Games

J.K. Simmons, best known for playing J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man movies and later in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, also starred in the TNT series The Closer. All seven seasons—109 episodes in total—of The Closer became available on Netflix on December 22nd, marking its first time streaming on the platform in the U.S. The show, which originally ran on TNT from 2005 to 2012, followed Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a police detective who moved to Los Angeles and led a team solving difficult and highly publicized murder cases.

Okay, so before I get into all the awesome LEGO sets coming out, just a heads-up: everything goes live on December 31st at 9pm Pacific Time / January 1st at midnight Eastern Time, unless something else is mentioned. Also, you’ll need a free LEGO Insiders account to snag all the deals. They’re planning to add even more info about sets and offers coming before the end of December 2015 as they get the details, so I’ll be checking back to keep you updated!

For the next 24 hours, PC gamers with an Epic Games Store account can get the adventure game Paradise Killer for free. Developed by Kaizen Game Works and published by Fellow Traveler, the game first launched in 2020 and was initially exclusive to PC and Nintendo Switch. It later became available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in 2022.

The initial trailer for Doomsday starts with a man biking home, appearing relaxed after a ride. He enters his house and grabs a well-known costume, revealing himself to be Steve Rogers, Captain America. This confirms Chris Evans is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will likely have a significant part in Doomsday. While fans should be excited about this—Evans’ Captain America is incredibly popular—it actually signals a worrying trend, suggesting the franchise is giving up on fresh ideas.

This update introduces Temporal Diver difficulty, which will be more forgiving than the current difficulty options in the game.

Whether it’s through online comics with a fresh take on myths or emotionally powerful stage shows, these stories pay tribute to the gods of the past while also creating exciting new narratives.

Konami and Hideo Kojima first released Metal Gear on the NES on December 22, 1987, though it had initially appeared earlier that year on the MSX2. This was only Kojima’s second game, following Penguin Adventure from 1986. While Konami was already a successful company, Metal Gear launched Kojima’s career and brought him widespread attention. It would go on to become the most famous stealth game series ever, and one of the greatest video game series of all time.

HBO’s new romance series, Heated Rivalry, adapted from Rachel Reid’s books, is a hit for the streaming service. After acquiring US rights from Canada’s Crave, the show has finished 2025 strong with praise from both viewers and critics, and high numbers on HBO Max, leading to a fast renewal for a second season. Recently, an episode from the first season reached record-breaking viewership, becoming one of the highest-rated TV episodes of all time.

Avatar: Fire and Ash opened to $88 million in North American theaters. While this was enough to claim the top spot at the box office for the weekend, it was a bit lower than early predictions. A large part of the film’s success came from premium formats like IMAX and 3D. This shows people still see the Avatar movies as a visual spectacle best experienced on the highest quality screens, even though fewer people went to see it than the previous film. The movie is largely competing with the incredibly high expectations set by its own history. Although $88 million is a huge success for most films, it presents a challenge for a movie that cost so much to make.

The third Avatar movie is predicted to perform well at the box office and also be a strong contender for awards, particularly in technical categories like visual effects and sound design. Both Avatar and The Way of Water received Best Picture nominations – nine and four respectively – and each won awards for their technical achievements. This pattern of technical success without major overall wins isn’t unique to Avatar; Dune and director Denis Villeneuve have experienced something similar. James Cameron, whose Titanic famously won 11 Oscars, discussed this trend with Variety.