Things We Saw Today: Overwatch Team on How Mei’s Story in “Rise and Shine” Inspires Heroism

If you saw the Overwatch short “Rise and Shine,” you likely cried your eyes out over the heartbreaking and inspiring origin story behind the cheery and lovable Mei. Seriously, even if you don’t play Overwatch and have zero knowledge about it, it’s still wonderful storytelling that will move you.

In this “Making Of” video, the team talks about the things that make Mei such a compelling hero in this narrative. The short puts Mei in tragic and cruel conditions, making her confront both loss and grief. But what does she do in the face of that fear and uncertainty? She moves forward for herself and those in her memory. We love our physically strong soldier types, but Mei shows that intelligence and creativity are just as effective—most of all, she demonstrates that choosing to be heroic in a difficult situation is something we can all do. (via email)

• The Powerpuff Girls are adding a fourth Powerpuff Girl?! (via io9)
• NPR reports that two stained-glass windows at the Washington National Cathedral honoring Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson are to be removed immediately.
• The incomparable Gina Rodriguez is producing not one, but two new Latino-centric television stories that deal with immigration. (via Deadline)
• More deleted scenes from The Big Sick over at ET! This one is about pee.
• Angelina Jolie has confirmed that she’ll be returning for Maleficent 2. No news yet about whether any of the other cast members will reprise their roles. (via ELLE)

Finally, here’s the trailer for Netflix’s Mudbound, Dee Ree’s feature about two young men in the Jim Crow South. The historical drama is already generating lots of Oscar speculation for the streaming service, and I can’t wait to see it.

That’s it for what we saw today, what did you see?

(image: screencap)

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