Marvel Studios originally planned to introduce the Guardians of the Galaxy to the MCU by way of four short films leading into the first proper Guardians movie in 2014.

The studio's alternative plans for the ragtag cosmic crew's debut were revealed in a new Marvel book, The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry, that chronicles the entire production history of The Infinity War Saga's 23 movies, including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 directed by James Gunn.

One excerpt in the 512-page book, transcribed by Screen Rant, details Marvel's early plans to introduce the Guardians of the Galaxy to the MCU through a series of Marvel One-Shots that would have been released before the characters made their big-screen debut. However, MCU boss Kevin Feige said they decided to scrap the idea because it seemed excessive.

"This One-Shot series would have led into the Guardians movie proper - which would have also been directly preceded by a fourth self-contained short film about a mysterious kid who loved fantasy things," Feige said. "Halfway through [Guardians], we would reveal that big space hero is the kid from the short. We thought that would be clever, but it was too much."

Marvel One-Shots are a series of direct-to-video short films produced by Marvel Studios, set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They are included as special features on Blu-ray and digital releases of MCU movies and are designed to be self-contained stories that provide more backstory for characters or events introduced in Marvel's blockbuster releases.

The studio's last One-Shot short, titled All Hail the King, told the story of Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) following the events of Iron Man 3. It was released on Thor: The Dark World's home release in 2014, the same year that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 hit theaters, with its motley crew of characters teaming up to defeat a cosmic force of epic proportions.

The movie's ensemble cast features Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, and Dave Bautista as Drax. They returned for the 2017 sequel but their days might be numbered, as James Gunn has said Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will "probably be the last with the current team."

It remains to be seen whether the franchise's space-faring heroes will part ways in the future, however, there's one more guaranteed group adventure in the pipeline. We don't know much about Guardians Vol. 3 yet, besides that Rocket's backstory will be a big part of the story, and that a What If...? storyline was rejected because it was too similar to the film's plot.

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

As February's release of Horizon: Forbidden West draws nearer, Guerrilla has updated fans on some of the new abilities that players will be able to utilize across combat and exploration in the game, including a grapple and glider, as well as some fun new combat techniques.

In a post focusing on traversal published on the PlayStation Blog, Guerrilla spoke further about some of the new tools that players will have, as well as factors that have influenced Forbidden West's new combat decisions. Lead Systems Designer David McMullen explained that a new high vault mechanic "essentially allows Aloy to hoist herself on top of any object of jumpable height with room to pull up. Combined with the ability to free climb and adding grapples to our environment, the potential for exploration is greatly increased.”

He also explained more about the Pullcaster and Shieldwing, two new tools shown off back in June. The Pullcaster is multi-function, and primarily works much like you'd expect a grapplehook in a game to function. However, it has a second function as a winch, which means "the player can dynamically manipulate, move and destroy the objects in the environments," according to McMullen. "Think about pulling a hidden loot chest from a ledge, or tearing open a vent to create a new climb path,” he adds.

McMullen also explained that the additions to climbing and traversal mechanics can be mixed up with Aloy's new Shieldwing glider. "The Shieldwing combines well with numerous other mechanics both in and out of combat, such as landing on your mount, ziplining, the strike from above skill, and more…”

Elsewhere in the blog post, the studio discussed the changes it's making to combat. Guerrilla has completely redesigned Horizon's skill tree and included workbenches that allow players a greater degree of customization when upgrading weapons.

As well as changing the way that players modify their weapons to suit a given playstyle, the studio is also bringing melee and ranged combat closer together. Guerrilla’s Lead Combat Designer, Dennis Zopfi, offered an example of how the two aspects worth together in Forbidden West's combat system: "A new example of a skill that does this is the Resonator Blast, where you charge up the spear with melee hits and when fully powered up, the energy can be placed on enemies (humans and machines alike) and followed up with a projectile – resulting in a big damaging explosion!’"

In Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy will have a number of her old weapons back to fight off the various enemies and machines that the game throws at her. Zopfi states that Forbidden West will look to give these weapons a "stronger personality" allowing players to players to draw upon their strengths in given situations. New weapons will be added, too, such as the Spike Thrower, which was teased by Zopfi as being a "new, high damage weapon which, when thrown at the right moment, makes it easier to hit larger targets."

For more on Horizon Forbidden West, make sure to check out this article discussing how Aloy's new gear will provide the character with a range of new skills.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

As February's release of Horizon: Forbidden West draws nearer, Guerrilla has updated fans on some of the new abilities that players will be able to utilize across combat and exploration in the game, including a grapple and glider, as well as some fun new combat techniques.

In a post focusing on traversal published on the PlayStation Blog, Guerrilla spoke further about some of the new tools that players will have, as well as factors that have influenced Forbidden West's new combat decisions. Lead Systems Designer David McMullen explained that a new high vault mechanic "essentially allows Aloy to hoist herself on top of any object of jumpable height with room to pull up. Combined with the ability to free climb and adding grapples to our environment, the potential for exploration is greatly increased.”

He also explained more about the Pullcaster and Shieldwing, two new tools shown off back in June. The Pullcaster is multi-function, and primarily works much like you'd expect a grapplehook in a game to function. However, it has a second function as a winch, which means "the player can dynamically manipulate, move and destroy the objects in the environments," according to McMullen. "Think about pulling a hidden loot chest from a ledge, or tearing open a vent to create a new climb path,” he adds.

McMullen also explained that the additions to climbing and traversal mechanics can be mixed up with Aloy's new Shieldwing glider. "The Shieldwing combines well with numerous other mechanics both in and out of combat, such as landing on your mount, ziplining, the strike from above skill, and more…”

Elsewhere in the blog post, the studio discussed the changes it's making to combat. Guerrilla has completely redesigned Horizon's skill tree and included workbenches that allow players a greater degree of customization when upgrading weapons.

As well as changing the way that players modify their weapons to suit a given playstyle, the studio is also bringing melee and ranged combat closer together. Guerrilla’s Lead Combat Designer, Dennis Zopfi, offered an example of how the two aspects worth together in Forbidden West's combat system: "A new example of a skill that does this is the Resonator Blast, where you charge up the spear with melee hits and when fully powered up, the energy can be placed on enemies (humans and machines alike) and followed up with a projectile – resulting in a big damaging explosion!’"

In Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy will have a number of her old weapons back to fight off the various enemies and machines that the game throws at her. Zopfi states that Forbidden West will look to give these weapons a "stronger personality" allowing players to players to draw upon their strengths in given situations. New weapons will be added, too, such as the Spike Thrower, which was teased by Zopfi as being a "new, high damage weapon which, when thrown at the right moment, makes it easier to hit larger targets."

For more on Horizon Forbidden West, make sure to check out this article discussing how Aloy's new gear will provide the character with a range of new skills.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Rockstar has revealed the PC system requirements for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition and, surprise surprise, they're not that demanding. This is a remaster of games from the PS2 era, after all.

Despite their spruce up, with lovely new textures and lighting effects, the new versions of GTA will only require 2-3GB of graphics memory at minimum, with 4GB recommended. It's also looking for a relatively modest CPU, although still asks for the usual 8-16GB of RAM. We also have a file size: 45GB for the whole trilogy. It's currently unclear if the install can be split across the three games.

The full PC system requirements are:

Minimum system requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i5-6600K / AMD FX-6300
• Memory: 8GB
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB / AMD Radeon R9 280 3GB
• Disk: 45GB

Recommended system requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i7-2700K / AMD Ryzen 5 2600
• Memory: 16GB
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 4GB / AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB
• Disk: 45GB

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition was announced earlier this month, and is set to launch on November 11. They will replace the original versions, as they have been removed from digital storefronts.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Rockstar has revealed the PC system requirements for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition and, surprise surprise, they're not that demanding. This is a remaster of games from the PS2 era, after all.

Despite their spruce up, with lovely new textures and lighting effects, the new versions of GTA will only require 2-3GB of graphics memory at minimum, with 4GB recommended. It's also looking for a relatively modest CPU, although still asks for the usual 8-16GB of RAM. We also have a file size: 45GB for the whole trilogy. It's currently unclear if the install can be split across the three games.

The full PC system requirements are:

Minimum system requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i5-6600K / AMD FX-6300
• Memory: 8GB
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB / AMD Radeon R9 280 3GB
• Disk: 45GB

Recommended system requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i7-2700K / AMD Ryzen 5 2600
• Memory: 16GB
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 4GB / AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB
• Disk: 45GB

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition was announced earlier this month, and is set to launch on November 11. They will replace the original versions, as they have been removed from digital storefronts.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Sony has confirmed that the upcoming God of War PC port will be handled by Canadian studio Jetpack Interactive. The company previously provided engineer support for Dark Souls' PC version.

In a statement provided to ArsTechnica, Sony said that original God of War developer Sony Santa Monica is overseeing the PC version's development, which is being handled by Jetpack Interactive. The studio, based in Vancouver, is a port-focused developer who has previously worked with EA on Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, and NBA Live 15 and 14. It also completed the PS4 port duties on Orcs Must Die! Unchained for Robot Entertainment.

The choice of Jetpack Interactive may come as a surprise, since Sony acquired PC port specialist Nixxes earlier this year. The deal was only announced in July, though, so if the God of War PC version has been in development for a while, that may be the reason Jetpack and not Nixxes are handling the port. We expect Nixxes to be involved in further projects, though, since Sony has made a commitment to bring PlayStation games to PC.

The God of War PC version was announced this month, and will bring PS4's smash hit to computers via Steam and the Epic Games Store. It'll no doubt prove popular on PC, as we gave it a full 10/10 review and later made it our 2018 game of the year. Recently, voters in a series of IGN polls named it the best video game of all time.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Sony has confirmed that the upcoming God of War PC port will be handled by Canadian studio Jetpack Interactive. The company previously provided engineer support for Dark Souls' PC version.

In a statement provided to ArsTechnica, Sony said that original God of War developer Sony Santa Monica is overseeing the PC version's development, which is being handled by Jetpack Interactive. The studio, based in Vancouver, is a port-focused developer who has previously worked with EA on Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, and NBA Live 15 and 14. It also completed the PS4 port duties on Orcs Must Die! Unchained for Robot Entertainment.

The choice of Jetpack Interactive may come as a surprise, since Sony acquired PC port specialist Nixxes earlier this year. The deal was only announced in July, though, so if the God of War PC version has been in development for a while, that may be the reason Jetpack and not Nixxes are handling the port. We expect Nixxes to be involved in further projects, though, since Sony has made a commitment to bring PlayStation games to PC.

The God of War PC version was announced this month, and will bring PS4's smash hit to computers via Steam and the Epic Games Store. It'll no doubt prove popular on PC, as we gave it a full 10/10 review and later made it our 2018 game of the year. Recently, voters in a series of IGN polls named it the best video game of all time.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

A new video detailing the Halo Infinite campaign has revealed brand new footage of the Master Chief's next mission, as well as an introduction to his new AI and some of the activities that can be completed.

Halo Infinite's campaign - which 343 Industries claims is the biggest Halo campaign to date - is set on the Zeta Halo, an open world Halo ring where the Banished, a splinter faction from the Covenant, led by the Brutes, have settled. They've been building outposts, which can be found on your travels and taken out, akin to similar outposts in open world games like Far Cry. In the video, we can see Chief finding an outpost - named Ransom Keep - and scanning it for weak points. He then uses a rocket launcher to detonate a large silo, suggesting each outpost may have different ways of shutting them down. This is part of 343's intention to offer "more freedom to take down the Banished".

This chapter of the Halo saga will see Master Chief working with a new AI companion, known as The Weapon. Following the events of Halo 5 and Cortana's defection, The Weapon has been created to answer the question of what happened to Chief's previous AI, and to lock her down. It seems like once again the relationship between Cortana and Chief will be in the spotlight for Halo Infinite.

Also seen in the trailer is a glimpse at the upgrades tree, which includes enhancements for Chief's new Grappleshot, as well as his Thrusters, Shield Core, Threat Sensor radar, and a Drop Wall shield. Those thursters can be used to quickly dodge out of the way of incoming attacks, while the Drop Wall shield functions akin to the Titan's shield wall from Destiny. An amusing moment shows off the Grappleshot, in which Chief grapples onto a Banshee midair to hijack it. It all looks very dynamic and wild.

We see a few new enemies, including the flying Skimmers, a new named villain called Jega 'Rdomnai who's said to be a sadistic Spartan killer, and something that calls itself the "Harbinger of Truth" and claims that the Forerunners were liars.

We also see a new Chief using a Wasp, the VTOL aircraft first introduced in Halo 5. The Wasp is summon from a vehicle station, and we see Chief also had the option of other classic vehicles such as the Mongoose.

This is our first look at Halo Infinite's campaign since we saw it at the Xbox Games Showcase in July 2020 ahead of the launch of Xbox Series X/S. Master Chief's latest adventure was set to be a launch title for Microsoft's next-gen consoles, but the game was delayed following blowback about Halo Infinite's graphics and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its development timeline.

For more, see our multiplayer review in progress, check out the Halo Infinite Xbox Series X console and Elite controller, the game's accessibility features, and our look at how Halo Infinite's delay was the right one, even if it was painful.

Halo Infinite will launch December 8 on Xbox consoles and PC.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

A new video detailing the Halo Infinite campaign has revealed brand new footage of the Master Chief's next mission, as well as an introduction to his new AI and some of the activities that can be completed.

Halo Infinite's campaign - which 343 Industries claims is the biggest Halo campaign to date - is set on the Zeta Halo, an open world Halo ring where the Banished, a splinter faction from the Covenant, led by the Brutes, have settled. They've been building outposts, which can be found on your travels and taken out, akin to similar outposts in open world games like Far Cry. In the video, we can see Chief finding an outpost - named Ransom Keep - and scanning it for weak points. He then uses a rocket launcher to detonate a large silo, suggesting each outpost may have different ways of shutting them down. This is part of 343's intention to offer "more freedom to take down the Banished".

This chapter of the Halo saga will see Master Chief working with a new AI companion, known as The Weapon. Following the events of Halo 5 and Cortana's defection, The Weapon has been created to answer the question of what happened to Chief's previous AI, and to lock her down. It seems like once again the relationship between Cortana and Chief will be in the spotlight for Halo Infinite.

Also seen in the trailer is a glimpse at the upgrades tree, which includes enhancements for Chief's new Grappleshot, as well as his Thrusters, Shield Core, Threat Sensor radar, and a Drop Wall shield. Those thursters can be used to quickly dodge out of the way of incoming attacks, while the Drop Wall shield functions akin to the Titan's shield wall from Destiny. An amusing moment shows off the Grappleshot, in which Chief grapples onto a Banshee midair to hijack it. It all looks very dynamic and wild.

We see a few new enemies, including the flying Skimmers, a new named villain called Jega 'Rdomnai who's said to be a sadistic Spartan killer, and something that calls itself the "Harbinger of Truth" and claims that the Forerunners were liars.

We also see a new Chief using a Wasp, the VTOL aircraft first introduced in Halo 5. The Wasp is summon from a vehicle station, and we see Chief also had the option of other classic vehicles such as the Mongoose.

This is our first look at Halo Infinite's campaign since we saw it at the Xbox Games Showcase in July 2020 ahead of the launch of Xbox Series X/S. Master Chief's latest adventure was set to be a launch title for Microsoft's next-gen consoles, but the game was delayed following blowback about Halo Infinite's graphics and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its development timeline.

For more, see our multiplayer review in progress, check out the Halo Infinite Xbox Series X console and Elite controller, the game's accessibility features, and our look at how Halo Infinite's delay was the right one, even if it was painful.

Halo Infinite will launch December 8 on Xbox consoles and PC.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

A new Marvel Studios book chronicles the storied meeting that MCU boss Kevin Feige held with Sony chairperson Amy Pascal about Spider-Man's cinematic future.

The new book, The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry, offers fans an all-access history to the creation of the MCU, covering everything from 2008's Iron Man through to 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home and how Marvel collaborated with Sony to forge a new creative direction for the web-slinger.

One section of the 512-page story, transcribed by The Direct, details a conversation between Marvel boss Kevin Feige and Sony Motion Picture Group chairperson Amy Pascal in which Feige proposed the idea of Spider-Man joining the MCU, as Marvel had already established "a good sense of how they would like to handle the character" if given the opportunity.

"Pascal wasted no time in expressing her strong desire to have Feige be more directly involved, creatively, in the making of Sony Pictures' The Amazing Spider-Man 3. Excited about the ideas her team currently had, Pascal said she would send Feige the latest draft." an excerpt from the book reads, revealing Sony's own stance on Spider-Man's future.

Feige, however, came straight out and told Pascal that Sony's plans for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 were not going to work. He instead offered a counter-proposal and suggested that Marvel handle the next Spider-Man movie. Initially, the idea of the crossover deal evoked an emotional reaction from Pascal who appeared reluctant to hand the responsibility over.

"The only way I know how to do anything is to just do it entirely," Feige is believed to have said in his pitch, which seemingly caught Pascal off-guard. "So why don't you let us do it? Don't think of it as two studios. And don't think of it as giving another studio back the rights. No change of hands of rights. No change of hands of money. Just engage us to produce it."

"At first, I was super resentful," Pascal admits in the book. "I think I started crying and threw him out of my office, or threw a sandwich at him - I'm not sure which... By the fifth movie, we weren't giving them anything new. And I have to be honest about it, we were trying so hard to be different, we even went into places to be different that we shouldn't have."

Pascal's change of heart came when she realized that Sony's plans for Spider-Man were not fresh anymore. She noted that Feige had always shared a mutual love for the character and that he had presented some really smart ideas on what to do with Spider-Man in the MCU, having found a new direction to set up the next stage for Spider-Man's journey.

"Pascal called Feige back the next day after their lunch. The concept of a collaboration between Sony and Marvel Studios had not left her mind," the book recounts. "[Pascal] admits, 'The idea of putting him up against a world where everybody had everything and he had nothing was a whole new way of telling his story. I thought, 'Goddamn, that guy's smart.'"

As a result of that conversation, Tom Holland went on to make his Spider-Man debut in 2016's Captain America: Civil War before swinging into his first solo outing as a young Peter Parker/Spider-Man in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. He will be wall-crawling across our screens again in Spider-Man: No Way Home when that Phase 4 movie hits theaters this December.

No Way Home is expected to include some multiverse elements and may even converge the various Spider-Man universes together in such a way that it potentially allows Holland to make future appearances in both the MCU and the SPUMC (aka Sony Pictures' Universe of Marvel Characters) — depending on what the future has in store for the franchise.

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