Although she hadn't been seen since Thor: The Dark World, WandaVision episode four brought back the sarcastic Darcy Lewis, once again played by Kat Dennings, who has graduated to being a scientist in her own right in the ensuing years. But with filming on Thor: Love and Thunder now underway in Australia, what are the chances that Dennings will reprise her role in the MCU franchise that introduced Darcy? IGN's Jesse Gill posed that very question to Kat Dennings today during an interview to promote the latest episode of Marvel's WandaVision. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/marvels-wandavision-sitcom-official-clip"] According to Dennings, the chances of Darcy hanging out with her old pals Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) in Love and Thunder appear highly unlikely. "Well, I have not gotten a call so I kind of doubt it since they’re shooting it right now so probably not," Dennings told IGN, adding, "but anything Marvel ever asks of me the answer’s always yes." While Dennings' Darcy may not return for the fourth Thor movie, plenty of other MCU veterans are, such as Thor and Thor: The Dark World's Jaime Alexander as the warrior Sif. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=thor-love-and-thunder-8-characters-who-could-be-valkyries-queen&captions=true"] In addition to Sif, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and (most) of the Guardians of the Galaxy cast will play supporting roles in the Taika Waititi-directed sequel. Even Matt Damon's cameo character from Thor: Ragnarok will return. Christian Bale has made the leap from DC to Marvel here to play the villainous Gorr the God-Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder. Look for our full interview with Kat Dennings in the days ahead. The next episode of WandaVision debuts on Disney+ this Friday.

A GameStop stock TV series is also in the works after two movies were announced.

When Capcom debuted the villain of Resident Evil Village, a downright towering vampire woman by the name of Lady Alcina Dimitrescu, they had to have known how, uh...eager the RE fanbase would be to know more about her, right? With her WNBA-shattering height and dominant personality, Lady Dimitrescu quickly became an internet phenomenon, and fans were most excited to learn exactly how tall she is.

Resident Evil fans finally have their answer. RE Village art director Tomonori Tanako released a statement thanking fans for their interest in Village and shed some light on the matter.

“Most recently, Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters have received a fair amount of attention, far more than we anticipated” Tanako said. “It’s great that they’re able to take the spotlight as icons of Resident Evil Village. Lady Dimitrescu, especially, has received much fanfare both domestically and overseas, which has made all of us in the development team extremely happy. I hear her height is something of interest….”

“If you include her hat and high heels,” Tanako continued, “[Lady Dimitrescu is] 2.9 meters (approximately 9’6”) tall.”

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So there you have it. Capcom has finally released fans from horny jail and subsequently thrown them into the horny wine cellar. We look forward to repeatedly being captured by Resident Evil's big lady.

Just for the record, here are some things that Lady Dimitrescu is taller than: A Christmas tree, Andre the Giant, Shaq, a king size bed standing vertically, or most importantly, the actual tallest man or woman ever recorded.

Resident Evil Village is out on May 7, 2021. You can check out our Resident Evil Village pre-order guide to make sure you get the best possible deal on all the fancy collectibles. Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/human wine cask for IGN.

Judgment, the Yakuza spin-off, is coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and Stadia on April 23. Originally a PS4 exclusive, the action game will come to new platforms with all of its DLC, "refined" visuals, 60 FPS performance, and improved loading times. It will be released at a $39.99 price point (UK and AU prices not available at time of writing). Sega confirmed to IGN that cross-buy will not be supported for PS4 and PS5, and we could not get an answer on whether progress can be carried over from the PS4 version to the PS5 version. Furthermore, RGG Studios says it does not have plans to release Judgement for PC at this time. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=judgment-next-gen-version-screenshots&captions=true"] Set in the same world as Yakuza, and in its familiar Kamurocho district, Judgment tells a very different story, with an almost entirely new cast of characters. Centred on lawyer-turned-private detective Takayuki Yagami, the game follows a muder mystery, alongside the Yakuza series' usual bizarre sidequests and activities. We awarded Judgment an 8.2/10 review back in 2019, calling it "a superficial detective experience, but an extremely good Yakuza one." [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.

Originally scheduled as a day-one PS5 launch exclusive, Lucid Games’ Destruction AllStars was pushed into February for a planned debut as a PlayStation Plus game. And ss Lucid and Sony XDEV team members tell IGN, the delay was in part to properly allow for that PS Plus launch, with the added benefit of making some adjustments that might have needed to wait for post-launch updates. “It made sense [to delay and go to PS Plus] just as a predominantly online multiplayer game. It absolutely made sense to go out to that widest audience possible. And what better way to do that than to the PlayStation Plus audience,” XDEV Senior Producer John MacLaughlin told IGN in an interview ahead of AllStars’ launch. MacLaughlin also noted that the developers have taken that time to prep their backend and servers accordingly to handle the potentially larger audience. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/27/destruction-allstars-state-of-play-video"] And AllStars Game Director Colin Berry noted how the move was something the Lucid and XDEV teams were eager to pursue. When it became a reality, it meant the team could prep for a launch that gives this new franchise its “best possible chance to succeed.” “It gives us the most people playing it, the most eyes on it, which means we get the most feedback, not just in terms of raw data and analytics, but we get feedback from the player saying, ‘We love this character and we want more of this.’ Or, ‘We like this or this isn't quite working how we wanted because the balance of this.’” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=destruction-allstars-game-modes-reveal&captions=true"] And that decision to delay to allow for a launch via PS Plus, which entitles all subscribers of the service to a copy of AllStars, makes a lot of sense when considering there are over 40 million PS Plus subscribers by Sony’s last announced count, which gives this brand new franchise quite the built-in audience. But Berry also explained how the delay did give the team time to make adjustments that will benefit players as they jump right into the car combat action. “One of the main things that we polished in that time period was, um, the onboarding, the messaging of the game rules to people,” Berry said. “We had a couple of systems in for the tutorial that were working, but we knew it wasn't quite right. We knew we had plans for post-launch, we'll do this and we'll do this. And then suddenly, we don't have to wait for post-launch now, let's get all that stuff in.” Players will be able to see just what awaits them shortly, as Destruction AllStars will be available as a PS5 exclusive on February 2. For more on this week's PS5 exclusive release, check out the latest on Destruction AllStars' modes, currency, and more. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

HBO Max has revealed Batman: The Audio Adventures, which is a comedic take on the Caped Crusader featuring Jeffrey Wright as the voice of the Dark Knight. This news comes by way of The Hollywood Reporter, which also reports that longtime Saturday Night Live writer, Dennis McNicholas, will write and direct the multi-episode podcast series. It will hit HBO Max sometime in 2021 and is being produced under the Warner Bros. Blue Ribbon Content banner. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/23/the-batman-trailer-dc-fandome-official-footage"] McNicholas' history with SNL shines through in the cast of this podcast, which is filled with SNL alum amongst others. Alongside Wright, who will voice the titular character, the audio cast includes Rosario Dawson, who has voiced Wonder Woman in previous DC projects and Batgirl/Barbara Gordon in The LEGO Batman Movie, Seth Myers, Jason Sudeikis, Alan Tudyk, Chris Parnell, Melissa Villaseñor, Kenan Thompson, Heidi Gardner, Brooke Shields, Tim Meadows, Fred Armisen, Brent Spiner, John Leguizamo, Ike Barinholtz, Bobby Moynihan, Paul Scheer, Ray Wise, Ben Rodgers, Katie Rich, Pete Schultz, Paula Pell, Toby Huss, and McNicholas as well. Who these actors are voicing has not yet been announced. Details regarding the plot of Batman: The Audio Adventures are unknown at this time, but it is meant to be a more comedic take on the otherwise very-dark Dark Knight, which is reflected in the SNL-centric cast. McNicholas is producing the podcast with Angela Petrella and Justice League producer, Jon Berg, will serve as the executive producer. The podcast is expected to launch this year on HBO Max. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=7-detective-stories-the-batman-could-adapt&captions=true"] While this will be Wright's first time stepping into the Batsuit, it's not his first stroll through Gotham. He's playing James Gordon in the upcoming Matt Reeves-directed movie, The Batman, which stars Rob Pattinson in the role of a Batman earlier in his career. While waiting for Wright's Batman podcast, check out the first trailer for The Batman and then watch this video breaking down every clue hidden within that trailer. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Google Stadia, the tech giant’s video game streaming platform which launched in 2019, is shutting down its internal game development studios and refocusing on offering its tech platform to third-party publishers, the company announced Monday.

As first reported by Kotaku, Google will close its two Stadia Games & Entertainment studios located in Los Angeles and Montreal. The closure will impact approximately 150 employees, one source told Kotaku. Google says it will try to find new roles at the company for those impacted.

"With the recent successful launch of Cyberpunk 2077 on Stadia, gameplay on all types of devices, including iOS, growing our slate of YouTube integrations, and our global expansions, it’s clear that Stadia’s technology has been proven and works at scale," Google's vice president of Stadia and GM Phil Harrison said in a statement. "Having games streamed to any screen is the future of this industry, and we’ll continue to invest in Stadia and its underlying platform to provide the best cloud gaming experience for our partners and the gaming community. This has been the vision of Stadia since the beginning."

Jade Raymond, the noted producer who helped bring Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise to life, is also departing from her role as head of game development at Google.

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What does this mean for Stadia subscribers? Google states that players can still access their games on Stadia (or the $10-a-month Stadia Pro), and that third-party games will continue to release on the service. It’s unclear how many third-party games Google plans on hosting on Stadia.

A key pillar of Google’s new strategy is offering up Stadia’s game streaming technology to other interested companies. Google’s head of Stadia operations, Phil Harrison, will lead that initiative.

Google Stadia launched with some serious hype, but a rocky start plagued by technical issues and a thin library of games proved to be the service’s downfall. Ironically, Cyberpunk 2077’s Stadia version proved to be one of the more reliable platforms to play the notoriously buggy open-world RPG on.

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Google also undercut its own Stadia Pro subscription plan by eventually offering a free version of the service in April 2020. Though Google gradually chipped away at its list of missing features and conveniences, its distinct lack of first-party games proved to remain a concern. In IGN’s own review, we saw absolutely no reason to subscribe to Stadia Pro while the free service remained equally viable. Stadia also saw stiff competition from Microsoft’s XCloud service, which similarly streamed a wide variety of games to almost any device provided the internet connection was strong enough. A common concern among Stadia skeptics was whether or not Google would invest long enough in the service for it to realize its potential, a fear that seems justified now.

Despite Google’s seemingly immense influence on the world of technology, the company appeared to lack the resources or ship any major game. One source familiar with Stadia’s first-party work told Kotaku: “Google was a terrible place to make games. Imagine Amazon, but under-resourced.”

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

The Walt Disney Company has announced that a new Disney+ series is in development with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler that is based on the Kingdom of Wakanda. This Kingdom of Wakanda series will be part of Disney's five-year overall exclusive television deal with Coogler's Proximity Media. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] "It’s an honor to be partnering with The Walt Disney Company. Working with them on Black Panther was a dream come true. As avid consumers of television, we couldn’t be happier to be launching our television business with Bob Iger, Dana Walden and all the amazing studios under the Disney umbrella. We look forward to learning, growing, and building a relationship with audiences all over the world through the Disney platforms. We are especially excited that we will be taking our first leap with Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and their partners at Marvel Studios where we will be working closely with them on select MCU shows for Disney+. We’re already in the mix on some projects that we can't wait to share,” stated Ryan Coogler on behalf of Proximity Media. No further details were given regarding the Kingdom of Wakanda series, but Disney has already made clear that it will not recast the late Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa following the actor's death for Black Panther 2, so it can be assumed the same will be true here. In late 2020, a report claimed that Black Panther 2 would begin filming in Atlanta in July 2021, with a shoot that could last up to six months under the director of Coogler. Furthermore, it is said that Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke and Angela Bassett will all be returning, with Wright's Shuri possibly taking on a much more prominent role. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/every-marvel-announcement-from-disneys-investors-call"] [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.

Santa Monica Studio has officially announced that God of War's PS5 patch will be released tomorrow, February 2, and will bring a 4K/60 FPS mode to the PlayStation exclusive. Announced on Santa Monica Studio's blog, this free update will replace the current video graphics mode option with a new default setting that "will offer the best of both performance and resolution to our PlayStation 5 players." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/12/21/why-god-of-war-is-igns-2018-game-of-the-year"] On the PlayStation 4 Pro version of 2018's God of War, players would have to make a choice between a graphics mode that favored performance and one that favored resolution. Now, no sacrifice needs to be made. God of War's Enhanced Performance Experience offers the following;

• Syncs to 60 FPS
• 4K Checkerboard Resolution
• 2160p

There will also be an Original Performance Experience that can be selected at any time and will represent the PlayStation 4 'Favor Resolution' video graphics mode. This mode offers 4K Checkerboard Resolution synced up to 30 FPS. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-ps5-games&captions=true"] Around the launch of the PS5, Santa Monica Studio announced that God of War would be able to run at 60 FPS in the 'Favor Performance" mode on Sony's next-gen console. Furthermore, save transfers are supported from PS5, so players can jump right back in to their game with these improvements whenever they wish. If you have yet to try God of War, which we crowned our 2018 Game of the Year, be sure to check it out through the PlayStation Plus Collection. God of War and many of the best PlayStation games are available for download if you are a subscriber to PlayStation Plus. [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.

Saved by the Bell Star Dustin Diamond has died, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Diamond, who played the young Samuel “Screech” Powers on NBC’s Saved by the Bell sitcom, died Monday morning due to complications from stage 4 lung cancer, a representative told TMZ.

[caption id="attachment_246800" align="alignnone" width="720"] SAVED BY THE BELL -- Pictured: Dustin Diamond as Screech Powers -- Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank .[/caption]

Diamond was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in early January and was admitted to a Florida hospital after experiencing unusual physical pain. According to TMZ, Diamond’s condition had greatly declined since last week, and the former child star was taken off a breathing machine in order to transfer him to hospice care.

Diamond’s Hollywood career largely centered on his role as Screech on Saved by the Bell, which originally ran from 1989 to 1993. Diamond joined the cast again for the follow-up series Saved by the Bell: The College Years in 1993. Diamond also appeared as Mr. Belding’s assistant in seasons 2-7 of Saved by the Bell: New Class, which ran from 1993 to 2000.

A sequel series dubbed “Saved by the Bell” was launched on NBC’s Peacock in 2020, and featured many of the original cast, but Diamond was not recast much to the actor’s vocal disappointment.

Diamond’s career was also marred by his appearance in a 2006 sex tape (Diamond later said it was a body double), lawsuits involving delinquent taxes, foreclosure proceedings over missing mortgage payments, and a four-month jail sentence for his part in a bar stabbing. Diamond also appeared on a number of reality shows, including the 12th season of Big Brother, Celebrity Fit Club, The Weakest Link, and Celebrity Boxing 2, where he acquired a reputation for being confrontational with other cast members.

Diamond was 44.

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