In the shiniest news this side of Persephone, Fox Digital Entertainment and QMx Interactive Inc. have announced the development of the officially licensed video game, Firefly Online. The multi-user, social online role-playing game is expected to be released in the summer of 2014.

“At QMx, we know firsthand how great and powerful a franchise Firefly is and how mighty the Browncoats are,” said Andy Gore, CEO of QMXi and Quantum Mechanix Inc. “It has always been our mission to bring the Verse to life for our customers in every way possible. The idea of creating an interactive experience where fans can have their own Firefly adventures — well, that’s just too shiny for words.”

Firefly Online puts players in the role of a ship captain where they must, as Captain Mal says, “Find a crew. Find a job. Keep flying.” Players will have the ability to customize their ship, create a crew, trade with and compete against other players, engage in space and planet-side adventures and explore the Verse. The only question left for players is, can any power in Verse stop you?

After opening in select theaters in LA, NY, and San Francisco, director Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing will open nationwide on Friday, June 21. We have already reviewed the film but just in case that wasn’t enough to convince you to seek out this delightful adaptation, here are five reasons Much Ado is worth your time and money.

1. You’ll understand Shakespeare (finally). If you are hesitating about Much Ado because you are concerned you will not keep up with the Bard’s prose, you are not alone. Dogberry himself (Nathan Fillion) at first refused the project and then tried to back out of it for this very reason. But then Fillion, like all of the other players, immersed himself in the language, the setting, and the character.

The cast did the hard work of studying the text and translating it so you don’t have to. They do an excellent job of adding movement and clarity to Shakespeare’s prose so even if you don’t know what someone is saying, you know what they mean.

Much Ado About Nothing is Joss Whedon and William Shakespeare at their finest, and is certainly one of the most delightful films I have seen this year. Evoking the very best of a 40s screwball comedy, the entirely black-and-white picture has a superb mix of elegance and entertainment that will please all moviegoers, not just Elizabethan (and Whedon) fans. The film crackles with a palpable energy that draws you in to its hijinks and effortlessly makes you feel a part of the romance and drama.

From the start it is clear that this is not a typical modernization of Shakespeare. Whedon uses silence and body language to great effect so that we know the disappointing and hurtful past that lingers over the sharp-tongued Beatrice (Amy Acker) and smug Benedict (Alexis Denisof) before either even speaks. In truth the pair is too stubborn and snarky to admit any fondness for each other and so their friends conspire to bring them into “a mountain of affection.”

This witty, simmering love is contrasted by the young, innocent love shared by Hero (Jillian Morgese) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). Their impending nuptials are threatened by the villainous Don John (Sean Maher), who is played with the perfect blend of treachery and sexiness by Maher. Don John wants to wound the lovers but also destroy Hero’s father Leonato (Clark Gregg), who is hosting everyone at his manor home.

Years before geek god Joss Whedon gave up his vacation to film his version of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, he held readings of the Bard’s plays at his house. The couple that read as Much Ado’s stubborn lovers, Beatrice and Benedict? Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof.

Now they are taking those backyard readings to the big screen as two of the stars of Whedon’s highly anticipated film. Exclusive clips shown as WonderCon 2013 have provided further insight into what audiences can expect from this black and white Much Ado that was shot in two weeks at Whedon’s home.

The plot is very much a commentary on romantic love and the expectations that are pushed onto single persons and couples. Beatrice and Benedict along with young-love couple, Hero (Jillian Morgese) and Claudio (Fran Kranz), are at the center of story. The first pair enjoy a relationship based on sarcastic, teasing banter while both proclaim their disdain for love/marriage. The young couple though is enraptured with one another and become a focal point for the wicked doings of antagonist Don John (Sean Maher).

Ten years ago if you told me the Avengers would be one of the highest grossing films of all time, I don’t think I would have believed you. Even when Marvel Studios started pushing out the solo films that would introduce the cast of the Avengers, most people would ask me (being their “comic book” friend) who Captain America, Thor and Iron Man were. For the most part, people knew who the Hulk was because of the cheesy television series and on occasion had at least heard of one of the other members of the team, but if you had asked them if it was a film they were going to be excited to see, most would probably have passed at the opportunity.

Conversely, a decade ago if you had talked to people about a Justice League movie, you probably would have gotten a much higher positive response rate. Just from DC’s Big 3 of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman (even before the Christopher Nolan series of films), people would have cared about the series. Fond memories of Christopher Reeves as the Man of Steel and any of the previous Batman movies were still acceptable enough to get people behind the idea of seeing them all together in one movie. But now, it’s a very different story if someone was going to try to put together a Justice League team movie.