The Batman director Matt Reeves said he would feel "lost" at the helm of a Marvel movie.

Speaking to Variety, Reeves said he wouldn't be able to work with a franchise where so many elements were already established and interconnected.

He said: "I have such respect for [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige and also for the [Marvel] filmmakers, but to be honest with you, I just don’t know how I would make my way through that.

"There has to be some level of discovery for me, where I have some freedom to find my way. If I have to come into something that’s already set too firmly, then I think I would get lost. And I don’t think they would be happy with me either."

That's perhaps what drew him to The Batman, a solo film with no ties to the wider DC universe. Reeves said he was reluctant to get into superhero films in the first place but knows that's where the industry is heading.

He said, "The industry has changed so dramatically that if you’re going to make a movie that’s going to be in movie theatres, you’re not making anything that isn’t recognizable IP."

“That’s just where the audience has gone. I’m not saying that I’m happy about that. I’m just saying it is what it is."

Good for the industry or not, Reeves has certainly found critical success with The Batman. In our 10/10 review, IGN said the "violent, thrilling, darkly beautiful take on The Batman more than justifies its place in the franchise’s canon."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale.

The Batman director Matt Reeves said he would feel "lost" at the helm of a Marvel movie.

Speaking to Variety, Reeves said he wouldn't be able to work with a franchise where so many elements were already established and interconnected.

He said: "I have such respect for [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige and also for the [Marvel] filmmakers, but to be honest with you, I just don’t know how I would make my way through that.

"There has to be some level of discovery for me, where I have some freedom to find my way. If I have to come into something that’s already set too firmly, then I think I would get lost. And I don’t think they would be happy with me either."

That's perhaps what drew him to The Batman, a solo film with no ties to the wider DC universe. Reeves said he was reluctant to get into superhero films in the first place but knows that's where the industry is heading.

He said, "The industry has changed so dramatically that if you’re going to make a movie that’s going to be in movie theatres, you’re not making anything that isn’t recognizable IP."

“That’s just where the audience has gone. I’m not saying that I’m happy about that. I’m just saying it is what it is."

Good for the industry or not, Reeves has certainly found critical success with The Batman. In our 10/10 review, IGN said the "violent, thrilling, darkly beautiful take on The Batman more than justifies its place in the franchise’s canon."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale.

A gang of masked thieves ambushed the set of the Netflix heist drama Lupin, stealing $330,000 worth of equipment.

According to Variety, the heist took place on February 25 in a neighbourhood in Nanterre, on the outskirts of Paris, while filming was underway on Part 3 of Lupin with Omar Sy, who plays gentleman thief Assane Diop on the series. Production was abruptly interrupted when approximately 20 people broke onto the set after throwing mortar fireworks, per AFP.

An estimated $330,000 worth of equipment was reportedly stolen from the set during the robbery, prompting production on the upcoming season to briefly pause, with filming resuming again a few days later, on February 28, after Netflix confirmed the cast and crew were "safe and there were no injuries" from the incident, which is now under investigation.

Sy appeared on stage at the César Awards in France to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the hit comedy Intouchables just hours after the robbery had taken place. The Lupin heist follows another reported incident that saw thieves make off with more than $220,000 worth of props from the set of Netflix's The Crown, which is currently filming its fifth season in the UK.

Lupin previously made headlines in October of last year when it was reported that a thief had robbed an oratory in Italy, using the "slick and confident techniques" of Lupin's central protagonist as a source of inspiration for his crimes. The thief admitted that he had closely studied Diop, the lead character in Lupin Part 1 and Part 2, which arrived on Netflix in June.

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

A new trailer for Bullet Train was released on YouTube this morning, quickly climbing to be the #6 trending video, and it's easy to see why: it features bullets, samurai swords, and Brad Pitt in a package reminiscent of classic action films like Kill Bill.

Directed by David Leitch, whose credits include Deadpool 2, the kinetic new trailer features Pitt as he battles baddies on a Japanese bullet train. It's a simple but fun concept that hearkens back to the likes of Die Hard while featuring some high-energy action scenes.

Check out the trailer below:

Based on the Kōtarō Isaka novel originally titled Maria Beetle, the film adaptation of Bullet Train was originally announced by Sony Pictures back in June 2020. Its star-studded cast includes Sandra Bullock, who replaced Lady Gaga after she was forced to drop out following scheduling conflicts, as well as Andrew Koji, Joey King, and Benito "Bad Bunny" Ocasio.

The official synopsis reads:

An original movie event, Bullet Train is a fun, delirious action-thriller from the director of Deadpool 2, David Leitch. Brad Pitt headlines an ensemble cast of eclectic, diverse assassins – all with connected yet conflicting objectives – set against the backdrop of a non-stop ride through modern-day Japan.

Leitch has built strong action credentials over the past decade, co-directing John Wick with Chad Stahelski before going on to work on Atomic Blonde, Hobbs & Shaw, and Deadpool 2. His most recent project was the Bob Odenkirk action vehicle Nobody, which we called "gruesome and violent" but also "wickedly funny and surprisingly poignant."

In an interview with Collider, King said of Leitch, "David Leitch, man. What a guy. I love that man! He is so smart, so kind-hearted, so gentle and so creatively smart. I can’t say enough good things about him. Working with him blew my mind. I learned so much from being on that set."

In preparation for the trailer, an ad for "Nippon Speed Line" narrated by Pitt was released on Instagram.

Bullet Train isn't part of a major franchise, so it's taking to time to build momentum, but its success on YouTube suggests that interest is growing. It'll be in theaters on July 15.

Kat Bailey is Senior News Editor

Lost Ark enjoyed a historically strong launch when it was released in mid-February, exploding to the top of the charts on Steam, Twitch, and other platforms. It has since leveled off somewhat, but that doesn't make its initial surge any less impressive. As of this article, it's sitting at a cool 134k viewers on Twitch, topped only by Grand Theft Auto 5 and the newly-released Elden Ring.

Speaking via email, Amazon Games franchise leader Soomin Park spoke of the team's amazement at its reception, calling it a "labor of love."

"The development teams at both Amazon Games and Smilegate RPG are absolutely shocked and thrilled by the reception of Lost Ark since launching in the West," Park said. "To say the teams at both studios have been amazed by the response would be a huge understatement!"

Originally released in South Korea in 2019, Lost Ark has developed a strong following thanks to its attractive art, enjoyable combat, and large amount of content. In IGN's review of Lost Ark, we wrote, "Lost Ark takes a genuinely impressive stab at the isometric action RPG genre, and its integration into a perpetually online world is complementary rather than invasive. It's expansive and deep, capable of scratching the itch for a new Diablo-like action RPG that is filled with other players to meet and team up with."

When Lost Ark released in North America last month, it became the second-highest played game in Steam history with 1.3 million concurrent players in less than 24 hours, an achievement that Park says was "definitely unexpected."

The crush of players has forced Smilegate and Amazon Games to scramble to upgrade its server infrastructure, including adding an entirely new region. According to Park, the Europe Central region "continues to be filled to the brim," leading to "player queues and some instability in the region."

And it's not as easy as simply adding more servers.

"It's important to note that Lost Ark has a limit to how many peak concurrent players it can support in any one universe, or region, which is why we cannot simply add more servers to Europe Central," Park explained. "There's theoretically unlimited [Amazon Web Services] capacity in each 'region,' but the game can become unstable if it tries to scale past its maximum capacity per region."

Keeping up Lost Ark's momentum

Either way, Lost Ark is plunging ahead. Talking about what to expect in the future, Park promised a variety of new classes, continents, and other content. The Lost Ark team sees such additions as the antidote for the inevitable dropoff of interest that follows a service game's launch.

"It is true most live service games experience an ebb and flow of interest as the competitive landscape evolves and player interests change, but usually the best way to keep players engaged is a strong, predictable live game roadmap that is in response to player feedback," Park said. Lost Ark's is robust with a steady addition of new classes, continents, events, activities, and more."

New World, the other breakout online game from Amazon Games, is in some ways a cautionary tale in some ways for Lost Ark. While it enjoyed massive success at launch, its momentum was sapped by bugs and other critical issues, forcing the development team to apologize to the community.

Lost Ark, for its part, is more established than New World, having had more than two years to build up its foundation.

"[Early release in Korea] helped in many ways," Park said. "Lost Ark benefits from having years of player feedback and polish from the team at Smilegate and being live in other parts of the world for a few years. It's a finely-tuned game, and therefore Amazon Games could focus its efforts on Westernization and enhancements that would ensure players in the west felt at home."

Most of the discourse among fans has revolved around the intensity of its grind or whether the endgame difficulty needs to be updated. Oh yes, and memes. Lots of memes. In short, Lost Ark is following the trajectory of most online games. Earlier today, Lost Ark released its March update, which includes new story and endgame content.

Time will tell whether it can keep a steady and healthy playerbase, but close to a month after its original release, it seems to be more stable than many of its counterparts. That's a win for Amazon Game Studios, which has battled lengthy development cycles, cancellations, and other issues in its decade or so of existence.

If you're just getting started with Lost Ark, you can find some helpful beginner's tips and tricks here. Make sure to also check out our list of the Top 10 MMORPGs, which includes heavy-hitters like Final Fantasy 14. Lost Ark is available now on PC, with no current plans to release on console.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

MWC or Mobile World Congress 2022 is in full swapping and it’s brought a flurry of new mobile-focused products. Though the show is more commonly known for introducing more smartphones, this year the focus seems to have shifted towards laptops. With OnePlus announcing its flagship at CES 2022 and Samsung running its own show to debut the Galaxy S22 family, there were just fewer flagship phones to headline the show.

Still, there’s plenty to get excited about from MWC 2022. We’ve highlighted only the biggest announcements from the show including new gaming laptops, the return of ports to Ultrabooks, and the most affordable 5G phones around.

Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3

Lenovo’s entry-level gaming laptop has gotten a full-redesign and new specs to boot. This new model features a hinge-forward design that basically extends the rear of the notebook an inch out from behind the display. The laptop’s extended backside allows for better cooling and also rear-mounted ports, plus a thinner overall profile.

The new Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 and 3i comes in two Intel and AMD flavored variants as well as two 15- and 16-inch sizes. Intel versions can be loaded up with up to a hexa-core Intel Core i7-12700H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. The AMD models on the other hand feature up to an octa-core AMD Ryzen 7 6800H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD.

The Intel-powered arrives earliest in April 2022 for $989 to start. Following that, the AMD-powered 15-inch IdeaPad Gaming 3i comes in May 2022 for $929 to start. The 16-inch IdeaPad Gaming 3i arrives in June 2022 with Intel and AMD models starting at $1,489 and $1,139, respectively.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5

The ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 was practically the second gaming laptop Lenovo had on for show. Although it's marketed as a workstation machine, it can be configured with up to an Intel i9-12900H and Nvidia GeForce 3080 Ti running at 110W and a 16-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 resolution display running at 165Hz. Up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of SSD storage round out this extreme laptop’s potential configurations. That said, the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 base spec is reasonably priced at $2,049 and it launches in June 2022.

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook

The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook was the most exciting Chromebook we’ve seen in a long time, and the Duet 3 is essentially its smaller 11-inch brother. Featuring a 2K screen, Snapdragon 7c Gen 2, plus a base of 4GB of memory and 64GB eMMC storage, this Chromebook should be particularly well suited for running all your Android apps on top of running the usual Google suite of web applications.

Just like its bigger brother, this Chromebook tablet comes with a magnetic back cover that doubles as a kickstand. It also clips to an included magnetic keyboard to give you a full 2-in-1 laptop experience. The IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook starts at $399 and is expected to arrive by May 2022.

IdeaPad Duet 5i

The IdeaPad Duet 5i essentially takes the design of the Duet 3 Chromebook we just mentioned above and blows it up into a 12-inch device while also slapping Windows 11 on. This is essentially Lenovo’s take on the Microsoft Surface Pro 8. It features a 12-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 resolution display along with 12th Gen Intel processors up to an Intel Core i7-1255U, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD for storage.

Unlike the rest of Lenovo’s 2-in-1 detachable series, the Duet 5i features an integrated kickstand that can lower itself to a much shallower angle for doodling and drafting. Interested readers will also be glad to hear the magnetic backlit keyboard comes included with the device, however, the optional Active Pen 3 is sold separately. The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5i will be available starting July 2022 for a $749 starting price.

Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro (360)

After Apple’s new MacBook Pros it seems like all the ports are coming back to Ultrabooks. This is clearly the case across Samsung’s whole Galaxy Book2 Pro line as they all feature a full-sized HDMI port, Thunderbolt 4, USB-C, USB 3.2, Micro SD card slot, and headphone jack.

Ports aside, the Galaxy Book2 Pro series comes in four variants in 13- and 15-inch sizes as either a standard clamshell notebook or a 2-in-1 laptop with a 360-degree rotating screen. Samsung’s notebooks all feature a sleeker design and Super AMOLED Full HD displays that sing brightly with vibrant colors.

Internally, all the Galaxy Book2 Pro models can be configured with an Intel 12th Generation Core i5 or i7 processor. You also have a choice of either 8GB or 16GB of memory with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage options.

You can preorder the Galaxy Book2 Pro for $1,049 and Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 for $1,249 starting March 18. Both laptops will be released on April 1.

TCL 30 5G

TCL announced its latest TCL 30 Series smartphones at MWC in a dazzling array of five different models but we’re going to focus on the biggest and best model, the TCL 30 5G. This 6.7-inch handset features an AMOLED display, 50MP AI triple camera system, and a big old 5,000mAh battery.

But before you get too excited about this new phone, it doesn’t have any planned availability in the US yet. Though with a price tag of €249 (about $280), it should be one of the cheapest 5G handsets around if and when it comes stateside.

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

Kevin Lee is IGN's SEO Updates Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.

Following the successful launch of Lost Ark in North America, the developers announced that more content will be coming at a regular cadence starting in March with new story and raid content.

Lost Ark was released in South Korea back in 2019 and has a head start on content that has yet to be released in the North American version. The developers say there is a “wealth of content present in the Korean version that has yet to make its way to the western shores of Arkesia.”

However, this content will be released starting this month when a new storyline and raid will be released, as well as changes and fixes.

First, the new storyline will introduce new quests, islands, and cinematics to Lost Ark. The quest will follow a cast of new and returning characters and will focus on the Sidereals and the legendary Kadan, the first guardian slayer.

Players will need to complete Feiton and the quests “Yorn - Let There Be Light,” “Whispering Islet - Start of Our Story,” and “Illusion Bamboo Island - End of the Trials,” before being able to accept the new quests.

The second major content addition in March will be the new Abyss Raid, Argos. This end-game raid is similar to Guardians raid where players need to work together to defeat the Guardian before time runs out. The eight-party content will fight a much larger boss through three phases and will drop a reward which can be claimed once a week.

Argos will be available at the Abyss Raid Statue located across Lost Ark’s different major cities.

Lost Ark is a dungeon-crawler MMO that’s currently free-to-play on PC. At launch Lost Ark quickly became Steam’s second-most played game of all time and it looks like there’ll be plenty of content coming down in the future to keep players busy.

Check out IGN’s Lost Ark review here.

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

It's a big summer for Cuphead fans, as Studio MDHR has announced season 2 of The Cuphead Show will drop on Netflix this summer, in addition to Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course coming on June 30.

Studio MDHR is the developer of Cuphead, and its founders — the Moldenhauer brothers — served as Executive Producers on The Cuphead Show. While there's no official release date set, this is the first official confirmation we've seen of more episodes. You can see the official season 2 announcement below.

It’s official!! More heartfelt hi-jinx and hilarity awaits in Season 2 of The Cuphead Show, debuting Summer 2022 exclusively on @Netflix. pic.twitter.com/TlBiojlUY4

— Studio MDHR (@StudioMDHR) March 2, 2022

The Cuphead Show is a Netflix original cartoon starring Cuphead, Mugman, and various villains from the Cuphead video game. The show follows Cuphead and Mugman's ongoing battle with the Devil and his henchmen. Season 1 only explored a handful of the game's expansive cast of bosses, so there's plenty of material left for season 2 and beyond.

The first season of the show was a big hit. In our review, we called the show amazing, saying, "The Cuphead Show captures the essence of the popular game, giving fans old and new a surreal, exhilarating, chaotic, and all-around fun throwback cartoon with memorable characters and stunning animation. After Arcane and Castlevania, it’s another feather in Netflix’s cap for stellar video game adaptations."

For more on The Cuphead Show, check out our interview with Cuphead's creators about the show's development. Or, watch Chad and Jared Moldenhauer react to a 23 minute speedrun of Cuphead.

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

PlayStation Studios Housemarque's next game won't be a Returnal sequel, according to comments from studio managing director Ilari Kuittinen, VentureBeat reports.

In an interview with journalists at last week's DICE Awards, Housemarque leaders spoke at length about the future of the studio, future projects, and the studio's relationship to PlayStation at a time when the publisher is increasing focus on live-service games.

"We’re one of the very last dinosaurs making arcade games," Kuittinen said. "Nex Machina, a few years ago, was very much a shoot-’em-up game in the style of the coin-ops from the ‘80s. That’s sort of a clue. But it’s interesting. We’ve been thinking about that. We had our stint working on multiplayer games, because a few years back it seemed like you needed to have some kind of multiplayer experience. We tried that, and we really didn’t do it as well. But it’s early days with us starting a new game, a new IP, concepting it out. We’ll see what comes with that."

Returnal director Harry Krueger added that Housemarque is "trying to hold onto that identity" as a studio focused on arcadey games, and that multiple genres can coexist.

"There can be live service games, multiplayer games, games with many different sensibilities," Krueger said. "Returnal is just another voice. At this stage we’re quite proud of what we accomplished with Returnal, and we’re quite excited to pursue that same trajectory as a company."

Returnal took home the DICE Award for outstanding achievement in musical composition, outstanding achievement in audio design, and was nominated for outstanding achievement in technical achievement, action game of the year, and general game of the year. It certainly merits the awards and nominations, considering it's ranked number two on IGN's best PS5 games list and received an 8 out of 10 in our review.

Even though it sounds like Housemarque may not return to Returnal for a full game, a tweet from last November sparked speculation that we could be getting some sort of DLC in the future.

Meanwhile, Sony's acquisition of Destiny 2 developer Bungie has big implications for PlayStation's future: Namely a bigger focus on developing and investing in multiplayer and live-service games, even though PlayStation's single-player games shouldn't be going anywhere.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

Actor Jason Momoa has confirmed that he's playing the role of the villain in the tenth Fast and Furious film. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly (via SlashFilm) about his new role, Momoa finally confirmed the nature of his role.

"I'm gonna go do 'Fast 10,' that's gonna be fun... it's fun, I get to play the bad guy, which I haven't gotten to do for a while. Now, I get to be the bad boy. A very flamboyant bad boy," the actor said.

It's an uncharacteristic heel turn for the actor, who has mostly played heroic (if excessively brash) protagonists in films like Aquaman, Justice League, and series like Apple TV's See and Netflix's Frontier. He follows in the footsteps of fellow Justice League star Henry Cavill's transformation from reluctant ally into menacing antagonist of Mission Impossible: Fallout. Momoa most recently starred as loyal ally and military commander Duncan Idaho in Denis Villeneuve's Dune.

We'll have to wait a considerable while to see Momoa's chops as a bad guy. Fast 10 has since been delayed to May 2023. We can also pretty reliably say that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson won't be appearing again as Luke Hobbs, thanks to an infamously prolonged falling out with co-star Vin Diesel.

If you're in the mood for more, check out the dumbest moments from the Fast and Furious franchise (so far).

(Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.