WandaVision Scarlet Witch from Hot Toys

Marvel Studios' WandaVision may have concluded on Disney+ but fans can own this amazing Scarlet Witch 1:6 scale figure from Hot Toys.

“This is Chaos Magic, Wanda. And that makes you the Scarlet Witch.” – Agatha Harkness

Trying to get to the bottom of Wanda Maximoff’s powers, Agatha takes Wanda off on a trip down memory lane reliving the past memories. Forced to go along with Agatha’s plan, Wanda unleashes her abilities to protect her loved ones, meanwhile gains a greater understanding of the full extent of her considerable powers.

Inspired by WandaVision, Marvel Studios’ original series, Sideshow and Hot Toys are excited to officially introduce a stunning sixth scale collectible figure of The Scarlet Witch and her brand-new costume with impressive details from the series finale.

Beautifully crafted based on the appearance of Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch in WandaVision, the figure features a newly developed head sculpt with specially applied luminous reflective effect on eyes to emulate Scarlet Witch using her abilities, long curly sculpted hair and her signature headdress, a newly designed body equipped with LED light-up function on both sides of the forearms, detailed outfit including the hooded cape, specially created hands with red translucent fingertips, Darkhold book, power-using effect accessories, and a dynamic figure base for display.

Reserve space for The Scarlet Witch Sixth Scale Collectible Figure from WandaVision collection!

Will you be adding Scarlet Witch (affiliate link) to your Hot Toys collection? Let me know in the comments below.

Zack Snyder's Justice League on Sky Cinema

Zack Snyder's Justice League will premiere exclusively on Sky Cinema and NOW TV in the UK, day and date with HBO Max.

The much-maligned Justice League (2017) has received a $70 million do-over for HBO Max by director Zack Snyder (Man of Steel), who had to bow out of the production due to his daughter’s suicide. However, sources have subsequently suggested that there were studio concerns over the movie’s overly dark direction before Snyder’s familial tragedy.

Joss Whedon (Avengers) was parachuted in to finish Justice League but failed to replicate the critical and commercial success of Marvel Studios’ Avengers (2012).

Here's the official synopsis:

"In Zack Snyder's Justice League, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions."

Now running at 4-hours, and rated R, the new recut of Justice League will be presented in six individual chapters and a 20-minute epilogue.

The chapters are titled:

“Don’t Count On It, Batman”

“The Age Of Heroes”

“Beloved Mother, Beloved Son”

“Change Machine”

“All The King’s Horses”

“Something Darker”

Epilogue: "A Father Twice Over"

Zack Snyder's Justice League premieres on HBO Max and Sky Cinema on 18th March. I'll be reviewing it soon.

Are you looking forward to Zack Snyder's Justice League? Let me know in the comments below.

Star Wars: Squadrons on Xbox Game Pass

This Star Wars fan needs to urgently charge his Xbox wireless controller Shock Blue and update Xbox One X!

Since purchasing a PlayStation 5 (PS5) on launch day last November, I haven't played anything on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate during the current lockdown! However, this will change with the exciting news Star Wars: Squadrons is coming to EA Play (bundled with Game Pass Ultimate) on 18th March.

Will you be playing Star Wars: Squadrons on EA Play? Let me know in the comments below.

Star Wars' Daisy Ridley on Celebrity Bake Off

Everyone will be touched by cancer, directly or indirectly, at some time in their life.

Personally, I've lost family and friends to the insidious disease and continue to support related charities.

So, I'd be remiss in not mentioning this year's Celebrity Bake Off is back for Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) from Tuesday on Channel 4 with host Matt Lucas, best known to Doctor Who fans (myself included) as Nardole.

Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley is among the celebrity contestants and taught celebrity chef and presenter Paul Hollywood some lightsaber moves.

“The bonus for me is Daisy taught me how to use a lightsaber,” Hollywood says. “We used a rolling pin,” he admits, in place of the Jedi's iconic weapon.

The self-confessed Star Wars fan already has some experience of martial arts. “I used to work with a nunchaku, I trained with nunchuck. It’s a martial art weapon,” the 54-year-old says. “So, I was familiar with that movement, But I wanted to know how you do the spin. She showed me how it’s done. And it’s actually an optical illusion to make it look like it’s flipping around, but it was great. Everyone will see the truth!”

The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer starts 9th March on Channel 4 and you can catch up on All 4.

Fears, tears and rebirth in WandaVision

Spoilers for the final episode of Marvel Studios' WandaVision streaming on Disney+. If you haven't caught up with, or started watching, WandaVision and don't want to find out what's going on, please look away from the screen now.

Here is a Marvel superhero story not afraid to explore the aftermath of losing a loved one and the suffocating grief therein. Would Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) choose the dark path, like Anakin Skywalker did in Star Wars, in her desire to save Vision (Paul Bettany) and their twins in an alternate Westview of her making?

The House of M meets The Wizard of Oz.

Fan theories were swept away as Wanda and Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) engaged in a bombastic battle of wits in crimson skies over Westview as Vision versed White Vision (assembled by S.W.O.R.D.), culminating in the birth of the Scarlet Witch. Agatha taking the high ground was a knowing nod to Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi's fateful duel in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

The virtual water-cooler conversations surrounding the multiverse theories detracted from the self-contained story being told. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun to speculate with fellow fans on social media (especially in lockdown) as Easter eggs were subtly dropped throughout the series.

However, it took away from focusing on Wanda and Vision - two characters I fell in love with during Avengers: Infinity War. Evan Peters cameo didn’t usher in the X-Men, and I’m fine with that as it’s on me for having that expectation. But the producers would have known his casting would generate buzz.

Wanda, reborn as Scarlet Witch, reversed the damage she had wrought upon the innocent townsfolk of Westview and banished Agatha, in plain sight, before leaving with the Darkhold in her quest to learn the darks arts and find the twins. Scarlet Witch's actions will have grave consequences for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and, seemingly, Spider-Man: No Way Home this holiday season.

For nine glorious episodes, WandaVision’s off-kilter sitcom mystery box opened up with chutzpah worthy of director JJ Abrams (Lost), went, somewhat predictably and messily, full-blown Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) before ending with a heartbreaking Spielbergian familial farewell in suburbia. All the while, Olsen and Bettany were its beating heart.

Underscored by composer Christophe Beck's (Frozen) lush orchestrations evoking his Emmy-winning soundtrack for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. WandaVision broke down the walls of a fairytale illusion, with inherent moral and ethical implications, and shook me to the emotional core by the series finale’s end.

14 years ago this June, mum died in the wake of an NHS never event. Time doesn’t dilute or heal such trauma and unquantifiable loss. When Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) told Wanda she would have used her powers to bring her mum back... Well, that would have profoundly resonated for similarly affected fans.

It was overwhelmingly too close to home. And in a week a beloved member of my family passed away (not COVID-related) in lockdown, which, like others facing such a predicament, means I won't be able to attend their funeral.

Saying goodbye to the first Marvel Studios Disney+ spin-off is such sweet sorrow. Marvel Studios' Assembled: The Making of WandaVision, an original special streaming on 12th March, will fill the void before The Falcon and the Winter Solder begins the following Friday on Disney+.

What did you think of WandaVision's series finale? Let me know in the comments below.

Honour in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Marvel Studios has released a new TV Spot for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier coming soon to Disney+.



The official synopsis for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier:

"After being handed the mantle of Captain America at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Sam Wilson teams up with Bucky Barnes in a worldwide adventure that puts their abilities to the test as they fight the anarchist group the Flag-Smashers."

The latest live-action spin-off series, starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan in the titular roles, was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and follows a fortnight after the conclusion of WandaVision today on Disney+.

“Anthony Mackie and Sebastien Stan are spectacular actors which we felt we had to explore their stories and their backstories, or personal stories, enough as Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes,” said Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. “So it was always the thought we’d like to learn more about both of them. In the little interactions they had with each other in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War as friends of a mutual best friend in Captain America. We thought we’d have a fun dynamic, if we ever had that opportunity, we’d watch a whole show with the two of them and Disney+ gives us that opportunity.”

Are you looking forward to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on 19th March? Let me know in the comments below.

Daisy Ridley reprises Rey on Comedy Central

Daisy Ridley reads fictional Star Wars quotes, as her character Rey, on Comedy Central whilst promoting the long-delayed Chaos Walking co-starring Tom Holland (Spider-Man: No Way Home).



Ridley's comedic timing is pitch-perfect, and she drops f-bombs with aplomb!

"Agatha All Along" tops iTunes charts

Agatha All Along, the satirical theme song written by Kristin Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (Frozen) from Marvel Studios' WandaVision, has topped the iTunes charts.

"I don't understand it. I know, it's amazing. It's so crazy. Seth, what's happening?" Kathryn Hahn (Agatha Harkness) speaking on the Late Show with Seth Meyers.

"I don't have social media, so the whole thing was like filtered down through all this," Hahn continued. "I was like, 'Are you kidding me?!' It's so funny. Meanwhile, I'm outside scooping dog crap, scooping cat crap. The whole thing is so bonkers right now."



"It's wonderful to see that it's inspired so much interest in the fans," WandaVision director Matt Shakman told Entertainment Weekly (EW). "We share the various memes and stuff on TikTok among the cast and crew and writers. It's so wonderful that we made this thing with so much love and passion, and it has been received with so much love and passion by the fans."

The WandaVision director teases how Wanda Maximoff's (Elizabeth Olsen) story will continue in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

"We were trying to tell a complete story in terms of the narrative around Westview, N.J., and we hope that there's some resolution to that story, and that it is satisfying and also surprising for the fans," Shakman told TV Line. "But Wanda will continue into Doctor Strange [in the Multiverse of Madness], and there's a lot more to her story to be told, so this is only one part of a very complicated and very rich life."

WandaVision concludes this Friday on Disney+.

Babylon 5 remastered on HBO Max

Following the cancellation of Doctor Who in 1989, there was an unfillable void vacated by my favourite time traveller until the BBC's beloved sci-fi series returned in 2005.

Star Trek: The Next Generation came to the fore with a Marvel UK tie-in and Playmates Toys' action figures and accessories as an early nineties sci-fi renaissance began, across the Atlantic, heralded by Steven Spielberg's SeaQuest DSV, Babylon 5 and The X-Files.

All of which became synonymous with undergraduate studies at Bournemouth University.

SeaQuest DSV and Babylon 5 both utilised Amiga Video Toasters and were the subject of lively debate in computer animation studies. George Lucas' Star Wars prequels were still a few years away, non-linear media production was still in its infancy and prohibitively expensive for the homebrew crowd (myself included) before Steve Jobs returned to Apple, democratising the industry with the iMac and iPhone.

"Sooner or later, everyone comes to Babylon 5." - Commander Jeffrey Sinclair

Babylon 5 was originally shown on Channel 4 in the UK running for 5 seasons between 1993 to 1997. J. Michael Straczynski's sci-fi opus, a galaxy-spanning retelling of The Lord of the Rings, quickly became a touchstone in the space opera firmament. There were countless carshare and water-cooler conversations with fellow fans when I was hired as an online journalist following graduation.

Babylon 5 embraced long-form storytelling and the late Mira Furlan, who played Minbari Ambassador Delenn, would go on to star in JJ Abrams' Lost (available on Disney+).

A passion for computer-generated imagery (CGI) was rekindled when I bought an iMac DV SE in the summer of 1999 and subsequently published in 3D World magazine in the early noughties.

This is a very convoluted way of saying, I never saw Babylon 5 (nor spin-off series) after its original transmission and, as I toiled tirelessly on Bryce 3D, Poser and Photoshop, I yearned for the adventures of Commander John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) and crew of the titular space station.

So, it was a surprise to see Ged Maheux, friend and co-founder of the Iconfactory, tweet Babylon 5 has been meticulously remastered for HBO Max. Seemingly in the spirit of Paramount's Star Trek: The Original Series and The Next Generation but stopping short of updated visual effects. Incidentally, I recently rewatched stablemate V AKA V: The Original Miniseries, on SyFy, and the eighties anti-fascist allegory benefits from its original widescreen presentation.

Alas, the subscription-based streaming service from Warner Bros. isn't available in the UK, but I'm hoping Nick Smith will be able to review Babylon 5 on HBO Max. The remastered series is also available to buy (affiliate link).

Babylon 5 has deservedly become a cult classic and will find a new generation of fans. How about a reboot utilising technology developed for Disney+'s The Mandalorian, HBO Max?

What are your memories of watching Babylon 5? Let me know in the comments below.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits at State of Play

A new trailer for Kena: Bridge of Spirits was revealed during Sony's State of Play and my PS5's DualSense is ready.

The upcoming story-driven action-adventure video game is from third-party studio Ember Lab whose clients include Coca-Cola.



The game's release has been delayed due to developers working from home during the coronavirus pandemic. However, it now looks even more like an interactive Pixar movie and a stunning showcase for Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits for PC, PlayStation 4 (PS4) and PlayStation 5 (PS5) is available for pre-order. I know what I'll be spending my PlayStation Store credit on (courtesy of a Cyberpunk 2077 refund).

Are you looking forward to Kena: Bridge of Spirits on 24th August? Let me know in the comments below.