Gaming Squad

It’s challenging to watch Disney’s new Skeleton Crew trailer and not compare it to The Goonies, which remains one of the best movies of all time. But, despite what many of us would like to believe, an entire generation or hasn’t seen The Goonies; they need their own version of a rag-tag group of kids embarking on an exciting adventure. Skeleton Crew may fill the gap, but only time will tell.

Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long. Skeleton Crew premiers on Disney Plus on December 3, with the series’ first two episodes available to stream on that day.

Starring Jude Law (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow), Kerry Condon (Unleashed), and Ryan Kiera (American Horror Story), Star Wars: Skeleton Crew tells the story of four young children who discover a strange underground bunker on their home planet, which leads to a galaxy-spanning adventure. It’s a tale filled with adventure, danger, a diverse array of alien lifeforms from throughout the Star Wars universe, and, of course, space travel, thanks to Law’s character.

Also, we didn’t expect to hear a Huttese version of Major Tom today, but that’s definitely a highlight from the trailer. Based on comments left on the trailer premier, most people seem excited for this series to air. You won’t find the usual discourse that typically surrounds upcoming Star Wars content, which is a pleasant surprise.

The first two episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will be available to stream exclusively on Disney+ on December 3.

Now that we have a Goonies-like adventure in Skeleton Crew, it’s time for Ewan McGregor’s dream of a live-action Star Wars: Clone Wars to come to fruition. How long must we wait for the Clone Wars in totally reimagined glory?!

We love Chappell Roan here at Kotaku. The “Good Luck, Babe” singer puts out queer bangers, dresses up in chainmail at award shows, and has cultivated a fanbase of gay nerds who record her shows on Nintendo handhelds. So when she shows up on Saturday Night Live this weekend on November 2, I will be tuned in and seated. But before the show airs, Roan has already appeared in some promotional material for the show, and her outfit has activated Dragon Age fans, as if they aren’t already having a stimulating week after the launch of The Veilguard on Halloween.

Roan is scheduled to be the musical guest for this week’s Saturday Night Live, with stand-up comedian and former SNL writer John Mulaney set to host the show. Both appeared in some promotional videos for the episode, and yeah, Mulaney is there, but Roan’s elaborate outfit is the star of the show. The green and gold outfit features a huge crescent headpiece with gold waist pieces stretching out to the side that seemingly double as armrests. The whole fit is something straight out of a fantasy RPG, and folks in fandoms like Final Fantasy are jumping on the jokes. However, Dragon Age is fresh in everyone’s minds and I, too, had to laugh at how Roan’s outfit is evocative of Ghilan’nain, one of the elven gods the player faces in The Veilguard.

Ghilan’nain is a blighted elf, and without getting too into the weeds, that means her body has been twisted into a monstrous eldritch horror. This lady has multiple sets of arms and tentacles, and her face is hidden under a mask connected to a crescent headpiece. In close-up shots you can see her face is just as horrifying beneath the mask, and why she was so willing to become this monstrosity is part of the story you’ll uncover in The Veilguard. With the headpiece and tendril-like appendages, Roan’s outfit calls to mind the elven god of guides and navigation, so Dragon Age fans are all making the same joke.

Ghilan’nain is nothing like Chappell Roan, though. Is the elven god a queer icon? I mean, not yet, but she could be. But all I’ve ever seen her do is try to kill the queer friend group that is The Veilguard. That’s not very “ally” of her.

Halloween may be over but that doesn’t mean that you have to stop enjoying everything scary. For those who love a good thrill, Humble Bundle has a great deal going, letting you snag seven horror games for only twenty bucks. Available until November 12, the collection’s headlining title has to be the entire Dark Pictures Anthology thus far, which will treat you to a handful of horror stories pulled right out of classic B movies.

For the unfamiliar, The Dark Pictures Anthology is an ongoing series developed by Supermassive Games, the team best known for PlayStation’s cult classic Until Dawn. Like that 2015 title, The Dark Pictures Anthology seeks to capture the feeling of a horror movie that you can play. In each of the anthology’s titles (of which there are currently four), you’ll be responsible for deciding the fate of each cast member. What makes these experiences so enjoyable are the permutations the story can take depending on your mood. Sure, you could save everybody and let them live happily ever after, but it’s a bit more fun to see just how much mayhem you can cause, even if it means letting the killer take out the entire cast. Choosing your own style also makes the Dark Pictures games perfect to play with a group of friends.

Because the Dark Pictures games are an anthology, you can pick up any of the four titles first. Each one has its own horror vibe to fit the mood you’re in. For my money, the best of the four is 2021’s House of Ashes, which leans into Lovecraftian cosmic horror in a claustrophobic cave setting out of 2005’s horror flick The Descent. The third title in the series, it’s clearly the one on which Supermassive hit its stride, both in narrative and gameplay. The roughly six-hour experience never lets up, constantly putting pressure on you and the cast. It also has a great star in Ashley Tisdale (of High School Musical fame), and she turns in a pretty fantastic horror performance.

In addition to the rest of the Dark Pictures games, the Humble Bundle will also net you Little Nightmares, its expansion, and Little Nightmares 2. For $20 that’s a pretty great belated Halloween treat.

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The team behind the best Godzilla movie in years is going to make another one. Takashi Yamazaki, who wrote, directed, and oversaw the VFX for Godzilla Minus One, revealed today in a brief video teaser that his team has been greenlit to work on a second Godzilla.

“Hello everyone, I have wonderful news,” Yamazaki said in a new vlog shared online on Friday. “I’ll be directing a new Godzilla film. Please stay tuned.” The message was short and sweet from a filmmaker who previously demonstrated his penchant for direct and economical storytelling on a global stage with his 2023 monster classic.

While there’s no word on a title, premise, or release date, the news is enough to get fans excited after Godzilla Minus One proved there’s still plenty of gas left in the Kaiju tank. Its sparring yet excellent special effects combined with a humorous but tragic plot snagged it an Oscar earlier this year and tons of acclaim from other storied directors like Steven Spielberg.

The Japanese language movie grossed over $100 million on a $10 million budget. And while Yamazaki has been making movies for decades, the next Godzilla could end up being his biggest budget production yet. Whether that becomes purely additive or risks diluting the team’s creative vision will be the big test.

Godzilla Minus One tells an origin story of the giant lizard that takes place shortly after World War II as Japan recovers from a devastating bombing campaign that included two nuclear strikes. The citizens navigate post-war politics and personal trauma to defeat the monster, only for it to secretly begin reconstituting itself beneath the ocean waves. Whether Yamazaki’s movie ends up being a direct sequel or just another riff on the long-standing premise, it’s going to be one to watch out for.

Once upon a time, there was talk of HBO’s hit Game of Thrones series concluding with a trilogy of movies instead of its ultimately ill-fated eighth season. It sounds like Warner Bros. is now revisiting the prospect of some kind of film adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s books, even if the project is still in the earliest stages of development.

According to Hollywood Reporter, the studio is making at least one Game of Thrones movie, though the project doesn’t yet have a script, director, or cast associated with it. These “concepts of a plan” for a theatrical adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire might soon break free of its existing HBO prestige TV enclosure, something the company had resisted in the past.

While we don’t have any idea what such a movie would focus on, from entirely new events to existing portions of Martin’s world that haven’t yet been adapted to TV, it seems unlikely a project would be able to rival the previous success of Game of Thrones without involving that cast and characters in some way. Maybe it’s not unthinkable that we might get a complete do-over of the show’s much-maligned ending, something fans have long speculated about.

Any movie would also be coming out alongside a full suite of new Game of Thrones TV, from House of the Dragon season three and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms to a host of other spin-offs and animated adaptations. Not all of Warner’s grand plans for the fantasy IP have come to fruition, however. A direct sequel with Kit Harington reprising his role as Jon Snow was infamously abandoned, seemingly over a lack of strong ideas for where to take the character after the as-of-yet unfinished conclusion of Martin’s books.

The Hollywood Reporter points out that a new era of post-merger Warner Bros. seems much more comfortable with major franchises seamlessly hopping between streaming and the big screen. The Harry Potter movies are currently being remade as a TV series, and The Batman has already spawned a very successful spin-off in The Penguin. It’s not hard to see Game of Thrones going in the opposite direction five years after the conclusion of the original show.

If you’re lucky enough to have witnessed the on-stage musical in all its glory, then you won’t want to miss part one of Wicked on November 27. The film features an exceptional cast, including Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum. Wicked reimagines the age-old tale of The Wizard of Oz, following the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch, two unlikely friends, as they traverse life-altering events and situations.

It’s a more authentically adult tale than the children’s movie, full of darkness, tragedy, and mishaps that, more than anything else, warn about unquestioningly loving and trusting those around us. If you’re not a fan of musicals, you’ll likely want to skip this one, as it’s a full-on, head-bopping fantasy.

The entire V/H/S series deserves recognition, though some films and sequences stand out more than others. These horror anthologies feature short films often tied together by a frame narrative, typically involving characters who are watching these shorts on a found VHS tape. One of the series’ greatest strengths is its ability to push the boundaries of found footage, often placing the camera in unexpected locations or playing with different formats.

“Phase I Clinical Trials” from V/H/S/2 puts the camera inside a man’s eye after he loses his sight in a car accident. We see a zombie outbreak from the POV of a biker’s helmet in “A Ride in the Park” from V/H/S/2, “Storm Drain” from V/H/S/94 evokes a 1990s local news report investigating an urban legend that lurks deep in the sewers among the displaced community. “Ozzy’s Dungeon” from V/H/S/99 puts a deadly spin on a Nickelodeon-style game show.

The shorts can extend beyond the horror genre, incorporating humor or taking a more straightforward thriller approach. They feature all types of spooky things like body horror, aliens, the paranormal, or everyday terrors like cults and serial killers. Some of the shorts can be hit or miss, but all of them are creative and continually surprise the audience. It’s fun to watch such a variety of horrific worlds, found footage techniques, and filmmaking styles in quick succession.

Deadpool & Wolverine proved that even if the MCU fatigue is real, comic book blockbusters can still be wildly successful if they involve the X-Men, two giant Hollywood stars, tons of jokes, a massive marketing budget, and little to no other meaningful competition in theaters at release. The biggest R-rated movie ever, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s deeply self-referential action parody can soon be enjoyed from the comfort of your living room when the movie comes to Disney Plus in November.

All of the Marvel jokes, F-bombs, and gruesome violence, accompanied by commentary tracks from Reynolds and director Shawn Levy, will be available on Disney’s streaming app starting November 12, the company announced on Wednesday. That puts it in pole position for family movie night heading into Thanksgiving when everyone is too exhausted, or annoyed with one another, to argue about what to watch. Problem solved—Jackman’s six pack and Reynolds’ razor-sharp wit should satisfy everyone.

Read More: Disney+ Gets Another Price Increase, Will Cost Twice As Much As It Did In 2019

Deadpool & Wolverine debuted last July to generally positive reviews and a huge box office take that’s made it the second-biggest movie of the year right behind Disney’s animated hit Inside Out 2, which is also streaming on Disney Plus. The finale to the Deadpool trilogy was packed full of fourth-wall-breaking references and comic-book Easter eggs that require an encyclopedia to decode, but that’s what hundreds of hours of Marvel content streaming on the rest of the app are for.

What the movie won’t have to worry about is competition from 2024’s other big comic book blockbusters. Joker: Folie à Deux was such a flop that it’s already streaming on the Max and Apple TV apps, and Venom 3: The Last Dance, while only just released in theaters, isn’t getting rave reviews either. Deadpool & Wolverine’s only real threat is Transformers One, which still doesn’t have a streaming date but looks likely to hit at least one of the services by the end of November.