Skip to main content

From cake to Capuchin: Portal fan to direct Y: The Last Man movie

Y: The Last Man
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Y: The Last Man is a graphic novel created by Brian K. Vaughn that details the adventures of the last man on Earth, his pet monkey, and the hordes of women who alternate between wanting to bear his children and attempting to murder him in gruesome fashion. Portal is a video game created by Valve Software about a mute heroine who learns to combat a malevolent, omnipresent AI using nothing but affection for an inanimate cube and a tangibly poor understanding of the laws of physics. Superficially you’d think there would be little crossover between these two media properties, yet as of this morning they found themselves linked by a common thread. Specifically, Dan Trachtenberg, a successful director of television commercials who is about to make a big leap into the world of film.

According to Deadline Hollywood, New Line Cinema has selected Trachtenberg to direct the studio’s upcoming adaptation of Y: The Last Man. What does that have to do with Portal, you ask? Though Trachtenberg makes his living shooting TV commercials, he’s actually more famous for a project he completed pro bono. Much like many of you, Trachtenberg is a huge fan of Valve Software’s Portal franchise, and in 2011 he filmed a surprisingly excellent fan film dubbed Portal: No Escape that was both true to the spirit of Valve’s games, and quite impressive given its nearly non-existent budget.

Recommended Videos

You can find that film embedded at the bottom of this text, though we will warn fans of Y: The Last Man that it does little to establish Trachtenberg as the perfect candidate to turn Brian K. Vaughn’s masterpiece into a theatrical film. Don’t get us wrong, it’s an awesome movie, especially given that it was a labor of love, but the plot of Y: The Last Man is far less fantastic than that of Portal. We appreciate that Trachtenberg is handy with special effects, but we’re curious as to how well the man can frame an extended action sequence or a brutal fist fight. Those are the sorts of big, dramatic moments you find in Y: The Last Man, so hopefully Trachtenberg has the chops for such things.

Beyond that though, this is some of the most exciting film news we’ve reported on in recent memory. Trachtenberg obviously knows how to set up scenes and frame moving images, but more importantly he seems like a genuine geek who is capable of handling Y: The Last Man with the respect a property of its caliber deserves. Anyone who creates something like Portal: No Escape in his free time has exactly the kind of dedication to “geeky” media that we’d hope to see in the director of a graphic novel film adaptation. We’re still intensely worried that the eventual film will make a mockery of its phenomenal source material (inherent cynicism demands as much), but at least with Trachtenberg on board we’re able to breathe a bit easier.

Earnest Cavalli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
The best abilities in Avowed
A player casting an ice spell in Avowed

As a new arrival in the Living Lands of Avowed, your character has to learn a lot of tips and tricks to survive in this powderkeg of an island. You have an important mission to find a way to cure the Dreamscourge, but there's a lot of danger between you and that goal which will require more than just your weapons. Leveling up will let you spend your points on new skills, just like most RPGs, but they are split between several pages. You are not locked into a single class and can invest your points into one or all of them, but there are some skills that you will want to prioritize getting first. Here are the best abilities you should work toward unlocking in Avowed.
Best Fighter abilities

Charge
Charge is an easy pick to invest your first few points into on the Fighter tree. It is a powerful dashing attack that can interrupt enemies with an explosive hit that breaks through guards. For bosses, saving this move to stop a deadly attack while staying in melee range is always reliable. The explosive damage is good for splash damage but also has utility outside of combat. Instead of wasting grenades to break walls, you can just use this skill to blast down cracked walls.
Constant Recovery
No matter what weapons you focus on, you're going to get hit eventually. Melee fighters especially will be tanking a ton of hits, so Constant Recovery will keep you alive without draining all your potions. When hit, you can recover 50% of your HP lost over time, and with further upgrades, this skill can eventually let you restore all the damage you took.
Devastating Criticals
There's nothing more satisfying than a critical hit. You can increase the chances of landing one with your character traits, but this skill makes each one count by upping the damage by 30% at the first level and 60% at max.
Reflect
The main issue with being a melee class is all those pesky rangers. Having a second loadout with a ranged weapon is always a good idea, but Reflect can almost do the job on its own. If you time your block perfectly when a projectile is about to hit, you can send it back to hit the attacker.
Best Ranger abilities

Read more
Lost Soul Aside: release date, trailers, gameplay, and more
lost soul aside everything we know

Gamers have gotten used to waiting for upcoming video games for years, with games like Elder Scrolls 6 and Perfect Dark having been announced half a decade or more ago at this point. However, there is one upcoming PS5 game that has been in the works for over 10 years now but is finally ready to release this year. Lost Soul Aside is the passion project of just one person that looks like one of the most stylish action games of the year. A lot as changed in the decade since its initial reveal, and some might even have thought the game was canceled, but we'll set you straight and go over all the information you need to know about Lost Soul Aside.
Release date

After over 10 years of development, Lost Soul Aside finally has a firm release date. The game will launch on May 30, 2025.
Platforms

Read more
Succession meets Return of the Obra Dinn in this thrilling mystery game
A black and white photo of five siblings posing together.

One thing about me is that I am a sucker for a good mystery. That’s why I’ve been delighted by the so-called "Metroidbrainia" genre rising to prominence. That label includes games like Return of the Obra Dinn and Rise of the Golden Idol that champion more involved information gathering and deduction on the part of the player. Yet as great as the puzzles these titles offer are, the narratives surrounding them are rarely as satisfying. Genealogical mystery The Roottrees are Dead, however, fixes that problem.

Centered on the secrets of the titular family, The Roottrees are Dead is both a compelling puzzle box and a surprisingly deep story. What begins as a simple challenge to identify every member on the family tree quickly turns into a subtle statement on how this one family, the descendants of a Logan Roy-eque business mogul, are beholden to one dead man’s obsession with legacy.
Down the rabbit hole
To anyone who has played other Metroidbrainias, the core gameplay loop of The Roottrees are Dead will feel familiar. Information is gathered and then applied to blank fields for each member of the Roottree family. Specifically you need to correctly identify the name, face, and occupation of each direct blood relative of the family’s patriarch, Elias. The twist is in the method of information gathering. The Roottrees are Dead is primarily played through a simulated computer desktop equipped with a search engine.

Read more