For a limited time, Pokemon fans in the US will be able to add a special Pokemon to their collections in Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. The Pokemon Company is giving away a free Shiny Pikachu or Shiny Eevee for the Switch games from May 11 to June 23 at participating Target stores around the country, but this time around, the process to claim one is a little different than usual.
Rather than just walking into the store and picking up a download code, you'll first need to download a new phone app called Pokemon Pass, then use that to receive a code for the free Pokemon. This process may sound a little confusing, so we've outlined exactly how to get your free Shiny Pikachu or Eevee below.
What Is Pokemon Pass?
Pokemon Pass is a new mobile app that allows users to take advantage of special promotions and rewards. The app can be downloaded for free from Google Play or the App Store and is compatible with most Android and iOS phones. In order to use it, you'll need to log in with a Pokemon Trainer Club account. If you don't have one, you can create an account for free on the official Pokemon website.
How Do I Get My Free Pokemon?
Once you've installed the Pokemon Pass app and signed into your Pokemon Trainer Club account, head to a participating Target store and look for signs with QR codes on them in the toy and video game aisles where Pokemon merchandise can be found. Use the app to scan the QR code and you'll receive a serial code, which you'll then need to input into your copy of Let's Go Pikachu or Eevee to complete the process.
Shiny Pikachu And Eevee
The Pokemon you receive will be the opposite of the version you own, so players with a copy of Let's Go Pikachu will get a Shiny Eevee, while those with Let's Go Eevee will get a Shiny Pikachu. Each Pokemon comes at level 10 and already has four moves in its arsenal. You can see their movesets below.
Pikachu
Thunderbolt
Double Kick
Double Team
Thunder
Eevee
Double-Edge
Iron Tail
Helping Hand
Facade
How Do I Redeem My Download Code?
After you've received your serial code from Target, fire up your copy of Let's Go Pikachu or Eevee and choose Mystery Gift from the game's main menu. Select the option to receive a gift with a code/password, then input your serial code to download the free Pokemon. Finally, open your save file and pick the Pokemon up from the deliveryman waiting inside any Pokemon Center.
Are There Any Other Freebies?
In addition to the free Shiny Pikachu and Eevee, you can use the Pokemon Pass to claim a couple of free photo stickers based on the Detective Pikachu movie. The Pokemon Company is also giving away a Detective Pikachu Psyduck promo card and movie poster between 10 AM-1 PM local time on May 11. Supplies will be limited, however, so you should show up early if you're hoping to snag one.
With Detective Pikachu coming on the heels of the release of Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of 11 years of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, one can't help but wonder: Is Detective Pikachu part of a burgeoning cinematic universe as well? After all, the movie links up to one released 20 years ago, and we already know that a Detective Pikachu sequel has a writer. There could easily be a teaser for another sequel included with Detective Pikachu.
So does Detective Pikachu take a page from the MCU and throw in a post-credits coda scene, or are you free to leave your seat as soon as the credits roll?
The good news (or bad news, depending on your point of view) is that you don't need to stay in your seat once Pikachu inevitably cracks the case--there's no post-credits scene at the end of Detective Pikachu, and you won't miss anything if you cut out before the end of the credits.
Although it's still not enough to make a definitive confirmation, we now have another clue pointing to the next Call of Duty game being Modern Warfare 4. Or rather, five more clues.
All five men have had lasting impacts on Call of Duty. Grigsby helped define Call of Duty's weapons, even creating the popular knife melee attack in Modern Warfare. Both Roycewicz and Smith designed some of the franchise's most memorable multiplayer maps, such as Modern Warfare's Overgrown and Wetwork. Emslie designed some of the more noteworthy characters and items in Call of Duty, such as Ghost and the ghillie suit. Rieke had a huge effect, being the one responsible for designing the original team deathmatch spawn logic in the first Call of Duty and the flashing regenerating health system in Call of Duty 2--both of which continued to be implemented in and influence many Call of Duty titles.
Prior to taking on their current roles at Infinity Ward, each of the five were contributing their talents to other games. Grigbsy, Roycewicz, Smith, and Emslie were all at Respawn, working together on Titanfall and Titanfall 2. Rieke was at Respawn during development of Titanfall, but then went on to found Darwin Game Studio in 2012 and then join Naughty Dog in 2013 before returning to Infinity Ward.
Infinity Ward is the developer behind 2007's Modern Warfare, 2009's Modern Warfare 2, and 2011's Modern Warfare 3. It's long been suspected Infinity Ward would be the next developer to release a Call of Duty title, as per the pattern of studios working on the franchise. That's now been confirmed (the Call of Duty game the studio is working on is even already in a playable state).
Rumors that Modern Warfare 4 would be the next Call of Duty game first surfaced when Infinity Ward senior communication manager Ashton Williams dropped a hint pointing back to the series. However, neither Infinity Ward or Activision has provided more than hints as to whether the rumors are true.
Activision has normally unveiled the title of each Call of Duty game in May, so we might be getting some form of announcement soon and then further details and a gameplay reveal at E3 2019. We don't know much about the new Call of Duty other than that it will include a traditional single-player campaign, unlike last year's Black Ops 4. Activision has also confirmed the game will have a "huge expansive multiplayer world" and "fun co-op gameplay." Given that Call of Duty has enjoyed a wealth of multiplayer modes in the past though, ranging from the objective-based Zombies to battle royale Blackout, these descriptions could mean anything.
There's a high chance that Cersei Lannister will die in the last two episodes of Game of Thrones. The only way she'll live is if she somehow kills basically every other character on the show, almost all of whom want her dead, from Jon Snow and Daenerys to Arya and Sansa.
Episode 5, the penultimate episode to Game of Thrones' Season 8, is shaping up to be a bloodbath, because after many episodes of restraining herself, Daenerys finally seems poised to act, thanks largely to Cersei's provocations.
Dany knows that Jon has a stronger claim to the Iron Throne than she does. She's lost nearly her entire Dothraki army, half her Unsullied army, and her longtime protector and friend, Jorah Mormont. She's lost two out of her three dragon children. And The Mountain just decapitated her advisor and best friend, Missandei. If Dany was ever going to become the Mad Queen, even more dangerous than the one who currently sits on the Iron Throne, now would be the time. And Cersei would be a deserving casualty of Dany's rage.
Mutually Assured Destruction
Cersei said in Season 1: "When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die." That's an oft-repeated quip, the type you see on the backs of Blu-ray cases and as the taglines on posters. But there's a much more telling quote about Cersei that came courtesy of 2017 Grandmother of the Year Olenna Tyrell. She mused to Jaime Lannister, prior to her death, about why and how Cersei had beaten her:
"I did unspeakable things to protect my family, or watched them being done on my orders. I never lost a night's sleep over them. They were necessary. And whatever I imagined necessary for the safety of House Tyrell, I did. But your sister has done things I wasn't capable of imagining. That was my prize mistake. A failure of imagination."
There is still time left for Cersei to shock and appall us--to make a play so despicable and beyond the pale that it is outside the scope of what her enemies can conceive. She already blew up the Sept of Baelor; she could blow up the rest of the wildfire that the Mad King stockpiled throughout King's Landing, killing herself, her enemies, innocent subjects, or any combination of those groups. Whoever's left standing may need to rebuild the city from the ground up, or abandon King's Landing--and the Iron Throne--entirely.
Dany had a vision in Season 2, during which she saw a crumbling Red Keep and an Iron Throne covered in snow. For the longest time, fans believed the White Walkers would come to King's Landing. But in light of their demise, theorists are reinterpreting the dream's imagery. Perhaps the white flakes falling from the sky are not snow, but ash. And perhaps we are seeing the end result of an attack on King's Landing.
The Pregnancy
Will Cersei's pregnancy restrain her depravity? It's unlikely. Time and again, Cersei has proved that she doesn't plan ahead; she commits actions to solve her immediate problems without taking into account the repercussions. It's why she empowers the High Sparrow to disgrace the Tyrells, and is later shocked when the Faith Militant attack her. It's why she destroys the Sept of Baelor, killing the High Sparrow and Margaery, while remaining oblivious to the effect it will have on Tommen.
Cersei will not hesitate to do anything, no matter how extreme, because she will assume, rightly or wrongly, that she will escape unscathed. And if she's cornered, facing death? The last time she was cornered at the end of Season 2, she was prepared to end her and Tommen's life via poison, and nearly did so.
This is, of course, assuming that Cersei is pregnant in the first place. At the end of Episode 4, Tyrion appeals to Cersei's maternal side—that by avoiding war, she can save the life of her unborn child. Cersei is unmoved. And this might imply, assuming that Cersei has any humanity left, that her pregnancy was a lie, and thus, she doesn't have anything to lose.
Granted, the Cersei we've come to know over the past seven seasons would have taken the opportunity of that meeting outside King's Landing's gates to annihilate her enemies then and there, so maybe the ruthless queen really has changed.Either that, or the show's writing has gone to hell, and we can't expect the characters to act in predictable, logical ways anymore.
The Prophecy
In Season 5, we got a flashback to Cersei as a young girl, receiving a prophecy from Maggy, a witch who lived on her father's lands. She says this: "You will never wed the prince. You will wed the king... You will be queen for a time, then comes another, younger, more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold dear... The king will have 20 children. And you will have three. Gold will be their crowns, gold their shrouds."
All of these prophecies are either starting to come true, or already have. Cersei did wed the king, Robert Baratheon, who had many illegitimate children. Cersei did have three children by her brother Jaime: Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen, all of whom are dead. And lastly, she is queen, although Daenerys is poised to take her spot.
The show left out, however, the final line of the prophecy, from the book A Feast For Crows:
"And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you."
Valonqar is a High Valyrian word that translates to little brother. Assuming that this "little brother" kills Cersei--and that the ending of the show roughly approximates the end of the books--here are some theories about who that murderous little bro might be.
Little Brothers
Cersei has two "little brothers." The first, more obvious candidate is Tyrion, who is both small in stature and younger than Cersei. He would have the motive to kill her, although the means and opportunity for him are less clear.
Jaime, despite being Cersei's twin, is technically younger than her, because she was born first. He is currently heading back to King's Landing. If he remains "loyal" to her and stays by her side, he could be in the best position to kill her—especially if she orders something drastic, like lighting the remaining caches of wildfire beneath the city.
Perhaps the valonqar is The Hound, who is consistently referred to as the younger brother in relation to his older brother, The Mountain. Assuming the two men fight each other in what has come to be known by fans as Cleganebowl, The Hound may also get close enough to Cersei to kill her, because The Mountain is acting as Cersei's personal guard. Where she goes, he goes too.
And lastly, the valonqar could be Arya, who is the youngest surviving child of Ned Stark. Fans debate whether the term valonqar could be gender neutral (like Azor Ahai proved to be), but even if it's not, Arya has been mistaken more than once over the years for a boy. Arya has also sworn herself to killing Cersei and is likely heading to King's Landing at the end of Episode 4 to do just that.
Whoever kills Cersei, the audience won't know until the very last minute. All four leading candidates will be in close proximity to her. Tyrion will be nearby as Dany's advisor. Jaime is currently traveling to King's Landing. And The Hound and Arya are also traveling to King's Landing, having met up along the way.
Cersei has never been able to escape her fate before. It's unlikely she'll start now.
The mystery at the center of Detective Pikachu takes protagonist Tim and his buddy Pikachu all through Ryme City as the pair try to find out what happened to Harry Goodman, Tim's detective father. Of course, things escalate as they get nearer to the truth, with sinister figures (and their Pokemon) trying to stop Tim and Pikachu from solving the case. Be warned: We're about to explain, as well as spoil, the ending of Detective Pikachu, so read on at your own risk!
Things get a little confusing as the movie progresses, though. Tim and Pikachu, along with journalist Lucy and her partner Psyduck, discover a strange laboratory. It turns out that Howard Clifford, the founder of Ryme City, had the powerful psychic Pokemon Mewtwo captured and studied in that lab in order to discover the secrets of Pokemon evolution. Through their work on Mewtwo, the scientists discovered two things: the strange R chemical that's key to the mystery, and a Mewtwo power that nobody previously knew about.
At the climax of the movie, Tim learns the truth about what's happening: Howard is obsessed with Pokemon evolution and wants to find a way for humans to evolve into better versions of themselves. He intends to beat his degenerative illness (and to become the ultimate Pokemon fan) by using the newly discovered Mewtwo power to transfer his spirit into a Pokemon's body. Yup, his plan is to take over the body of a cartoon animal with magic powers.
Howard doesn't just plan to Pokemon himself, though. He also transfers everyone else's spirit into their Pokemon, too. Why would he want to do that? That's a very good question. Anyway, let's press on.
As Howard explains it to Tim, there's an obstacle to transferring the humans into their Pokemon--it can only happen when the Pokemon are in a wild, crazed state. That's the real reason for the R chemical: R causes Pokemon to lose control of themselves, and in the process, to lose their sentience. When the R chemical freaks Pokemon out, it leaves them open for the spirit transfer.
The thing is, Mewtwo doesn't really want to cooperate with this plan. It escaped from the lab at the start of the movie, with the help of Harry Goodman and his Pikachu. As the detective pair fled the lab, Howard sent his genetically modified Greninja Pokemon to attack Harry, causing his car to crash and leaving him for dead. Mewtwo, grateful for Harry and Pikachu's assistance in escaping, came to their aid, and Pikachu volunteered to let Harry's spirit take over his body, in order to save Harry's life after the crash.
That's why Detective Pikachu can talk throughout the movie. (Why he can only talk to Tim is maybe some kind of father-son bond thing? Let's just go with it.) It also explains Detective Pikachu's amnesia and why he can't remember how to use his Pikachu powers. All through the movie, Detective Pikachu is actually Harry, who can't remember being human.
When Tim and Detective Pikachu find Mewtwo in the middle of the movie, they accidentally lead Howard (and Howard's Ditto, posing as his son Roger) straight to the powerful psychic Pokemon. Howard recaptures Mewtwo and uses a special helmet on the Pokemon that allows him to take control of Mewtwo with his mind. Then, Howard dispenses the R chemical that he's hidden in the Pokemon parade balloons, zapping all the Pokemon in the city and making them wild. Finally, he uses Mewtwo's powers to transfer all the humans' spirits into their Pokemon.
Luckily, the R chemical doesn't affect Detective Pikachu, because he already had Harry's spirit inside him. That allows Detective Pikachu to fight Howard-as-Mewtwo and win. That allows them to break Howard's control over Mewtwo.
Once the plot is uncovered and Mewtwo is back to normal, it uses its powers to undo everything Howard did, separating all the human spirits from the Pokemon and restoring everyone to normal--including Harry.
In the end, Howard Clifford is arrested for his plot to turn put an entire city of people into Pokemon bodies, Mewtwo gains his freedom, and Tim and Harry reconcile. Most everything is wrapped up, except for a few dangling threads, like what happened to those huge, genetically modified Torterra who could annihilate Ryme City with a fart, or those genetically modified Greninja who have repeatedly attempted to murder people on Howard's orders? And where's Mewtwo headed with the power to turn people into Pokemon? Could he zap the spirits of people he doesn't like into anything else, like rocks or trees or lamps?
Maybe those are cases for Harry, Tim, and Pikachu to solve at some later point. Hopefully, before anybody is killed, accidentally or on purpose, or turned into furniture.
The Detective Pikachu movie features one of the most powerful and popular Pokemon in existence: the genetically engineered, psychic cat monster Mewtwo. This is hardly the legendary Pokemon's first big screen appearance, as Mewtwo took center stage in the original Pokemon movie, Pokemon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, as well as others. But you wouldn't exactly expect Detective Pikachu, a live-action movie based on a 2016 game, to tie in directly with that 1999 film.
Of course, you'd be wrong. Warning--there are Detective Pikachu spoilers past this point!
Mewtwo may be at the center of Detective Pikachu's mystery, but the movie eventually reveals that he's not actually the villain. That might seem surprising, given how the psychic Pokemon has been portrayed in the past--until you realize that this is the same Mewtwo that appeared in the original Pokemon anime and movie two decades ago. He's no big fan of humans, but given all his experiences with us over the years--including his encounters with Ash, Pikachu, and friends in the animated movies, in addition to the events of this film--Mewtwo is starting to come around to us.
The little tidbit in Detective Pikachu that reveals this crucial tie-in with the original Pokemon movie is easy to miss. When Tim (Justice Smith) is sleuthing around the Clifford Enterprises lab with Lucy (Kathryn Newton) and Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds), he comes across a fancy holo-recording that documents Mewtwo's study and the events leading up to the Pokemon's escape. In the recording, Dr. Laurent (Rita Ora) states that Clifford Enterprises captured Mewtwo after the Pokemon escaped from the Kanto region 20 years earlier.
Obviously, that's significant. The Kanto region is where the first generation of Pokemon games (Red/Blue/Yellow) and anime took place, including the scene from the original show in which Mewtwo blew up Team Rocket's headquarters and flew away. That led directly into the first movie's plot, where Mewtwo lured strong Pokemon trainers to an island in an elaborate plot to prove its dominance (a story that was significantly changed in the transition from Japan to Western audiences). Clearly, the Mewtwo in Detective Pikachu is meant to be the very same Mewtwo who escaped Team Rocket's clutches and later encountered Ash and his friends.
Detective Pikachu director Rob Letterman told GameSpot that he was eager to tie this movie in with the larger series, despite its many obvious differences. "I really wanted to connect it to the overall Pokemon universe," the director explained. "It's not meant to be a one-off thing, it's meant to be a part of and expand the overall Pokemon universe."
Letterman was especially interested in connections to the first Pokemon movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back, and not just because of the obvious connective tissue of Mewtwo's prominence in both films.
"There's a lot of references to that because that was the first Pokemon movie I watched with my kids, so that one was important to me, and Mewtwo plays a big role in this film," the director said, pointing out even more similarities beyond the Kanto reference: "There's a lot of nods to that, even in the opening--just the air bubbles in the containment chamber the Mewtwo is in are crafted after the anime air bubbles from the opening of the first movie. There's a lot of subtle hints in there that connect us to the rest of the universe."
In Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow, players could capture Mewtwo from a cave that was only accessible after they beat the Elite Four. In the anime and animated movies, Mewtwo rarely reappeared in any major way after the first movie, besides a 2001 TV special called "Mewtwo Returns" and a role in the 2013 film Genesect and the Legend Awakened, where the psychic cat is much friendlier to humans.
Is Detective Pikachu a direct sequel to Mewtwo Strikes Back? Not exactly, but it's certainly safe to say that it's set in the same universe. Mewtwo still isn't crazy about people, but it's clear that his days of "kill all humans and take over the world" are over.
The Detective Pikachu movie does a great job of making the world of Pokemon feel real and lived in. There's a whole lot of backstory from the Pokemon movies and TV show sprinkled throughout (not to mention just a ridiculous number of Pokemon hanging around), and the movie is aware of and referential to a lot of it--which offers a bunch of cool callbacks and Easter eggs for Pokemon fans, and a great deal of world-building for those who aren't as familiar with the franchise.
But Detective Pikachu's self-awareness also means it's willing to make jokes about some of the weirder bits of Pokemon lore, like the backstory surrounding one cute Pokemon who may be the world's saddest: Cubone.
Early on in the movie, Tim heads out in an attempt to capture a lonely Cubone with his pal Jack. As Jack notes, capturing a Pokemon is as much about the Pokemon choosing to team with the human as it is the reverse, so Tim tries to talk to the Cubone and gain its trust, and makes a comment about the skull the Cubone wears on its head: the skull of its dead relative, as Tim notes. If you're unfamiliar with Cubone's backstory, that sounds a bit weird, but the actual lore surrounding the Pokémon is even weirder.
Tim's right: Cubone wears the skull of a dead relative as a hat. In fact, that's the skull of its dead mother. The circumstances of how every since Cubone's mother died is never discussed, but it's seemingly a pervasive tragedy. Wearing the skull doesn't seem like a great way to deal with that trauma, to say nothing of how extremely morbid and fairly gross it is.
To make the whole thing a little sadder, here's the official Pokemon Company Pokedex entry for Cubone, which is the one that appears in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire:
"Cubone pines for the mother it will never see again. Seeing a likeness of its mother in the full moon, it cries. The stains on the skull the Pokemon wears are made by the tears it sheds."
Yikes. In the movie, Jack jokes that Cubone would be a great Pokemon for Tim because they're both lonely, but that is a lot of baggage. It gets even more intense.
In the movie, Tim and Jack find the Cubone because of its mournful cries (which echo in the skull and come out as a sad melody, according to Pokemon Yellow), which Jack said his mother previously heard. Pokedex entries in Sun elaborate on that even further: The crying sounds are how a Cubone predator called Mandibuzz finds its prey. So not only is Cubone constantly sad and crying, but those cries will often lead to it getting eaten by another Pokemon.
The Moon entry at least adds a bright spot, suggesting that Cubone can heal from its trauma (if it survives!) and get over its mother's death, stating that when it comes to terms with the tragedy, it will evolve into the larger, tougher Marowak. But rather than just go about its life finally happy, Marowak trades its sadness for a new drive: vengeance. Sun and Moon's Pokedex entries say Marowak goes after revenge on Mandibuzz--which suggests Mandibuzz killed its mom in the first place.
One last tidbit: Sun and Moon added special versions of first-generation Pokemon to fit the games' tropical Alola region, and the Alolan Marowak gives a slight bit of additional context. Though Cubone's mom is dead, she's not actually gone, according to the Pokedex:
"The bones it possesses were once its mother's. Its mother's regrets have become like a vengeful spirit protecting this Pokemon."
Just to sum up, Cubone wears its mom's skull on its head, its cries of mourning get it attacked by a predator, it finally deals with its loss and evolves into a revenge machine, and it gets help from its dead mom's spirit in its never-ending battle with Mandibuzz.
Guess it makes sense that Detective Pikachu didn't want to get much deeper into the ridiculous Game of Thrones drama surrounding Cubone. Hopefully that Cubone who didn't feel like getting caught by Tim is okay.
The Detective Pikachu movie has finally arrived in theaters, and the pop culture hive mind has reached a consensus: It's good!
There's one scene that stands out above all the rest in terms of humor, inventiveness, and sheer insanity. That, of course, is the Mr. Mime scene glimpsed in the movie's trailers.
When the trailers first debuted, it seemed like a pretty good joke--Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) and Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) interrogate a Mr. Mime, who attempts to flummox the detective duo using his psychic miming powers. Tim and Pikachu decide to play along, and hilarity ensues as Mr. Mime gets a taste of his own medicine. But nobody guessed based on those previews how far the scene would go--or how dark it would get, as the movie briefly starts to resemble the Quentin Tarantino classic Reservoir Dogs more than something based on an animated show about kids who collect cute creatures.
Naturally, when we got the chance to chat with Detective Pikachu director Rob Letterman and star Justice Smith, we had to ask about the Mr. Mime scene. How did it come to be? What were its inspirations? And as they planned out a scene in which the movie's heroes maybe burn a Pokemon to death with psychic fire, were they ever worried that it was getting too dark in tone?
Letterman said the inspiration for the scene was actually even "darker than Reservoir Dogs"--a movie in which, famously, Michael Madsen dances around to the song "Stuck In The Middle With You" while sawing off Kirk Baltz's ear.
"I had to pitch it to The Pokemon Company, and I used a frame grab from Seven," he explained, referencing the 1995 David Fincher movie about the hunt for a serial killer. The director had the art department paint Mr. Mime over Kevin Spacey during an interrogation scene, and when The Pokemon Company let him know--"miraculously," as Letterman put it--that they were somehow OK with that tone, he went from there.
Kevin Spacey in Seven
Letterman began "scouring the internet" for mime reference materials and footage, and he came across the physical comedy of New Zealand performer Trygve Wakenshaw. "I chased him down, found him in Prague, flew him to London...In rehearsal, we'd basically workshop that scene the way you do a stage play, with Trygve, until I got all the physical comedy jokes done," Letterman recalled. The scene then evolved through countless rehearsals, with Ryan Reynolds, in facial capture gear, riffing his lines as Trygve and Smith improvised the miming.
"It sort of evolved just through performance, and the traditional way you would rehearse with the actors," Letterman said.
"It was a lot of fun, but we definitely thought that that scene was going to get cut while we were shooting it," Smith added. "But it ended up being a lot of people's favorite scene in the movie. I know it's one of my favorite scenes."
With Smith's performance captured, the scene went to the animators, who used Trygve's "crazy performances" (as Letterman put it) as inspiration for Mr. Mime's movements.
"We had the most talented effects animators around the world. They all poured a lot of love into that scene," the director said.
Yet despite being one of Detective Pikachu's best scenes, it almost didn't make it into the movie at all--and Smith wasn't the only person who thought it would get cut. "Full confession, the day we started shooting it, when Justice showed up, there was a stool and a lamp, and that was it," Letterman recalled. "I remember Justice and I looked at each other like, 'This is never going to work. We're going to cut this in a second, there's no way this is going to come together.'"
And, in fact, Letterman did try to cut the scene at one point, but the film's producers intervened. "I tried to cut it early on," he said. "I was like, 'I'm not even going to bother animating. There's no way. It's just too weird and crazy.' And, fortunately, the producers told me I was an idiot, and we can keep going. So, we dove in and just started to build it."
As for whether the scene is too dark in tone, it actually seems to fit surprisingly well. Pokemon as a franchise has fans of all ages, even though you could argue that it's primarily aimed at kids. Detective Pikachu is definitely safe for young fans as well as older ones, but with its gritty, noir-ish gumshoe vibe, it may be the most mature Pokemon's ever been.
"I think that's what the movie does well--it has an edge to it," Smith said. "I think we actually embraced that, because we wanted it to have this film noir aesthetic--we wanted it to be kind of gritty."
It's been four years since Square Enix announced a full remake of JRPG classic Final Fantasy VII for PS4 at E3 2015, and 22 years since the original game was released in 1997 for the PS1. We've seen and heard very little about the remake since it was officially revealed, but FF7 fans finally have more tangible footage to get hyped about, thanks to the recent State of Play broadcast.
While the latest trailer didn't reveal many new details, Square Enix did confirm the FF7 remake will be released in multiple installments and that more information will be shared in June, presumably at the publisher's E3 conference on June 10 at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET. Each installment will be quite substantial; in fact, a producer told Game Informer in 2016 each part will "essentially be a full-scale game" rather than a series of small episodes.
With the release of a new trailer and the promise of more information next month, you might be wondering if you can pre-order Final Fantasy VII. The answer is yes: Amazon is the only retailer with a listing for the FF7 remake, and it's been live for quite some time now. As usual, Amazon will honor your pre-order with the cheapest price available, so if the price drops sometime between when you pre-order and release day, you'll be charged the lower price. Even if your order has shipped and the price drops on release day (hey, it happened with Mortal Kombat 11), you'll be refunded the difference between what you paid and the lowest price. So it's not a bad deal, especially if you're only concerned about owning the standard edition of the game.
Of course, there's still a lot we don't know yet, such as the release date or what kind of editions or pre-order bonuses will be available. We'll update this story as soon as more details are revealed.
Pre-order Final Fantasy VII Remake standard edition
Right now, you can pre-order the standard edition for PS4 at Amazon for $60. It'll come with the base game and any applicable pre-order bonuses.
Marvel Comics has announced plans for a special 80-page giant issue to celebrate their 80-year anniversary as a publisher, bringing together an all-star team of nearly a hundred writers and artists, ringled by Marvel's Al Ewing (Immortal Hulk, You Are Deadpool).
In an interview with the New York Times, executive editor Tom Brevoort and editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski explained the project. Each page of the 80-page giant will correlate with a different year in Marvel's history and have a different creative team, some of whom have deep comics pedigrees, while others are newcomers to the medium. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller will make their comics debut on a page in collaboration with artist Javier Rodriguez, Black Eyed Peas member Taboo will be partnered up with Geoffery Veregge, and journalist/professional athlete Kareem Abdul Jabbar will contribute with Raymond Obstfeld and Mattia De Iluis.
In addition to Ewing and the "newcomers," issue #1000 will also feature the work of comics legends like George Perez, Alex Ross, Tim Sale, and Gail Simone, as well as fan-favorites such as Tini Howard, Jason Aaron, and Saladin Ahmed.
Where does the #1000 come into play here? Great question. Brevoort explained the number was a mostly symbolic choice. The symbolism in question is a less-than-subtle response to Marvel's competitor, DC Comics, having released two milestone #1000 issues of both Action Comics and Detective Comics in 2018 and earlier this year, respectively. Both Action and Detective, however, hit their 1000-issue tallies after eighty-plus years of uninterrupted publication.
The Marvel Comics title began publication in 1939 under publisher Timely, the original home of other Golden Age heroes like Captain America and the Human Touch. Timely eventually evolved into the modern day Marvel Comics some thirty years later in the early 1960s, bringing an assortment of its vintage heroes along for the ride. The Marvel Comics ongoing title, however, did not make the jump--which perhaps was a bit of a blessing given how near-impossible it is to differentiate the "Marvel Comics" comic book title with the "Marvel Comics" publishing company in conversation.
Marvel Comics #1000 is set to hit shelves this August.
Blizzard has announced Season 17 of Diablo III will begin on May 17. The new season launches alongside the latest patch for Diablo III, which implements numerous quality-of-life changes into the game.
During Season 17, players will receive a set bonus provided by Legacy of Nightmares. "Classes with especially powerful Legacy of Nightmare builds will be able to experiment with new combinations, particularly ones centered around their ring slots," Diablo III associate community manager Brandy Camel wrote in a blog post. "Meanwhile, classes traditionally dependent on a heavy amount of survivability from their ring slots have more freedom to experiment with build-changing Legendaries that don't rely on a Class Set."
Season 17 brings with it more cosmetics to earn, some old and some new. Several cosmetics from Season 5 make their return, allowing you to unlock them if you missed out the first time. Starting May 17, you'll be able to unlock Season 5's pants and boots slots of the Conqueror Set, Greyhollow Island portrait frames, and the Wickerman pet. In terms of something new, completing all nine chapters of the Season Journey will earn you the Galactic Wings.
The seasonal conquest rotation continues in Season 17 as well. Sprinter, Speed Racer, Avarice, Avaritia, The Thrill, Superhuman, Years of War, Dynasty, Masters of the Universe, and Masters of Sets all go live on May 17. In Season 17, the class set rewarded have rotated as well. Completing Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Season Journey earns you the three necessary Haedrig's Gifts necessary to unlock a full class set. Each of Season 17's class sets are listed below.
Diablo III Season 17 Class Sets
Barbarian -- Might of the Earth
Crusader -- Thorns of the Invoker
Demon Hunter -- The Shadow's Mantle
Monk -- Monkey King's Garb
Necromancer -- Grace of Inarius
Witch Doctor -- Raiment of the Jade Harvester
Wizard -- Firebird's Finery
May 17 also sees the release of a new patch for Diablo III that implements many quality-of-life changes. The full patch notes can be found in the blog post linked to in the text above, but we've outlined the highlights below.
Diablo III May 17 Update Patch Notes
General
Torment 14, 15, and 16 have been added to the game
Reward and difficulty levels of all new Torments closely match Greater Rift 65, 70, and 75 respectively
Portals left behind by Treasure Goblins may occasionally lead somewhere udderly ridiculous
Using an Ancient or Primal Puzzle Ring in Kanai's Cube will produce a new result
Party portraits now display if a player's Cheat Death buff has been recently used (PC Only)
When a boss is killed in a Nephalem Rift, a permanent ping will mark the location of the boss' death until the Rift is closed
The Boss Notification screen has received a rework (PC Only)
The Greater Rift Notification screen has received a rework (PC Only)
The Greater Rift Completion screen has received a rework (PC Only)
Matchmaking no longer prevents players from joining a game while a Greater Rift is already in progress
Players who join the game will still be unable to join a Greater Rift in progress
The progress bar for a Greater Rift is now visible to all players in the game, regardless of whether they are participating in the Rift or not
Challenge Rifts
The amount of Death's Breath rewarded by completing a Challenge Rift has been increased
Quality of Life
Seasons
The cap for earning additional stash tabs through the Season Journey has been raised from 4 to 5 (PC Only)
Search functionality has been added to Stash (PC Only)
All Crafters now have an Expand/Collapse All button for recipes (PC Only)
Most Bounty indicators are now displayed immediately after entering the Bounty area
Death's Breath now drop in Horadric Caches
Seasons
The Season Journey Journal now displays all chapters, regardless of current progression
There is a new reward for completing the entirety of the Season Journey (Guardian)
For Season 17, the Galactic Wings are available
Added the buff for Season 17
Player's damage dealt is increased by 750% and damage taken is reduced by 4% for every Ancient Item they have equipped while having no Set Bonuses Active
Items
(NEW) Bottomless Potion of the Unfettered
Become immune to control-impairing effects for 5-7 seconds after drinking this potion
Akkhan's Leniency
Each enemy hit by your Blessed Shield increases damage of your Blessed Shield by 15-20% 30-35% for 3 seconds
Bloodtide Blade
Death Nova deals 80-100% 300-400% increased damage for every enemy within 25 yards
Carnevil
The 5 10 Fetishes closest to you will shoot a powerful Poison Dart every time you do
Chantodo's Will
Every second while in Archon form you expel a Wave of Destruction, dealing 1000% 4000% weapon damage to enemies within 30 yards. Every time you hit with an attack while not in Archon form, 1000% 4000% weapon damage is added to the Wave of Destruction, stacking up to 20 times
Wave of Destruction damage now scale with attack speed
The Dagger of Darts
Your Poison Darts and your Fetishes' Poison Darts now pierce and deal an additional [400-500%] damage.
Grace of Inarius
6-Piece Bonus
Bone Armor also activates a swirling tornado of bone, damaging nearby enemies for 1000% weapon damage and increasing the damage they take from the Necromancer by 3750% 10000%
Iron Rose
Attacking with Siphon Blood has a 40-50% 100% chance to cast a free Blood Nova
Jekangbord
Blessed Shield ricochets to 6 additional enemies and has its damage increased by 225-300% 300-400%
Sage's Set
Now doubles the amount of Death's Breaths that drop
Previous: Increases Death's Breath drops by 1
Sin Seekers
Now also adds 250-300% damage to Rapid Fire
Wojahnni Assaulter
Rapid Fire deals 60-75% 75-100% increased damage for every half second that you channel. Stacks up to 4 30 times.
The stacks gained from Wojahnni Assaulter now also stack much more quickly
Bug Fixes
Necromancer Simulacrums now benefit from the Trag'Oul's Avatar 6-Piece Bonus
Fixed and issue where Xbox One/PS4 Voice Chat within public games was failing to work (Xbox One and PS4 Only)
Fixed an issue where The Immortal King's Set Dungeon objective numbers were incorrect
Fixed an issue where Greater Rift 70 first-time completion Primal drops were occurring for players even if they did not succeed at the 15-minute completion time
Fixed an issue where Bounties that required interacting with an object would not update the next objective immediately after completing one
Fixed an issue where a second Puzzle Ring tab would be shown in the Kanai's Cube UI when a Puzzle Ring was equipped (Console Only)
Fixed an issue where Keywarden icons would not show up on the map in Torment level games (Switch Only)
Fixed an issue where some subtitles in the Taiwan localization would exceed the screen limit (Switch only)
Fixed an issue where the mouse cursor may be hidden when launching the client (Mac only)
Interest seems high in Ash Ketchum's yellow-fur companion, as the Pokemon movie Detective Pikachu has opened at the box office with an impressive $5.7 million on Thursday night in the US.
According to Variety, Detective Pikachu--directed by Rob Letterman (Goosebumps, Shark Tale)--came in not far behind Shazam's $5.9 million Thursday opening last month. With the movie expanding to 4,202 theatres Friday, the Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures collaboration has positioned itself to take on the second biggest movie of all time, Avengers: Endgame, which is currently sitting comfy at $2.321 billion worldwide since its April 26 debut.
Variety suggests forecasts for Detective Pikachu shoot "as high as $80 million," but Warner Bros. estimate it'll fall closer to $50 million. We'll know for sure in a few days.
Detective Pikachu, based on the 2018 3DS game of the same name, sees Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool 2, The Hitman's Bodyguard) and Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Paper Towns) team up to search for Smith's character's missing father.
Detective Pikachu also stars Kathryn Newton (Blockers, Lady Bird), Karan Soni (Deadpool 2, Ghostbusters), Ken Watanabe (Isle of Dogs, Transformers: The Last Knight), Rita Ora (Fifty Shades Freed, Southpaw), and Suki Waterhouse (Billionaire Boys Club, Divergent: Insurgent).
In our Detective Pikachu review, we said the movie "should prove enjoyable for any and all Pokémon fans, young or old." If you've seen the movie, be sure to check out our look at all the Detective Pikachu Easter eggs and references.
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