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• Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse's directing team has been revealed
• One of its producers has debunked a wild fan theory about the film's production
• The animated movie series' final entry has been in development for some time

Sony has finally confirmed who's directing Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse – and one of the movie's producers has already had to debunk a wild fan theory about its production following the announcement.

Yesterday (December 17), Deadline was first to report that Justin K. Thompson and Bob Persichetti were leading development on the highly anticipated animated film. Less than an hour later, the official Spider-Verse X/Twitter account confirmed this was the case, too.

News from the #SpiderVerse. Please join us in welcoming back your friendly neighborhood filmmakers, Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson, who will serve as the directing team behind Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. pic.twitter.com/aXzMGEZPORDecember 17, 2024

Thompson and Persichetti's hirings make perfect sense for the final installment of the Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen-led animated movie trilogy. Thompson was one of three individuals who directed 2023's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – a stunning film that I gave four and a half stars out of five in my Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse review. Thompson also served as a production designer on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the movie series' groundbreaking first entry that earned critical acclaim and won multiple awards after its December 2018 release.

Persichetti, meanwhile, has also been an integral cog in the Spider-Verse machine. He was one of three filmmakers who directed Into the Spider-Verse, and was an executive producer on last year's sequel. Clearly, Sony Pictures' next animated Spider-Man film is in very capable hands with this duo at the helm.

In a statement provided to Deadline, Persichetti and Thompson said: "We have had the immense privilege of being part of Miles’ journey from the very beginning, and directing the conclusion to his story is beyond exciting. The creativity and care poured into every minute of this project has been truly inspiring. We have crafted what we feel is a very satisfying ending, and we can’t wait for fans to experience it – we’re bringing everything we’ve got!"

Why have Spider-Man fans reacted with indignation to this Beyond the Spider-Verse reveal?

Trying to hold the Spider-Verse fanbase together like... (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

Let me be very clear: Persichetti and Thompson's hiring isn't the reason why Spider-Man fans reacted angrily in the immediate aftermath of this announcement. In fact, given the duo's work on two of the best Spider-Man movies of all-time, the reaction to their installation as Beyond the Spider-Verse's directing team has been positive.

Instead, frustrated observers hit out at Sony and the Spider-Verse movie series' chief creative team about what this reveal meant for Beyond the Spider-Verse's actual development. Originally, the franchise's third and final chapter was supposed to debut in theaters sometime in 2023. However, when Across the Spider-Verse's release was delayed from October 2022 to June 2023, Beyond the Spider-Verse was pushed back to March 2024.

In the months after Across the Spider-Verse's theatrical launch, though, reports emerged that its sequel wouldn't make its March 2024 release date due to various production issues, allegations of poor working conditions for its artists and animators, and the 2023 Hollywood strikes. In light of those reported troubles, Beyond the Spider-Verse has been stripped of an official release date. Indeed, the latest intel, which comes courtesy of Deadline, suggests it'll be 2026 before the film eventually debuts in theaters.

Me and who watching the Beyond the Spider-Verse directors reveal fallout (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

All of this brings us to the fan ire surrounding yesterday's announcement. Following the confirmation of Persichetti and Thompson as its directors, numerous Reddit threads were lit up by fans either mocking Sony over how long it was taking to make Beyond the Spider-Verse, asking the same question about whether its March 2024 launch date was even possible.

Personally, I didn't buy into the outrage. Yes, this movie has clearly been beset by various problems since it was first announced, and it's likely that some original ideas and/or work has been scrapped over the past few years. However, I refuse to believe that we've been duped as to how much (or, in some people's minds, how little) has actually been developed so far, and nor do I think that Persichetti and Thompson's hiring means that work has only just started.

Taking to X/Twitter, Chris Miller, one of the Spider-Verse franchise's producers, confirmed as much, writing: "To anyone confused: Bob and Justin are not the *new* directors, they have been the directors of BTSV the entire time – and doing a great job. They were just announced today."

So, there you have it. We might not have got an exciting Beyond the Spider-Verse announcement that we were hoping for in November, nor did we get a much-needed update on its eventual release. Nevertheless, work has been ongoing for the past few years, so take a breath, everyone. While we wait for the final film's arrival, you can remind yourself what happened in its forebear's final minutes by reading my Across the Spider-Verse ending explained article.

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You could lose Flexible Spending Account funds if you don't spend them by the end of the year.

• New rumors predict that a Fujifilm X-E5 camera will launch in mid-2025
• The X-E series are compact rangefinders with large APS-C sensors
• Separate rumors predict that a new X-Pro model won't land in 2025

It's that time of year again – not just for panicked Christmas shopping, but for the camera rumors to go into overdrive ahead of the new year. And of all the speculation I've seen for 2025 so far, a new rumor for the Fujifilm X-E5 has piqued my interest the most.

Inevitably, the speculation has come from the reliable Fuji Rumors , whose source has predicted that a new model in the X-E series – which are typically compact, affordable rangefinders with large APS-C sensors – "will come in the summer of 2025".

A new X-E5 is appealing for a number of reasons, not least because it'd effectively be a Fujifilm X100VI with the benefit of interchangeable lenses (which, as a Fujifilm user, I have plenty of). But what's made this rumor particularly interesting is a new one today that a new Fujifilm X-Pro model surprisingly isn't coming in 2025.

At this stage, these are just rumors. But if they turn out to be true, then the X-E5 could potentially become even more interesting as the only new rangefinder-style sibling to the X100VI that we see in 2025. Well, unless you include the rumored medium format Fujifilm GFX100RF, which will likely be beyond my budget.

Since its launch back in 2012 – not long after the original X100 – Fujfilm's X-E series has gradually shed some of its more enthusiast-friendly features, like its rear command dial and comfortable handling. With an X-Pro sequel still potentially a way off, and the Fujifilm X-M5 recently arriving for beginners and video shooters, the X-E5 could again be free to lean harder into its photographic roots.

What I'd want from a Fujifilm X-E5

(Image credit: Fujifilm)

As the owner of a Fujifilm X-T5 – which is still one of the best cameras for photography, in my opinion – my main hope for a Fujifilm X-E5 is that it replicates as much of that camera as possible, in a more compact form factor.

There is already the Fujifilm X-T50, but that has more of a mini-DSLR design than the sleeker X-E series, whose electronic viewfinder is tucked away neatly in the top-left corner (like the X100VI and X-Pro 3).

As much as I'd like an X100VI – which is arguably camera of the year – I don't think I could live with its fixed 23mm f/2 lens. I prefer longer focal lengths to isolate subjects in street and travel photography, so a compact body that could be permanently paired with my XF35mm f/2 and XF50mm f/2 lenses would be an ideal daily carry when I don't want a larger setup. The Xf27mm f/2.8 R WR would also be a great partner for it.

With the X100VI getting in-body image stabilization (IBIS), that feature seems almost certain for an X-E5 – as does the latest 40MP APS-C sensor, which is handy for cropping. Dare I also hope for weather-sealing? That might be a step too far, but in the absence of a new X-Pro model, perhaps Fuji might take the X-E down a more premium route. I could also probably live with a single card slot and old-school NP-W126S battery.

There are undoubtedly going to be more powerful and innovative cameras than an X-E5 in 2025. It's been a quiet year for Sony, so I'm expecting it to launch a Sony A7 V and perhaps an A7R VI. Who knows, maybe the rumored Ricoh GR IV or even a Sony RX1 successor will arrive to tempt me elsewhere.

But for my needs, a modern, updated version of the X-E4 sounds like the ideal fit – as long as Fujifilm manages to avoid the stock nightmares that have afflicted that camera and the X100VI in 2024.

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The Nvidia App has been out for just over a month now – it’s Team Green’s replacement for GeForce Experience – but the new software is reportedly slowing down gaming performance for some folks.

A user named Sebastian Castellanos on X flagged up this issue, noting that with the Nvidia App installed, their gaming PC was being slowed down to the tune of 15%, and also suffering “horrendous” frametime issues (essentially jittery gameplay).

Yikes, looks like having the NVIDIA app installed was destroying perf in some of my games (mainly UE5 ones) like Black Myth Wukong and The Talos Principle 2. Uninstalling the NVIDIA app fixed some horrendous frametime issues and gave me an extra 15%+ of performance! pic.twitter.com/KimvcahJ1PDecember 15, 2024

Castellanos said that this mainly happened with games using Unreal Engine 5 (specifically Black Myth: Wukong and The Talos Principle 2). Other X users also chimed in on the thread to note slowdowns to the tune of 10% to 15% or thereabouts.

First of all, Castellanos observed that the issues occurred with or without the Nvidia App’s overlay running in games, and subsequently posted again to say that they’d pinned down the problem to the ‘Game filters and Photo mode’ option in the app’s settings.

Apparently, turning this off cured the observed frame rate blues. Running some benchmarks with the game filters mode turned on, then off, Castellanos found that Black Myth: Wukong ran 22% faster with the mode disabled.

Stuttering was also way more pronounced with the mode enabled, as you can see in the graphs provided (check out the 1% percentile lows – the biggest dips in the frame rate) in the below post.

Now that I have some time, I made a couple of benchmark runs with this option disabled vs enabled in both Black Myth: Wukong and The Talos Principle 2 using @CapFrameX, and I'm seeing some huge perf gains by turning the "Game filters and Photo mode" option off: pic.twitter.com/7QuxCEqKmQDecember 16, 2024

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler) Analysis: Hopefully this fudge will work for most gamers

As Tom’s Hardware reports – which also found similar levels of slowdown due to this bug – Nvidia has confirmed that it’s now investigating the purported glitch.

Team Green advises as follows: “We are aware of a reported performance issue related to Game Filters and are actively looking into it. You can turn off Game Filters from the Nvidia App Settings > Features > Overlay > Game Filters and Photo Mode, and then relaunch your game.”

It’s certainly worth trying that suggested fix, although Castellanos cautions that this might not work for everyone affected. If it doesn’t cure any sluggishness you might be experiencing with the Nvidia App, then about the only other option is to simply uninstall it and go without – until Team Green applies a fix. You can run with just the bare Nvidia graphics driver without needing the app, in case you were wondering.

Hopefully Nvidia will be able to swiftly implement a patch to resolve this one, as it’s a pretty nasty bug by all accounts – one that should arguably have been caught in the lengthy beta for the Nvidia App.

Via Wccftech

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