deerstalker

https://blackgirlnerds.com/review-harley-quinn-season-5-returns-to-form-with-the-og-crew-taking-over-a-new-city/

Dean Lorey just might be one of the hardest-working executive producers in the industry. In the past year, he served as showrunner for James Gunn’s Creature Commandos and “Harleyverse” spin-off Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, both while gearing up for his return to Harley Quinn, which he co-created with Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker (Abbott Elementary).

While all three were still executive producers on the show, they handed the showrunner reins over to series writer Sarah Peters (Ghosted) for Season 4, which was admired by critics (including this one) but proved to be polarizing among the fandom. Lorey told TV Line that he “wanted to get the old gang back together and get a little back to basics” with a fifth season that’s “a bit more focused.” 

Major spoilers ahead for Harley Quinn seasons 1-4, and minor spoilers for the first season of Kite Man: Hell Yeah!

In season 4, we followed Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) and Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) as they navigated their new jobs. While the couple had many cute moments together, the two spent much of the season dealing with their issues separately. Harley was determined to fit into the Bat Fam but eventually realized being a hardcore hero wasn’t her thing. Suppressing her natural villainy led to sleep-killing Nightwing/Dick Grayson (Harvey Guillen).

Ivy was temporarily the CEO of the Legion of Doom, made a powerful frenemy in Talia al Ghul (Aline Elasmar), and had her own realization that she’s not cut out for corporate life.

The crew took a back seat for the season; King Shark (Ron Funches) and his bride Tabitha had a litter of baby sharks, one of which Tabitha took home with her, leaving the rest with their father. Clayface (Alan Tudyk) was largely absent, except for an episode that showed him at his Vegas residency being oddly antagonistic towards Ivy. 

Bane (James Adomian) went on a bizarre pasta adventure in Italy and did little else. Joker (Alan Tudyk) seemingly got bored with his governmental duties as mayor and reverted back to villainy. He missed his days as the Clown Prince of Crime and shot Batgirl/Barbara Gordon (Briana Cuoco), paralyzing her from the waist down (à la The Killing Joke). 

Bruce Wayne (Diedrich Bader) spent the season behind bars at Blackgate, serving time for tax evasion (and DJ-ing). But in the finale, he simply decided to leave, just as Alfred Pennyworth (Tom Hollander) was finally transferred to be with him. 

Kite Man (Matt Oberg) was absent from season 4 because he was too busy with his own show. Kite-Man, Hell Yeah! premiered in July 2024 and centered on him and his new girlfriend Golden Glider (Stephanie Hsu) and their joint business venture with Noonan’s. The main threats looming over Gotham were Lex Luthor (Lance Reddick), Helen Villigan (Judith Light), and Darkseid (Keith David), all of whom sought after the Anti-Life Equation. The finale teased Brainiac’s signature Skull Ship, which takes us into the long-awaited season 5. 

Harley Quinn season 5 reunites us with Harlivy, the “bestest, most titillating-est, most exciting-est couple ever,” rocking velour tracksuits and enjoying their lack of responsibilities. With the Bat Family disbanded Gotham is in disarray with giant rats scaling buildings.

The first episode ties up some loose ends from season 4 like Joker being impeached for, you know, shooting Barbara. We also get a flashback to the short-lived Gotham City Sirens. However, it takes a few episodes before we get a definitive status on Nightwing post-Lazarus Pit. 

Harley convinces Ivy to visit Metropolis, which looks like a clean utopia (kinda like Oasis Landing in Sims 3). With Lex Luthor in jail, we’re introduced to his younger sister Lena (the always fabulous Aisha Tyler), who also happens to be Bruce Wayne’s current girlfriend. She loves the chaos Harlivy brings to the perfect city of tomorrow and offers Ivy the chance to add some greenery among the shiny buildings, giving the couple a solid reason to postpone going back to Gotham. 

This new setting means Lois Lane (Natalie Morales) and Superman (James Wolk) play a bigger part in the series than before. Unfortunately for Lois, the Daily Planet goes through some changes when Bane and a disguised Clayface join the newsroom. King Shark drops his rambunctious offspring off at their godmothers’ new Metropolis penthouse, with Shaun (Kimberly Brooks) being the biggest menace who becomes attached to Harley and Ivy. 

That’s right. King Shark, Clayface, and Bane all live in Metropolis. And while they have their own subplots, the crew (sans Dr. Psycho and Sy) spend a lot more time together. In Kite-Man, Bane reconnected with Betty (Casey Wilson), his dominatrix valentine from A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special. They adopted Goldilocks (Carla Delaney), a former resident of Queen of Fables’ storybook, who bonded with Bane when he was forced to babysit her. 

Some characters didn’t make a return, including Dr. Psycho (Tony Hale), Nora Freeze (Rachel Dratch), Talia al Ghul, and Two-Face (Andy Daly). I was disappointed that Batgirl and Jim Gordon (Christopher Meloni) only had brief appearances. However, we get plenty of newcomers to the Harleyverse, including Ivy’s former professor Jason Woodrue (John Slattery), a key figure in her and Frank the Plant’s (JB Smoove) origin story. But this season’s big bad is Brainiac (Stephen Fry), a green humanoid obsessed with perfection, along with his white alien monkey Koko (Phil Lamarr). 

While Harley Quinn’s fourth season was a blast, co-creator and showrunner Dean Lorey remedied its shortcomings with a return to form in season 5. Harley and Ivy, along with their crew, still have a healthy balance of familiarity and growth, along with all the absurdity and wild antics. The show remains one of DC’s best animated projects, especially with Lorey at the helm. 

Harley Quinn Season 5 premieres January 16 on Max, followed by one new episode weekly through March 20.

The post Review: ‘Harley Quinn’ Season 5 Returns to Form with the OG Crew Taking over a New City appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

https://nerdist.com/article/tiktok-ban-updates-supreme-court-decision/

TikTok swept into the social media landscape with an enviable force. It seemed to totally capture the hearts and minds of the youngest generations among us with its addictive platform that offers you short-form video after short-form video. Even millennials are not immune to TikTok’s wiles. For some, influences and artists alike, TikTok has also been a lucrative place to grow a business and make a living. But now, the TikTok ban threatens to outlaw TikTok from the US. If the ban becomes an active law as planned, TikTok will be banned from the United States beginning on January 20. Currently, only the Supreme Court stands between the federal law being enacted and not. But what’s the state of the TikTok ban? Well, here’s the current State of the TikTok ban Union.

Quick Links:

• Latest Updates on the Supreme Court’s TikTok Ban Deliberations
• The Current Overall State of Affairs Regarding a TikTok Shut Down

Latest Updates on the Supreme Court’s TikTok Ban Deliberations

After its first day of deliberations, the Supreme Court appears to lean toward upholding the TikTok ban, but did not conclude discussions. TikTok’s lawyer Noel Francisco seemed optimistic, however, noting “This country has never taken a step of shutting down a speech platform, much less such an important speech platform. You don’t shut down a speech platform because you’re worried about speech that’s dangerous.”

The Chinese embassy meanwhile criticized the ban, noting in a statement, “The U.S. has never found evidence that TikTok threatens U.S. national security, but it has used state power and abused national security reasons to unreasonably suppress it, which is not fair or just at all. The U.S. should truly respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop unreasonably suppressing companies from other countries, and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for companies from all countries to invest and operate in the U.S.”

The Current Overall State of Affairs Regarding a TikTok Shut Down

On January 10th, the Supreme Court will hear opening arguments in the case of the TikTok ban. There’s a lot of legalese involved, but in short, TikTok and ByteDance are arguing that the TikTok ban/shutdown is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment rights of its 170 million users. While some Supreme Court justices acknowledge the truth of this, the opposition argument is that TikTok does not have to shut down, it simply needs to divest of its owner ByteDance. ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok is a concern to the United States government, which believes the company is using TikTok to spy on Americans for the Chinese government, as well as to spread Chinese-centric propaganda. At this point in time, the court seemingly leans toward upholding the law and allowing the TikTok ban to take effect.

The Supreme Court has not yet arrived at a final decision, but it feels expected that they will move quickly to achieve one. We’ll be sure to update this piece as new information becomes accessible. You can listen to the arguments on YouTube via PBS NewsHour.

On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed the TikTok divest-or-ban bill into law, which also passed in Congress. If the Supreme Court does not strike down the TikTok ban, the law will go into effect on January 20. That means the use of TikTok will be illegal in the United States, and TikTok will no longer be available at the time.

The post TikTok Ban Updates: Supreme Court Leans Toward Upholding Ban and Shutting US TikTok Down in January appeared first on Nerdist.

https://blacknerdproblems.com/secret-level-review/

We’re living in a golden age of true-to-source-material video game adaptations for film and TV. From The Last of Us redefining emotional storytelling to Arcane flexing its animation muscles and storytelling, we’ve come a long way from the days of Resident Evil movies that completely ignore almost all source material. How is it that Secret Level dropped on Amazon Prime, and the streets are this quiet about it? I have to search for it on my socials because it’s not coming up on my timelines, and ionlikedat.

Released on December 10th, this anthology series—created by Tim Miller (Deadpool, Love, Death & Robots)—is a love letter to the storytelling of video games. Each episode serves as a fitting homage to the games that shaped us, from beloved classics to forgotten gems, all brought to life with stunning visuals, sharp writing, and a voice cast that’s straight-up iconic. I’m talking Keanu Reeves bringing the intensity, Temuera Morrison delivering that boss energy, Kevin Hart adding his signature flair that we know him for, and Arnold Schwarzenegger reminding us why he’s still the king of action with a dash of comedic relief for good measure.

The animation? Fire. The voice acting? Pure gold. I was hooked from the jump and knew this anthology was going to be special. I need nominations for this show, STAT

Secret Level: Hooked From Episode 1

Episode 1, titled “The Queen’s Cradle,” transported me straight back to my D&D roots, like I was rolling a d20 for initiative all over again. This episode perfectly exemplified how organically your group in D&D forms—everyone falling into their roles, often stumbling into just the class or character you needed to make the party complete.

I loved the Dungeons & Dragons movie, but Secret Level felt like something entirely different. Where the movie leaned into comedy and blockbuster tropes (and did it well!), this felt like watching someone’s actual campaign unfold, more in the vein of The Legend of Vox Machina. It wasn’t trying to crack jokes every five minutes—it was about the adventure, the plot twists, and the unique chaos that only a D&D campaign can deliver. It gave us characters that we see in all of our own campaigns—like Tally, the gnome wizard, who was just so gnome-coded that it hurt but only in the best way. She embodied everything you’d expect from a gnome: clever, chaotic, and undeniably charming.

I’ve been hungry for more video game-related content to consume, and Secret Level came in clutch, like that one homie who mains the healer. Episode 2 takes us back with Sifu, delivering a poignant lesson about the cost of vengeance. Episode 3, meanwhile, is a hilarious meta dive into New World: Aeternum, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in a comedic, MMORPG-flavored fever dream with Groundhog Day-style storytelling. And don’t even get me started on Episode 8, where Keanu Reeves takes the cockpit in the Armored Core universe and annihilates—not just with his mech, but with his flawless voice acting. It’s gritty, brutal, and one of the standouts of the series and I’m so sad that it was such a short episode!

But one of my absolute favorites? “Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear”. Listen, this episode had me ready to hop on my PC and load up Space Marine 2. This episode follows Captain Demetrian Titus post-Space Marine 2, and when I tell you this episode is brutal, brilliant, and so quintessentially 40K/Space Marine, I mean it. By the end, I was yelling, “What’s in the box?!” like I was David Mills in Se7en, only to nod solemnly and say, “Yep, that tracks for 40K.”

This episode has made me even more hyped for Henry Cavill’s upcoming live-action Warhammer 40K series and movies, also coming to Amazon Prime. While I know the two projects are unrelated, the sheer quality of this episode sets a high bar. I can’t help but hope Amazon maintains this level of excellence when it’s time for Cavill’s series to roll out.

Pac-Man’s Dark Side and Easter Egg Mania

Episode 6, though? Oh, y’all ain’t ready for Episode 6. If you know me, you know I live for hyper fixating on video game lore, and Pac-Man is one of my favorite rabbit holes. This episode wasn’t just a trip—it was a journey. Taking cues from Bandai Namco’s extensive library, it blended elements from Xevious, United Galaxy Space Force, and the upcoming platformer, Shadow Labyrinth.

And let me tell you, this episode was DARK. Like, “Why am I whispering ‘What the fuck?’ at my screen?” dark. I spent hours afterward diving into Reddit threads for easter egg confirmations because the lore runs deep. If you’re into theory-crafting, this episode is for you.

Hidden Gems and Forgotten Classics

What makes Secret Level so special is its range. Alongside heavy hitters like Mega Man and Unreal Tournament, it shines a spotlight on lesser-known titles like Concord, a game that had its plug pulled a month after launch and now only lives on in this series. There’s even an episode featuring Spelunky, Honor of Kings, and Crossfire. 

And then there’s Exodus, based on an upcoming game from Archetype Entertainment set to release in late 2025. While the game hasn’t launched yet, its episode left me intrigued and eager to dive into it when it arrives.

Tim Miller didn’t just create an anthology—he built a shrine to gaming’s past, present, and future.

Why Aren’t Y’all Watching?

Even if you’re not a hardcore gamer, Secret Level is worth your time. The series doesn’t expect you to know every ounce of lore from these games, it gives you just enough to get invested while leaving room for curiosity. You might even find yourself wanting to pick up a controller or dive into PC gaming after watching.So, if you’ve got some time off this holiday season, do yourself a favor and check out Secret Level. All episodes for season one streaming now on Amazon Prime, and I promise, it’s the gift gamers didn’t know they needed.

Naliaah Castro is a NY-born blerd, gamer, and grad student juggling parenthood, work, and co-paneling on New Blerd Order. With a love for horror, RPGs, sci-fi, and fantasy, she’s probably either deep into a video game or rewatching Lord of the Rings for the hundredth time.

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The post Not Enough of Y’all Are Talking About ‘Secret Level,’ and It Don’t Sit Right with My Spirit appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://blacknerdproblems.com/solo-leveling-s2-e1-review/

It’s been over ten years since gates that lead to another dimension have begun appearing across the world. The battles between the magic beasts inhabiting the dungeons through the gates and the human hunters who have awakened the abilities to fight them show no signs of ending. Ordinarily, a hunter’s abilities do not change upon awakening, with their rank never increasing. However, the low-ranked Sung Jinwoo, known as “The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind,” gained the ability to level up through battle during a raid on a double dungeon.

Jinwoo has become a formidable necromancer with an army of loyal shadows at his command. But he must master these abilities while keeping them hidden from other hunters, all while racing against the clock to save his mother. As he faces humanity’s toughest foes, Jinwoo pushes his body and mind to the limit, and the full extent of his newfound power is revealed. Having completed a job-change quest that earned him the job “Shadow Monarch” and command over an army of shadows, Jinwoo heads into battle seeking the ingredients for the Elixir of Life to save his sick mother.

Crunchyroll, in collaboration with Aniplex, is bringing the world the eagerly awaited second season anime adaptation of the Korean manhwa sensation, Solo Leveling. (Our site’s review of the first two episodes of Season One) If you were lucky enough to catch Solo Leveling -ReAwakening in theaters last year, it featured a great recap of the first glorious season to prepare you for this new season airing this year.

Here’s a mostly spoiler free review for the first episode of Solo Leveling, Season Two which premiered on Saturday, January 4, 2025 on Crunchyroll. A big thanks to Crunchyroll for the early access!

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You Aren’t E-Rank, Are You?

This second season of Solo Leveling drops the audience back at home with Jinjwoo–he’s in bed resting and recovering from the epic battle that he had with Igris–that’s worth rewatching. His first call to action was to pop up at Jinah’s, his younger sister, school for the parent/guardian teacher meetups. This is a great anchor to remind the audience of who and what our protagonist is doing all this for, this part of the emotional tether to his mission–providing for his kid sister and doing what he can to heal his ailing mother. He’s gone from the “Weakest Hunter of All Mankind“ to a force to be reckoned with, a man on different hunter’s radar, and also someone transformed starting with his own will. Sung, Jinwoo, you are that dude. You are exactly who you think you are.

But in Jinwoo’s case–there’s another task added to his ever mounting mountain of duties. By request of a teacher at Jinah’s school, he is asked to talk to one of her classmates, Han Song-yi, who has been working as a hunter. She may be familiar as the high school student who we saw in one of the motley crews hastily put together last season to make the required hunter quota when Jinwoo and Yoo Jinhoo were mining dungeons for treasure. This teen, while determined, is a low level hunter, who will ultimately have a difficult career ahead of her. Attempting to show her the harsh reality of the job, Jinwoo takes her to a raid designated for new hunters of the White Tiger guild. Things do NOT go as planned–as you can guess.

Can we stop and appreciate the new opening animation and song combo here for season two of Solo Leveling?  The opening song is a BANGER! I did not know that LiSA and Felix of Stray Kids would sound so great on a track together, and the song gets me hyped. The new animation sequence for the opening opens to Jinwoo walking away with what looks like a bloody mouth and as he does we see a pomegranate fruit on the ground. The literary nerd within me instantly thought about what the symbolism could represent here. Depending on what part of the world, the pomegranate can represent a great number of meanings. My mind went to Greek mythology, and how the pomegranate is known as the “fruit of the dead.” This feels on par as last season Jinwoo leveled up and changed his job class, picking up a undead army.

Starting with that pomegranate, I followed the color red through the opening: from the red colored enemies of Jinwoo’s undead army to the tassel of Igris’ helmet all the way to the dying reddish light of the day where the country’s top hunters battle against creatures. There’s the red squares of the blackjack/roulette wheel to the red gem of pendant that Jinah–Jinwoo’s younger sister holds up to the light. There’s more red colored enemies that our main characters face off with, the red color of the slashes on impact from his weapon’s attacks ending with another pomegranate towards the end.  I also first leaned on Greek mythology once seeing the fruit as I thought of the story of Hades and Persephone and how one was led into the underworld. We see a glimpse of the past Jinwoo–laying with a bed of lilies surrounding him–resurrection? A trade off? A sacrifice? This is a very intentional piece of animation with some hints and foreshadowing- I bet for the rest of the season.

Back to this review: This first episode of Solo Leveling’s second season really helps establish Jinwoo’s new status after all the training and grinding he did last season. Yes, he’s that dude, yes, he’s a force to be reckoned with, and yes, he’s a problem. He’s back home and leaning on his newfound strengths and knowledge and he’s moving forward with the plan. He gets to perform on a stage and that will include a boss baddie that will challenge him…whom I’m guessing was the short glimpse we had at the end of this episode. Jinwoo is rising to the occasion of his powers and his growing presence in the hunter world–he’s made use of his E-ranking as a hunter to fly under the radar and carry out his business, for sure.

The rising action off the battlefield really drives home the point that Jinwoo is on the radar of many more people now–hunters, hunter management, and more–for better or worse. He’s become too powerful and the timeline of his rise of power and him being at certain locations has pushed some to hypothesize that he’s reawakened. This comes in the form of dangerous and vindictive hunter Hwang Doongsoo who is looking to avenge his older brother, a hunter who lost his life last season. This also comes in the form of hunters who want to turn on him as their circumstances change as we probably see more in the following episodes this season.

“Solo Leveling Season Two arrives on the scene with much spectacle and substance: reminding us what drew us to the anime adaptation of the web-comic in the first place. A solid start for a new season, grounding us in Jinwoo’s purpose and presence in this latest chapter of his adventures.”

Verdict

While the pacing of the first episode of the first season bothered me, this time around the studio got it right with the first episode of the second season. We start off with Jinwoo and a piece of his emotional center: his family via his sister. And we’re reminded of some of the major players on the board who have or will soon have a greater interest in Jinwoo and his abilities. The gate incident brings him and his mission forward with much hinting about power and where his path leads. 

I do love that this first episode of Solo Leveling does not disappoint on the animation quality side. Yes, we can gas up the fight scenes–which I am a fan of. (Shout out to the new opening sequence for season two, embedded above in this review!) Seeing Jinwoo’s new powers manifest in this new dungeon is a feast for the eyes, of course. These battles are only as appetizers for the main dish in the upcoming episode for next week, I’m sure. I am really loving the more subtle details from this episode like how this new version of a gate manifested and the brilliant scene where hunter Hwang Doongsoo is confronted by another hunter upon returning to Korea.

As amazing as it was to finally see Solo Leveling‘s first animated season, it feels just right having it return and be among the first in the Crunchyroll Winter 2025 Anime lineup. We are starting off strong with this action-packed series complete with so many little complexities and a protagonist we’ve been emotionally invested and rooting for. Solo Leveling Season Two arrives on the scene with much spectacle and substance: reminding us what drew us to the anime adaptation of the web-comic in the first place. A solid start for a new season, grounding us in Jinwoo’s purpose and presence in this latest chapter of his adventures.

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Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- 

Streaming on Crunchyroll in January 2025

– SEASON 2 PRODUCTION STAFF –

Original Story by

Chugong

Original Illustrations by

DUBU (Redice Studio)

Directed by 

Shunsuke Nakashige

Series Composition by

Noboru Kimura

Character Design by

Tomoko Sudo

Monster Design by

Hirotaka Tokuda

Art Director

Yasuhiro Okumura

Director of Photography

Daichi Iseki

Music Composed by

Hiroyuki Sawano

Animation Studio

A-1 Pictures

Motion Graphics

Production I.G

– SONGS –

Opening Theme Song “ReawakR” Performed by

LiSA (feat. Felix of Stray Kids)

– JAPANESE VOICE CAST – 

Taito Ban as Sung Jinwoo

Reina Ueda as Cha Hae-In

Daisuke Hirakawa as Choi Jong-In

Hiroki Touchi as Baek Yoonho

Banjo Ginga as Gunhee Go

Makoto Furukawa as Woo Jinchul

Genta Nakamura as Yoo Jinho

Haruna Mikawa as Sung Jinah

Miyu Tomita as Han Song-Yi

– ENGLISH DUB VOICE CAST –

Aleks Le as Sung Jinwoo

Michelle Rojas as Cha Hae-In

Ian Sinclair as Choi Jong-in

Christopher Sabat as Baek Yoonho

Kent Williams as Gunhee Go

SungWon Cho as Woo Jinchul

Justin Briner as Yoo Jinho

Rebecca Wang as Sung Jinah

Emi Lo as Han Song-Yi

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Solo Leveling is animated by acclaimed A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online). The series is directed by Shunsuke Nakashige (Sword Art Online Alicization War of Underworld). 

Watch the first season of Solo Leveling only on Crunchyroll.com.

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About Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is the global anime brand that fuels fans’ love of anime. With the ambition to make anime an even bigger part of pop culture, Crunchyroll offers fans the ultimate anime experience and destination centered around a premium streaming service. Crunchyroll has the largest dedicated anime library, an immersive world of events, exciting theatrical releases, unique games, must-have merchandise, timely news, and more. Anime is for everyone and is accessible to stream across territories through Crunchyroll—whether on the go on mobile, through gaming consoles and big-screen devices at home, or on desktops anywhere.

Crunchyroll, LLC is an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan’s Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., both subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.

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Cover image: ©Solo Leveling Animation Partners

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The post Spectacle and Substance: ‘Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-’ Episode 1 Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.