Made famous by Bob Marley and the Wailers’ 1973 song ‘Small Axe’, that’s the traditional proverb behind the title for a five-film series by Oscar-winning British director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Shame, Hunger). 11 years in the making, the five films were funded by BBC Studios and made to celebrate key figures in Black British history and create an on-screen record of a disappearing generation of London’s West Indian community....

Of course, this past summer’s first proper trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home finally confirmed the long-speculated notion of Dafoe back in his main antagonist role from 2002’s Spider-Man as Norman Osborn, a.k.a. the Green Goblin, and Molina reprising his role in 2004’s Spider-Man 2 as Otto Octavius, a.k.a. Doctor Octopus, with even more villains like Foxx’s Max Dillon, a.k.a. Electro from 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 revealed in later clips....

It looks almost blissful. That serene sunset Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) imagines he’s flying toward might as well be heaven for the good doctor. After all, he’s unlikely to see the real thing once his plane smashes headlong into a mountain. So ends Abnesti Pharmaceuticals’ experiments on the remote island and institute of “Spiderhead,” and so too ends Steve Abnesti. It’s a surprisingly cheeky conclusion to Joseph Kosinski’s new science fiction thriller out now on Netflix....

Indeed, it’s comfortably the best opening episode since TNG’s Encounter At Farpoint. Surprisingly lean on characters, but dense with plot, the story sees Michael Burnham, aka Number One, encountering a strange artifact in space leading her, her captain and her crew into a tense stand-off with more Klingons than they can shake a phase cannon at. The feel of the show is surprisingly close to the Trek series of the 90s, but with obvious nods to more serialised storytelling....

“Forget Me Not,” the fourth episode of the season, sees Burnham and Adira pay a visit to the Trill homeworld in an attempt to unlock Adira’s memories and the memories of their Trill symbionts. But, first, Hugh has to dispense some friendly mental health advice to Michael—namely, around the subject of “post-traumatic growth.” According to the theory, as outlined by Hugh, “certain life events … can inspire us to evolve, to live our lives in a different way....

Despite landing in a future in which the Federation’s influence has been greatly diminished, Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 is shaping up to be far less dark and dystopic than many predicted. In Episode 3, “People of Earth,” the USS Discovery visited the home planet of the Federation, and although that visit was a mixed bag, things did end on a very hopeful note—one that is even more hopeful when you understand the canon significance of a certain giant tree....

Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 Episode 3 For fans who feel like Star Trek: Discovery is the Deep Space Nine of the 21st century, the latest episode — “Choose To Live” — will only make that case stronger. Yes, although the Romulans warrior nuns from Star Trek: Picard take center stage in this episode, the vast majority of Easter eggs and callbacks will make Niners very happy. Here’s every Easter egg and reference we caught in Star Trek: Discovery Season 4, Episode 3, “Choose to Live....

First, some backstory: Khan Noonien Singh was a genetically engineered superhuman who, during the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s (you remember those, right?), controlled more than a quarter of the Earth. When deposed, Khan and 84 of his super-friends escaped from Earth on a freighter ship, placing themselves in a cryogenic sleep. Khan wakes up more than two centuries later, when the Enterprise finds his ship. Once a power-hungry ruler, always a power-hungry ruler, so Khan quickly moves to take over the ship, with the help of the apparently impressionable Enterprise historian Marla McGivers ....

“It’s like riding a bicycle!” Mulgrew tells Den of Geek. “So much so that I had to laugh. I said my God she must live inside me on a vital level at all times. She’s just very quiet, waiting for her moment to come out. She’s deeply instilled, and every aspect of her is there and I have only to ask and she comes.” But while Mulgrew is playing a character called Janeway, there is still some ambiguity over the character’s precise identity....

Time heals all wounds, they say, and Star Wars fans know that just about as well as anyone. Though George Lucas’ Star Wars Prequel Trilogy was lambasted by much of the fandom when it was released from 1999-2005, the films have seen a slow rise of appreciation and forgiveness in the ensuing years, with stars Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor now set to return for an upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+ next year....

Andor Episode 6 Throughout most of Star Wars: Andor episode 6, “The Eye,” you’re constantly expecting the heist of the Imperial payroll on the planet Aldhani to go horribly wrong. Interestingly enough, most of the Rebel operation goes according to plan. Our insurgents do escape with the money, and thankfully, they don’t resort to killing the family of the Imperial commandant, or any innocent civilians. But, by the end of this episode, three of these Rebels will be dead, and not for the reasons that you think....

Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 9 It sounds over-the-top, but it’s true: revelations and surprises propelled this week’s round of clone adventure stories. “Bounty Lost” features excellent bounty hunter action and a pleasant focus on Omega (not just what she is, but what choices she makes when she’s on her own). Sure, some revelations feel more like duds, but overall, it’s an episode that certainly isn’t afraid to move the plot forward, and returning characters and a real sense of threat keep it exciting....

Well, Deadline has finally confirmed that, yes, Sabine is back and will be played Natasha Liu Bordizzo (The Society) on the upcoming Star Wars: Ahsoka series on Disney+. The outlet didn’t dig up any plot details about Sabine’s live-action debut, but we already know plenty, thanks to the Rebels animated series that concluded in 2018. You can say Sabine’s return has been years in the making. Dave Filoni, who is writing and executive producing Ahsoka, along with The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau, first set Sabine on her current path in the final minutes of Rebels....

The last few minutes of The Empire Strikes Back begin to unpack how this revelation has completely shattered Luke’s world. All of a sudden, as he escapes Cloud City on the Millennium Falcon, our hero can hear Vader in his thoughts, calling out to him to embrace their family’s dark legacy. He’s already accepted the truth, replying to Vader through the Force: “Father.” But in that moment, Luke’s also struggling with an even bigger betrayal....

CM Punk is one of the most interesting figures in modern pro wrestling. After cutting his teeth in independent promotions like the one that Heels portrays, Punk gained national stardom as a sarcastic, unpredictable malcontent in the WWE. Where stars of the past proudly guzzled beers to elicit a response from the blue-collar audience, Punk was publicly straight edge. Where other performers would privately complain about the company’s direction, Punk would go off-script in front of a live audience, expressing his displeasure with behind-the-scenes decision makers....

While many King villains are monsters of the human variety (serial killers, power hungry despots, nihilists, etc.), his most memorable are the supernatural ones who use their dark powers to twist the orderly world around them into chaos and pain. Pennywise the Clown isn’t the only monster you need to fear at night. King has created plenty of other horrific things that go bump in the night. Here are just a few of his best supernatural madmen and monsters…...

The Duffer Brothers may be the master storytellers behind the fictional tale of Stranger Things, but they also admit to taking inspiration from real life conspiracies and true crime stories. While longtime fans of the show may already know about the Montauk Project origins of the Hawkins Lab, some may not be aware that the tragically misplaced suspicion that Eddie Munson was under is also based on actual events in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993....

You can call Stray’s early success a meme or a meme-supported movement, but you’d be doing the game a huge disservice. Stray is a brilliant little game that expertly combines worldbuilding, storytelling, movement, puzzles, sound, and atmosphere to offer the kind of experience that hooks you almost instantly and refuses to let go. Stray’s path to what certainly seems to be sales success may have been bolstered by the internet’s obsessive love of cats, but it’s the game’s genuine greatness that will keep it in the conversation long after those jokes have lost their luster....

When October hits, the folks at Den of Geek almost exclusively consume horror content. Any spooky story that has ghosts, ghouls, goblins, or any chill-inducing monster that doesn’t start with a G is fine with us. Whether it’s a campy B-movie or “prestige horror,” we embrace all horror subgenres and relax with old favorites and new cult classics in the making alike. Now that Spooky Season is in full force, we are grateful that Plex TV is here so we can stream all of the creepy content that our black hearts’ desire for free!...

Returning from the first movie are several characters: Harley Quinn, played almost perfectly (twice!) by Margot Robbie; Boomerang gets to be a Captain in this movie, played by Jai Courtney; Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller; and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flagg. But it’s the new cast members who are big surprises. Check out this stylish video revealing who everybody’s playing. It’s pretty great. Then we’ll help explain who is who. John Cena joins the movie as Peacemaker....