Good Morning Youtinians.  Happy Acolyte premiere week! We at Youtini are extremely excited to celebrate the new release. We also want to give you a small tease for next week. We have been reading your feedback and will try something a bit different next week, focused mostly on a galaxy far, far away. May the Force be with y’all!

— Corey Helton & JG Carse

Are You Ready For the Acolyte?

What We Know: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ today! This new show set in the High Republic era is our first live-action look at the golden era of Light and Life before the galaxy gets swept up in the Skywalker Saga. With an absolutely star-studded cast, we know this show will not disappoint. The first four episodes premiered at a Hollywood debut on May 23rd, and critics’ ratings have skewed very positively since then.

Get Ready for the Premiere! We’ve seen some great trailers, beautiful set photos and behind-the-scenes moments, and even a look behind the curtain at the making of The Acolyte. But what else is out there ahead of the premiere? Check out these incredible character posters! And if you think Master Kelnacca, the Wookiee Jedi Master, looks awesome in his poster, just wait until Cavan Scott and artist Marika Cresta’s one-shot comic, The Acolyte - Kelnacca, hits shelves on September 4th.

Why Are We Excited? There are a lot of things we can’t wait to see in The Acolyte, but we're especially excited about Vernestra Rwoh. Introduced by Justina Ireland in The High Republic: A Test of Courage, Vern has grown up before our eyes over the last few years. Already a prodigy when we met her at just sixteen years old, Vern is the only Jedi of the High Republic books, comics, and manga to be featured in The Acolyte (at least so far). We can’t wait to see how much of a badass Vern has grown up to be.

We're all fine here now — how are you? All of us at Youtini are pretty stoked to catch the two-episode premiere of The Acolyte today! If you’d like to talk about the show or learn the Bounty Hunt crew's thoughts about the premiere, check out our Youtini Discord!

PlayStation’s May State of Play Recap

Early June has become synonymous with gaming news, conferences, and updates due to the E3 Expo, which lasted for many years until officially shutting down in 2021. Now, the torch is carried by Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest, and studios are doing their own, like Microsoft Xbox. PlayStation started the party early with a new State of Play livestream announcing new games and updating known upcoming projects. Here are some of our favorite announcements.

Astro Bot: Astro is returning to the PS5 with a new full release. When the PS5 launched in 2020, it came with Astro’s Playroom, a smaller game that gave gamers a full demo of the duelsense controller while honoring the legacy and history of the PlayStation brand. It became a classic hit. Astro Bot releases on September 6th and promises to expand on what came before with 6 galaxies, over 80 levels, new abilities, and new enemies.

God of War Ragnarök: While this isn’t necessarily a new game, it is coming to a new audience with its upcoming release on PC.  It's worth highlighting because of how incredible the story is. If you have been waiting for this or haven’t played God of War (2018), we cannot recommend it enough. Several of us at Youtini have played both and loved them for their fun gameplay and compelling narrative. You can read more about the upcoming PC launch set to release on September 19th here.

Silent Hill 2 Remake: We finally have an official release date: October 8th, just in time for the spooky season. There have been expansions in the story, combat, camera POV, and more, which you can explore in the Silent Hill 2 Remake blog from PlayStation. In a separate video, they showed off 13 minutes of gameplay, giving gamers a feel for what’s to come. It won’t be long before fans can return to this iconic world that has scared many for years.

This wasn’t everything; check out this breakdown of every announcement. Join the conversation in the Younited Discord gaming channel to discuss the exciting news with other gamers!

Chase For the Cup Narrows to Two

And there were two. With unwavering determination, the Edmonton Oilers and Flordia Panthers secured victories over the weekend, earning their spots in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Panthers, back for the second year in a row, are relentlessly hunting for their first Championship, while the Oilers, with a burning desire, look to raise the Cup for the first time since 1990.

How We Got Here: The Oilers defeated the Kings in the first round and barely escaped Vancouver in Round 2, winning game seven 3-2. On the other hand, the Panthers avoided game 6, beating Tampa Bay in five and Boston in six. Both teams had identical paths to the conference championships: winning the opening game, dropping two, and sweeping the next three to secure the series win.

Looking Ahead: Edmonton to Miami is the longest distance between two cities in Stanley Cup Final history at 2,541 miles, beating out Vancouver to Boston's 2,500 miles, per ESPN. With an eight-hour flight, jet lag could play a dramatic role in the series. Since the Montreal Canadiens won in 1993, no Canadian team has captured the Cup. Six Canadian teams have made the Final since then — the Vancouver Canucks in 1994 and 2011, the Calgary Flames in 2004, the Edmonton Oilers in 2006, the Ottawa Senators in 2007, and the Montreal Canadiens in 2021 — but each of them lost.

Legacy:  All eyes will be on Connor McDavid. Already one of the best hockey players, he has yet to compete on the NHL's greatest stage. This is his chance to prove he's a winner, bring the Cup back to Canada, and gain more notoriety in the U.S., where casual sports fans don't know enough about him.

The Puck drops for game 1 on June 8 with the rest of the schedule here. With the end of the season quickly approaching, who are you rooting for, if any of the teams? Let us know! Join the Younited Discord where you can discuss hockey and all sports.

🛰️ In the Youtiniverse

• Eric discusses The Acolyte before its launch and why its success could pave the way for the future of Star Wars Storytelling. 

• Caroline introduces readers to the independent streaming service Dropout TV. Find out what Dropout TV is, what makes it successful, and how it brought some of us together during YoutiniCon. 

• We have updated our Getting Started with the High Repulic Guide. Whether you’ve read everything and want to revisit it or you’re brand new to the initiative, the guide now includes up through Phase II which will keep you busy as Phase III continues to approach its conclusion.

🚀 Ready for Dispatch

• Acolyte Wookiee Jedi Kelnaca is getting his own comic. Bridging the gap between the High Republic initiative and The Acolyte, the one-shot will be written by Cavan Scott and art by Marika Cresta. 

• The teaser trailer for Moana 2 was released. Opening in theaters on November 27th, Moana 2 reunites Moana and Maui three years later for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely seafarers. 

• The stage is set for the NBA Finals, with the Dallas Mavericks taking on the Boston Celtics. Game 1 tips off on Thursday, June 6th, with Boston looking to make history by winning the most championships or Dallas solidifying the success of their moves during the trade deadline.

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