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Batman Day: All of The Caped Crusader Content on HBO Max

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 17:02:40 GMT

To celebrate Batman Day on September 19, HBO Max has released a list of all its streaming Caped Crusader content -- from live-action to animation to Batman-adjacent (like 2019's Joker) -- for those looking to spend a few hours absorbing a gallon of Gotham-y goodness. All-things-Batman on HBO Max:

Batman, 1989
Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, 1998
Batman & Robin, 1997
Batman and Harley Quinn, 2017
Batman Begins, 2005
Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker, 2000
Batman Forever, 1995
Batman Returns, 1992
Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition, 2016
Batman vs. Dracula, The, 2005
Batman vs. Robin, 2015
Batman vs. Two-Face, 2017
Batman: Assault on Arkham, 2014
Batman: Gotham Knight, 2008
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, 2016
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1, 2012
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2, 2013
Batman: The Killing Joke, 2016 (HBO)
Batman: Under the Red Hood, 2010
Batman: Year One, 2011
Beware the Batman, 2013
Harley Quinn (S1 & S2), 2019
JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, 2014
Joker 2019 (HBO)
Justice League (2017), 2017
Justice League vs. Teen Titans, 2016
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, 2010
Justice League: Doom , 2012
Justice League: Gods and Monsters, 2015
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, 2013
Justice League: The New Frontier, 2008
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, 2015
Justice League: War, 2014
Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes Unite, 2013
Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League, 2015
Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash, 2018
Lego Justice League: Cosmic Clash, 2016
Lego Justice League: Gotham City Breakout, 2016
Necessary Evil: The Super-Villains of DC Comics, 2013
Suicide Squad, 2016

DC is also hyping Batman Day promotions and activities (like making your own Bat-Signal) over at BatmanDay.com, including free online issues of Batman: Curse of the White Knight #1, Batman: The Adventures Continue #1 and Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-robert-pattinson-movies-batman-fans-need-to-see&captions=true"] Meanwhile, Matt Reeves' The Batman has resumed filming following its star, Robert Pattinson, completing his quarantine after allegedly being diagnosed with COVID-19. Looking for a deeper dive into The Batman? Here's where Joker might fit into the new movie and how Riddler's riddle from the first trail may have already been solved by fans. Also, is Paul Dano's Riddler the one leaving a trail of bodies in Gotham, or is there more to this puzzle than meets the eye? [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/23/the-batman-trailer-breakdown-riddler-penguin-catwoman-and-no-more-lies-explained"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

Director of the Dune That Never Was Reacts to New Trailer

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 14:37:07 GMT

Frank Herbert's landmark science fiction novel Dune has been adapted for the screen a few times over the past forty years - notably David Lynch's 1984 film and the 2000 miniseries on Syfy (then Sci-Fi Channel). Now Blade Runner 2049's Denis Villeneuve is bringing his version to the screen in 2020, starring Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, and Oscar Isaac. Before Lynch's version, however, there was a famously failed attempt to bring Dune to the theaters. Director Alejandro Jodorowsky was in pre-production for years on the film, during the '70s, in an endeavor (complete with a script for a 14-hour movie) that would later become the topic of a documentary called Jodorowsky's Dune. Jodorowsky recently watched the trailer for Villeneuve's Dune and...well, he had some thoughts. "I wish his Dune would be a great success, because Denis Villeneuve is a nice director, about whom I have been told a lot," Jodorowsky said to France's Le Point [translation from CinemaBlend]. "I saw the trailer. It's very well done. We see that this is industrial cinema, that there is a lot of money, and that it has cost a lot of money. But if it was very expensive, it must pay off in proportion. And this is the problem: there are no surprises. The form is identical to what is done everywhere, the lighting, the acting, everything is predictable." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/09/dune-official-trailer"] "Industrial [Hollywood] cinema is incompatible with auteur cinema," he continued. "For the first, money comes before the work. For the second, it is the reverse. And this, whatever the quality of a director, whether it is my friend Nicolas Winding Refn or Denis Villeneuve. Industrial cinema promotes entertainment, it is a show that is not intended to change humanity or society." You can check out the cast of Dune -- including Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin -- discussing their characters and the themes of the new film here. Also, here's Dune director Denis Villeneuve explaining the meaning and themes of his sci-fi epic, as well as him talking about how he designed the iconic sandworms that roam Arrakis’ deserts. If you're interested in Jodorowsky's Dune, check out the trailer for the doc below... [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2014/02/14/jodorowskys-dune-trailer-1"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

The Dark Knight Rises Death Scene That Was Too "Sickening” to Include

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 14:06:56 GMT

Happy Batman Day! For his third and final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan reportedly changed one character's on-screen death because it would have given the film an NC-17 rating. During the movie's final battle, Matthew Modine's Gotham Deputy Police Commissioner Peter Foley is killed after being gunned down by Talia al Ghul's tumbler. In a recent appearance on CinemaBlend's ReelBlend podcast, Modine revealed what was supposed to happen to Foley and why it had to be changed. "[Nolan] cut my death scene out of Dark Knight Rises," Modine explained. "Because he said it was so violent that it would have gotten an NC-17 rating." "After Bane dies and Batman, Chris [Bale] gets stabbed, [Talia] gets in one of those vehicles," he continued. "She starts to drive away, and I’m shooting at her. And I got run over. All it does is, it just cuts and I’m on the ground, dead. But it was so violent. The guy that was doubling me got hit by the car. They put a plexiglass thing on the front of [the car] and he got hit. They had ropes to pull him into the air, but he went up and they dropped him from about 15 feet, and the sound of his body hitting the cobblestone street in front of the New York Stock Exchange, it was sickening. And I remember I looked at Christopher Nolan when we shot it and his face was white. He was like, ‘OK, let's move on. We got that.’ But it was like, ‘Oh my God, is that guy going to get up? Is he okay?’ But [Nolan] said that if he would have put it in the movie, it would’ve got an NC-17 rating because it was so violent." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=a-visual-history-of-batman&captions=true"] It feels like a big leap for a death, especially the one described, to take a film from PG-13 to NC-17, but even if it had just gotten the movie an R-rating, that wouldn't have worked for Warner Bros. In other comic-book news, Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, Perry Mason) has reportedly landed the title role in Marvel's She-Hulk, DC's Harley Quinn animated series has been made an HBO Max original and been renewed for a Season 3, and casting for the role of Kamala Khan in Marvel's Ms. Marvel is currently underway. You can also check out our theories about what Young Justice: Phantoms might be about. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/07/17/the-dark-knight-things-you-didnt-know-cinefix"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

The Hobbit: This King Thranduil Statue Is Fit for a Woodland King

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 16:38:10 GMT

If you're a fan of all things Middle-earth and have very deep pockets, Weta Workshop has just the collectible for you. The company recently unveiled a new statue featuring The Hobbit's King Thranduil, and it's easily one of the company's most elaborate and expensive pieces to date. Dubbed The Hobbit Masters Collection: Thranduil, The Woodland King, this piece recreates the likeness of actor Lee Pace and depicts the elven monarch perched regally in his forest throne while one of his guards stands at attention. Get a closer look at this amazing piece in the slideshow gallery below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-hobbit-this-king-thranduil-statue-is-fit-for-a-woodland-king&captions=true"] Like many of Weta's Hobbit/Lord of the Rings pieces, The Woodland King is designed at 1:6 scale. But given the enormous size of Thranduil's throne, the piece still clocks in at a whopping 41.33 inches in width and 39.37 inches in height. It's also got a price tag to match, coming in at $2799.99 (not including what promises to be a massive shipping charge). Given that only a select few Middle-earth fanatics will have the spare cash and the space needed to display this monster of a statue, The Woodland King is limited to a low edition size of 400 pieces. But apparently the demand is there, as it's already sold out on Weta's website. Fortunately, it's still available at a handful of other third-party retailers like BBTS. If you're lucky enough to snag one of these statues, Weta estimates it'll start shipping in March 2021. Let us know in the comments below if you'll be trying to pre-order one or simply admire it from afar. Even if you don't have an extra $3000 and an empty bedroom lying around, there's plenty of reason to be excited about the future of all things Middle-earth. Amazon is producing a Lord of the Rings prequel series set during the Second Age of Middle-earth. Production began in February 2020, though it's been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/19/amazons-lord-of-the-rings-the-second-age-explained"] Though the series takes place thousands of years before the movies, fans can expect to see several familiar Lord of the Rings characters. However, Hugo Weaving has made it clear he has no interest in returning to play Elrond again. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Watch Netflix’s Babysitter: Killer Queen With Director McG and Star Judah Lewis

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 16:00:08 GMT

Join IGN for our next live episode of Watch From Home Theater as we watch Netflix’s The Babysitter: Killer Queen with director McG and star Judah Lewis. Tune in Friday, September 18 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET for WFH Theater where our special guests will join IGN hosts Clint Gage and Akeem Lawanson to watch the sequel to the 2017 horror-comedy flick The Babysitter. WFH Theater is a live show where our guests share insight on the movie and behind-the-scenes stories in real time as you the fans participate in the chat to have your questions answered. IGN won't be able to show the movie in the live stream watch-along, so if you want the full WFH Theater experience, sync up the show on your devices and watch with us when we press "play" together! The Babysitter: Killer Queen is available on Netflix. Sign up here if you don't already have an account - https://r.zdbb.net/u/brn9 Watch From Home Theater isn’t just a show or an opportunity to watch a movie or television series; it’s a hangout with passionate people who share one thing in common -- their love of film and TV. Each week, we'll invite our viewers to join in the conversation using our WFH Theater Discord channel to chat with our host as well as our celebrity guests. With running commentaries that range from insightful to silly, each viewing will take on a life of its own based on what we’re watching. Check out highlights from our previous episodes of WFH Theater below!

WFH Theater - X-Men: Days of Future Past w/ Writer Simon Kinberg

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/x-men-days-of-future-past-w-writer-simon-kinberg-qa-watch-along-wfh-theater"]

WFH Theater - Empire Strikes Back with Sam Witwer & Rahul Kohli

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/21/the-empire-strikes-back-watch-party-w-sam-witwer-rahul-kohli"]

WFH Theater - Revenge of the Sith with Ashley Eckstein & Cameron Monaghan

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/19/revenge-of-the-sith-watch-party-w-ashley-eckstein-cameron-monaghan-wfh-theater"]

WFH Theater - Netflix's Extraction with Chris Hemsworth, Joe Russo and director Sam Hargrave

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/01/extraction-full-one-shot-scene-breakdown-wchris-hemsworth-joe-russo-and-director"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joshua is a Senior and Producer of Features at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Star Wars are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales Villain The Tinkerer Explained

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 14:00:53 GMT

If you're planning on pre-ordering a Playstation 5 this fall, odds are Spider-Man: Miles Morales is one of the first games on your priority list. This spinoff to 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man puts Miles in the spotlight, as he defends his new home of Harlem from a destructive conflict between the evil energy corporation Roxxon and the brilliant supervillain known as The Tinkerer. If you've read many Spider-man comics or followed the MCU, you may be familiar with The Tinkerer by now. But as the latest Spider-Man: Miles Morales trailer shows, the game is delivering a very different take on this classic Marvel villain. Read on for a full breakdown of The Tinkerer's comic book origins and how the character has been portrayed in Marvel's animated shows, movies and video games. The topics covered here include:

Who Is The Tinkerer?
The Tinkerer's Origin
The Tinkerer's Powers and Abilities
The Tinkerer's Most Nefarious Inventions
The Ultimate Universe's Tinkerer
The Tinkerer in TV, Movies and Games

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-tinkerers-long-history-as-a-spider-man-villain&captions=true"]

Who Is The Tinkerer?

It's not easy being a supervillain in the Marvel Universe, especially if you don't have superhuman powers, magical abilities or a mutant gene to level the playing field. How are you supposed to rob a bank when it seems like Spider-Man or Daredevil are always around the corner? Opportunistic villains have two options. They can either set up shop somewhere other than New York City (crazy talk!) or they can turn to The Tinkerer for help. The Tinkerer is the secret force behind many of the technological villains of the Marvel U. This brilliant inventor has built a lucrative business out of designing gadgets, battle-suits and other weapons capable of giving ordinary criminals a fighting chance against costumed heroes. Even many of Spider-Man's greatest foes, from Mysterio to Kingpin, have relied on Tinkerer's services in their futile efforts to squash the pesky bug. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20Tinkerer%20is%20the%20secret%20force%20behind%20many%20of%20the%20technological%20villains%20of%20the%20Marvel%20U."]

The Tinkerer's Origin

The Tinkerer is among Spider-Man's oldest foes, both in terms of his physical age and his franchise debut. The character first appeared in 1963's The Amazing Spider-Man #2, the same issue that introduced future Mysterio Quentin Beck to Spidey's rogues gallery. That also makes him one of many characters created by the iconic duo of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. A brilliant scientist and inventor, Phineas Mason used to live a humble existence as the owner of a repair shop called Phineas' Fix-It. But after growing disgusted with the ever-increasing number of reckless superheroes and Spider-Man in particular, Mason decided to turn to a life of crime. His repair shop is now a front for his real business - designing and upgrading weapons for many of New York's worst super-criminals. To draw a comparison to Game of Thrones, The Tinkerer is sort of the Iron Bank of the Marvel Universe. He doesn't normally get his hands dirty in the various hero vs. villain conflicts playing out across the globe. He simply sits back and profits from those conflicts. Some might argue he's not even a villain so much as an amoral opportunist. Even after becoming The Tinkerer, Mason has maintained a healthy relationship with his law-abiding, secret agent son Rick. He's even a tragic figure in some ways, as he's been forced to mourn the deaths of his wife, his son (same son whose status has been retconned over the years!) and his grandson. That said, other stories have painted The Tinkerer in a darker light. For example, 2004's Secret War revealed Mason is secretly bankrolled by Latveria (Doctor Doom's kingdom), with then-Latverian president Lucia von Bardas hoping to destabilize the U.S. by increasing the number of technological supervillains and waging covert acts of terrorism.

The Tinkerer's Powers and Abilities

The Tinkerer has no innate superhuman powers, but he is an incredibly gifted engineer and inventor. His creations might not rival those of Tony Stark or Reed Richards, but they have allowed dozens of criminals to commit crimes and stand toe-to-toe with heroes like Spider-Man. Mason rarely uses his own inventions, preferring simply to sell them to the highest bidder. But he has been known to protect himself from backstabbing buyers who try to cheat their way out of paying for his wares. Mason often builds fail-safe systems into his weapons, allowing him to sabotage his own work whenever it's turned against him.

The Tinkerer's Most Nefarious Inventions

A great many Marvel villains owe their advanced weapons and armor to the skills of The Tinkerer. Over the years, Mason has either built or upgraded weapons for Scorpion, Grim Reaper, Stilt-Man, Rocket Racer, Blizzard, Beetle, Grizzly and many others. He's also worked in the employ of the Kingpin. However, a few other inventions really stand out. In The Tinkerer's very first appearance, he joined forces with Quentin Beck to create a complex, convincing illusion that New York City was being invaded by aliens. After Spider-Man's very brief tenure driving the infamous Spider-Mobile, Kingpin hired The Tinkerer to recover the car and turn it against its former owner. [caption id="attachment_2408700" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Even Spidey's own gadgets aren't safe from the Tinkerer.[/caption] The Tinkerer even acted as a middleman when Eddie Brock was dying of cancer and sought to auction off the Venom symbiote to the highest bidder. Perhaps Mason's most impressive accomplishment, however, is one he used for his own personal benefit. Mason built a lifelike robotic suit and created the fake identity Hophni Mason, pretending to be his own brother. Adopting the nickname The Mason and pretending to be a more benevolent inventor, the disguised Tinkerer began working with various heroes and secretly cataloging their weaknesses for his own ongoing research.

The Ultimate Universe's Tinkerer

Like many villains, The Tinkerer received a substantial overhaul when he was introduced in Marvel's Ultimate Universe imprint in the early 2000s. In fact, Phineas Mason and The Tinkerer are two separate characters in this alternate universe. Mason is depicted as a much younger character - a member of a government-sponsored think-tank full of young scientific prodigies. The actual Tinkerer role is instead filled by a character named Elijah Stern. Stern is an ex-employee of Roxxon who turns on his former boss after being fired. He's later pressed into working for SHIELD, though that doesn't stop him from trying to kill Spider-Man or helping Norman Osborn outfit the Sinister Six with new weapons. Ultimately, Stern is interrogated and murdered by the Prowler, uncle to the new Spider-Man, Miles Morales. It's important to single out this version of The Tinkerer since he may wind up influencing Insomniac's version of the character as much as the classic Tinkerer. After all, the plot of Spider-Man: Miles Morales deals heavily with the conflict between Roxxon and Tinkerer's army, suggesting this character may also be a jilted former employee. And don't forget that before Miles became a resident of Marvel's core comic book universe, he made his debut in the Ultimate Universe as the heir to Peter Parker. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/16/spider-man-miles-morales-gameplay-trailer"]

The Tinkerer in TV, Movies and Games

TV: Despite his long history in the Spider-Man comics, it took a surprisingly long time for The Tinkerer to appear in any of the numerous Spider-Man animated series. He didn't show up until 2008's Spectacular Spider-Man (voiced by Thom Adcox-Hernandez), which depicted him as a much younger inventor who worked for villains like Mysterio and Tombstone. Tinkerer also plays a recurring role in the current Marvel's Spider-Man series (voiced by Aaron Abrams), where he's battled Team Spidey both alone and in league with Scorpion.
Movies: Tinkerer also made his live-action debut in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming, where he's played by Michael Chernus. Here, Mason is shown working for the salvage company run by Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes. After Toomes loses a lucrative contract to the Tony Stark-funded Damage Control, Toomes and his employees begin running a black market business harvesting and re-purposing weapons from conflicts like the Battle of New York and Ultron's attack on Sokovia. Mason is responsible for designing Toomes' Vulture suit and building The Shocker's vibrational gauntlets out of the wreckage of Crossbones' weapons from Captain America: Civil War. While Toomes himself is imprisoned at the end of the film, Mason seemingly remains at large and will almost surely pop up elsewhere in the MCU.
Games: Tinkerer has enjoyed a much busier career in Marvel's Spider-Man video games, even well before Spider-Man: Miles Morales arrived on the scene. The character first appeared in the Sega Master System version of 1991's Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin. Weirdly, that sparked an ongoing trend of The Tinkerer only appearing in specific ports of certain Spider-Man games, or playing much larger roles in some versions than others. For example, he only appears in the Nintendo DS version of 2010's Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. And while Tinkerer appears as an ally in the main version of 2008's Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (where he builds a machine to help Spidey defeat symbiote-infected humans without killing the hosts), the PS2 and PSP versions feature a unique boss battle with Tinkerer. 2009's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 also features a significant role for Tinkerer. The game's story mode is heavily inspired by both Marvel's Secret War and Civil War comics, with the plot also drawing on the idea that Mason is colluding with Latveria's Lucia von Bardas to arm super-terrorists. Mason is ultimately revealed to be the secret mastermind behind the superhero civil war, using it as a cover to create a mind-controlling nanite swarm known as The Fold.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] Spider-Man: Miles Morales will introduce a brand new take on The Tinkerer. The biggest change this time around is that the character is a woman. A new gameplay trailer reveals the game's plot is set a year after the events of Insomniac's first Spider-Man game, with New York caught in the crossfire of a battle between Roxxon and The Tinkerer's army (suggesting the game is drawing from Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man comics). The Tinkerer is shown wielding tech that could possibly be rebuilt Doctor Octopus tentacles, which would suggest the game is also drawing from the MCU version. But whether The Tinkerer is the true villain of the game or a prelude to something else, we'll have to wait and see when the game is released alongside the Playstation 5. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=16709a82-2f26-4365-b8a3-401e064daf3f"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

The Batman Has Resumed Filming After Robert Pattinson's COVID-19 Quarantine

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 16:20:55 GMT

The Batman has resumed filming following its star, Robert Pattinson, completing his quarantine after allegedly being diagnosed with COVID-19. As reported by THR, a WB spokesperson announced the news that "following a hiatus for COVID-19 quarantine precautions, filming has now resumed on The Batman in the U.K." The Batman shut down its production on September 3, with Warner Bros. confirming that a member of the production had contracted coronavirus. While it was never explicitly said, THR's sources had said Pattinson was the "specific individual who had tested positive." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/23/the-batman-trailer-dc-fandome-official-footage"] This was another shut down for the production of The Batman which suffered its first back in March when industry-wide shutdowns began due to the spread of the pandemic. Around that time, The Batman director Matt Reeves revealed that filming was about 25% complete at around the arrival of the first stoppage. The Batman received its first trailer at DC FanDome, and it showed a younger Batman working to take down a masked serial killer and a deal with vast conspiracy linking some of the most powerful families in Gotham. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-batman-official-trailer-1-stills&captions=true"] While some believe this masked foe could be The Riddler, we've examined the evidence and try to determine if there is more than meets the eye to this story. The Batman is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 1, 2021. For more, be sure to check out everything we know about this new take on Batman, where the Joker could be in this reboot, and how the riddle in the first trailer may have already been solved. [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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.

Spawn Movie: Script Taking On a New Direction

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 10:33:46 GMT

Fans have been waiting for the long awaited Spawn reboot ever since Todd McFarlane announced that he would be collaborating with Blumhouse to bring the character back to the silver screen, but it looks like the wait will have to be a bit longer than expected, with the script not deemed ready by producer Jason Blum. In an interview with Abu Dhabi Culture as part of their #CulturAllConversations series, Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions has said that the Spawn live-action movie with Jamie Foxx is still not quite ready, with the script taking a completely new direction. Blum also reiterated that the film would be R-rated. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/10/07/mcfarlane-wants-his-spawn-reboot-to-make-children-cry-ign-access"] “The script has got to be right. There is a real desire [for the movie], you have Jamie Foxx, and Spawn, and Todd McFarlane, and like, 'You've just gotta make the movie!'", Blum said. “I think probably I've frustrated Todd a little bit, and I've just said, like, we don’t just have to make the movie, you know we have to make the right movie, with the right script. And it’s a hard script to get right – and, you know, the recent events in the United States around race have made it even harder to get it right. You've got to do it really carefully and thoughtfully.” “So, we're going to make the movie, definitely. I don’t know when we are going to make the movie. We are actually kind of re-tackling... we're going down a different direction with the story than we had in the past, but we are not going to make the movie until that script is great. But one of these days it will be great and we will make it.” The movie was announced in 2017 by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, which subsequently signed Jamie Foxx as the titular character, as well as one of the Marvel’s Avengers, Jeremy Renner as Detective “Twitch” Williams. And while Foxx promised an update on the film earlier in the year, it seems the movie is still quite a bit away from reaching theaters.. While it’s disappointing to hear that the Spawn movie is still in the works so long after announcement, it’s encouraging to see that it isn’t being rushed into production until the story is both culturally sensitive and engaging to the fans. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Mufaddal Fakhruddin is a Senior Editor at IGN Middle East.

Uncharted Movie: Fans Are Unhappy That Mark Wahlberg's Sully Might Lack a Moustache

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 10:10:04 GMT

Few things in life are certain, but one of my unshakeable beliefs was that Sully from Uncharted has had a moustache his whole life – probably since birth. That was until today, when set photos from the in-production Uncharted movie possibly revealed that Mark Wahlberg's take on the character is clean-shaven, and now I don't know what to believe anymore. The massed ranks of the Internet were similarly rocked by the revelation. Shared on Twitter, the images were reportedly taken on-set in Berlin, showing Tom Holland's young Nathan Drake and Wahlberg's Sully, both dressed in suits. But what really stood out to fans is the lack of facial hair on display:

| @TomHolland1996 and Mark Wahlberg shooting #Uncharted in Berlin last night pic.twitter.com/ZfjMQwawf1
— Tom Holland News (@THollandNews) September 15, 2020

In the Uncharted game series, Sully - an "American treasure hunter, fortune seeker and businessman, as well as a friend, mentor and father figure to Drake - is shown as both a younger and older man sporting a moustache. With the Uncharted movie acting as an origin story for Nathan Drake, many expected Wahlberg to sport Sully's younger look from the games, but based on these images, that maybe not be the case. There are some caveats here. It's not entirely clear if these pictures were taken during active filming - there's the chance that what's seen above is a test shot, and Wahlberg will wear a false moustache for the filming. For the sake of those working on the film, I hope so, because the initial reaction has been a mixture of shock, disbelief and gifs:

I know they are young Nate and Sully but Where is Sully’s moustache ?
— Adriana Bernal (@AdrianaBernal4) September 16, 2020

No mustache, no gray in the hair, no cigar, meh
— Jacob's Quest (@JacobsQuest) September 15, 2020

It’s- It’s just Mark Wahlberg. Sully just looks like Mark Wahlberg
— Ben Diamond (@OurFutureDays) September 15, 2020

pic.twitter.com/tqOoJFfNZC
— Hulkbuster | BLM (@hulkbustar) September 15, 2020

Are we looking at the newest moustache-related controversy in popular culture, after Superman's CGI-ed top lip in Justice League? Only time will tell. Then again, perhaps we should be happy to see any Uncharted movie news at all, given the film has had seven different directors attached at one time or another. Now that production has finally begun, Tom Holland says it's "everything I dreamed it would be". [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-video-game-movie-in-development-almost&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Fisher's Claims Reportedly Started After Being Offered Small Cameo in The Flash

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 01:14:16 GMT

A new report claims Cyborg actor Ray Fisher didn't begin his campaign against Warner Bros. over working on the Justice League reshoots until after he was offered only a small cameo in The Flash, the upcoming movie starring Fisher's Justice League co-stars Ezra Miller and Ben Affleck as well as Michael Keaton. The Wrap, citing two anonymous insiders with purported knowledge of the situation, reports that Warner Bros. has not heard back from Fisher's team since he was offered a small role in The Flash in June. (The inclusion of Cyborg in the long-gestating Flash movie was first revealed by Justice League executive producer Deborah Snyder in 2016.) Fisher's reps at Paradigm Agency and Management 360 issued the following statement to The Wrap, which points out that their response doesn't address the size of the role, the current state of negotiations, or the timing of it all:

“Mr. Fisher is, and has been, under contract with WB Pictures since 2014. ... Per the terms of that pre-negotiated contract, the option to include Mr. Fisher as the character of Victor Stone (aka Cyborg) has always rested in the hands in WB Pictures.”

Fisher had been attached to a solo Cyborg movie, which was first announced back in 2014 for a 2020 release, but which The Wrap claims was stopped in its development back in 2016. The Wrap also claims Warner Bros. didn't respond to their request for comment. Ray Fisher responded to The Wrap's report on Twitter without refuting any of its specifics except to refer to it as "a trash article":

Getting tagged in a trash article: $0

Being able to watch that article get universally flamed more easily BECAUSE you were tagged:

PRICELESS!!!!!

A>E
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) September 17, 2020

Fisher's first tweet claiming he wanted to retract his past praise for Justice League reshoots director Joss Whedon came on June 29, which The Wrap claims came after Warners had offered Fisher the cameo in The Flash. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-flash-movies-possible-dceu-cameos&captions=true"] Then, in July, Fisher stepped up his campaign against Warners and Whedon alleging a toxic and hostile working environment on Whedon's set and that former DC Films bosses Geoff Johns and Jon Berg enabled it. (Berg denies this.) While Fisher was initially encouraging in his social media about the news in August that Warner Bros. was launching an investigation into the actor's claims, by September he claimed DC Films president Walter Hamada was covering for Geoff Johns and impeding the investigation. Warner Bros. issued a denial, claiming Fisher has refused to cooperate with the investigation. Fisher denied this and questioned the independence of the investigation led by an outside firm hired by WarnerMedia. Since then, Justice League co-star Jason Momoa has come out in support of Ray Fisher's campaign against Warner Bros., notably the only Justice League cast member to do so. Barring any pandemic-related delays, The Flash is aiming to begin production in March 2021 under the direction of Andy Muschietti (the It films). Both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck will reprise their respective roles as Batman for the film, the latter announcement of which Fisher recently blasted as a public relations stunt on the part of Warner Bros. to distract from the investigation. Producer Barbara Muschietti revealed at DC FanDome that The Flash will be a soft reboot of the DCEU. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/the-flash-movie-features-lots-of-superheroes-and-will-restart-the-dceu-dc-fandome"]

Study Finds Humans Want A.I. Robots to Look Human... Up to a Point

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 16:56:18 GMT

A new study finds people prefer their androids to have human-like features – up to a point. Psychologists at Emory University recently documented how people reacted to androids with a variety of features, from very human-looking to clearly machine-like. Their findings, published in the journal Perception, challenge some long-held assumptions about the cognitive mechanics behind "the uncanny valley" – that sensation when something designed to look human and familiar triggers repulsion instead. The mind-perception theory posits that when people see a machine that looks human, they believe it has a mind and that's what causes a sense of unease. But Emory's study suggests the opposite is actually true. "It's not the first step of attributing a mind to an android but the next step of 'dehumanizing' it by subtracting the idea of it having a mind that leads to the uncanny valley. Instead of just a one-shot process, it's a dynamic one," according to Wang Shensheng, the study's first author. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=saddest-robot-deaths&captions=true"] "The whole process is complicated but it happens within the blink of an eye," Wang said, according to ScienceDaily. "Our results suggest that at first sight we anthropomorphize an android, but within milliseconds we detect deviations and dehumanize it. And that drop in perceived animacy likely contributes to the uncanny feeling." In other words, it seems people want their androids to look more like C-3PO or Data and less like Ash from Alien. It's a conclusion Emory's study suggests will prove significant to both engineers and psychologists as robotics become increasingly present in workplaces and social interactions where people's ease with them will be crucial. It's an issue scientists have studied and wrestled with for several years. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/hbo-maxs-new-ridley-scott-show-exclusive-featurette"] The uncanny valley also remains a challenge for special effects artists in creating CG characters for movies and TV shows. For more uncanny android coverage, dive into our spoiler-filled breakdown of the first three episodes of HBO Max's Raised by Wolves. [poilib element="accentDivider"]

Black Widow Movie Will 'Honour' the Character's Story and Offer 'Resolution' for Fans

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 16:11:17 GMT

Scarlett Johansson has said the Black Widow movie will offer resolution for fans after the character's death in Avengers: Endgame, and said she approved of the way her story ended. Speaking to Total Film (as reported by GamesRadar), Johansson didn't go into detail on exactly how Black Widow would offer resolution, but - with controversy over the fact that the character didn't get as much of a send-off as Tony Stark in Endgame - it may be that she sees the movie as an extended goodbye of sorts. That would fit with the suggestion that Florence Pugh's Yelena may be being set up as a new Black Widow in the long term. Director Cate Shortland added that Black Widow will "honour" her death. "That [death] gives Black Widow an added heart at the end, because it’s not wrapping [the story] up," Shortland adds. "It’s actually what you feel – it’s not a narrative thing. It’s like, how do we make the audience feel?" [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/09/black-widow-official-final-trailer"] As for Natasha Romanoff's death itself, Johansson explained that she was in favour of the way she chose to sacrifice herself for the universe's gain: "I love Natasha. She’s had an incredible 10-year journey, and I felt that she was finally able to make an active choice. It seemed very in-character, that ultimate sacrifice that she makes. "She’s made peace with that, and, in some ways, has known that’s her destiny all along, in a weird poetic way. When you look back on the films, that’s in there. All the films have led her to that choice – or to be able to make that choice; or for it to be a choice.” When we'll see how Black Widow honours Natasha's choice is a whole other mystery, as it's looking increasingly likely that the Black Widow movie will be delayed again, perhaps into 2021. Taking place in between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow will also be focused on wrapping up Natasha's MCU story arc. Alongside Johansson and Pugh, Black Widow will star David Harbour (Stranger Things) as Red Guardian, Rachel Weisz (The Mummy) as Melina, and O.T. Fagbenle (Handmaid's Tale) as Mason. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Ray Fisher Calls Ben Affleck's Batman Return a Publicity Stunt in Justice League Investigation

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 11:08:24 GMT

Ray Fisher has suggested that news of Ben Affleck’s return as Batman was a PR stunt by Warner Bros. to distract from the seriousness of the investigation into the toxic working environment experienced on the set of Justice League. Posting on Twitter, Fisher said “Ben returning as Batman was clearly meant to be revealed at DC Fandome. I’ll give you one guess as to why [Warner Bros.] likely jumped the gun.” This was followed by two images, one of a tweet from Fisher himself explaining that an independent investigation had been launched into the Justice League toxic environment, and another of Vanity Fair’s news of Affleck returning as Batman. He circled in red the timestamps of the two posts; his own at 1:38pm on August 20, and the Vanity Fair one at 3:02pm on the same day.

Unfortunately, the fake Frosty news with Jason wasn’t the only PR tactic used to distract from the seriousness of the JL situation.
Ben returning as Batman was clearly meant to be revealed at DC Fandome. I’ll give you one guess as to why @wbpictures likely jumped the gun. A>E pic.twitter.com/IvmOOnN97s — Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) September 15, 2020

Fisher appears to be stating that, following his announcement of the investigation, Warner Bros. quickly gave permission to Vanity Fair to publish its exclusive interview with The Flash director Andy Muschietti about Affleck’s return, which presumably was originally embargoed until the DC FanDome event that took place two days later. Fisher implies that the discussion generated around Affleck’s return would then act as a smokescreen for the more serious topic of discussion. This is Fisher’s latest point of contention against an investigation that he considers to not be taking the situation as seriously as required. A few days earlier, he posted to Twitter to state that the firm conducting the investigation has “avoided contacting key witnesses”.

Others (including an implicated individual that called me to apologize) have already been interviewed.
We will not let ANY investigator cherry-pick interviewees that best suit @wbpictures’ false narrative and scapegoating efforts. All with stories WILL be heard! A>E 2/2 — Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) September 14, 2020

The case against WarnerMedia and Fisher’s allegations against Joss Whedon’s set on Justice League has been going for several weeks now, with the company denying the allegations. Fisher has also accused the investigation of not being independent. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=justice-league-snyder-cut-all-the-known-differences-from-the-theatrical-version&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Star Trek Movie From Fargo Showrunner Would Introduce a New Crew of Characters

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 10:53:10 GMT

Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley has confirmed that his Star Trek movie would feature an entirely new cast, won't feature captains Kirk or Picard, but would connect to the existing canon along the way. Hawley's Star Trek movie has been put on the backburner, but the director insisted to Variety that it's still a going concern, just in stasis for now. Hawley has finished the script, which will include a new crew (as hinted at previously), but will connect to the existing stories in a similar way to how he approached his first season of Fargo. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/star-trek-universe-official-panel-comic-con-2020"] Fargo Season 1 made clear that the Coen Brothers' original was connected to the universe of the show by featuring a case of money – buried in the movie – being dug up in the show, but otherwise didn't feature any crossover of characters. It sounds as though Hawley wants to use a similar trick for Trek: “We’re not doing Kirk and we’re not doing Picard,” he says. “It’s a start from scratch that then allows us to do what we did with Fargo, where for the first three hours you go, ‘Oh, it really has nothing to do with the movie,’ and then you find the money. So you reward the audience with a thing that they love.” Previously, we've heard that part of the reasoning behind the film's delay is based on its story, which reportedly centres on a virus wiping out swathes of the Star Trek universe's population – a story that may hit a little too close to home in 2020. Paramount's motion picture group president Emma Watts is allegedly still yet to decide whether the project will move forward. We're also still waiting to hear if Quentin Tarantino's R-rated Star Trek movie will go ahead - even if Tarantino probably won't direct it himself. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-space-opera-movies-that-arent-star-wars-or-star-trek&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Nomadland Review

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 22:00:59 GMT

IGN serves a global audience, so with Nomadland now screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and scheduled for theatrical release December 4, we are publishing our review from Kristy Puchko who watched the movie via a digital screener. Read more on IGN's policy on movie reviews in light of COVID-19 here. IGN strongly encourages anyone considering going to a movie theater during the COVID-19 pandemic to check their local public health and safety guidelines before buying a ticket. [poilib element="accentDivider"] It's early and yet official: Chloé Zhao's Nomadland will be a major contender this awards season. As it gained buzz at the Toronto International Film Festival, this tender drama about a widowed wanderer won the Golden Lion, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. This honor was bestowed on Joker last year and now goes to the rising filmmaker who brings her talents to the MCU's upcoming Eternals. With all this in mind, it was with sky-high expectations that I sat down to watch Zhao's latest. Still, I was absolutely blown away. Zhao wrote, directed, and edited Nomadland, which is based on Jessica Bruder's non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. Zhao stays true to the roots of realism by folding non-actors and actual modern-day nomads into her film to give audiences an authentic feel for the way of life it portrays. However, the film is centered on two-time Academy Award winner Frances McDormand, who plays the aforementioned widow, Fern. Her backstory is explained simply in opening title cards. She lived in a town called Empire, Nevada, where a sheet rock factory was the core of its economy. When it closed in 2011, so too did the town, losing its zip code. Having recently lost her husband, Fran was left without a house, without a job, and without her community, who scattered to the winds. So, she bought a van and set out to grab a piece of the nomad life. This is not a film with a plot. Nomadland follows her from one seasonal job to the next. She is an Amazon packer for the holiday rush, an RV park host for tourist season, a waitress come fall. We witness her struggles to make a home of her small van, giving it sentimental touches and critical repairs. But there is no destination in mind. The destination is the journey. So, the movie doesn't move as much as it meanders. For some, this may prove a frustration. For me, it was overwhelmingly glorious. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/09/nomadland-official-trailer-1] It's a cliché to say that movies matter more now than ever. But as so many of us are in lockdown, barred from travel, loved ones, and physical contact to keep each other safe, watching this movie was a blessing and a balm. In the first sequence, we see Fern silently saying goodbye to her old life by hugging a neighbor farewell. She holds him so tightly that you can see his winter coat buckle under the pressure of her grip. You can almost feel that hug because of how Zhao captures such textures. This sense of immediacy and intimacy only grows more intense as the film goes on. With a spare score, Zhao urges us to forget the artifice of narrative cinema and ease into the footsteps of Fern. Tellingly, the teaser release for this film is just Fern walking through a camp of nomads, some gathered and chatting, others exercising together, others working on their caravans. All the while, she's treading her own path. Watching her do so is absolutely exhilarating because of Zhao's approach. Without an intrusive score, we are encouraged to hear the simple sounds of the American desert: the scrape of rocks underfoot, the crackle of the campfire, or the soft howl of the wind. But most of all, we are encouraged to hear--and really take in--the stories of these nomads, who gather, disperse, and meet again somewhere down the road. The gentle light of the fire caresses faces hardened by tough times. They tell tales of loss, rebellion, and rebirth. They laugh together, talking of the less fun parts of nomad life (spoilers: it involves a bucket). They commiserate, advise, and share, creating a community that is rich and kind though always on the move. It is a gift to be allowed into this space, to be trusted to be a nomad vicariously. Yet Zhao doesn't romanticize the experience. She uses subtle story beats to establish the dangers that exist in this life for an older woman on her own in remote terrain. Sharply, she contrasts this to the more typical American lifestyle by having Fern visit a couple of friends in their house. A sly contrast emerges between the conversations around the nomad campfire and the backyard grill, the latter slippery with smugness. Fern has little patience for suburban superiority, in part because she knows all too well the lie of this American Dream. Through her story and others unfurled, Zhao explores how salt-of-the-Earth hard-working Americans can bust their asses their whole adult lives, and still wind up with next to nothing. The Dream is a cushy retirement in a big, beautiful house, but their reality is cramped, uncertain, and rolling. In her previous film, The Rider, Zhao trusted non-actor leads to carry the story based on their lives. Here, she allows a storied actor to shoulder Nomadland. McDormand does a sensational job, filling every frame with character through nuance. Zhao spares us the kinds of flowery speeches that Oscar-bait movies tend to offer. Fern won't have a tearful, screaming breakdown or neatly summarize in a soliloquy about what she's learned from her life on the road. Instead, her character is defined by how she hugs so hard, how her eyes flit with irritation when she's questioned, how her teeth grit tight when a friendly gesture causes a shattering accident. Rather than drawing us in with big spectacle, flowery speeches, or a high-concept premise, Nomadland pulls us in by these small moments that demand our full attention. Much of this performance is reaction. McDormand unfurls character in how Fern reacts to the stories of these remarkable people, who found hope, joy, and freedom when the American Dream let them down. As such, McDormand is a kind of Trojan Horse, leading us in with her name and her prestige, then serving as a platform to share these peoples' experiences. And yet, as impeccable as her performance is, her familiar face --as well as that of co-star David Strathairn -- becomes a bit of a distraction. In the face of so much realness, they become a reminder of artifice. So, even as I think McDormand has turned in another performance that could have Oscar calling her name, I am conflicted about their inclusion. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nomadland-images&captions=true"]

Liam Neeson Blames Phantom Menace Criticism for Hurting Jar Jar Actor's Career

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 19:07:08 GMT

Liam Neeson is proud of his work in Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and believes the film's criticism hurt the career of Ahmed Best. Neeson and Best worked alongside each other in the first of three Star Wars prequel movies as Qui-Gon Jin and Jar Jar Binks. The former is considered quite beloved by fans, even those who don't necessarily like The Phantom Menace, but the latter receives a lot of hate. Jar Jar Binks was meant to be a comedic relief of sorts to a not-so-funny movie but many found that this didn't work. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/09/30/this-test-footage-from-the-phantom-menace-is-really-bizarre"] "I know a lot of fans and critics didn't like it and my lovely friend Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks, came in for a lot, a lot of criticism," Neeson told Andy Cohen on Cohen's Sirius XM radio show, as originally reported by IndieWire. "To the point where it really hurt his career, and I have to say when I was making that film, he was probably one of the funniest guys and talented guys I have ever worked with." "Truly, he is one of the funniest guys," Neeson continued. "He had all of us in stitches — including George Lucas, and then bam, the film comes out and he's attacked, personally attacked by fans and critics for whatever reasons." Neeson said he recalls calling his old ex-agent and telling them, "I think I just worked with the new Eddie Murphy." Neeson said he still believes that. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/15/the-mandalorian-season-2-trailer"] The actor also told Cohen that he was "very proud" of the film, adding that he got to be a Jedi and was able to play with lightsabers and more, which is something he considers "terrific." For more Star Wars, check out the first trailer for The Mandalorian Season 2 and then check out our recap of every character and cameo in Season 1 and who to expect in Season 2. After that, watch this Star Wars Squadrons "Hunted" cinematic campaign prequel trailer. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

Disney Will 'Likely' Postpone Black Widow Again

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 18:34:18 GMT

Marvel fans may be hearing a familiar refrain yet again. According to Variety, Disney will very likely delay Black Widow's theatrical release as the studio continues to react to the COVID-19 pandemic and the slow reopening of theater chains in the US. While Disney has yet to confirm another Black Widow delay, it wouldn't be surprising in light of Warner Bros. recent decision to push back Wonder Woman 1984's release until Christmas Day. However, Variety's sources seem to indicate Disney is still pursuing a theatrical release for Black Widow, rather than shifting the newest Marvel movie to Disney+ as with Mulan. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] There is another upcoming Disney release that may make the jump to streaming, however. Variety's sources claim the studio is "exploring" the possibility of releasing Pixar's Soul on Disney+, as happened with Onward earlier this year. It's unclear exactly how far back Black Widow's release date may be pushed. Disney may hope to still capitalize on the traditional holiday movie season, or the studio may play it safe and wait until 2021. Black Widow currently holds the November slot previously reserved for Marvel's Eternals, so we could see Black Widow take over the current February 12, 2021 release date and the entire MCU Phase 4 lineup shift once again. Whatever happens, it is clear studios are continuing to take a cautious approach to releasing new movies during the pandemic. And with Tenet underperforming at the box office and so many movies now being pushed back into 2021, theaters may have little incentive to reopen until Wonder Woman 1984 or Black Widow give moviegoers more incentive to return. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/29/soul-official-sneak-peek] Do you think Disney should release Black Widow on Disney+, or would you rather wait until you can finally watch this long-delayed Marvel movie in theaters? Let us know in the comments below. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Watch Hackers on Its 25th Anniversary With Star Matthew Lillard

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 16:00:56 GMT

The next episode of IGN’s weekly live show Watch From Home Theater will feature a watch-along of Hackers with star Matthew Lillard. Join us on September 15 at 5 p.m. PT/8 a.m. ET to celebrate the 25th anniversary of this cult classic cyber thriller. IGN’s Clint Gage and Max Scoville will be hacking the planet with “Cereal Killer” himself, and you can participate in the conversation at home. IGN won't be able to show the movie in the live stream watch-along, so if you want the full WFH Theater experience, sync up the show on your devices and watch with us when we press "play" together! If you don’t own a copy of the film already, you can watch it on HBO Max or Hulu by signing up for a free trial. Watch From Home Theater isn’t just a show or an opportunity to watch a movie or television series; it’s a hangout with passionate people who share one thing in common -- their love of film and TV. Each week, we'll invite our viewers to join in the conversation using our WFH Theater Discord channel to chat with our host as well as our celebrity guests. With running commentaries that range from insightful to silly, each viewing will take on a life of its own based on what we’re watching. Check out highlights from our previous episodes of WFH Theater below!

WFH Theater - X-Men: Days of Future Past w/ Writer Simon Kinberg

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/x-men-days-of-future-past-w-writer-simon-kinberg-qa-watch-along-wfh-theater"]

WFH Theater - Empire Strikes Back with Sam Witwer & Rahul Kohli

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/21/the-empire-strikes-back-watch-party-w-sam-witwer-rahul-kohli"]

WFH Theater - Revenge of the Sith with Ashley Eckstein & Cameron Monaghan

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/19/revenge-of-the-sith-watch-party-w-ashley-eckstein-cameron-monaghan-wfh-theater"]

WFH Theater - Netflix's Extraction with Chris Hemsworth, Joe Russo and director Sam Hargrave

Kang the Conqueror Explained: Who Is the Rumored Villain of Ant-Man 3?

Mon, 14 Sep 2020 22:15:46 GMT

Marvel Studios is quietly developing a follow-up to 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp. And while details are scarce about Ant-Man 3, Deadline reports Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors has been cast in a major villain role. According to their sources, that character is none other than Kang the Conqueror. That's right, one of the most iconic Avengers villains ever may be joining the MCU, but not in an Avengers movie. Not yet, anyway. If you're not familiar with Kang or why he has the potential to be the next Thanos-level threat to the MCU, we're here to shed light on this powerful villain. These are the topics we'll be covering here:

Who Is Kang the Conqueror?
Kang's Origin
Kang's Powers and Abilities
Kang's Many Identities
Kang and the Young Avengers
Kang's Marvel Universe Connections
Kang in TV and Games

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=a-time-bending-look-at-kang-the-conquerors-history&captions=true"]

Who Is Kang the Conqueror?

It's not easy recapping the convoluted history of Kang the Conqueror. He's a villain who's gone by many names and many different motivations in his countless clashes with the Avengers and Fantastic Four. But through it all the basics have stayed the same. Kang is a man who sees himself as the rightful master of the world. Using the power of time travel and the most sophisticated weaponry his future world has to offer, Kang has repeatedly sought to rewrite history to his own whims and ensure his own rise to power. Kang's love of time travel is exactly what makes him such a dangerous and seemingly never-ending thorn in humanity's side. No matter how often he's defeated, banished or even destroyed utterly, some version of him is always out there, waiting and plotting. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Kang's%20love%20of%20time%20travel%20is%20exactly%20what%20makes%20him%20such%20a%20dangerous%20and%20seemingly%20never-ending%20thorn%20in%20humanity's%20side."]

Kang's Origin

While the first appearance of Kang the Conqueror is featured in 1964's The Avengers #8, the character technically debuted a year earlier in Fantastic Four #19. We'll try to summarize Kang's confusing origin story as simply as possible. Kang's real name is Nathaniel Richards. Originally a historical scholar from the 31st century (and possibly a distant descendant of either Reed Richards or Victor von Doom), Nathaniel discovers Doctor Doom's ancient time travel tech and uses it to travel back to the era of ancient Egypt. Crowning himself "Rama-Tut," he lords over his new subjects and uses his futuristic tech to make himself seem like a god. That is, until the Fantastic Four show up to end his reign. After escaping to the 20th century, Rama-Tut meets Doctor Doom and uses Doom's distinctive armor as inspiration for his next supervillain identity, the Scarlet Centurion. However, he's again defeated by Earth's heroes and attempts to return to his own timeline. This is where Kang the Conqueror is born. Richards accidentally travels forward too far in time, arriving in an era when human civilization has collapsed. As the only person left who understands the advanced but forgotten technology of the 40th century, the newly minted Kang is able to quickly conquer his new timeline and even extend his new empire beyond Earth's borders. Not content to be ruler of a futuristic empire, Kang begins a recurring game of toying with time and attempting to rewrite history to suit his own whims.

Kang's Powers and Abilities

As an ordinary human from the 31st century, Kang has no innate superhuman powers. However, he's a gifted physicist and historian, using his knowledge of science and history to manipulate the timeline and accumulate power. His distinctive green and purple suit of armor (inspired by Doom's own armor) both enhances Kang's strength and allows him to survive in whatever inhospitable environments he may find. Kang has a time-ship that allows him to freely travel through the time-stream, and he's also assembled a vast army comprised of the best warriors from throughout history. Kang also sometimes wields a ray gun that can sap a person's strength and willpower, along with various doomsday weapons only a 40th century tyrant could dream of. Kang also seems to be functionally immortal. Because he's so fond of abusing the timeline for his own selfish ends, there are countless variations of Nathaniel Richards in existence. No matter how many times Kang is defeated, there's always another incarnation of the Conqueror ready to continue his crusade.

Kang's Many Identities

Kang is every bit as convoluted a character as one would expect from a man whose favorite hobby is manipulating time. But part of what makes Kang such a confusing character is that he's had so many different names and identities over the years. It doesn't help that these various characters weren't all originally conceived as being the same person, so a lot of these connections have been forged after the fact. If you're familiar with the comic book storytelling term "retcon," Kang is basically its living embodiment. As we've already covered, Nathaniel Richards uses names like Rama-Tut and the Scarlet Centurion early on in his career as a time-travelling tyrant. But taking up the mantle of Kang isn't his last identity shake-up. At some point in his long life, Kang gives up his name and his empire to instead forge an alliance with an advanced alien race known as the Time-Keepers. In exchange for true immortality, Kang agrees to preserve the timeline and ensure the Time-Keepers' rise to power. At that point he becomes Immortus. Ironically, his younger selves are responsible for much of the damage Immortus is tasked with undoing. Kang has held other cover identities while masquerading as a 21st century human, including a small-town mayor named Victor Timely and a business tycoon named Mr. Gryphon. If all this isn't complicated enough, thanks to time travel these various incarnations of Kang basically coexist alongside each other and sometimes collude or wage war against one another. There's even an entire team of Kangs known as the Council of Cross-Time Kangs. Picture the Citadel of Ricks in Rick and Morty, but with less alcohol and self-loathing. [caption id="attachment_2406503" align="aligncenter" width="964"] The many versions of Kang the Conqueror.[/caption]

Kang and the Young Avengers

There's another notable incarnation of Kang who may well factor into the MCU at some point. The 2005 series Young Avengers introduces a team of teen heroes modeled after classic Avengers but with very different backgrounds and origin stories. The team's founder, Iron Lad, isn't a descendant of Tony Stark, but is actually a teen version of Nathaniel Richards from a splinter timeline. Kang attempted to travel back in time and rescue his younger self from a group of bullies who had left him hospitalized for months. Kang saves himself and gives the young Nathaniel an advanced suit of armor in the hope of hurrying along his transformation from ordinary man to Kang. But instead, young Nathaniel is horrified by his older self and travels back in time to form a new team of Avengers. Ultimately, this version of Kang is killed and Iron Lad is forced to wipe his own memories and return to the future, restoring the proper timeline. But he leaves behind a copy of his consciousness inside his armor, which fuses with the broken remnants of Vision to form a new version of that iconic Avenger. Iron Lad is an important Kang offshoot to know, given that Marvel is showing every sign of introducing the Young Avengers in the MCU. We've already met Scott Lang's daughter Cassie, who eventually becomes the size-changing Stature, and the upcoming Hawkeye series on Disney+ will introduce Kate Bishop. At this point, it seems only a matter of time before we meet other teen heroes like Wiccan, Hulking and Patriot so that the Young Avengers can finally assemble on the big screen. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"]

Kang's Marvel Universe Connections

We've speculated that Kang may well become the MCU's next Thanos-level villain. Though he's making his debut in Ant-Man 3 of all movies, Kang's love of time travel and perpetual habit of returning to threaten the Avengers all over again make him perfectly suited to become a recurring antagonist across the MCU. It doesn't hurt that he has deep connections to so many different Marvel characters and teams. As mentioned before, Kang may well be a descendant of Mister Fantastic or Doctor Doom. Both characters have certainly played a key role in his development as a villain. He also has connections to major characters on the cosmic side of the MCU. In the comics, Kang once competed with the Grandmaster for a chance at godlike power, and he attempted to claim the so-called "Celestial Madonna" (better known as Mantis) as his bride. Decades after it was originally published, Marvel added more layers to the events of Fantastic Four #19 by revealing Nathaniel's true motivations for travelling back in time and becoming Rama-Tut. He was actually seeking out a young En Sabah Nur, the mutant destined to become Apocalypse, to crown him as his heir. He never succeeded, though Apocalypse turned out to be a chip off the old block in terms of harnessing futuristic technology and seeking to dominate the world. With Kang now firmly linked to the Fantastic Four, Avengers and X-Men, Marvel forged yet another connection in the 2015 series Uncanny Inhumans. There, Black Bolt gives his son Ahura to be fostered by Kang, seeing the time travelling tyrant as the only safe haven in a world growing steadily more hostile toward the Inhumans. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/11/15/lego-marvel-superheroes-2-review"]

Kang in TV and Games

TV: Given his status as one of the greatest Avengers and Fantastic Four villains, it should come as no surprise Kang has enjoyed a healthy career outside of Marvel's comics. His first animated TV appearance came way back in 1967's Fantastic Four animated series, with the episode "Rama-Tut" adapting the events of Fantastic Four #19. Whether as Kang or Rama-Tut, the villain has appeared in numerous other Marvel cartoons like X-Men Evolution and Avengers: United They Stand. He even had a brief cameo as Immortus in an episode of X-Men: The Animated Series. But Kang's most significant animated appearances have come more recently. He played a recurring role in both Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (voiced by Jonathan Adams) and Avengers Assemble (voiced by Steve Blum).
Games: Kang has appeared in F2P games like Marvel: Avengers Alliance and Marvel: Contest of Champions, but his most notable video game appearance so far has been in 2017's LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2. Kang (voiced by MCU veteran Peter Serafinowicz) serves as the main villain of the game and is also available as a playable character.

According to Deadline, Kang will finally make his live-action debut in Ant-Man 3, with Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors tapped to play the character. We can only assume this will be the first of several MCU appearances for Majors. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=29eb80b1-469d-4e28-bd68-d97ce6645d32"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Netflix's The Devil All the Time Review

Mon, 14 Sep 2020 22:00:42 GMT

Rarely is a group of A-list actors so willing to be vicious like the ensemble in The Devil All the Time. Set between two secluded towns -- the aptly named Knockemstiff, Ohio, and Coal Creek, West Virginia -- Antonio Campos’ film (his fifth feature on a string of critically praised indies) spins a yarn about zealotry during the late 1950’s. Adapted from Donald Ray Pollock’s novel of the same title, a wry omniscient narrator (Pollock, himself) strings together the serendipitous The Devil All the Time. But amid the death and the poverty presented on screen, his matter of fact delivery often belies the film’s cruel irony. The non-linear narrative, which explores the violent vestiges of religious iconography, finds Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgård) on the Solomon Islands during World War II. It’s here, he discovers a bloodied, fly-infested serviceman crucified. The image changes the once godly soldier to religiously apathetic, but more importantly, makes apparent how closely brutality and sacrifice — exemplified through the image of Jesus tortured on the cross — align. When Willard returns from the war, he meets the love of his life Charlotte (Haley Bennett). Their courtship, which witnesses Willard’s non-secular revival, twirls another thread: Faith unhealthily filling the hole that loss leaves. Because after the pair marry, they produce a son named Arvin, only to have a tragedy befall them. To avoid the inevitable, Willard resorts to God, and with his son Arvin fervently prays for divine intervention. His situation becomes so bleak he takes an unthinkable action, which results in a haunting animal death. Skarsgård is unflinching in his ferocity, and his Appalachian accent suggests a man never unwound. He sets the tone early for a film whose most joyful moment is a young Arvin citing his father beating two poachers to a bloody pulp as his happiest memory with his dad. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/14/the-devil-all-the-time-official-trailer] Campos loves intertwining bliss with blood. For instance, in the same diner where Willard met Charlotte, Carl Henderson (Jason Clarke) encounters Sandy (Riley Keough). The pair form a serial killer duo that slays young hitchhikers by Carl offering Sandy for sex and then taking their picture, a memento, at their peak of fear. For Carl, murder is the only way for him to feel love, not just for Sandy, but God, too. The Devil All the Time never wavers in exploring the manifestation of extremism. Upon Willard’s return to Knockemstiff, he encounters the revivalist preacher Roy Laferty (Harry Melling) who comes to marry a local girl Helen (Mia Wasikowska). She’s taken by his resolute faith, one where he pours spiders upon his face to prove the lord’s healing powers. The Devil All the Time is an unhurried dirge, and the three opening arcs produce a distressing first act, one where death is always lurking around the bend. As the film’s narrator explains, every person living in these backroads connect by “lust, necessity, or just plain ignorance.” The ignorance, or the incomprehensible indifference of God, spins this world. In fact, unanswered prayers lead nearly every character to madness because they exist in an inflection point: where treatments for most diseases were still undiscovered and two World Wars mercilessly wiped out large populations, religion served as the only recourse. Once more, their economic station — the hard lives they live — is evident in every shack’s cracking paint. The Devil All the Time is also a multigenerational tale, which asks a teenage Arvin (Tom Holland) and Lenora (Eliza Scanlen) to reckon with the ghosts of their parents’ past. But not everything works in the final two acts. For example, a sloven preacher fresh out of Bible college, Preston Teagardin (Robert Pattinson), arrives in Coal Creek. While other performers play into the gritty milieu, the screen’s next Batman relies on camp. Pattinson operates in a different movie than the other actors, but he’s probably where the film should be with regards to the narrative’s cruelly ironic tone. The drama’s final act, which morphs into a thriller, sees Arvin employing his father’s vengeful tactics. This is the most violent you’ll see Tom Holland, especially when he beats a bully of Lenora’s with a wrench. But the pieces don’t all fall into place, such as the subplot of Sebastian Stan as a crooked cop. Even when the pieces feel as incongruous as God’s ways, the level of commitment from this heavily English cast, makes it impossible to avert our eyes from the horrors of their secluded existence. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-devil-all-the-time&captions=true"]