boss with silver hair, hence the name. But other than “mob boss,” there’s no real connection here, nor does this Silvermane have any special powers. Or robot parts.

Megawatt (Andrew Lewis Caldwell)

Here’s the oddest one, saved for last. In the comics, Megawatt is an Australian convict with electrical powers who was first introduced in 1993’s Spider-Man Unlimited #2, and whose real name is Dirk Leydon. On screen, Andrew Lewis Caldwell plays the baddie, a failed actor who now can drain and shoot electricity, giving him the lights and stage he’s always wanted. He does call himself Megawatt by the end of the season, but his name is spelled Dirk Leyden on the show. Even curiouser, he’s not Electro, the bad guy with electric powers far more associated with Spider-Man – who often teams up with Sandman and others in the team the Sinister Six. Anyway, great news for anyone who bagged and boarded Spider-Man Unlimited #2 – that’s probably jumping up at least 50 cents in sell value!

What did you think of Spider-Noir? Did you catch any Easter eggs that we missed? Let’s discuss in the comments!

You can chat with Alex Zalben on BlueSky @azalben.bsky.social, or find him regularly yapping on the Comic Book Club podcast.

The Wheel of Time is one of the best-selling fantasy book series of all time, but it's a franchise that has struggled to take hold as an adaptation. Most notably, Amazon's live-action Wheel of Time show was tragically cancelled just last year after what IGN called it's "best season yet". But a new kickstarter for the first-ever official board game is bringing some fresh hope to fans of Robert Jordan's fantasy world that there's still more to look forward to.

War of the Dragon is an upcoming strategy game for 2-4 players that according to the Kickstarter page, "combines tableau building, action selection, and area control mechanics in a thrilling struggle for conquest and survival". The game just launched on Kickstarter today with a funding goal of $50,000 that was pretty much immediately met. At the time of writing, almost $300K has already been pledged and those numbers continue to go up.

This isn't the first time The Wheel of Time has been adapted for the tabletop, but it is the first actual board game for the franchise. Wizards of the Coast made a Wheel of Time TTRPG all the way back in 2001, but it has been mostly forgotten over the years. War of the Dragon takes it a step further by bringing a full experience to the table with new illustrations, miniatures, and multiple game modes included.

The popularity of this game on Kickstarter isn't too surprising thanks to the publisher that is actually adapting the story into this format. Dire Wolf is known for publishing some incredible board games like Dune: Imperium and Clank! over the years. Dune: Imperium is a somewhat similar deck-building board game that has consistently been a favorite for IGN, with our reviewer giving it a glowing 9 out of 10 review. So while War of the Dragon is getting its start as a crowdfunding campaign here, it's backed by a trusted studio.

Outside of this Kickstarter, The Wheel of Time series has been seeing a bit of a revival in TV and games. It was announced fairly recently that a new Wheel of Time animated series and a video game are currently in the works. As of right now, there isn't any sort of release date attached to those projects, but there is an estimated June 2027 window for War of the Dragon. The Kickstarter campaign is set to run from now until June 23, 2026.

Jacob Kienlen is a Senior Audience Development Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and 10 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different pop culture topics -- from TV series to books and the latest Pokémon games.

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It’s been three years, but the wait is finally almost over for X-Men ‘97 Season 2. Marvel Animation has dropped a new trailer for the animated series, along with the reveal that Season 2 will premiere on July 1, 2026. It’s time to get the X-Men back to the ‘90s, by any means necessary.

Naturally, we have a lot of questions after watching this new footage. How big a role does time travel play in Season 2? Why does Wolverine seem to have his adamantium back already? Why are Cyclops and Jean Grey sporting their iconic, 2000s-era New X-Men costumes? Let’s dig into these and other questions as we wait for X-Men ‘97 Season 2 to hit Disney+.

Warning: This article contains potential spoilers for Season 2 based on the X-Men comics.

How Long Will the X-Men Be Lost in Time?

X-Men ‘97 Season 2 deals very directly with the fallout of the Season 1 finale. The X-Men ‘97 may have thwarted the humanoid Sentinel Bastion and Operation: Zero Tolerance, but they’ve been scattered across time. Some of them (Rogue, Nightcrawler, Magneto, Beast) are trapped in the distant past, a time when Apocalypse began to extend his powerful grip across Ancient Egypt. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Jean Grey are marooned in the future, at the height of Apocalypse’s power.

That appears to be the crux of the conflict in Season 2. Most of the X-Men are missing in time, and seasoned time travelers Bishop and Forge are busy working to bring them back to the ‘90s. But in the meantime, it falls on the few remaining X-Men and teams like X-Factor to continue the fight for human/mutant coexistence.

The big question here is how long we’ll see this status quo play out in Season 2. How long will the X-Men be scattered throughout time? Is this something that’s going to be resolved within a few episodes, or will it dominate the entire season? The trailer makes it clear that we’re going to see the X-Men triumphantly reunited before the end, but when exactly does that reunion take place? Given how fast-paced Season 1 was and how quickly it blazed through major X-Men storylines, we wouldn’t be surprised if this situation resolves itself more quickly than some fans are expecting.

This question is all the more pertinent because we know that Marvel Comics has a prequel tie-in coming out shortly before the new season premieres.The X-Men ‘97: Season Two comic bridges the gap between the two seasons of the show and seems to focus on the present-day mutants carrying the torch for the missing X-Men. We know from early preview art that Forge’s X-Factor team has a big part to play in the story. If Marvel is publishing this prequel, they may be looking to explore the time-travel status quo in greater depth than the show itself has room to do.

Who Is the Main Villain This Time?

If the post-credits scene for the Season 1 finale didn’t make it plain enough, the new trailer confirms that Season 2 will revolve heavily around Apocalypse. We’ll reunite with this all-powerful mutant villain at multiple points in his immortal life, including as a young warlord in Egypt and a futuristic tyrant. Presumably, we’ll also see Apocalypse in the ‘90s. It’s the hottest timeline right now.

But is Apocalypse the main villain of Season 2? Season 1 went in some unexpected directions before Bastion finally emerged as the show’s endgame threat. We imagine there’s a lot more than meets the eye to Season 2, as well.

For one thing, we’re not convinced that Apocalypse is going to play the villain role in every timeline. The trailer makes it appear as though the younger version of the character is aligned with the X-Men in the past. How much will Season 2 focus on his origins and the question of whether there was once a good man hiding beneath all that Celestial armor and Darwinian bluster?

It’s worth pointing out that we see Apocalypse’s rival Immortus in the trailer, so it at least appears that the show will be exploring their ancient feud. In that sense, the show may be looking to build on the foundation of the 4-part “Beyond Good and Evil” story arc from the original animated series, which ended with the reveal that the bumbling time janitor Bender was actually Immortus in disguise. If you need a refresher on Immortus and his connection to Kang the Conqueror, we’ve got you covered.

But these aren’t the only villains we see in the trailer. Season 2 is also bringing back Exodus, a character who in the comics served as Magneto’s herald and once battled Apocalypse in the distant past. He could be another key piece of the time travel puzzle here. In the trailer, we see Exodus battling Nightcrawler, an ironic pairing given how much both men are defined by their faith.

We also see a brief glimpse of Danger. This robotic villain was born after the Danger Room gained sentience and rebelled against Professor Xavier for imprisoning her. It appears that we’ll be seeing some version of that storyline play out in Season 2, but will she be a one-off character or an overarching threat?

Who Will Be Apocalypse’s Horsemen?

Whenever Apocalypse rears his head, it’s a safe bet that his Horsemen won’t be far behind. To paraphrase Yoda, always four there are - War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death. Apocalypse loves nothing more than selecting the strongest mutants he can find and transforming them to become his fanatically loyal minions. But which characters will make the cut this time?

The Season 1 post-credits scene strongly implies that Gambit will be the new Death. Remy sacrificed himself defending the doomed nation of Genosha earlier in the season, and Apocalypse seems intent on resurrecting him and harnessing his ability to make things explode real good.

The reveal of Gambit as Death is sure to be one of the key emotional moments of Season 2. The trailer makes it plain that Rogue is still deeply mourning her loss, and she’s sure to feel a surge of emotions when she learns that Remy is alive again but also in thrall to Apocalypse.

That still leaves three other mutants. Which ones will catch Apocalypse’s eye? Does he specifically want heroes he can corrupt and mold to his liking, or will anyone do so long as they have the raw power?

And, finally, how does Archangel factor into Season 2? He was part of the original batch of Horsemen back in Season 1 of the original series, and he still carries the scars of that ordeal. We’re sure Warren will be leading the charge against Apocalypse now, but is it possible that his old master may be looking to reclaim this powerful weapon?

Are Cyclops and Jean Grey Headed for a Breakup?

X-Men ‘97 is nothing if not a period piece, proudly flaunting the fact that it takes place in the late 1990s. It draws heavily on the ‘90s-era X-Men comics in terms of both storylines and the costumes worn by our heroes.

That being said, it appears that Season 2 is looking slightly ahead to the early 2000s when it comes to two characters. While Cyclops and Jean Grey will start out the season as roving, futuristic nomads raising their young son Nathan, at some point, they’ll return to the present and don costumes based on Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s New X-Men comics. That series debuted in the wake of the first live-action X-Men movie and saw the X-Men trade in their colorful spandex for more functional black leather.

It’s an interesting stylistic choice, and we wonder how much these costume changes are meant to signify the direction the series is headed with Scott and Jean. New X-Men was notable for driving a wedge between the two characters, with Cyclops entering into a psychic affair with new teammate Emma Frost (whom we also briefly see in the trailer). In fact, the series ends with Jean becoming Phoenix and dying all over again and Scott committing to his new romance with Emma.

Could something similar be happening in X-Men ‘97? Will the two lovers be pulled apart, perhaps as a consequence of the Summers family drama from Season 1? Or is this homage to New X-Men purely a visual one?

How Does Wolverine Get His Adamantium Back?

Of all the X-Men, Wolverine had arguably the roughest go of it in the climax of Season 1. He had his adamantium skeleton ripped out during a dramatic fight against Magneto, proving it’s not the smartest idea to send a metal-boned mutant to fight the Master of Magnetism. That twist drew on the iconic “Fatal Attractions” comic book crossover from 1993.

Based on the comics, we can guess at the broad strokes of what happens next for Wolverine. He’ll come to terms with his near-death experience and the discovery that he has bone claws beneath the adamantium. He’ll embark on a journey of self-discovery not unlike Storm’s vacation from Season 1. He’ll probably clash with some of his enemies who are all too eager to take advantage of his more vulnerable state, either familiar faces like Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike or a new villain like the adamantium-skinned Cyber.

If the show follows Wolverine’s post-Fatal Attractions arc all the way through, we may even see Logan struggle to maintain his humanity. In the comics, his healing factor eventually goes into overdrive once it no longer has to compensate for all the toxic metal in his body, which causes him to devolve into a feral beast for a brief period.

That all being said, we don’t get the impression that the series is going to spend very long exploring this new bone claws era. That’s because we can clearly see Wolverine is rocking the adamantium claws again in the trailer. So what gives? How does he get his precious metal skeleton back?

We’d guess Apocalypse has something to do with it. That’s how Logan eventually gets his adamantium back in the comics. Apocalypse forces Wolverine to battle Sabretooth for the right to be his new Death, and Logan gets a new adamantium skeleton as his victory prize. Will something similar happen in the show? Is Wolverine destined to become one of Apocalypse’s Horsemen? Or is this a gift from Magneto, as a sort of mea culpa for their last encounter?

What are your theories about X-Men ‘97 Season 2? Who do you think the ultimate villain will be? Let us know in the comments below.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

I can think of few activities I'd enjoy more than playing a video game on a Saturday afternoon while lounging in an overstuffed recliner. This deal is a super affordable way of realizing my dream. As part of its Memorial Day Sale that starts this week, Wayfair is offering the Latitude Run 41.3'' Extra Large Power Lift Recliner and Massage Chair for just $380 with free shipping. According to Wayfair, the retail price on this is $1,800, which means you're saving a whopping 80% off.

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For Memorial Day, Dell is offering an Alienware 16X Aurora gaming laptop that's loaded with an extremely generous amount of memory and storage for a reasonable cost, especially considering today's outrageous RAM and SSD prices. This particular model features a GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, 64GB of RAM, and a 4TB SSD for $3,299.99 with free shipping after a massive $2,400 off discount. The 16X Aurora is one of the more premium laptops available featuring an aluminum body, high quality display, and current generation processor and graphics.

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Earlier this year, Apple released its 8th generation iPad Air tablet at a starting price of $599.99. However for Memorial Day Amazon has dropped the price to $519.99, or $80 off MSRP, which is the lowest price I've seen since its launch. Memorial Day has passed, but this deal is live for a while longer. In addition to the M4 chip upgrade, the newest iPad Air is equipped with more RAM than before and Apple's newest N1 wireless chip, which finally introduces Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support.

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