What’s Geeky in April 2022

What up, Geeks?

As always, Geek Alerts brings you the latest in what to expect in Geek culture. There’s a lot to get excited about for April, including a new installment in the Wizarding World, a videogame about hitchhiking (cooler than it sounds, I promise), and several books written by African-American authors in the science fiction/fantasy genre.

Without further ado, here are the movies, tv shows, video games, and books coming out in April! 

Movies and TV Shows

April 1^st: Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Deluxe Edition, Part I

The wait you never knew you waited for is finally over! Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Delux Edition, Part I is finally here! Finally!

Part I is said to be twenty-eight and a half hours long and will include information from the Lord of the Rings’ Appendices and a short animated film at the beginning of the movie called The Other Adventures of Tom Bombadil in which every book nerd’s favorite yellow jacketed, blue hat wearing… demi-god? I’ll be honest, I’m still not sure what Tom is.

Either way, the leaked script reveals that Tom is involved with some legal dispute with the king of the Eagles and he’ll have to rely on his wife, the “fair river daughter,” to not only bail him out of jail but also represent him in the third district court in Hobbiton. Think The Lord of the Rings meets My Cousin Vinny.

April 1^st, but for real this time: Morbius, You Won’t Be Alone, Attack Part 1, Slow Horses

First up we have Morbius, starring Jared Leto and Matt Smith, premiering nationwide in movie theaters. For those who don’t know, Dr. Morbius (Leto) is a man with a rare blood disorder who manages to find a miraculous cure to his disease—by turning into a vampire. Horrified with his new dark powers, he decides to take the Venom route and do some good while being a blood-sucker.

Then, we have You Won’t Be Alone, a new horror movie in theaters about a young girl who is transformed into a witch in 19^th century Macedonia (Eastern Europe, for those of you who don’t love geography as much as I do). Curious about her new humanity, she begins killing people in order to take their shape and live out their lives.

And yes, the setting of this Sundance Film Festival movie is during the time when young women were burned at the stake if they were accused of witchcraft.

Next, we have Attack, Part 1 an action movie from India that is giving me major Jean-Claude Van Damme vibes. This movie has a limited release and is about a soldier in the Indian army who is recruited to become India’s first super-soldier to fight against terrorists.

Finally, we have Slow Horses on AppleTV starring Gary Oldman. Slow Horses, a horse-racing term, is about a group of Britain’s intelligence service members, the men and women of MI5, who after royal screw-ups are sent to work a dead-end job with a grizzled and cynical agent (Oldman). Naturally, they stumble across a mystery that their “straight and narrow” co-workers can’t handle.

April 6^th: The Hardy Boys, season 2

Coming back to Hulu is their Emmy nominated show The Hardy Boys, starring Rohan Campbell and Alexander Elliot as Frank and Joe Hardy. This season, the pair of underage detectives—who are based off of the famous detective stories originally from the twenties—are looking into the disappearance of their friend and the mysteries revolving around the artifacts they found last season.

April 8^th: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Everyone’s favorite hedgehog is back for more fun and adventure with a nationwide release in theaters. Sonic’s plans of proving his worth as a hero are derailed by the return of the evil Dr. Robotnik (played by Jim Carrey) and his new partner… Knuckles. So, now Sonic has to team up with his old partner, Tails, to stop the evil duo from getting their hands on a civilization destroying emerald.

April 15^th: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Roar

The middle of the month brings us some very different pieces of media. First up is a return to the Wizarding World before Harry Potter in the latest Fantastic Beasts movie. As the dark lord Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) makes his move to attack the Muggles, a ragtag team including Dumbledore, Newt Scamander, and others, must set off on their own quest to stop him.

Next we have Roar on Apple TV. This dark comedy anthology series tells several different stories of modern feminism. The show has an all star cast including Nicole Kidman, and tells stories like one of a woman who solves her own murder (as a ghost), a woman whose husband makes a—ahem, literal shelf to put her on, and a woman who mysteriously keeps finding bite marks all over her body.

April 20^th: Russian Doll, season 2

The wait is now over… again. Netflix’s cult hit, Russian Doll is back for more Groundhog’s Day shenanigans again and again and again. As well as deeply personal trauma and a metaphor for therapy (going through the same self-destructive behavior over and over again until you have a break-through, realization, and then trying like hell to break the pattern of repeated self-abuse).

April 22^nd: The Bad Guys, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman

This will be a day for nationwide release movies. First is the family animated movie The Bad Guys about a criminal crew of anthropomorphic animal thieves who are finally caught by the law and, to avoid jail time, have to at least pretend to turn over a new leaf and become good.

Next is The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent starring Nicolas Cage as himself. Accepting an offer to meet a super-rich and super-dangerous super fan (played by Pedro Pascal), Nick Cage is recruited by the CIA to steal his biggest fan’s secrets and become the real-life version of the characters he plays in movies.

Finally, we have The Northman, a Hollywood movie about a young Viking prince named Hamlet—no, Simba—no, Prince Amleth. That’s the one. Either way, this movie tells the story of a Viking prince who fled from his home after his uncle murdered his father and wed his mother.

In addition to an all-star cast including Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, and Alexander Skarsgard, the trailer seems to suggest the presence of a Valkyrie who, erm… has braces.

Either way, it’s Vikings, and I’m always down for that.

April 24^th: The Man Who Fell to Earth

Based off of the 1963 sci-fi novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, The Man Who Fell to Earth is the story of an alien named Faraday (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) who comes to earth trying to save his own planet only to get wrapped up in human problems.

This show will be released on Showtime and, fun fact, the original movie adaptation of the book was made in 1976 and starred David Bowie.

April 28^th: Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles

Coming to us on Netflix is an adaptation of Stan Sakai’s long-lasting Usagi Yojimbo comics. The story revolves around Usagi, a samurai rabbit in Neo Edo, who accidentally releases the Yokai—the bizarre and ancient monsters of Japanese legends. Together with his friends, Usagi now has to right his wrongs all while training to become the greatest samurai in history.

The showrunners are Candie and Doug Langdale, who are best known for their work with Puss in Boots and Kung Fu Panda. Joining them on the creative team is none other than the original comic’s creator, Stan Sakai.

April 29^th: Green Ghost and the Masters of the Stone

This limited release movie is going to be a silly one. Green Ghost tells the story of Charlie, a car salesman who moonlights as an amateur Lucha Libre fighter, who discovers that he has super powers gifted from ancient Aztek gods. To keep the bad guys from getting their hands on a powerful emerald, Charlie will have to train with the unconventional Master Gin (played by Danny Trjo).

Videogames:

April 5^th:

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC

This is one for the history books. For the first time in one game, you will be able to play through every LEGO Star Wars movie. This game takes all of the original 9 games, gave them visual upgrades, and then stuck them into one big, beautiful, hilarious package.

April 7^th:

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition

PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC

A remake of the original Chrono Cross, this new edition features HD character illustrations, enhanced battle mechanics and more. Journey through different dimensions as Serge jumps between worlds, meets over 40 different party members, fights all kinds of monsters, and tries to prevent his death in a parallel universe.

Godfall: Ultimate Edition

PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Jump back into the battle to defeat your evil brother Macros who not only tried to kill you but is now intent on becoming a god. Don your valorplate in this Ultimate Edition that includes all of the DLCs with lots of options for co-op play.

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter

Switch

Finally available on Switch is the game from 2016 that puts you once more into the shoes of the world’s greatest detective: Sherlock Holmes. After the death of Moriarty, Sherlock has decided to take care of his nemesis’ daughter, Katelyn. All is going well until the arrival of Holmes’ new neighbor, the enigmatic Alice. Holmes must now solve a string of other mysteries in order find out what Alice’s true intentions are for befriending the daughter of the Napoleon of Crime.

April 12^th:

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

Switch

Finally available on Switch is the side-scrolling action adventure game with a real-time strategy element to the battles in this game about 13 high-school students who are sucked into the future and a war between mechas and Kaiju.

April 14^th:

Cat Café Manager

Switch, PC

Have you ever wanted to just quit your job and play with cats? Well now you can! Become the manager of your own cat café (you know, those hip places where you drink coffee and try to pet cats that want nothing to do with you), build up your business (literally), train and upgrade your staff, and adopt all of the little bundles of murderous joy that you can.

Road 96

PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

This beautiful looking indie game is about a young protagonist hitch-hiking across the fictional nation of Petria—that looks an awful lot like the Western United States. Every journey is unique in this game and will introduce you to a huge cast of characters as you avoid the police, biker gangs, and the Regime in your hunt for freedom and adventure.

April 20^th:

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Switch

The console game about Darth Vader’s apprentice from 2008 is finally coming to the Switch. Jump back into the boots of Galen “Starkiller” Marek, the betrayed apprentice of Darth Vader, whose quest for revenge will bring him in contact with Princess Leia and help forge the Rebel Alliance. And, lest we all forget, tons of opportunity to force-throw Jawas.

April 26^th:

Zombie Army 4: Dead War

Switch

The zombie shoot ‘em up game from the same people behind the Sniper Elite series is now available on Switch. Having defeated Zombie Hitler, the alternate history of the Survivor Brigade continues as undead Nazi hordes rise again. In campaigns for 1-4 players, shoot your way through zombie armies across Italy and beyond… including fighting your way through a zombie zoo.

April 28^th:

Dorfromantik

PC

Finally leaving Early Access after a year is the critically acclaimed Dorfromantik, a casual building strategy and puzzle game where you build a beautiful village by placing tiles on the map. This game gives me strong Catan vibes—but in a good way. The developers behind Dorfromantik is Toukana Interactive, an indie company created by four game designer buddies in college in Berlin.

Books:

April 1^st:

• Island of Time by Davis Bunn—Dark Fantasy

April 5^th:

• The Callers by Kiah Thomas—Middle reader fantasy
• In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power—Epic Fantasy
• Realm of the Blue Mist by Amy Kim Kibuishi—Book 1 of The Rema Chronicles, middle reader fantasy graphic novel
• The Prisoner of Shiverstone by Linette Moore—Middle reader science fiction graphic novel
• Time Troopers by Hank Davis—Science Fiction
• The Bladed Faith by David Dalglish—Epic fantasy
• The Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport—Book 1 of The Blood Gift Duology, science fiction and military fantasy, written by an African-American author

• Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor—YA Dark Fantasy
• Omens Bite by P.C. and Kristin Cast—Book 2 of Sisters of Salem, YA Fantasy
• Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak by Charlie Jane Anders—Book 2 of Unstoppable, YA Space Opera
• Little Monarchs by Jonathan Case—Middle reader science fiction graphic novel
• Witchlings by Claribel Ortega—Middle reader fantasy
• Into the Real by John Ringo and Lydia Sherrer—Military science fiction
• Youngbloods by Scott Westerfeld—YA science fiction
• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel—Post-apocalyptic science fiction
• The Tiltersmith by Amy Herrick—Middle reader fantasy
• The Tarnished Garden by Alyssa Colman—sequel to The Gilded Girl, middle reader fantasy
• Harbinger by Wen Spencer—Book 6 of Tinker, dark urban fantasy

April 12^th:

• Aurora Borealis Bridge by Jane M. Lindskold—Book 2 of Over Where, Fantasy
• The Mirrorwood by Deva Fagan—Middle reader fantasy
• The World of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler—Middle reader fantasy
• Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers and Other Stories by Alyssa Wong—short story anthology, fantasy
• God of Neverland by Gama Ray Martinez—Fantasy
• Hen Kai Pan by Eldo Yoshimizu—Science fiction and fantasy manga
• Ebonwilde by Crystal Smith—Book 3 of Bloodleaf, YA dark fantasy
• The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat—Middle reader fantasy
• Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch—Book 9 of Rivers of London, urban fantasy
• Lifeling by Kristy Applebaum—Middle reader fantasy
• The Sisters of Luna Island by Stacy Hackney—Middle reader fantasy

April 19^th:

• The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe—Afrofuturism
• The Genesis Wars by Akemi Dawn Bowman—Book 2 of The Infinity Courts, YA science fiction and fantasy
• Spear by Nicola Griffith—LGBTQ Arthurian fantasy
• Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson—YA, LGBTQ science fiction
• The Devil’s Dictionary by Steven Kotler—Cyberpunk science fiction
• The Edge of In Between by Lorelei Savaryn—Middle reader fantasy
• The Drowning Summer by Christine Lynn Herman—YA LGBTQ Fantasy
• Flint and Mirror by John Crowley—Historical fantasy

April 26^th:

• Shadow of the Bird by Tim Probert—Book 2 of Lightfall, middle reader graphic novel fantasy
• Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa—Book 1 of Society of Explorers and Adventurers, middle reader fantasy
• Kiara Fights Back by Marilyn Kaye—Book 3 of The Spyglass Sisterhood, middle reader fantasy
• The Discord of Gods by Jenn Lyons—Book 5 of A Chorus of Dragons, epic fantasy
• Rosebud by Paul Cornell—Humorous science fiction
• The Solitary Gourmet by Masayuki Kusumi—Fantasy manga
• One Foot in the Fade by Luke Arnold—Urban fantasy
• Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher—Fantasy

That’s April!

That’s it for April, Geeks! There is a lot here for us to get excited about including a samurai rabbit, the entire Skywalker Saga for LEGO, and a new book by Ben Aaronovich.

If this month seems a little light, don’t worry. There is so much coming next month that it will blow your mind! Sign up for Geek Alerts to get the scoop on what’s coming up in Geek culture!

Keep it Geeky!