Magic grows precociously on Mayfair Witches as season 2 is set to adapt Lasher. The second book in Anne Rice’s Lives of the Mayfair Witches series follows Dr. Rowan Mayfair (Alexandra Daddario), who recently gave birth to once-and-future family demon, Lasher (Jack Huston). To celebrate the unholy occasion, Den of Geek summoned the cast and creatives assembled for San Diego Comic-Con. Actors Daddario, Harry Hamlin, Tongayi Chirisa, Ben Feldman, and Alyssa Jirrels, as well as Mark Johnson, who oversees AMC’s Anne Rice Immortal Universe, and showrunner Esta Spalding, openly attest to past misdeeds, transgressions to come, and abominations still awaiting forensic excavation.

Mayfair Witches’ season 1 finale, “What Rough Beast,” revealed Hamlin’s Cortland Mayfair as Rowan’s biological father, conceived under heinous circumstances. The predatory family patriarch’s world is rocked forever. The conclusion sees Cortland transformed into a statue in retribution for the sanity-shredding assault on Deirdre Mayfair (Annabeth Gish). Cortland’s interminable monolithic repose encapsulates a final farewell. Misfortunes, however, favor the Anne Rice Immortal Universe. Nothing is ever truly carved in stone. Immortal threats never die. They wait for a perfect cue.

A Patriarch in a Matriarchal Society

“The arc for Cortland is extraordinary this year,” Hamlin assures Den of Geek, with masterfully cryptic enthusiasm. “I can’t go into why or how, but something happens during the course of the second season that is going to blow people’s minds who are Cortland fans.”

Cortland’s all-encompassing ambitions are as contagious as his appetites, and opportunities abound moving forward. “Esta gave me some lines to learn, things to do, some things to concentrate on,” Hamlin teases. “I can’t say what it is, but it’s a big, big, thing.”

Cortland’s series arc veers from the book, The Witching Hour, where the character dies the day Rowan is born, and is experienced through flashbacks. “In an adaptation, you never want to be literal,” Mark Johnson explains. “You want to be true to the spirit.”

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AMC’s access to the entirety of Rice’s literary output allows the seditious series to borrow intuitively for a larger purpose. Hamlin projects quiet power with intimidating self-assurance, and lethal potential. The veteran actor’s disarming ambiguity flavors ongoing viewing experience with an aura of the unexpected. This is, after all, the Clash of the Titans (1981) actor who cut off Medusa’s head for looking at him the wrong way. If anyone can bypass mythological canon, it is Hamlin.

“Thank God they got me out of the statue,” Hamlin says. “Hopefully Cortland will live on to do more creepy things. Thank God I’m immortal, that gives me job security.”

Cortland’s historically devastating missteps could easily be blamed on Lasher’s demonic interference and body-hopping ways, but Hamlin steadfastly maintains his character takes full responsibility. “[Cortland is] very calculated,” Hamlin explained to Den of Geek following the season 1 finale. “He’s a possessor, not someone possessed. Self-preservation is not necessarily an evil motive.”

The Face of the Talamasca

The ancient order chronicling supernatural anomalies ensures their continued existence by maintaining a professional distance, bordering on invisibility. As Ciprien Grieve, Tongayi Chirisa enjoys the “great honor and privilege to be the first character seen that represents the Talamasca.” The first secret society operative exposed should be assigned to AMC’s upcoming series, Talamasca. “Obviously, with the new one coming up, it’ll expand just what we’re capable of doing.”

Adapting the Story of the 13th Witch

“It’s a massive book,” Spalding tells Den of Geek. “It’s like walking into Aladdin’s cave. There’s a whole chapter on Julian Mayfair’s [one of the 13 Mayfair witches] story. We have so many pieces, but put them together as a narrative following Rowan because the mission of our show is to make it Rowan’s story.”

The journey of the preordained 13th Mayfair Family Witch blindsides generational secrets, amassing unforeseeable collateral damage, and draws innocent bystanders. “I don’t mess with any of the witchcraft,” Ben Feldman says. His Sam “Lark” Larkin is “a charming ex who wanders back into Rowan’s life.”  

These “romcom” scenes, as Daddario pegs them, offer breathing between more intense shots. “I’d come in for rehearsal, and they’d be wiping blood off [Alexandra’s] face,” Feldman recalls. “She’d say ‘’thank God you’re here, that means we get to make out.’”

Alexandra never received a breakdown of Rowan’s abilities, instead guided to “deal with the idea of power itself,” Daddario tells us. “What do you do if you’re given all this power and all this money and all these things. Do you think you’re going to do good things or use them for your own devices?”

Viewers will find out themselves when Mayfair Witches season 2 premiers on AMC in early 2025.

The post Mayfair Witches Cast Tease a Season 2 Arc That Will “Blow People’s Minds” appeared first on Den of Geek.

We already knew that the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike in 2023 impacted the season. Even though House of the Dragon is filmed primarily in the U.K. and Europe, showrunner Ryan Condal and his lead writing partner Sara Hess are members of the WGA, which meant that they couldn’t rewrite any scenes during filming even though they were still allowed to be on set as producers. The only reason that the show was even able to finish filming at all is because the actors weren’t part of the American-based actors union SAG-AFTRA, who went on their own strike soon after.

The show could only film the prepared scripts as-written for any filming that occurred during the WGA strike. Usually productions are able to change scenes as needed if they realize that something isn’t working as it’s translated from the page to filming in person. House of the Dragon season 2 wasn’t able to do that.

On top of that, there’s been some speculation by westeros.org’s Elio Garcia that HBO’s decision to cut season 2 from 10 episodes to eight only a month or so before filming also had an impact. Garcia co-wrote the encyclopedic The World of Ice and Fire with George R.R. Martin, so even though he isn’t involved with the production of the show, he is pretty familiar with how the sausage is made, so to speak. 

While Garcia’s words specifically are gaining traction amongst fans who have been looking for a reason why this season has felt a little lackluster, Deadline actually reported on the shortened season all the way back in March of 2023. Their source, an unnamed HBO spokesperson insisted that the change was “story-driven,” but given the intense cost-cutting measures taken by HBO parent company Warner Bros. Discovery in recent years, it’s hard to believe that that was the only reason.

In Entertainment Weekly’s big lead-up article before the season 2 premiere, writer Sara Hess declined to comment on the decision to cut the season down to eight episodes, but did say that “it wasn’t really our choice.” Sure, both things could be true – it wasn’t the writers’ choice to cut and it was cut for narrative reasons. But if that were the case, it seems like Hess and Condal, as the primary crafters and creators of said story, would be able to be more forthright with the reasoning behind the decision.

Showrunner Ryan Condal also told Entertainment Weekly that, even though they were pretty happy with the scripts that they went into filming with, they also had to “accelerate the polish schedule, where you take aboard all the actor feedback as they come on, production feedback as directors come on. Usually we go through a very methodical process of taking those things one layer at a time, but knowing that [the strike] was coming, we compressed probably two months of polishing into a month.”

Saying that season 2 of House of the Dragon was doomed from the start is a bit of an exaggeration, but doesn’t seem to be too far off from the truth either. Even though the timeline of the season’s episode reduction hasn’t been confirmed, the timing of Deadline’s article lines up with Garcia’s speculations. Cutting a 10-episode plan down to eight a month or so before filming begins when scripts are already done is already a herculean task, but add on to that the rush of needing to figure it all out in preparation for a strike that is likely to occur around the same time is a recipe for uneven pacing.

The post Why Did House of the Dragon Season 2’s Ending Feel So Abrupt? appeared first on Den of Geek.

But for a while in the 1980s, one team topped them all, rivaling even Chris Claremont’s X-Men run for comic shop supremacy: Legion of Super-Heroes won over readers with its futuristic space opera and its cast of unique characters.

The basic premise of the Legion of Super-Heroes is simple. 1000 years in the future, a group of superpowered teens take inspiration from Superboy and become heroes, most using powers they gained from their native planets. Like the best Superman stories, Legion tales tend to be optimistic and hopeful, certain that humanity can overcome its problems and work toward a better tomorrow.

But actually reading the Legion can be a bit daunting. Because of the future setting, Legion stories often take place away from current DC Comics events and don’t affect continuity in the same way. The team also has a massive line-up, sometimes with more than 25 members at one time. Most challenging of all, the Legion of Super-Heroes has been rebooted four and a half times (yes, half), which intimidates newcomers.

But don’t worry, we’re here to save the day! We’ll breakdown the major eras of the Legion and the stories that make them such a notable part of the DC universe.

The First Legion

The Legion of Super Heroes made their debut in 1958’s Adventure Comics #247, written by Otto Binder and penciled by Al Plastino. The story follows three teens from the future—Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl—who meet Superboy in Smallville and put him through a series of tests/good-hearted pranks.

The Legion proved an immediate hit among readers, who thrilled to see Superboy palling around with other young heroes. The Legion became a regular fixture in Adventure Comics, and its ranks soon began to fill out. New members included genius Brainiac 5, the size-changing Colossal Boy, and the phasing Phantom Girl, as well as those with more unusual powers: Bouncing Boy turned himself into a giant ball and clobbered baddies, while Matter-Eater-Lad has the ability to digest anything.

Many of the first Legion stories played out like that initial adventure, in which Legionnaires spent most of their time playing super-pranks on one another. The plots did grow redundant from time to time, but it fit the upbeat tone of a series featuring teens in an idyllic future.

But eventually, the tone grew more complex and rich. The Legion expels Star Boy for killing in self-defense in 1966’s Adventure Comics #342. Ferro Lad sacrificed himself to reignite the sun in Adventure Comics #352-353 (1967). In Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #200 from 1974, Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel (Triplicate Girl’s new codename after one of her duplicates dies) leave the team to get married.

The stories really kicked into gear once Paul Levitz and eventually Keith Giffen came on board. The team gets flashy new costume designs from Dave Cockrum, who soon leaves DC to help Marvel reboot the X-Men with Giant-Size X-Men #1, and dramatic new attitudes to go with them.

Standout tales from the era include The Great Darkness Saga, in which Darkseid reawakens in the 29th century, establishing the New God as the big bad of the DC Universe. An epic Legion of Super-Villains tale saw the Legion against all of their assembled enemies, building to a tragic conclusion. So popular was the team during this period in the 1980s that DC started publishing a second series with glossier, high-end material that could only be bought in comic book shops, one of the first direct market series.

In 1989, the book relaunched with a five-year gap, this time with Keith Giffen taking the lead on art and scripts, aided by Tom and Mary Bierbaum. The Five Years Later (FYL) Legion can be challenging for new readers, as Giffen is at his most abstract in art style and his scripts include unexplained references to deep series lore. Furthermore, the FYL stories have a darkness absent from most stories about the team, replacing the usual utopian setting with a dystopia and leaving the team scattered and scarred. However, it builds to a fantastic climax, which reaffirms the hopeful nature of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

But that wasn’t enough to save the Legion from Crisis on Infinite Earths, which wiped away the existence of the team’s inspiration Superboy. Editors tried a few, frankly confusing, workarounds to deal with the massive change to canon. But after Giffen left the book and the plots became less compelling, DC used its 1994 Zero Hour crossover event to reboot the Legion, the first of many resets.

The Archie Legion Gets Lost

After Zero Hour, the Legion restarted from scratch with a new origin and tone, under the direction of writers Mark Waid, Tom Peyer, and Tom McGraw, with art by Jeff Moy, Stuart Immonen, and Chris Sprouse. In some ways, the book sought to update the characters for modern readers, giving them uniforms with pouches and replacing the antiquated codenames with hipper versions. Lightning Lad became Live Wire. Shadow Lass became Umbra. Chameleon Boy just dropped the “Boy” because it’s cleaner.

At the same time, the Reboot Legion returned to the original concept, making the team a group of fun-loving teens adventuring in an optimistic future. In this new version of their origin, the team came together at the behest of wealthy businessman R.J. Brande, who wanted an interplanetary team to serve as a beacon for the United Planets.

Some fans rejected this version of the team and its cartoony origins, dubbing it “the Archie Legion” because of its occasional resemblance to Archie Andrews and the Riverdale gang. But this version carried two books throughout the ’90s, Legion of Super-Heroes and Legionnaires, and participated in major DC Comics events such as Final Night (which took inspiration from the Death of Ferro Lad storyline).

Those who hoped to one day see the end of the Archie Legion got their wish when Dan Abnett and Andy Landing took over scripting duties, with issues drawn by Olivier Coipel. The trio took the Legion on a much darker journey, raising the stakes by reviving immortal Batman villain Ra’s al Ghul and introducing the evil alien species known as the Blight, who feast on the life energy of planets.

The highlight of the Abnett and Lanning run came with Legion Lost, in which a small contingent of Legionnaires get stuck on the far side of the universe. As they fight to make their way back, the Lost Legionnaires deal with betrayals and a shocking reveal about the new big bad.

In 2004, in an effort to reorganize the company’s teen books and remedy the series’ flagging sales, DC kicked off another reboot of the Legion.

The Threeboot Legion Says Suck It Grandpa

Spearheaded by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson, the second reboot (dubbed the Threeboot Legion) alienated longtime fans right away. Waid and Kitson reimagined the Legion as a movement among adolescents who reject the stultifying restrictions of the adults of the future. Anyone can call themselves a Legionnaire, but only those chosen for their unique powers have Legion flight rings, making them official members.

As this description suggests, the Legion had a more adversarial attitude than its predecessors. Brainiac 5 in particular became a bit more openly aggressive, challenging not only other Legionnaires but also the adults, leading to the divisive catch phrase, “Suck it, Grandpa.” Even readers who preferred the edgy Abnett and Lanning team over the Archie Legion dismissed the Threeboot team as angry, angsty nonsense.

But despite what those first impressions suggested, the Threeboot Legion is far more complex and compelling than a bunch of teens insulting their elders. Waid somehow captured the spirit of the original stories from the late 1950s and early ’60s, when the Legion were a group of merry pranksters, and funneled that into a political movement that resonated in the 2000s.

The book really jumped into high gear when Supergirl traveled to the 30th century after the Infinite Crisis crossover in 2006. Retitled Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes, the book gained a glossy sheen that was underplayed in the first arcs. Waid nailed the characterization of Kara and the new team felt again like a force for good in the future.

But it wasn’t enough to save this Legion and, after 50 issues, the book was canceled. The team didn’t exactly sink into obscurity, but things got a lot more confusing….

The Original Legion Returns. Sort of.

In 2006, writer Geoff Johns added a new character called Starman to the Justice Society of America. Starman, of course, had been a moniker used by former JSA members Ted Knight and his son Jack, but this one was different. This one wore a black star field costume and lived in a mental hospital, where he suffered from schizophrenia. And this one kept talking about his friends in the future.

That’s because this Starman was actually Thom Kallor, Star Boy of the original Legion of Super-Heroes. His appearance raised a few questions. How did this Thom Kallor relate to the one in the Threeboot Legion, an African American character who hadn’t traveled to the 21st century? Furthermore, what about the FYL stories in which Thom left the team to marry Nura Nal aka Dream Girl?

Apparently, none of those questions mattered, as Johns worked to bring back his favorite version of the team. Over the next few years, adult versions of the original team (skipping over the FYL team) would show up in Justice League and Superman.

These stories re-established Superboy’s involvement in the Legion and the original continuity, minus the FYL stories. Well, with some adjustments. XS, the granddaughter of the Flash Barry Allen who was introduced in the Archie Legion, remained, as did some other plot points. After the Superman storyline Superman and the Legion of Superheroes, a new Legion book launched starring the original team, now dubbed the “Retroboot Legion.” Paul Levitz returned to write the characters in a strangely mean-spirited and inconsequential run that added some interesting new characters, but never found a groove.

The 2009 miniseries Legion of 3 Worlds, written by Johns and penciled by the great George Pérez, sought to clarify the team’s status in DC continuity. The storyline teamed the Retroboot team with the Reboot and Threeboot Legions, leading to the end of the Threeboot and a new ongoing starring the Retroboot.

But because it was a Geoff Johns story in the late 2000s, Legion of 3 Worlds was more about Superboy Prime than it was anyone else. Legion of 3 Worlds has some fun moments, such as the three Brainiac 5s squabbling or a splash page that included every Legionnaire (including Five Years Later members Kent Shakespeare and Laurel Gand, which only confuses things more). But Superboy Prime gets far too much attention, as do other Johns favorites, including the Green Lantern Sodam Yat and the Conner Kent Superboy.

The Legion did get more attention in a new ongoing launched in 2009, which focused on the Retroboot Legion. Despite Paul Levitz back writing the characters, the book never found it rhythm and felt more like fan-fiction about the Johns Retroboot than a proper Legion series. Yet, editorial had enough faith in what Levitz was doing to let him stay on the relaunched series in 2011. In fact, the infamous New 52 DC Comics continuity reboot didn’t affect the Legion much, outside of getting them a second book in the form of a new Legion Lost book.

Despite this vote of confidence, Legion Lost ended soon after and Legion of Super-Heroes didn’t even make it to 25 issues. Worst of all, Giffen also returned, replacing Levitz, but took an even more mean-spirited tone, seeming to enjoy killing off the characters in nasty ways.

When the book came to an end, longtime Legion fans breathed a sigh of relief and wondered what came next. They should have known better.

The Bendis Legion

After the cancelation of the New 52 books, the Legion became background players in other stories. They would drop by Superman stories and even played a major role in the short-lived ongoing Justice League United. But for the most part, they were forgotten. In fact, the series Justice League 3000 by Giffen and his former Justice League International partner J.M. DeMatteis gave viewers a totally different look at the 31st century, one without the Legion.

But then came Brian Michael Bendis. When Bendis jumped ship from Marvel to DC, he got a lot of creative leeway. So when he wanted to do his own Legion of Super-Heroes book, DC let him reboot the team. Again.

The fourth version of the Legion of Super-Heroes does have its strong points. Ryan Sook’s art is fantastic throughout the series. He has some wild redesigns for the characters, and while some are better than others, it does add some real diversity to the team.

However, Bendis’s writing on the book is simply terrible. The team has a membership of almost 30 members and Bendis writes them all with the exact same voice. Furthermore, most of the characters lose their established personalities (for example, Ultra Boy goes from daring rogue to a dull kid bothered by his warlord dad), making them feel indistinguishable. Bendis also focuses on 21st century storylines, making Jon Kent the lead, bringing Damian Wayne’s Robin into the future, and building storylines around Aquaman’s trident or the Green Lantern Corps.

The book came to an end when Bendis left DC and even hardcore Legion fans were glad to see it go.

The Teens of Tomorrow, Today?

Since the end of Bendis’s run, the status of the Legion has been up in the air. The Bendis team did show up in a recent time-traveling Green Arrow adventure, and Joshua Williamson seemed to have a distinct handle on the characters, which does give fans reasons to hope for the fourth team. But given this Legion’s overall terrible quality and disconnection from anything else, it won’t be much of a surprise to see the Bendis Legion go the way of Rogol Zaar and never get mentioned again.

Before the launch of the Bendis Legion, Johns did repeat his Star Boy plot beats by putting a time-displaced Saturn Girl in Arkham Asylum in Doomsday Clock, a Watchmen-themed event book which sort of served as the finale of another, softer DC continuity reboot. The Saturn Girl fo Doomsday Clock seemed to be the Retroboot version, so perhaps they’re out there still? And most recently, classic Legion baddie the Emerald Empress returned in Kneel Before Zod #7, written by Joe Casey and illustrated by Dan McDaid.

In other words, DC hasn’t forgotten about the Legion of Super-Heroes as a concept. The team will surely return again, either as another reboot or a continuation of an existing version. As we wait for an answer, those interested in the Legion have a lot of good jumping on points.

The easiest place to jump is during either of the first two reboots. Both have distinctive styles, both are reader-friendly, and both capture everything great about the Legion, albeit in their own way. Those who want the best of this era can check out the Levitz and Giffen run, especially the Great Darkness Saga or the Legion of Super-Villains Saga. These are Bronze Age comics and thus read a bit different than modern comics, but those who can follow the style will get epic superhero tales.

If you want an even easier way to start reading the Legion without getting bogged down with continuity or specific runs, here’s a list of issues that are just great stories featuring the team:

1. The Great Darkness Saga (Legion of Super-Heroes #290–294, 1982)

Perhaps the pinnacle of Levitz and Giffen run, the Great Darkness Saga is the first excellent Darkseid story after Jack Kirby’s original Fourth World comics. After lying dormant for centuries, Darkseid returns, with harbingers made of corrupted versions of Orion and an Oan Guardian and other former heroes.

Although it runs just five issues, the uncompressed style of Bronze Age comics underscores the sense of epic scale. Not only does the story make Darkseid feel like the massive threat he’s supposed to be, but it justifies the Legion’s huge lineup. Every Legionnaire gets a moment, using the huge cast to increase the story’s stakes.

2. An Eye for an Eye (Legion of Super-Heroes #1-5, 1984)

Like the Great Darkness Saga, An Eye for an Eye embraces the Legion’s huge lineup, this time by pitting the heroes against an equally stacked team of baddies, the Legion of Supervillains. But writers Levitz and Giffen, who leave the penciling to Steve Lightle and inking to Larry Mahlstedt, focus the story through Legionnaires Karate Kid and Princess Projectra.

An Eye for an Eye captures the central appeal of the Legion: tons of characters, a futuristic setting, and high stakes. Plus, it climaxes with one of the most noble deaths in comic book history, on the same level as anything that happened in Crisis on Infinite Earths that same year.

3. Zero Hour Legion (Legion of Super-Heroes #0, #61 – 65 and Legionnaires #0, #19 – 21, 1994)

Even though its first story is spread across several issues and two series, the Reboot Legion that debuted in 1994 streamlined the team while still keeping the spirit of optimism and heroism. The first story traces the founding of the Legion and its early conflicts.

Some long-time fans balked at the playful tone of reboot Legion, but newcomers will find it a convenient place to jump into franchise.

4. Legion Lost #1-12 (2000 – 2001)

On one hand, Legion Lost takes the Reboot Legion in a striking new direction. After a disaster, a small contingent of Legionnaires finds themselves hurled into deep space. As the team tries to make their way back home, internal divisions threaten to tear them apart, especially when they learn a horrifying secret about a teammate.

The darker tone that writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and penciler Olivier Coipel bring to the story can be off-putting for some. However, Legion Lost earns its heightened drama with a compelling, and ultimately hopeful, tale.

5. Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes #16 – 28 (2006 – 2007)

The Threeboot Legion may boast Mark Waid and Barry Kitson as its creators, but fans roundly rejected yet another restart to the team. Even though many dismissed the Threeboot Legion as unnecessarily edgy, it in fact had the same playfulness as the original Legion stories from the Silver Age.

That playfulness came to the fore after the DC Comics Infinite Crisis crossover sent Supergirl into the far future. Supergirl’s optimism (and her insistence that she’s in a coma and just dreaming the Legion) cuts some of the tension in the first 15 issues, letting Waid and Kitson’s true intensions shine through.

Finally, there are the animated appearances of the Legion. The team had some great appearances in classic DC animated series Superman and Justice League Unlimited. They even had their own animated series that ran for two seasons in 2006 and 2008, following a young Superman (not Superboy) going into the future. Finally, the team played a major role in two recent DC Animated Movies, 2019’s Justice League vs. the Fatal Five and 2023’s Legion of Super-Heroes.

As daunting as all this history may seem, it also speaks to the quality and staying power of these characters. If the Legion wasn’t so interesting, if they didn’t star in so many great stories, then creators wouldn’t put up with the convoluted history and reboots one must navigate to bring these heroes back once again. And DC readers wouldn’t keep asking for these comebacks.

But the Legion is that good and the initial difficulty is worth it. So check out one of the reboots or the classic trades. Soon, you too will start shouting, “Long Live the Legion!”

The post Legion of Super-Heroes Is the Greatest DC Comics Series You’ve Never Read appeared first on Den of Geek.

When asked to describe his take on one of the most well-known comic book characters ever, Hellboy: The Crooked Man star Jack Kesy has a simple answer: “I enjoy to smoke and Hellboy enjoys to smoke.”

To some movie fans, Kesy’s statement may sound flippant. After all, Kesy is stepping into some big shoes. Ron Perlman knocked it out of the park in the two much-loved Hellboy movies directed by Guillermo del Toro. Neil Marshall’s 2019 Hellboy reboot has lots of problems, but none of them involve star David Harbour, who had his own likable energy.

But to those who know the Mike Mignola comics that inspired Hellboy, Kesy’s take is pitch perfect. Hellboy might be a demon from the netherworld who fights all manner of Nazis and monsters, but he’s fundamentally a working class guy. His greatest joy comes not from experiencing the supernatural or doing good, but from eating pancakes, petting kittens, and, yes, enjoying a smoke.

“I think it’s always a good time to bring back [Hellboy],” Kesy says in a conversation with co-stars Adeline Rudolph, Jefferson White, and Den of Geek at SDCC 2024. “I think people are always looking forward to a new spin on it.”

Part of that new spin comes from the new make-up costume designed for the film, which emphasizes Hellboy’s more human elements, especially compared to the monstrous version that Harbour had. “So much of the work is done for you… The suit is made for you. There’s a pre-designed look for Hellboy that they try to try to tweak a bit,” Kesy explains. “The physicality is a little bit tricky in the costume, but I got the hang of it. I got to bring out my own personal demons, and make a hybrid.”

While the trailer for The Crooked Man suggests that the story is a Hellboy solo mission that others happen to join along the way, Rudolph says it’s actually the opposite. “We’re on a mission,” she says of her character’s connection to Big Red in the movie. Rudolph plays Bobbie Jo Song, an agent of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. “We’re on a job, the job goes rogue, and we pick up people on the way.”

Fans of the Hellboy comics and movies won’t recognize the name Bobbie Jo Song, and with good reason. She’s a new character to the mythos, original to the film. “She’s a rookie BPRD agent that works with Hellboy. They do this trips, and it’s her first into the field,” she teases. It just so happens that trip leads to an Appalachian town haunted by the film’s titular monster—a grotesque monster from Hell—and a coven of cannibal witches.

Although Bobbie Jo Song is a new addition to this classic tale, the movie largely sticks to the source material, the 2008 comic story by Mignola and artist Richard Corben. Mignola serves as a producer and co-writer on The Crooked Man, along with co-writer Christopher Golden and co-writer and director Brian Taylor, the latter best known for the Crank movies he made with Mark Neveldine.

In fact, Mignola had strong influence on the production, even if he didn’t work directly with the actors. “We were told how supportive he was, which helped. He was exciting for what we were doing, so that was definitely inspiring,” Kesy says.

“What was so great about having [Mignola] be a part of this movie was that it follows the comic so closely that even the source material was a great place to start because we’re immersing ourselves into this world,” adds Rudolph.

That focus on the source material helped drive actor Jefferson White’s performance as Tom Ferrell, a central character in this story who’s returned to his homeland to atone for sins of the past that connect directly to the Crooked Man. “Happily, he runs into Hellboy and Bobby Jo along the way, because otherwise he wouldn’t have a chance,” says White of his character.

By sticking to Mignola’s original work, The Crooked Man embraces its horror roots, something that the 2019 one did to mixed success. For Rudolph, the horror elements were most comfortable. “I feel like I do a lot of horror, so I love this space,” she enthuses. “It’s very much my home.”

White and Kesy had a little less experience in the world of horror, but they got a lot of help from shooting in Bulgaria. “The environment was so immersive, the effects was so good, regardless of the genre, so much of the work is done for us,” White says, singling out for praise his co-star Martin Bassindale, who plays the Crooked Man. “This movie has a ton of special effects, there’s scary things all around you, horrifying performances… There’s so much to respond to that the genre takes of itself.”

With all of those pieces in place, Hellboy: The Crooked Man is ready to blaze its own trail on the screen, one puff at a time.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man releases later this year.

The post Hellboy: The Crooked Man Cast on Creating a New Version of One of Hellboy’s Best Stories appeared first on Den of Geek.

Wednesdays. The post-lunch slump of any working week. They’re too far from the weekend to taste the promised freedom, and too far from Mondays to kid yourself that a fresh start is still possible. What you need on Wednesdays, every Wednesday, at 12 o’clock BST and 7 o’clock ET, is a bit of distraction and a pat on the back. You need The Den of Geek Weekly Quiz.

12 original movie, TV and geeky questions, on a chosen theme, once a week, every week. Join us to test your trivia knowledge, have a bit of fun, compare results, let us know what you think (Too easy? Too long? Not enough questions about Police Academy?) and – when we eventually get leaderboards sorted – make others gasp at your trivia mastery. There may even be prizes in the pipeline…

Week four: quizzes that have featured in the movies and on TV. Fingers on buzzers!

The post The Den of Geek Weekly Quiz! Movie & TV Quizzes appeared first on Den of Geek.

Yet Deep Blue Sea deserves to be remembered. Not for the events of the film itself—though it is, remarkably, still one of the best shark movies ever made—but rather for the incredible original rap song that plays over its end credits, “Deepest Bluest (Shark’s Fin).” In that rousing ballad, rapper and Deep Blue Sea co-star LL Cool J delivers what could best be described as a shark’s diss track to the rest of the world sung from the shark’s perspective. Best remembered for the lyric, “Deepest, bluest, my hat is like a shark’s fin,” it occasionally makes the rounds online as a piece of absurdity second only to one scientist’s belief that incredibly smart sharks may be the key to curing Alzheimer’s. 

It’s more than that though. “Deepest Bluest” was a turning point for an era in which major movie studios argued that the best way to end a movie was with a rap song about that movie. These “Rap-Up” songs became fodder for parody even in their day and are sometimes seen as the culmination of several questionable trends. Yet at a time when movie studios are scrambling to turn new releases into major events, perhaps there is more to learn from these Rap-Up songs than what happened in the movie you just watched. 

The Origins of The Rap-Up Song

For decades, many Hollywood studios that also owned record labels have attempted to release hit singles alongside their biggest new movies. The idea was that the success of one could help promote the other. That is essentially how we ended up with the Elvis-led films of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Could Elvis act? Not in the traditional sense, but he could certainly sing in the numerous musical numbers those films packed into their 90-minute “plots.”

Over time, the relationship between the movie tie-in single (or even entire movie soundtracks) evolved. In some cases, it became more symbiotic. It’s difficult to separate the Bee Gees from Saturday Night Fever or “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky III. In other cases, the tie-in single song became bigger than the movie it was featured in. “Gangsta’s Paradise” outlived the cultural relevance of Dangerous Minds, and who even remembers that the chart-topping “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” was part of the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack? 

The Rap-Up song is different. The very concept of Rap-Up songs makes them impossible to separate from the movies they are featured in. That is because their lyrics and music videos are about the movies they are featured in.

In that sense, they are often closer to sitcom intro songs that quickly establish the narrative of the show itself (such as The Beverly Hillbillies theme song). Aside from their music genre, the element that unites them is the metaphysical way they seem to exist between the world of the film and our world. Their truly incredible music videos even feature rappers being transported into the worlds of the movies or otherwise acting as if those movie worlds are the real world. It’s as if those performers have shattered all known planes of existence, seen into dimensions beyond our corporeal comprehension, and are only able to convey their transcendental travels via rap.

While other music genres have been used to serve similar purposes, rap has gifted us with some of the most wonderfully bizarre promo songs ever crafted. The utterly bizarre nature of those songs recalls the famous Key and Peele sketch in which Star Magic Jackson Jr. greenlights every “first thought” idea for Gremlins 2. 

A song about The Fat Boys inheriting a house from “Uncle Frederick” featuring verses from Freddy Krueger himself? It’s in Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd rapping about shutting down pagan rituals (complete with full satanic panic costumes)? It’s in Dragnet. Vanilla Ice quickly concocting a fully-choreographed rap about the Ninja Turtles after they crash his concert? It’s in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. MC Hammer recounting the time he had to borrow some pepper from the Addams Family? It’s not only in The Addams Family, it’s inseparable from The Addams Family. 

While popular throughout the ’90s, the Rap-Up song trend is certainly a product of ‘80s culture. That’s the era that gave us the rapping granny, Rodney Dangerfield’s rap single, Barney Rubble rapping about Fruity Pebbles, and the whitest kid you know rapping about The Legend of Zelda. The popular idea was that anything that could be turned into a rap song should be turned into a rap song.

At this point, you may be wondering if these songs were a celebration of rap’s rise into pop culture prominence or merely a cynical attempt to exploit the genre. The answer is “Yes.” There was an underlying parody element to many of these songs that suggested a misunderstanding of the new musical medium or a desire to keep it sanitized enough to be exploited. At a time when N.W.A and Public Enemy were revolutionizing rap and scaring the hell out of the suburbs in the process, studios and corporations were using neutered versions of that music style to sell the residents of those neighborhoods cereal, detergent, and movie soundtracks. 

Yet there is an innocence to Rap-Up songs that may be related to ignorance but which nonetheless transformed into a kind of genre unto themselves. Like the industrial musicals of old, they would often give legitimate artists the chance at a massive paycheck for relatively simple work. If you really want to be generous, you could argue that they also helped pave the way for more meaningful rap songs to make an impact in bigger movies. Do the Right Thing’s use of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” is one of the most notable early examples of that level of success. Interestingly, Do the Right Thing originally had a titular Rap-Up style song that Spike Lee chose not to use but which was later re-purposed for Wes Craven’s People Under the Stairs soundtrack. 

The divide between the Rap-Up song and the Rap single was always clear, though, with the reach of the former songs always being understandably limited. They would help sell some albums and would even sometimes chart, but how high could you expect raps about Fredy Krueger to climb? For the Rap-Up song to leave a truly impactful mark, it would take some kind of generational young movie star with a rare set of skills to change the conversation about those tracks in a big way.

Big Willie Style

It is remarkably easy to forget that Will Smith began his career as a teenage rapper who (alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff) produced a series of hits that made him a star by the time he was 20. Smith’s star had risen so high and so quickly, in fact, that NBC built a new TV sitcom around him despite there yet being any evidence he could… you know… act. Hey, it worked for Elvis. 

Luckily, Will Smith could act. Really well. Perhaps The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a mere vehicle for Smith’s rising stardom, but he drove the show to cultural and creative heights nobody could have reasonably expected from the series. From there, Smith continued to defy expectations. 1993’s Six Degrees of Separation showed he could hold his own alongside all-time great actors in a dramatic role. 1995’s Bad Boys showcased his otherworldly movie star charisma. 1996’s Independence Day erased any doubts about his ability to draw as well, or better than, any other name in Hollywood.

But 1997’s Men in Black was a new challenge and opportunity for Smith. It was a blockbuster project designed to test the extent of his star power. So much so that Smith was asked to not only lead the bizarre sci-fi comedy but co-write and perform a Rap-Up song for the picture known simply as “Men In Black.” 

It wasn’t the first Rap-Up song of Smith’s career. That honor goes to “A Nightmare on My Street,” the other Nightmare on Elm Street 4 song that the producers decided not to use for the film. However, this was the first time that a star of that caliber in a movie that big was asked to perform the Rap-Up song for a blockbuster he was starring in. It was a task that seemed to fall somewhere between a gimmick and a death sentence. 

But Smith defied expectations again. “Men in Black” not only topped the charts; it won a Grammy award too. Rap-Up songs had found success outside of the theater screening rooms before, but nobody could have expected something like this. The biggest movie star in the world just released the biggest single in the world, and the song is about the number one movie he’s starring in. Somewhere, an executive bought a yacht and christened it “Synergy.” 

There was renewed hope that we had only scratched the surface of the Rap-Up song’s potential. Like Smith himself, though, “Men in Black” overachieved. As the rest of the industry would soon discover, there is only one Will Smith.

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Deep Blue Sea and The Decline

While Will Smith told the god of death “Not today” when he was tasked with writing a potential music career-killing rap for Men in Black, LL Cool J couldn’t quite subvert the sickle. 

And I say that with deep respect to LL, who had the music credentials and is one of the best parts about 1999’s Deep Blue Sea. But when you decide to make a Rap-Up song from the perspective of a gangster shark and pen the line “Gotti of the deep,” you put yourself on a losing path. Mind you, “Deepest Bluest” is by far the best rap song about a shark ever written. I’ll go so far as to say that it’s the best rap song about a shark that will ever be written. 

The thing you have to remember, though, is that “Deepest Bluest” is not an anomaly. It was yet another corny Rap-Up song with absurd lyrics and a truly unhinged music video like just about every other Rap-Up song that came before it. The problem wasn’t the song which while bad was enjoyable by any reasonable Rap-Up standards. The problem was “Men in Black.”

“Men in Black” had set a new standard for Rap-Up songs that soon proved to be unreasonable. Granted, “Men in Black” is a much better song (or at least has a better hook), but it was also attached to a much bigger and better movie and was sung by the biggest star in the world at that time. The factors that contributed to its ascension were almost impossible to replicate. 

Deep Blue Sea‘s producers tried a bit too hard to replicate it as well. They gave a known rapper a leading role and asked him to deliver a literal rap song about the summer blockbuster he was in. It veered too close to “Men in Black’s” orbit and was never allowed to be what it was meant to be: a bit of enjoyable ridiculousness atop a ridiculously enjoyable movie. Instead it became a martyr for the entire Rap-Up song concept—buried so deep into the digital ocean that you can’t even find it on LL Cool J’s YouTube channel or any official Spotify sources.

It wasn’t just LL Cool J either. While Smith’s follow-up to “Men in Black” (“Wild Wild West”) was a hit on its own terms, it was a hit associated with a historic flop of a movie. It was the best part of that flop (well, that and those incredible Burger King tie-in sunglasses), but it too was tasked with replicating a unique sensation and failed to do so in quite the same way. Smith soon dropped the Rap-Up part of his star power package, and many movie studios stopped trying to look for Rap-Up artists altogether now that the ceiling had clearly been reached.

Smith didn’t kill the Rap-Up song, however, nor did LL Cool J. No, you’d have to pin that murder on time itself and shifts in the industry, which led to movie studios no longer having as much stake in music studios or otherwise no longer promoting their movies and artists in the same fashion. It’s an industry shift that also led to the relative decline of the tie-in single song: a once unflappable institution relegated to just a handful of films these days. 

As for the Rap-Up, it lingers in our hearts and the outskirts of the industry. Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” from 8 Mile could be considered the crowning artistic achievement of the concept, but even it didn’t lead to a widespread revival. If you hear a Rap-Up song today, it’s usually as a parody or tribute to the golden age of the concept as seen in movies like Psycho Goreman. It still exists, but there’s a sense of shame associated with it that suggests it has to be chased with irony.

But to tell you the truth, I miss Rap-Up songs. Not exactly as they were, perhaps, but rather the ways they embodied a time when movies were bigger than being just content; they could trigger seismic cultural shifts that impacted multiple mediums. They celebrated the fun of the moviegoing experience in ways that sometimes feel hard to come by these days. If we reverse engineer the problem, maybe any longing for Rap-Up songs is more about the longing for the films they were often attached to. In the self-serious age of dramatic reboots and franchises being treated like precious objects, the idea of treating a movie as a piece of entertainment so pure that it comes with its own rap song feels positively magical. 

But, to tell you the even greater truth, I miss Rap-Up songs exactly as they were. Give me a Dungeons and Dragons rap from Childish Gambino or a Mortal Kombat rap from Raheem Jarbo. Please do not let the fun such songs represent die at the hands of studio executives whose hats are distinctly unlike a shark’s fin. 

The post Deep Blue Sea and the Lost Art of Wonderfully Bad Rap-Up Songs During the End Credits appeared first on Den of Geek.

It’s extremely difficult to do a successful time jump, especially when it comes to the YA genre. If it’s done incorrectly, it can ruin the entire show as well as its characters, losing fans in the process as they long for what the show once was. One Tree Hill managed to use its time jump to not only elevate the storylines but breathe new life into its beloved group of characters after graduation. 

In the early-to-mid 2000s, many sci-fi shows such as Lost and Battlestar Galactica got fixated on trying to master the time jump. What stands out about time jumps in that particular genre is that they often serve to move the actual plot forward rather than for the sake of the characters and their development. Since most of the time, teen dramas don’t have one specific or main plot throughout the entire series, this gives the writers a lot more freedom in what they can do for the characters in a way that makes it more relatable to the audience. If you look at Nathan Scott (James Lafferty) in the first episode of the series compared to the last, they’re two completely different people and that isn’t because of a time jump or singular event, it’s because of his development as a character which was done in two incredible and distinct arcs that happen to take place years apart. 

The season 4 finale could have easily served as the series finale and that’s because, in a lot of ways, it was the end of a chapter. Karen (Moira Kelly) had her and Keith’s (Craig Sheffer) daughter, Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz) and Nathan had their son, Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Peyton (Hilarie Burton) are finally together, Dan (Paul Johansson) turns himself in, and the last scene is a rematch between the Scott brothers after the gang agrees that they’ll be friends forever. 

The next chapter of One Tree Hill begins in the season 5 premiere and takes place “4 Years, 6 Months, 2 Days,” which is also the name of the episode, after we last saw the group of friends. As the episode summary in part says, “In many ways, the journey is just beginning.” 

Haley and Nathan’s son, Jamie (Jackson Brundage), is four now, and in his first scene, he’s playing basketball with a hoop that his Uncle Lucas got him, except fans will quickly realize something is severely wrong with Nathan, who not only doesn’t want his son playing but is in a very different place than when we last saw him. It turns out that it’s been four months since a life-changing fight that landed him in a wheelchair and cost him his dreams after he was the 10th pick in the NBA draft for the Seattle SuperSonics. 

Naturally, losing everything he worked so hard for is devastating and a way to reset his character in many ways. Rather than Haley being the one to change him for the better, this time the growth is all thanks to Jamie. After throwing Jamie’s hoop, which he only uses because he wants to be like his father, Nathan realizes how far he has pushed his family away. He then takes his first steps out of the wheelchair towards his son and apologizes before hugging him. 

Lucas is trying to write his second novel and has a job as the head coach of the Tree Hill Ravens with Skills (Antwon Tanner) as his new assistant head coach. Unfortunately, we quickly realize that something happened between him and Peyton, who has just quit her job at a music label. Meanwhile, Brooke (Sophia Bush) is successfully running Clothes Over Bros and a phone call from Peyton sums up everything perfectly: they don’t know who they are anymore or how they got there. This leads to both of them going back home to Tree Hill to be with the people they love. 

All of this setup within just one episode gives fans a lot of rich storylines to look forward to for the rest of the season. The reason why the solo character plots work so brilliantly is because they each have their own journey rather than all coming back for one thing, such as a death or mystery. Instead, they have to rediscover who they were and what Tree Hill meant to them individually and as a group. Despite all of them being in a new place in their lives, they crave a sense of belonging that only Tree Hill can give them. 

This makes the time jump effective not only for the characters but for the audience as well, who also crave that comfort and belonging. Obviously, not all of the main characters could go to the same college or be on the same life path, so having them all reunite after four and a half years was the perfect way to move us into adulthood without missing a beat or forcing fans through another four years of school drama. One of the important elements of this time jump was that all of the main actors returned. This is noteworthy because the series does feature two other time jumps later on and one of them suffers from the loss of Murray and Burton as leads.

During an interview with BuddyTV, One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn explained why the time jump worked so perfectly. At the time, UPN and the WB merged and he had to pitch season 4, which led to season 5. “Somebody in the room sort of made a joke that the kids were getting really old, and they didn’t know if that [season 5] was plausible. I said to them, ‘Well, I have a fix for that. I want to skip college. I said, ‘You know, nobody has ever done it before, and I think shows of our ilk tend to suffer when they go to college.’ Shows have survived it, but I think creatively they’ve never been as strong. We’ve been pretty accelerated in terms of the stuff we’ve done in high school on our show, and I just felt like we were going to start regurgitating stories and start being extremely redundant in college. I also think that, you know, one of the reasons they pay me is that if we come across an obstacle that has been a problem in the past, and it has been for these types of shows, my job is to figure out how to overcome that obstacle creatively.”

And just like that, the time jump for teen dramas was successfully born. Since then, many teen dramas such as Pretty Little Liars and Riverdale have taken a page out of One Tree Hill’s book, doing time jumps for the very same reason. However, if you ask the fans, many of these time jumps have failed due to poor character development, which is arguably the most important piece of the time jump puzzle and something One Tree Hill mastered. Regardless of how you felt about the show’s ending or ships, there is a reason why this group of characters is still so beloved to this day.

One Tree Hill is available to stream on Hulu and Max in the U.S. and ITVX in the U.K.

The post One Tree Hill Had TV’s Most Underrated Time Jump appeared first on Den of Geek.

This Interview with the Vampire article contains spoilers.

AMC’s Interview with the Vampire is the lavish and achingly sensual adaptation of Anne Rice’s classic novel that fans have waited decades for. With its second season done and a teaser trailer released for the third, featuring the vampire Lestat in full decadent rockstar mode, fans are clamoring for more details on where the series will go next, and how much it could deviate from the beloved novels it’s adapting.

In the Den of Geek studio at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, we got some exciting tidbits from the cast and creator, including a teaser that Claudia, our favorite perennial child vampire, might not be gone forever. 

IWTV is one of the most acclaimed shows on TV right now, a testament to what Sam Reid, Lestat himself, says is the work of “a lot of obsessive people. Everyone is very very obsessively-compulsively driven to do the best thing that they can do, almost to a fault.” 

“I think we’re all very compulsive about everything we do,” agrees Delainey Hayles, who plays Claudia.

The interview was a welcome reunion for Hayles and her cast, including Assad Zaman, who plays Armand, and showrunner Rolin Jones. The last time fans saw Claudia, she was burned to ashes after she, Louis (Jacob Anderson), and her companion Madeleine (Roxane Duran) were put on trial by the Paris coven for the murder of Lestat (he’s not dead.) “I’m having so much fun, and it’s really nice to see them again because I haven’t seen them in a very long time,” Hayles says.

But will Louis, Lestat, and Armand somehow cross paths with Claudia again in the future?

“Yeah, I’m trying to claw my way into season three,” Hayles says, although Jones then interjects that “she doesn’t need to claw.” Hardcore Vampire Chronicles fans will know (spoiler for non-book readers) that Claudia does make a brief comeback in one of the novels, Merrick, as a ghost. Given how much the series has changed from the novels, is it possible we could get a version of this in season three? Or will we see more of Claudia from Lestat’s perspective as they adapt his story, The Vampire Lestat? Stay tuned.

Season three will be a major change for Armand too, as the finale left him dumped by Louis after his lies caught up with him. He also fathered his first fledgling, journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), but much to the disappointment of Devil’s Minion fans everywhere, it happened offscreen. Zaman jokes that he and Bogosian had “decided to play the scene just so that he could get into character in the next scene” and that “it was hot and steamy but room to get hotter and steamier, is all I can say.” Prepare yourselves, shippers!

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For many viewers, it’s the chemistry between Lestat and Louis that makes the show. A far cry from the subtextual glances of the pair in the 1994 movie, IWTV has Reid and Anderson in the full throes of passion, fury, and angst. When asked how he and his co-star built that chemistry, Reid was eager to share the glory. “We’re really good friends, we’re really close, but I don’t know if that chemistry happens before you become friends or after. There’s a lot of trust and we just have a lot of fun making the show. I think chemistry is the whole, it’s not just two actors or two people together. It’s the whole group. It’s everyone who makes a show. It’s the space, it’s the feeling when you come on set and you feel like you can do things, try things, be experimental, push the boundaries a little bit. And that creates a sense of play, of trust.”

Reid is now in preparations for rockstar mode, although his first Lestat single, “Long Face,” has already dropped to rapturous fan applause (and even started a few online fandom fights, Lestat would truly be proud).

Season three will also bring with it many long-awaited reveals, including characters like Akasha, the queen of the damned, Lestat’s mother Gabrielle, and Marius, Armand’s reclusive maker. Casting them is certainly going to be a doozy. Rolin Jones tells us what he was looking for when it comes to casting two of the ancient vampires. “I’m attracted to a lot of theater actors. I really respect theater training. It’s a lot about facility of language.” This makes sense given that Zaman, Bogosian, and Ben Daniels, who plays Santiago, are all seasoned stage performers. The upcoming characters “all have very very particular things they need to do and be and present. On our show, we make actors go through a lot to get those parts, and then it’s a full embrace and there’s a lot of collaboration going back and forth about it.”

Jones also reveals that they already have one actor “that we battle-tested” in season three: Joe Potter, who plays Lestat’s lover Nicolas in season two. “I know what that actor can do. We put them through a gauntlet, and in the end, you’re going to get the same lovely, exquisite casting we’ve had.”

There are still 14 more books in the Vampire Chronicles left to adapt, and while fans can speculate on which direction certain stories will take, Interview with the Vampire has proudly carved out its own route amid this beloved and often bananas canon. With the first novel concluded, all eyes are on The Vampire Lestat for the brat prince’s backstory, and Queen of the Damned, wherein the mother of all vampires rises and plans a deadly takeover. There’s so much to look forward to, and that’s before we get to all of the rockstar mayhem.

The post Interview with the Vampire Teases Claudia’s Season 3 Return and What’s Next for Lestat appeared first on Den of Geek.

The best NZ online casinos make it easy to play real money games, get awesome bonuses with down-to-earth terms, and quickly withdraw your winnings if you get lucky.

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It’s far from the only casino worth checking out, though. Be sure to stay tuned for the rest of our top picks so that you can decide which NZ online casino is perfect for you.

Best Online Casinos NZ

• Spin Casino: Best overall 
• Jackpot City: 100+ live casino games
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Heads up about our links! Adblock might get confused so please disable it if you have any issues.

Online casinos in New Zealand don’t get better than these 10. But which one is the best online casino New Zealand real money players will approve? Take a closer look below to find out.

1. Spin Casino – Best NZ Online Casino Overall

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The absolute best online casino in NZ is Spin Casino. It’s packed with great games and comes with a generous welcome bonus and some fast payout banking options.

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You’ll find around 1,000 games at Spin Casino in total. It’s a great haul of games with more than enough variations to suit players of all tastes.

Our favourite part of the collection is the pokies from Microgaming. This developer is considered by many to be the best in the world, and the games it has provided to Spin Casino prove that point. 

But we also like the fact that there are over 100 live casino games (including plenty of blackjack, roulette, and even some poker) from Evolution Gaming and other elite providers. 

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New Spin Casino players can get three matched deposits when they sign up, for a total of up to NZ$1,000. The first is a 100% up to NZ$400 deposit match, and then you’ll get two lots of 100% up to NZ$300.

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We’d have liked to have seen a reload bonus and/or a loyalty club to give higher marks for this category, but unfortunately, they’re not available. 

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There are 9 ways to pay at Spin Casino, with everything from Apple Pay to Neteller being supported. All bases are covered except crypto, and payouts are processed within 24 hours most of the time, which will be more than quick enough for most players.

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Our next best NZ casino, and in fact, the best for live dealer games, is Jackpot City. It has over 100 of them and a lot of other great games for all types of players.

Casino Games: 4.9/5

The standout area of the Jackpot City game catalogue is, of course, the live dealer games. With over 100 available to play from some of the best providers in the world (like Evolution Gaming and Pragmatic Play), that’s pretty clear to see.

Jackpot City offers some more contemporary options, including game shows, as well as an abundance of classic table games like roulette and blackjack. 

And if you’d rather not play casino games live, you can also enjoy hundreds of pokie games from Microgaming. Expect a bunch of classics in that department, too.

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New players at Jackpot City can win four matched deposits, each worth 100% up to NZ$400, for an impressive total of NZ$1,600.

However, Jackpot City suffers from a similar problem as Spin Casino in that there aren’t really any reload offers. A couple of these might have clinched our top spot overall! 

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Jackpot City offers 9 banking options, including Apple Pay, Neteller, and, of course, the classic credit and debit card combination.

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If it’s pure casino bonuses you’re after, you won’t want to miss the new customer offer available to everyone who signs up at Jonny Jackpot.

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Jonny Jackpot is one of the best online casinos for real money when it comes to online pokies. Most of the games come from Microgaming and Pragmatic Play, including Immortal Romance II, John Hunter and the Tomb of the Scarab Queen, and Big Bass Splash.

There are a handful of live casino games from Evolution Gaming and a few other key providers as well, giving you a good assortment of options in that department.

The key issue with the game selection is that it’s quite hard to find your way through the games as there are limited categories and the layout is quite confusing. So, it might take a bit of scrolling if you’re not sure what game to play right off the bat. 

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The total welcome bonus package at Jonny Jackpot is worth up to NZ$1,000 and 100 free spins for the classic Legacy of Dead pokie game. 

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Jonny Jackpot offers 12 deposit methods, including Apple Pay, Skrill, and PayPal. That’s more than enough choice for most New Zealand players.

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If you’re looking for a more contemporary gaming experience at your next online casino in NZ, Neospin’s wide range of crash games might be just the ticket.

Casino Games: 4.8/5

The best thing about Neospin’s game selection overall is the abundance of crash options. There are 64 of them, more than most other online casinos in New Zealand. That figure contains some of the best games, such as Aviator and the classic ‘Crash.’

If you’re new to crash games, you can play most of them for free in demo mode at Neospin. It’s a great chance to get some practice or just to work out which one is best for you.

But there’s more to Neospin than just crash options. The site also offers a bunch of brilliant pokies that can be played for free. If you’re into online bingo, this is a great site to explore, too. 

In fact, there are over 5,800 games to play at Neospin. We can’t guarantee that all of them are going to be immense as a few of them come from developers that are yet to prove themselves, but on average, the quality looks to be very strong.

Bonuses & Promotions: 4.9/5

There’s a 100% up to $10,000 bonus waiting for all new players at Neospin. This could be the best welcome bonus in New Zealand for the high-roller-type players out there, but of course, you’ll have to spend a lot to get the most out of this bonus. 

You will get 100 free spins thrown in on top of this offer, even if you put in the minimum amount of $45. That’s a little high, but it’s worth it for most players.

After this, there are a few extra promotions to take advantage of. These include 100 free spins on Wednesdays and a 66% reload bonus on the weekends. You can also get up to 20% cashback on your deposits, but the minimum deposit amount for this cashback is very high.

Payout Speed & Options: 4.7/5

Neospin processes all payout requests instantly and even offers Bitcoin for the fastest payouts. However, there are a few fees that come with some of the fiat currency banking options, so keep an eye out for those.

>>Get up to $10,000 [Neospin]

5. PlayOJO – Best New Zealand Online Casino for Pokies

Pros:

• Approx 5000 pokie games 
• Pokies from NetEnt, etc.
• 80 no wagering free spins
• No minimum withdrawal 
• Top-rated mobile app 

Cons:

• 3 day free spin expiry
• No crypto banking options

We’ve picked PlayOJO as the top online casino for playing real money online pokies, as they set you up for a fun time spinning the reels from the very first moment you set up your account.

Casino Games: 4.8/5

There are nearly 5,000 online pokies to play at PlayOJO, far more than most other online casinos in New Zealand. And it’s not like the site picked these games out of nowhere. 

The pokies have been carefully curated from some of the best providers in the business, from Merkur Gaming to NetEnt. These companies in particular, have been responsible for some of the best pokies games of all time, and you’ll find them at PlayOJO.

A couple of pokies in particular that we recommend are 1429 Uncharted Seas with its abnormally high RTP and stunning gameplay, and the classic Big Bass Bonanza from Pragmatic Play for a nostalgic but absorbing gaming experience.

Bonuses & Promotions: 4.6/5

If your first PlayOJO deposit is worth $10 or more, you’ll be automatically credited with 50 free spins for the brilliant Thor and the Trials of Asgard pokie game. Then, you can go into the ‘Kicker’ section and claim 30 more without having to spend any more money.

In total, you get to claim 80 free spins with no wagering requirements.

There will be absolutely no wagering requirements attached to any winnings you land from those spins, so you can take them home right away or put them back into your casino gaming funds to have some more fun. Just note that you only have three days to use them.

Payout Speed & Options: 4.9/5

There are seven payment methods to choose from at PlayOJO, including Jeton, payz and MuchBetter, albeit no crypto.

When it comes to getting paid out, there’s no minimum withdrawal amount at all. And, payouts are processed within just a few hours, so you should see your cash in no time. 

>> Claim your 80 free spins [PlayOJO]

How We Ranked the Best NZ Online Casino Sites

Casino Games 

Any New Zealand casinos worth their salt are going to have a bunch of great games to play. The three important factors here are game selection, range of styles, and quality of options. We can tell a lot about the latter of these based on the list of contributing software providers to each site.

Bonuses & Promotions

All top casino sites are going to have some kind of welcome bonus for new players, which could come in the form of matched deposits, free spins or something else. Bonus points can be picked up for each site here if they offer ongoing promotions such as reload deposits and loyalty clubs.

Payout Speed & Options

We only want to see fast payout casino sites, not only because they are more convenient for the players but because typically, fast payouts make a casino more trustworthy. Furthermore, there should always be a wide range of banking options to make things more convenient for players.

Other Casino Features

Here’s where we look at all the other important factors that go into making real money online casinos in New Zealand great. These could include the level of mobile compatibility, the attention of the customer support, the general reputation of the casino and more.

Online Casinos vs Land-Based Casinos in New Zealand

What’s the better domain to play in, the real or the virtual world? We believe there are a few key benefits of online casinos that swing it for us.

• Bonus offers: You’ll get all kinds of free spins and matched deposits when signing up for online casino sites, but we don’t know of many land-based casinos extending that kind of luxury to new or existing players
• High payout games: The average payout rate of online casino games tends to be higher than the land-based counterparts. This is particularly true of pokies, where online, you’ll get an RTP of around 96% on average but this could be as low as 70% on a real machine.
• More payment methods: Players can deposit or withdraw with all kinds of payment methods at online casinos, from crypto to eWallets to vouchers. In a land-based casino, you’re probably going to have to pay with a credit card or cash.
• 24/7 gameplay access: There’s no need to worry about having to pack up for the night when you’re playing in the virtual world. Online casinos are open all night long, which is great news for the night owl players out there. 

How Can You Tell if an Online Casino in New Zealand is Legit?

These are the factors that we recommend considering when you’re searching for new casino online sites in NZ.

• Licensing: All online casinos (legal ones, at least!) will be licensed by independent bodies such as the Malta Gaming Authority or the Curacao eGaming License. Some of these are more vigorous than others; the stricter, the better.
• Consumer reviews: There isn’t a more honest way to get feedback about New Zealand online casinos than through other players. These are important to check, as they can flag potential issues with a particular site.
• High RTP games: If a New Zealand online casino has many high-payout games, it’s more likely that it prioritizes player experience over instant profit, which is, of course, good news for us.
• Fast payouts: We’ve typically found that faster payouts reveal a more honest business practice than with online casinos that hold onto your cash for several days before releasing it. 

Casino Games with the Best Payouts in NZ

• Evolution Gaming Live Blackjack (99.5% RTP): This classic live blackjack game from Evolution Gaming has been widely recognized as the highest payout online casino game in New Zealand. The house edge here is tiny! 
• Pragmatic Play Live Roulette (98.5% RTP): Another form of live casino game that can pay out very well indeed is roulette, and this title from Pragmatic Play proves that substantially.
• 1429 Uncharted Seas (98.6% RTP): Did you know that there are some online pokie games with mega high RTPs? 1429 Uncharted Seas is a great place to start if you’re looking for the fairest payouts on the reels.

So, it’s pretty clear to see that live dealer games offer the highest payouts on average, with Evolution Gaming’s amazing live blackjack option leading the way overall. However, live blackjack and pokies are not far off the pace either. 

Best NZ Online Casinos – FAQs

Which NZ Online Casino Has the Best Deposit Bonus?

The best deposit bonus of all NZ online casinos can be found at Johnny Jackpot. They offer NZ$1000 and 100 free spins with very fair bonus terms.

How Long Do Withdrawals Take at NZ Online Casinos?

The most popular online casinos in New Zealand will generally process your payments in a day or two, or perhaps even quicker.

Another factor that comes into play is the payment method you’ve selected. Crypto payouts are effectively instant, for example, whereas bank transfers are going to take a few days at least.

Are NZ Online Casinos Safe?

Most top paying online casinos NZ are safe, but not all of them. We took the time to vet all of our top picks to ensure that they were as safe and secure as possible, and we recommend that you do the same if you plan on looking for a casino site elsewhere.

The online gambling industry in New Zealand does a good job of making sure that players are looked after, but there are a few factors that you can check out for yourself to make 100% sure that you’re going to be protected.

Can You Play for Real Money at Online Gambling Sites in NZ?

Oh yes. There are tons of real money online gambling sites available to play in NZ. When it comes to placing deposits of your real money with a chance of winning some, you’ll likely be able to choose from a handful of payment methods.

Are Online Casino Games Rigged?

No, online casino games are legally not allowed to be rigged. Games at legal online casinos are RNG-certified, meaning that they have a mathematically fair chance of winning.

The same benchmarks apply to the best online casinos in Canada, for those who are residing in the Great White North looking for legit casinos. 

What’s the Best Online Casino in NZ?

The best online casino for real money in NZ overall is Spin Casino. Its combination of games, bonuses and general usability is the best in the business.

Best Online Casino Sites in New Zealand – Quick Comparison

Take a look back at the best NZ casinos online with us one more time before you make a decision as to which one to get started with.

Spin Casino: The top-paying online casino in NZ overall in terms of speed, games, and bonuses is Spin Casino. Its welcome bonus up to NZ$1000 is worth grabbing

Jackpot City: Our top pick for live casino games is the brilliant Jackpot City. There, you can grab four lots of NZ$400 deposit matches for a total of up to NZ$1600 as a new player.

Jonny Jackpot: The best of the welcome bonuses amongst all of the 10 top online casinos we’ve picked out can be found at Johnny Jackpot. It’s worth up to NZ$1000 plus 100 spins.

Neospin: Those in the market for the more modern side of online casino gaming will probably want to check out what’s in store at Neospin. That includes up to $10,000 plus 100 spins.

PlayOJO: There are nearly 5000 online pokies to play at PlayOJO, so it’s pretty clear why it’s the best NZ online casino for pokies. Another reason is the 80 free no-wagering spins.

How to Get Started with NZ Online Casino Sites

Ready to start checking out the best online casino NZ sites? Here’s how to get your account at any of the top online casino NZ sites we’ve picked out today.

1. Complete the Signup

• Choose Spin Casino or any of the top NZ casino sites 
• Fill out the signup form on the homepage
• Create your login details to sign in with

2. Verify Your Details

• Confirm your email address via the link
• Verify your SMS if required
• Upload any documents, ie. proof of address

3. Make Your First Payment

• Pick a payment method 
• Enter an amount
• Complete the transaction as per the instructions

4. Play Some Games 

• Head to the game section
• Pick out some titles 
• Enjoy your welcome casino bonus

Tips for Playing at the Best Online Casinos NZ

Practise Responsible Gambling 

There are generally a bunch of tools you can use at each online casino site that can help you stay in control of your online gambling activities. These include deposit limits and self-exclusion periods, and it’s very important to bear these in mind if you ever need them.

Try Some Free Pokies

Are you unsure whether a game will be worth your money, or are you just looking to get some practice in for a slightly more complex pokie game? Many can be played for free in demo mode, either through casinos or the sites of the providers who created them.

Use All the Welcome Bonuses and Free Spins

There are 10 fantastic offers across our top 10 New Zealand online casinos, and there’s nothing stopping you from claiming every single one of them. If you are going to do that, though, we recommend only opting for one at a time so it’s easier to play through the wagering.

If you’re interested in sports and esports betting as well, check out this guide where we share tips for wagering on competitive video games like League of Legends and CS2.

Ready to Play Online Casino Games in New Zealand?

New Zealand is lucky enough to be home to some of the best real money online casinos in the world. We Kiwis are spoiled for choice! But with our list of the best online casino sites in the country, you now have a great place to start.

We recommend Spin Casino first and foremost. It’s a brilliant all-rounder casino that will satisfy the majority of players. However, if you have a specific taste for pokies, bonuses, crash games, or something else, you might want to begin with another of our top picks.

And that’s up to you. Just make sure that you gamble responsibly with whichever option you do settle for, and don’t forget to claim a bunch of new customer offers as you shop around.

DISCLAIMER: 18+ only. Online gambling comes with many risks. The information on this site is for entertainment purposes only. Players are advised to gamble responsibly and only use funds they can afford to lose. Gambling is not a solution to any financial difficulties.

If you suspect you’re becoming addicted to gambling, seek help immediately by contacting the National Gambling Helpline at 0800 654 655.

The following free gambling addiction resources may be helpful as well:

• https://www.pgf.nz/
• https://www.gamblinghelpline.co.nz/
• https://www.safergambling.org.nz/

Content oversight and quality assurance provided by Den of Geek, whose advertising leadership oversees sponsored, native, and paid content on the site, ensuring its quality, relevance, and helpfulness for general audiences.

Articles attributed to this byline are authored by paying advertisers. The editorial team did not contribute to these pieces, and the opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Den of Geek staff. The sponsor retains responsibility for the content and holds the copyright to the material.

The post 10 Best NZ Online Casinos (2024) – Top Real Money Casino Sites for New Zealand Players appeared first on Den of Geek.

That reputation is far from unearned. Doom 3 was, and remains, an anomaly. Like so many of the other anomalies in legacy franchises, though, Doom 3 has often been discussed and judged based on what it isn’t rather than what it is. That is why it is so misunderstood. For all of its faults and oddities, Doom 3 was an exceptional example of a particular kind of game that feels much easier to appreciate now that it is so hard to come by. 

Doom 3 Was the Rare Remake Executives Didn’t Want

At a time when remakes and reboots are the only things that seemingly regularly get approved with a respectable budget, it’s hard to believe that Doom 3 began its life as the Doom remake that some of the top executives at developer id Software didn’t want.

They felt the studio had been relying on certain formulas for too long and was at risk of becoming stale during a time of great change for the FPS genre and the gaming industry as a whole. In their minds, a Doom remake would only solidify that perception. It was only after some of the studio’s most notable creative members (including Doom co-creator John Carmack) threatened to leave the company that id’s owners relented and allowed them to pursue a remake. 

While the version of Doom 3 we got is technically a remake/reboot of Doom, it’s difficult to think of the game on those terms. That’s partially because of the game’s strange sequel-formatted name, but it’s largely because of those aforementioned changes to the franchise formula which suggest that id’s rebellious employees didn’t entirely get their way. 

For instance, Doom 3 utilizes a more narrative-focused cinematic structure that feels closer to Half-Life than what we saw in the first two Doom games (or many of id’s other titles at that time). Doom 3 even begins with a softly guided “first day on the job” sequence that is strikingly similar to Half-Life’s famous opening. The game also featured third-person narrative-driven cutscenes: an anomaly even among the post-Half-Life PC shooters that Doom 3 was clearly inspired by.

Yet, its Doom 3‘s gameplay changes that drew the most jeers. Whereas the previous Doom games helped establish a fast-paced style now known as the “boomer shooter,” Doom 3 featured far less action and a generally slower pace. The majority of fights began with a monster jumping out of trigger-induced corners of the room (often referred to as “monster closets”) and descending upon the player. Even late in the game, Doom 3 relies on variations of that trick with often diminishing returns.

You still have access to the usual array of Doom weapons in Doom 3, but the playable protagonist is intended to be slightly weaker than the other “Doom Guy” iterations. That design philosophy is highlighted (some would argue lowlighted) by your character’s tendency to be knocked back whenever they take damage and an infamous flashlight mechanic that required you to lower your weapon to illuminate the game’s numerous pitch-black areas. The flashlight system was so reviled that fans quickly created a “duct tape mod” that both allowed you to carry a gun and light at the same time and effectively mocked the developers for creating such an obvious logic gap just to accommodate that core gameplay mechanic.

Most of those features serviced the Doom 3 team’s obvious desire to make a horror game. Not a first-person shooter with horror themes as the original Doom games were, but rather an outright horror title that attempted to deliver as much action as possible without compromising the scares. The developers intended for you to fear individual demons as much as the hordes of hell.

Yet, as Doom 3’s detractors were quick to point out, the game often felt like that combination of compromises that the early stages of its development suggest it may have very well been. The fact that you had to constantly make yourself vulnerable just to see where you were going speaks to the developer’s struggles to deliver such scares without relying on repetitious design. 

It’s enough to make you wonder how Doom 3’s developers saw this as a remake of Doom and what drew them to that project in the first place. Yet, it’s when you seek the answers to those questions that you begin to realize that Doom 3 was exactly the game that its developers put their careers on the line for the chance to make.

Read more

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The Best Horror Movies Set in Broad Daylight

Games

Forgotten ’90s Horror Games That Deserve a Remake

What Makes a Doom Game a Doom Game?

Listen to Doom 3’s developers talk about the game, and you’ll quickly realize that the things they felt defined the original Doom are not necessarily the things most fans associated with that game and therefore expected from a project that was conceived as its remake. 

Most notably, John Carmack and other key Doom 3 team members make a big deal out of wanting to use that title to push the limits of video game technology. It was the driving force behind the entire project, and it’s not hard to see why. Though the original Doom is known for many things, it was, in its day, a technical marvel that changed the internal and external perception of the industry. The team at id clearly felt their primary duty was to move video game technology forward. What better way to test such advanced technology than to reimagine the studio’s most important game in a modern engine to show people an undeniable example of how far the industry had come? 

But if that was the main goal, then why was Doom 3 so different than what came before? Well, in some people’s minds, it really wasn’t all that different. In an interview with G4, John Carmack cited these qualities as the “tripod of features and technology that make Doom what it is:”

– Unified lighting and shadowing

– More complex animation and scripting

– The gooey surfaces that add an extra level of interactivity

When you look at the original Doom from that perspective, you see why Carmack and the rest of the Doom 3 team chose to make a horror title. If you were determined to feature those qualities, would you rather make an action game designed to be run through as quickly as possible or a horror game that emphasizes environmental exploration?

In that sense, the game is an almost undeniable success. Whatever else you may say about Doom 3, the fact of the matter is that many gamers, journalists, and developers of the early 2000s didn’t believe that Doom 3’s graphics were real until they played it. The game still looks shockingly “modern” to this day in terms of its visual design if not the raw visuals themselves. 

Mind you, the Doom 3 team was aware that they were making something that was going to confuse and even anger some fans. Yet, they wanted to challenge themselves to develop an intense and technologically innovative experience that was going to recall the feeling of playing Doom for the first time without copying that game wholesale. 

None of that is meant to shield the game from criticism or excuse its obvious faults. It’s just that understanding the kind of game the Doom 3 team was attempting to make is the key to appreciating the game we ended up with. 

Doom 3 Is the Rare Horror Action Game That Balances Horror and Action

While the comparisons between Doom 3 and Half-Life are obvious and largely accurate, I’ve always found them to be a bit lazy. As a horror FPS title, Doom 3 has more in common with games like Condemned: Criminal Origins, F.E.A.R., Prey (2017), and BioShock. When you judge the game, it’s much more fair to compare and contrast it to those titles. 

Mind you, all those games came out after Doom 3. There had been many FPS games with horror elements in them before Doom 3 (including the original Doom, obviously) and titles like System Shock had previously delivered what was essentially a horror game from a first-person perspective. Yet, even the titles that billed themselves as horror first-person shooters (such as Clive Barker’s Undying) typically utilized the very Doom-like style of FPS action that Doom 3 subverted. 

Modern horror games make liberal use of the first-person perspective, but titles like Resident Evil 7 feel closer to the “survival horror” genre that many people tag Doom 3 with for want of a cleaner label. In reality, Doom 3 represents a more balanced blend of action and horror that was hard to come by in its day and is still largely limited to a handful of titles generally seen as underrated gems or anomalies.

And that’s a shame. For as much as I love horror gaming, it’s shockingly hard to find games that offer a fundamentally fun time while still feeling like true horror titles. Horror movies, horror TV shows, and horror books are comparatively blessed with such experiences, but horror game developers have historically felt that they need to lean in one direction or the other. Interestingly, one of the other games that find a balance between those concepts is the game that quickly surpassed Doom 3 in the minds of many: Half-Life 2. However, its successes in that arena are largely limited to the brilliant Ravenholm area of the game rather than the entire experience.

Doom 3 was different. At its best, Doom 3 gave you a gun and threw you into a haunted funhouse. Its scares were genuine (if sometimes cheap), but, much like Evil Dead 2 or Tremors, it featured a horror protagonist who was more than capable of standing up to some indescribable terrors without losing their underdog status. It’s a rare form of horror wish-fulfillment that understands that the experience of shooting the boogeyman is only satisfying if the boogeyman is effectively scary rather than a mere approximation of more effective creations in other works.

Sadly, Doom 3 wasn’t always at its best. It was often clunky, predictable, and sometimes felt closer to that technical showcase E3 attendees had once accused the game of being before they got to play it for themselves. With the release of Doom 3: BFG Edition in 2012, the developers caved to the most popular criticism and let you attach a flashlight to your gun. They also removed things like the ability to assign weapons to hotkeys in an attempt to keep the original game’s tension alive, but generally speaking, Doom 3 was finally closer to being the very Doom-like action game that many people wanted it to be from the start. 

While there are parts of the BFG Edition I admire and even prefer, my heart belongs to the original version of the game, flashlight swapping and all. That’s the version of the game that tried something a bit different that deserved to be expanded upon despite the fact it didn’t entirely work out of the gate. Comparatively, the BFG Edition feels a bit closer to the original and modern Doom titles. Unfortunately, those other games do so many of the things that BFG Edition tries to do better than it possibly could.

Any good faith defense of Doom 3 shouldn’t try to argue that the game is perfect or that it isn’t fundamentally weird. It isn’t, and it is. 20 years later, though, it’s well past time to engage with Doom 3 on its own terms and recognize it as both a worthy entry in one of gaming’s greatest franchises and a game with unique qualities that should have inspired a wave of imitators rather than all-too-easy dismissals from that franchise’s fans. To this day, though, Doom 3 is arguably still the best example of what it was always meant to be.

The post 20 Years Later, Doom 3 Remains a Misunderstood Masterpiece appeared first on Den of Geek.