The creators of XCOM are given the keys to the Marvel universe, in a supernatural themed strategy epic that has something for everyone.

Since XCOM 2 is one of the few games we’ve ever given a 10/10 score to, it’s safe to say that we have very much been looking forward to this new game from the same developer. When rumours first emerged of its existence it was described as XCOM meets Marvel and while that’s already stuck, it isn’t really accurate. Beyond being a turn-based game there’s almost no similarity at all, in what is one of the most wildly ambitious strategy games ever made.

We’d like to think that the Marvel connection guarantees a certain level of success but the failure of the (awful) Avengers and (excellent) Guardians Of The Galaxy games proves that’s not necessarily the case. Nevertheless, developer Firaxis has done their level best to make this as accessible and interesting to non-strategy fans as possible, with a between-mission structure that borrows heavily from Mass Effect and Persona – although inevitably that’s the part of the game that’s easiest to pick faults with.

The story set-up is relatively straightforward and is kicked off by Hydra resurrecting Lilith, Mother of Demons, who starts possessing heroes and villains alike, and wants to bring back the even more powerful elder god Chthon (based on Cthulhu, obviously). To stop her, a supernatural group of heroes called the Midnight Suns awaken Lilith’s offspring, the Hunter, and then team up with the Avengers to try to save the world and… form after work social clubs?

The Hunter is a customisable character that you also get to control between battles in a third person view, like a regular action game. Your home base is a spooky manor called The Abbey, with expansive grounds filled with collectables and side quests. The building itself houses various training and research facilities, as well as a common area where the dozen or so heroes can get together and relax between missions.

Just like Mass Effect, you chat to teammates as much or as little as you want and, just like Persona (or perhaps more accurately Fire Emblem), the better you get on the more you build friendship bonds that allow you to perform unique combos in battle. At a basic level this simply involves having a chat and answering questions, which have their own light/dark morality system that also affects what you can do in battle.

However, you can also buy presents to give to people and do things like organise a surprise birthday party or join a book club – so you can sit around discussing Sun Tzu’s The Art of War with Captain America, while trying to get Blade and Captain Marvel to hook up. Despite the world being constantly on the verge of ending you somehow find a lot of excuses to waste your time trying to be popular but it’s very obvious why the game devotes so much effort to the between-mission segments and trying to build up everyone’s character.

We hesitate to start describing how battles work because we worry it’s all going to sound a lot less interesting, and a lot more complicated, than it actually is. The most accurate point of reference is not XCOM but Slay The Spire, in that movement of your characters (you take only three into battle at once) is only of minor importance and all your abilities are dictated by randomly dealt cards.

You create your own deck of cards before starting a mission, but which ones you get dealt each turn are always a surprise. Most attack cards need a certain amount of heroism points to work, which are gained by attacking enemies or using non-combat abilities. Unlike XCOM, you always hit your target and there’s no question of exactly how much damage you’ll do with a move, so instead the focus is squarely on the tactics of which ability to use at what time, and against which enemy.

All of the cards are completely different for each character and are very good at representing their unique powers. So, for example, Magik is a Midnight Sun and can create portals to boot enemies into or move their position. Meanwhile, the Robbie Reyes version of Ghost Rider takes damage from many of his attacks but can also drain life force and has a cool flaming car that can run over half a dozen enemies at once if you pick the right moment.

The Avengers characters are a rather random selection of the usual line-up, but Iron Man has lots of abilities that can debuff enemies or shield allies, while Captain Marvel is able to go ‘binary’ to increase her powers. Wolverine works surprisingly well as a turn-based character, with clear nods to his Capcom fighting game appearances, while Spider-Man is particularly good at taking advantage of environmental objects to vault off or throw at enemies (everyone can do that, as it doesn’t require a card, but Spidey has several abilities that allow him to do so at no heroism cost).

If anything, we felt our familiarity with XCOM probably worked against us at first, as there’s a lot to unlearn, but the system is actually very straightforward. Not only is accuracy not an issue but there’s no cover or overwatch either. Also, under normal conditions, only one character can move once per turn. That might sound weird, but it works fine in practice, especially as characters do move automatically as part of an attack, which is important when you’re setting them up to knock one enemy into another or trying to get the angle right on kicking a crate at someone.

The maps themselves are all very small, basically just a single screen in size, with most battles never lasting more than 15 minutes. Rather than being restrictive, this creates a wonderfully interconnected set of systems, that’s reminiscent of the chess-like machinations of Into The Breach. Midnight Suns is a lot more forgiving than that game, but it’s still filled with lots of painful choices about whether to focus your attacks on one particular bad guy, save some heroism points to heal an ally, or use one of your two redraw chances to try and get a better card.

The whole interconnected, puzzle-like design works magnificently well, and we haven’t got a single bad thing to say about the combat. The strategy level meta back at base isn’t as complex or non-linear as XCOM, but there is an equivalent to research and development, where you complete challenges (like going on a certain number of missions with a particular hero) in order to unlock new features and upgrade cards.

Cards are upgraded simply by fusing two of the same type together but it’s all much more interesting than that because the energy needed to do so can often only be obtained by sacrificing another card. About 20 hours into the game (out of a total of around 60) you also get mods you can add to cards, for additional perks, as the game’s sprawling story continuously introduces more elements.

If 60 hours sounds like a lot, you’re not wrong but there are a ton of additional features to explore and unlock that we’ve barely got the space to mention, from challenge modes and secondary objectives with their own unlockables, to additional features like sending heroes out on covert missions and crafting new cards and consumables. There is a mountain of content here, that absolutely justifies the mammoth campaign length, and it’s all interesting.

That said, it wouldn’t hurt if there were a few more mission types, or battles where you were fighting in the air or in vehicles, but the combat is so intrinsically entertaining that that barely registers as a complaint. What is more of a problem, though, is the story and dialogue, which often struggles to fill the lengthy running time.

It’s not that the script is bad per se, but it is workmanlike and many of the voiceovers are sub-par, especially the weirdly camp take on Doctor Strange and the not-quite-good-enough impression of Robert Downey Jr. Everyone trying to be flippant all the time is a clear attempt to be more like the Marvel movies, but inevitability the quip hit rate is low and it can all become a bit grating.

What works better is the central theme of troubled childhoods and poor parenting, which is reflected in almost all the characters, to some degree or another, and from various different perspectives. However, the science vs. magic angle, that fuels many of the inter-team arguments is less engaging, since it’s never successfully anchored to the real world.

Viewed in its totality, the storytelling works but the day-to-day business of doing a mission and then mooching about The Abbey does begin to get very rote. Waking up each morning to go into the War Room, only to hear more bickering between the various heroes, begins to feel very much like turning up to work and putting up with the same old complaints from colleagues who you really wish would just give it a rest.

It doesn’t help that, combined with the often mediocre voice-acting, the character graphics aren’t quite good enough to sell the melodrama. They look great from a distance, with an excellent cinematic camera for when you’re controlling everyone in a fight, but when they’re standing there in front of you, trying to emote, they just look like animatronic puppets. It’s also a shame that the art design isn’t more distinctive, with no sign of the 90s excess that fuelled the specific comic books the game is inspired by.

Strategy fans have eaten well this year and between this and Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope it’s been great to see not only an abundance of new ideas but successful efforts to ensure they remain enjoyable and accessible for all. Some will find the social elements of Midnight Suns too long-winded and repetitive but they’re inoffensive at worst and certain plot points do build to a crescendo at the end, along with some effective foreshadowing for elements such as the Hulk’s turn to evil.

In terms of action – and, despite being a strategy game, action is definitely the right term – the game works superbly well and no matter how you take the storytelling it’s clearly necessary in terms of pacing and variety. Midnight Suns requires your time and attention to get the most out of it, but the rewards are many and great, in one of the most daringly unconventional games of the year.

Formats: PC (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5
Price: £49.99
Publisher: 2K
Developer: Firaxis Games
Release Date: 2nd December 2022 (last gen TBA)
Age Rating: 12

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MORE : Midnight Suns is morbin’ it up with Morbius – no sign of Jared Leto

MORE : Every Marvel game in development – from Spider-Man 2 to Midnight Suns

MORE : Marvel’s Midnight Suns interview – XCOM meets Marvel meets Persona

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New games including Starfield, Zelda: Tears Of The Kindom, and Resident Evil 4 already have firm release dates but what else is out in 2023?

The quantity of new video games released in 2022 may have been less than usual but the quality was well above average, and it’s already looking like 2023 could be even better. As with last year, a lot of the games out in the first few months are ones delayed from Christmas but that’s becoming less of a problem as games companies slowly recover from the pandemic.

While many games don’t have an exact release date you’ve got the likes of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Street Fighter 6, Diablo 4, and Final Fantasy 16 all ready to go in the first half of the year. Beyond that, things do get a bit sketchier but games such as Spider-Man 2 and Assassin’s Creed Mirage have already been promised for the second half of the year.

What’s most exciting about 2023 is that both Microsoft and Sony have said very little about their future plans during 2022, so that hopefully means they’ve got a ton of new games waiting to be revealed or seen in action for the first time, as we finally see the next generation of consoles moving into top gear.

Confirmed for 2023

20 January – Fire Emblem Engage (NS)
The first big release of the year is the latest mainline entry in Nintendo’s increasingly popular tactical role-playing series. The first wave of DLC is out the same day too, themed around 2019’s Three Houses.

24 January – Forspoken (PS5/PC)
Like many spring games this was originally meant to come out in 2022, but Square Enix’s new action role-playing franchise wasn’t looking too impressive when we played it in December.

27 January – Dead Space (XSX/PS5/PC)
The Callisto Protocol, the spiritual sequel to Dead Space, was a bit of a disappointment but perhaps this official remake of the first game will fare better, as the survival horror renaissance continues.

10 February – Hogwarts Legacy (XSX/PS5/PC)
The eternally delayed Harry Potter role-playing game is finally nearing release, although the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions have been delayed until April 4 and the Switch version till July 25.

17 February – Wild Hearts (XSX/PS5/PC)
There have been many Monster Hunter clones over the years but a big budget release from EA still seems like a surprising move, even if the developer is Dynasty Warriors developer Omega Force.

22 February – Horizon VR: Call Of The Mountain (PSVR2)
The PlayStation VR2 is out on February 22 and this is the most high profile of its launch titles. It, and many of the others, look great but the problem here is the cost of it all, not the desirability of the games and hardware.

23 February – Company Of Heroes 3 (PC)
Relic’s long-awaited return to the real-time strategy genre covers the Italian front in the Second World War. Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 versions are due later in the year but don’t have a date yet.

24 February – Octopath Traveler 2 (PS4/NS/PS5/PC)
Square Enix’s Japanese role-playing series returns with what seems like the best use of 2D-HD graphics yet. Plus, this time it’s not a Switch timed exclusive, with PlayStation versions out on the same day.

28 February – Destiny 2: Lightfall (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
The second part in the current trilogy of expansions will introduce the planet of Neptune for the first time, as well as a new Darkness power called Strand, that works as both a grappling hook and weapon.

3 March – Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
Between this, Rise Of The Rōnin, and hints at new Ninja Gaiden and Dead Or Alive sequels, Team Ninja are suddenly very busy, but this new action role-playing series set in feudal China is out first.

9 March – Skull And Bones (XSX/PS5/PC)
Despite having been in development for the best part of a decade it’s hard to detect much excitement for Ubisoft’s multiplayer pirate game but it’ll finally be out soon… hopefully.

17 March – Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (XSX/PS5/PC)
The sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order goes next gen-only, with the gameplay trailer above looking very impressive – even if it’s still not clear what the story is or who’s in the bacta tank.

17 March – Bayonetta Origins: Cereza And The Lost Demon (NS)
Not an action game like Bayonetta 3 but something that appears to be more puzzle-orientated, as a young Bayonetta and her pet demon try to save her mother, in this unexpected prequel.

24 March – Resident Evil 4 (XSX/PS5/PC)
Despite everyone’s understandable qualms, this remake is looking far better than previously expected, with fantastic graphics and a good compromise over the original’s outdated control system.

28 March – Crime Boss: Rockay City (PC)
The Game Awards reveal trailer was more interested in boasting about its Hollywood cast than showing much of the gameplay, but this appears to be a cross between GTA and co-op game Payday.

19 April – Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores (PS5)
The second of the year’s Horizon releases (that we know of) is the long-expected DLC expansion for Horizon Forbidden West, set in the volcano strewn remains of Los Angeles.

28 April – Dead Island 2 (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
Another game that’s suffered more delays (and developers) than seems physically possible. The last few trailers have been encouraging but it’s hard to say how well it’s compensated for the fact that the original was 12 years ago now.

12 May – The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom (NS)
Voted the most anticipated game of 2023 at The Game Awards and it needs no explanation for why, even though we still know little about the story or exactly how similar it is to Breath Of The Wild.

26 May – Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (XSX/PS5/PC)
It’s now eight years since Batman: Arkham Knight and this new co-op game set in the same universe is very, very late. It’s also extremely worrying that there’s only been a few seconds of gameplay shown so far, and none at all in the most recent trailer.

2 June – Street Fighter 6 (PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
Capcom’s iconic fighting game is multiformat this generation and so far the response seems to be very positive, with some fun looking new characters and an interesting attempt to add a worthwhile story mode.

6 June – Diablo 4 (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
It’s Activision and Call Of Duty that gets all the attention but if Microsoft’s acquisition goes through they’ll own all Blizzard games too. Although this new dungeon crawler sequel will remain multiformat.

22 June – Final Fantasy 16 (PS5)
As usual for a mainline entry this new role-player has no connection to its predecessors, with a new grim and gritty tone influenced by Game of Thrones – except with traditional Final Fantasy summons on top.

Q1/Q2 2023 – Hollow Knight: Silksong (NS/PC)
Few would’ve imagined that the sequel to indie Metroidvania Hollow Knight would reach Half-Life 3 levels of delay and uncertainty but according to Team Cherry it will be out sometime before June 13.

Q1/Q2 2023 – Starfield (XSX/PC)
Delayed from Christmas 2022, this is Microsoft’s biggest exclusive since the launch of Halo Infinite and so there’s a lot riding on Bethesda’s new sci-fi IP, even if it is still very reminiscent of Fallout and Skyrim.

Q1/Q2 2023 – Redfall (XSX/PC)
There’s still relatively little that’s been shown of the new vampire-themed multiplayer from Arkane Studios but if it comes out before Starfield it could be the first ever first party Xbox Series X/S exclusive.

Q1/Q2 – Minecraft Legends (XO/PS4/NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
After the success of Minecraft Dungeons, this new spin-off is part action game and part real-time strategy, which could potentially make it of interest to non-Minecraft fans.

Q2 – Forza Motorsport (XSX/PC)
In 2022, Microsoft didn’t say a word about any first party game beyond Starfield and Redfall, so it’s still unclear whether this is really out in the spring or if rumours of it being free-to-play are true.

August – Baldur’s Gate 3 (PC)
After years in early access Baldur’s Gate 3 is now finally nearing its official release, although there’s still no word on the hopefully inevitable console versions.

Autumn – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (PS5)
The only confirmed Sony exclusive so far this year and given the implied date likely to be their big Christmas release, although there are still virtually no details – including the question of whether it has co-op play.

2023 – Hades 2 early access (PC)
The full game, including the console versions, won’t be out until much later but you will be able to play Hades 2 this year, as it follows the same PC-only early access route as its predecessor.

2023 – Assassin’s Creed Mirage (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
Three years is a long time to go without a new Assassin’s Creed game and there’s still no firm release date for this spin-off set in 9th century Baghdad, although rumours suggest it’s due in the first half of the year.

2023 – Alan Wake 2 (XSX/PS5/PC)
About the only thing we know for sure about this unexpected sequel is that it’s more of a full-on survival horror than the original, but there’s still yet to be any gameplay footage.

2023 – S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart Of Chornobyl (XSX/PC)
There’s going to be a lot of sympathy for Ukrainian developer GSC Game World when their long-awaited sequel finally arrives but its mix of first person action, role-playing, and survival horror always looked enticing.

2023 – Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
It’s hard to imagine FromSoftware’s first release after Elden Ring being anywhere near as big, given what an insufferably hardcore giant mech sim Armored Core usually is, but we shall have to see.

2023 – Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (XSX/PS5/PC)
Although CD Projekt is making a sequel, that won’t be out for many years yet. This one, and only, slice of story DLC is out sometime this year though, and stars not only Keanu Reeves but also Idris Elba.

2023 – EA Sports FC/FIFA 24 (TBC)
Normally there’d be no point even mentioning a new FIFA, it’s just a given, but now that EA has lost the licence any new game will be by a different developer, as EA instead switch names, and probably not much else, to EA Sports FC.

2023 – New Call Of Duty
Rumours suggest that there won’t be a new mainline Call Of Duty release this year but instead a major DLC expansion, continuing the story of Modern Warfare 2. Nothing’s confirmed but Activision’s wording on the issue is very suspect.

2023 – Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (XO/PS4/NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
The spiritual sequel to Suikoden, by many of the original developers, has been one of the biggest Kickstarter games of recent years and while prequel Rising was disappointing hopefully this won’t be.

2023 – Pikmin 4 (NS)
It’s never been one of their biggest sellers but since it’s a favourite of Shigeru Miyamoto the pikmin keep coming back, although this sequel promises to shake up the formula a little more than previous games.

2023 – Silent Hill: Ascension (TBC)
The least interesting of the forthcoming Silent Hill games is the only one confirmed for this year, so you’ll have to wait a bit longer for Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill f. It’s not entirely clear, but Ascension seems to essentially be a cross between Until Dawn and Twitch Plays Pokémon.

2023 – Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (XSX/PS5/PC)
Thanks to Henry Cavill, Warhammer is suddenly big news and as usual there’s a gazillion video game tie-ins planned for this year. This is the biggest: a sequel to the flawed but generally popular third person shooter from 2011.

2023 – The Last Of Us multiplayer (TBC)
Sony’s silence during 2022 has been such that they still haven’t given a name to Naughty Dog’s multiplayer game, yet alone a release date or confirmation of rumours that it’s free-to-play.

2023 – Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (PS5)
Technically, this isn’t confirmed for 2023 as its release date is currently down as late 2023 or early 2024. Either way though, the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project is much anticipated.

Possible for 2023

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (XSX/PC)
Although once implied to be an early release for the Xbox Series X/S, there have been no major updates on Hellblade 2 in quite a while, so it’s very hard to guess whether it’s imminent or not.

Fable (XSX/PC)
It’s the same problem for Fable, which you’d assume will at least be unveiled this year and could potentially be Microsoft’s big 2023 Christmas release. Or maybe Christmas 2024, no one really knows.

Tekken 8 (XSX/PS5/PC)
Although it has now been officially announced it’s not certain exactly how far along the new Tekken is or whether Bandai Namco wants to put it head-to-head with Street Fighter 6 – or just wait till next year.

skate.
It’s still unclear when the new Skate (which is not called Skate 4) is being released but it is possible you’ll at least get some sort of early access this year, even if the full game isn’t out till 2024.

Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora (XSX/PS5/PC)
It remains to be seen if the second movie will be as big as the first, but that didn’t help the success of any previous video game adaptations, so it’s hard to know what to expect from this new open world one, which is, rather indecisively, scheduled for either 2023 or 2024.

Hellboy: Web Of Wyrd (XO/PS4/NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
A welcome surprise for fans of the comics (like us) at The Game Awards, there’s so far been no clue as to a release date, but it did seem as if it was meant to be out sooner rather than later.

Unlikely for 2023

New BioShock
Although 2K officially announced a new BioShock game several years ago, from new studio Cloud Chamber, the only information on it has come from rumours and they don’t suggest a 2023 launch.

Judas (XSX/PS5/PC)
The creator of the original BioShock games, Ken Levine, is working on his own new game at the moment, but while there was some gameplay footage at The Game Awards it doesn’t seem likely to come out in 2024 either.

The Witcher
It doesn’t seem as if work on the remake of the very first The Witcher game has progressed far enough to expect a 2023 launch, and yet it’s still the furthest along of any of the new Witcher projects.

The Outer Worlds 2 (XSX/PC)
This was once implied to be relatively imminent but like most Microsoft first party games there was no update on its progress in 2022, and with no leaks its release date is currently pure guesswork.

Avowed (XSX/PC)
Obsidian’s other big game is in exactly the same position, as nothing has been seen or heard of it since 2020. It looked like a Skyrim clone at that point, but that was before Microsoft bought Skyrim maker Bethesda.

Assassin’s Creed Infinity
Mirage is almost certainly the only major new Assassin’s Creed release this year, with the games codenamed Hexe and Red – which are part of the Infinity meta game – not expected until 2024 or later.

Kingdom Hearts 4
The screenshot tease, that may have hinted at a Star Wars crossover, seemed to imply the game was on the fast track but nothing has been heard since and it’s now almost certain that it’s not out this year.

Marvel’s Iron Man
Sony isn’t the only one to have access to the Marvel licence, as the new standalone Iron Man game is a multiformat game from EA. They’re also rumoured to have a Black Panther game in development (not to be confused with Amy Hennig’s Black Panther and Captain America game) but it seems Iron Man will be out first – just not this year.

Star Wars: Eclipse
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is one of this year’s first big games, but it doesn’t seem likely that there’ll be any others in 2023. Quantic Dream’s Eclipse is thought to be years away, we still haven’t seen anything on Ubisoft’s open world game, and the Knights Of The Old Republic remake is probably cancelled. There are some other titles coming via Respawn, that are implied to be lower budget, but so far we don’t know anything concrete about those either.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
A long term resident of our ‘unlikely to be out this year’ section, at least Dragon Age 4 has a name now, which is more than can be said for the new Mass Effect, which is believed to be even further out.

New Tomb Raider
The unexpected announcement that Amazon will be acting as publisher for Lara Croft’s latest is the only real information we’ve had on the game this year, which probably won’t be out until at least 2025.

Perfect Dark
Crystal Dynamics are busy at the moment. Not only do they have Tomb Raider and what’s left of Avengers in development but they’re also helping out Microsoft with their Perfect Dark reboot – allegedly after half the original staff left the project in turmoil.

Metroid Prime 4 (NS)
It’s almost certainly not out this year (although you can never tell with Nintendo) but we would be surprised if we didn’t at least see the first footage this year, perhaps at E3 in June.

Beyond Good And Evil 2
The lack of news and the exit of series creator Michel Ancel has made it very difficult to care about the impossibly long wait for this sequel, and it’s hard to imagine any of those factors changing in 2023.

Death Stranding 2
Announced at The Game Awards, this follow-up to the 2019 original may be called something different by that time it’s released, which most certainly will not be in 2023.

The Sims 5
It’s easy to forget that EA has actually announced The Sims 5, aka Project Rene, but there’s zero chance of the game being released this year, beyond perhaps some limited early access features.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 (PS5)
Capcom said this wouldn’t be out anytime soon, when they first announced it, and they don’t seem to be lying. It’s not even necessarily certain that we’ll get to a preview or trailer this year.

XCOM 3
Frustratingly, given the last game was one of our all-time favourites, just about the only rumour from the Nvidia mega link that hasn’t yet been proven true so far is XCOM 3 – but here’s hoping it’s at least announced in 2023.

Grand Theft Auto 6
Although there’s no chance of Rockstar’s long-awaited sequel being released this year there is a reasonable chance they’ll start talking about it in detail and perhaps release the first trailer.

Half-Life 3
It’s hard to imagine a year when this won’t be part of our unlikely list but while there have been rumours of Valve vaguely thinking about making the game, they don’t seem to have thought about it very hard.

Also confirmed for 2023:
19 January – Colossal Cave (NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
19 January – Persona 3 Portable (XO/PS4/NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
19 January – Persona 4 Golden (XO/PS4/NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
20 January – Monster Hunter Rise (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5)
26 January – Disgaea 7 (PS4/NS/PS5) – Japan only, Western release TBC
2 February – Deliver Us Mars (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
16 February – Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (PS4/NS)
17 February – The Settlers: New Allies (PC)
17 February – Tales Of Symphonia Remastered (XO/PS4/NS)
21 February – Like A Dragon: Ishin (PS4/PS5)
21 February – Atomic Heart (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
24 February – Kerbal Space Program 2 early access (PC)
24 February – Kirby’s Return To Dream Land Deluxe (NS)
February – Darkest Dungeon 2 (PC)
3 March – The Last Of Us Part 1 (PC)
9 March – Project Zero: Mask Of The Lunar Eclipse (XO/PS4/NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
March – Amnesia: The Bunker (XO/PS4/PC)
4 April – Meet Your Maker (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
14 April – Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection (PS4/NS/PC)
April – Star Trek Resurgence (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
Q1 – Dead Cells: Return To Castlevania DLC (XO/PS4/NS/PC)
Early 2023 – Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
Early 2023 – Returnal (PC)
Early 2023 – Flintlock: The Siege Of Dawn (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
Spring – Nightingale (PC)
June – RoboCop: Rogue City (NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
Summer – Goodbye Volcano High (PS4/PS5/PC)
Summer – Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
Summer – The Expanse: A Telltale Series (TBC)
Summer – Disney Dreamlight Valley (XO/PS4/NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
December – Mina The Hollower (PC)
Late 2023 – Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden (XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum (XO/PS4/NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Star Wars: Hunters (NS/iOS/Android)
2023 – Ark 2 early access (XSX/PC)
2023 – Black Myth: Wukong (XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Crash Team Rumble (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5)
2023 – Aliens: Dark Descent (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – The Division: Heartland (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Payday 3 (TBC)
2023 – Metal Slug Tactics (NS/PC)
2023 – Transformers: Reactivate beta (PC)
2023 – Exoprimal (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – The Wolf Among Us 2 (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – EA Sports PGA Tour (XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Homeworld 3 (PC)
2023 – The Lords Of The Fallen (XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Fallout 4 (XSX/PS5)
2023 – The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Pragmata (XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Hyenas (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Lollipop Chainsaw remake (TBC)
2023 – Park Beyond (XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Disney Speedstorm (XO/PS4/NS/XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Under The Waves (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals (PS4/NS/PS5/PC)
2023 – Viewfinder (PS5/PC)
2023 – Replaced (XO/XSX/PC)
2023 – Immortals Of Aveum (XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Atlas Fallen (XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – After Us (XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Cocoon (XO/NS/XSX/PC)
2023 – Open Roads (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
2023 – Season (PS5/PC)
2023 – Blue Protocol (XSX/PS5/PC)

Confirmed for 2024 or otherwise highly unlikely for 2023:
Marvel’s Wolverine (PS5)
Wonder Woman (XSX/PS5/PC)
Slitterhead (PC)
Earthblade (PC)
Like A Dragon 8
Rise Of The Rōnin (PS5)
MachineGames’ Indiana Jones game
Io Interactive’s Project 007 (XSX/PS5)
The Elder Scrolls 6

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Marvel Cinematic Universe actress Letitia Wright, 29, on how her Marvel role brings more attention to her independent projects, engaging with passionate fans, and her new film The Silent Twins.

In your time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which you play Black Panther’s Shuri, which Marvel actor did you really want to meet?

I guess… Robert. Iron Man. Can I suss him out? But he was cool! I had lunch with him – just sitting opposite Robert Downey Jr, having lunch – what the heck? He’s like, ‘Do you wanna soda?’ OK! Just having fun.

That changed a lot. He wasn’t [too proud] to serve someone else or give help or chat and ask you how everything’s been going. He was cool.

Another person I was really interested to meet was Chris Pratt. I just really love him as a person. He really embraced me, showed me a lot of love.

Do you engage much with fans online?

When you’re a part of the Marvel universe, whoever tweets about anything, they’re going to be on you!

People are like, ‘Tell us what you know?’ I’m like, ‘Hey, I just said the suit was cool. Leave me alone, I’m logging off now!’ They’re excited and their excitement makes me excited. I’m really happy about that.

Do you ever take any mementos from set?

Nah! They don’t let you take stuff.

In The Silent Twins, you play the Welsh-Barbadian June Gibbons, who spoke only to her twin Jennifer for years. How did you get involved?

Before it became a film, I saw it on YouTube, like most of my friends who came across this documentary about them, and I was intrigued. And then I forgot about it for a couple of years and then I met Aga [Smoczynska, director].

I was doing a play at the Young Vic and she came with this book andsaid, ‘Hey, there’s this movie we’re making.’

I’m like, ‘I know this story’ –I felt like there’s more to them. And then right after that, we started casting and found the wonderful Tamara Lawrance [to play June’s sister, Jennifer]. Once we found Tamara, I had that person to be vulnerable with.

The twins’ story is tragic, especially when they’re sent to Broadmoor for 11 years after going on a crime spree of burglary, theft and arson. How did you research that?

We literally just dived into it. The research that we all did together, over the months, allowed the story to just stay in our bodies and stay in our souls. They really recreated Broadmoor and that institutional feeling of what Broadmoor is.

And walking on set, you literally felt those emotions that would run through you. You were 18 being put into a mental institution. So the scenes that we had to do together, they were heavy, they were hard, there were some days that we took it home.

Do you have siblings yourself? Did that help you prepare?

Yes, yes. I’m the eldest, though. I have little sisters and brothers.

Jennifer died in Bridgend, aged 29, but June is now 59. Did you meet her?

June lives a private life in the UK and we respect her for that. She’s been through a lot but she’s really happy. And we know that she’s in contact with those who have seen the film who are very close to her.

She’s so pleased that we’ve done it with integrity. So one day, we will get to meet her, but we respect her wishes [for privacy]. But I know that she does love the film. There’s beauty to that story.

Is the exposure you’ve gained through making Marvel films a great way to help smaller projects like this and your recent film Aisha get made?

That’s a great question. I love independent film-making. That’s where my heart is at. Theatre as well. For me, the Marvel universe is just an extension of playing a character that is inspiring and impactful, especially for a lot of black women.

We don’t see ourselves in these roles of playing scientists like Shuri. So playing a scientist alone in the Marvel universe is amazing.

But because I started my career doing theatre, independent film-making, that’s what I love. This [bigger, Marvel] platform has allowed me to gain more people watching my stuff, so it’s beautiful when all of those things come together – it’s a win-win situation.

You get to have impact in the big Marvel Cinematic Universe. But you also get to have impact in the arthouse cinema. Without that, maybe this would never have come to me. It all comes hand in hand.

How different is it making a small movie to a blockbuster?

The method is still the same. To wrap my head around it – the bigger-scale work is just work that is projected to a wider audience. More people are able to see it.

It’s shifted in that sense. But the hard work and the commitment still remain the same.

I don’t mind going back doing a little indie if that’s where the story takes me and that’s where the characters are that I want to play. Or a radio play… Wherever the good stories are, I’m going to go. Just to have these movies come out now and be really successful, it’s really cool.

The Silent Twins is now on Apple TV

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Robert Downey Jr was actually considered for another superhero role before landing his Iron Man gig.

Speaking this week, director Jon Favreau revealed who 58-year-old Robert was first in talks to play, and the MCU would have been unrecognisable.

Before playing Tony Stark, Jon, 56, said Robert had met with Marvel about a Fantastic Four role.

Speaking at an event that marked Iron Man’s 15^th anniversary, Jon explained how 2008’s Iron Man came to be.

The blockbuster famously kicked off the MCU’s first phase.

Jon was chatting to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige when he touched upon the fact Robert had met with the studio to discuss playing Doctor Doom in 2005’s Fantastic Four.

‘I remember you had all met with him already for like Doctor Doom or something on another project,’ Jon said.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Mandalorian creator went on: ‘I think he had come through on like maybe Fantastic Four, so everybody sort of knew who he was.’

However, when Robert was later brought in to screen test for Iron Man, they immediately saw ‘that spark’ in him.

‘Once it was him, that’s when my life got a lot easier because he understood the voice of the character,’ Jon continued.

‘And then one by one, people were just signing on board because now it became something interesting.’

As for Robert’s upcoming projects, it was recently revealed that he and Steven Knight will collaborate on a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller Vertigo.

Originally released in 1958 and based on the 1954 novel D’entre les morts (From Among the Dead) by Boileau-Narcejac, the psychological thriller follows police detective John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson, who has retired because an incident in the line of duty has caused him to develop an extreme feat of heights and vertigo.

The detective, played by James Stewart, is hired by an acquaintance, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), as a private investigator to follow Gavin’s wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), who is behaving strangely.

According to reports, Paramount Pictures has pre-emptively acquired the rights to a remake of the classic film.

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Warning: spoilers ahead for episode 6 finale of Secret Invasion.

The Secret Invasion episode 6 finale has thrown Marvel fans through an emotional loop.

Not only was extremist rebel Skrull Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) taken down by the superpowered G’iah (Emilia Clarke), who now boasts Captain Marvel’s abilities, but Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) shared a romantic reconciliation with his wife Varra (Charlayne Woodard) in her natural form.

However, one particular moment in the final instalment involving Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and linking to his fallen friend Iron Man, aka Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) has left viewers in tears.

After G’iah defeats Gravik, she helps to free humans that have been kept captive in the Skrull compound, including the real human Rhodey and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman).

As Rhodey wakes up, he’s seen to be wearing what looks like a hospital gown, as soldiers help to carry him outside the headquarters to freedom.

If you thought the hospital gown looked familiar, then there’s a reason for that… as the last time that we saw War Machine in that outfit was in the 2016 movie Captain America: Civil War, when he was scanned in an MRI machine after being accidentally shot out of the sky by Vision and paralysed from the waist down.

Both hospital gowns were blue with short sleeves and a white rim, so unless we’re mistaken, this is a vital clue pointing towards the conclusion that a Skrull has been impersonating the military man since that point of his life.

To add to that, if the real Rhodey has been imprisoned by the Skrulls since Civil War… then that means that he might have no idea that his best friend Tony died in Avengers: Endgame in the battle against Thanos.

This discovery has devastated fans, as one tweeted: ‘Rhodey has been a Skrull since CW [Civil War]… he doesn’t know Tony is d word….. I’m sick actually.’

‘I didn’t think about this… thank you for ruining my day,’ another said, while someone else wrote: ‘It’s messed up that #Rhodey has no idea that #TonyStark is dead in #SecretInvasion.’

To summarise – we’re not ok.

Since Civil War, Don has appeared in several more MCU releases as Rhodey, including Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

He’s set to also lead the upcoming TV show-turned-movie Armor Wars, so hopefully the film will shed further light on his capture.

Secret Invasion is available to watch on Disney Plus.

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The fact that Marvel video games keep flopping has apparently not gone unnoticed but what can be done to make them all hits like Spider-Man?

You would think that video games based on Marvel characters would be a licence to print money but in the majority of cases the opposite has been true, with almost everything except Sony’s Spider-Man games proving a massive flop.

Despite being critical hits the Guardians Of The Galaxy and Midnight Suns games were both such failures they ended up having dire consequences for the developers, as they were either sold off or saw an exodus of key staff.

Multiple mobile games have been shut down, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 on the Switch didn’t perform well either, and even Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite was a disappointment. This fact has seemingly not gone unnoticed by Marvel and according to one source they’re keenly aware their video game projects haven’t reached their full potential.

Insider CanWeGetSomeToast usually deals with the movie and TV side of the Marvel business, but, commenting on a list of recent game failures, he claims there have been ‘whispers of an internal shift for Marvel to focus on games.’

‘The new EA Black Panther and Iron Man games will be the start of a push for something big,’ they added.

Both are those are EA games, who must be sweating considering there’s no precedence for any Marvel game other than Spider-Man selling well.

There’s also the Captain American and Black Panther team-up game by Amy Hennig on its way, as well as a new Wolverine game by Spider-Man developer Insomniac.

The success of that game will be particularly interesting. Although given Wolverine is probably Marvel’s second most popular hero, it’ll still be difficult to know whether to attribute any success to the character or the game itself.

What’s certainly become clear is that anything but the very top tier of Marvel characters cannot carry their own games and even the popular ones can’t prop up a team game.

It is hard to understand why though, as these games were failing even before the disappointment of the most recent phase of movies and TV shows.

One problem may be that none of the games are based on the movies but take place in their own universe, usually based more closely on the comics. That hasn’t dulled enthusiasm for Spider-Man but many players may be disappointed that Iron Man isn’t Robert Downey Jr. (it’s usually just a bad impression of him) and that Star-Lord neither looks nor acts like Chris Pratt.

It’s going to be interesting to see what difference it will make having Marvel ‘focus’ on games more. Although one obvious option is to bring them into the cinematic universe, and make them canon, as is the case with Star Wars games.

Another option could be to create a connected game universe, although that seems impossible given multiple publishers are involved and some of the titles are format exclusives.

If Marvel is planning a change of tack, then it’s not at all obvious what they need to do…

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A boy born with only one hand is delighted to have ‘become Iron Man’ after being given a superhero-themed bionic arm.

Jacob Hyatt, seven, can now ride his bike safely thanks to the new limb, which his family were delighted to buy for him after a superhuman fundraising effort.

Mum Bernice Hyatt, from Bedfordshire, says her son is ‘over the moon’ and keen to high-five anyone he meets.

The schoolboy, who fell in love with a high-tech prosthetic last year – was given the custom-made limb after well-wishers came together to raise £13,000.

Bernice, a 33-year-old florist, explained: ‘He keeps asking me to put on music so he can clap along – and he wants to high five or fist-bump everyone he meets.

‘I have always taught Jacob it’s good to be different – you don’t have to fit in.

‘But despite that, there are things he has always struggled with, so the second he tried on the bionic arm, he was desperate to get one.

‘Leading up to the day he got the arm, every day he would ask “Mummy, why is it taking so long?”’

Jacob, from Eaton Bray, got his arm from Open Bionics after being given a new bike for Christmas.

And now the youngster can cycle with his friends without wobbling or worrying about falling off.

Bernice continued: ‘When we got the call to collect the arm, he was jumping around with excitement saying “I’m going to be Iron Man!”

‘Since he got the arm, he’s worn it every day and wanted to show it off to anyone he meets.

‘Every day he realises there are more and more things he can do now – especially now he can finally ride a bike’.

Bernice, also mum to nine-month-old Blake, first learned her eldest son Jacob’s hand was missing at her 20-week pregnancy scan.

His arm had stopped developing early in the pregnancy.

Jacob’s mum vowed to help him grow up feeling confident and unique, finding ways around potential problems by making the youngster as independent as possible – like buying clothes with zips instead of buttons.

But Bernice said that as he grew up, she found her son becoming more aware of things he struggled to do – after first asking why he only had one hand when he was just four.

Then she saw a post on Facebook last year mentioning a trial of Open Bionics’ new bionic ‘hero arm’ and put Jacob’s name forward.

He was invited to attend and came away desperate for one of his own.

‘I nearly cried when he began picking up and dropping tennis balls and doing the “OK” hand sign – his eyes completely lit up’, Bernice recalled.

‘I remember him saying “Mum, look what I can do!” and I knew we had to get one for him.

‘He still does things in his own way, but he doesn’t get frustrated now. It still takes a lot of effort for him to do some things, but he’s able to do so much more.’

It took just a few weeks for the fundraising target to hit its goal – and Jacob went on to collect it on February 24.

Bernice, who lives with partner Jamie Buchanan, 44, and his two children, said of her son’s life with own arm: ‘Although it was all he had ever known, he could get a bit frustrated at times because there were things he couldn’t do the same way as other children.

‘Simple things like opening the car door, and opening a packet of crisps – he does it all by himself now.

‘Every day there’s something new he learns how to do, and gets excited shouting “Mummy I can do it!”.’

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Robert Downey Jr has revealed what superhero he would have played if he was not Iron Man.

It’s hard to imagine the actor as any other hero from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he seemed to have the perfect answer.

In an interview with Radio 1, Robert was posed with a series of questions submitted by children, and one of them asked which character – other than Tony Stark – would he have been keen on taking over.

‘I can’t think of any red-blooded American boy that didn’t imagine themselves as Spider-Man growing up,’ he replied.

Which is fair enough.

He continued: ‘However, looking back on it now – also because I’m just such a Jeremy Renner fan and he made it so cool, particularly when he turns into Ronin [in Avengers: Endgame] – I would say Hawkeye would be my go-to.’

And when asked what his favourite pair of underpants was, Robert admitted that he actually owns his very own pair of Iron Man underwear.

‘But I would never wear them two days in a row,’ he stated.

The 54–year-old previously hinted at the idea he could return to the role of Iron Man, aka Tony Stark – despite his character being killed off in Avengers: Endgame – and admitted that ‘anything could happen’.

Speaking to Extra TV alongside his wife Susan Downey, he said: ‘As far as I’m concerned, I hung up my guns and I’m good to let it go.

‘I also think that Marvel is on this journey now, they’re trying a bunch of other stuff and you know, I’m excited for them to see how that all goes.’

He added: ‘It’d be hard to project. But you know, we’ve got a bunch of other stuff.’

You never know, we could be seeing Iron Man back in the near future…

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Avengers: Endgame theories have been rife since the movie’s release but the Marvel fandom has been left reeling by one which suggests that Tony Stark could still be alive.

Don’t tell us we went through all that pain for nothing.

Fans were absolutely heartbroken when Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) met his tragic end after sacrificing himself to defeat Thanos and most of us were in denial for weeks.

But Reddit user ankitkvishwakarma has taken it to an entirely new level.

‘TONY STARK is backed up in form of an A.I. ! Possible proofs from ENDGAME. Endgame’s scene no one noticed,’ they wrote. Consider us intrigued.

They cite a scene near the end of the movie, which sees a hologram of Tony speak to Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his daughter Morgan (Lexi Rabe) from beyond the grave.

While it’s assumed he recorded the unique message to say goodbye to his family for him in the event of his death, the fan was suspicious about the way the hologram makes eye contact with Morgan, with its eyes darting between his wife and child.

‘How would Tony know that Morgan would be sitting on the Sofa when Pepper and Morgan would be watching the Hologram and also how would he know the location from where the hologram was getting projected?’ they asked.

‘Not just the location but how would a 3D hologram make an eye contact with a human (Morgan). How would Tony know the locations before recording?’

With the fan theorising that a version of Tony’s brain was backed up in his helmet, they went on to point out that it’s entirely possible after an Iron Man AI was introduced in the 2015 Ironheart comic books.

We wouldn’t put it past him TBH.

Despite it being tempting to bring the beloved character back by any means, fans might see this as a bit of a cop-out after such an apt ending for him.

It’s already been claimed that Robert could be set to return to screens as Tony in the Black Widow movie as the film takes place after Civil War but before Infinity War.

Meanwhile, we could actually see the star come back as an AI after sources told We Got This Covered that Marvel is keen to explore the story of Riri Williams’ Ironheart.

So never fear guys, Tony could be back before we know it.

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Robert Downey Jr isn’t a man of many words when it comes to awards acceptance speeches, but he made sure to thank the late Stan Lee at the People’s Choice Awards.

The actor, 54, was honoured with the Male Movie Star award at the 2019 People’s Choice Awards on Sunday night for his role in Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame.

He kept his speech short and sweet but made sure to thank the comic book legend who cast him as Tony Stark, otherwise known as Iron Man.

Robert told the crowd: ‘Well look, I just got to come up here and open the show so I’ll just say thank you Disney, thank you Marvel, thank you Russo brothers.

‘And most of all, to the late, great Stan Lee. This is for you, buddy.’

Stan, who had famously made subtle cameo appearances in all of his superhero movies, passed away in November 2018 at the age of 95.

He passed away six weeks before his 96th birthday after being rushed to hospital earlier in the day.

Stan had told fans in February that he had been admitted to hospital for pneumonia, and his cause of death was listed as cardiac arrest with respiratory failure.

Avengers: Endgame saw Iron Man sacrifice himself for the betterment of humanity, and the film ended up becoming the highest grossing film of all time, after taking $2.8 billion (£2.2 billion) at the box office.

As well as a People’s Choice Award, Robert has also been put forward for an Oscar for his role in the movie, according to a list made by Disney Studios Awards.

The Oscars will be taking place on 9 February 2020, though Robert has insisted he doesn’t actually want the award.

He told Howard Stern: ‘I’m so glad you brought this up because there was some talk about it, and I said “let’s not”.

‘I’ll tell you the truth. I didn’t expect [the Marvel Cinematic Universe] to become what it became, and it is this very large, multiheaded Hydra at this point.’

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Tony Stark is probably the most famous Marvel superhero of all, but over in Dubai a team of engineers and pilots are giving the fictional hero a run for his money.

The company Jetman Dubai managed a remarkable feat this week as one of their pilots successfully transitioned from a ground-level takeoff into high altitude flight.

The pilot, Vince “Jetman” Reffet is strapped in to a wingsuit and attached to four mini jet engines that can propel him over 3,000 feet (1,000 meters) in 30 seconds.

‘After becoming airborne at the aerial centre by Jumeirah Beach, Reffet hovered five metres above the waters of the Arabian Gulf for 100 seconds,’ the company explained in a statement detailing the flight.

‘Having demonstrated his full control of the flight by performing stops, turns and backward moves, he landed smoothly back onto the Skydive Dubai runway.

‘Reffet then took off again and headed south towards Jumeirah Beach Residence, building speed and height. Travelling at an average speed of 240kmh, he climbed 100m in the air in eight seconds, 200m in 12 seconds, 500m in 19 seconds and 1,000m in 30 seconds.

‘At the end of his three-minute flight, Reffet performed a roll and a loop at 1,800m altitude, before opening his parachute at 1,500m and landing back at Skydive Dubai.’

Thankfully, the team had the presence of mind to shoot some amazing drone videos of this milestone as it occurred. The footage was uploaded to YouTube yesterday and has already amassed over 250,000 views.

‘We are so happy we achieved this incredible flight. It’s the result of extremely thorough teamwork, where each small step generated huge results,’ Reffet said after his successful landing.

‘Everything was planned to the split second, and I was overjoyed by the progress that was achieved. It is another step in a long-term project. One of the next objectives is to land back on the ground after a flight at altitude, without needing to open a parachute. It’s being worked on.’

In the meantime, we can’t stop re-watching the footage of the moment he just takes off and zooms across the water. Iron Man would be proud.

Warning: spoilers ahead for episode 1 of Loki.

The director of Loki has revealed the ‘deliberate’ reference to Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man featured in the first episode of the new Marvel series on Disney Plus.

Episode one of Loki, starring Tom Hiddleston as the MCU’s resident trickster, was full of references to previous Marvel releases, from Loki witnessing his own death in Avengers: Infinity War to discovering a drawer full of Infinity Stones at the TVA (Time Variance Authority).

While some nods may have been coincidental – such as the supposed appearance of Peggy Carter in the background – others were put there on purpose, with director Kate Herron confirming that a parallel to 2008 film Iron Man was completely intentional.

Loki opens with the Avengers: Endgame scene when the 2012 version of Loki steals the Tesseract, vanishing away from the Avengers’ grasp.

Using the Space Stone, he’s transported to a desert, landing in the sand in a similar way to Tony Stark in the first Iron Man film, after he escapes from his captors wearing his first armoured suit.

Film critic Ali Plumb shared a tweet with an image of Tony’s landing in the sand in the first Iron Man film and Loki’s similar landing in the sand at the beginning of his eponymous show, pointing out the similarities.

Loki director Kate responded to the tweet, writing: ‘“Iron Man” was a deliberate one :).’ Our minds are blown!

Following the launch of Loki on Disney Plus, a Reddit user shared a fascinating theory about how the show could link to the massive cliffhanger in the WandaVision finale.

In the post-credits scene for WandaVision’s final episode, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) is seen reading through the Darkhold, the Book of Spells, when she heard her twin sons calling out to her.

The Marvel fan therefore drew the conclusion that at the end of Loki, Wanda may be shown travelling through different timelines trying to find her children.

In Loki, the Asgardian is apprehended by the TVA after stealing the Tesseract, as his escape act resulting in him causing a breach to the timeline.

Rather than have Loki ‘reset’, they decide to use him to their advantage to help them catch another ‘variant’ who is causing major disruptions to the timeline – who happens to be another version of Loki.

Loki returns next Wednesday and is available to watch on Disney Plus.

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Jack Black’s neighbours have been treated to another dance in his pants as the actor turned into a sexy Iron Man for his fans. 

The Tenacious D and School Of Rock star, 51, stripped down to just a pair of red Speedos, shoes, socks and an Iron Man mask as he danced around his yard. 

He arrived from the sky thanks to a clever edit, before shooting fire out of his palms when he landed. 

The visual extravaganza was far from over, however, as Jack was then seen skipping around his garden with a red and yellow flare billowing out colourful smoke in each hand. 

Jack had previously shown off his dance skills when he took on Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s WAP dance routine, and he even incorporated a few of his best moves from that into his new video. 

After a few high kicks, chest shimmies and some hip thrusting, Jack got down on the floor and humped the pavement in the iconic WAP move as his grand finale. 

We can only imagine Jack’s neighbours look forward to the next instalment of his hilarious Instagram videos as much as we do, given he has got quite a few under his belt now. 

As well as the WAP dance and Iron Man, Jack also did an epic routine in a Spider-Man outfit – once again with some editing making it look like he managed to scale the side of his mansion just like the superhero himself. 

Jack also got involved with the Elf on the Shelf rhyming challenge, posting a snap of him mid-jump on his trampoline in a pair of tiny blue pants with Jack Nicholson photoshopped on his shoulder, with a whole heap of famous Jacks on every subsequent star’s shoulder to follow. 

Thank God the winters in Los Angeles are balmy, that’s all we have to say. 

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

MORE : Jack Black twerks and gyrates in his underwear as he does Cardi B’s WAP dance and smashes it

MORE : Jack Black ages backwards in quarantine hair and beard shaving video

The latest Marvel superhero exclusive for the PlayStation 4 is a VR game where you are Iron Man.

It’s easy to argue that Sony’s success this generation hasn’t been because of what they’ve done but because of what they haven’t done. Avoiding any mistakes, while standing back and letting Microsoft make plenty, has been the secret of the PlayStation 4’s success. On the more proactive side of the equation though Sony’s first party games have been especially good this generation. And yet their most laudable achievement has been to push VR, something which is probably much less profitable, and far less certain to have long-term benefits, than anything else they do.

PlayStation VR has been around for almost four years now and while Sony has made relatively few games themselves, they have ensured a steady flow of indie titles for the headset. But now, as we wait to see what their next gen VR plans might be, they’ve gone to the unexpected length of using what is one of the biggest licences in the entertainment industry on a game that the majority of fans will probably never get the chance to play.

The nature of Sony’s relationship with Marvel has never been made clear and while this has the same branding as Marvel’s Spider-Man it doesn’t seem to be set in the same universe. Oscorp is referenced a couple of times, and there are name drops for things like Hulk and the Savage Land, but this is solely an Iron Man game, heavily inspired by, but not canon with, the movies. And despite a few technical issues it’s really very good.

Iron Man has appeared in a few solo games over the years, but none of note, as until the movies he was a second-tier hero and really just part of the furniture when it came to the traditional Avengers roster. Until now, the best representation of movie Iron Man has been the flying mech suits in Anthem, which would’ve been a great basis for a third person game. But the minute you hear this is a VR title it’s obvious what the inspiration was: the parts of the movies where you see Tony Stark talking away in the Iron Man helmet, with all the holographic displays around him.

The game’s control system demands you use two PlayStation Move controllers – there’s no option for the DualShock at all – which immediately had us worried, given their lack of precision. But they work a lot better than we expected and the controls are kind of genius, in that the developers have worked back from how Iron Man flies in the films and made it so that you move by holding the controllers down by your side and jet yourself around simply by titling your wrist and directing yourself with the thruster coming out of the palm of each hand.

Although it does mean you have to stand up all the time, this allows for some surprising subtle movements, regardless of whether you’re using free look or not, and means that to use your weapons all you need to do is raise your hands and aim. You’ve got repulsor blasts in your hands, a unibeam in your chest, and a variety of unlockable secondary weapons on your wrist, that range from an armour-piercing missile to what is essentially a shotgun.

Despite all the 3D movement, which is much more complex than most normal games, we didn’t have a second’s problem with nausea. And while the action stages are basically just high-tech shooting galleries the freedom of movement and inherent coolness of being Iron Man never gets old, even when the game starts reusing level maps and enemy encounters to pad out its six to eight hour running time.

But this isn’t just a straight shooter and a lot of effort is made to show Tony Stark outside of the suit, interacting with Pepper and two holographic AIs – who act as a little devil and angel sitting on your shoulders, personifying the two extremes of Tony’s personality. There are quite a few sequences where you’re not fighting at all but just talking or solving simple puzzles and saving people. So there’s a good attempt to show Iron Man as an actual superhero and not just a video game shoot ‘em-up character.

The dialogue for all this goes overboard with the Marvel style quips, with almost every sentence ending with an attempt at a joke. The hit rate is very low but it’s never as obnoxious as it could’ve been and there are a few good gags in there (the one about what to give the man who has everything made us laugh out loud) and the voice actor does a very creditable interpretation of Robert Downey Jr’s performance.

One of the problems with Iron Man as a character though is that he has a laughably poor rogue’s gallery, and that’s one area where this game struggles. Ghost is the main antagonist and while she’s a cross between her comic book self (where the character is male) and her appearance in Ant-Man and The Wasp she spends most of the game just taunting you as a hologram. Another Iron Man villain, who hasn’t been in the movies yet, also shows up but he’s also intangible for a lot of the time and never seems much of a threat.

The bigger issue though is that the only other things you ever fight are mindless drones, which not only don’t talk but are just represented as boring geometrical shapes. On a visual level they’re bizarrely unimaginative enemies to fight and we have no idea why they’re like that, other than maybe the developer wanted to keep the polygon count down and the frame rate up.

We’re going to guess that is the reason, as the graphics suddenly get a lot better during the slower sequences, when the game doesn’t have to worry about frame rate, and yet can be distractingly bad in levels where all you do is fight. The map used for Singapore, for example, is especially bad and looks like you’re flying around a bunch of painted cardboard boxes.

Arguably the biggest technical problem though is the load times, which are horrendous. If you thought waiting a minute or more for a game to load was bad when you’re sat in front of your TV it’s a hundred times worse in VR, where even dying and restarting can take a good 20 seconds or so.

Almost all of Iron Man VR’s issues stem from the technical limitations of the PlayStation 4 and its headset. But while the enemy variety is definitely a problem the way the game embraces the Iron Man mythos, and really makes you feel like Tony Stark himself, is at least as good as Spider-Man. Frankly, we’re now far more interested in seeing a next gen sequel to this than we are old web-head.

Formats: PlayStation VR
Price: £34.99
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Camouflaj and Darkwind Media
Release Date: 3rd July 2020
Age Rating: 12

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter.

MORE : Marvel’s Avengers gameplay footage reveals co-op, customisation, and MODOK

MORE : Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PS5 similar to Uncharted: The Lost Legacy says Sony

MORE : Spider-Man: Miles Morales is not Spider-Man 2 but a ‘standalone adventure’

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Warning: spoilers ahead for episode 6 of What If…?

Ever since Iron Man was released in 2008, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) has been one of Marvel fans’ favourite characters in the MCU, going from being a big-headed, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist to a hero willing to sacrifice it all.

But what would have happened if Tony had never become Iron Man, thanks to an intervention made by Black Panther villain Killmonger (Michael B Jordan) in Disney Plus series What If…?

In the latest episode of the animated show, Tony (voiced by Mick Wingert) is never kidnapped as depicted in the first Iron Man film, as he is instead saved by Killmonger in the desert, thus avoiding being injured by a weapon created by Stark Industries.

Tony is immediately taken by Killmonger, who also reveals Obadiah Stane’s plan to have Tony assassinated, earning Tony’s trust while a suspicious Pepper Potts watches from the sidelines.

Has Killmonger turned over a new leaf?

In Black Panther, Killmonger, the cousin of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), commits atrocious acts in order to achieve his aim: to claim the throne of Wakanda and use the country’s technological advances to overthrow those in power around the world.

In What If…?, Killmonger makes his big entrance when he takes a missile that is just about to explode and throws it into the air away from Tony, while also shooting down those targeting him.

Having gained Tony’s trust, Killmonger is made his head of security, which is when the pair start working together to create an autonomous robot drone using vibranium, which looks extremely similar to the drones created by Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2.

However, when Tony’s closest friend James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) goes to strike a deal with the villainous Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) for more vibranium, Killmonger’s true intentions are made clear, as he kills both Rhodey and T’Challa, who arrived as Black Panther at the scene.

Tony and Killmonger go head to head

While Tony may not be Iron Man in this universe, he still has some tools at his disposal.

At first, it seemed as though Killmonger was going to get away with killing Rhodey and T’Challa in cold blood. However, he wasn’t aware that Tony had the technology to watch what was going on, thanks to Jarvis.

Tony tries to use one of the drones he created with Killmonger against his former saviour.

Nonetheless, Killmonger lives up to his name, destroying the drone and using a vibranium spear from Wakanda to gruesomely kill Tony in his own home.

Killmonger returns to Wakanda.

Just like in Black Panther, Killmonger uses a sneaky technique to earn the Wakandans’ trust – killing Klaue, known for his theft of vibranium from the country.

Killmonger meets his uncle, his aunt and his cousin Shuri, before warning them of a drone attack coming from the US army to avenge the deaths of Rhodey and Tony.

He manages to earn the trust of his estranged family by leading a successful attack against the drones, bringing them down from inside Wakanda’s force field.

While he then becomes the next Black Panther, T’Challa’s younger sister Shuri – who was always suspicious of Killmonger – goes to see Pepper in the final scene of the episode, proposing an alliance to bring her cousin down after learning of his deception.

What If is available to watch on Disney Plus with new episodes released on Wednesdays.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

MORE : Hawkeye trailer: Marvel fans euphoric as Captain America and Thor bring razzle dazzle in Steve Rogers-themed musical

MORE : WandaVision wins first ever Emmy Awards for Marvel Studios with acclaimed Disney Plus series

The latest Marvel superhero exclusive for the PlayStation 4 is a VR game where you are Iron Man.

It’s easy to argue that Sony’s success this generation hasn’t been because of what they’ve done but because of what they haven’t done. Avoiding any mistakes, while standing back and letting Microsoft make plenty, has been the secret of the PlayStation 4’s success. On the more proactive side of the equation though Sony’s first party games have been especially good this generation. And yet their most laudable achievement has been to push VR, something which is probably much less profitable, and far less certain to have long-term benefits, than anything else they do.

PlayStation VR has been around for almost four years now and while Sony has made relatively few games themselves, they have ensured a steady flow of indie titles for the headset. But now, as we wait to see what their next gen VR plans might be, they’ve gone to the unexpected length of using what is one of the biggest licences in the entertainment industry on a game that the majority of fans will probably never get the chance to play.

The nature of Sony’s relationship with Marvel has never been made clear and while this has the same branding as Marvel’s Spider-Man it doesn’t seem to be set in the same universe. Oscorp is referenced a couple of times, and there are name drops for things like Hulk and the Savage Land, but this is solely an Iron Man game, heavily inspired by, but not canon with, the movies. And despite a few technical issues it’s really very good.

Iron Man has appeared in a few solo games over the years, but none of note, as until the movies he was a second-tier hero and really just part of the furniture when it came to the traditional Avengers roster. Until now, the best representation of movie Iron Man has been the flying mech suits in Anthem, which would’ve been a great basis for a third person game. But the minute you hear this is a VR title it’s obvious what the inspiration was: the parts of the movies where you see Tony Stark talking away in the Iron Man helmet, with all the holographic displays around him.

The game’s control system demands you use two PlayStation Move controllers – there’s no option for the DualShock at all – which immediately had us worried, given their lack of precision. But they work a lot better than we expected and the controls are kind of genius, in that the developers have worked back from how Iron Man flies in the films and made it so that you move by holding the controllers down by your side and jet yourself around simply by titling your wrist and directing yourself with the thruster coming out of the palm of each hand.

Although it does mean you have to stand up all the time, this allows for some surprising subtle movements, regardless of whether you’re using free look or not, and means that to use your weapons all you need to do is raise your hands and aim. You’ve got repulsor blasts in your hands, a unibeam in your chest, and a variety of unlockable secondary weapons on your wrist, that range from an armour-piercing missile to what is essentially a shotgun.

Despite all the 3D movement, which is much more complex than most normal games, we didn’t have a second’s problem with nausea. And while the action stages are basically just high-tech shooting galleries the freedom of movement and inherent coolness of being Iron Man never gets old, even when the game starts reusing level maps and enemy encounters to pad out its six to eight hour running time.

But this isn’t just a straight shooter and a lot of effort is made to show Tony Stark outside of the suit, interacting with Pepper and two holographic AIs – who act as a little devil and angel sitting on your shoulders, personifying the two extremes of Tony’s personality. There are quite a few sequences where you’re not fighting at all but just talking or solving simple puzzles and saving people. So there’s a good attempt to show Iron Man as an actual superhero and not just a video game shoot ‘em-up character.

The dialogue for all this goes overboard with the Marvel style quips, with almost every sentence ending with an attempt at a joke. The hit rate is very low but it’s never as obnoxious as it could’ve been and there are a few good gags in there (the one about what to give the man who has everything made us laugh out loud) and the voice actor does a very creditable interpretation of Robert Downey Jr’s performance.

One of the problems with Iron Man as a character though is that he has a laughably poor rogue’s gallery, and that’s one area where this game struggles. Ghost is the main antagonist and while she’s a cross between her comic book self (where the character is male) and her appearance in Ant-Man and The Wasp she spends most of the game just taunting you as a hologram. Another Iron Man villain, who hasn’t been in the movies yet, also shows up but he’s also intangible for a lot of the time and never seems much of a threat.

The bigger issue though is that the only other things you ever fight are mindless drones, which not only don’t talk but are just represented as boring geometrical shapes. On a visual level they’re bizarrely unimaginative enemies to fight and we have no idea why they’re like that, other than maybe the developer wanted to keep the polygon count down and the frame rate up.

We’re going to guess that is the reason, as the graphics suddenly get a lot better during the slower sequences, when the game doesn’t have to worry about frame rate, and yet can be distractingly bad in levels where all you do is fight. The map used for Singapore, for example, is especially bad and looks like you’re flying around a bunch of painted cardboard boxes.

Arguably the biggest technical problem though is the load times, which are horrendous. If you thought waiting a minute or more for a game to load was bad when you’re sat in front of your TV it’s a hundred times worse in VR, where even dying and restarting can take a good 20 seconds or so.

Almost all of Iron Man VR’s issues stem from the technical limitations of the PlayStation 4 and its headset. But while the enemy variety is definitely a problem the way the game embraces the Iron Man mythos, and really makes you feel like Tony Stark himself, is at least as good as Spider-Man. Frankly, we’re now far more interested in seeing a next gen sequel to this than we are old web-head.

Formats: PlayStation VR
Price: £34.99
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Camouflaj and Darkwind Media
Release Date: 3rd July 2020
Age Rating: 12

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter.

MORE : Marvel’s Avengers gameplay footage reveals co-op, customisation, and MODOK

MORE : Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PS5 similar to Uncharted: The Lost Legacy says Sony

MORE : Spider-Man: Miles Morales is not Spider-Man 2 but a ‘standalone adventure’

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A boy born with only one hand is delighted to have ‘become Iron Man’ after being given a superhero-themed bionic arm.

Jacob Hyatt, seven, can now ride his bike safely thanks to the new limb, which his family were delighted to buy for him after a superhuman fundraising effort.

Mum Bernice Hyatt, from Bedfordshire, says her son is ‘over the moon’ and keen to high-five anyone he meets.

The schoolboy, who fell in love with a high-tech prosthetic last year – was given the custom-made limb after well-wishers came together to raise £13,000.

Bernice, a 33-year-old florist, explained: ‘He keeps asking me to put on music so he can clap along – and he wants to high five or fist-bump everyone he meets.

‘I have always taught Jacob it’s good to be different – you don’t have to fit in.

‘But despite that, there are things he has always struggled with, so the second he tried on the bionic arm, he was desperate to get one.

‘Leading up to the day he got the arm, every day he would ask “Mummy, why is it taking so long?”’

Jacob, from Eaton Bray, got his arm from Open Bionics after being given a new bike for Christmas.

And now the youngster can cycle with his friends without wobbling or worrying about falling off.

Bernice continued: ‘When we got the call to collect the arm, he was jumping around with excitement saying “I’m going to be Iron Man!”

‘Since he got the arm, he’s worn it every day and wanted to show it off to anyone he meets.

‘Every day he realises there are more and more things he can do now – especially now he can finally ride a bike’.

Bernice, also mum to nine-month-old Blake, first learned her eldest son Jacob’s hand was missing at her 20-week pregnancy scan.

His arm had stopped developing early in the pregnancy.

Jacob’s mum vowed to help him grow up feeling confident and unique, finding ways around potential problems by making the youngster as independent as possible – like buying clothes with zips instead of buttons.

But Bernice said that as he grew up, she found her son becoming more aware of things he struggled to do – after first asking why he only had one hand when he was just four.

Then she saw a post on Facebook last year mentioning a trial of Open Bionics’ new bionic ‘hero arm’ and put Jacob’s name forward.

He was invited to attend and came away desperate for one of his own.

‘I nearly cried when he began picking up and dropping tennis balls and doing the “OK” hand sign – his eyes completely lit up’, Bernice recalled.

‘I remember him saying “Mum, look what I can do!” and I knew we had to get one for him.

‘He still does things in his own way, but he doesn’t get frustrated now. It still takes a lot of effort for him to do some things, but he’s able to do so much more.’

It took just a few weeks for the fundraising target to hit its goal – and Jacob went on to collect it on February 24.

Bernice, who lives with partner Jamie Buchanan, 44, and his two children, said of her son’s life with own arm: ‘Although it was all he had ever known, he could get a bit frustrated at times because there were things he couldn’t do the same way as other children.

‘Simple things like opening the car door, and opening a packet of crisps – he does it all by himself now.

‘Every day there’s something new he learns how to do, and gets excited shouting “Mummy I can do it!”.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE : Bionic eye implant could bring ‘sight’ to millions

Even though Avengers: Endgame came out in April, fans are still coming up with ideas around the various characters, themes and outcomes.

We just can’t help ourselves, can we?

Now one excited viewer has come up with the now-viral theory Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr) young daughter Morgan (Lexi Rabe) was a robot all along.

We don’t love this theory 3000.

Twitter user @sisabet shared a message she got from her sister, who had some rather interesting thoughts about Tony’s daughter with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

‘I totally thought Tony made a robot daughter the whole damn movie,’ a screenshot of the text message read.

I can’t stop thinking about what my sister took away from Endgame pic.twitter.com/flQrgxwJ4r

— sisabet (@sisabet) November 15, 2019

‘I thought for sure in the beginning especially because pepper didn’t have anything to do with her.

‘And then when she said I love you 3000, I thought ha ha she’s the ILU 3000 that’s her model. [sic]’

That’s right, she thought 3000 was her make.

They continued: ‘And when Tony said the captain and Nat, I have to be careful I have a daughter and they look down all sad, I thought they were sad because Tony Stark has lost his goddamn mind and believes his robot daughter is real.’

Sheesh, this is quite the call, right?

While it sounds quite crazy a thought to believe Morgan Stark was a robot, what with her proclivity for a delicious cheeseburgers and what not, other fans are totally feeling the thing now the idea has been introduced.

One fan commented: ‘I totally agree with her. Tony spent 10 years being a selfish tool and suddenly he is Family Man Tony Thoreau? No. Secret armor in the garage and obvious robo daughter. Then they martyr the guy too? The directors are fans of narcissists.’

Another picked up on the Pepper theory, as they added: ‘I thought the relationship of pepper and the daughter was always strange. I just assumed bad acting ha. But it was always like that’s not her real daughter, that’s a child from a previous affair.’

And everyone else was laughing.

Look, it’s hardly the weirdest theory we’ve come across – that award must go to the Ant-Man, Thanos butt theory.

MORE : Avengers’ Chadwick Boseman could have been cast as Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Drax

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We’re still shaken by the heartbreaking ending for Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame, however it’s been suggested his final moment may have been a whole lot more gruesome.

In all honesty, it was hard enough – not sure how our little hearts would have coped with more grief lobbed Iron Man’s (Robert Downey Jr) way.

As he saved the world, Tones pulled the ultimate move and assembled all the Infinity Stones in his gauntlet to snap Thanos (Josh Brolan) and his army into dusted existence.

According to VFX supervisor, Matt Aitken, of Weta digital, they’d gone to Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors of the Marvel Cinematic Universe film, with a range of ideas that included Tony losing an eye.

‘We gave the filmmakers a full range [of looks] to choose from and one of those was where the energy from the stones had acted right up into his face and popped one of his eyeballs out and it was hanging out on his cheek,’ he told Insider.

‘They didn’t go for that one.’

Hmm, we’re not all that surprised. While the film is action packed, we’re still not sure they’d go all Hostel and pop the poor man’s eye out for its younger audience to digest for years to come.

Marvel VFX producer Jen Underdahl said: ‘We did go several rounds on that guy from grisly to not so grisly to more light of a touch, back to ok this is the spot where we think the audience is not going to get too freaked out, but also really understand that Tony has reached the point of no return.’

What the filmmakers evidently settled on was a depleted Iron Man, who had a slightly-burnt face but nothing that would scare the kidlets into nightmares.

No Two Face from the DC world, is what we’re saying. (Which was an option, with the artists admitting they did put forward a version where you ‘saw the sinews and you saw them in the teeth and that’.)

They added there was a tool they employed to warn us that Tony may be heading for a grisly death should he snap, with both Thanos and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) sporting injuries and burns after their respective snaps in the film.

Look, eyeball popping and Two Face or no eyeball popping and Two Face, we were still left utterly bereft when Tones bit the bullet.

But good to know we were spared a grisly distraction in one of the most poignant moments in the MCU.

MORE : Did Doctor Strange orchestrate Thanos’s snap? Avengers theory divides fans

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Marvel fans aren’t quite over the heartbreak of Avengers: Endgame and it’s all been made worse by Katherine Langford’s deleted scene.

Seriously, we’re not okay.

The 13 Reasons Why star was set to appear as the grown-up version of Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr) daughter Morgan, who was played by Lexi Rabe in the movie.

Her scene ended up being cut but has now been revealed on Disney+ – and it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

The clip shows Tony encountering the adult version of his daughter, saying: ‘Guess it worked.’

Morgan goes on to tell him: ‘Yeah, it worked for me. I got to live, grow up. For you, I can’t answer.’

Then, as if we weren’t sobbing enough, she tells her dad: ‘I love you’, with him (of course) answering: ‘I love you 3000’.

After all we’ve been through, we have to sit and watch this? Not okay.

Explaining the deleted scene, director Joe Russo said: ‘There was an idea that Tony was going to go into the metaphysical way station that Thanos goes in when he snapped his fingers, and there was going to be a future version of his daughter in that way station.’

However, it caused too much confusion with test audiences, with him adding to MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast: ‘The intention was that his future daughter forgave him and gave him peace to go. The idea felt resonant, but it just was too many ideas in an over-complicated movie.’

Anthony Russo added: ‘We didn’t feel an emotional association with the adult version of his daughter. It wasn’t ringing to us. It wasn’t resonating to us on an emotional level is why we moved away from it.’

Tony, who was one of the MCU’s longest running characters, met his tragic end during the final movie of the Infinity Saga.

Sacrificing himself to defeat Thanos, he later appeared as a hologram to his wife Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and young daughter to say his goodbyes.

However, more recently, fan theories speculating that he’s still alive have been rife, with one focusing on the hologram.

Never say never, right?

MORE : Avengers’ Chris Evans reluctant to ever return as Captain America: ‘Not a hard no but not an eager yes’

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