Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may not be based on any one, particular comic book storyline, but it does draw heavily from the comics in one area. The superhero costumes seen in the movie look like they’ve jumped right off the page and into live-action.

Now that the sequel is about to hit Blu-ray and DVD and it’s safe to talk about all the cameos in the movie, let’s dig deeper into the costumes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and why this MCU movie literally wears its comic book influences on its sleeve. We’ve even got creator commentary from the film’s costume designer, Graham Churchyard, who reveals some surprising details about the inspirations behind these MCU suits.

The Doctors Strange

Benedict Cumberbatch plays no fewer than four versions of Doctor Strange in this sequel. While the main character’s costume is similar to the versions we’ve seen in past movies, it has been upgraded with a slightly brighter, comic book-ier color palette.

We also see this Strange and his “Sinister Strange” counterpart manifest a third eye on their foreheads. In the comics, that third eye represents the power of the Eye of Agamotto, but in the MCU, it’s a telltale sign that Stephen Strange has been corrupted by dark magicks.

Then there’s Defender Strange, the version we meet in the film’s opening, and who returns in the climax as a zombie puppet. His costume is very closely based on Marvel’s 2012 Defenders comic, when Stephen Strange ditched his Cloak of Levitation and rocked a distinctive red and blue look. Even he wasn’t brave enough to go full ponytail, though.

Finally, while we only briefly see the Earth-838 version of Strange in the movie, it’s worth pointing out that this character has a very coiffed, ‘70s-inspired hairdo, evoking the work of classic Doctor Strange artists like Gene Colan and Marshall Rogers. In fact, this version of Strange was originally planned to wear a blue cloak inspired by the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko Doctor Strange comics.

Scarlet Witch

Until Wandavision, Wanda Maximoff settled for wearing a functional costume that only loosely recreated the character’s comic book suit. Not so anymore. Not only is she wearing the iconic headdress and robes now, Doctor Strange 2 adds to that new look with a black undersuit. That color scheme hearkens back to the 2015 Scarlet Witch series and the striking cover art of David Aja.

America Chavez

Actress Xochitl Gomez definitely dresses the part in her role as America Chavez. America’s costume is practically 1:1 with the comic book incarnation, right down to the custom-painted denim jacket and the star-shaped portals she forms with her powers. The one difference is that the MCU America has a slightly grungier look, denoting the fact that she’s a multiversal refugee constantly on the run from the Scarlet Witch.

Rintrah

We’ve reached the point in the MCU when even talking green minotaurs are fair game. The movie introduced Rintrah as one of the many sorcerers defending Kamar Taj from the Scarlet Witch. But whereas the movie version wears traditional robes denoting his status as a magical trainee, in the comics Rintrah tends to wear a cloak… if he chooses to wear anything at all.

Professor X

X-Men fans got a big treat when Multiverse of Madness introduced the MCU’s first mutant – none other than Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier. But this wasn’t any version of Xavier we’d seen before, as his costume proved. The combination of the olive green suit and the yellow hoverchair call back to the ‘90s-era X-Men comics and the art of comics superstars like Jim Lee.

But this look is also meant to pay homage to the Lee-inspired X-Men: The Animated Series, hence the needle drop of that iconic theme song.

Black Bolt

The Inhumans TV series gave us one version of Black Bolt and his royal family, though at this point it’s anyone’s guess whether that series is still part of the MCU canon (or really, if it ever was). But Doctor Strange 2 shows us a different version of Black Bolt wearing a much more comic book-accurate costume, tuning fork and everything. Jack Kirby would be proud.

Captain Marvel

One of the many differences on Earth-838 is that Maria Rambeau, not Carol Danvers, became Captain Marvel. In the comics, Maria’s daughter Monica has shared the Captain Marvel name with Carol. But rather than adapt one of her costumes, the series draws from a short-lived Carol Danvers costume introduced in the build-up to 2015’s Secret Wars. At the time, Carol was wearing a black and silver variant of her traditional red and blue suit, and that costume has now made its live-action debut. It makes sense to pay homage to that storyline, as the Incursions referenced in Multiverse of Madness are a huge part of the plot in Secret Wars.

Mister Fantastic

After months of rumor and speculation, John Krasinski made his MCU debut as Mister Fantastic in Doctor Strange 2. And while Reed Richards’ rugged costume hearkens back more to past FF movies than anything else, his beard is definitely straight from the comics. Reed’s beard is another look that debuted in Secret Wars, and it’s stuck around ever since.

Captain Carter

Hayley Atwell voices a version of Captain Carter in Marvel’s What If…? And Doctor Strange 2 gives her the chance to play another version in live-action, one who wears basically the same exact costume. The idea of an alternate universe Peggy who becomes a super-soldier was introduced not in the comics, but in the mobile game Marvel’s Puzzle Quest. Marvel has since given us Captain Carter in the comics too, though that version is currently wearing a brand new costume we hope to see in live-action one day.

Clea

Multiverse of Madness saves its biggest cameo for last, with Charlize Theron’s Clea popping up to recruit Stephen Strange to save the multiverse. More than any other character in the film, Clea looks like she walked right off the page of a Steve Ditko Doctor Strange comic, between her stark white hair and flamboyant purple costume.

Not every actress could pull off such a bold look, but we like to think there’s a reason they cast Theron in the role.

What's your favorite costume from the Multiverse of Madness? Let us know in the comments below.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

He's been praised, applauded, mocked, and maligned, but no matter what, Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage has given his everything; pouring his heart and soul into each movie role he's had. Occasionally his go-for-broke creative choices have led him into the heart of Meme Country, but there's no denying Cage's vigorous, explosive talent.

He's been in acclaimed rom-coms, soul-crushing dramas, and of course, some of the biggest and best action hits of the 1990s. Nic Cage's resume is so dense in fact, that we've allowed this "Best Of" to go to 15, rather than the usual top 10. He's worked with powerhouse directors like David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Michael Bay, Ridley Scott, and his own uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, turning in some of the most memorable performances in movie history. Speaking of memorable, be sure to also see 40 best Nicolas Cage moments written by a Cage superfan who has seen every Nic Cage film.

Having tackled every genre there is in his four decades of acting; whether it's saving San Francisco from a chemical gas attack or heading to Las Vegas for a lethal bender to—well, play himself—in a meta-adventure about his own career, these are our picks for Nicolas Cage's best movies ever.

15. Color Out of Space (2020)

Where to Watch: AMC+, Shudder, DirecTV or rentable on most platforms.

Nicolas Cage's output may have increased in recent years due to him having to pay down money owed to the IRS but that never meant he still didn't manage to average at least one pretty great film each year during this deluge. In 2019, his best work, and the only one of his nine movies that year to get theatrical release, was Richard Stanley's hypnotic gross-out Color Out of Space, based on an H.P. Lovecraft short story. Cage plays a father who, along with his wife and kids, succumb to the cosmic forces of a glowing meteor that crashes on their farm. It's a grim, ghastly horror trip that should definitely be included in your Spooky Season marathons.

Read our Color Out of Space review.

14: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

Hello Games has announced the 20th major free update for No Man's Sky, titled Endurance, which focuses on an overhaul for freighters, frigates, and fleets.

No Man's Sky's first major content update, Foundation, introduced freighters to the game back in 2016 – and Endurance aims to add much more to that experience in time for the game's 6th anniversary. Creator Sean Murray wrote: "We introduced the ability to own and captain freighters in our very first update, and it’s something we’ve been excited to take the opportunity to completely reinvent. Captaining a fleet to explore the unknown has always been core to that fantasy of science fiction, from Battlestar to Starfleet, and it’s a huge fan favorite."

Full patch notes are available on the No Man's Sky website, but in short Endurance will offer much more to the fantasy of commanding your own mega-ships, and fleets as a whole. Freighter bridges have been improved to offer instant warp and teleportation access, freighter bases can be built to a much larger scale, and exterior sections can be built onto freighters themselves, along with portholes and windows to view space from.

Freighters will now also be able to allow for food growth and manufacturing inside, and upgrades will allow you to analyze planets from space, without having to land on them. A new expedition titled Polestar will focus on a capital ship voyage. Alongside the freighters themselves, No Man's Sky's deep space is being, well, deepened with larger asteroid fields, black holes, nebulae, and improved atmospherics.

Endurance is yet more proof that Hello Games is very much not finished with No Man's Sky, despite having started work on an ambitious new project. Alongside those content updates, the game is also coming to Nintendo Switch this October, and a PSVR 2 version will be released alongside Sony's new headset.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Disney's live-action Hercules will put a "modern spin" on the Olympian tale while also retaining some essential elements from the 1997 animated classic, according to producers Joe and Anthony Russo.

Speaking to GamesRadar+ at a recent press event, the Russo brothers discussed their intentions behind creating a live-action adaptation of Hercules. Joe explained that they are approaching the tale from a "more modern" angle, but that they still plan on honoring the original story and elevating some of the humor from Disney's animated movie in a way that dials it up from zero to hero levels of laughter.

"It will certainly pay homage to the original with a more modern spin on it," Joe asserted, referring to the Herculean task that they've taken on. "What Anthony and I love about the original is how funny and subversive it is. I think we try to embrace that sense of humor in the remake."

This isn't the first time that the Russo brothers have teased their plans for the reimagined, live-action version of Hercules. They previously established expectations for the film by warning fans that it wouldn't be "a literal translation" of the animated hit, as they are keen to tell "a different story" with some new elements in the mix while also taking inspiration from the original movie.

Joe and Anthony are being joined on the project by Guy Ritchie, who is taking his place on the production podium as the director of the new Hercules movie. He previously helmed Disney's live-action Aladdin adaptation, which managed to gross over $1 billion at the box office when it was released in 2019 and became the seventh highest-grossing film worldwide that year.

First released back in 1997, Hercules was one of the latter-day entries in the so-called Disney Renaissance, with Tate Donovan carrying the torch as the titular hero who flexes his muscles at the Prometheus Academy. Danny DeVito also starred as Phil, a surly satyr who trains aspiring heroes, and James Woods as Hades, the flame-haired, fast-talking god of the Underworld.

The modernized version of Hercules is the latest in a string of live-action adaptations from Disney, joining the likes of Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and Mulan, which have all been released in recent years. The studio is also hard at work on a live-action Little Mermaid film, starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, and a remake of 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with Rachel Zegler playing the fairest one of all.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Thor: Love and Thunder almost gave Russell Crowe a very different role – Satan himself.

Concept artist Ken Barthelmey has revealed our first look at Russell Crowe as the biblical demon via Instagram in a new piece of concept art. He also offered up some info about how Crowe would have appeared in the Thor sequel.

“Russell Crowe was initially considered to appear as Satan in a cameo scene,” he revealed. “Eventually he played Zeus.”

Of course, Crowe looked very different in the final film, appearing as the bearded, gold-clad Roman god, Zeus. And when it came to the film's post-credit cameo appearance, it was instead another actor suiting up in a very different role.

But we can’t help wondering what could have been. After all, that concept art looks incredible.

“The task was to design a Satan close to Tim Curry's Devil from ‘Legend’ (1985); big horns, sleazy and evil. Because it was going to be a prosthetic make-up, I was asked to give him hairy human legs and feet. This is what I came up with.”

The end result is a very familiar-looking Satan with colossal horns and the unmistakable grin of the famed Aussie actor. And I can’t help thinking Russell Crowe would have absolutely smashed that. Still, what we got was an impressive turn as Zeus that suggests Crowe bagged the right role after all.

IGN’s own review called Thor: Love and Thunder “the MCU’s first romantic comedy, and it plays with those tropes in delightful ways. But while Thor and Jane’s relationship is handled well, Love and Thunder is less deft — and a lot safer than you’d expect — in pushing the greater MCU story forward. Christian Bale’s Gorr feels underutilized, and Tessa Thompson’s King Valkyrie takes a frustrating back seat, especially as the movie goes on. Taika Waititi’s signature humor and visual style persist from Ragnarok and are essential to buoying the movie through its cookie-cutter plot. With Hemsworth as enthusiastic an Asgardian as ever, Thor’s future with both love and thunder are bright.”

Thor: Love and Thunder stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, and Russel Crowe. Taika Waititi directed the film based on a script he co-wrote with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.