Zack Snyder has discussed why he opted for a single, four-hour film of his Justice League Cut, and revealed two of its chapter titles – 'Don't Count On It Batman', and 'The Age of Heroes'. Speaking at IGN's Fan Fest event, Snyder was asked why the mooted plan of releasing the film as 'episodes' was dropped in favour of a single movie with chapters. In doing so, he revealed the first two chapter titles, too:

"There was a couple things. It was always to be completed as one theatrical release, because it was made as a four-hour film. Now, remember, the film is chaptered anyway. It's like, part one, 'Don't Count On It Batman', and then about 40 minutes later – I forget exactly – part two, 'The Age of Heroes', and then on and on.

"That was the way the film was created just in my mind as the way it was easily digestible. There was so much and I just felt like this kind of chapters as you went forward was really the best way to absorb it. It was always going to be finished as a single film but then I thought, 'Oh, it might be fun to break it up.' But that just got complicated and everyone started to get nervous about whether or not it was contractually this or that.

"I said, you know what? It's fine. The four hours, it's a great way to watch the movie, and it's easy to pause and go hit the potty or pick up some popcorn or whatever, whatever you got to do, because it does have those chapters."

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/27/zack-snyders-justice-league-the-mother-box-origins-exclusive-clip-ign-fan-fest-2021"] Snyder also put it more simply, saying that fans "would've been mad if they had to wait weeks" for an episodic Justice League to be completed. Asked if the film's runtime was now locked in, Snyder said it was "100% done", and explained that, "It's a little over four hours. I think it's four hours and a few minutes with the titles." HBO Max confirmed to IGN that the exact running time of Zack Snyder's Justice League is 4 hours and 2 minutes. After originally announcing that Zack Snyder's Justice League would be released as a four-part series, we've since learned that it will be a single movie. Snyder previously made clear that he shot the movie in a structure of six chapters, which appears to be how we'll see it at release. That movie will include around two-and-a-half hours of never-before-seen footage, comprised of "four or five minutes of additional photography", original footage from the theatrical release, and elements that ended up on the cutting room floor. It also won't include a "single frame" from Joss Whedon's Justice League reshoots. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=justice-league-snyder-cut-all-the-known-differences-from-the-theatrical-version&captions=true"] There's much more to come from IGN Fan Fest - including all the other new details Zack Snyder revealed about the Justice League Snyder Cut. [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.

Zack Snyder has discussed why he opted for a single, four-hour film of his Justice League Cut, and revealed two of its chapter titles – 'Don't Count On It Batman', and 'The Age of Heroes'. Speaking at IGN's Fan Fest event, Snyder was asked why the mooted plan of releasing the film as 'episodes' was dropped in favour of a single movie with chapters. In doing so, he revealed the first two chapter titles, too:

"There was a couple things. It was always to be completed as one theatrical release, because it was made as a four-hour film. Now, remember, the film is chaptered anyway. It's like, part one, 'Don't Count On It Batman', and then about 40 minutes later – I forget exactly – part two, 'The Age of Heroes', and then on and on.

"That was the way the film was created just in my mind as the way it was easily digestible. There was so much and I just felt like this kind of chapters as you went forward was really the best way to absorb it. It was always going to be finished as a single film but then I thought, 'Oh, it might be fun to break it up.' But that just got complicated and everyone started to get nervous about whether or not it was contractually this or that.

"I said, you know what? It's fine. The four hours, it's a great way to watch the movie, and it's easy to pause and go hit the potty or pick up some popcorn or whatever, whatever you got to do, because it does have those chapters."

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/27/zack-snyders-justice-league-the-mother-box-origins-exclusive-clip-ign-fan-fest-2021"] Snyder also put it more simply, saying that fans "would've been mad if they had to wait weeks" for an episodic Justice League to be completed. Asked if the film's runtime was now locked in, Snyder said it was "100% done", and explained that, "It's a little over four hours. I think it's four hours and a few minutes with the titles." HBO Max confirmed to IGN that the exact running time of Zack Snyder's Justice League is 4 hours and 2 minutes. After originally announcing that Zack Snyder's Justice League would be released as a four-part series, we've since learned that it will be a single movie. Snyder previously made clear that he shot the movie in a structure of six chapters, which appears to be how we'll see it at release. That movie will include around two-and-a-half hours of never-before-seen footage, comprised of "four or five minutes of additional photography", original footage from the theatrical release, and elements that ended up on the cutting room floor. It also won't include a "single frame" from Joss Whedon's Justice League reshoots. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=justice-league-snyder-cut-all-the-known-differences-from-the-theatrical-version&captions=true"] There's much more to come from IGN Fan Fest - make sure to check out our full Fan Fest schedule for everything we've got for you, from Godzilla vs. Kong to Deathloop. [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.

Tensions over a confusing in-game character trait’s effects have left at least one State of Decay 2 fan feeling burned by developer Undead Labs, who has now issued an apology and clarification, PC Gamer reports.

Steam Marines developer James Seow had been innocuously tweeting about their experience playing State of Decay 2 for the past month, until they discovered one of their characters possessed the “punched nazis” trait. The gist of the trait is that the character is quick to resolve conflicts with physical violence, particularly when arguments arise from strongly held convictions.

Materially, the trait just adds a damage bonus and makes your character more irritable to others and was flagged as a negative trait.

As Undead Labs refined State of Decay 2 post-release, that trait became less and less nuanced. All arguments between characters had ended up being categorized under one umbrella, making any strongly held belief, no matter how ideologically different, penalized the same.

Noticing this, Seow tweeted at both the Undead Labs and State of Decay 2 Twitter accounts asking why the game had “Nazi shit” in it. Seow was soon blocked by both Undead Labs' and the State of Decay 2 Twitter accounts.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-games-to-play-on-xbox-series-xs&captions=true"]

Undead Labs tweeted Thursday that the blocking of Seow was the result of auto-blocking software that was inflamed by negative comments regarding Black History Month.

Undead Labs continued by saying the “punched nazis” trait was created long before State of Decay 2’s 2018 release date and was never intended to be a negative trait.

“One designer actually told us firsthand stories about punching Nazis in the underground music scene,” Undead Labs tweeted. “We loved it and boom, the trait was born. It was designed as an overall positive trait with a skill bonus — it grants four stars of Fighting experience, and also made the character more likely to argue passionately for their beliefs. We figured someone punching Nazis in a mosh pit is going to have some strong feelings.”

State of Decay 2’s morale system, which came later in development, altered the readout of the trait’s text to highlight the damage bonus as a positive and the propensity for arguments as an exclusively negative.

“So today, this trait has a positive skill bonus (white text) and red text in the UI due to the likelihood of arguing,” Undead Labs tweeted. “It’s been that way for years and we never realized how confusing that looks until tonight. It’s not common, we have over 1300 traits.”

Undead Labs concluded by saying their next hotfix will address the issue by making the trait only have the positive damage bonus and remove the “irritable towards other people” sub-trait.

Now that we know it, we’re fixing it. We’re removing the negative Morale effect from the trait and it will only have its positive effect on Fighting experience going forward (that has never changed). This change will be in an upcoming hotfix ( how it will appear before & after) pic.twitter.com/URDlsq6RuJ

— State Of Decay 2 (@StateOfDecay) February 25, 2021

“We think it's better overall for no one to think of it as a negative trait ever again,” Undead Labs replied to one Twitter user.

IGN has reached out to Seow for comment, but Seow says on Twitter that Undead Labs reached out to them via a private message.

“[I] woulda accepted the design explanation and ‘we'll fix this’ eight days ago, sounds very corporate damage control to me now,” Seow tweeted. “Glad it only took a week of me and other people yelling.”

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/shambler for IGN.

Tensions over a confusing in-game character trait’s effects have left at least one State of Decay 2 fan feeling burned by developer Undead Labs, who has now issued an apology and clarification, PC Gamer reports.

Steam Marines developer James Seow had been innocuously tweeting about their experience playing State of Decay 2 for the past month, until they discovered one of their characters possessed the “punched nazis” trait. The gist of the trait is that the character is quick to resolve conflicts with physical violence, particularly when arguments arise from strongly held convictions.

Materially, the trait just adds a damage bonus and makes your character more irritable to others and was flagged as a negative trait.

As Undead Labs refined State of Decay 2 post-release, that trait became less and less nuanced. All arguments between characters had ended up being categorized under one umbrella, making any strongly held belief, no matter how ideologically different, penalized the same.

Noticing this, Seow tweeted at both the Undead Labs and State of Decay 2 Twitter accounts asking why the game had “Nazi shit” in it. Seow was soon blocked by both Undead Labs' and the State of Decay 2 Twitter accounts.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-games-to-play-on-xbox-series-xs&captions=true"]

Undead Labs tweeted Thursday that the blocking of Seow was the result of auto-blocking software that was inflamed by negative comments regarding Black History Month.

Undead Labs continued by saying the “punched nazis” trait was created long before State of Decay 2’s 2018 release date and was never intended to be a negative trait.

“One designer actually told us firsthand stories about punching Nazis in the underground music scene,” Undead Labs tweeted. “We loved it and boom, the trait was born. It was designed as an overall positive trait with a skill bonus — it grants four stars of Fighting experience, and also made the character more likely to argue passionately for their beliefs. We figured someone punching Nazis in a mosh pit is going to have some strong feelings.”

State of Decay 2’s morale system, which came later in development, altered the readout of the trait’s text to highlight the damage bonus as a positive and the propensity for arguments as an exclusively negative.

“So today, this trait has a positive skill bonus (white text) and red text in the UI due to the likelihood of arguing,” Undead Labs tweeted. “It’s been that way for years and we never realized how confusing that looks until tonight. It’s not common, we have over 1300 traits.”

Undead Labs concluded by saying their next hotfix will address the issue by making the trait only have the positive damage bonus and remove the “irritable towards other people” sub-trait.

Now that we know it, we’re fixing it. We’re removing the negative Morale effect from the trait and it will only have its positive effect on Fighting experience going forward (that has never changed). This change will be in an upcoming hotfix ( how it will appear before & after) pic.twitter.com/URDlsq6RuJ

— State Of Decay 2 (@StateOfDecay) February 25, 2021

“We think it's better overall for no one to think of it as a negative trait ever again,” Undead Labs replied to one Twitter user.

IGN has reached out to Seow for comment, but Seow says on Twitter that Undead Labs reached out to them via a private message.

“[I] woulda accepted the design explanation and ‘we'll fix this’ eight days ago, sounds very corporate damage control to me now,” Seow tweeted. “Glad it only took a week of me and other people yelling.”

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/shambler for IGN.

Last week's red band trailer for the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot has set a new record. The viewership of Mortal Kombat's gore-filled trailer has grown to 116 million, as reported by Deadline. This total surpasses the four-day mark of previous red band trailer viewership record holder Deadpool 2, which broke the record of fellow X-Men series entry Logan. Both of those movies had very successful theatrical runs, ending their domestic grosses at $324 million and $226 million respectively, and helped establish the idea that an R-rated superhero movie could be an out-and-out blockbuster. Although box office totals are currently less telling of a film's success with many theaters closed, the immense popularity of Mortal Kombat's trailer bodes well for the film's release in April. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/18/mortal-kombat-movie-official-red-band-trailer"] The film's official Twitter account celebrated the new record by posting a video compilation featuring Mortal Kombat fans reacting to the trailer. The trailer gave viewers a first look at how various characters from the series would look in the film, climaxing with a showdown between Sub-Zero and Scorpion. It also showcased some decidedly R-rated violence, giving fans a taste at how the movie will honor the series' long tradition of brutal fatalities.

Because of our fans, Mortal Kombat became the most viewed red band trailer of all time. #MortalKombatMovie pic.twitter.com/JTrRGorb8N

— Mortal Kombat Movie (@MKMovie) February 25, 2021

Mortal Kombat was created by Midway in 1992. The series quickly spawned two film adaptations with Mortal Kombat in 1995 and its sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation in 1997. Mortal Kombat 11, the latest entry in the video game series, was released in 2019 and was named IGN's best fighting game of the year. For more about the upcoming movie, take a look at a who's who of the cast to get familiar with the actors taking on these iconic characters. Mortal Kombat will debut in theaters and on HBO Max (for 31 days) on April 16. [poilib element="accentDivider"] J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

Last week's red band trailer for the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot has set a new record. The viewership of Mortal Kombat's gore-filled trailer has grown to 116 million, as reported by Deadline. This total surpasses the four-day mark of previous red band trailer viewership record holder Deadpool 2, which broke the record of fellow X-Men series entry Logan. Both of those movies had very successful theatrical runs, ending their domestic grosses at $324 million and $226 million respectively, and helped establish the idea that an R-rated superhero movie could be an out-and-out blockbuster. Although box office totals are currently less telling of a film's success with many theaters closed, the immense popularity of Mortal Kombat's trailer bodes well for the film's release in April. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/18/mortal-kombat-movie-official-red-band-trailer"] The film's official Twitter account celebrated the new record by posting a video compilation featuring Mortal Kombat fans reacting to the trailer. The trailer gave viewers a first look at how various characters from the series would look in the film, climaxing with a showdown between Sub-Zero and Scorpion. It also showcased some decidedly R-rated violence, giving fans a taste at how the movie will honor the series' long tradition of brutal fatalities.

Because of our fans, Mortal Kombat became the most viewed red band trailer of all time. #MortalKombatMovie pic.twitter.com/JTrRGorb8N

— Mortal Kombat Movie (@MKMovie) February 25, 2021

Mortal Kombat was created by Midway in 1992. The series quickly spawned two film adaptations with Mortal Kombat in 1995 and its sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation in 1997. Mortal Kombat 11, the latest entry in the video game series, was released in 2019 and was named IGN's best fighting game of the year. For more about the upcoming movie, take a look at a who's who of the cast to get familiar with the actors taking on these iconic characters. Mortal Kombat will debut in theaters and on HBO Max (for 31 days) on April 16. [poilib element="accentDivider"] J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

It seems more and more likely that Google has a foldable Pixel phone in the works, and that we may see that phone sometime this year. In a tweet yesterday by tech analyst and leaker Jon Prosser, he suggests the Pixel Fold is real and will appear either late this year or early next year. This seems in keeping with a number of other similar reports, including a tweet late last year by analyst Ross Young indicating Google would have a foldable model in the second half of 2021, as well as a 2020 report from 9to5Google affirming the same. Back in 2019, when Samsung was debuting its own foldable phone a CNET report shared quotes from lead Pixel developer Mario Queiroz stating that the company was exploring the technology, but didn't have a clear use case for it just yet. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=samsung-galaxy-z-fold-2-review&captions=true"] "The use case is going to need to be something where you go, 'Hey, I definitely need to have this,'" Queiroz said at the time. "Right now, you don't need to have a foldable. It's kind of a 'nice-to-have.'" The eventual release of the Galaxy Fold was delayed due to issues with early production review unit screens breaking. Since then, Huawei, Motorola, LG, and a few others have released models, and though not all were without their own issues, it seems sufficient improvements to the durability of such phones have been made. Our review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 found the tech to be much improved over its predecessors and called it "the best foldable phone out today, though the software experience on Android for folding devices was still lagging behind. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

It seems more and more likely that Google has a foldable Pixel phone in the works, and that we may see that phone sometime this year. In a tweet yesterday by tech analyst and leaker Jon Prosser, he suggests the Pixel Fold is real and will appear either late this year or early next year. This seems in keeping with a number of other similar reports, including a tweet late last year by analyst Ross Young indicating Google would have a foldable model in the second half of 2021, as well as a 2020 report from 9to5Google affirming the same. Back in 2019, when Samsung was debuting its own foldable phone a CNET report shared quotes from lead Pixel developer Mario Queiroz stating that the company was exploring the technology, but didn't have a clear use case for it just yet. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=samsung-galaxy-z-fold-2-review&captions=true"] "The use case is going to need to be something where you go, 'Hey, I definitely need to have this,'" Queiroz said at the time. "Right now, you don't need to have a foldable. It's kind of a 'nice-to-have.'" The eventual release of the Galaxy Fold was delayed due to issues with early production review unit screens breaking. Since then, Huawei, Motorola, LG, and a few others have released models, and though not all were without their own issues, it seems sufficient improvements to the durability of such phones have been made. Our review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 found the tech to be much improved over its predecessors and called it "the best foldable phone out today, though the software experience on Android for folding devices was still lagging behind. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Netflix has announced that it will be making a Terminator anime series with The Batman co-writer Mattson Tomlin as showrunner. Tomlin, co-writer on the upcoming Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson, will serve as showrunner on the series. In addition, The Terminator anime will be produced by Production I.G. the Japanese anime studio behind Ghost in the Shell Arise, Psycho-Pass, FLCL, and more. Production I.G. has had a working production deal with Netflix since 2018. The Terminator is a sci-fi series created by director James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. Starting with the 1984 movie of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Terminator series revolves around a war in the future that must be won by keeping the hero John Connor alive in the past from a violent AI network called Skynet. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/10/30/the-evolution-of-the-terminator"] Schwarzenegger plays the T-800, a killer android sent from the future to kill and then protect John Connor. Schwarzenegger, who played the character across six movies, started as a villain before changing allegiances during the series. There are currently no details in regards to the anime’s story or characters just yet, but Tomlin says that they will be “taking big swing sand going for the heart.” Tomlin says he intends to approach Terminator “in a way that breaks conventions, subverts expectations and has real guts.” Production I.G. president Mitsuhisa Ishikawa says “I asked my long-time friend and colleague Mamoru Oshii (Director of Ghost in the Shell) what he thought about the idea of turning Terminator into an animated series. His response was ‘Ishikawa, are you out for your mind?’” Ishikawa says this response gave him the confidence to join the project and that as fans of the series “our team at Production I.G. is putting their heart and souls into creating this series.” Netflix has been greenlighting a bunch of unexpected anime adaptations following the success of series like Castlevania. A Dota animated series was recently announced from the studio behind The Legend of Korra. Meanwhile, Sarah Connor and The Terminator are now playable characters in Fortnite as part of the newest season. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is News Editor at IGN.

Netflix has announced that it will be making a Terminator anime series with The Batman co-writer Mattson Tomlin as showrunner. Tomlin, co-writer on the upcoming Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson, will serve as showrunner on the series. In addition, The Terminator anime will be produced by Production I.G. the Japanese anime studio behind Ghost in the Shell Arise, Psycho-Pass, FLCL, and more. Production I.G. has had a working production deal with Netflix since 2018. The Terminator is a sci-fi series created by director James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. Starting with the 1984 movie of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Terminator series revolves around a war in the future that must be won by keeping the hero John Connor alive in the past from a violent AI network called Skynet. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/10/30/the-evolution-of-the-terminator"] Schwarzenegger plays the T-800, a killer android sent from the future to kill and then protect John Connor. Schwarzenegger, who played the character across six movies, started as a villain before changing allegiances during the series. There are currently no details in regards to the anime’s story or characters just yet, but Tomlin says that they will be “taking big swing sand going for the heart.” Tomlin says he intends to approach Terminator “in a way that breaks conventions, subverts expectations and has real guts.” Production I.G. president Mitsuhisa Ishikawa says “I asked my long-time friend and colleague Mamoru Oshii (Director of Ghost in the Shell) what he thought about the idea of turning Terminator into an animated series. His response was ‘Ishikawa, are you out for your mind?’” Ishikawa says this response gave him the confidence to join the project and that as fans of the series “our team at Production I.G. is putting their heart and souls into creating this series.” Netflix has been greenlighting a bunch of unexpected anime adaptations following the success of series like Castlevania. A Dota animated series was recently announced from the studio behind The Legend of Korra. Meanwhile, Sarah Connor and The Terminator are now playable characters in Fortnite as part of the newest season. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is News Editor at IGN.