Dadnology Week 34: The Gladiator Marathon Meets a Switch 2 Price Hike

🗡️ The Week That Was — Are You Not Entertained?

This was a week that split cleanly in two. On the content side, we went full Roman epic: both Gladiator films reviewed and ranked, a watch-order hub built to connect them, and the honest answer to whether either one belongs in front of your kids. On the news side, it was a genuinely consumer-relevant week with a hard deadline attached — Nintendo’s Switch 2 price increase lands September 1, giving anyone sitting on the fence about a purchase a real, ticking clock. Add a new Kratos for Prime Video’s God of War series, eight D23 stories still working through the pipeline, LEGO’s next wave revealed with real specs, and four new camera guides, and this is a week worth reading start to finish rather than skimming for one headline.

Jump to: 🎬 Movies & TV · 🎮 Gaming · 🧱 LEGO & Family · 🏠 Smart Home, Camera & Tech

🎬 Movie & TV News This Week

The full Gladiator marathon

We spent the week in ancient Rome. Gladiator (2000) earned a rare perfect 5/5 — Ridley Scott’s original still holds up as one of the few historical epics that gets both the spectacle and the emotional core right, and it’s the film against which every sword-and-sandal movie since has been measured. Gladiator II (2024) followed at a strong 4.5/5, a sequel that earns its place rather than just trading on the first film’s name. If you’re planning to watch both, Gladiator Movies In Order is the watch-order hub we built connecting them, with both ratings sitting side by side and the honest case for why the original remains untouchable. The Gladiator II 4K edition is the way to watch the sequel at its best.

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Gladiator II (2024) (4K Ultra HD + Digital) (opens in a new tab)

Both Gladiator films earned real ratings this week — the sequel at 4.5/5, right behind the original's perfect score.

Because both films are hard R for combat violence, we also asked the question a lot of parents will actually have: Is Gladiator OK for Kids? A Dad’s Honest Age Guide walks through what’s actually on screen in each film, compares it honestly against other war epics we’ve covered, and gives a real age recommendation rather than a generic “parental guidance” shrug.

Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, an underrated gem

Away from Rome, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) landed a 4/5 — Henry Cavill and Alan Ritchson lead Guy Ritchie’s stylish, true-story take on the first Allied special forces raid of WWII, and our take is that it deserved far more attention than it got in theaters. If Ritchson’s War Machine turn from a few weeks back worked for your household, this is the same actor in an entirely different register, and it streams well as a Friday-night pick. Prime Video’s free trial currently carries it.

Getting ready for Avengers: Doomsday

If you’re trying to catch up before December 18, What to Watch Before Avengers: Doomsday: The 7 Essential MCU Picks is the shortcut — seven titles instead of eighteen years of backstory, with a kid-co-watching rating attached to every pick.

D23’s aftershocks are still landing

Disney’s D23 fan expo wrapped two weekends ago, but the individual reveals kept rolling out through this week, and we covered eight of them as they landed. On the Star Wars side, Ahsoka Season 2 finally has a date — January 20, 2027 on Disney+ — with a teaser that reunites Ahsoka with Anakin’s Force ghost and confirms Thrawn returns, while Star Wars: Starfighter showed its first real footage of Ryan Gosling as pilot Kade Auberon, set five years after The Rise of Skywalker and landing May 28, 2027. On the Marvel side, X-Men Reboot Cast Revealed confirmed Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops and Adam Driver as villain Nathaniel Milbury for a May 2028 release, and our own X-Men in the MCU: What Jean Grey Means for Avengers: Doomsday explainer breaks down what Spider-Man: Brand New Day quietly confirmed about mutants finally existing in the mainline MCU. VisionQuest got its first trailer too — Paul Bettany’s Vision on the run from James Spader’s returning Ultron, closing out the WandaVision trilogy on October 14.

On the family-animation side, Frozen 3 revealed Anna and Kristoff’s wedding, a new villain, and a girlfriend for Olaf named Samantha, arriving November 24, 2027, and Pixar’s full D23 slate covered everything from the original film Gatto (March 2027) through Incredibles 3 (June 2028) and Coco 2 (November 2029). It’s a lot of dates to keep straight — bookmark that Pixar roundup if you’re the one who tracks the calendar for movie nights two years out.

🎮 Gaming News for Dads

Dave Bautista is the new Kratos

The biggest gaming-adjacent story of the week didn’t come from a studio blog — it came from a cast change. Dave Bautista has officially replaced Ryan Hurst as Kratos in Prime Video’s God of War series, after Hurst suffered a torn bicep on set requiring surgery that would have delayed production into 2027. Every scene Hurst filmed needs to be reshot, production resumes in the coming weeks, and Prime Video’s two-season order is still shooting back-to-back. Callum Vinson stays on as Atreus, with Mandy Patinkin as Odin and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor rounding out a genuinely stacked cast. It’s a real gut-check of a recast for anyone who’s put fifty hours into God of War Ragnarök or the 2018 reboot — Bautista’s Kratos won’t be the same Kratos most players know, but the physicality is a believable fit. Ragnarök on PS5 is the easiest way to remind yourself what the bar is before the show airs.

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God of War Ragnarök (PS5) (opens in a new tab)

The Kratos most of us actually know — worth a replay now that Dave Bautista is playing him in live action.

The Switch 2 gets more expensive on September 1

The story with an actual deadline: Nintendo has confirmed the Switch 2’s price rises from $449.99 to $499.99 in the US starting September 1, 2026, with matching increases across Canada and Europe. Nintendo’s own announcement ties it to the same medium-to-long-term market conditions — read: the AI-driven memory chip shortage — that has already pushed up PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Steam Deck OLED prices this year. Nothing about the announcement suggests a rollback once the shortage eases. If a Switch 2 was already on your list for a birthday or a holiday, the math is simple: buying it now saves a genuine $50 over waiting even two weeks. Our Nintendo Switch 2 review still holds at a perfect 5/5 for what the hardware itself delivers, price aside.

Gamescom opens next week, and the floor sold out for the first time ever

Gamescom 2026 runs August 26-30 in Cologne, with Opening Night Live kicking things off August 25, and it enters the show having done something it has never managed in its history — every square meter of exhibition floor sold out before doors even opened. Nintendo returns after skipping the 2024 show, and the confirmed line-up for Opening Night Live already includes Final Fantasy VII Revelation, Silent Hill: Townfall and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past. We’ll be covering the announcements that actually matter for a family gaming setup as they land next week, rather than the full firehose.

007 First Light crosses four million copies

A genuinely impressive number from IO Interactive: 007 First Light has sold four million copies in its first three months on the market, a strong result for a licensed action-adventure game. If you haven’t picked it up yet, our 007 First Light review covers why the young-Bond origin story works, and 007 First Light vs. GoldenEye is worth reading if you’re trying to explain the character’s video game history to a kid raised entirely on the newer films.

🧱 LEGO & Family Round-up

September’s wave: a Harry Potter flagship and a transforming Batmobile

LEGO’s next wave is already confirmed for early September, and two sets stand out on real specs. The Harry Potter Ministry of Magic Collectors’ Edition (76476) is the flagship — 3,491 pieces, 14 minifigures marking 25 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and $449.99 when it lands on LEGO.com August 29. New this week is real detail on the second big reveal: the LEGO DC Batman Returns Batmobile (76355), a Tim Burton-themed 2,269-piece build at $229.99 with a genuine transformation function that reveals the hidden Batmissile escape vehicle at the press of a button. It’s available to LEGO Insiders from September 1 and to everyone from September 4. Rounding out the wave, LEGO Icons SpongeBob SquarePants: Bikini Bottom (11386) becomes the franchise’s first-ever 18+ set at 1,794 pieces and $219.99, releasing September 1.

LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian gets its trailer

Ahead of its September 2 Disney+ premiere, LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian dropped its official D23 trailer — a brick-built retelling of all three seasons of the show, which is a genuinely fun format for revisiting Din Djarin and Grogu’s story with younger kids who haven’t watched the live-action version yet.

A 33-year-old ship from Patrick’s own collection

The standout LEGO review of the week isn’t a new release. LEGO Pirates Renegade Runner (6268) is Patrick’s own 1993 set, still fully intact after 33 years of real play, and it earns a full 5/5 — the raider ship whose gold-hungry crew made the Caribbean Clipper’s own gold run necessary in the first place. If you missed last week’s Caribbean Clipper review, the two sets tell one connected pirate story from opposite sides.

🏠 Smart Home, Camera & Tech Round-up

Four new camera guides from real fieldwork

Camera coverage went deep this week. Best Photography Spots in the Alps & Germany: A US Traveler’s Guide sorts the Alps, the Dolomites, the Black Forest and the Baltic coast for a US-based trip, shot on Patrick’s own Nikon kit. Outdoor LEGO Photography: Shooting Toy Sets in Natural Light took our usual indoor toy-photography stage outside for the first time, landing at 4.5/5 for what changed shooting on real sand and in real forests. Two gear-focused guides round it out: Filter Holder System vs. Screw-In Filters earned a 5/5 explaining why a landscape photographer carries both a 100mm holder kit and a screw-in polarizer rather than picking one, and How to Shoot Long Exposure Water Photography also landed a 5/5 walking through the real camera settings behind eight long-exposure shots, from a 20-second glass-flat lake to a 1/15s waterfall.

A Marvel movie night, built into the smart home

If Avengers: Doomsday prep has you thinking about your actual living room, The Ultimate Marvel Movie Night: Smart Home Cinema Setup Guide landed at a perfect 5/5 — a one-tap Cinema Mode built from color-matched smart lights, a Home Assistant automation, and the TV settings that actually make a difference, rather than the ones marketing insists on.

The Dadnology Week archive: missed last week? Catch up with Dadnology Week 33.

❓ FAQ

What were the biggest dad-relevant releases in week 34, 2026?

We reviewed both Gladiator films back to back and built the watch-order hub connecting them, plus a kids’ age guide for the franchise. Away from movies, Nintendo confirmed the Switch 2 rises to $499.99 on September 1, Dave Bautista was cast as the new Kratos in Prime Video’s God of War series, and LEGO revealed its September wave: a 3,491-piece Harry Potter flagship and a transforming Batman Returns Batmobile.

What is the best family pick from week 34, 2026?

Gladiator (2000) is our rare perfect 5/5 and the easiest recommendation of the week, though it’s a hard R for a teenager, not a family movie night pick. For something the whole household can plan around, LEGO Pirates Renegade Runner (6268) is a genuinely fun conversation starter about how well 1993 LEGO still holds up.

Should I buy a Nintendo Switch 2 now or wait?

Buy it now if you were already planning to. Nintendo’s official price increase from $449.99 to $499.99 takes effect September 1, 2026, tied to the same memory-chip shortage pushing up PS5 and Xbox prices — there is no indication it reverses, and waiting only costs you $50.

What did Dadnology publish this week?

Gladiator (2000) and Gladiator II (2024) reviews, the Gladiator Movies In Order hub, an Is Gladiator OK for Kids? evergreen, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) review, a What to Watch Before Avengers: Doomsday guide, eight D23-related news briefs across Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and Disney animation, a LEGO Pirates Renegade Runner (6268) throwback review, four camera guides (Alps travel photography, outdoor LEGO photography, filter systems, and long-exposure water shots), and a Marvel-themed smart home movie night setup guide.