Helmed once again by Ant-Man series director Peyton Reed, Quantumania serves as the start to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s ‘Phase Five’ and follows Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and their family as they are sent to the mysterious Quantum Realm and encounter the villainous Kang the Conquerer (Jonathan Majors).
While Quantumania was meant to set up Kang as the next Thanos-level villain for the MCU, it was met with some of the worst critical reception to a Marvel movie to date. It also underperformed at the box office, a rarity for the MCU. Making matters even worse is recent abuse allegations against Majors himself, leaving his future in the MCU unclear at the moment.
Next up for the MCU is May 5th’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, writer-director James Gunn’s swan song to his ragtag group of space adventurers. On the streaming side, Marvel’s next release will be the Samuel L. Jackson-led Secret Invasion on June 21st.
Marvel has partnered with Zombies, Run! creator Six to Start on a new fitness app called Marvel Move.
Set to release in summer 2023 as part of the forthcoming ZRX app, Marvel Move aims to motivate users to get active by incorporating Marvel storytelling. With these audio narratives, users will be guided through various fitness activities featuring Marvel heroes. At launch, the following five stories will be offered:
“Daredevil: Terminal Degree,” written by Bilal Dardai
“Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch: In Dreams” written by Kim Richards
“The Hulk: Hulkville,” written by Matt Wieteska
“Thor & Loki: Asgard 5K Training,” written by Alex Acks
“X-Men: Age of Orchis,” written by Tini Howard
A two-year subscription for Marvel Move will normally cost $99.99 USD (about $134 CAD), although it’s available for $74.99 USD (about CAD 100) until August 8th.
It’s worth noting that Zombies, Run! will also be included in the ZRX app.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania released in Canada on February 17th. Roughly a month before the film dropped, though, a Google Doc appeared on Reddit that reportedly contained the full dialogue of the movie.
Now, Disney has subpoenaed Google and Reddit, asking the two tech giants to help find the leakers of the Google Doc.
The document in question is reportedly 63 pages long and contains every piece of dialogue from the movie. The leakers got their hands on the SRT file for the film, one of the most popular subtitle file formats for videos and movies. The subtitles were apparently not in English, but the leakers used “three different translators to convert it to English.”
They were then posted “on or around January 20th” to r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers, a popular subreddit focused on sharing upcoming information from Marvel movies. The subreddit has since been taken down.
Disney’s Digital Media Anti-piracy team became aware of the leak soon after and submitted a request to remove the document. By the time the request came, though, the leakers had already pulled the document, so Google took no action.
Now, a Marvel entity has submitted a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) subpoena to Google to “identify an alleged infringer or infringers.” Marvel wants Google to look for “all identifying information” related to the leakers, “including without limitation, the name(s), username(s), address(es), telephone number(s), email address(es); any IP address(es) used by such user(s); and any account number(s) associated with such user(s).”
Marvel Snap‘s long-awaited player vs. player (PvP) mode is finally set to launch on January 31st.
Developer Second Dinner confirmed the date in a new blog post regarding its first-ever ‘Series Drop,’ in which some Series 5 cards will move to Series 4 and Series 4 cards will become Series 3.
The launch of the ‘Battle Mode’ PvP feature is an exciting one, though, given that the game has lacked any such option since releasing in October. Until now, you’ve only been able to play online with random opponents, but PvP will allow you to set up private matches with friends.
Additionally, Battle Mode will only support matches between players in the same region to start. Global matchmaking will “come a bit later,” says Second Dinner.
Marvel Snap is available for free on Android and iOS.
Now, though, we want to hear what you think. With the start of the new year comes the promise of all kinds of new games. 2023, in particular, is poised to be the year this current-gen of consoles really comes alive. Between the likes of the PS5-only Final Fantasy XVI(June) and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2(fall) or Bethesda Xbox Series X/S titles Starfield and Redfall(first half of 2023), it should finally feel as though the industry is moving past the nearly 10-year-old PS4 and Xbox One.
That’s to say nothing of smaller indie titles, including the likes of the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong(TBA 2023), Jet Set Radio-esque Bomb Rush Cyberpunk(summer), South-Asia-meets-Scott-Pilgrim Thirsty Suitors(TBA 2023) and Quebec City-based Sabotage’s Chrono Trigger-inspired Sea of Stars (first half of 2023).
Personally, the first two games I mentioned are my most anticipated. Two of my favourite things, period, are Final Fantasyand Spider-Man, and getting big new PS5 titles from both franchises in the same year is beyond exciting. As a big JRPG fan, Sea of Stars is likewise hitting all of the right notes so far. March’s Star WarsJedi: Survivor, meanwhile, looks like an excellent sequel to 2019’s Jedi: Fallen Order. Replaced, a 2.5D cyberpunk action game, also seems rad.
Of course, more games will be revealed throughout 2023, especially at both E3 and Summer Game Fest in June. For now, though, what are you most excited to play this year? Let us know in the comments.
Disney has confirmed that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will begin streaming worldwide on Disney+ on February 1st.
The Disney+ premiere comes just under two months after the Marvel film opened in theatres on November 11th. Since then, it has gone on to gross more than $800 million USD (around $1.07 billion CAD) and garner praise for action sequences, performances and tribute to late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman.
A sequel to 2018’s Black Panther, Wakanda Forever follows the people of Wakanda as they grapple with King T’Challa’s death and protect their nation from an ancient civilization. Wakanda Forever was co-written and directed by Ryan Coogler and stars Letitia Wright, Lupita N’yongo, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Tenoch Huerta, Dominique Thorne, Martin Freeman and Angela Bassett.
As with many other Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wakanda Forever will have an IMAX Enhanced version on Disney+ to offer an expanded aspect ratio.
A Disney+ subscription costs $11.99/month or $119.99/year in Canada.
On what would have been Stan Lee’s 100th birthday, Marvel announced that a documentary on Lee’s life would come to Disney+ in 2023.
Marvel didn’t provide much more information than that about the documentary, although it did share a 25-second teaser as well:
Lee co-created many iconic Marvel characters, including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Black Panther, Hulk, X-Men, Thor, Silver Surfer, Ant-Man, Nick Fury, and more.
Lee started at Marvel’s predecessor, Timely Comics, in 1939. Over the next several decades, Lee went from interim editor to editor, and in the ’60s became the writer and editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. Lee was named publisher in 1972 and eventually became the face of the company. Lee also made several appearances in Marvel film and television projects.
Lee died in November 2018 at the age of 95.
Look for the documentary, titled Stan Lee, on Disney+ next year.
PlayStation has revealed that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will launch exclusively on the PlayStation 5 in fall 2023.
The publisher confirmed the release window in a PlayStation Blog post looking ahead to next year’s major game releases. A writer on the game had seemingly leaked a fall 2023 launch on their since-updated website, and PlayStation is now confirming this timing. Insomniac had previously only provided a vague “2023” window.
Little is known about the game currently, other than the fact that both Peter Parker and Miles Morales will be playable and Venom will be one of the main villains. It’s also been confirmed that Yuri Lowenthal and Nadji Jeter will reprise their roles of Peter and Miles, respectively, while Candyman‘s Tony Todd will voice Venom.
It should be noted that Insomniac is also working on Marvel’s Wolverine, although a release window for the X-Men game has yet to be confirmed.
Every week, MobileSyrup outlines some of the most notable movies and TV shows that recently hit Canadian streaming platforms.
Our ‘Streaming in Canada’ column typically focuses on new content from Amazon Prime Video, Crave and Netflix, but other services like Apple TV+ and Disney+ are mentioned when relevant. Premium video on demand (PVOD) platforms are also fair game as movies continue to come to digital early amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finally, we’ll highlight shows or movies that are made by Canadian companies, involve notable Canadian cast or crew and/or are filmed in Canada.
Amazon Prime Video
Good Night Oppy [Amazon Original]
Ryan White (The Keepers) directs this documentary about Opportunity, a rover that explored Mars for nearly 15 years. Angela Bassett (Black Panther) narrates.
Amazon Prime Video Canada release date: November 23rd, 2022 Genre: Documentary Runtime: 1 hour, 45 minutes
A struggling Chinese-American business owner must connect with alternate universe versions of herself to thwart a threat to the entire multiverse.
Everything Everywhere All At Once was written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Swiss Army Man) and stars Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Ke Huy Quan (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), Stephanie Hsu (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween) and James Hong (Hawaii Five-O).
Original theatrical release date: March 25th, 2022 Amazon Prime Video Canada release date: November 25th, 2022 Genre: Sci-fi, action, comedy-drama Runtime: 2 hours, 20 minutes
The full list of movies and shows hitting Amazon Prime Video Canada this month can be found here.
Apple TV+
Echo 3 [Apple Original]
From writer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) follows a man and his brother-in-law as they must tap into old military experience to rescue a loved one from a secret war along the Colombia-Venezuela border.
Echo 3 stars Michael Huisman (Game of Thrones), Luke Evans (Nine Perfect Strangers) and Jessica Ann Collins (Revolution).
Apple TV+ Canada release date: November 23rd, 2022 (first three episodes, new episodes every Friday) Genre: Thriller Runtime: 10 episodes (46 to 58 minutes each)
Robert Alexander (A Man Named Scott) offers this look at the storied life and career of NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.
In addition to O’Neal himself, the documentary features interviews with such basketball figures as Toronto’s Rick Fox, Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley.
Crave release date: November 23rd, 2022 (first episodes, new episodes every Wednesday at 9pm ET) Genre: Sports documentary Runtime: Four episodes (around 45 minutes each)
A standard Crave subscription is priced at $19.99/month, with Starz costing an additional $5.99/month. A mobile-only subscription is also available for $9.99/month.
The full list of movies and shows hitting Crave this month can be found here.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special [Disney+ Original]
With Quill sad about Gamora, Mantis and Drax travel to Earth to find him the ultimate Christmas present: Kevin Bacon.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was written and directed by Guardians of the Galaxy mastermind James Gunn and features returning Guardians stars Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Dave Bautista (Drax), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Vin Diesel (Groot) and Sean Gunn (Kraglin), while Bacon (Footloose) plays himself.
It’s worth noting that the special leads into next May’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is intended to be a swan song for the Guardians.
Stream The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Specialhere.
Welcome to Chippendales [Star Original]
This series follows the life and career of Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee, the founder of the male striptease troupe, Chippendales.
Welcome to Chippendales was created by Robert Siegel (The Wrestler) and stars Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus), Annaleigh Ashford (Masters of Sex) and Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets).
Disney+ Canada release date: November 22nd, 2022 (first two episodes, new episodes every Tuesday) Genre: Biographical drama Runtime: Eight episodes (around 45 minutes each)
A standard Crave subscription is priced at $19.99/month, with Starz costing an additional $5.99/month. A mobile-only subscription is also available for $9.99/month.
The full list of movies and shows hitting Crave this month can be found here.
Netflix
Ghislaine Maxwell: Filthy Rich [Netflix Original]
Survivors of British socialite and Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell detail her sex trafficking trial.
While clearing out his childhood home for Christmas, an author discovers a diary that links him to a woman searching for her birth mother.
The Noel Diary was directed by Charles Shyer (Father of the Bride) and stars Justin Hartley (This is Us), Barrett Doss (Station 19) and Essence Atkins (Are We There Yet?).
Wednesday Addams investigates a murder spree while making friends and foes at Nevermore Academy.
Based on The Addams Family, Wednesday was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville) and stars Jenna Ortega (Jane the Virgin), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Riki Lindholme (Duncanville) and Jamie McShane (Bloodline).
Netflix Canada release date: November 23rd, 2022 Genre: Fantasy Runtime: Eight episodes (45 minutes each)
It’s 2am, I’ve just finished God of War Ragnarök and can’t get to sleep. (My full review on that game is coming November 3rd.)
Lying in bed, I figure “why not go play a bit more of Marvel Snap?” I had played a bit of the recently released free-to-play card game but got sidetracked by FallReviewSeason™. Well, fast forward an hour-and-a-half and I find myself still playing Marvel Snap.
I was shocked. While I’m a diehard Marvel fan, I don’t generally enjoy playing games on a phone, especially since, more often than not, they’re littered with unsavoury microtransactions. But for many reasons, Marvel Snap has gotten its hooks into me, and I’m eager to keep playing.
Central to the game’s success is its approachable nature. Developer Second Dinner (a team consisting of several Hearthstone veterans) has designed matches to be around three-to-four minutes long with a clean, mobile-optimized interface and small, 12-card decks. This is particularly welcome as many AAA games nowadays are bloated and extremely long.
Marvel Snap‘s rules are also quite simple. The playing field has three locations containing spots for four cards each on either player’s side. Each card has a Power level that adds to that specific location, and the player who has the highest Power in two of the three locations will win. (Ties are broken by who has the most Power overall.) In this way, Marvel Snap is, like the best of card games, really easy to pick up and play, but also hiding a lot of depth.
That’s because cards all have their own unique effects which shake up the flow of a match. This is important to consider for many reasons, but chief among them is the fact that cards have different Energy levels. Cards with higher Power levels will cost more Energy, and you only get a set amount (which increases each turn). Therefore, it becomes a tricky balancing act about which cards to put in your deck and, while in a match, whether to play low- or high-level ones and where they should even go. For example, opening a match by playing a Hawkeye (who costs only one Energy) sets you up nicely for a follow-up move, as he gains 2 Power the following turn if you place a card in the same location. Meanwhile, Iron Man costs 5 Energy with 0 Power but makes up for it with the ability to double your total Power in a given location.
Locations themselves can also greatly affect the outcome of a match. Based on iconic Marvel locations like Stark Tower, the Triskelion and Wakanda, these randomized areas each have a unique benefits — or even hindrances — on players. Take Xandar, which adds 1 Power to each card placed there. That’s certainly handy, but you might also get Subterranea, which shuffles five ‘Rocks’ into each player’s deck. Rocks have 1 Energy/0 Power, so they’re effectively duds. I say “effectively,” though, because some cards can actually leverage them, like Carnage (2 Energy/2 Power), who can destroy your other cards to gain 2 Power for each. You may even get Ego the Living Planet, who with seize control of player’s turns himself. The ebb and flow of the ways in which Marvel Snap‘s cards and locations intersect and affect one another never cease to amaze me, and it creates a deeply compelling gameplay loop.
Before too long, you’ll also unlock the titular ‘Snap’ mechanic, which adds a layer of tension to the proceedings. At any point during the match, you or your opponent can double down (‘Snap’) to win more Cosmic Cubes, the currency used to increase your competitive rank. Naturally, losing will decrease your rank, so the decision to Snap is centred around a smart risk/reward system. You might even opt to Snap as a bluff to throw off the other player. At the same time, you can retreat from a match to minimize your Cube loss if things are looking rough.
Best of all, the monetization is… actually decent? New cards are unlocked entirely through gameplay, and in-app purchases are only spent on buying currency to upgrade a card’s rarity. Doing this will give it a fancy variant artwork (like pixellated or 3D) that also raises your ‘Collection Level,’ which opens up other rewards. While this helps speed along your progression, you can’t actually buy or craft specific cards outright, making the game refreshingly not pay-to-win. There’s also a $10 premium season pass to get resources more quickly, but you get these at such a steady pace from matches and the associated daily missions, anyway, so it thankfully feels optional.
Everything about Marvel Snap would work well regardless of the licence attached, but the Marvel premise just adds that much more personality. On a base level, there’s just an undeniable appeal to collecting cards based on Marvel characters. And to Second Dinner’s credit, Marvel Snap isn’t just focused on big names like Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, The Hulk or The Punisher. There are some appreciably deep cuts here, too, like Squirrel Girl, Blue Marvel, Kazar, Wolfsbane and White Tiger. Characters also have little voiceovers and animations to elevate the presentation, like Hawkeye’s card shooting arrows when played or Star-Lord calling out to Groot when both are on the field. Second Dinner clearly had a lot of fun coming up with the card abilities themselves. In an absolutely brilliant bit of dark comedy, there’s a card for Uncle Ben whose only use is to be destroyed so you can draw Spider-Man.
If I had any gripe with Marvel Snap, it’s that there isn’t any sort of campaign at all. I wasn’t expecting some sort of Marvel’s Spider-Man-level narrative, but some sort of single-player mode with even a loose story could have been cool. But really, that’s not needed when the core card game mechanics are so sound. Inviting design choices, a robust and varied lineup of cards, constantly rewarding gameplay loop and fun Marvel theme make Marvel Snap a joy to play. Against all odds, it’s one of my favourite games of 2022, and I absolutely intend to stick with it.
You can download Marvel Snap on iOS, Android and Steam (early access).
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