There were plenty of expected names in the extended cast reveal for Avengers: Doomsday, along with a few notable absences. Perhaps the most surprising addition to the cast, though, was the return of many of the original Fox X-Men from the early 2000s trilogy. Among the most notable actors returning are Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, James Marsden, Rebecca Romjin, and Alan Cumming, who played Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United.
In a recent interview with Jenna Bush-Hager and Olivia Munn, Cumming said that he was excited to be able to step back into the character after more than 20 years.
“Isn’t it nuts? I’m excited and amazed. It’s been 23 years since I was a superhero. I’ve had some makeup tests already for the role, but what’s great about it was that before it was about 4 and a half hours to apply it, but now it’s only 90 minutes,” he explained. “Before, all of the tattoos were done by hand. They hadn’t decided on them before we started filming. Now, they just stick onto my face. It’s a game-changer. I’m going back to being a 60-year-old superhero, and everyone seems really lovely.
The cast announcement also made it clear that production on the film was underway, and Cumming confirmed that during his interview.”I head to London on Sunday and it begins shooting quite soon, it’s going to be nuts,” he said.
We don’t yet know how big the roles will be for these returning X-Men, many of whom have been away from their roles for almost 20 years. Still, their return is one of the biggest signals yet that Marvel is planning to fully integrate the X-Men into its universe.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.