Update (11/2/20) - During an interview for an upcoming episode of the Variety and iHeart podcast The Big Ticket, John Boyega confirmed that he had been having "honest conversations" with Disney executives after going public with his complaints that his Finn, the character he played in the last three films in the Skywalker Saga, was pushed aside, even after the studio portrayed him and his character as "much more important" than he actually ended up being. He also said that studios need to take a stand and be an "advocate for actors when they face backlash for their casting, especially when it revolves around race." "When one of your actors, especially an actor that’s so prominent in the story, is announced as part of your franchise and then it has a big racial backlash and receives abuse online and that starts to form a shadow on what is supposed to be an amazing gift, it is important for the studios to definitely lend their voice, lend their support to that and to have a sense of solidarity not just in the public eye, but on the ground on set," Boyega said. Boyega also reiterated that he is in no hurry to reprise his role as Finn. “At this moment, versatility is like the biggest thing for me right now,” Boyega said. “There are so many people I would really like to explore versatility [with], different roles and different characters. This is what I do. I enjoy what I do so to stay in one place could be sometimes hard.” Original story follows. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Star Wars actor John Boyega has criticised Disney for the treatment of his character in the franchise, particularly in comparison to his white co-stars who he says were given all of the "nuances." In a new interview with GQ magazine, Boyega reflected on his time playing Finn, the ex-Stormtrooper who joined forces with the Resistance in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, as he spoke about Disney's marketing of the character and the way that he felt he had been portrayed to be "much more important" in the space saga than he actually was, especially compared to other characters. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/10/the-star-wars-saga-timeline-in-chronological-order-through-rise-of-skywalker"] "It's so difficult to manoeuvre," Boyega explained. "You get yourself involved in projects and you're not necessarily going to like everything. [But] what I would say to Disney is do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It's not good. I'll say it straight up." The actor also acknowledged how other people of colour in the cast had suffered the same treatment in the franchise, as he highlighted the experiences of Naomi Ackie, Kelly Marie Tran and Oscar Isaac, who he calls "a brother from Guatemala," explaining that their stories were sidelined in favour of giving "all the nuance" to their white co-stars. "Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver," he said. "You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know f*** all. So what do you want me to say? What they want you to say is, 'I enjoyed being a part of it. It was a great experience...' Nah, nah, nah. I'll take that deal when it's a great experience. "They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley. Let's be honest. Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I'm not exposing anything." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-upcoming-star-wars-movie&captions=true"] As extracts of the interview started to circulate on social media, Boyega encouraged people to read the article in its entirety to gain a clear understanding of his perspective. He tweeted: "These conversations and me sharing isn't about a witch hunt. It's about clarity to an anger that can be seen as selfish, disruptive and self indulgent. Obviously in hopes of better change. Bruh. In short. I said what I said. Love to you all seriously. Your support is amazing." Now that his time in the Star Wars franchise has drawn to a close, Boyega is looking forward to starring on-screen in Steve McQueen's upcoming anthology series, Small Axe, in which he portrays police officer and anti-racism reformer, Leroy Logan. Boyega noted how McQueen had been struck by his impassioned speech at the Black Lives Matter protest earlier this year, and how working with him on set has felt like he's been "given the chance to breathe." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Update (11/2/20) - During an interview for an upcoming episode of the Variety and iHeart podcast The Big Ticket, John Boyega confirmed that he had been having "honest conversations" with Disney executives after going public with his complaints that his Finn, the character he played in the last three films in the Skywalker Saga, was pushed aside, even after the studio portrayed him and his character as "much more important" than he actually ended up being. He also said that studios need to take a stand and be an "advocate for actors when they face backlash for their casting, especially when it revolves around race." "When one of your actors, especially an actor that’s so prominent in the story, is announced as part of your franchise and then it has a big racial backlash and receives abuse online and that starts to form a shadow on what is supposed to be an amazing gift, it is important for the studios to definitely lend their voice, lend their support to that and to have a sense of solidarity not just in the public eye, but on the ground on set," Boyega said. Boyega also reiterated that he is in no hurry to reprise his role as Finn. “At this moment, versatility is like the biggest thing for me right now,” Boyega said. “There are so many people I would really like to explore versatility [with], different roles and different characters. This is what I do. I enjoy what I do so to stay in one place could be sometimes hard.” Original story follows. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Star Wars actor John Boyega has criticised Disney for the treatment of his character in the franchise, particularly in comparison to his white co-stars who he says were given all of the "nuances." In a new interview with GQ magazine, Boyega reflected on his time playing Finn, the ex-Stormtrooper who joined forces with the Resistance in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, as he spoke about Disney's marketing of the character and the way that he felt he had been portrayed to be "much more important" in the space saga than he actually was, especially compared to other characters. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/10/the-star-wars-saga-timeline-in-chronological-order-through-rise-of-skywalker"] "It's so difficult to manoeuvre," Boyega explained. "You get yourself involved in projects and you're not necessarily going to like everything. [But] what I would say to Disney is do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It's not good. I'll say it straight up." The actor also acknowledged how other people of colour in the cast had suffered the same treatment in the franchise, as he highlighted the experiences of Naomi Ackie, Kelly Marie Tran and Oscar Isaac, who he calls "a brother from Guatemala," explaining that their stories were sidelined in favour of giving "all the nuance" to their white co-stars. "Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver," he said. "You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know f*** all. So what do you want me to say? What they want you to say is, 'I enjoyed being a part of it. It was a great experience...' Nah, nah, nah. I'll take that deal when it's a great experience. "They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley. Let's be honest. Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I'm not exposing anything." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-upcoming-star-wars-movie&captions=true"] As extracts of the interview started to circulate on social media, Boyega encouraged people to read the article in its entirety to gain a clear understanding of his perspective. He tweeted: "These conversations and me sharing isn't about a witch hunt. It's about clarity to an anger that can be seen as selfish, disruptive and self indulgent. Obviously in hopes of better change. Bruh. In short. I said what I said. Love to you all seriously. Your support is amazing." Now that his time in the Star Wars franchise has drawn to a close, Boyega is looking forward to starring on-screen in Steve McQueen's upcoming anthology series, Small Axe, in which he portrays police officer and anti-racism reformer, Leroy Logan. Boyega noted how McQueen had been struck by his impassioned speech at the Black Lives Matter protest earlier this year, and how working with him on set has felt like he's been "given the chance to breathe." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

No Man's Sky developer Hello Games has a portion of its team working on a "huge, ambitious" new project. In an interview with Polygon, studio founder Sean Murray explained that Hello Games is now made up of 26 people. 3 have been working on new "Hello Games short" The Last Campfire, with the remaining 23 split between working on new updates for No Man's Sky, and a brand new project, which Murray calls "a huge, ambitious game like No Man’s Sky.” He also made clear that it isn't a sequel. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/08/18/sean-murray-on-the-present-past-and-future-of-no-mans-sky"] Practically nothing is known about the new game, but Hello Games confirmed to IGN that it is "very early" in development. Murray is seemingly unsure about how much to discuss the game in advance, after No Man's Sky's controversial release (and eventual redemption): "I think about it a lot and I don’t know where I come down on it," he told Polygon. "There is a really positive thing about talking about your game a lot. Where you get people interested in it who wouldn’t have played it otherwise. [...] But I look back, having done a lot of different press opportunities and things like that. And I reckon about half of what we did — and a lot of where we had problems, I think, where we were naive — we didn’t really need to do and we would have had the same level of success, you know?” It seems like we'll have quite a wait for the new game, but Hello Games isn't done with No Man's Sky, with the developer telling IGN there was "plenty" more to come from the space exploration sandbox. The Last Campfire was released last week, and it seems likely that we'll see other Hello Games shorts - designed with a similar creative impetus as Pixar's shorts - come in future too. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=no-mans-sky-new-multiplayer-screenshots&captions=true"] [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.

No Man's Sky developer Hello Games has a portion of its team working on a "huge, ambitious" new project. In an interview with Polygon, studio founder Sean Murray explained that Hello Games is now made up of 26 people. 3 have been working on new "Hello Games short" The Last Campfire, with the remaining 23 split between working on new updates for No Man's Sky, and a brand new project, which Murray calls "a huge, ambitious game like No Man’s Sky.” He also made clear that it isn't a sequel. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/08/18/sean-murray-on-the-present-past-and-future-of-no-mans-sky"] Practically nothing is known about the new game, but Hello Games confirmed to IGN that it is "very early" in development. Murray is seemingly unsure about how much to discuss the game in advance, after No Man's Sky's controversial release (and eventual redemption): "I think about it a lot and I don’t know where I come down on it," he told Polygon. "There is a really positive thing about talking about your game a lot. Where you get people interested in it who wouldn’t have played it otherwise. [...] But I look back, having done a lot of different press opportunities and things like that. And I reckon about half of what we did — and a lot of where we had problems, I think, where we were naive — we didn’t really need to do and we would have had the same level of success, you know?” It seems like we'll have quite a wait for the new game, but Hello Games isn't done with No Man's Sky, with the developer telling IGN there was "plenty" more to come from the space exploration sandbox. The Last Campfire was released last week, and it seems likely that we'll see other Hello Games shorts - designed with a similar creative impetus as Pixar's shorts - come in future too. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=no-mans-sky-new-multiplayer-screenshots&captions=true"] [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.

The Mandalorian's second season will officially be released on Disney+ on October 30, 2020. The announcement came from Twitter with some new title art of The Mandalorian himself and The Child (Baby Yoda!), and the words, "This is the day. New episodes start streaming Oct. 30 on #DisneyPlus. #TheMandalorian." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=an-adorable-gallery-of-baby-yoda&captions=true"] The Mandalorian's first season aired its final episode on December 27, 2019, and, in our review, we said "Every show needs time to find its footing in its first season, and The Mandalorian’s roughest edges - its wild shifts in tone, derivative standalone episodes, and clunky dialogue - are arguably exacerbated by the shortened episode order and weekly release schedule... But when the show is firing on all cylinders - as in its opening and closing run of episodes - it channels all the fun, escapism, and yes, earnest heart (or, if you prefer, occasional cheesiness) of the Original Trilogy." Season 1 aired its episodes weekly, and saw The Child / Baby Yoda take over our galaxy. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/03/the-mandalorian-season-1-review"] The Mandalorian's first season finale featured the return of a weapon with a major legacy in the Star Wars universe, the Darksaber. We've done a deep dive into the history of this weapon, which was previously owned by Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Bo-Katan Kryze, who will reportedly be played by Katee Sackhoff in season 2, and Star Wars Rebels' Sabine Wren. Now, it has somehow found its way into Giancarlo Esposito's Moff Gideon. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The Mandalorian's second season will officially be released on Disney+ on October 30, 2020. The announcement came from Twitter with some new title art of The Mandalorian himself and The Child (Baby Yoda!), and the words, "This is the day. New episodes start streaming Oct. 30 on #DisneyPlus. #TheMandalorian." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=an-adorable-gallery-of-baby-yoda&captions=true"] The Mandalorian's first season aired its final episode on December 27, 2019, and, in our review, we said "Every show needs time to find its footing in its first season, and The Mandalorian’s roughest edges - its wild shifts in tone, derivative standalone episodes, and clunky dialogue - are arguably exacerbated by the shortened episode order and weekly release schedule... But when the show is firing on all cylinders - as in its opening and closing run of episodes - it channels all the fun, escapism, and yes, earnest heart (or, if you prefer, occasional cheesiness) of the Original Trilogy." Season 1 aired its episodes weekly, and saw The Child / Baby Yoda take over our galaxy. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/03/the-mandalorian-season-1-review"] The Mandalorian's first season finale featured the return of a weapon with a major legacy in the Star Wars universe, the Darksaber. We've done a deep dive into the history of this weapon, which was previously owned by Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Bo-Katan Kryze, who will reportedly be played by Katee Sackhoff in season 2, and Star Wars Rebels' Sabine Wren. Now, it has somehow found its way into Giancarlo Esposito's Moff Gideon. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Netflix has released The Witcher: A Look Inside the Episodes, a new limited series exploring the stories and themes that powered the first season of The Witcher. The all-new miniseries was added to the Netflix library on Wednesday, with eight behind-the-scenes specials now available to stream. In the new series, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich invites viewers to take a deep dive into every single episode of the first season, providing fresh insight into some of the show's most crucial scenes and major events.

Go behind all 8 chapters of @WitcherNetflix. The Witcher: A Look Inside The Episodes is now streaming on Netflix. Episode 1 – The End’s Beginning pic.twitter.com/C5nuBlBaaW

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) September 2, 2020

The official Netflix page for The Witcher: A Look Inside the Episodes provides a brief summary of each short episode: Episode 1, The End's Beginning - Series creator and showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich breaks down the opening scenes and outlines how Geralt's encounter with Renfri sets up the season. Episode 2, Four Marks - Take a deep dive into the crucial role that Yennefer's backstory plays in her journey, and how the elves are a pillar in the Continent's world-building. Episode 3, Betrayer Moon - Delve into Geralt and Yennefer’s transformation stories, as he turns from slayer to savior, and she makes the ultimate sacrifice to become beautiful. Episode 4, Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials - Hissrich explains how the show's timelines come together, the moment Geralt changes his destiny and what compels Ciri to continue on her quest. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/21/the-witcher-season-1-ending-explained"] Episode 5, Bottled Appetites - Find out why the writers gave Geralt a terrible bout of insomnia and explore the magic-entangled dynamics of his fateful first encounter with Yennefer. Episode 6, Rare Species - After an intimate glimpse inside Geralt and Yennefer's complicated relationship, discover what it means for Ciri's story arc when she picks up a knife. Episode 7, Before a Fall - Dig into Geralt's white-knight complex, Ciri's character growth and what Hissrich describes as one of the season's loveliest scenes. Episode 8, Much More - From the meaning behind the finale's title to Geralt's dream and Yennefer's real motivation, Hissrich dissects events as the paths of destiny collide. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-witcher-explaining-all-the-characters-and-who-plays-them&captions=true"] The Witcher launched on Netflix last year and quickly became one of the most in-demand TV series' in the world across all streaming platforms, even surpassing Disney Plus' Star Wars: The Mandalorian as "the top show" around the globe for one week in December, as 76 million households streamed the first season of the action-packed fantasy-drama. Season 2 of The Witcher started filming in London earlier this year, with a planned release sometime in 2021. However, the shoot was suspended back in March as Netflix paused filming on all of its films and TV shows in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Netflix has since resumed production on the second season of the hit show after being given the "green light" to start filming again. If you want to explore the extraordinary world of The Witcher in the meantime, check out the other Netflix behind-the-scenes special Making The Witcher. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Netflix has released The Witcher: A Look Inside the Episodes, a new limited series exploring the stories and themes that powered the first season of The Witcher. The all-new miniseries was added to the Netflix library on Wednesday, with eight behind-the-scenes specials now available to stream. In the new series, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich invites viewers to take a deep dive into every single episode of the first season, providing fresh insight into some of the show's most crucial scenes and major events.

Go behind all 8 chapters of @WitcherNetflix. The Witcher: A Look Inside The Episodes is now streaming on Netflix. Episode 1 – The End’s Beginning pic.twitter.com/C5nuBlBaaW

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) September 2, 2020

The official Netflix page for The Witcher: A Look Inside the Episodes provides a brief summary of each short episode: Episode 1, The End's Beginning - Series creator and showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich breaks down the opening scenes and outlines how Geralt's encounter with Renfri sets up the season. Episode 2, Four Marks - Take a deep dive into the crucial role that Yennefer's backstory plays in her journey, and how the elves are a pillar in the Continent's world-building. Episode 3, Betrayer Moon - Delve into Geralt and Yennefer’s transformation stories, as he turns from slayer to savior, and she makes the ultimate sacrifice to become beautiful. Episode 4, Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials - Hissrich explains how the show's timelines come together, the moment Geralt changes his destiny and what compels Ciri to continue on her quest. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/21/the-witcher-season-1-ending-explained"] Episode 5, Bottled Appetites - Find out why the writers gave Geralt a terrible bout of insomnia and explore the magic-entangled dynamics of his fateful first encounter with Yennefer. Episode 6, Rare Species - After an intimate glimpse inside Geralt and Yennefer's complicated relationship, discover what it means for Ciri's story arc when she picks up a knife. Episode 7, Before a Fall - Dig into Geralt's white-knight complex, Ciri's character growth and what Hissrich describes as one of the season's loveliest scenes. Episode 8, Much More - From the meaning behind the finale's title to Geralt's dream and Yennefer's real motivation, Hissrich dissects events as the paths of destiny collide. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-witcher-explaining-all-the-characters-and-who-plays-them&captions=true"] The Witcher launched on Netflix last year and quickly became one of the most in-demand TV series' in the world across all streaming platforms, even surpassing Disney Plus' Star Wars: The Mandalorian as "the top show" around the globe for one week in December, as 76 million households streamed the first season of the action-packed fantasy-drama. Season 2 of The Witcher started filming in London earlier this year, with a planned release sometime in 2021. However, the shoot was suspended back in March as Netflix paused filming on all of its films and TV shows in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Netflix has since resumed production on the second season of the hit show after being given the "green light" to start filming again. If you want to explore the extraordinary world of The Witcher in the meantime, check out the other Netflix behind-the-scenes special Making The Witcher. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Dead By Daylight is set to receive a visual overhaul ahead of its Holiday 2020 next-gen release, with a series of free updates coming to the game over the next year. Current-gen owners will also automatically be given a free upgrade to the next-gen versions of the game. The Realm Beyond project will upgrade the Dead by Daylight experience on PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and Google Stadia with free updates that will address the game's "visuals, graphics, lighting, animations and more" More specifically, this means ongoing support for the game's introduction of Cross-Play, "more environmental elements in the Killing Grounds" and "more realistic modelling and texturing" for Dead by Daylight's characters, informed by the established lore. "Tens of thousands of assets" are set to be enhanced as part of the overhaul, and these visual improvements will be pushed to the game every six weeks in line with Dead by Daylight's current content roadmap. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/10/22/dead-by-daylight-stranger-things"] Having recently surpassed 30 million players, these updates arrive in service of "building up to a Dead by Daylight experience for the next generation of consoles," which will run at 4K 60 FPS and arrive later this year, during the Holiday 2020 launch window. Players who own Dead by Daylight on current generation consoles will be able to upgrade to the next-gen platform of their choice and keep all of their progression. In other Dead by Daylight news, check out this spooky trailer from when the game introduced its Silent Hill DLC, which features series characters Pyramid Head and Cheryl Mason. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Dead By Daylight is set to receive a visual overhaul ahead of its Holiday 2020 next-gen release, with a series of free updates coming to the game over the next year. Current-gen owners will also automatically be given a free upgrade to the next-gen versions of the game. The Realm Beyond project will upgrade the Dead by Daylight experience on PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and Google Stadia with free updates that will address the game's "visuals, graphics, lighting, animations and more" More specifically, this means ongoing support for the game's introduction of Cross-Play, "more environmental elements in the Killing Grounds" and "more realistic modelling and texturing" for Dead by Daylight's characters, informed by the established lore. "Tens of thousands of assets" are set to be enhanced as part of the overhaul, and these visual improvements will be pushed to the game every six weeks in line with Dead by Daylight's current content roadmap. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/10/22/dead-by-daylight-stranger-things"] Having recently surpassed 30 million players, these updates arrive in service of "building up to a Dead by Daylight experience for the next generation of consoles," which will run at 4K 60 FPS and arrive later this year, during the Holiday 2020 launch window. Players who own Dead by Daylight on current generation consoles will be able to upgrade to the next-gen platform of their choice and keep all of their progression. In other Dead by Daylight news, check out this spooky trailer from when the game introduced its Silent Hill DLC, which features series characters Pyramid Head and Cheryl Mason. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.