| | | She-Hulk Creators Respond To VFX Crunch: "If They're Feeling Pressure We Stand With Them' | | by Ryan Leston Aug 3, 2022 | | She-Hulk: Attorney at Law star Tatiana Maslany joins the show’s creators in supporting VFX artists. Appearing at the Disney+ Television Critics Association panel, the 36-year-old She-Hulk actress commended the VFX team on their work… and confirmed that she stands with them. “I feel incredibly deferential to how talented these artists are and how quickly they have to work,” she said. “Obviously, way quicker than they should have to. I know there are a lot of eyes on the CG but I do think we have to be super conscious of how the work conditions aren’t always optimal and they've made these amazing strides in this tech. I feel very in awe of what they do and very grateful that we're at the point where we get to work with them.” Maslany will star as Jennifer Walters – the cousin of Bruce Banner who becomes Marvel’s She-Hulk in the upcoming Disney+ show. But it’s not just the star who has the VFX team’s back – it’s the showrunners, too. “We stand in solidarity with what they say!” said director, Kat Coiro. “If they're feeling pressure, we stand with them and we listen to them.” “This is a massive undertaking,” added head writer, Jessica Gao. “To have a show of this scale where the main character is CG is a very overwhelming and ginormous thing to take on and it's terrible that a lot of artists feel rushed and feel that the workload is too massive. I think everyone on this panel stands in solidarity with all workers and is very pro-union and good working conditions.” Marvel recently came under fire for its treatment of VFX artists after some shared their experience of working with the studio, calling the studio “inflexible”. “Where I would usually have a team of ten VFX artists on a non-Marvel movie, on one Marvel movie, I got two including myself,” said one artist. “So, every person is doing more work than they need to.” Additionally, the She-Hulk series was initially slammed for its CG character, with Gao admitting that “lessons were learned along the way”. Want to find out more about She-Hulk? Check out how the show fits into Marvel’s upcoming phases and our full breakdown of the recent She-Hulk trailer. Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter. | | | | | Upscaled Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Map Offers Closer Look at Paldea Region | | by Amelia Zollner Aug 3, 2022 | | During today's Pokemon Presents presentation, the Pokemon team revealed a full map of Paldea, the region where Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet are set. While the official map is slightly blurry, a fanmade upscaled version is now giving us a clearer look at the Paldea region. Today, IGN's own Ryan Quintal created an upscaled version of the map, revealing notable details of the region in a Twitter thread. Quintal pointed out how diverse the map is, making note of several desert regions, seaside towns, smaller, grassy towns, and mountainous cliffside locations. Find all the details of Quintal's map below: The Pokemon Company also revealed further details about Paldea on its website, stating that it's filled with "a variety of locations, ranging from a farming village with bountiful harvests to a port town with a bustling marketplace." Pokemon will also occupy every nook and cranny of Paldea's diverse terrain, living in "treetops, rivers, and all sorts of other locations in the wilderness." Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are slated to release on November 18. During today's presentation, we learned that you'll be able to explore Paldea's open world with the help of the games' strange living vehicle legendaries. The game will also also have three separate story campaigns and a host of new Pokemon (including the fast fan favorite Fidough). Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner. | | | | | John Wick Director Reveals What He Told Kevin Feige About MCU Blade Reboot | | by Ryan Leston Aug 3, 2022 | | John Wick director Chad Stahelski wanted to make the upcoming Blade something he told directly to Kevin Feige. During an interview with ComicBook.com, the 53-year-old filmmaker and stuntman revealed that he once had a chat with the Marvel boss, and told him he wanted to make the upcoming Blade reboot. “After John Wick 3, he was nice enough to carve out a big chunk of time and have a nice talk,” he revealed. “And he actually asked me, 'What could we ever do?' I was like, 'Look, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't know if I fit that kind of studio mold, but Blade would be the one interesting thing I'd like to do.’” Blade is based on the Marvel comic book character who made his debut in The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character. A half-vampire himself, Blade is a renowned and merciless vampire hunter who was originally played by Wesley Snipes in the 1998 film and its sequels. Now, Mahershala Ali has taken the title role in the upcoming reboot alongside Delroy Lindo. Although Stahelski wanted to make the reboot himself, director Bassam Tariq will now helm the film based on a script by Stacy Osei-Kuffour. “Marvel was very influential in my career,” said Stahelski. “I owe them a great deal. Kevin [Feige] is an awesome guy and I've worked for him many times on second unit.” Although the film is going ahead without him, Stahelski doesn’t hold a grudge… unlike John Wick. “I don't know if I would've been the best choice for that in the direction they wanted to go,” he added. “If you want to do the edgy, rated R version, yeah, give me a call. If you want to be non-apologetic, yeah. That's me. But I think they're protecting their brand, they're doing their thing. The individual they selected, I think is a very good director, and I think will do a great job in the direction that I think they want to take the property.” Blade finally got an official release date at San Diego Comic Con, heading to the big screen on November 3, 2023. Want to find out more about Blade? Check out everything Marvel announced at San Diego Comic Con and find out everything you need to know about Marvel’s Blade. Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter. | | | | | Once Again, the Pokémon Community Is Memeing the Heck out of the Last Pokémon Presents | | by Rebekah Valentine Aug 3, 2022 | | In today's Pokémon Presents, we got an extended look at Pokémon Scarlet and Violet which included new Pokémon, features, characters, and more. And, as it usually does when we see new Pokémon footage lately, social media immediately erupted with a flurry of incredible memes. First, let's get the thing you're really here to see out of the way: Fidough. A new Pokémon named Fidough was revealed today which is, deliciously, a dog made out of bread dough whose breath is apparently a very effective yeast. The internet has gone to town on this little guy, with reactions ranging from expressing deep love for the pure-bread pup to, disturbingly, wanting to cook and eat him. Aside from Fidough, the other brand new Pokémon getting piles of love is a new regional variant of Wooper. Wooper has already been historically beloved and the subject of many memes in the community, so it's no surprise that the new poison-type variation on the goofy little guy has caught on in the community. Wooper and Fidough may be cute, but another absolutely incredible reveal in the presentation was that the player gets to ride on the backs of the legendary Pokémon Koraidon or Miraidon over the course of the game, using them as ground, water, and air transport. This is a pretty normal thing in the Pokémon franchise, except that in Scarlet and Violet, both monsters are actually just sentient motorbikes, and Koraidon, who is prehistoric-themed, doesn't even use its actual wheels - it just runs around with its legs like a goober. And of course, the monsters themselves weren't the only humorous subject people found to talk about on social media today. We also were treated to plenty of lovely humor focused on the new terastal crystal forms, the world map, and presenter Utsunomiya Takato's incredible fashion sense. Goofs aside, we got a ton of news out of today's presentation, including the reveal that there will be three separate story campaigns you can work through in any order, and details on those goofy living bike Pokémon you can ride. You can also watch the full trailer and catch up on everything we know so far right here. Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine. | | | | | Big Steam Deck 3.3 Update Brings With It a Host Of Improvements To Docked Mode And More | | by Casey David Muir-Taylor Aug 3, 2022 | | The Steam Deck is getting a whole host of improvements in the newest update from Valve including improvements to docked mode, system updates, and more. The updates, detailed in the patch notes, include a lot of fixes as well as some new features. When in docked mode, you’ll be able to scale the Steam Deck user interface for external displays as well as toggle for automatic scaling. In an effort to presumably save battery life, the panel backlight will now stay off when docked. For those hoping to get a peek at what's to come for the Steam Deck, the update adds a software update channel selector. This will give users three options. Stable is the recommended channel for most users and will automatically install the latest stable Steam Client and SteamOS. If testing upcoming features sound like your jam, the Beta channel will let you do just that. Finally, the Preview channel will allow for testing of new Steam and system-level features and will update frequently but could cause issues. The update also rolls out a scheduled night mode feature as well as an indicator for when your Steam Deck is running outside the safe operating range. Finally, you’ll be able to access the Achievements page on the overlay after pressing the Steam button in-game. Late last month, Valve announced that users waiting to get their Steam Deck should be able to get it sooner rather than later. Thanks to an increase in materials, production has ramped up and Valve is able to fulfill orders even faster. Upon its release in February, the handheld has been a hit with gamers pining for access to games on the go. In our review, we said that when the Steam Deck “is living up to its promises, it's absolutely incredible” but “those dizzying highs are all too often snapped away by insurmountable compatibility issues with SteamOS” and a lackluster battery life, noisy fan, and long load times. Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt. | | | | | First MultiVersus Season 1 Battle Pass Details Revealed | | by Amelia Zollner Aug 3, 2022 | | As MultiVersus enters its second week of open beta, its first official Season is on its way. Though we're just under a week away from Season 1's launch, fans still have plenty of questions regarding the Season 1 Battle Pass. Today, MultiVersus director Tony Huynh responded to a fan's Tweet with some details about the game's Season 1 Battle Pass. According to Huynh, the pass will cost 950 Gleamium — the game's paid currency — and offer 50 tiers. 1000 Gleamium is equivalent to roughly $9.99, meaning the Season 1 Battle Pass will cost a bit less than $10. Currently, the Preseason Battle Pass is running until August 8. It's much cheaper than the Season 1 Battle Pass at only 300 Gleamium, but it only has 15 tiers of character skins, profile icons, XP, coins, and cosmetics. While we don't know much else about the Season 1 Battle Pass, we do know that Season 1, which launches on August 9, will introduce Rick and Morty's Morty. MultiVersus launched last week and had an enormous reception, reaching over 144,000 concurrent players on Steam. We gave the game an 8 in our review, saying while it might need time to grow its limited roster, "its foundations are already rock solid." Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner. | | | | | The Batgirl Cancellation: Why It Happened, the Social Media Fallout, And More | | by Ryan Leston Aug 3, 2022 | | What happened to Batgirl? That’s the question on everyone’s lips today after Warner Bros. Discovery unceremoniously canceled the upcoming Batgirl movie. Starring Leslie Grace in her first outing as the titular heroine, Batgirl was about to pave the way for the resurgence of the DC Extended Universe. Michael Keaton was back as Batman. J.K. Simmons was reprising the role of Commissioner Gordon. Brendan Fraser was about to make a triumphant return to the big screen as the film’s pyromaniacal villain. The film had been shot. Postproduction was almost complete. And then… Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the plug, canning the $90 million production and shelving Batgirl without a theatrical release. There’s no chance of it streaming online, either. So, what exactly happened to the Batgirl movie? Why was it canned at a moment’s notice? Let’s take a look at what led to Batgirl’s box office downfall. Batgirl’s Budget Climbed Higher Than a Gotham RooftopLet’s face it — Batgirl was never supposed to be a huge blockbuster. Back in 2020, after a previous misfire with Joss Whedon, Batgirl was originally devised as a straight-to-streaming title. Given a $70 million budget and a script from Birds of Prey writer Christine Hodson, it was envisaged as another diverse part of the DCEU. Think of it like Marvel’s recent MCU shows on Disney+ but as a standalone movie. After directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah joined the production, Batgirl was unveiled as an HBO Max original. But the studio would eventually change its mind… After WarnerMedia’s high-profile merger with Discovery, the new company was reportedly considering giving the film a theatrical release with an increased budget, eventually bumping that $70 million up to $90 million, and insiders say it could have been more than that. “They think an unspeakable Batgirl is going to be irredeemable,” a source told the New York Post after revealing that the actual budget was over $100 million — a sum that was considered far too much after early test screenings. Essentially, it looks as though Warner Bros. Discovery felt that Batgirl wouldn’t be able to make back its budget at the box office and nixed its theatrical release. So, why not pop it on HBO Max instead? That’s all down to Hollywood finances. Holy Tax Write-Downs, Batgirl!Batgirl was always going to be an HBO Max release. At least, initially. But by the time the budget ballooned to over $100 million, there was no going back. Warner Bros. Discovery had put serious cash behind its next superhero flick, and they expected a theatrical movie. But insiders say it was far from it. “The leaders of the studio determined ultimately, in spite of reshoots and increased budget, that the movie simply did not work,” insiders told The Wrap. That doesn’t mean that Batgirl was a bad movie. It’s just that it wasn’t considered to be a big enough film to justify a theatrical release… and it was an increasing risk just to get its budget back. Releasing the film on HBO Max wouldn’t scratch the surface – even a healthy subscriber increase wouldn’t put a dent in that $100 million. And that’s when Warner Bros. Discovery decided to make Batgirl take the hit — using the production as a tax write-down. Increasing the budget, yet again, to make Batgirl worthy of a theatrical release could have doubled the studio’s spending on the film. Then there’s the $30 million to $50 million needed just to market the film domestically. Instead, insiders told Variety that this was “a non-starter” with Warner Bros. Discovery already focused on cost-cutting. And so, the decision to can the upcoming film in favor of a tax write-down was made. Even if Warner Bros. Discovery were a bit cagier about why it was canceled. It’s the Film Warner Bros. Deserves… but Not the One It Needs Right NowAfter the news of Batgirl’s cancellation broke, it wasn’t long before it was all over the internet, prompting Warner Bros. Discovery to release an official statement: “The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max,” they said. “Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt and their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future.” Of course, it was unlikely that Warner Bros. Discovery would go into detail about why the film was really canned… but this boilerplate statement does little to support the actors and filmmakers. “We are saddened and shocked by the news,” said directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. “We still can’t believe it. As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was far from finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves. Maybe one day they will insha’Allah.” El Arbi and Fallah went on to heap praise upon their cast and crew. But for the time being, it looks as though Batgirl’s wings have been clipped. “Our amazing cast and crew did a tremendous job and worked so hard to bring Batgirl to life,” they explained. “We are forever grateful to have been part of that team. It was a dream to work with such fantastic actors like Michael Keaton, J.K. Simmons, Brendan Fraser, Jacob Scipio, Corey Johnson, Rebecca Front, and especially the great Leslie Grace, who portrayed Batgirl with so much passion, dedication, and humanity.” But fans and filmmakers on social media weren’t quite so restrained. You Either Die a Hero or Live Long Enough to Become a VillainThe decision to cancel Batgirl was met with significant backlash on social media. Sure, fans were looking forward to seeing Leslie Grace in the Batgirl suit for the first time, but it’s more than that – folks were enraged by the studio’s reasons for canning it. And some commenters reminded us that the DCEU isn’t exactly renowned for its high quality. Some have even evoked those #ReleaseTheSnyderCut accounts to help right this wrong: Others have suggested that Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav simply wants to burn down everything that came from his predecessors. Whatever the reason, the move has caused significant backlash aimed directly at the studio, especially since DC’s upcoming Flash solo movie is still being released despite the controversy around the film’s star, Ezra Miller. It’s certainly not a good look, but as Warner Bros. Discovery continues to shuffle its releases and remove its HBO Max originals, it looks as though it’s a time of huge change for the studio. What will happen to the DCEU remains to be seen. But for now, Batgirl is sitting this one out. Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter. | | | | | Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind Voice Cast and Plot Details Revealed | | by Jim Vejvoda Aug 3, 2022 | | IGN can exclusively reveal the voice cast of and an exclusive new photo from Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind, the forthcoming animated sequel to 2020’s Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge and 2021’s Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms. Inspired by the blockbuster video game franchise from Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios, this third entry in the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment animated film series arrives as Mortal Kombat itself approaches its 30th anniversary this year. Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind is produced and directed by Rick Morales, who also produced Scorpion’s Revenge and Battle of the Realms. Jeremy Adams, who wrote the previous two films, is back as the screenwriter of Snow Blind. Check out this exclusive new image from Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind featuring Kuai Liang and Kenshi. 
The voice cast includes Manny Jacinto (Top Gun: Maverick, The Good Place) and David Wenham (the Lord of the Rings movies, Iron Fist), as well as Ron Yuan, who voiced Scorpion in Mortal Kombat 11 but plays Sub-Zero here. The full voice cast is listed below: - Manny Jacinto - Kenshi
- David Wenham - Kano
- Ron Yuan – Kuai Liang/Sub-Zero
- Keith Silverstein – Kabal
- Courtenay Taylor – Kira
- Yuri Lowenthal – Kobra
- Artt Butler – Shang Tsung & Lin Kuei
- Imari Williams – Tremor
The voice cast also includes Patrick Seitz, Lei Yin, Sumalee Montano, Debra Wilson, and Keston John. In Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind, Kano is hellbent on taking over Earthrealm, viciously attacking town after town with the aid of three cold-blooded Black Dragon mercenaries. Those who don’t submit are annihilated. One young man won’t bend the knee to Kano: Kenshi. Cocky and undisciplined, Kenshi loses both his eyesight and his confidence after Kano and his clan attack him. Kenshi then comes under the tutelage of Kuai Liang, now retired and reluctant to train Kenshi – but also the only fighter powerful enough to challenge Kano. Along the way, Kenshi rediscovers the hope he had lost and a possible path to redemption … but will that be enough to stop Kano and save Earthrealm? Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind will be released on digital and Blu-ray later this year. | | | | | Joker 2 Release Date Officially Announced | | by Matt Kim Aug 3, 2022 | | Following the news that Warner Bros. Discovery is canceling Batgirl, a question mark suddenly hangs over a lot of DC projects. Well, all of them except for Joker 2 which now has a firm 2024 release date. According to Deadline, Joker: Folie A Deux will premiere on October 4, 2024. Director Todd Phillips co-wrote the script for the Joker sequel with star Joaquin Phoenix set to reprise his role as Arthur Fleck, the man who became the Joker. Earlier this week WB Discovery axed Batgirl, a movie that was already finished and cost $90 million to make. While insiders say the film was axed to recoup costs, previous reports also claimed the new owners of Warner Bros. were looking to revamp the DC films line with more movies like Joker and other high-profile characters. Considering the first Joker became the highest-grossing R-rated movie and was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, there likely wasn't ever any danger of the next Joker film from being shuffled away under the new management. Alongside the Joker sequel, several other DC projects are still in the works including Shazam, Black Adam, Aquaman 2, and The Flash. There is also Matt Reeves' separate Batman universe and spinoffs. Plot details for Joker: Folie A Deux are being kept under wraps, but the subtitle refers to a psychological affliction that affects two people at once. If one of the partners is Joker, there are plenty of possibilities on who the second person could be whether it's Harley Quinn or someone else. It was also reported that the film could be a musical with Lady Gaga playing Harley Quinn. Check out IGN's Joker review which gave the film a perfect score thanks to a magnetic performance by Phoenix. Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd. | | | | | Bungie Employees Reportedly Doxxed, Bombarded With Racial Slurs And Death Threats | | by Casey David Muir-Taylor Aug 3, 2022 | | Employees at Bungie reportedly became the victims of harassment in June. The harassment would lead to the employees being doxxed and bombarded with racial slurs, phone calls, and text messages, and it reportedly began thanks to a tweet in celebration of working with a popular Destiny 2 player. The harassment started after one of Bungie's employees tweeted about their new collaboration with African-American streamer Uhmaayyze in early June for their game Destiny 2, reports The Record. This tweet would lead to doxxing and death threats toward several Bungie employees. The tweet received a reply threatening to kill employees on June 14. This was reportedly followed up with Bungie employees getting voicemails and texts on their personal phones from someone using an anonymous texting and calling app. One voicemail was left on the personal phone line of the employee who posted the tweet. In it, the caller used racial slurs and requested Destiny 2 include violent and racially charged scenes or DLC. The employee’s spouse, also a Bungie employee, received a text with the same request. Later, someone using the same phone number ordered a pizza to the couple’s home after leaving a voicemail for them saying, “Enjoy your pizza.” This event repotedly led them to calling the police to file a report. A Twitter user named Inkcel was also making threats at the same time online and tweeted a photo of the Bungie employee’s Staff ID card. They also tweeted they’d moved to live 30 minutes from the employee. The two employees took to using a court order to get the texting app to release the name of the person threatening them. Doxxing and harassment is not a new thing for the gaming community. Unfortunately, it’s quite common. Many associate doxxing with streamers, but it has happened in multiple gaming communties, including toward game developers, for years. Earlier this month, a hotline was put in place to help streamers who are targets of hate raids. Destiny 2 has been in the news several other times this year. Earlier this summer, Sony completed its purchase of Bungie, meaning Destiny is now part of the PlayStation family. They are also working on a mobile Destiny game, though details are sparse. Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt. | | | | | Why Star Wars Andor Won't Use ILM's 'Volume' Digital Sets | | by Amelia Zollner Aug 3, 2022 | | Since Disney+ debuted, every Star Wars show on the platform, including The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi, has employed a digital set called the Volume. However, the upcoming series Star Wars: Andor won't use the video wall at all, making it the first Disney+ Star Wars show to film fully on set and on location. In a report by Empire, creator Tony Gilroy revealed his decision to step away from the Volume, a tool that's also known as StageCraft and is made by ILM. Since Attack of the Clones, the Star Wars franchise has frequently used digital sets, meaning Andor is making a drastic departure from this tradition. "Yep, we’re old-school,” creator Tony Gilroy told Empire. “We didn’t use StageCraft at all.” It’s a choice that looks set to add even more grit and earthiness to a series all about capturing that texture, set at a time when the Star Wars galaxy is a particularly dark and dangerous place to be. Andor follows the story of Cassian Andor and the origin of the Rebel Alliance leading up to the events of Rogue One. During a TCA panel today, Gilroy further explained the reasoning behind this decision. "There's no way to do both," Gilroy said. "Either you're a Volume show or not a Volume show. It just didn't lend itself to that kind of production and you can't choose between them." After facing a delay, Andor is now set to release its first three episodes on September 21. Its first season is slated to take place over a full year, and it's just one of the many Star Wars movies and shows currently on their way. Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner. | | | | | |
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