Check out the full video interview below:

“I was inspired by the current, very highly rapid information exchange through social networking, and the highest form, the most extreme form of rapid information, the result is AI programs,” Yeon tells Nerd Reactor. “And then we think that we’re having a consensus… people think alike is beneficial to the society. However, actually, if that happens without thinking, our individuality threatened and it is rendered powerless.”

Starring in the lead role as Kwon Se-jeong is Jun Ji-hyun, aka Gianna Jun. As a biotechnology professor, she must help the survivors during a zombie infestation.

“It was my first time to work with Gianna Jun,” the director said. “And she’s, needless to say, she’s a superstar.”

About Colony

Synopsis: Horror master Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) directs a new Korean zombie thriller starring Gianna Jun and Koo Kyo-hwan. Professor Se-jeong (Ji-hyun) is thrust into a bloody nightmare when a rapidly mutating virus is released during a biotech conference causing authorities to seal the facility. Trapped inside with no escape, Se-jeong along with a small group of survivors must fight to stay alive while the infected undergo horrific transformations.

The film is directed by Yeon Sang-ho and written by Yeon and Choi Gyu-seok. It stars CAST: Gianna Jun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Shin Hyun-been, Kim Shin-rock, and GO Soo.

The film releases in theaters on August 28, 2026.

The post Yeon Sang-ho Explains How AI and Social Media Inspired Zombie Flick, Colony appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

We had the chance to chat with Harry Francis, who portrays LeFou, about his character’s dedication to Gaston, preparations for each night’s performance, and what would happen if Gaston was gone from his life.

Check out the full video interview below:

“For me, LeFou only has a place in society in that town if he’s connected to Gaston,” Francis tells Nerd Reactor. “If people are buying drinks and they’re at the tavern, LeFou has people talking to him. He has a social life because of him being next to Gaston, being tied to Gaston. Gaston just loves the fact that he’s got someone for free who will just do whatever he wants for him, and there’s a bit when he sends me off into the woods to do his hunting for him, basically, he knows that no matter what, I will do whatever he says.”

Beauty and the Beast is a story known by many, and that includes the fate of Gaston. However, what happens to LeFou after the end of the tale?

“For me, if I’m attached to him, then people talk to me, then I’ve got some kind of personality because of him, which makes me sad, wondering what LeFou’s life is like after Gaston dies, because I think he would be a very, very lonely. I don’t think anyone would talk to him anymore. I think I think everyone would be done with him.”

About Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The Musical

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast returns to the stage and brings back members of the original creative team to bring the fairy tale to life.

In the national tour, Belle is played by Kyra Belle Johnson, Fergie L. Philippe as Beast, Stephen Mark Lukas as Gaston, Danny Gardner as Lumiere, Christina Rose Hall as Mrs. Potts, Javier Ignacio as Cogsworth, and Harry Francis as LeFou.

Beauty and the Beast: The Musical is now playing at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles until September 6. It is headed to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA, from September 22 to October 11, 2026. Tickets are available at beautyandthebeastthemusical.com/tickets.

The post Why LeFou Needs Gaston: Harry Francis on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Nicola Coughlan on Finding Courage in The Magic Faraway Tree

Although Silky and Penelope come from different worlds, both characters go on journeys where they discover their courage and become more assertive.

“I quite like being scared of starting a new job,” Coughlan tells Nerd Reactor. “It’s always like I want to do it, and then I have the moment before where I’m like, ‘I can’t do this.’ I feel like I need to go to like the director and go, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing. You shouldn’t have hired me. This is a mistake.’ But also being able to push through that. Because you don’t really ever properly experience something if you don’t challenge yourself a little bit. So I think bravery has to come in there.”

Nicola Coughlan on Embracing Who You Are

One of the film’s messages is about accepting yourself for who you are, and it’s something that Coughlan has explored in her career.

“You’re always going to bring something of yourself, even if you completely transform in a role,” she said. “We love Meryl Streep because the essence of Meryl Streep… she can still transform and be other characters, but something in the middle. So it’s about maybe just accepting that there’s always a base level, but you can add color and you can add an accent and you can add a different type of movement or stuff. But just going, ‘That’s always there, and that’s okay.'”

Nicola Coughlan on Finding Your Inner Child

Fantasy films can help adults find their inner child. We see this in the film as well as in other classics such as Peter Pan.

“I think there’s a lot to it about embracing your inner child because I don’t think we ever really change that much fundamentally at our core of who we are,” Coughlan said. “I think you’ve got to sort of learn to listen to what they want.”

About The Magic Faraway Tree

Synopsis: Adapted from Enid Blyton’s beloved classic novel The Magic Faraway Tree, the film centers on Polly (Foy), Tim (Garfield), and their three children – a modern family forced to relocate to the remote English countryside. As they adapt to their new lives, the children discover a magical tree and its extraordinary and eccentric residents, including treasured characters Moonface (Anozie), Silky (Coughlan), Dame Washalot (Gunning), and Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns). At the top of the tree, they are transported to spectacular, fantastical lands, and through the joys and challenges of their adventures, the family learns to reconnect and value each other for the first time in years.

The film is directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby. It stars Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Nonso Anozie, Nicola Coughlan, Jessica Gunning, Jennifer Saunders, and Rebecca Ferguson.

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Check out the full video interview below, where we chat with the “actual” Cricket Green.

“There is a giant chocolate fountain, which I immediately jump into and just swim around like it’s a big old edible swimming pool, because that is what it is,” Cricket tells Nerd Reactor.

For the Marvel fans out there, audiences will get to see Cricket get powers thanks to a super soldier program.

“The gamma ray, it shot me right in the leg and made my leg really super, but not the rest of my body,” the boy explained. “So I had a super leg for like a day, and it was great, man.”

One of the episodes features the kids playing a giant meatball video game, and when asked if Cricket would prefer to be a video game streamer or an animator, he would choose being a streamer.

“I do think like me and IShowSpeed do have a lot in common,” Cricket said. “I see that. You know, we are both very charismatic and equally popular.”

Although he wouldn’t want to be an animator, he later changed his mind.

“Animators lead very sad lives,” he explained. “Okay, very sad lives. Lonely, lonely, dark room, working on one little – [impersonates tedious animation process] – that’s what they did in a day. Then they go home and they go, ‘What did I do?'”

However, after impersonating what it’s like to be an animator, he gets engaged with the arc of the motion sand says, “I take that all back, man. Animators are cool.”

About Big City Greens

Synopsis: Big City Greens follows the offbeat adventures of 10-year-old Cricket Green, a mischievous and optimistic country boy who moves to the big city with his wildly out-of-place family — older sister Tilly, father Bill and Gramma Alice. Cricket’s natural curiosity and enthusiasm lead him and his family on epic journeys and into the hearts of his new neighbors. The new season follows the family and their friends as they navigate some of their biggest adventures yet!

The series stars Chris Houghton as Cricket Green, Marieve Herington as Tilly Green, Bob Joles as Bill Green, Artemis Pebdani as Gramma Alice, Wendi McLendon-Covey as Nancy Green, Zeno Robinson as Remy, and Anna Akana as Gloria.

Season Five Guest Cast: Stephen King, Luke Combs, Dylan Sprouse, Megan Stalter, Chad Michael Murray, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Cobie Smulders, Clark Gregg, Matt Gourley, Sona Movsesian, Aaron Bleyaert, Martha Kelly, Steve Schirripa and Mike Colter.

The series is produced by Disney Television Animation, part of Disney Kids & Family, Chris and Shane Houghton are creators and executive producers. Anna O’Brian,director of “Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation,” has been elevated to executive producer for Season 5. Stephen Sandoval (“The Owl House”) is co-executive producer, and Michael Coughlin (“The Muppets”) is producer.

The first five episodes of Season 5 premieres on August 21 on Disney Channel (8:00 p.m. EDT/PDT) and next day on Disney+. Additional episodes will be released throughout 2026 and 2027.

The post ‘Big City Greens’ Season 5: Cricket Green Talks Chocolate Fountains, IShowSpeed, and Animators appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Voicing Asta is Japanese voice actor Gakuto Kajiwara, whose credits include Komi Can’t Communicate, Honkai: Star Rail, and Ensemble Stars!.

“When we’re talking about season one, I think he was more of a straight shooter,” Kajiwara tells Nerd Reactor. “He didn’t really think too deeply, and he was just more go-with-the-flow kind of character.”

Audiences will see Asta dealing with his own struggles in the second season.

“But season 2, what I think you can see, you’ll see a more human side to him and lots more of a internal battle, within himself,” Kajiwara explained. “And so for me, as the voice actor, I really want to be able to show those emotions and for the fans to see this side of Asta.”

Asta is a character with a lot of energy, and Kajiwara admits that it was challenging.

“As a voice actor, I think it was a challenge to maintain Asta’s energy,” he said. “And as you mentioned, he has lots of energy and always shows lots of emotion.”

Returning to direct episodes of Black Clover Season 2 is Ayataka Tanemura, who helmed Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King and the latter half of the series.

“The second season… you’re going to definitely see more battles in this,” the director said. “But also, it is more of a challenge to make those scenes. And I did have lots of pressure to make sure all the scenes would be solid and mentally had to prepare.”

Black Clover Synopsis: In a world where magic is everything, Asta and Yuno are both found abandoned at a church on the same day. While Yuno is gifted with exceptional magical powers, Asta is the only one in this world without any. At the age of fifteen, both receive grimoires, magic books that amplify their holder’s magic. Asta’s is a rare Grimoire of Anti-Magic that negates and repels his opponent’s spells. Being opposite but good rivals, Yuno and Asta are ready for the hardest of challenges to achieve their common dream: to be the Wizard King. Giving up is never an option!

Studio Pierrot is behind the animation for Black Clover Season 2, and it will be released in October 2026.

The post Black Clover Season 2 Will Explore a More Human Side of Asta, Says Voice Actor Gakuto Kajiwara appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

“Every single day I did it, because I’ve never done a show where the past and the present and the future were all in one place,” Davidson said about how the show felt refreshing. “So we’re going into a show that’s a show about a show. So it’s a workplace show.”

In Martin, Varnell Hill was the foil to the titular character. In The Varnell Hill Show, it’s vice versa.

“Now he comes to haunt me,” the actor said jokingly. “You know what I mean? He comes back to haunt me, but he comes back as multiple characters. If you looked at Martin’s show, Martin Payne wasn’t just one Martin.”

Davidson has been in the business for decades, and he wants to make the show the best it could be.

“And the common denominator for me that makes it the best is that I get to bring my gift to it, which is making people laugh, entertaining people, and making people feel good,” the actor said. “So for me, doing that every day, shooting that show was really the fruits of a lot of work and a lot of uncertainty, and a lot of just frustrations.”

About The Varnell Hill Show

Synopsis: Nearly three decades after audiences first met him, Varnell Hill is stepping back into the spotlight — and he’s determined to prove he’s still the star of the show. Set behind the scenes of a long-running late-night talk show, The Varnell Hill Show follows Varnell (Davidson) as he fights to stay relevant in a rapidly changing entertainment landscape. Between network executives eager to modernize the show, a chaotic writers’ room, celebrity guests, family drama, and his own outsized ego, Varnell quickly discovers that keeping a television empire together may be harder than building one in the first place.

The Varnell Hill Show eight-episode first season will make its worldwide debut on Paramount+ with two episodes on Tuesday, September 1, followed by one new episode every Tuesday through October 13.

The post Tommy Davidson Talks The Varnell Hill Show, Reuniting with Martin Lawrence appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

We’re looking at robotic arms launching riders through simulated superhero training, rally cars bouncing over tough terrain, huge Audio-Animatronics, enormous physical sets, new coaster features and even a journey right into the Mayan Underworld.

Although Disney has also confirmed that a complete reimagining of Disneyland’s Tomorrowland is underway, the most exciting announcement gave us a much clearer understanding of how Disney intends to make its new attractions stand out.

This was especially clear at Avengers Campus.

Avengers Campus Is Finally Getting Its Big E-Ticket

Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure will finally open in 2028, including two new attractions: Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab.

Infinity Defense is by far the larger of the two. Iman Vellani will reprise her role as Ms. Marvel and will recruit guests to join the fight against King Thanos—a version of Thanos who actually won. Then, they’ll travel across the Multiverse to gather the Avengers to stop King Thanos.

Disney is committing to creating very large physical environments that combine with similarly huge media scenes as guests travel from one place to another, such as from Wakanda to Asgard and to New York City. The ride system will use the same fundamental technology as Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure at Tokyo DisneySea. Thus, Infinity Defense may incorporate motion, physical scenery, and large-scale digital environments.

The event will also see Jeremy Renner reprise his role as Hawkeye, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and, most excitingly for me, Robert Downey Jr. return as Tony Stark.

Guests Take Flight Thanks to Stark Industries

Downey won’t be stopping there; he will also be at the Stark Flight Lab alongside Mackie and Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel.

The kind of attraction seems entirely different since guests will board two-person “gyro-kinetic pods” which travel along a track before being caught by huge robotic arms. The arms will then lift the pods and perform high-speed flight maneuvers reminiscent of those in Iron Man and The Avengers. In fact, Disney has assigned individual personalities to the robotic arms, drawing on the character of DUM-E, Tony Stark’s robotic assistant.

One of the things I’m most looking forward to, as a huge Iron Man fan, is seeing Downey reprise his role as Tony Stark. Avengers Campus takes place in the Marvel Multiverse and has no ties to the main 616 timeline. This allows Disney to place Tony Stark beside Sam Wilson’s Captain America and other heroes who, in fact, could not have coexisted at that stage in the films.

Villains Land Is Going Big

Plans for Disney’s Villains-themed expansion of its Magic Kingdom were first revealed in 2024. Still, it wasn’t until D23 2026 that the official name, Villains Land, was announced, along with its story and a great deal more detailed information about its two main attractions.

This won’t be a minor addition; Disney has compared the size and scale of Villains Land to that of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

The main attraction will be a Maleficent roller coaster, along which riders will race through enchanted briars surrounding her mountain-top fortress, with Disney hinting that the coaster will include elements the Imagineers have never tried before.

The concept art makes the experience feel appropriately intimidating by depicting dragon-inspired coaster trains rushing through Maleficent’s collapsing fortress, green fire burning from the surrounding towers.

The next attraction takes you down into the ground.

Guests will go down into the catacombs under the Evil Queen’s palace, where the Magic Mirror will take them into a supernatural Mirror Realm full of Disney Villains. According to Disney, the experience will combine special effects with physical sets to bring the setting to life, and concept artwork depicts characters such as Cruella de Vil, Jafar, Dr. Facilier, Scar, and Ursula.

Villains Land is so exciting because Disney has never before devoted an entire park area of this size to its villains. It is impossible to determine whether attractions like Monsters Unchained at Universal’s Epic Universe place any extra pressure on Disney. Yet it is clear that competition has raised the expectations regarding what a modern dark-themed attraction can achieve.

The land will be as large as Galaxy’s Edge and include two main rides, indicating that Disney plans to meet those expectations vigorously.

Piston Peak Brings the Cars World into the “Wheelderness”

The idea of having Piston Peak National Park at Magic Kingdom always seemed like an unusual way of getting Cars into Frontierland. However, the new information about the new Cars ride has made the attraction much more interesting.

Instead of building a new version of Radiator Springs Racers, Disney is focusing on off-road rally racing.

Cars Ridge Run Rally has riders speeding over rough ground that is based on America’s national parks, with them climbing Piston Peak, arriving at a frozen mountaintop, going down a camelback drop, and then finally rushing through a field of active geysers before Lightning McQueen and Mater announce the end of the race for the Racing Sports Network. Disney is emphasizing the bouncing and rough terrain as part of the experience, not just scenery riders pass by.

Since I enjoy motor racing, the idea of a rally event appealed to me. Because rally racing is inherently chaotic, fast, and very bumpy, basing the attraction on that physical sensation could make Ridge Run Rally come across as considerably different from Disney’s current Cars attractions.

The ride next to it, Miss Fritter’s Daredevil Spin-Along, is quite different. This family attraction brings the demolition derby from Cars 3 to life using a school-bus-sized Miss Fritter Audio-Animatronic to supervise the chaos.

The secondary attraction also seems to have an enormous physical centerpiece.

Indiana Jones Is Heading Straight to the Underworld

There has always seemed to be a certain appropriateness about this change. Since DINOSAUR and Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure use the same ride technology, it is almost as if we have come full circle, with the former becoming a completely new Indiana Jones experience.

What Disney is doing isn’t just transferring the Indy ride from Disneyland to Florida.

Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent will take place in an ancient Mayan temple close to a cenote. On this site, a local legend holds that a passage leads down to the Mayan Underworld, taking visitors into a situation much like Indiana Jones’. Various difficulties occur, causing the riders to go through a portal and leading them into encounters with monstrous bats, giant scorpions, fire, and the huge serpentine Tsukán. According to Disney, the Imagineers have been seeking advice from archaeologists, anthropologists, and experts on the Mayans while developing the attraction.

The company has also shown off a massive, hand-sculpted Audio-Animatronic replica of the creature, which towers over the Imagineers standing next to it. Harrison Ford is also officially joining the attraction, confirming that the ride will use his likeness on the Indiana Jones Audio-Animatronic. This marks the first time his face has appeared as Indy in a Disney Parks attraction.

Disney Isn’t Finished With Tomorrow

The most unexpected thing about the showcase was also the announcement that gave the least detail.

Finally, Tomorrowland at Disneyland will undergo a complete reimagining.

Disney states that the Imagineers are just at the starting stage of development and therefore there are no final attraction plans. All the company has committed to is a transformation that will include new attractions, more open areas, and a renewed emphasis on the optimism, innovation, and possibility that originally characterized the land. Unfortunately, it’s also been revealed that the Tomorrowland refresh will take precedence over the Avatar Land expansion at Disney’s California Adventure.

If current developments in robotic flight arms, rally racing, giant serpents, vast physical environments, and experimental coaster technology indicate the direction to which Imagineering is moving, what specific plans does the company have when it gets the chance to reinvent Tomorrowland completely?

It is possible that we will not know the answer for a while.

But after what Disney just showed at D23, playing it safe would almost seem out of character.

The post D23 2026: Disney’s Next Generation of Rides Is Getting Wild appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

The new season of Lioness is inspired by current events, and the premiere episode featured trench and drone warfare, with Saldana’s Joe and her team shocked by what they saw.

“What you see on the field with the drones is really never been put on film before,” Bohen tells Nerd Reactor. “When you add the complexity of the dogs within everything, it’s remarkable that we were able to capture it just from a practical perspective, with no CGI. We produced one of the coolest modern-day battle sequences I think we’ve seen in this decade.”

One of the saddest moments in the series was in the third season premiere episode, when Grady returned from a mission, angry at the loss of his dog.

“I was devastated when I read that page that said, ‘Titan’s lifeless body,'” he said. “I’m like, ‘God damn it, you’re joking. No, why do you have to do this?’ I was like, ‘They’re gonna be so pissed at you, Taylor.'”

Rip (Cole Hauser) and Beth (Kelly Reilly) have moved on from their life in Yellowstone with their own spinoff show, Dutton Ranch. With the first season now finished, will we get to see the return of Ryan and Abby?

“I would love to see those two people in that world again because you just don’t want to think it’s over,” Bohen explained. “So fingers crossed that Lainey and I will be on Dutton Ranch together, having some fun with Kelly and Cole. I would be mystified if you didn’t start to see some of the bunkhouse populate a little bit.”

Lioness Season 3 premiered on August 2, 2026, on Paramount+, with new episodes released on Sundays.

The post Ian Bohen Talks Lioness Season 3 and Hopes to Return to Yellowstone Universe in Dutton Ranch appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

This “world’s largest dinner party” made its grand return after 7 years. Since its first event was held in 2013 on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, it made sense that in 2026 they chose the iconic city hall building to mark the lively occasion.

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What is Diner en Blanc?

Originally created by François Pasquier in 1988 in Paris, Diner en Blanc started as a series of gatherings with his loved ones. Since his home was too small to host everyone, Pasquier moved the picnic party to local parks. To make it easier for guests to find one another in the busy crowds, they agreed to dress in white, creating the elegant and striking tradition the event is still known for today.

Today, Dîner en Blanc has evolved from a Parisian tradition into a global cultural movement. In 2012, Dîner en Blanc International was established in Montréal, Canada, to lead the global development, management and protection of the brand. Under the leadership of owner and President Sandy Safi and her team, Dîner en Blanc has expanded its international presence and, in 2026, is active in more than 60 cities around the world.

Whichever city you’re attending, expect to dress in all white and bring your own food, decor, white tablecloths, dishware, and utensils, along with a folding table and chairs. You can also rent or order items ahead of time if you don’t want to bring everything.

The location is also secret until the very last minute, as guests are notified where to meet at assigned departure points, along with the event’s table leader. Meet-ups happen all around the city, and guests converge at the secret location to set up their tables for the night.

Keeping Los Angeles Mysterious

We spoke with Monica Castaneda, event host, and she said the masquerade theme will stay with Los Angeles because of its Hollywood roots. It’s sexy, it’s mysterious, it’s very LA.

It also took a year of working together with the city to find the right location and gather permits. On the day itself, they put in a lot of effort, with preparations starting at 6 AM for the 7 PM event.

A sea of white took shape as around 1,500 guests gathered to set up their tables and elaborate decor. We saw many creative tables, with quite a few Eiffel Towers, plus added height from arches and garlands. They held contests for Best Tablescape and Best Costumes, with recognition given before dancing and sparklers commenced.

Overall, an extremely fun night, and the hosts are looking to come back to Los Angeles in March 2027!

The post A Magical Night in White: Diner en Blanc Los Angeles appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Tōkon is easy to get the hang of. Moving around feels smooth, and attacks are split into light, medium, and heavy, plus standard and heavy special moves. Using these with different directions makes it much simpler to remember your character’s moves, instead of having to memorize the complex inputs you usually see in fighting games.

That same simplicity shows up in Tōkon’s team mechanics. Bringing in teammates with a press of a button feels natural. As a result, you’ll be launching opponents, swapping characters, and finishing with a big team attack with relative ease. When you compare it to Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Tōkon is less chaotic and makes cool combos much easier to pull off. But don’t mistake easy execution for an easy game.

Easy to Learn, Difficult to Survive

Someone who simply wants to pick up a controller and mash buttons can absolutely have fun with Tōkon. You’ll hit things. Cool Marvel stuff will happen. Characters will fly across the screen. For a while, you’ll probably feel pretty powerful.

Then someone counters you.

Defense is where Tōkon starts to separate casual players from those who really know the game. Timing matters a lot, and if you know when to counter, you can quickly turn defense into offense. Because combos aren’t that hard to do, a single well-timed defensive move can lead to a long and punishing combo.

This creates an interesting situation in Tōkon. Arc System Works made the controls easy for newcomers, but the game doesn’t really reward you if you stay at that beginner level. This becomes especially noticeable in Story Mode.

The game gets harder as you keep winning against the CPU, and there’s no way just to pick a difficulty and stick with it. If things get too tough, losing lets you lower the difficulty for another try, but once you win, you’re back to where you started. For players interested in learning the game’s systems, I understand the philosophy behind it. Tōkon wants you to improve.

If you bought the game just because you love Marvel and want to enjoy the story, this can get frustrating. You might end up stuck in a loop of losing, lowering the difficulty, winning, and repeating, unless you’re ready to spend time learning defense and your characters’ moves.

The same goes for online play. You might get by with button mashing at first, but anyone who knows Tōkon’s defensive mechanics will quickly beat you.

Thankfully, Tōkon gives you some exceptional tools for becoming that better player.

A Fighting Game That Actually Teaches You How to Fight

Tōkon features some of the best teaching tools I’ve encountered in a fighting game.

The tutorials teach you the basics through hands-on lessons, and each character has a guide that explains their main moves. There are also practical combo lessons that show how to turn certain attacks into real damage, plus a great free-form combo challenge mode.

Instead of just asking you to memorize a set button sequence, these challenges might have you use a specific move in a combo and hit a certain damage goal. It’s a small distinction that completely changes how you learn.

Rather than just copying someone else’s combo, you’re encouraged to try things out and learn how your character’s moves fit together. The exercises show you what to do after landing Spider-Man’s overhead, how to follow up when you don’t have Assemble Meter, or how to get the most damage when your resources are full.

Add in a great Training Mode, searchable replays, replay takeover, and helpful training presets, and Tōkon gives you just about everything you’d want for learning a fighting game. It doesn’t eliminate the steep learning curve, but it does make learning the game a lot more fun.

Four Heroes, One Fight

The team system also gives experienced players a lot to try out. Your first character is your team leader, and you start fights with just part of your four-person team. You unlock more teammates during the match by breaking the stage, causing wall splats, or even losing a round.

It’s a smart system because it stops matches from getting out of hand right away. Even if your opponent gets ahead early, unlocking more teammates gives you more ways to fight back. Once you unlock your third and fourth characters, things get a lot more interesting. You can start a combo with one fighter, switch to another to keep it going, and maybe finish with a big team attack.

Building your team adds another layer of strategy. Maybe your main character has trouble with Magneto’s zoning. You can set up your team so someone else can handle him better. Or if you like using Blade but have trouble breaking through defenses, you could start with a character who’s good at mix-ups, get your opening, and then tag in Blade to keep the combo going. The controls might be simple, but there’s a lot of depth underneath.

Marvel Through and Through

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls really shines in its roster. Arc System Works didn’t just drop Marvel characters into an anime fighting game. Their personalities actually shape how they play. Spider-Man swings around the stage with his webs and can trick opponents into anti-air attacks by hanging above them before jumping away. Magik uses portals to attack from odd angles. Storm controls the weather to move things, control space, and even pull enemies toward her.

Then there’s Deadpool.

Deadpool might be one of the most fun fighting-game characters I’ve played in years. His moves are basically a tribute to the whole genre. You’ll spot attacks and references from Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, The King of Fighters, Tekken, Guilty Gear, and more.

Accidentally using his take on Scorpion’s famous “Get over here!” move always made me laugh, and spotting bits of Yoshimitsu and other fighting-game characters in his animations kept Deadpool fun to play, even when I was losing.

That focus on character is true for the whole roster and might be Tōkon’s best feature. These aren’t just Marvel skins on fighting-game templates. Spider-Man fights like Spider-Man. Wolverine is as aggressive as you’d expect. Storm controls the battlefield just like she should. Beating the CPU at Level 4 with Wolverine was when I knew he’d be my main. His aggressive style just fit how I like to play.

More Than Versus Mode

Surprisingly, Story Mode is another key highlight. The campaign has five episodes, each focused on a different Marvel team, with stories written by comic writer Kieron Gillen. Instead of just using regular cutscenes, most of the story plays out as a motion comic, and different manga and comic artists give each episode its own look.

As a big anime fan, I loved seeing artists like Hiro Mashima (Fairy Tail) and Betten Court (My Hero Academia: Vigilantes) put their own spin on characters like Captain America and Spider-Man. The stories can be a bit formulaic, and I liked some episodes more than others, but the way they’re presented makes them worth checking out. They also give you a good reason to try every character on the roster.

Unfortunately, a lot of the anime scenes get reused between episodes, so after a few stories, you’ll probably end up skipping scenes you’ve already seen. Outside Story Mode, Survival gives you another big solo challenge: survive 100 battles that get harder as you go. Every five rounds, you pick stat bonuses to boost your fighter, and your progress saves at those points. It’s not as tough as most Survival Modes, but it’s still a fun way to play.

Then there’s Arcadia Rumble, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls’ quirky multiplayer side mode. Up to eight players can explore a big lobby with their custom avatars, collect stars, power up fighters, complete events, and battle each other. The mode switches between prep phases and classic 4v4 fights over five rounds.

It’s kind of like someone turned the City Trial mode from Kirby Air Riders into a Marvel fighting game. I don’t think I’ll spend tons of time in Arcadia Rumble, but I like what it brings to the game. Even better, it lets players of all skill levels compete without every match turning into a super technical 1v1 fight.

Final Verdict

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls does something you don’t see often. It makes fighting look simple, but it’s not actually easy.

The simple controls let casual players jump right in and pull off cool attacks, flashy combos, and big team moves. But underneath that, the game still demands good timing, defense, matchup knowledge, and smart team building. That’s what makes the game great, but it can also be frustrating at times.

If you’re here just for Marvel, you might find Story Mode’s changing difficulty tougher than expected. And online, you’ll quickly see that button mashing won’t replace learning the game’s defense.

But if you’re willing to learn the systems, you’ll find a really rewarding fighting game with great learning tools, tons of team-building options, and one of the best Marvel rosters I’ve seen.

And for longtime fighting-game fans, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls gives you plenty of depth without making you do crazy controller tricks just to pull off something cool. I’m not the fighting-game player I once was, but Tōkon might just inspire me to get better again.

Rating: 4/5 atoms

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