Spoiler Warning: This article contains potential spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, new Spider-Verse toys have been appearing on the shelves of Target stores. While most of the toys relate to characters that have already been revealed, a few toys in particular seem to confirm the return of Spider-Punk, a Spider-Man variant from the comics.

As many fans took to Twitter to point out, one of the toys is titled "Spider-Punk Web Blast" and depicts the guitar of none other than Spider-Punk. Fans also noticed a Spider-Punk mask, which shows the character’s iconic horn mohawk.

The toys were also shown in a Youtube video posted yesterday.

Spider-Punk is finally going to get more recognition after all these years pic.twitter.com/i7N6BTerqZ

— malachi (@MCUMarvels) July 27, 2022

If these toys really do confirm the return of Spider-Punk, Across the Spider-Verse will mark the character’s first appearance in a movie. Spider-Punk, who is from Earth-138, was known for using both his electric guitar and his web powers as weapons in the comics.

Earlier this year, fans were given a first look at Across the Spider-Verse, the first 15 minutes of which gave glimpses into the lives of characters like Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, and Spider-Man 2099.

While not much else is known about which other Spider-variants might appear in the upcoming film, it’s clear that a lot of work has gone into the production process. Earlier this year, Sony revealed that it’ll have 40 characters, six universes, and the largest crew ever for an animated film.

After facing a delay, the movie will now be out on June 2, 2023.

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.

Some strange things are happening behind the scenes with Stranger Things. In a tweet today from the official account for writers of the hugely popular Netflix show, they went on record to say that “no scenes from previous seasons have ever been cut or re-edited. And they never will be.”

This despite suggestions from showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer that they would be "George Lucas-ing" the show to fix older continuity errors.

PSA: no scenes from previous seasons have ever been cut or re-edited. And they never will be. pic.twitter.com/H0j8JwidLs

— stranger writers (@strangerwriters) July 26, 2022

The statement from the Stranger Things writers follows rumors that a scene in which Jonathan Byers spies on Nancy was cut -- rumors that have since been debunked. They arose from earlier hints by the Duffer Brothers that they had already "George Lucas'd" or digitally edited scenes without fans realizing it.

"We have George Lucas’d things also that people don’t know about," Matt Duffer told Variety back in June.

Fans have since confirmed that the scene is still there, and it's unclear what Duffer is referring to when he says that scenes have been "George Lucas'd."

The Duffer Brothers first suggested they would be making changes to Stranger Things in a separate interview. In it, the duo acknowledged a Season 4 flub where several characters appeared to completely miss Will Byers’ birthday when in fact it was just an oversight on the creators, saying the error was because Will’s birthday had been written six years prior and they simply forgot.

In the interview, Ross Duffer said that in order to fix it, they would “go and George Lucas” the scene from season 2 and change it to “May” since that can fit into Winona Ryder’s mouth as she speaks. It is unconfirmed whether those changes actually took place.

Whatever happens, fans are already looking ahead to Stranger Things Season 5, which will pick up several threads left dangling in season 4. Itwill be the show’s last, but don’t expect it to have quite as long of a run time as Season 4, which was split up into two parts.

In our review, we gave Season 4 Part 2 a 9/10 and said it features “as many thrills as you could hope for, but also quite a few lovely, tender moments between characters we’ve come to care so much about.”

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Chris Rock is finally opening up about the slap heard around the world at March’s broadcast of the Oscars, and he gets straight to the point.

“Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,” Rock said Sunday at one of his comedy shows this past weekend, US Weekly reports. “I’m not a victim. Yeah, that sh*t hurt, motherf***er. But I shook that sh*t off and went to work the next day. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.”

The infamous incident occurred at this year’s Academy Awards when Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith being in G.I. Jane 2. The joke referenced Pinkett Smith’s alopecia and short hair. While she’s been lighthearted on occasion in the past about her condition, she was visibly upset at the joke, and Will Smith took to the stage to verbally confront and slap Rock.

While some thought the scene was a planned bit, many realized it wasn’t once the broadcast was muted as Smith began yelling at Rock after going back to his seat. Previously, Rock had declined to comment on the incident, saying he’d comment when he was getting paid to do so. Smith would go on to win an Oscar for his role in King Richard later the same evening and reference the incident during his acceptance speech.

Smith later apologized in a statement to Rock and the Academy, but that didn’t stop the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences from banning Smith from all Academy events for 10 years.

The slap has caused ripples in Hollywood for Smith, but according to his friend and Bad Boys co-star, it shouldn’t kill the development of Bad Boys 4, despite it getting postponed after the incident.

Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Sony has revealed the PlayStation Plus games for August 2022 are Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2, and Little Nightmares. Revealed on the PlayStation Blog, all three games will be made available at no extra cost to all PlayStation Plus subscribers on August 2.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is another entry in the increasingly wacky, action-heavy Yakuza series in which protagonist Ichiban Kasuga attempts to rise through his crime organisation from zero to hero. Like a Dragon marked the entry of a new era for the franchise as it introduced turn-based combat for the first time, a mechanic that will be continued in recently confirmed sequel Yakuza 8.

In our 7/10 review, IGN said: "Yakuza: Like a Dragon takes some bold steps in a new direction for the series but neglects to maintain its balance."

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 is the remaster of the original (and arguably the best) Tony Hawk skateboarding games, featuring all the fast-paced, high-scoring sports action that fans expected from a remake.

It's also the only Tony Hawk game fans can expect for a while, as the man himself confirmed recently that the remasters of 3 and 4 had been cancelled. Pro Skater 1 & 2 thankfully left a good impression though, as in our 9/10 review, IGN said: "Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 proves that going backwards has been the best step forward for the series in 15 years."

Last but not least, Little Nightmares is a third-person adventure game set in a spooky (surprise, surprise) world with elements of stealth and exploration. Players take on the role of a kidnapped little girl called Six as she makes her way home.

In our 8/10 review, IGN said: "Gleefully strange, unceasingly grim, and quietly smart, Little Nightmares is a very welcome fresh take on horror."

These three new games will be available for free until September 6, while last month's games - which include Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan, and Arcadegeddon - will be available until August 1.

Sony has now officially launched its updated PlayStation Plus tiers across the world though, as evident by this collection of free games, the lowest-cost Essential tier is practically the same as the previous PlayStation Plus.

Check out our updated lists of all PS Plus Premium Catalogue Games and PlayStation Plus Classic Games Catalog on IGN Playlist. You can use these lists to plan what to play next, create custom ranked lists of your favourites, and track your backlog.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The Pokémon Company has announced a BOOster Bundle of trading cards for people to give out instead of candy on Halloween.

As reported by GameSpot, The BOOster Bundle comes with 40 mini packets of Pokémon cards, each including a pumpkin Pikachu stamp and three trading cards.

Given the BOOster name and Trick or Trade tagline, the bundle is all Halloween themed, featuring Gengar on the front and a variety of other spooky Pokémon inside. Though The Pokémon Company hasn't said if these will be unique cards for this mini set or just reprints of previously released cards, it's so far confirmed that Gengar, Mimikyu, Polteageist, Pumpkaboo, and Zubat will all feature.

The pack will be available on September 1 alongside the next full set, Lost Origin, and available from anywhere that sells Pokémon trading cards typically.

It's not the first time people have broken the mould with Pokémon cards lately, as the last Pokémon GO set featured an amazing new hidden Ditto mechanic. A reality show based on the trading card game was also announced, and someone even entered an official Pokémon card tournament with a deck exclusively made of jumbo sized cards.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 on Nintendo Switch will act as a "culmination" of the trilogy, but won't be a conclusion for the series overall according to its executive director.

In an interview with Nintendo itself, Tetsuya Takahashi said the first three mainline Xenoblade Chronicles games (not including the more futuristic Chronicles X) share similar themes and gameplay ideas that connect them as a trilogy.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 therefore rounds out the trilogy thematically – but Takahashi made clear it's not the end of the series as a whole. "This is like a summary for moving on to the next step in the future," he said.

"Although some elements and designs from one and two will appear in this third entry here and there, there is no need to have played the first and second games to understand the story or how to play," Takahashi explained. "However, since this is a series of works, the underlying theme is consistent, and in each case, the story unfolds based on 'the relationship between foreign things'.

"I used the word 'culmination' earlier, but this title brings together all the themes that have been developed over the past 15 years since 2007, when development of the first title in the Xenoblade Chronicles series began, as well as the gameplay systems that have been developed throughout the series."

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced in February and will be released on July 29. As with the previous games, it's a JRPG that features an automatic combat system where the player must combine a number of attacks and effects to achieve victory, set amid a war-torn futuristic world called Aionios.

In our 8/10 review, IGN said: "Xenoblade Chronicles 3 can take some meandering detours across its massive 150-hour campaign, but great characters and addictive tactical combat make it all well worth the time."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Adult Swim has announced that Rick and Morty Season 6 will premiere globally and across the multiverse on September 4.

The long-awaited sixth season will premiere at 11 pm ET/PT on September 4, picking right up from where we left the anarchic duo at the end of the fifth season. According to the official logline for the new season, Rick and Morty will be "worse for wear and down on their luck," but "will they manage to bounce back for more adventures? Or will they get swept up in an ocean of piss!"

If you're wondering exactly what awaits Rick and Morty in the forthcoming episodes, the synopsis teases "Family! Intrigue!" and possibly even "A bunch of dinosaurs!" Whatever the case may be, Michael Ouweleen, the president of Adult Swim and Cartoon Network, has promised another "iconic season" following the intergalactic escapades of the show's titular characters.

"It's hard to overstate the impact of Rick and Morty. More than a hit show, it is truly a global phenomenon," Ouweleen said of the Emmy award-winning comedy series, which has now been viewed over 10 billion times globally, across linear, digital, and streaming. "As we prepare to launch this soon-to-be iconic season, we will be giving fans a unique way to be part of the fun – so keep your eyes peeled."

Adult Swim capped off Rick and Morty's fifth season with a two-part finale on September 5, 2021, which means that the upcoming sixth season is arriving almost a full year after the last time we caught up with the dimension-hopping duo. The last episode presented fans with Evil Morty and the Evil Morty Plan, The Rick and Morty Citadel, and a good look at what the larger multiverse is doing.

Created and executive produced by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, Rick and Morty stars the voice talents of Roiland as Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith, Sarah Chalke as Beth Smith, Chris Parnell as Jerry Smith, and Spencer Grammer as Summer Smith, plus many others that have been part of the story so far.

IGN's review of Rick and Morty's fifth season finale called it a "lore-stuffed bookend to one of the strongest seasons thus far." However, it also noted that the half-hour episode chucked canon material at viewers at "a breakneck and sometimes confusing pace," which ultimately made its rapidly advancing plot points "difficult to follow and decidedly rushed."

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

Things are about to get weird this fall with Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is set to release November 4, 2022.

The announcement of the release date comes alongside a new poster featuring star Daniel Radcliffe sporting Weird Al’s signature curly mop of hair and accordion.

The film will follow the story of Weird Al in the (ahem) unexaggerated true story about the greatest musician of our time. Radcliffe portrays the rebellious Yankovic, who grew up in a family with an unconventional upbringing where playing the accordion was a sin, on his meteoric rise to fame and superstardom.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story will stream for free this fall exclusively on The Roku Channel. Earlier this year, we got a glimpse of Radcliffe in full Weird Al regalia. From his signature Hawaiian shirt to that mustache, Radcliffe checks all the boxes. Radcliffe will portray the king of parody during a time of his life where he (apparently) lived an excessive lifestyle and pursued an infamous romance that nearly destroyed him.

In May, a teaser trailer dropped that gives a glimpse into the movie and features Yankovic’s “Like a Surgeon,” a parody of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” Radcliffe will star alongside Westworld’s Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna and Abbott Elementary’s Quinta Brunson as Oprah.

The film will be released in the same month as The Illustrated Al, a graphic novel illustrating Yankovic’s music. The graphic novel will work as a songbook highlighting 20 tracks from Yankovic's career. Each song will be interpreted by a different artist and arranged as a sequential comic book tale.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

The Roblox "oof" sound, which became famous not just with players but around the internet as a meme, has been removed from the game entirely due to a licensing issue.

The simple soundbite, a second-long "oof" sound that plays when a player dies or resets their character, has proven surprisingly awkward due to copyright claims in the last few years. It would appear these complications are now officially too much Roblox's development team, however, which has now announced the "oof" sound is no longer in the game.

It's been replaced with a similar default sound but, as announced on the Roblox Twitter (below), a whole range of new sounds, both old and new, will be released into the Avatar Shop in the future to make the transition away from the classic "oof" more palatable.

Related to sounds, due to a licensing issue we have removed the “oof” sound from Roblox and have created a replacement default sound which launches today.
We plan to expand our Avatar Shop with a whole range of both old and new sounds in the future. More to come on this.

— Roblox (@Roblox) July 26, 2022

Issues first arose in 2020 when video game composer Tommy Tallarico recognised the now iconic sound as his own creation, originally from a game called Messiah. The "oof" was removed from the game as a result until Tallarico and Roblox reached an agreement to reintroduce it, but at a roughly $1 cost for creators.

That agreement has seemingly ended, however, as the sound was removed "due to a licensing issue," the tweet said. The sheer ubiquity of the noise has turned it into meme-fodder across the internet, with rapper Post Malone even saying he'd made an entire 2-hour Coachella set based on the sound.

Despite being considered a game platform for children, Roblox often finds itself seeped in more adult controversy. Kim Kardashian threatened to sue the platform in April after her son found a fake sex tape game featuring the celebrity, and Roblox itself launched a lawsuit against a YouTuber for posting "terrorist threats" in November.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will reportedly feature a female playable character in its campaign for the first time. Rockstar apparently plans to launch the game with a single city, but add more locations over time through updates.

As part of a report on Rockstar by Bloomberg, sources close to the studio discussed the new female character, who will be Latina. The character will reportedly be part of a pair of bank robbers in a story influenced by real-life criminals Bonnie & Clyde.

Female protagonists have previously only been available as custom characters in GTA Online, never in the game's single player campaigns. Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser (who has since left the company) previously indicated the company was thinking about a female lead as far back as 2013. [Update: The first Grand Theft Auto game featured female playable characters - this would mark the first in the 3D GTA series as we know it today]

The report also indicates that the launch version of GTA 6 will begin with fictionalized Miami and surrounding areas (presumably a return for Vice City), but will be updated with "new missions and cities on a regular basis". That launch version apparently already includes more interior locations than any GTA game previously.

Per the report, the game is codenamed Project Americas due to its original plan to include huge territories based on North and South America – a plan that was scrapped in part to reduce crunch for employees.

Sources say that developers on the game are sceptical about predictions for a launch between April 2023 and March 2024 due to multiple changes on the team and bottlenecks in production. Some developers are even said to have quit due to a lack of progress on the game recently. Developers on the team reportedly expect the game to be at least two years away, and say that no firm release date has been set internally.

However, much of the report focuses on progressive changes at Rockstar in recent years, including a more inclusive office culture, a focus on reducing crunch, a removal of abusive managers, conversion of contractors into full-time employees and a restructure to improve working conditions. Morale is said to be higher at the company as a result, and one source said Rockstar was “a boys’ club transformed into a real company.”

The report also points to a more progressive mindset at the company in narrative terms, too. Bloomberg says that a mode called Cops 'n' Crooks was shelved before release following the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, and has not been considered for release since. The company is also focusing on making fewer jokes in GTA that 'punch down' at marginalized groups.

After years of rumours, GTA 6 was finally confirmed this year, but more official news will apprently only be released when Rockstar is ready, not when its owner Take-Two requests it. Rockstar is said to have moved more developers onto GTA 6 recently having scrapped remasters of Red Dead Redemption and GTA 4.

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.