Deathstroke and Cyborg have more in common than the Teen Titans - in fact their looks are both constructed from the same alloy!

Aside from both appearing on the pages of Teen Titans, Cyborg and Deathstroke don't have much in common at first glance aside for penchant for exotic eyewear. After all, one is a stoic killing machine while the other is a hero who proves to be more man than machine. However, despite these superficial commonalities, both Cyborg and Deathstroke are literally made from the same metal.

Cyborg first appeared in DC Comics #26 as a teenager maimed in a lab experiment conducted by his scientist parents. Meanwhile, Deathstroke first appeared in New Teen Titans #2 as a highly-capable assassin and mercenary with enhanced healing and reflexes. While the two were both pivotal characters in the series, they typically didn't share too many pages. However, there's a major connective tissue between the two - they both use the fictional element promethium.

Related: Batman's Deathstroke Impression Is Perfect (Apparently)

Promethium is essentially DC's answer to Vibranium, capable of absorbing limitless amounts of energy. However, unlike Vibranium, promethium can be both depleted and volatile, with its volatile state often used to trigger metagenes in humans, granting them superhuman abilities. The alloy had been used to create a team of supervillains known as the Hybrid. It's also been mentioned somewhat recently as one of the five metals capable of accessing the Dark Multiverse.

Cyborg's machine side is constructed with depleted promethium - and he's actually not the only Titan to wield the powerful substance. Arsenal's costume is also made from a promethium and Kevlar weave. Similarly, Deathstroke uses quite a lot of promethium in his own bag of tricks. Both his sword and staff are forged from promethium, and much like Arsenal, his armor is promethium as well. Unlike Victor Stone, however, Deathstroke's weapons and armor are derived from volatile promethium.

Interestingly enough, promethium is a real element outside of the comic books. While it doesn't grant superpowers, it is used in a variety of ways, including batteries for everything from missiles to watches. It also could eventually be used to eventually generate X-rays as well.

In addition to this surprising commonality between two of DC's most iconic characters - one hero and one villain - this detail also explains why Cyborg and Deathstroke are both forces to be reckoned with. After all, Deathstroke's armor is composed of an unstable alloy capable of absorbing near-limitless amounts of energy, while Cyborg is partially made from the exact same substance. This also means that a match-up between Cyborg and Deathstroke might be a closer call than anyone ever realized.

Next: Marvel Tolls DC With Its Own DEATH-STROKE Terminators

Hulk Almost Killed Marvel's THING With A Single Punch

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Cyborg & Deathstroke Have One MAJOR Thing in Common | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

Written by Karina Tsui, CNN

Today, we can alter our bodies in previously unimaginable ways, whether that's implanting microchips, fitting advanced prosthetic limbs or even designing entirely new senses.

So-called transhumanists -- people who seek to improve their biology by enhancing their bodies with technology -- believe that our natural condition inhibits our experience of the world, and that we can transcend our current capabilities through science.

Ideas that are "technoprogressive" to some are controversial to others. But to photographer David Vintiner, they are something else altogether: beautiful.

Made in collaboration with art director and critic Gem Fletcher, the book features a variety of people who identify, to some degree, as "transhuman" -- including a man with bionic ears that sense changes in atmospheric pressure, a woman who can "feel" earthquakes taking place around the world and technicians who have developed lab-made organs.

Fletcher was first introduced to the transhumanist subculture via the London Futurist Group, an organization that explores how technology can counter future crises. Upon meeting some of its members, the London-based art director approached Vintiner with the idea of photographing them in a series of portraits.

"Our first shoot was with Andrew Vladimirov, a DIY 'brain hacker,'" Vintiner recalled in a phone interview. "Each time we photographed someone new, we asked for referrals and introductions to other key people within the movement."

Redefining human experience

One of Vintiner's subjects, James Young, turned to bionics after losing his arm and leg in an accident in 2012. Young had always been interested in biotechnology and was particularly drawn to the aesthetics of science fiction. Visualizing how his body could be "re-built," or even perform enhanced tasks with the help of the latest technology, became part of his recovery process.

But according to the 29-year-old, the options presented to him by doctors were far from exciting -- standard-issue steel bionic limbs with flesh-colored silicone sleeves.

"To see what was available was the most upsetting part," Young said in a video interview.

"What the human body can constitute, in terms of tools and technology, is such a blurry thing -- if you think about the arm, it's just a sensory piece of equipment.

"If there was anyone who would get their arm and leg chopped off, it would be me because I'm excited about technology and what it can get done."

Japanese gaming giant Konami worked with prosthetics sculptor Sophie de Oliveira Barata to design a set of bionic limbs for Young. The result was an arm and leg made from gray carbon fiber -- an aesthetic partly inspired by Konami's "Metal Gear Solid," one of the then-22-year-old's favorite video games.

Beyond the expected functions, Young's robotic arm features a USB port, a screen displaying his Twitter feed and a retractable dock containing a remote-controlled drone. The limbs are controlled by sensors that convert nerve impulses from Young's spine into physical movements.

"Advanced prosthetics enabled James to change people's perception of (his) disability," said Vintiner of Young, adding: "When you first show people the photographs, they are shocked and disconcerted by the ideas contained within. But if you dissect the ideas, they realize that they are very pragmatic."

Young says it has taken several years for people to appreciate not just the functions of advanced bionic limbs but their aesthetics, too. "Bionic and electronic limbs were deemed scary, purely because of how they looked," he said. "They coincided with the idea that 'disability is not sexy.'"

He also felt there was stigma surrounding bionics, because patients were often given flesh-colored sleeves to conceal their artificial limbs.

"Visually, we think that this is the boundary of the human body," Young said, referring to his remaining biological arm. "Opportunities for transhumanists open up because a bionic arm can't feel pain, or it can be instantly replaced if you have the money. It has different abilities to withstand heat and to not be sunburned."

As Vintiner continued shooting the portraits, he felt many of his preconceptions being challenged. The process also raised a profound question: If technology can change what it is to be human, can it also change what it means to be beautiful?

"Most of my (original) work centers around people -- their behavior, character, quirks and stories," he said. "But this project took the concept of beauty to another level."

Eye of the beholder

Science's impact over our understanding of aesthetics is, to Vintiner, one of the most fascinating aspects of transhumanism. What he discovered, however, was that many in the movement still look toward existing beauty standards as a model for "post-human" perfection.

Speaking to CNN Style in 2018, Hanson said that Sophia's form would resonate with people around the world, and that her appearance was partly inspired by real women including Hanson's wife and Audrey Hepburn, as well as statues of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti.

Related video: Meet Sophia, the robot who smiles and frowns just like us

But with her light hazel eyes, perfectly arched eyebrows, long eyelashes, defined cheekbones and plump lips -- Sophia's appearance arguably epitomizes that of a conventionally beautiful Caucasian woman.

"When I photographed Ben Goertzel, he vocalized how he took no time to consider how he (himself) looked -- it was of no interest to him," the photographer recalled of the photo shoot.

Vintiner saw a certain irony: that someone who was unconcerned about his own appearance would nonetheless project our preoccupation with beauty through his company's invention.

It also served as a reminder that attractiveness may be more complex than algorithms can ever fathom.

"I fear that if we can design humans without any of the 'flaws' that occur in our biological makeup, things will be pushed further and further towards a level of perfection we can only imagine right now." Vintiner said. "Look at how plastic surgery has altered our perception of beauty in a very short space of time.

"If the transhumanists are right and we, as humans, can live to be several hundreds of years old, our notion of beauty and the very meaning of what it is to be human will change dramatically."

Read more from the original source:

Transhumanism: Meet the cyborgs and biohackers redefining beauty - CNN

The problem with a lot of prosthetics today is that they dont 100% mimic human parts, although some really do come close. However, thanks to the work of scientists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, they have developed a cyborg eye that is said to be almost like the real thing.

Current visual prosthetic devices have their limitations, one of which is that it uses a flat object to sense images. This means that it doesnt exactly conform to the human eyes spherical shape, and as a result, its field of vision is narrower versus the human eye, which has around a 150-degree field of vision.

However, what the researchers have done is create an artificial eye that mimics the human eye. This particular design includes a lens to help focus light, along with a hemispherical retina. In the middle of the eye, they have filled it with a conductive fluid, similar to an actual human eye which is hollow in the middle and filled with vitreous humour.

The eye itself is made from porous aluminum oxide and filled with nanowires that are light-sensitive. This means that when there is light, it will activate and transmit electrical signals. Right now, the eye requires an external power source, but the researchers believes that given the use of the nanowires, it is possible that it could double up as a small solar cell and eventually make the eye self-sufficient in future iterations.

Filed in Medical >Robots. Read more about Science, Social Hit and Wearable Tech. Source: newscientist

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Scientists Create A Cyborg Eye Thats Almost Like The Real Thing - Ubergizmo

It was no mystery that Justice League was not well received when it came out, and one of the characters considered to have been thrown under the bus was Ray Fishers Cyborg. With the announcement of Zack Snyders Justice League though, everyone was celebrating online. As for Fisher, he got a tad emotional during the announcement.

You can watch him tear-up in his twitch stream here (via DC Movie News):

No doubt, Cyborg is the underdog of the entire League, and JL was supposed to be his origin story. With most of his character development being thrown out the window, Im very interested to see just how much we missed him in the film.

Personally, I really thought the casting of Fisher was spot-on, and I was really looking forward to seeing more of him in the DCEU. Should everything have gone according to plan, Fisher would have already starred in his own solo Cyborg film sometime in the year. Then again, it could have been delayed what with the Coronavirus and all.

We dont know what the release of Zack Snyders Justice League means for the DCEU as a whole, but Im crossing my fingers that it renews interest for the entire franchise moving forward. I still want that Cyborg film, and I want to see more of Ben Afflecks Batman.

This is also possibly a long shot, but a lot of people want to see David Ayers original cut of Suicide Squad as well.

For now, Zack Snyders Justice League is set for a release date sometime in 2021 on HBO Max.

Read Also: Justice League Stars React to Snyder Cut Announcement

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Watch Cyborg Actor Ray Fisher Tear Up After the Snyder Cut Announcement - Epicstream

In a time of social distancing, a giant teddy bear giving enormous hugs sounds like a great way for people to safely cope with isolation. But Arizona State Universitys robo-bear, which can learn to hug by observing humans, looks like its ready to give you the last embrace youll ever feel.

As more and more robots are integrated into places of work like factories and distribution centres, they need to be able to safely co-exist and work alongside their human counterparts. To date, the solution has been to either to segregate robots and hide them behind protective barriers so humans cant get near them, or to pack them full of sensors so they can either autonomously avoid people or stop moving until its safe to do so again. Humans actually working with robots, and not just beside them, is still a concept mostly relegated to science fiction but researchers are working on it.

The biggest hurdle to overcome is that humans can be unpredictable, and attempting to pre-program a robot to account for every possible movement and interaction with one is an act of futility. How a human picks up a part and hands it to a robot for the next step in an assembly line could be slightly different every single time, which is why, more often than not, humans are instead trained to deal with robotic co-workers who can be programmed to be far more predictable. The problem with that approach is that it limits a robots abilities and adaptability, and for smaller companies who may have different needs for a robot day by day, it makes investing in the hardware less appealing. The ideal solution is a robot that can learn tasks, and how to deal with people, all on its own.

Thats what being demonstrated in this video shared by Arizona State Universitys Interactive Robotics Lab on YouTube. Its a continuation of research first published three years ago in a paper titled, Bayesian Interaction Primitives: A SLAM Approach to Human-Robot Interaction. Thats a mouthful, but the research involves teaching robots how to use their various sensors, including live feeds from video cameras, to not only figure out their environment and their location in it (SLAM is short for simultaneous localisation and mapping) but also to track the movements of a human and accurately predict their intended actions be it simply handing an object over for a robot to reach out and grab, or in this case, embracing a human in a hug.

By simply watching a human go through the motions a handful of times, the robot can effectively learn, all by itself, how to perform a hug. And its not limited to just the person who performed the initial demonstration. The robot learns how to mimic and perform these actions with anyone, no matter their shape or size, or even the motions they use to initiate the hug. By learning on its own, and coming up with generalizations that are refined through real-time observation, the robot can quickly assess that an incoming human is simply looking for affection hopefully.

By dressing the robot up as a giant plush teddy bear, the researchers are clearly trying to invoke an emotional response in test subjects so that the resulting hug is performed more authentically, like they were genuinely embracing another person. The only problem is that thanks to video games like Five Nights at Freddys, and the terrifying animatronic performers at restaurants like Chuck E. Cheese, its hard to imagine anyone approaching and embracing this dressed-up robot with anything but trepidation and terror. Death by robot teddy bear is now one more thing to genuinely worry about.

The rest is here:

Half My Nightmares Start With This Giant Cyborg Teddy Bear Learning How to Hug - Gizmodo Australia

Justice League, while certainly never approaching the creative nadir that was the DC movie Suicide Squad, is really just not a good movie. Its silly-but-not-in-a-good-way, its nonsensical, its sort of inexplicably chaotic. Its exciting, then, that well eventually be able to compare Joss Whedons Justice League to the Snyder Cut next year and maybe get a better understanding of what went on here. But while we wait for that day, lets reflect on the pure madness of the theatrical version.

The Atlantis fight

James Wan, who is one of the best filmmakers working today, absolutely knocked all that underwater stuff out of the park in his standalone Aquaman. But the Atlantis fight in Justice League, on the other hand, was an absolute trash fire that looked just incredibly awful. Whatever Warner Bros. spent on this sequence, it was too much. Woof.

Steppenwolf repeatedly talking to mother

Justice League does a pretty poor job of explaining Steppenwolfs powerful artifacts, the Mother Boxes, which fans of the comics know are actually supercomputers with consciousness. Its even weirder when Steppenwolf occasionally talks out loud to Mother, telling her (?) hell be feeding her soon and dropping some other weird lines. The movie never explains that the boxes are actually alive and bond with their owners so strongly that they will self-destruct if the person to whom theyre linked are killed.

Anyway, presumably hes talking to the box(es). Maybe Justice League is actually about a guy with a computer pet whos just trying to be a good friend and get it some snacks.

Also Read: Every DC Comics Movie Ranked From Worst to Best, Including 'Justice League'

For Darkseid!

Fans who know something about Steppenwolf know that hes actually a lieutenant of Darkseid, a supervillain arch-nemesis of the Justice League whos bent on conquering the universe. For everyone else, Steppenwolf is a pretty obscure character, so his single off-handed mention of the fact hes doing evil stuff for Darkseid is easy to miss and fairly confusing particularly if you dont know who Darkseid is and thought he said Dark Side. One assumes Justice League was, at one point, setting up for Darkseids eventual arrival. The movie as it exists is not, aside from that single line.

Since Darkseid figured majorly into Zack Snyders plans for Justice League and its sequel that didnt end up happening, we should at least finally get some context for this line in the Snyder Cut.

#Supermouth

Paramount wouldnt let Henry Cavill shave his Mission: Impossible Fallout mustache during Justice League reshoots, so Warner Bros. decided theyd just try to digitally remove it in post-production. And it is absolutely horrifying. Its worse than CGI Peter Cushing in Rogue One a cartoon-looking mouth on an otherwise human face will always look more upsetting than that entire cartoon-looking face. Our brains just cant even fathom this thing.

If, for whatever reason, youd like to bask in the horror that is Supermans CGI mouth, check out our gallery of the most terrifying shots of that cartoon monstrosity.

Also Read: The 10 Most Terrifying Shots of Superman's CGI Mouth in 'Justice League' (Photos)

That opening Superman scene

This weird little home video segment of a kid talking to Supes is a double whammy of existential pain. First, you have the whole CGI mouth thing, which is extremely obvious throughout. Then you have Superman refusing to answer the kids question about what his favorite thing about living on Earth is. Theres no thematic payoff to the scene later in the movie, and so it plays like the movie is just trying to dunk on itself.

Clark and Lois hanging out in a CGI cornfield

If youre going to do an extended green screen scene, maybe its best not to throw an extremely colorful, eye-catching background behind your characters. Nobody told Justice League this, though, and so theres a touching scene between Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and Superman standing in a cornfield in Kansas that is extremely, obviously not real. The culprit is probably that glaring gorgeous sunset that makes the outline of the characters a little too obvious. The emotional reunion of Lois and Clark gets seriously undercut by the fact that nobody can stop thinking about how theyre standing on a soundstage. Throw in Supermans gross CGI smile in for good measure and the whole thing turns into a very dry comedy sketch.

Also Read: 'Justice League': What The Hell Is the Deal With Steppenwolf's Mother Boxes?

Nobody really cared about Superman returning

Justice League makes a big deal about Superman being dead. Its such a blow to the world that crime and terrorism are on the rise thanks to the simple lack of hope he embodied. So resurrecting Superman mid-movie seems like it ought to be a pretty big deal, especially as it is witnessed by at least a few civilians and results and in a big public fight with at least one somewhat-publicly known hero. But almost no acknowledgment is made of Supermans return, and while his effect on the world is part of the movies setup, its not at all part of the rest of the plot. Theres no celebration, no montage of racists not being racist anymore to call back to the opening credits. Hes just back, and the movie itself seems to care about that about as much as those ancient humans cared about the security of their Mother Box. Plus Clark Kent was dead too. Is Superman just going to skip the alter-ego thing from now on or what?

Using the were gonna do a thing that will bring the bad guy down on us trope but no one having any clue that theyre doing it

When the Justice League decides to use a Mother Box to resurrect Superman, it seems pretty obvious that doing so will attract the attention of the villain who has spent the whole movie trying to round up all the Mother Boxes. Well, its obvious to us, anyway, because weve all seen a hundred movies, TV shows and video games with that specific trope you know, the OK, so we have to flip this switch in order to do something important but its definitely going to attract the bad guys to us and cause a big fight trope. Its not so obvious to the characters in the movie, though, because they never mention the possibility that Steppenwolf will show up and seem weirdly surprised when he pops in to steal the box right under everyones noses. I guess they forgot to make this scene make sense when they rejiggered the plot during reshoots.

Also Read: 'Justice League' Post-Credits Scene Explained

Cyborg is extremely not stealthy

Cyborg (Ray Fisher) wears a hoodie when he goes out, but it does almost nothing to contain the fact that he has extremely obvious glowing lights in his face and chest. He also makes a lot of very ominous whirring sounds just by being alive. So it was pretty tough to buy that he was stealthily spying on Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne to suss out their deal before joining the nascent Justice League, as he was only about 25 feet away and making a lot of loud weird robot sounds. At least Diana said she was fully aware of him watching just one scene later. But still, youd think his computer brain would have been slightly smarter.

Cyborgs nonsensical origin recap

Introducing Cyborg in a team-up movie was never a great idea, but it takes quite a while for Justice League to explain what his deal even is. Injured in an explosion, Vic Stones cool superpowers are the result of interference by one of Steppenwolfs weirdo Mother Boxes. The apparently sentient supercomputer of incredible power actually reshaped state-of-the-art cyborg enhancements his father Silas gave him in order to save his life after an accident. The result is that Cyborg doesnt even know what his abilities are and, also, that nobody explains who he is or why hes a spiffy alien robot man until about halfway through the movie. The rest of the time, the audience has to sit there, confused.

Cyborg cant control his defense system

The good guys resurrect Superman, who immediately gets mad and makes threatening faces and stuff. And in a moment that is completely out of step with the rest of the movie, Cyborgs cyborg parts start doing their own thing without his input. There had been no hint before then that that could happen, and it doesnt happen again even though Cyborg doesnt appear to take any measures to prevent that situation from arising a second time. Nobody even has the, Yo, man, is this gonna be a problem? conversation with him.

Also Read: 'Justice League' Fans React to Henry Cavill's Mustache Removal: 'This Is F-king Real?!'

The ancient people who buried a Mother Box in a 3-foot deep hole next to a river

The first time Steppenwolf tried to take over Earth way back when, he was defeated by an alliance of the Old Gods, the Amazons, the Atlantians and the humans, who took his Mother Boxes entrusted to each of the civilizations to keep them safe. The Atlantians put theirs in the ocean; the Amazonians built a giant stone vault; and the humans dug a 3-foot hole next to a river and tossed their box in it. This is not the best way to hide, like, anything. Its probably not a coincidence that this Mother Box is the only one that didnt stay where it was for the next 5,000 years. A dog probably dug it up the next day.

The Russian family the movie keeps cutting to

Superhero movies will often throw a few random civilians in harms way in order to show the stakes of the situation. Justice League spends several scenes hanging around with a random Russian family who lives unfortunately close to Steppenwolfs apocalyptic base, hoping to set up a last-second rescue much, much later in the movie. In the meantime, though, this family is stuck in their house hiding from monsters for, like, a week. They never get any characterization or do anything and none of the several scenes about them do anything to push the story forward. This is extremely not how to get the audience to care about regular people in the middle of supervillain danger.

Also Read: Will the 'Justice League' Snyder Cut Actually Deliver What Fans Asked For?

Superman showing up and being easily capable of winning the fight at any moment

The Justice Leagues final fight with Steppenwolf doesnt exactly go poorly but, as weve seen demonstrated multiple times in the movie before, hes seemingly a match for any of the super-strong members of the team, and maybe even for all of them put together. Enter Superman, who dodges Steppenwolfs attacks, pummels him about the face, and is generally capable of putting the supervillain down without a lot of help. But thats not especially dramatic so Superman bails mid-fight to go save a building full of civilians. Having a guy on the team who can handle basically any problem on his own kind of undercuts the need for a team, and it sure feels like Justice League is looking for a way to get Superman out of there as soon as he shows up. Poor planning for your climax, that.

Diana doing The Flash thing and then forgetting she can do that for the rest of the movie

Wonder Womans (Gal Gadot) introductory scene in Justice League is actually pretty cool. A terrorist group takes over a bank intent on exploding a bomb that will wipe out several city blocks, apparently because they think that will help push society back to the Dark Ages, which is a good thing for some reason. Whatever Diana beating people up is what matters, and that goes pretty well. Until, that is, terrorist leader Roose Bolton levels a machine gun on the hostages. Rather than take him out, Wonder Woman moves super-fast to block all of the dozens of bullets he fires with her gauntlet (and casually move one guy out of the way). We know Wonder Woman is extremely super, but apparently racing bullets is now in her repertoire. Kind of makes The Flash (Ezra Miller) obsolete. Then again, she doesnt use this ability for the rest of the film, even when it would have been super useful in the various fights with Steppenwolf.

What does that smell like? Fear

While it was a little frustrating that Superman could have obviously ended the battle with Steppenwolf whenever he felt like, it was just plain goofy what finally brought him down in the end. An earlier, easily missed line in Justice League pointed out that his henchmen, parademons, feed on or otherwise are attracted to fear. So when Superman et al. started really giving it to Steppenwolf in a way that suggested he might not win, Batman (Ben Affleck) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) took a second to point out that he was afraid. The exchange itself was weird Aquaman asking, What does that smell like? and Batman responding, Fear but then Steppenwolf was overwhelmed as his own troopers suddenly decided to turn on him. This was a guy that was batting away Amazons like they were actually insects earlier in the movie, mind you, so his ultimate defeat at the hands of his own not-especially smart bugmen felt pretty forced. LOL.

(Spoilers ahead for "Justice League")Given that the Joss Whedon-helmed reshoots on "Justice League" went on significantly longer than planned, it's not really a surprise that some scenes from the marketing didn't make the final cut. But it's still fun to take a look at what was meant to be and compare it to what we actually got. So let's do that right now.(Note: This post was originally published on Nov. 18, 2017)

This hero shot of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) didn't make the movie -- and neither did whatever location they're standing in.

This location appears to be a different version of the cross-shaped platform at the center of the abandoned nuclear reactor Steppenwolf works from in the movie, but it never ends up looking so thoroughly thoroughly alien in the finished film. This old version of that space may have been somewhere else -- like inside Steppenwolf's spaceship that he keeps teleporting down to Earth from but which we never actually see in the movie.

There were two trailer shots that showed Victor Stone in his pre-Cyborg state, but none were in the movie.

Here's Victor Stone playing football, another pre-Cyborg bit for him that didn't make it in.

There is a big cornfield scene between Clark (Henry Cavill) and Lois (Amy Adams) in the finished film but either it's different from this one one -- in which Clark says that he'll take her wearing his engagement ring from "Batman v Superman" as a yes to his proposal -- from the trailer or this was a part of that scene that didn't make it in. The cornfield scene in the finished product, notably, is one of those where Henry Cavill has his "Mission: Impossible" mustache being covered up by CGI, and that is very obviously not happening in this shot here.

Though the "Justice League" opening credits did feature a montage of people being terrible without the moral compass of Superman to guide them, this bit with the "WORLD WITHOUT HOPE" newspaper headline was not among those shots.

There's a scene in which Alfred (Jeremy Irons) is talking to someone offscreen (it's implied that it's Superman) in the batcave. Based on the dialogue we'd guess that Superman visited Alfred to find out where the other Justice League pals had gone to fight the final battle -- Superman, as you'll recall, simply shows up midway through that fight.

There was a bit in one of the trailers where Cyborg saves a man from being nailed by an exploding tank, but there were no tanks at all in the finished film so it's tough to guess where this fits in.

Aquaman did spear a lot of bug people in the finished movie, but this bit where he spears two at the same time didn't make the cut

This trailer shot shows Cyborg sporting a helmet.

The trailer implies this shot is of Cyborg flying above the clouds, and while we do see him fly around a few times we never got this particular bit.

The Flash breaking a window while using his super speed was a cool visual that was nowhere to be found in the finished movie

Here we see the Flash (Ezra Miller) fighting an evil soldier. Curiously, that entire type of baddie was cut from the movie -- all of Steppenwolf's forces had wings but this guy looks more like a regular human, a la the soldiers in Bruce Wayne's nightmare in "Batman v Superman."

Not sure what this shot is, honestly.

This part, in which Wonder Woman knocks a couple bug guys off the Batmobile, actually is in the movie -- but the color pallette is dramatically different in the finished film, sporting a bright red hue instead.

Weve got a pretty solid amount of cut content to sift through here

(Spoilers ahead for "Justice League")Given that the Joss Whedon-helmed reshoots on "Justice League" went on significantly longer than planned, it's not really a surprise that some scenes from the marketing didn't make the final cut. But it's still fun to take a look at what was meant to be and compare it to what we actually got. So let's do that right now.(Note: This post was originally published on Nov. 18, 2017)

See original here:

The Worst Parts of Justice League Theatrical Cut, From Supermans CGI Mouth to That Underwater Battle - TheWrap

After years of rumors and speculation, Zack Snyders Justice League cut will finally be released on HBO Max in 2021. The troubled production of the original 2017 version combined with disappointment from fans created a movement for the release of Zack Snyders original vision. Despite initial denials from the studio, the Snyder Cut was confirmed to exist in 2019 and was recently announced as an HBO Max exclusive. But what exactly is this version of Justice League? And what does it mean for the industry?

Director Zack Snydergave birth to the DC Cinematic Universewith Man of Steelafter Christopher Nolans Dark Knight trilogy finished in 2012. The choice made sense to Warner Bros. as Snyder had experience adapting comic books and graphic novels to the big screen after directing Watchmen and 300. The studio's hope was the directors unique style would distinguish the DCEU from Marvels cinematic universe, using DCs classic superheroes to surpass Marvels success at the box office.

Related: Everyone Was Wrong About Justice Leagues Snyder Cut

In 2013, Snyders Man of Steel was released, followed by 2016s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Despite earning over $1.5 billion combined globally, both movies proved divisive with critics and audiences anddidn't match the same box officehighs by the Marvel movies at the time. The future of DCs expanded universe seemed to be on shaky grounds. While the script for Justice Leaguewas completed before the release ofBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the negative reception resulted in Snyder and Terrio rewriting their script before starting production onJustice League.Shooting wrapped in December 2016, and Cyborg actor Ray Fisher said there was enough shot to make two movies. Snyder's early assembly cut wasfive hours, and he says his director's cut was overthree-and-a-half hours long. He screened a two-hour cut for the studio, but they weren't satisfied and assembled a writers room to implement changes to Snyder. Unfortunately, before he could complete another version, Snyder had to step away from his directing duties due to a family tragedy. To finish production, Warner Bros. hired director Joss Whedon.

Even before Snyders exit, studio executives were already pushing for creative changes. Producers Jon Berg and Geoff John were brought on the project to make Justice League more hopeful and optimistic. It was clear Warner Bros. wanted to move away from Snyders darker style after the reception of Batman v Superman. Snyders departure and Whedons involvement represented an opportunity for the studio to change the movie even further. However, they had no intention of pushing back the release date.

The new director adding about 80 new pages to the script, earning him a screenplay credit. Asignificant chunk of Snyders footage was tossed in favor of a two-month reshoot. Scenes with more humor and a brighter tone replaced the more violent ones from Snyders version. Comic book lore and characters backstories were cut. A conflicting schedule with Mission: Impossible Fallout meant actor Henry Cavills mustache had to be removed digitally from every Superman scene. The production cost also went up, adding at least $25 million to the films budget.

The result was a movie stitched together from multiple tones, often referred to as a "Frankenstein movie" failing to please audiences. It earned $658 million worldwide, a disappointing sumby any standard.

Dissatisfied with Whedons Justice League and upset with WB's treatment of Snyder,fans created an online petition calling for Warner Bros. to release Snyders original cut. To them, the movie in theaters didnt realize Snyders vision as promised by the studio. The petition gathered almost 180,000 signatures and started a movement that would later adopt the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. In 2018, a website was created to draw attention to the cut by a fan named Fiona Zheng and would become a gathering spot for fans. ForSnyderCut.com organized a photoshoot of cosplayers holding a banner outside the Warner Bros. studios to promote the campaign.

Fan efforts would continue for two-and-a-half years despite a release being considered far-fetched by industry insiders. The campaign did mass letter-writing drives, paid for billboards near conventions and Times Square, and raised over $150,000 for suicide prevention, all hoping to convince Warner Bros to release the directors cut. Unfortunately, some also harassed those critical of the movement, such as journalists and former DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson.

Related:Here's Why We Still Care About Snyder's Cut

Overall enthusiasm for the Snyder Cut remained strong long after the original Justice League, especially because many of the cast and crew voiced their wish for the release. Snyder was thankful for all the fan support. He also helped fuel excitement for the cut when, in early 2018, he began releasing still images and storyboards from his version of the movie on social media. The director would continue to share these tidbitsand outright confirmed he had a cut of the movie in 2019. Yet the decision to release it still had to come from Warner Bros, so the campaign persisted. On the two-year anniversary ofJustice League's release, the #ReleasetheSnyderCut became the top trending topic on Twitter, withnearly 1 million tweets. This is reportedly the moment when fans convinced AT&T and Warner Media to change their mind.

Over the years, details about the Snyder Cut began to emerge. The basic plot with the League uniting to fight against Steppenwolf and the Mother boxes isbasicallythe same; however, many things were cut, including the backstories for new characters, some characters were removed entirely, and multiple subplots were removed or replaced. Besides story changes, the Snyder Cut will also have a different tone than the theatrical release. While Snyder always said Justice Leaguewould be lighter thanBatman v Superman,Whedons numerous additional jokes and quips wont be part of this version, and the overall colors will be less oversaturated, particularly in the final battle.

Theres a lot more backstory for Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg in the Snyder Cut. Since Justice League would be their first official cinematic appearance, Snyder wanted to introduce them properly something Whedon struggled to achieve. These scenes contain other side characters such as Iris West, Cyborgs mother, and Martian Manhunter. Cyborgs role will be muchbigger hes described as the heart of the movie. More scenes with his father and his life pre-transformation are expected. Hopefully, this will translate into better-developed characters the audience can enjoy.

Related:Could Snyder's Full Original DCEU Slate Still Be Completed?

Another change will be Supermans storyline as Whedon modified his resurrection arc significantly. In Snyders version, the entire League appears to be involved in his digging up his grave, and Cyborg is the one who comes with the idea of using the Mother Box to bring back Clark. After being brought to life, Clark also is shown visiting a Kryptonian ship to get his suit back.

Finally, Snyders original plan was to set up Darkseid as the future main villain of the series, with Steppenwolf simply being his agent in Justice League. Much like Thanos first introduction, or Sauron in the Lord of the Rings,Darkseid would be present as a shadowy figure or, perhaps, showing up in the History Lesson flashback, with a few teases throughout the rest of the movie, and a major cliffhanger ending teasing his impending invasion. Its unclear how much material of him will be in the cut, considering his role as the main villain would only happen in later movies.

Theres no doubt that the Snyder Cut is a special case. Studios and directors have clashed creatively before, and ultimate cuts and extended versions of movies have been released over the years, but nothing quite like this. Even Blade Runner, which is famous for its multiple versions (the latest made in 2007, 25 years after its original release), and director Richard Donner's Superman II didnt go as far as spend well over$30million to add to and complete the Snyder Cut. Bringing the Snyder cut to the screen means going beyond the addition of unused footage. An investment this big requires a studio believing they will turn a profit. This is where #ReleaseTheSnyderCut comes in.

Another aspect that is unique to the Snyder Cut is the persistence of the fan campaign behind the hashtag. Even after three years, the excitement never died down. Instead, efforts became increasingly professional, and no doubt this was seen by HBO and the studio as a sign it was worth the money to give fans what they wanted. The push for a release by fans combined with the need for original and exclusive content for HBO Maxs launch represents a perfect storm that is unlikely to happen again. Yet, this might set a precedent for fan-backed directors cuts finding new homes with streaming services.

But not everyone thinks the release of the Snyder Cut is a good thing. Some people are worried about studios fueling fan entitlement by releasing it. There are those who believe the toxicitypresent in elements of#ReleaseTheSnyderCut should've not been rewarded. Also, while the Snyder Cut was a fan movement, not all DC fans like the director. There is a part of the fandom who strongly dislikes his gritty version of Superman and other DC superheroes. To them, this is a sign DC and Warner Media arefollowing a creative path they have hated for a long time.

More: What About Justice League Part 2?

Key Release Dates

Justice League: First Official Image Darkseid From Snyder Cut

Priscila Santa Rosa is an avid TV and movie fan. She covers entertainment news.

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What Is The Justice League Snyder Cut Explained | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

When it comes to the realms of science fiction and speculation, we've got a bit of a fascination with eyes, you might have noticed. Whether it's the refrigerated swap-shop in Blade Runner, an endless list of red-overlaid robot's eye views from the likes of The Terminator or Robocop, or using their expressive nature as a window the soul in I, Robot or AI, they feature constantly in films about robots and cyborgs.

Well, don't get too comfortable with the idea that these prosthetics are decades or centuries away - scientists are hard at work on manufactured eyes that could even supercede the ability of the homegrown human version.

In fact, a publication in prestigious journal Nature this week has brought this even closer to reality, detailing the work of aProfessor Zhiyong Fan, from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who's been working for some time on bionic eyes.

His and his team's new paper, elegantly titled "A biomimetic eye with a hemispherical perovskite nanowire array retina", details a 3D entirely artificial eyeball that they've built, which effectively mimics the actions of the human eye.

As the paper's abstract affirms, it's worth remembering that the human eye is insanely sophisticated - compare its field of view, resolution and colour-sensing to any of the world's most expensive cameras and that'll be underlined.

The team used a dense array of nanowires to apparently replace the photoreceptors used by the human eye's retina, which has been a stumbling block for other projects. It's able to sense and detect objects with a good deal of precision, as a result - in fact, it has 30 more photoreceptors than the human eye, making for a potentially superior degree of perception, eventually.

This potentially opens the way for a heck of a lot of applications, most of them likely not involving a creepy human-looking eye surveying processes, but also for the continued development of what are effectively cybernetic implants. It's a brave new world out there, folks.

See the article here:

New biomimetic eye research could indicate the future of prosthetic, super-human eyes - Pocket-lint

SHODAN sends her regards

Demos for seven upcoming PC games are playable today on GOG just in time for the store's 2020 Summer Sale, and they're absolutely worth a look. You might not be into all of them and you probably aren't even familiar with a couple but I'm willing to bet at least one of the demos will speak to you.

The list includes Desperados III, System Shock, Destroy All Humans, Cris Tales, Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue, Spiritfarer, and Carrion. I'm making a beeline for the two remakes, and then I'll try to loop back for Cris Tales it's aiming to blend classic (Chrono Trigger) and modern (Persona 5) JRPG sensibilities.

Some of the demos are on the shorter side, but then there's Desperadoes III. It's over 90 minutes!

So far, I've only played the System Shock alpha demo, and I like what Nightdive is doing.

As you can see in the screenshots I captured below, this revival is super faithful to the original but it doesn't feel dated. It's riding that line. In the demo, I woke up, inputted the classic keycode, smashed several mutants with a lead pipe, loaded my inventory with items I wanted to save for later but never got around to using (big mood!), and was ultimately gunned down by a cyborg. A fitting end.

While the combat is a little fiddly right now, Citadel Station's ambiance is there in spades. I was sufficiently spooked. I'm not sure if anyone will be truly "blown away" I kind of doubt it, actually but as far as remakes of beloved 25-plus-year-old games go, I respect Nightdive's commitment to detail.

Beyond the cool multi-demo promo, the wider GOG 2020 Summer Sale runs until Monday, June 15. Metro Exodus: Gold Edition ($29.24) and Prey: Digital Deluxe Edition ($11.99) are currently topping the best-seller list, but there are 3,000-some deals on the site. Check your wishlist if you have one.

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Demos for System Shock, Destroy All Humans, and five other upcoming games popped up on GOG - Destructoid

In this Justice League's comic origin story, Darkseid invades Earth with his armies, and Wonder Woman is faster than a speeding Omega Beam.

Darkseid is infamous for being one of the few villains that can take the entire Justice League, but one time Wonder Woman got the better of him alone. In the middle of a full on earth invasion - parademons swarming, League members falling left and right - Wonder Woman knocks aside a blast from Darkseids Omega Beams and dispatches the New God in stunning fashion.

These heroics take place in issue #6 of New 52 Justice League, by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. Over the first six issues, the League comes together for the first time in a world where people barely know what superheroes are. Batman and Green Lantern kick the action off when theyre drawn to the presence of a Motherbox in Gotham City. As the ensemble grows and pursues their mystery, Victor Stone transforms into Cyborg. Fans have heard his origin story retold again and again by now, but this appearance marks his first as a member of the Justice League.

Related: Batman Isn't Afraid of Any Superhero... Except Wonder Woman

Superman takes an attack full in the chest, so hes carried away to be experimented on by Apokoliptian scientists. That means the gang is short handed when they face Darkseid in an open field battle. At one point, Aquaman valiantly tells a shark to leap out of the water and devour a parademon, but the battle still isnt going their way. Naturally, they were playing to their individual strengths instead of working as a team. As soon as they regroup, Wonder Woman has the support to try and blind Darkseid. He shoots an Omega Beam right at her, but she blocks it with her gauntlets. This throws him off just enough to give her the advantage. A leaping sword attack stabs him right in the eye.

Besides an apparent power upgrade, the New 52 held mixed results for Wonder Woman. Her origin and family were reconnected to the Greek Gods, but romance still plagued her storylines, and that costume was clearly over the top. Later in the Justice League run, shes the first to encounter Grail, Darkseids daughter, in a rivalry that lasts to this day. The mythological family tree has stuck too. Dianas life is still constantly interrupted when a helpless/dangerous relative of some obscure/symbolic God falls at her doorstep.

While reading an origin story about these heroes coming together - especially one in which Cyborgs transformation coincides with a Darkseid invasion - a fan cant help but think of the upcoming Snyder Cut. But theres an x-factor that comes out in this story when the team is assembled. The chemistry of that movie would have to come a long way to even match this New 52 meet-cute. Green Lantern in the mix throws a great wrench in the Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman triumvirate. Flashs purity of heart adds an innocence that lightens the overwhelming tone. Aquaman still desperately searches for ways his powers can help.

No matter what moves Wonder Woman has, Darkseid is sure to be back on the page and screen. This is the kind of League that can take him.

Next - How Darkseid Originally Killed Batman in the Comics

Hulk Almost Killed Marvel's THING With A Single Punch

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Darkseid's Greatest Weapon is Nothing To Wonder Woman - Screen Rant

Photo: Visual China Group (Getty Images)

Even as internet sharks circle the (surprisingly expensive) news that HBO Max will be playing host to a re-cut version of Zack Snyders Justice League next year, the members of the League itself remain doggedly difficult to track down. Batmans just gone, of course, with Ben Affleck having flown the belfry shortly after the films release back in 2017. But even the more technically-extant members of the superhero squad are being a little aloof these days, what with The Flash having been in development for roughly a decade, Cyborg going AWOL, and Wonder Woman aggressively doing her own thing. As Warner Bros. has attempted to salvage the only-moderately-profitable situation by scaling down plans, focusing on individual characters, and pulling back from the shared universe stuff, chaos has inevitably reigned. Harley Quinn suddenly has more movies than Batman; Aquaman is a major box office draw; the Batmobile broke a wheel, and now theres, like, six Jokers roving around out there.

Which raises the question: Whither Superman? We havent seen Henry Cavills take on DC Comics iconic good guy for three years now, ever since he and his suspiciously absent mustache saved the day from Steppenwolf. (Steppenwolf: Still the bad guy from Justice League!) Shazam! even ends with Superman showing up at Billy Batsons school as a plot point, but Cavill himself never appears. (They used Zachary Levis stuntman for it, instead.) Heck, he didnt even show up for The CWs big Crisis crossover, and they even got Smallvilles Tom Welling for that one.

But the Man Of Steels (fortress of) solitude might be about to crumble. Deadline reports that Cavill is apparently in talks to reprise the role of Supermanalthough, hilariously, no one appears to know where. The article makes it fairly clear that Man Of Steel 2 is definitely not on the table, but doesnt specify where else he might reasonably cameo. Shazam 2 and Black Adam, set for November 2022 and December 2021, respectively, might be a reasonable guess, but wed like to pretend that Supes will be showing up for The Trench, that movie about the fish monsters from Aquaman that Warner Bros. once floated the idea of making. Wherever he pops up, itll presumably be somewhere where having, yknow, Superman on hand wont immediately solve the problem. But theyll also need it to be at least semi-substantial; you dont want to force Cavill to shave again for nothing, right?

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Henry Cavill will be back as Supermansomewhere - The A.V. Club

Roller Riotis an interesting cyborg filled cyberpunk-themed action game that was released on Steam for free. The game is available on both PC and mobile devices and allows players to punch and kick incoming opponents. Take part in a cyborg roller derby and battle against an enemy roller derby gang.

This game is very reminiscent of early browser games, but it includes design elements popular in modern games. Skate and battle your enemy by kicking and punching them as they approach you. This game is filled with cyberpunk action with a very retro design.

Get ready for the roller derby fight of a lifetime as you battle for a high score in this fast-paced beat-em-up. Punch, kick, skate, and battle the enemy cyborg roller derby gang as you establish dominance in the street with your non-stop skill.

Take on hoards of enemy robots as you seek revenge against a group that hurt you. The enemy will continue to spawn getting progressively harder, stronger, and faster. Adapt your skills and tactics as you battle an ever-evolving threat.

The controls are simple and intuitive allowing you to punch your way through every level. Use Frenzy Mode to knock out even more robot enemies as you go on a nasty destructive rampage and really send those bots back to the factory. With limited help, dodging enemy attacks becomes just as important as dealing out devastating blows.

Roller Riothas been released for free on several platforms. It provides a fun distraction and a new challenge for fans to experience while staying at home. The competitive high-score system will allow players to take on friends and compete to see who is the best Roller Fighter. Although the game currently has no multiplayer function, simply competing for the highest score might be enough to give payers a run for their points.

Enjoy a free cyberpunk adventure that is full of action and robots. Rather you are a roller derby fan or simply want to kick some butt, CB is ready to roll onto the battlefield.

Roller Riotis available on PC, Android, and iOS devices. Players can download it on their preferred platform and enjoy a casual action experience. MassDiGI has created this simple game with a deep story buried below a very colorful neon environment. Get ready for a Roller Riotas the bots line up for the revenge battle of a cybernetic lifetime.

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A New Free-To-Play Game Titled Roller Riot Has Just Been Released Full Of Cyberpunk Themed Action - Happy Gamer

One of the most difficult moments of Cris Cyborgs career was when the Brazilian took a post-fight shower after her 51-second knockout loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 232.

Cyborg, real name Cristiane Justino, says vivid images of the knockout kept flashing through her head every time she closed her eyes in the shower, and that she found herself in an internal battle for an entire week following the fight. One side says something, the other side says something else, Cyborg said.

The worst thing there is after you lose a fight is to take a shower, she told MMA Fighting in a recent interview. You take a shower by yourself and that flash comes in your head all the time, and then you start to question (yourself). Theres a fight inside your head every time you take a shower. The week after that fight was a difficult moment.

Cyborg was unable to negotiate a rematch with Nunes and the 34-year-old decided to part ways with the UFC to sign with Bellator MMA in 2019. Cyborg captured the Bellator womens featherweight title in her promotional debut, scoring a fourth-round TKO victory over Julia Budd at Bellator 238 earlier this year. The multi-promotion MMA champ would like to make her boxing debut sometime later this year.

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Cris Cyborg reflects on KO loss to Amanda Nunes: It kept flashing through my head - Bloody Elbow

Jose Aldo and Cris Cyborg share a few things in common. They both reigned at the top of the featherweight mountain in mixed martial arts for years and years, arguably the greatest of all times in their weight classes, and both lost their crowns in less than a minute.

The Nova Uniao star was unbeaten for a decade when Conor McGregor dropped him with a left hand to become the UFC titleholder in just 13 seconds. Cyborg, who also hadnt been beaten since 2005, lost her gold in a 51-second knockout defeat to Amanda Nunes.

The former UFC champions sat down to chat on Cyborgs YouTube channel Friday and discussed how their lives changed after losing titles so quickly.

We never expect to lose and lose like that, Aldo said. Its a sport and its 50-50, of course, it could happen one day. As long as were fighting, losing is a possibility, but I was so confident in my head going into this fight. No, Im super well-prepared, I cant see how this guy wins. For everything that was said and everything that was going on, my team and I were positive that we would get there and defeat him. And thats not what happened.

Aldo admits he started having doubts in my head after going down in just 13 seconds following a long training camp. He also recalled reaching out to Cyborg for advice on how to get my chin strong because he thought I have to train this aspect because the guy landed one punch and I went down, I have a bad chin.

The UFC booked a rematch between Aldo and Frankie Edgar for an interim belt at UFC 200, and Aldo admits he fought playing safe, not taking risks, not putting myself in danger because that was a fight I had to win no matter how. The Brazilian star won a decision that night, and was later promoted to undisputed champion after the company stripped McGregor of his belt.

Right after that I said, no, Im the champion, that was only one fact that will never happen again in my life. Thats why I have to train twice as hard, see the mistakes I made and never make them again, Aldo said.

Cyborgs reign was also shattered in seconds. However, at the end of the day, she felt a weight getting off my back after losing at UFC 232.

The former Strikeforce, Invicta FC and UFC queen says her nine-month camp for Nunes was chaotic, switching managers and teams, but still felt in my heart that I was prepared.

I think thats something wrong when there are no problems in my camp because I always have a problem in my camp and that motivates me, Cyborg said. I trained nine months for that fight and had so much stress around me. Its not an excuse, but I acted emotionally in the fight. Its not what I trained, I acted emotionally. We never think were going to lose in the first round. You say Ill give my all, Ill go until the end, and if they defeat me, Im going until the end. Thats what we think.

The worst thing there is after you lose a fight is to take a shower, she continued. You take a shower by yourself and that flash comes in your head all the time, and then you start to question (yourself). One side says something, the other side says something else. Theres a fight inside your head every time you take a shower. The week after that fight was a difficult moment.

Cyborg eventually returned to the eight-sided cage to give Felicia Spencer a decision loss and left the promotion to join Bellator and become the 145-pound queen by knocking out Julia Budd.

I see everything that happened as something for the better because I definitely became a better athlete and a better person, and Im grateful, Cyborg said. Im grateful for everything that happened.

The Lioness Nunes continues to reign as a two-division champion in the UFC, and Cyborg awaits her next contender in the Bellator cage. That said, the Grand Slam Champion hasnt given up on the idea of promotion a cross-promotion clash with Nunes.

Its not a dream, its a goal in MMA, to do something different, Cyborg said. A super fight between the Bellator champion and the UFC champion, Amanda Nunes and I. I think it would help MMA a lot.

Original post:

Aldo, Cyborg reflect on what happened after losses to McGregor, Nunes - MMA Fighting

Viewers have been left reeling from one problematic remake of a 1970s classic, ITVs new Van der Valk. Now we are hit with another, Code 404 (Sky One). This has more than a few nods to The Six Million Dollar Man, a highly successful American sci-fi series that first aired in 1978 about a crashed, technically dead US astronaut named Steve Austin (played with a certain wooden charm by Lee Majors). The white-coated scientists on the old show famously declared we can rebuild him and created the first bionic man. This cyborg with superhuman abilities cost $6m, of course, though the real-world expense of the primitive TV special effects must have enjoyed a smaller budget. Like RoboCop, Darth Vader and Inspector Gadget, the Six Million Dollar Man was an intriguing cybernetic being, one who made you forgive the silliness of his origins.

This time around its the corpse of a mockney London detective inspector, slyly named John Major, played by Daniel Mays. Hes been shot dead by gangsters and is the subject of high-tech experimentation. Code 404, presumably a reference to the online status code you get when the page isnt found, is set in a dystopian Britain a few years from now. This, jarringly, is one where no one is wearing a face mask or exercising strict social distancing, so it is actually a bit less dystopian than our present set-up, but thats a modern plague for you.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

As Skys programme notes point out, the augmented DI Major is a few quid short of six million dollars because when he comes back from the dead, all the wiring hasgone wrong. He has, for example, forgotten that a large object cannot be placed intact into a small space with brute force; mislaid the bit of acquired knowledge that cautions against taking vast quantities of cocaine; and thinks his assassin was a hood who went by the name Heston! Heston Blumenthal.

More worryingly, we also see via blurry flashbacks that he has no recollection of his rocky relationship with his wife Kelly (an even-wearier-than-usual Anna Maxwell Martin) and is unaware that his cop partner, DI Roy Carver (Stephen Graham), has since moved in with her. This makes his reconciliation with her impossible. Thus he is left with no past, no home, and no wife, which is funnier than it sounds.

The show is a bit of a cyborg itself. Theres some sci-fi in there, though Majors special powers are currently well concealed. As DI Carver says, hes still a bit of a knob, so there are plenty of wisecracks too, like when Major tracks down the crims who, startled to see him reincarnated, tell him that youve come back as a really bad copper. Theres an incidental crime drama plot and plenty of blood and gore. So we can see what the boffins and TV format surgeons at Sky were trying to create when they took on re-inventing the long-gone series The Six Million Dollar Man, but I cant help but feel that Armando Iannucci, say, would have been a more skilled, wittier surgeon. As with the bungling DI John Major himself, Code 404 only just about works.

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Code 404, review: As with the bungling DI John Major himself, this comedy only just about works - The Independent

There are lots of dark potential futures for many of the heroes of the DC Universe. One of the most chilling is also one of the most plausible: After the demise of their mentors in battle, a number of sidekicks embrace a brutal edge while becoming dark protectors of their world. In fact, this possible timeline has proven resilient enough to endanger the current timeline, one where the Teen Titans become the de facto rulers of the world.

Here's a breakdown ofthe Titans of Tomorrow and how they almost brought down the current DC timeline.

RELATED:Teen Titans: How a Legend of Tomorrow Rebuilt the DC Team

The Titans of Tomorrow first appeared in the final pages of Teen Titans/The Legion Special#1 by Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, Mike McKone, Ivan Reis and Joe Prado. After helping the Legion deal with the Fatal Five, the Teen Titans (Superboy, Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy) end up in their near-future. In this potential future, an undisclosed crisis wiped out many of the core heroes of the DC Universe, leaving their protgs to become darker to reflect the times.

Tim Drake became a murderous Batman, Conner Kent forged a close connection with Lex Luthor after becoming Superman,Cassie Sandsmark trained with Ares and took over the mantle of Wonder Womanand Bart Allen grew up to become a very powerful new version of the Flash.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy fully embraced his animalistic side and became Animal Man, Raven became an emotional vampire on a coastal scale as Dark Raven andLorena Marquezadopted the mantle of Aquawoman. The Titans were horrified by their future counterparts and the lengths they had gone to maintain peace in a fascist world. Their actions had actually led to a split between the Titans, with a second group -- led by Cyborg -- remaining on the East Coast as actual superheroes. When the Titans returned to their proper place in the timeline, the young heroes vowed to avoid that future at all costs.

RELATED:Titans Should Retire Its Batman In Season 3

Not long after they encountered this dark future, the Titans ended up losing two core members of the team: Superboy died during the events ofInfinite Crisisand Kid Flash was killed by the Rogues while depowered. In this new, modified future, Tim eventually perfected a cloning techniqueand brought back versions of Superboy and Kid Flash. To keep their timeline from falling apart, the Titans of Tomorrow assembled more members -- such as the dark future versions of Kid Devil and Ms. Martian, Red Devil and Martian Manhunter -- and made their way to the past.

Quickly capturing the Justice League, the Titans of Tomorrow force the Titans to try and fight Starro on their own, so they can jumpstart the Titans becoming more powerful figures in the world and ensure their survival. They even try to kill Ravager, Supergirl and Blue Beetle -- each of whom became a genuine nuisance to their rule in their time. The Titans try to do everything they can to prevent the future, up to Tim Drake even putting a gun to his head to prevent himself from ever growing up into Batman. This eventually prompts the Lex Luthor of the future to assemble a Titan Army to ensure their future continues to exist.

Starro -- defeated by the Titans -- instead redirects and targets the Titans of the future. Eventually, Cassie is able to move past her grief over Superboy's death and kisses Tim. This enrages the Superman of the future and he attacks the teenage Tim. Batman is forced to shoot him dead with a kryptonite bullet to save himself. This was the final piece to ensure a new timeline, leading all of the Titans of Tomorrow to disappear.

RELATED:Teen Titans: Ranking Each Member's Modern Outfits

This didn't eliminate the potential dark Tim Drake from the timeline, however, as Hypertime means the possibility always continues to exist in some form. The future Tim was plucked from his time-stream by Mr. Oz and held prisoner for over a year. Mr. Oz started plucking other people from across the DC Universe, including the core universe Tim Drake. The older Drake eventually broke the pair out of the prison and tried to convince his younger self that it would be good to grow into him. When the older Tim finds out that the new, younger version of Tim (now living in a post-Flashpoint universe) never became best friends with Superboy, he realizes the timeline can be altered.

Realizing this means he can change the future, Tim goes on to attack two very specific people: Batwoman (whom he blames for the death of the original Batman) and Jon Kent (who could eventually lose control of his powers and cause the deaths of millions of innocents in an accident), hoping to transform his timeline. He even takes up a new identity, the Savior. During his attempts, he's fought by the present incarnations of the heroes, as well as being hounded by Hypertime outbursts that seek to return him to his own timeline. In the end, Tim absorbs the power of Jon's newest outburst into himself as he fades into Hypertime -- diluting the energy and keeping it from killing anyone. The future Tim ends up falling through Hypertime, seemingly at peace with himself.

KEEP READING: Titans: How Barbara Gordon Could Factor Into Season 3

Dragon Ball: The One Saiyan Form That Vegeta Never Mastered - and Why

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Titans Tomorrow: What Happened to the Teen Titans' Darkest Timeline? - CBR - Comic Book Resources

New Release Friday always promises to be a treasure trove of the now and next in music, so leave it to PAPER to comb through obscure and mainstream corners of the internet and bring you the best. I curate this list each week and have specific, yet impossible-to-define taste in music, so who knows what'll pop up here? Kindly adopt the 10 songs, below, as your new favorite children and watch them grow up as you indulge my spiraling over whatever the hell I want every week! Is that too much to ask? Maybe, but thank you in advance.

Dubbed Sweden's "Eurobeat angel," Namasenda's latest single, "Dare" thrusts her into the A. G. Cook/PC Music universe. The vocalist and songwriter gets both "AM" and "PM" mixes from Cook; the AM mix finds her crooning gently to a bubbly beat. The result is certainly more daring than most pop music out right now.

Megan Thee Stallion's viral Suga track gets an even more energetic re-up with fellow Houston phenom, Beyonc Thee Rapper, who spits memorable lines about jumping into her skinny jeans to make them fit, OnlyFans and more. Elevation to the highest levels of classy, bougie, ratchet.

JoJo's new album good to know puts her famous songbird trills on full display, with no shortage of raw emotion. A distant electric guitar backs the singer's supple, winding melodies on "Gold," a song luxuriating in the best and rarest kind of love there is.

Innovative pop musicians Bree Runway and Yung Baby Tate team up for this sexy, dynamic cut about curving dudes with slick hidden agendas. Genre-wise, it coasts through left-of-center '90s hip-hop, specifically detouring through the legendary catalog of Missy Elliott. It not only sounds great, I now want to order door knocker earrings to match my full-body catsuit, stat.

Uffie has no time for energy vampires on "FroYo For Your Tears," the latest in a string of excellently written, gleefully weird pop tunes from the OG MySpace queen.

The Blam Blams' "Throwaway Lines" is a smooth slice of bombastic glam rock, complete with dramatic, harmonic vocals, wailing guitars and piano chords fit for the sleaziest cabaret in town.

Los Angeles songstress Madison Rose's uber catchy "Rainbow Phone" is likely to create powerful synaesthesia in its listeners. It's the sonic equivalent of kaleidoscopic color. Speaking of kaleidoscope, I'm getting some candy-coated early Kelis vibes heavily on this track that make it even harder to resist.

On "Standing In Line," singer/songwriter David Blank's heartfelt vocal performance is front and center. He sings poignantly about the pain of stagnation and being pulled into emotional quicksand, but as the song soars into its chorus, his cathartic release is near.

Michigan artist Furillostar's music often recalls the glorious early-aughts heyday when mainstream pop radio was saturated with insanely catchy R&B melodies by everyone from Destiny's Child to Jagged Edge. On "Txt'n Me," he playfully slips into the role of phone sex operator, accepting calls and nudes, singing gleefully about his wildest fantasies.

According to Rose McGowan, her debut album Planet 9 is meant to evoke a healing energy for a chaotic world. But perhaps she'll forgive us for thinking the alien cyborg pop of "Now You're Here" is equally effective as club-friendly ear candy.

What's your favorite track this week? Enjoy chaos and taste in equal measure, and stream our Bops Only playlist every week, below.

Photo courtesy of Namasenda

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Bops Only: 10 Songs You Need to Start Your Weekend Right - Papermag

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HELSINGBORG, Sweden Jowan sterlund lays down a sterile cloth, puts on gloves and uses a needle to slide a microchip under Micco Grnholms skin. The whole process takes only a couple minutes. Im a cyborg, Grnholm tells VICE News.

The radio frequency identification technology that the chip uses has been around for decades, but the idea of implanting it under the skin seems pretty dystopian. It can be used to enter doors like your office, home or gym to log into computers, and even to make contactless payments.

sterlund, a self-proclaimed science fiction nerd and the founder and CEO of Biohax International, says he has chipped around 6,000 Swedes in the last six years. He chalks up its success to Swedens culture of openness.

The geopolitical situation historically gives us the kind of initial higher trust in the government. I think a lot of people would be way more apprehensive in a lot of countries, sterlund said.

Walk through Swedens bustling capital in Stockholm and youll see what he means. Abandoned cash machines, card-only parking meters and market vendors who only accept mobile payments, nearly all aspects of life in Sweden are digitized.

Ninety-seven percent of the transactions are done without bills, Anders Ygeman, Swedens Minister for Energy and Digital Development told VICE News.

Known globally for its welfare system, the Scandavian country of 10 million has a storied history of embracing new technologies from tax subsidies for home computers in the 90s, to mobile technology infrastructure. The country is nearing complete digitization of both public and private sectors, and has now its sight set on artificial intelligence, all with the goal of making life more convenient, efficient and equitable for its citizens.

Originally posted here:

People Are Getting Microchipped in Sweden, and It's Pretty Normal - VICE

Warner Bros. and DC's interconnected superhero series - the DC Extended Universe - hasn't always received the same amount of critical acclaim as their great rivals over at Marvel Studios, but it's still made almost five and a half billion dollars at the box office over the course of eight movies, to rank as the tenth highest-grossing franchise in cinematic history.

Most of the DCEU's early output was dogged by problems such as an unrelentingly grim tone, constant rumors of studio interference and a penchant for announcing movies and then doing absolutely nothing with them. However, once the studio made a conscious effort to head in a new creative direction following the disappointment of Justice League, the future for their roster of superheroes is looking brighter than ever.

Had things gone to plan, we'd have seen Ben Affleck's The Batman and The Flash by now, while the game-changing events of Zack Snyder's Justice League Part Two would have impacted the stories of both Cyborg and Green Lantern Corps, and maybe even the Suicide Squad spinoff for Jared Leto's Joker and Harley Quinn.

Instead, a combination of poor reception to the movies from both fans and critics, constant changes in leadership behind the scenes, abandoned projects and some high-profile re-castings have seen the DCEU drastically alter the highly ambitious plans that were originally laid out, as the franchise suffered greatly from trying to run before it had learned to walk.

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10 Biggest Ways The DCEU Has Changed From Original Plans - WhatCulture

Over the past decade, Bellator has had crowned champions in three female divisions with a total of four fighters winning the belts.

Currently, just two of those divisions are active.

Cris Cyborg added Bellator gold to her UFC, Strikeforce and Invicta FC titles earlier this year, while Ilima-Lei Macfarlane is the only flyweight champion.

Zoila Gurgel held the strawweight title in 2010 for over two years, but the belt has been inactive since she left for Invicta FC.

In January, Cris Cyborg made history, becoming the first-ever fighter to hold gold in the UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce and Invicta FC.

Cyborg scored a victory over Julia Budd at Bellator 238 in Inglewood, California on January 25, 2020.

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For over 1,000 days, Julia Budd was the champion in the division.

Budd won the title at Bellator 174 on March 3, 2017 with a victory over Marloes Coenen. She held it for exactly 1,137 days win defenses over Arlene Blencowe, Talita Nogueira and Olga Rubin.

The one and only champion in the Bellator flyweight division, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane has held the title for nearly 1,000 days.

Macfarlane won the inaugural belt at Bellator 186 on the campus of Penn State University on November 3, 2017 with a victory over Emily Ducote.

She earned successful defenses in 2018 vs. both Alejandra Lara and Valerie Letourneau, following up in 2019 with wins vs. Veta Arteaga and Kate Jackson.

At Bellator 34 on October 28, 2010, Zoila Gurgel won the inaugural Bellator strawweight title with a victory over Megumi Fujii from Hollywood, Florida.

The tournament bracket also included future UFC champion Carla Esparza, Lisa Ward, Aisling Daly, Lynn Alvarez and Jessica Penne.

She would hold the strap for 831 days without defending it before departing for Invicta FC on February 5, 2013.

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Bellator In The 2010s: Looking Back At The Female Divisions - The MIX