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Blades of the Guardians: What Viewers Need To Know Before the Live-Action Film Release

Yuen Woo-ping’s Blades of the Guardians arrives this Chinese New Year, adapting Xu Xianzhe’s acclaimed manhua Biao Ren. Here’s what viewers need to know about its historical setting, escort mission, and live-action potential before release.

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Yuen Woo-ping’s Blades of the Guardians is ready to strike this Chinese New Year, and it’s worth examining why this adaptation carries so much anticipation. Originally titled Biao Ren (鏢人), the series was created by Xu Xianzhe and began serialization in 2015. The story remains ongoing.

The series quickly distinguished itself through its painterly art style and its grounding in historical context. Set during the waning years of the Sui Dynasty, the narrative unfolds against a backdrop of famine, rebellion, and a government losing its grip on authority. As of 2024, twelve collected volumes have been published. English editions have been slow to materialize, but for viewers curious about an on-screen interpretation, a donghua adaptation is already available.

Blades Stills Dao Ma, Di Ting

The story centres on Dao Ma (Jing Wu), a hardened warrior hired to protect travellers from the ruthlessness of feudal China. Banditry is widespread, and that danger is likely where the film will place much of its early focus. He accepts a contract to escort a living piece of cargo, a child who must be delivered safely to the city of Chang’an. The simplicity of that mission quickly erodes. Assassins, political agents, and rival forces converge on the convoy, each carrying their own agenda regarding the child’s fate. What begins as paid protection gradually reveals itself to be entangled in imperial succession, prophecy, and the unstable future of the empire itself.

In the manhua, the opening volumes establish these stakes carefully. No one fully understands why the child is important, but as the caravan pushes through the Western Regions, survival becomes as much environmental as political. Dao Ma’s commitment to completing the job is repeatedly tested. With his own son, Xiao Qi, travelling alongside him, the mission also becomes a lesson in honour, reputation, and perhaps fatherhood too.

To abandon the contract would not only risk the child’s life, it would tarnish his reputation.

Blades Stills Ayuya

Whether the film concludes with the convoy reaching Chang’an remains uncertain, and may depend on whether the production is designed as a self-contained story or the foundation of a larger series. The child actors in this work have yet to be identified, and if more films are indeed planned, keeping those actors around will require planning.

Also, according to the source material, the journey does not end upon delivery. Ma’s attachment will no doubt keep him around, especially after the child is destined for greater things. Both he and the audience will have to wonder why a lot of magistrates are interested in “the welfare” of the child. Could he be The Golden Child?

Another thought concerns how similar this narrative is to Lone Wolf and Cub. Both works follow lethal warriors guiding children through a world where violence is everywhere. To keep them safe is tough. Blades of the Guardians appears ready to translate that same intensity to the screen, with an emphasis on grounded combat and physical realism rather than spectacle-driven CGI. What’s emphasized is to show true grit over everything else.

With Yuen Woo-ping directing, expectations for the action are understandably high. The cast includes superstars such as Jet Li (Hero), Wu Jing (The Wandering Earth), Nicholas Tse (Raging Fire), and Max Zhang (The Grandmaster). Veteran performers Tony Leung Ka-fai (Election) and Kara Wai (My Young Auntie) also appear.

As this work is slated for simultaneous release in both China and America, fans of wuxia will no doubt be excited. Not only do we have a stellar cast, but we also have the following to marvel at:

Blades of the Guardians Teaser Trailer

A Fan Expo Vancouver 2026 Update. What’s Hot and What’s Not.

For those who need a capsule update, Fan Expo Vancouver 2026 has a huge lineup of repeat guests and fond favourites returning to interact with fandom.

Runs Feb 14th to 16, 2026
Vancouver Convention Centre

The guest list is shaping up to be intense in this Fan Expo Vancouver 2026 update. Rather than a scattershot mix of genres, this year leans hard into ensemble events. There’s now an added show bringing the Hobbits from The Lord of the Rings to make those last-minute choices easy, and there are almost certainly more events still to come that haven’t been announced yet. The cast of Hazbin Hotel is back!

With so many IPs represented, choosing what to prioritize is going to be tough. The big question is whether one big auditorium is enough to contain it all, and where it’ll be held. The hall in the East Building feels like the most likely candidate, since moving it off-site would feel unusual. That space was used years back when Kevin Smith was in town, and it turned into an amazing night to remember.

Whether that kind of magic happens again depends on the vibe, the crowd, and the programming. For now, here’s what’s been announced, plus who’s attached to the after-hours specials so far.

When Middle Earth Is the Spotlight

Fan Expo Hobbits! The heart of the guest list belongs to The Lord of the Rings, with multiple combinations of the Fellowship appearing. Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan headline a Shire-centric reunion, while expanded groupings add John Rhys-Davies and David Wenham for fans wanting a broader slice of Middle-earth. For those who prefer a more focused moment, Rhys-Davies and Wenham also appear together as a duo, spotlighting the franchise’s more battle-worn heroes.

On the Small Screen With Smallville and Battlestar

Tom Welling and Erica Durance Superhero television gets its due with Smallville, as Tom Welling, Erica Durance, and Kristin Kreuk reunite. For a lot of fans, this era of The CW’s superhero TV still feels personal. It helped set the table for how audiences would embrace long-form comic-book storytelling on television. There’s also an evening event with this trio built around reliving moments from the series.

Katee Sackhoff and Alessandro Juliani represent the newer Battlestar Galactica era, and their presence doubles as a reminder that genre favourites don’t vanish just because a reboot stalls out. It helps that they’re locals too, which gives this appearance a proper home-field feel.

Wizards, Wolves, and Vampires

The Phelps Twins at Fan Expo Even though the Stanley Park Forbidden Forest attraction closed its doors, the timing here still feels like a missed opportunity. With James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, and Matthew Lewis coming to town, the overlap is right there. Planning at this scale is rarely simple, but Fan Expo has been known to connect with local partners when the fit is right.

On the darker, moodier side, Twilight is well represented. Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Kellan Lutz, and Peter Facinelli appear in various groupings, including a paired photo op for Greene and Rathbone that leans into the romantic side of the franchise. It’s a reminder that this fandom remains loyal, organized, and very aware of its favourite dynamics.

The 80s Is Alive With Fond Classics at Fan Expo Vancouver 2026

Nostalgia runs strong with The Goonies, represented by Sean Astin, Corey Feldman, and Kerri Green. It’s a compact reunion rooted in one of the most enduring adventure films of the 80s, and a fun overlap year with several franchises represented across the show floor. Fans will keep hoping for Ke Huy Quan to join them someday.

On the flip side, cult cinema arrives with The Lost Boys, as Feldman reunites with Jamison Newlander, giving fans a chance to celebrate one of the genre’s most stylish eras.

The Goonies in Astoria — Sean Astin, Jeff Cohen, Ke Huy Quan, Kerri Green and Corey Feldman reunited for the premiere of “Love Hurts” at TCL Chinese Theatre on February 3, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Heroes in a Half Shell

One of the most ensemble-heavy appearances comes from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with François Chau, Kenn Scott, Brian Tochi, Ernie Reyes Jr., Robbie Rist, and Judith Hoag appearing together. It’s a deep cut for fans who know the voices, the performances, and the physicality behind the masks, even if the suits themselves stay off the convention floor.

Fan Expo Vancouver At “Twilight” For Love At First Bite

Fan Expo Vancouver is bringing four Twilight co-stars together for a one-night screening event at The Rio Theatre on February 16, 2026, complete with a big-screen showing and a live Q&A.

Fan Expo Vancouver has a bonus show for fans of the film Twilight. They announced this week that co-stars Ashley Greene (“Alice”), Jackson Rathbone (“Jasper”), Kellan Lutz (“Emmett”), and Peter Facinelli (“Carlisle”) will reunite for a special one-night-only cinematic event, Twilight Special Screening: A Night with the Cullens, on Monday, February 16, 2026. Doors open at 5:30 PM, and the event starts at 6:30 PM at The Rio Theatre.

Presented in partnership with FAN EXPO Vancouver (February 14–16), the evening will feature a big-screen showing of Twilight (2008) and a live audience Q&A with the cast. This marks the first time these four actors have appeared together in Vancouver for a screening event, making it a must-attend night for franchise fans. And for those already attending the expo, there’s also a chance to meet them through individual signings or group photo sessions.

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Unleashing Colum Eastwood’s The Morrigan. Just Who Is This Phantom Queen?

A slow-burn folk horror with teeth, The Morrigan reframes the goddess as something older and sharper than pop culture’s “wicked sorceress” shortcut. Through a mother and daughter caught in a modern system built to drain women dry, the film turns possession into sovereignty, and rebellion into something sacred and brutal.

2025 The Morrigan Movie Poster Cineverse
Now on VOD and Digital

The worship of the Morrígan is nearly as old as time, dating back to roughly 3000 BC. In terms of raw elemental power, she rivals a force like Gaia, the very breath and blood of the land itself. Yet, history has been unkind to her. In Irish lore, she was a terrifyingly complex sovereign; in modern literature, her role was flattened to fit the needs of the “wicked sorceress” trope. While pop culture often lazily grafts her onto Arthurian legend, those who hold The Mists of Avalon as the best may need to head back to school to “unlearn” the sanitized version of the goddess they’ve been sold.

Colum Eastwood’s expansion of his short film proves he’s done the homework. He frames the Morrígan not as a simple adversary, but as a goddess of death, regeneration, and rebirth. This is the core belief of Fiona (Saffron Burrows), a woman battling a modern world designed to “steal a lady’s thunder.” The film’s strongest thematic tissue lies in the parallel between the ancient and the modern: Fiona is reeling from a husband who has abandoned her and their daughter, Lily (Emily Flain), while being professionally bled dry by Professor Jonathan Horner (Jonathan Forbes). He is a leech who steals from his TAs while the world turns a blind eye.

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The Chaos! The Cosmic Horror! Lovecraftian Videogames That’s Coming in 2026

Cosmic horror and videogames should be natural companions, yet truly unsettling Lovecraftian experiences remain rare. From investigative dread beneath the sea to dream logic, flooded cities, and shared paranoia, these upcoming titles for 2026 show how developers are finally learning how to let the unknown breathe.

Call of Cthulhu Cosmic Horror or Land Line? Every year, it’s safe to say that some videogame developer has an idea to extend the Lovecraftian universe to the electronic realm. A lot has changed since the release of a version of Call of Cthulhu. These days, there’s a different product worth noting, and as for whether Howard would approve of the type of cosmic horror built, he’d balk and say the Mi-go aren’t as like-minded. They’d rather interface an actual mind to technology rather than vice versa. However, for the rest of humanity, they have the pleasure to step into the shoes of imagined characters to take on these dreaded forces of cosmic horror, and with lots of luck, maybe survive! This list chooses to lean on the side of

Although there has not been many virtual reality games made to summon dread, you’d think there’d be more products. Part of the problem is with the nature of each tale, it’s more about existentialism rather than surviving the night. Although Dagon: by H.P. Lovecraft by Bit Golem included a VR mode that let you stand inside the narration of the short story, the player’s role is more like bearing witness to than being part of a game. It nailed atmosphere and scale, but stopped short of interactivity, which kept it firmly in “experience” territory.

But until more products are firmly imagined, players can investigate these upcoming releases:

Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss

(April 16, 2026)

Cthulhu The Cosmic Abyss
This first-person game developed by Big Bad Wolf Studio looks designed for today’s generation of consoles. It’s the most ambitious to date because here, players assume the role of a special agent sent to investigate the many deaths occurring at sea. The reason for the extra computer power is the use of AI in this engine. Here, you’ll explore the sunken city of R’lyeh with the help of machine learning to make sense of it all.

As for whether reality will cause this agent to go mad as well, that’s tough to say. In what makes this one stand out is its fastidious worldbuilding and emotional stakes — it doesn’t just show you monsters, it shows you how much your own choices can twist you. Watchlists are already active on storefronts like Steam and PlayStation, so you can track updates and demos ahead of launch.

Track this game — follow the project’s updates on its Kickstarter or social feeds.

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Stranger Things. The Full Series in Review

After a long rewatch of Stranger Things, I look at what worked and what did not when creating the threat that would manifest in the small town of Hawkins. Thankfully, for those in the know, no foothold was made, but is this truly the end?

When Stranger Things first arrived on Netflix, it began with something wonderfully small. It seemed to be simply about a group of kids playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons, and not expecting that world to manifest around them! After the sudden absence of Will (Noah Schnapp), they had to learn how to become heroes for real. Even though the adults didn’t believe what they’ve encountered is real, what they managed to do was the impossible: to show that dangers lurk in every corner. The shadows are alive, and the necrophagous shadows, well….

From that moment, the series evolved naturally from childhood rituals into becoming adults. As for the fantasy characters they wanted to become, all the visual motifs (including a garbage can lid modified to become a shield) came into place. And the monsters they had to face weren’t just creatures. They were metaphors to something greater shaped by the kids’ references to concepts and entities from this role playing world. Some worked, and others did not, but overall, unless the viewer was in the know, the tie-ins were more than surface level references.

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