Green Goblin actor Willem Dafoe has revealed that he has "fantasised" about playing an imposter Joker alongside Joaquin Phoenix's Joker in a pitch that we really need to happen.

Dafoe was January 2021's GQ Hyper cover star and he was asked about the many people who have, over the years, said he'd be the perfect choice to become the Joker. Dafoe revealed that he has thought about it, but his pitch has a bit of twist to it.

"There is something interesting about, like, if there was a Joker imposter," Dafoe said. "So it would be possible to have not duelling Jokers but someone that says to be the Joker that isn't the Joker. And that kind of opens up the possibility of an interesting story, particularly if you had Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, and then you had someone who was either imitating or riffing off what he did. I fantasised about that. But other than that I am not talking to anybody [about it], you're the first one.”

One can only hope Dafoe is not being completely truthful and that this dream of Dafoe's one day becomes a reality.

In October 2021, Phoenix revealed that while he doesn't know if a Joker 2 is actually happening, he is open to returning to the character as "there are some things we could do with this guy and could [explore] further."

In our rare 10/10 review of 2019's Joker, we said, "Joker isn’t just an awesome comic book movie, it’s an awesome movie, period. It offers no easy answers to the unsettling questions it raises about a cruel society in decline. Joaquin Phoenix’s fully committed performance and Todd Phillips’ masterful albeit loose reinvention of the DC source material make Joker a film that should leave comic book fans and non-fans alike disturbed and moved in all the right ways."

Dafoe most recently appeared as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home and shared that he didn't want to come back to the Spider-Man franchise if it was just by a simple cameo. He also talked about how he thought the criticism of Green Goblin's original mask was behind his character's new look in the latest Spidey film.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Filmmaker Joss Whedon has broken his silence over allegations of misconduct while working on Justice League, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and more.

In an interview with New York Magazine, Whedon opened up about his experience taking over the directorial duties for Justice League following Zack Snyder's departure due to a sudden death in the family.

“They asked me to fix it, and I thought I could help,” Whedon said before claiming that the decision to take over the project was one of the biggest regrets of his life.

When he was first brought on, Whedon said his role would strictly be limited to writing and advising, but "soon it became clear to Whedon they had lost faith in Snyder’s vision and wanted him to take full control." A WB representative denied this claim and Snyder has publicly revealed that he chose to leave Justice League to spend time with his family after his daughter had died by suicide.

After becoming the new director of Justice League, Whedon was in charge of nearly 40 days of reshoots and he admitted that "from the start, things were tense between him and the stars." Whedon's directorial style was much different than Snyder's, as he expected actors to read lines exactly as they are written while Snyder encouraged a bit more creative freedom.

An unnamed crew member shared to New York that this change "didn't go down well at all," especially after Whedon announced that he had never worked with "a ruder group of people." This went beyond simply directorial styles, however, as other actors would continue to criticize his writing. As an example, Whedon claims Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot's suggested that he "didn't understand how superhero movies worked."

Gadot has also publicly stated that, during the Justice League reshoots, Whedon "threatened her career" if she didn't read the lines as he wrote them for Wonder Woman or failed to follow his direction. She says Whedon went so far as to say he would "harm" her career if she continued to pushback on his rewrites.

“I don’t threaten people," Whedon said when asked about the allegations. "Who does that?”

He continued on to say that Gadot just "misunderstood him."

"English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech," Whedon said. He gave a specific example of a time when he was arguing with Gadot over a scene she wanted to cut. Whedon said that he "jokingly" told her "that if she wanted to get rid of it, she would have to tie him to a railroad track and do it over his dead body."

"Then I was told that I had said something about her dead body and tying her to the railroad track,” Whedon added. Gadot told New York in an e-mail that this was not true and that she "understood perfectly" what was going on.

Cyborg actor Ray Fisher has also been vocal about his negative experience working on Justice League with Whedon. While Cyborg was a central focus on Snyder's version of the film, Whedon "downsized" his role and would end up cutting scenes that Fisher said "challenged stereotypes."

"It feels like I’m taking notes right now,” Whedon told Fisher when the actor shared his concerns over the rewrites, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “and I don’t like taking notes from anybody — not even Robert Downey Jr.”

Fisher also accused Whedon of abusing his power and revealed he'd been told that the director had even digitally changed the skin tone of an actor of color because he didn't like the specific color of their skin.

Whedon was "stunned" when this allegation was brought up and said that he had "given the whole movie a lighter look, brightening everything in postproduction, including all the faces." He also said he cut down Cyborg's role in his version of the film because his story line "logically made no sense" and that he simply felt Fisher's acting was not great.

He said he spent hours discussing these changes with Fisher in conversations that were "friendly and respectful." Whedon believes that none of the claims Fisher has made are "either true or merited discussing."

"We’re talking about a malevolent force,” he said on the topic of Fisher's motives. “We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses.”

Following Fisher's allegations, Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Charisma Carpenter also spoke out against Whedon and said he created "hostile and toxic work environments since his early career." She also said that he "callously" called her fat to colleagues when she was four months pregnant.

While Whedon agreed he "was not mannerly," he remembered his time working with Carpenter much differently.

"Most of my experiences with Charisma were delightful and charming," Whedon said. "She struggled sometimes with her lines, but nobody could hit a punch line harder than her.” He also said he "did not call her fat."

The interview goes into much more detail on Whedon's career, including his time working on Firefly, his younger days when he was not as "civilized," his denial of allegations of physical abuse, relationships with actresses while married, and much more.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

One thing that was blindly obvious from a visit to the edit bay of director Roland Emmerich’s latest action epic is that Moonfall has come to play.

“It’s this certain style of movie that I think we invented. There is a certain cheesiness to it, but there’s also realism, a lot of action, and then there are a lot of jokes,” he explained as he rolled out four scenes to provide a taste of what audiences can expect when the film hits theaters on February 4, 2022. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously.”

Moonfall also doesn’t waste any time. Within two and half minutes of the first clip, which is also the movie’s opening scene, the cast, including Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson, make first contact with their adversary in space.

The movie is about a mysterious force that knocks the moon from its orbit of Earth, setting it on a collision course with our home planet. Berry plays NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler while Wilson is astronaut Brian Harper. Moonfall starts with a scene where Harper and another of his crew are making repairs to their Endeavor shuttle in space.

At first, we see the entity reflecting in Harper’s helmet as he stares in disbelief, watching it hurtle towards them, about to hit them dead on.

“The only people who witness it are these three astronauts, but one dies and another, Halle Berry’s character, is unconscious,” explained Emmerich. “Patrick Wilson’s Harper is the only guy who saw it and what happened. The problem is that [he got] only glimpses of it, and because of that, nobody believes him.”

The scene ends with the unidentified culprit returning to its moon base. So what is the alien life form hell-bent on interplanetary mayhem?

“It’s a technical being, a nanoswarm, in a sense,” Emmerich confirmed. “I don’t want to give too much away, but it has been created by whoever built the moon. Years later, this thing finally made it inside the moon and [it’s] wreaking havoc and crashes the moon into our Earth to try and extinguish all life.”

The filmmaker added, “This idea started about nine years ago when I read a book by two British authors called Who Built the Moon? They had this idea that the moon was constructed. Why is it exactly 400 times smaller than the Sun so that it perfectly blocks it out? There’s no other moon, to our knowledge, like that. It was a cool idea, and I went with it.”

The second scene that the Independence Day director shared is focused on the idea that Berry’s character doesn’t buy what she’s being sold when it comes to explaining what happened in space in the opening scene.

“Harper is the guy who landed a shuttle without electronics, but he gets blamed for everything that went wrong on that mission,” Emmerich said. “Fowler is now the Acting Director of NASA and confronts him about what’s happening on the moon.”

The scene contains the least action of what was shown that day, but nicely cements the conceit that Fowler believes her friend and he is the only one who knows that the threat they face is very real and that he’s not an astronaut who made mistakes - or did something far worse.

The third scene on offer at Emmerich’s Centropolis Entertainment offices in Los Angeles takes place on Earth as the moon is on a rapid trajectory towards our planet. That has a catastrophic effect on this planet’s gravity, creating wildly destructive phenomena such as a tsunami-like “gravity wave.” One of the things in its path is the NASA base where Fowler, Harper, and John Bradley’s KC Houseman are based.

“It’s Houseman who theorizes that because the moon has much more gravity, they can use that to their advantage and help get them and their shuttle to the moon,” he explained.

The director also spoke about the casting that went into Moonfall.

“The first person I wanted to have for the movie was Halle Berry because I always liked her, and I thought she was perfect for it. It’s almost like I have certain people in mind, and I needed a strong woman for this. Halle has an attitude that worked perfectly for this. Luckily, she said yes. Patrick Wilson was a given. I worked with him on Midway, and I loved him. Then I discovered this English actor in Game of Thrones, John Bradley. We had one Zoom call, and I was in love with him too. That was it for me. I had my trio.”

The next scene Emmerich offered up takes place after Fowler, Harper, and Houseman successfully make it to the moon and are making their way into the depths of the natural satellite itself.

Although unfinished at the time, the detail and scale of the nanoswarm nest is breathtaking and, even on an edit bay monitor, it was clear to see that it is on a par with everything Emmerich has committed to the big screen previously. Creating the complex techno organism also posed the most significant creative challenge.

“The biggest problem was the swarm,” he recalled. “There were endless discussions about that, and we had two companies doing them. One had to do the outside swarms, and one had to do the swarms inside the moon. We had to bring those together, exchange files, and things like that. I think that was the most complicated challenge for us.

“Almost nothing on Moonfall was physically there. When I started with Independence Day, what I was working with was mostly real, and I was using models. Now almost everything is made by the computer. Very little is real.”

However, there was one thing that Emmerich had no option other than to have on set. That was the space shuttle - or at least part of it.

“The Endeavor cockpit itself could be taken apart so we could film inside it from various angles,” he mused. “It was in two or three pieces and was an actual training cockpit for astronauts. We found it in Florida. Some guy had taken it from NASA and put it in a museum that went bankrupt, and we bought it. We did what we needed to do and put [electronics] in it, and then when we were done, we made a deal with somebody else to sell it to them.”

Even though he was happy to screen clips in the edit bay, the filmmaker remained committed to not giving too much away, including when he created Moonfall’s trailer.

“For me, that’s really important. I never want to give the story away,” Emmerich concluded. “I want to whet the appetite of the audience and hope people go see it. I’m very strict when it comes to the trailer. I’m like, ‘Don’t f**king give the story away.’ I hate that. That comes with a set of problems because I have the feeling today people want to see the whole film as a trailer and say yay or nay based on whether you give them the whole story. I don’t understand that. It’s peculiar.”

Emmerich happily admitted that he sees Moonfall as the first film in a trilogy. He’s mapped out the arc and hopes to film the second and third film back-to-back, but he admits that of course depends on how successful the first one is. Moonfall opens in theaters and on IMAX on February 4.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

Andrew Garfield has revealed that he managed to keep his Spider-Man: No Way Home cameo a secret from everyone, even his former co-star Emma Stone.

During a recent appearance on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, Garfield acknowledged the actions he had to take in order to preserve his Spider-Man secret prior to the release of No Way Home last December. It turns out that the 38-year-old actor had to tell a lot of lies to a lot of people, including his Amazing Spider-Man co-star Emma Stone.

"Emma kept on texting me and she was like, 'Are you in this new Spider-Man film?' And I was like, 'I don't know what you're talking about!' She was like, 'Shut up, just tell me.' And like, I honestly… I kept it going, even with her, it's hilarious," Garfield said, finally opening up about his long-kept secret. "And then she saw it and she was like, 'You're a jerk!'"

Garfield first suited up as our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012, however, he recently returned to the role with a cameo appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Here, he joined current Spider-Man, Tom Holland, alongside another former Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire, for the mother of all superhero team-ups.

The actor previously spoke about the web of lies that he had to spin in the interest of keeping his Spider-Man reprisal under wraps. He called the process "stressful but also weirdly enjoyable," admitting that it felt like he was playing "this massive game of Werewolf" to keep everyone guessing about his potential return in the lead-up to the film's release.

In the aftermath of his appearance in No Way Home, Garfield has said that he would consider returning to play Spider-Man again. There could be a lot of very good reasons to bring Garfield's version of Peter Parker back to the big screen, and many fans seem to already be on board with the idea following a fresh wave of support for his character in recent weeks.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Keanu Reeves has revealed he's only ever asked two people for an autograph, and that he received a four-letter response off the back of one of those requests.

As a high-profile actor, who is often dubbed the nicest man in Hollywood, Reeves is certainly no stranger to signing his name on a fan-clenched piece of paper but he recently revealed that he's only ever asked two people for an autograph personally — one being George Carlin, his Bill & Ted co-star, and the other being Lou Reed from The Velvet Underground.

Reeves shared more about his encounters with the two celebrities during a quickfire quiz on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He admitted he acquired Reed's autograph for a friend, and that the musician kept it simple by scribbling his signature on a piece of paper without any additional message or sign-off. However, his other paper keepsake was quite different.

"I asked for another. George Carlin. Yeah, he gave me an autograph… It was really funny; he wrote, I think it was, 'Dear Keanu, F**k you!'" Reeves said with a smile, reflecting back on the comedian's personal note. "I always thought he just wrote that for me, and then I met someone else who said that he wrote the same thing to them! Anyway, beautiful."

While Reeves clearly appreciated Carlin's humorous approach to signing such a memento, we're pretty sure that the John Wick star will be sticking to writing his moniker on all future autographs, though that could have ended up looking quite different as he almost went by an entirely different name because 'Keanu' was intially considered "a little too exotic."

Having kept hold of his name, Reeves made his feature film debut in 1986's Youngblood, just three years prior to his breakthrough role in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure in which he starred alongside Carlin — who played the titular duo's time-travelling mentor in the movie. Since then, Reeves has starred in hit franchises like The Matrix and John Wick.

Reeves will return once again as the legendary hitman John Wick in the fourth film of the hyper-violent gun-fu franchise, which was recently pushed back by almost a year from its planned May 2022 release date. The film, which will reportedly be named John Wick Chapter 4: Hagakure, will now debut in theaters on March 24, 2023.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania has arrived on Prime Video, but it has done so without the voice talents of Adam Sandler and Kevin James, the two comedic actors who played Dracula and Frankenstein, respectively, since the original film. Why is that? Let's take a look.

As reported by Decider, Sandler was replaced in Hotel Transylvania: Transformania by Brian Hull and James was replaced by Brad Abrell. The pair had starred in all three previous Hotel Transylvania films and there has been no official word as to why they weren't part of this final installment.

While Sony, Sandler, or James have yet to give any statement on the matter, Transformania's directors Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska shared a bit as to why the change in voice actors actually fit the story they were trying to tell. It's also important to note that Drymon and Kluska have taken over for Genndy Tartakovsky, the director who lead the first three films.

"The fact that he turns into a human was a good opportunity to do things a little differently," Drymon told ScreenRant. "He could be a little different than he was in the movies, and it would be natural. So, it kind of was the perfect movie to have a person come in and fill those shoes."

"We started with the design, and how do we make that character feel as different as possible," Kluska added. "He's not going to animate the same; he's not going to look the same. And it felt like embracing Brian and, more specifically, embracing what the difference in that would be as a human. It felt like it was a great opportunity."

While this may answer why Sandler and James aren't in Transformania, it doesn't necessarily account for why those like Andy Samberg returned to voice Jonathan, who turns into a monster after being human.

There are those who also believe Sandler and James did not return because of their ongoing deals with Netflix. In 2020, Sandler signed on to make four more movies for Netflix, while James also recently signed on to a development deal with the company.

Sandler signed his original deal with Netflix in 2014 and was no longer an executive producer on the Hotel Transylvania films after the second one.

While we may never know the truth as to why these two did not return for Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, the mainline films are officially over - for now - and it looks like everyone will be going their separate ways regardless.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Scream has officially ended Spider-Man: No Way Home's four-week domestic weekend box office winning streak by earning an impressive $30.6 million in North America.

As reported by Variety, 2022's Scream - which is actually the fifth entry in the slash franchise - earned more than Spider-Man: No Way Home's $20.8 million to secure its victory, and it's projected to bring in a total of $35 million over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Internationally, Scream brought in another $18 million from 50 markets, according to THR.

The first Scream movie since 2011's Scream 4 only cost $25 million to produce, so it will now look to continue its successful exclusive theatrical run without worrying about recouping its costs anymore.

Scream is both a direct sequel to the events of Scream 4 (which itself opened to only $19.3 million) and also a jumping-off point for newcomers that aims to lay the foundation for its future. Alongside various new faces, the fifth Scream film also brought back Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott, Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers/Riley, and David Arquette's Dewey Riley.

In our Scream review, we said, "The 5th entry into the Scream franchise sets up a future for the franchise that some may not have thought possible with a tight story, great performances, and stellar new directions."

Spider-Man: No Way Home still performed well by earning $20.8 million in its fifth weekend domestically, and it is expected to earn around $26 million over the holiday weekend. This brings its domestic total to $703.9 million and makes it the fourth-highest grossing domestic release in history. It only trails Avatar's $760 million, Avengers: Endgame's $858 million, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens $936 million.

Spider-Man: No Way Home has also now earned over $900 million internationally and its global total is sitting right around $1.62 billion.

Sing 2 placed third by earning $8.3 million, and The 355 and The King's Man rounded out the top five.

For more on Scream, check out our explainer of the ending, and our chat with the cast of Scream where we asked them to choose their favorite lines from the series.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Warning: Full spoilers follow for Spider-Man: No Way Home.

At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the fabric of his reality from collapsing: He allows a spell to be cast which erases him from everyone’s memory. Where there was once a supporting cast, there is now a blank slate. MJ and Ned Leeds don’t remember Peter Parker, Peter has to settle for a GED instead of a Midtown High diploma, and worst of all, he’s lost his anchor after the Green Goblin murdered Aunt May.

The film ends with Peter settling into a modest apartment, and later leaping out a window to fight some crime and spin some webs, all dressed in a new, seemingly comics-accurate Spider-Man suit. Many Spider-Man films end with the hero swinging through Manhattan, but this moment takes on special poignance in No Way Home. Due to the film’s events, the only thing Peter has left in his life is Spider-Man.

This isn’t the end, though. A fourth Spider-Man film starring Tom Holland has already been confirmed. We probably haven’t seen the last of MJ or Ned either, though it’ll likely take a while before they re-enter Peter’s life. Fortunately, there’s an answer to this new supporting cast void, and it’s also a way to challenge Peter while in his current state of life: The next Spider-Man film should introduce Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat.

Black Cat’s in Love With the Spider, But Not the Man

Spider-Man has had many love interests over the course of his publication history, but three stand head and shoulders above the rest: Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, and finally the Black Cat. The first two have gotten plenty of spotlight on film, but the same can’t be said for Cat. She was twice cut from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, first with script edits on Spider-Man 2 and then with the cancellation of Spider-Man 4. Felicia Hardy cameoed in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, played by Felicity Jones, but only as an Oscorp employee with no hints of her Black Cat persona.

The reason why now is precisely the right time to introduce Black Cat on the big screen is because her interest has always been in Spider-Man, not Peter Parker. The two met in their costumed identities after all, when Black Cat was introduced by Marv Wolfman and Keith Pollard as Spider-Man’s latest rogue in The Amazing Spider-Man #194. Black Cat’s face turn was motivated less by conscience and more by a wish to get closer to the mysterious masked man she fancied. Peter, then on an off period with Mary Jane, was happy to let her in.

When Peter pulled back his mask and revealed his true self to Felicia, she recoiled. She was only in love with the superhero, who for her was “the night and excitement and death-defying adventure!” For Felicia, the Black Cat is her truest self and she wants to be together with a Spider-Man who feels the same way about his masked identity. Her apathy towards the Peter Parker identity is what doomed their relationship.

And it’s this character dynamic that would make Black Cat the perfect foil to Holland’s Spider-Man in his fourth solo film. At times, such as in the Spider-Man 2 video game, Felicia has tried to convince Peter to leave behind civilian life and be the spider of her dreams full-time. Peter always resists her offers, but with nothing to currently ground him to Peter Parker, he might not be able to fight off the temptation this time.

Felicia could also provide a new spin on some old tropes in the Spider-Man movies. In most of them, from the Raimi-verse to the MCU, Peter has a personal connection to his adversaries before they come to blows. Him having a romantic relationship with a foe, or any other costumed character for that matter, has never been done on film before. As No Way Home proved, Peter, no matter the universe, always thinks he can save everyone. He’ll of course try to redeem Felicia, but she might not be too eager to play along; even in the comics, she’s never quite managed to stave off her criminal tendencies.

Putting the Neighborhood in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Black Cat’s introduction would also help bring Holland’s Spider-Man back down to earth. Cat is a street-level Marvel character - true to her name, she is a cat burglar - and adding her to the mix could reorient Spider-Man away from apocalyptic, Avengers-level threats. Instead, Peter could finally be the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man he vowed he was going to be at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming.

An overall smaller scale is needed after Spider-Man’s last movie adventure. No Way Home went as big as a Spider-Man movie could, drawing on two decades worth of movies along the way. Trying to outdo that is a fool’s errand. Instead, the fourth Spider-Man film can take advantage of its fresh start to create a new status quo and rebuild Peter’s character; the only way to do that is with more intimate and character-focused stories.

Even better, Black Cat has the potential to bring more Marvel characters along with her. Many iterations of Black Cat have had enmity with the Kingpin. In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Wilson Fisk was the one who turned Felicia Hardy into the Black Cat with a recreation of the super-soldier serum. In Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider and Cat first met while she was stealing from the Kingpin. Fisk just returned to the MCU in Hawkeye, and fans have been clamoring for Holland’s Spider-Man to meet Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin for years.

Alternatively, in The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series, Black Cat’s introduction coincided with an adaptation of the Alien Costume Saga. No Way Home’s post-credits scene ended with Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock being sent back to his home dimension, but not before leaving behind a drop of the Venom symbiote. As with most Marvel stingers, this is clearly telegraphing stories to come. Could Peter’s darker impulses, amplified by the black suit Venom symbiote, be further pushed to the edge by the Cat’s own criminal ways?

No Way Home was a terrific celebration of Spider-Man films up to this point, but you can’t keep looking backwards forever. Holland’s Spider-Man is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and it’s time for his Peter to face challenges he hasn’t before. Black Cat is just the foil he needs.

Leslie Grace has shared an image of herself as Batgirl from the upcoming DC movie that will tell the superhero's origin story.

Grace shared the image on Twitter alongside a caption that was pulled straight from Batgirl, Year One.

“I use their expectations against them. That will be their weakness. Not mine. Let them all underestimate me…

And when their guard is down, and their pride is rising, let me kick their butts.”
- Batgirl, Year One
🦇 pic.twitter.com/gbIA5EbcUK

— Leslie Grace (@lesliegrace) January 15, 2022

"I use their expectations against them. That will be their weakness. Not mine. Let them all underestimate me," Grace wrote. "And when their guard is down, and their pride is rising, let me kick their butts.”

Her suit looks to be inspired by Batgirl comics, especially the "Batgirl of Burnside" issue by Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher, Babs Tarr, and Maris Wicks.

Batgirl is set to be released on HBO Max in 2022 and will be directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Alongside Grace, it will also star Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon, Brendan Fraser as Garfield Lynns/Firefly, and Jacob Scipio in an unknown role.

Birds of Prey's Christina Hodson wrote the screenplay and previously discussed how Batgirl will explore a time when Barbara Gordon is coming to grips with who she is and who she is destined to become.

"What's kind of funny about Barbara [Gordon] and Batgirl is that in this story, she's discovering Batgirl for the first time," Hodson explained. "So she's getting to explore a duality she's always had in her personality, but it's this whole new side of her personality, a side that's more daring and slightly less normal side of her that we just get to have fun and play with."

Grace previously starred as Nina Rosario in In the Heights and this will be her first appearance in the DCEU.

2022 will also see Batgirl appearing in WB Games Montreal's Gotham Knights, where she will fight to save Gotham with Nightwing, Robin, and Red Hood following the apparent death of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Letitia Wright has returned to finish filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever after suffering a stunt accident that left her with a shoulder fracture and concussion.

BBC reports that Wright is heading to Atlanta, Georgia where Black Panther 2 is filming to finish her scenes playing Shuri, T’challa’s sister. Filming for the movie has not finished yet, but production was halted in November 2021 as it could not continue without Wright.

Details of Wright’s accident were initially described as a minor stunt accident, but a letter from Marvel’s Kevin Feige revealed that Wright’s accident was more severe than initially anticipated. There was also speculation given Wright previously expressed anti-Covid vaccine views.

Production on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has now fully resumed according to a spokesperson, though plot details remain closely guarded.

It’s unclear how Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will proceed following the death of star Chadwick Boseman in 2020. The Hollywood Reporter says both Wright and M’Baku actor Winston Duke will have expanded roles in the sequel, and that Duke “negotiated a hefty raise for his return to Black Panther[.]”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to premiere on November 11, 2022, and is one of Marvel’s numerous MCU offerings for the year. Other films slated to be released in 2022 include Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in May and Thor: Love and Thunder in July.

That’s not counting the many Marvel shows in development for the streaming service Disney+. In the meantime, check out IGN’s review for the last major MCU film Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

The Batgirl cast is shaping up to have several heavy hitters, plus a few unexpected stars, including Michael Keaton, J.K. Simmons, and even Brendan Fraser.

Thus far, it's not quite the epic-sized Bat-family you might be expecting, but Batman movies have typically never gotten quite the size of an Avengers ensemble. As you might expect from the title, Batgirl (premiering on HBO Max) will follow Barbara Gordon's origin story as the young caped crusader, heir, and student to Bruce Wayne's crime-fighting empire. Written by Birds of Prey and Bumblebee writer Christina Hodson, Batgirl follows Barbara Gordon as she "discovers" the Batgirl side of her identity.

Batgirl (specifically the Barbara Gordon version) was originally introduced in 1967 in Detective Comics #359 as the daughter of Commissioner James Gordon. Her role throughout Batman continuity has fluctuated, particularly during The Killing Joke, when she was shot and paralyzed by the Joker. How the Batgirl movie will tackle things

Keep reading for a rundown of who's appearing in HBO Max's Batgirl — and don't forget to bookmark the page, as we'll be updating this article with all-new casting announcements.

Leslie Grace as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon

Filmgoers will recognize Leslie Grace as Nina Rosario, star of Jon M. Chu and Lin Manuel Miranda's In the Heights. Before In the Heights, her career largely focused on songwriting and music video performance, earning her three Latin Grammy Award nominations.

"You put a little bit of yourself into each character, so just in the bit of research I've been doing, I've learned a lot of things about Barbara that are very in line with me," Grace told Entertainment Tonight. She's someone who's been underestimated even by her dad. Being the youngest kid, sometimes you're insulated from all the tough stuff, and she's so eager to prove to everybody and herself that there are things she can handle."

Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman

For the third time in his career, Michael Keaton is stepping into the black boots of Batman. Keaton previously played Bruce Wayne and his alter ego in Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns, where he squared off against Jack Nicholson's Joker, Danny Devito's Penguin, and Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman.

Keaton's involvement was previously announced in December 2021, but he was already confirmed to play Batman in The Flash film. Considering Batman is a direct mentor to Barbara Gordon, he may play a larger role in Batgirl. Keaton dipped his toes into the Marvel cinematic universe with his role as the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

J.K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon

Simmons is no stranger to comic book films. The actor portrayed gruff news chief J. Jonah Jameson in several Spider-Man entries, and he even previously played Commissioner Gordon in Zack Snyder's Justice League. He'll be returning for Batgirl, presumably being an overprotective father for Barbara Gordon and confidant for Batman, though that relationship might be tested if Bruce Wayne wants to recruit Barbara to his crusade against crime.

Brendan Fraser as Garfield Lynns/Firefly

Filmgoers will recognize Fraser from his starring role in the Mummy franchise, and a more recent resurgence in DC's Doom Patrol as racecar driver-turned-machine Cliff Steele/Robotman. Deadline originally reported he'll be playing Garfield Lynns AKA Firefly, a pyro-obsessed villain with a lengthy history in Batman lore.

Fraser took an extended hiatus but has returned to acting in a major way recently lining up roles for directors like Darren Aronofsky and Martin Scorsese.

Jacob Scipio in an unknown role

Scipio's career began in small television roles before landing a part in 2020's Bad Boys For Life, 2019's The Outpost, and the upcoming Expendables 4. It's currently unknown what role he'll be playing in Batgirl.

Keep checking back here for all the latest casting updates on Batgirl.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

Amazon Prime Video has announced a special week dedicated to its upcoming adult animated shows including the upcoming The Boys animated spinoff Diabolical and the RPG series The Legend of Vox Machina.

From January 17 to 23, Amazon is launching something called Fanimation Week which will celebrate all things adult animation on Prime Video. The key dates are the 18th when Amazon will focus on the upcoming Diabolical series and the 20th which is dedicated to Vox Machina.

Check out the full schedule below.

• 1/17 - Anime Monday: A day dedicated to highlighting all of the amazing Anime titles available on Prime Video, including the critically-acclaimed Evangelion Rebuild series.
• 1/18 - Diabolical Tuesday: It’s time to get f*cking Diabolical with Prime Video’s animated anthology series, The Boys Presents: Diabolical, set in the world of The Boys.
• 1/19 - Fairfax Wednesday Drop: Get ready for the DROP! Let’s get hypebeast-y with Prime Video’s latest entry into its Adult Animation lineup.
• 1/20 - Vox Machnica Thursday: Fans have made this the most successful Kickstarter campaign of all time, let’s blow it all out for them and this amazing cast.
• 1/21 - Undone Friday: A behind the scenes of one of Prime Video’s most visually stunning shows.
• 1/22 - Invincible Saturday Season 1 Rewatch-a-thon: Let’s end the weekend on a high note with a rewatch of Prime Video’s most talked about animated series of 2021.

As a bonus, Amazon is dropping the paywall for some animated shows including the first four episodes of Invincible and Evangelion 3.33 and Evangelion 3.0+1.0 starting from January 17 to the end of February.

Amazon hasn’t revealed exactly what we’ll see for Diabolical, but this is the first mention of the series since it was announced back in 2021. When it was announced, the series was already described as nearly finished, but it’s unclear if Amazon is prepping a trailer, sneak-peak, or even just a poster.

The eight-episode animated series will tell “unseen stories within The Boys universe” and include Awkafina, Garth Ennis, Eliot Glazer, Ilana Glazer, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen, Simon Racioppa, Justin Roiland, Ben Bayouth, Andy Samberg, and Aisha Tyler.

Meanwhile, Amazon is already prepping Vox Machina for its January 28 release. Based on the popular tabletop RPG web show, Amazon recently released a trailer for the upcoming series.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

It's only January, but it's apparently never too early to start getting in the holiday spirit, as Disney has announced Tim Allen will return for a new Disney Plus series based on The Santa Clause movies.

Allen is set to reprise his role as Scott Calvin from the original films, in addition to serving as executive producer on the series. Jack Burditt, who has worked on 30 Rock, Modern Family, Frasier, and more, is also on board as an executive producer. Production on the series is set to begin in March.

The series started in 1994 with The Santa Clause, where an ordinary man is forced to take on all of Santa's responsibilities after accidentally killing a man in a Santa suit. The movie got two sequels, The Santa Clause 2 in 2002, and 2006's Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. The series has been dormant since the third film came out over 15 years ago.

The new series will follow Calvin, who is still serving as Santa Claus as he nears his 65th birthday. He wants to return to the normal world, so he sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa while also preparing his family to leave the North Pole.

While there's no release window for this new show, you can check out everything new to Disney Plus this month.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

The original Superbad remains one of cinema's most beloved mid-aughts comedies, and fans have long been clamoring for more adventures with Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. In a recent interview with W Magazine (via Variety), Hill revealed that he'd be down for a Superbad 2… so long as it's made when he's 80 years old.

“I haven’t pitched this to anybody,” Hill said. “What I want to do is when we’re like 80, do a ‘Superbad 2.’ Like, ‘old-folks-home Superbad.’ Our spouses die, and we’re single again. That’s what I want ‘Superbad 2’ to be, and that’s the only way I would ever make it.”

The original Superbad was a coming-of-age comedy following Cera and Hill as two gawky high school seniors trying to impress a pair of girls by bringing alcohol to a house party, with plenty of hijinks and diversions ensuing. Presumably, this hypothetical sequel would be a coming-of-old-age plot.

Seth Rogen co-wrote and starred in the original Superbad as a fun-loving cop, but told LADBible in 2020 that he “100% probably never touch” Superbad again for a sequel or offshoot.

“Honestly, I don’t think it requires improvement or anything to be built upon it,” Rogen said. “I’m unbelievably proud of it. It really holds up — people still watch it, high school kids come up to me telling me that they watched it for the first time and how they loved it. It’s worked its way into being viewed as one of the better high school movies that’s out there. I’m so terrified of subtracting from it in any way with a bad sequel or spinoff that I’d never do it. I have so few actual good accomplishments that I’m horrified to fuck with the ones I have.”

Hill is currently 38 years old, so his pitch for Superbad 2 would put us off until 2064. In the meantime, he recently co-starred in Adam McKay's Don't Look Up as an advisor to President Meryl Streep.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

Belle debuts in theaters on Jan. 14.

Academy Award-nominated Japanese director and animator Mamoru Hosoda is responsible for some deeply touching anime films: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, and Wolf Children are widely considered to be some of his best, as is his work with the Digimon franchise. Hosoda returns with his ninth feature film, Belle, an interpretation of the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast. Its heart is in the right place, and it is stunningly animated, but its message is dragged down a bit by some plot holes and a bloated runtime.

Belle follows 17-year-old Suzu Naito (Kylie McNeill), who lost her mother at a young age in an accident. As a result, the already modest and shy teen has found it difficult to relate to others and has become withdrawn, having lost her ability to sing in front of others the way she used to.

Everything changes when Suzu reluctantly joins the virtual world of "U", a metaverse-like online community of over 5 million users, in which you can "start over" as a new person. When logging in for the first time, U generates a jaw-droppingly beautiful pink-haired avatar for her that she can hardly believe is her. She nicknames the avatar "Bell," which is the English meaning of her name. As Bell, she finds she can share her beautiful singing voice with the world, and as she rapidly gains popularity, she finds that internet fame is wrought with both thrilling ups and devastating downs.

Enlisting the help of her friend Hiro Betsuyaku (Jessica DiCicco), Suzu eases into her newfound popularity and begins putting on concerts while watching her alias blossom into a beloved figure in the online community. Her fans begin to refer to her as "Belle" with an E, a reference to the word that means "beautiful" in French.

When a devastating dragon-like avatar nicknamed The Beast crashes one of Belle's hotly anticipated concerts, a group of vigilantes called the Justices, led by an avatar named Justin (Chace Crawford), accuses The Beast of inciting violence in the otherwise peaceful world of U. Belle, however, is intrigued by The Beast and goes out of her way to understand his actions, eventually befriending the misunderstood user. From there, she's led on a wild ride through the real and digital world in an effort to find the "real" Beast as well as a way to reach through to him and his dark demeanor.

Obviously, it's a Beauty and the Beast for the digital age with absolutely mind-blowingly beautiful animation, with a blend of more traditional aesthetics and CG inside of U, much like we saw in Hosoda's Summer Wars. However, as pretty as it is, it seems half-baked in more than a few areas.

Belle seems conflicted as to what kind of story it truly wants to be: a romance like the original fairy tale based on loving oneself, not judging a book by its cover, and being kind to others, or an action tale where there’s a villain for the sake of having a villain, but no real conflict beyond Suzu briefly clashing with the Justices, learning The Beast’s identity, and the consequences that come with it in real life.

And for a story that clearly wants to be a musical spectacular, most of the songs, with the exception of the effervescent “U” at the film’s opening, are syrupy ballads with no real draw. They’re beautifully sung, and even analogous to the Japanese voice cast’s singing chops, but they don’t feel particularly memorable or important to the moments they’re attached to.

That’s not to say the entire adventure is disappointing. There are a few satisfying high points, mostly in the way that the movie handles some of its lesser characters. In fact, many of Belle's triumphs come in the form of surprising friendships and interactions. Suzu's unexpected bond with her beautiful and popular schoolmate Ruka Watanabe (Hunter Schafer) bucks convention entirely. It demonstrates to us that there's still very much room, even in a "mousy" girl's life, for meaningful friendships when she begins to realize that she is worthy of others’ time and puts herself out there.

There are some other truly heartfelt moments that arise as Belle begins to coast toward its ending. The manner in which The Beast's true identity is eventually revealed may be difficult to watch, but it also manages to subvert expectations in that it both shines light on a harrowing real-life subject and feels like a more realistic alias reveal than what we typically see in anime series and films. If you’re expecting feelings to blossom between certain characters that eventually culminates in a kiss at the end of the movie, you’ll definitely come away from the experience satisfied with the direction the film ultimately went in.

Unfortunately, these bright points alone can’t carry the film in its entirety. Though it works hard to endear Suzu and Belle to us, there's little in the way of reasons to care about her the way Hosoda clearly intended. Suzu has a troubled past, and dealing with her mother’s death has been hard on her. Still, it’s insinuated that she’s well-liked by her peers, has a clearly supportive father, and a plucky-but-determined best friend, and a childhood crush who wants to be more. Still, she spends all her time crying and scurrying away from her problems.

And one day, she simply stops. That’s where the issues lie. The “transformation” into Belle is so quick and without substance that we don’t really see Suzu’s growth into this larger-than-life digital figure. Instead, we see her standing in U from the film’s very beginning, singing her heart out as this gorgeous, pink-haired siren with millions of eyes on her, with virtually no interaction with the avatars who flock to her flashy concerts. And we’re left with so many unanswered questions in the end. Why is Belle so popular? Where did the songs she sings come from? Does she interact with fans? Who sets up the beautiful visuals in U? Did she really see no income from the music she created and shared with the world since Hiro routed all of her earnings to charity? The list goes on.

Belle’s message is obvious: Suzu’s digital avatar has given her the courage she needed to sing again and to be herself, to bring the light back into her life that’s been missing since she lost her mother. As Belle, she can share the kindness in her heart with others, even if she has to do it in a virtual world at first. The film just doesn’t try hard enough to fill in the blanks from Suzu’s initial foray into U or how she realizes she can use her talent to touch lives. It mostly fails to illustrate how Suzu learned the lessons she did along the way or why it was important to apply them beyond reaching out to the much-maligned Beast.

As a result, Belle as a digital pop star and the lives she touches through her music is believable, but the entire song and dance feels more hollow than meaningful.

Streaming is great, but it's not always reliable. For your go-to favorite movies and TV shows, it's nice to have a physical object to put on the shelf, one that won't vanish into the ether or become unusable if your internet goes out. The video and audio quality of discs is also generally better than most streaming services can muster. And since PS5 and Xbox Series X can play 4K UHD discs, why not give them a try?

The only question is, when are your favorite movies and TV shows coming to 4K UHD and Blu-ray? The people want to know. So we took that question and ran with it. Below, you'll find a list of the biggest upcoming releases, followed by a full rundown of release dates and buy links for all the upcoming home releases you're likely to be interested in. Please enjoy.

Biggest New and Upcoming 4K UHD and Blu-ray Releases

January 2022 4K and Blu-Ray Releases

January 4

• Antlers - Buy It
• Weathering With You (4K) - Buy It

January 11

• Dune (2021) - Buy It
• Halloween Kills - Buy It
• Juice (4K) - Buy It
• Spencer - Buy It

January 18

• The Addams Family 2 - Buy It
• Akira (4K) - Buy It
• A Hard Day's Night (Criterion Collection) (4K) - Buy It
• Last Night in Soho - Buy It
• Some Like It Hot (4K) - Buy It
• Spider-Man Trilogy (2002 - 2007) (4K) - Buy It
• Titane - Buy It

January 25

• The Piano (Criterion Collection) - Buy It

February 2022 4K and Blu-Ray Releases

February 1

• Almost Famous - Buy It
• The Batman: The Complete Series - Buy It
• Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Buy It
• Mad Max 4-Film Anthology (4K) - Buy It
• Wayne's World: 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook - Buy It

February 8

• Catwoman: Hunted - Buy It
• Dragonworld - Buy It
• Encanto - Buy It
• King Richard - Buy It
• Miller's Crossing (Criterion Collection) - Buy It
• Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City - Buy It
• Spider-Man Trilogy (4K) - Buy It
• Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection (4K) - Buy It

February 15

• Doctor Who: The Complete Thirteenth Series - Buy It
• Eternals - Buy It
• The Howling (4K) - Buy It
• Looper (4K) - Buy It

February 22

• The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: Complete TV Series - Buy It
• Attack on Titan - Final Season Part 1 - Buy It
• Escape from LA - Buy It
• The Green Mile (4K) - Buy It
• House of Gucci - Buy It
• Quentin Tarantino 4-Movie Collection - Buy It
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (4K) - Buy It

March 2022 4K and Blu-ray Releases

March 1

• James Bond: The Daniel Craig 5-Film Collection (4K) - Buy It

March 8

• Coming 2 America - Buy It
• Downton Abbey (Movie) (4K) - Buy It
• I Spit on Your Grave (4K) - Buy It
• Sonic Boom: Complete Series - Buy It
• Yellowstone: Season 4 - Buy It

March 15

• An American Werewolf in Paris (4K) - Buy It
• Shooter (4K Steelbook) - Buy It
• Sonic the Hedgehog - Bonus Stage Edition Steelbook - Buy It
• The Sword and the Sorcerer (4K) - Buy It
• Touch of Evil (4K) - Buy It

March 22

• Dexter: New Blood - Buy It
• The Godfather Trilogy (4K) - Buy It
• The Godfather Trilogy: Collector's Edition (4K) - Buy It

March 29

• The Last Waltz (Criterion Collection) (4K) - Buy It
• Magnum P.I.: Complete Series - Buy It
• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (4K) - Buy It
• Robocop (4K) - Buy It

April 2022 4K and Blu-ray Releases

April 19

• V/H/S 94 - Buy It

TBA 4K and Blu-Ray Releases

• Licorice Pizza - Buy It
• Sing 2 - Buy It
• Spider-Man: No Way Home - Buy It

Want more release dates? Check out our mega-post of all the biggest video game release dates to see what's coming to consoles and PC this year and beyond. And if you're interested in what we're interested in, check out our most anticipated movies of 2022.

Best 4K TVs

If you're looking to buy a new TV that will make your 4K movies shine, you'll definitely want to take a look at our favorites. Our tech editors have selected the best 4K TVs for gaming, which will also work great for movie-watching. And since both the PS5 and Xbox Series X have 4K Blu-ray play-back built in, you'll probably be doing plenty of gaming on them as well.

Alternately, you can take a look at our roundup of the best high-end 4K TVs. These are the TVs that will get you the absolute best picture quality, though it's worth noting there's a lot of overlap in our choices between the two lists.

Best 4K Blu-ray Players

If you're a frequent IGN reader, you'll probably be most interested in using a PS5 or Xbox Series X to play your 4K UHD Blu-rays. These consoles are hard to find in stock at the time of this writing, but you can check out the following articles to have the best chance possible of finding one in stock.

• Where to Buy a PS5
• Where to Buy Xbox Series X

If you have no interest in playing games, a simple 4K Blu-ray player will suffice. In that case, have a look at our list of the best 4K Blu-ray players on the market.

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

While many filmmakers catch the attention of the press while doing the film festival circuit, Hellbender stood out among festivalgoers in 2021 because it’s a family-made horror movie. It stars real-life mother and daughter Toby Poser and Zelda Adams who also edited, wrote, and directed the film alongside husband-father John Adams.

You can watch the new trailer (and check out the new poster) for Hellbender exclusively here on IGN. The Adams family film debuts on February 24 on the horror streaming service Shudder as well as AMC+.

Considering it’s a family-made affair, it’s only fitting then that Hellbender concerns itself with a family. The movie’s official synopsis below tells a tale of dark familial secrets revealed and supernatural powers awakened:

“In Hellbender, 16-year-old Izzy (Zelda Adams) suffers from a rare illness that has kept her isolated on a mountaintop with her mother (Toby Poser) her whole life.

As Izzy begins to question her sickness, she pushes back against her confinement and secretly befriends Amber (Lulu Adams), another girl living on the mountain, but her newfound happiness is derailed after she eats a live worm as part of a juvenile game and finds an insatiable and violent hunger awakened within her.

To understand the hunger, Izzy must learn the dark secrets of her family's past and the ancient power in her bloodline.”

Check out the new poster for Hellbender below:

For more scary movie coverage, check out our rankings of the 13 best horror films of 2021, the 31 best modern horror movies, and find out which film won IGN’s best horror movie of 2021.

Hellbender debuts on Shudder and AMC+ on February 24.

Warning: Full spoilers follow for 2022’s Scream. If you're wondering if there's a post-credits scene in the movie, we'll tell you right here: There is no post- or mid-credits scene.

Do you like scary movies? Some 25 years after the original came out, the Scream franchise is back in theaters with a super-meta slasher flick that only adds to the prolific body count of the Ghostface killer… or killers, rather. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not), this movie updates the Scream saga for a modern audience while also going back to basics.

And we’re here to break it all down for you, including diving into what the Scream 2022 (a.k.a. Scream 5) ending means and where the franchise could go from here. And be sure to read our Scream review while you're at it.

Scream (2022)’s Ghostface Killer Revealed

So of course the big question is: Who’s the killer in Scream 5?

Just like in the original, there are two Ghostface killers here. The first is Jack Quaid’s character Richie Kirsch, boyfriend to our main heroine, Sam Carpenter, who is played by Melissa Barrera. It just so happens that Sam is revealed to be the secret daughter of Billy Loomis, the original Ghostface killer… or one of the original Ghostface killers, actually. The lesson here? Always look at the love interest!

The other killer in the new Scream is Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison), the friend of Sam’s sister Tara. This pair mows down most of the new characters and also take out legacy characters alike before finally revealing themselves in the third act.

But how did we get here?

The film has the classic Scream opening as the Ghostface killer terrorizes and attacks a teenage girl, in this case Tara, as she’s home alone in the town of Woodsboro, California. This time, however, the girl lives and her sister Sam, now living in Modesto, rushes back to be with her.

But Sam’s got a secret. As a teen, she learned that she’s the daughter of Billy Loomis. Running away from whatever hereditary destiny may be in store for her, she left Woodsboro as soon as she could and has been taking meds to shut out the visions she’s been having of her young, bloodied dad (played by a heavily CG’d Skeet Ulrich, reprising his role from the original).

Anyway, once Sam gets to Woodsboro, a townsperson related to one of the former victims is killed and she realizes that this is only the beginning for the new Ghostface Killer. Many of Tara’s friends and acquaintances are related to prior franchise characters, placing huge targets on their backs, and it’s up to Sam to put an end to the threat. This is where the original film’s surviving trio come in: Sam recruits former Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) to help protect Tara and her sister’s friends. And Dewey reaches out to Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) to warn them to not return to Woodsboro.

Unfortunately, Ghostface slashes up the town, killing Sheriff Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton) and her son Wes (Dylan Minnette) at their home. This is where on-again/off-again couple Gale and Dewey reunite and rehash how their relationship ended.

With the whole sheriff’s department at the Hicks house, Sam realizes Tara is left unattended, so she and Dewey race to the hospital only to find Ghostface attacking Tara and Richie. Dewey riddles Ghostface’s body with bullets and gets the three to an elevator before staying behind to finish Ghostface for good. Unfortunately, the masked psycho kills Dewey.

At the hospital, Gale arrives to see Dewey’s body, and shortly after Sidney arrives to comfort her friend. At the same time, Sam decides to take Tara out of Woodsboro immediately. As a fellow final girl, Sidney offers her help to stop Ghostface, but Sam rejects it and leaves with her sister and boyfriend. Using a tracker, Sidney and Gale follow the trio to Amber’s house (which just so happens to be the same house that Stu Macher, the other Ghostface from the first film, commited a couple of murders at after throwing a house party).

Once the house party gets cleared out, Richie finally reveals himself as one of the Ghostface killers – he’s a rabid superfan of the Stab movie franchise (the in-universe series based on the Woodsboro killings) and he teamed up with Amber to stage a new series of killings in order to bring glory back to the franchise after years of being disappointed by it.

After seeing her dad in a mirror, Sam finds the Ghostface blade and, warning never f#@k with the “daughter of a serial killer,” stabs Richie a bunch of times. Meanwhile, Sidney and Gale fight Amber, who is remarkably resilient. Gale asks Sidney if she wants to do the honors, but Sidney says, “It’s all yours” and tosses Gale the gun, who she shoots Amber. Amber then falls onto the stove and catches on fire.

Once again, the threat of the Ghostface killer is put to an end and order is restored to Woodsboro. For now.

Is There a Scream End Credits Scene?

This one is easy: There are not post- or mid-credits scenes in Scream 2022.

What’s Next for the Scream Series?

So where does the new Scream movie leave the franchise now?

The Ghostface killers are dead but that’s happened many times before and a new Ghostface always rises again to terrorize the residents of Woodsboro. So if Paramount Pictures wants to make more Scream movies after this, they certainly could. One of the most impressive accomplishments of this take on the franchise is that it presents a future where Sidney Prescott doesn’t have to be involved. The Carpenter sisters’ story sets up a whole new target for future Ghostfaces thanks to their secret father, while the Meeks-Martin twins (Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown) manage to fill Jamie Kennedy’s Randy Meeks role from the original trilogy, while also taking on Dewey’s (formerly) unkillable mantle.

Meanwhile, the return to Stu Macher’s house has reinvigorated theories that half of the original Ghostface duo could still be alive. The Matthew Lillard character was pretty beaten up by the end of the 1996 original, and presumed dead, but we never see any kind of concrete proof that he didn’t make it out of that kitchen. With his parents’ obvious resources and no one ever coming after Sid and company for the death of their son, who’s to say ol’ Stu isn’t simply biding his time? And now, with his best friend returning in spectral form, what better time for his return than in Scream 6. Or is it Scream 2? Whatever, the next one!

But what did you think of Scream? Where should the franchise go from here? And is this the last we’ve seen of the Ghostface killer? Let us know what you think in the comments! And for more on the film, check out our How to Watch Scream feature.

All Javier Bardem wants in the world is to ride a sandworm. Fresh off his turn as Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos, Bardem talked to Deadline about his hopes for Dune: Part 2, where he is set to reprise the role of Stilgar, the blue-eyed Fremen warrior.

Specifically, Bardem talks about how he hopes he gets to ride one of the massive sand beasts in the forthcoming sequel. He even says he asked director Denis Villeneuve if he can make it happen.

Bardem is quick to point out that there's precedent in the series for Stilgar riding a sandworm.

"[Denis Villeneuve] told me he's going to try to make that happen. That does happen in the book, by the way. Stilgar teaches Paul [Atreides] how to take the desert power, which is to domesticate those huge animals in order to use their force, their strength, and their huge size against the Harkonnen. Hopefully, that will happen," Bardem says.

In the Dune books and the movies, sandworms are enormous predators who emerge from the sand to devour travelers and even whole books. A Fremen is spotted riding a sandworm at one point in the movie, but only for a moment. Who knows, Bardem may well get his wish.

In the meantime, Bardem says he remains in the dark about the direction of the planned sequel.

"I haven’t read anything yet, so I’m not sure what's coming up next for me in 'Dune.' I know as much as you do at this point. I hear there are scripts but I haven’t read anything," Badem says. "I cannot wait to put myself into the hands of Denis Villeneuve again. I love the guy."

Dune: Part 2 was officially announced back in October, not long after the release of the first movie. It is currently slated for release in Fall 2023. While you wait, check out our explainer on what to expect from the sequel.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

Real Steel, the sci-fi classic starring Hugh Jackman, is getting its very own Disney+ show. According to Variety, a Real Steel adaptation is on its way, but it may be some time before we get to see it.

Variety reports that the potential series will be based on the 2011 film of the same name, which in turn was based on the short story ‘Steel’ by Richard Matheson.

It’s said that the project is still in the early stages of development at Disney+ and doesn’t yet have a writer attached. It’s also unclear whether the Real Steel show will follow on from the events of the film or start anew with new characters.

Either way, Real Steel fans are bound to be pleased.

The original film starred Hugh Jackman as a former boxing pro who turns to robot-boxing with his estranged son. Together, they fix up an obsolete model called Max, which they then get fighting fit to turn him into a true robot champion. Taking on the current robot-boxing champ, Zeus, it’s a heart-warming family film with some incredible robot-fighting action.

And it has its fair share of fans.

Alongside Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, Dakoto Goyo starred as his son, Max, with Evangeline Lily as Bailey Tallet, a boxing gym owner, and daughter of Charlie’s former coach. They were joined by Anthony Mackie, Olga Fona, and Karl Yune.

It’s unknown whether any of the original movie’s stars will return for the TV show.

Real Steel director Shawn Levy will executive produce the series, along with Robert Zemeckis and Jack Rapke of Compari Entertainment, as well as Jacqueline Levine, as well as Susan Montford and Don Murphy of Angry Films.

Disney+ also recently announced many new major projects, including a new Marvel spin-off, Agatha: House of Harkness, and a Big Hero 6 show focussing on the loveable robot, Baymax.

As the project is still in the early stages, no broadcast date has yet been set.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.