Monthly Archives: October 2022

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Crystal Lake: Friday the 13th Prequel Series in the Works From Hannibal Creator

Peacock has announced a straight-to-series order for a Friday the 13th prequel, Crystal Lake, with Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller at the helm.

In the reveal from Peacock, Fuller is listed as the writer, showrunner, and executive producer of the new Friday the 13th series. For now, more details on the prequel are slim, but Fuller is accompanied by executive producers A24, Marc Toberoff, Victor Miller, and Rob Barsamian.

“Friday the 13th is one of the most iconic horror franchises in movie history and we were dying to revisit this story with our upcoming drama series Crystal Lake,” said Susan Rovner, Chairman, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We can’t wait to get to work with Bryan Fuller, a gifted, visionary creator who I’ve had the pleasure of being a longtime friend and collaborator, along with our incredible partners at A24, in this updated version for Peacock that will thrill long-standing fans of the franchise.”

Friday the 13th isn't the first classic series Fuller has worked on, with writing credits on Star Trek and Carrie. Most notably, Fuller was also the NBC Hannibal series developer, writer, and executive producer. IGN praised all three seasons, and called its finale "a terrific culmination to the deliciously complicated Hannibal/Will dynamic."

“I discovered Friday the 13th in the pages of Famous Monsters magazine when I was 10 years old and I have been thinking about this story ever since," said Fuller. "When it comes to horror, A24 raises the bar and pushes the envelope and I’m thrilled to be exploring the camp grounds of Crystal Lake under their banner. And Susan Rovner is simply the best at what she does. It’s a pleasure and an honor to be working with her again."

It's been a while since the iconic slasher saw even a film entry, with the last movie, simply titled Friday the 13th, released back in 2009. Since then, Jason has kept up in playable appearances, like in Friday the 13th: The Game. The asymmetrical horror game dropped its dedicated server support years ago, but you can still celebrate the scary season with peer-to-peer matches.

As for more information on the state of streaming, be sure to also check out IGN's coverage on Peacock.

Andrea Shearon is a freelance news writer at IGN covering games and entertainment. Find her on Twitter (@Maajora) chatting about FFXIV and other RPGs.

Marvel Reportedly Casts Wonder Man For Upcoming Disney Plus Series

Marvel has seemingly found its Wonder Man.

Deadline reports Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is in talks to play Simon Williams/Wonder Man in the upcoming Disney+ series.

DC fans will recognize Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta from the Aquaman films, and as Cal Abar in HBO's Watchmen. The actor made headlines last month for calling his role on Aquaman "clown work", saying he likes to balance comic book appearances with more serious films. The actor has also appeared in The Trial of the Chicago 7 and as Morpheus in The Matrix Resurrections.

Wonder Man was created in the 1980s and is a key member of the West Coast Avengers. His ties to Wanda and Vision make him an interesting character to introduce, especially with the Vision Quest spinoff in the works.

Abdul-Mateen II will join Ben Kingsley in Wonder Man, who will reprise his role as struggling actor/faux-Mandarin Trevor Slattery. Reports claim that Kingsley's character "will play a major role" in Wonder Man, which is set to have a comedic tone.

Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton will serve as executive producer for the upcoming Wonder Man series on Disney+, with Andrew Guest on board as head writer. Cretton is a big part of the MCU's future plans, as the filmmaker will also direct Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and a Shang-Chi sequel.

We don't yet know when Wonder Man will hit Disney+. For now, MCU fans are looking forward to November's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which just got its first trailer.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Severance Adds a Bunch of Big Names to the Cast for Season 2

Apple TV+ has revealed a handful of stars joining the cast of Severance Season 2, including Game of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie, Bob Balaban, and more.

In addition to returning cast members like Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, and others, Severance is adding eight new actors into the mix.

The new cast additions are listed below:

  • Bob Balaban (The Chair, The Politician, The French Dispatch, Isle of Dogs)
  • Robby Benson (Beauty and The Beast, One To One)
  • Stefano Carannante (Mirabilia)
  • Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones, The Sandman, Wednesday)
  • John Noble (Fringe, Elementary, The Lord of the Rings films)
  • Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (The Tourist, Trapped, The Missing)
  • Alia Shawkat (Search Party, Being the Ricardos, The Old Man)
  • Merritt Wever (Godless, Unbelievable, Nurse Jackie)

Director Ben Stiller announced that they are back on set for Severance Season 2, with Apple TV+ also sharing a first look at star Adam Scott from the set. Stiller joked, "Though we don't know how long we've been gone or who we are outside, we are told people enjoy the show and we couldn't be happier. Praise Kier!”

Severance follows Scott's Mark Scout as he leads a team at Lumon Industries, where employees have undergone a "severance procedure" that separates their work and personal lives. Severance is helmed by creator and writer Dan Erickson and director and executive producer Ben Stiller, and the show is produced by Fifth Season.

In our review of Season 1's premiere, we said "the excellent cast, eerie visuals, and offputting score make every moment of the first two episodes feel worth the ride."

For more on Severance, read why the creator stopped reading Reddit theories about the show, or get ready for Season 2 with IGN's Severance ending explained.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

NASA Approves Psyche Mission to Explore Core of an Ancient Planet

NASA has greenlit a mission to explore the metal-heavy asteroid Psyche, which could represent the exposed core of a long-dead planet. The survival of the mission had previously been called into question following technical issues that forced it to miss its 2022 launch window.

In 1852 the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis discovered a roaming heavenly body traversing the night sky, which he named for the Greek goddess of the soul, Psyche.

Later telescope observations revealed that Psyche was in fact a 140-mile (226 km)-wide asteroid with a high metal content, that orbited in the main asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Psyche’s metal-heavy makeup — which accounts for somewhere between 30 - 60 percent of its total mass — set it apart from the rest of the million-plus asteroids that are known to roam our solar system. Many astronomers now believe that the strange body may be the exposed nickel-iron core of an ancient primordial planet, the outer layers of which were blasted off during a series of ancient collisions with other young planetoids.

If this were to be the case, Psyche would represent a unique opportunity to explore the core of a world born in the chaotic environment that was thought to prevail in the space around our young star billions of years ago.

Ordinarily, it would be impossible to make direct observations of a planet’s core. Earth’s metal-dominated heart, for example, is locked away some 3,000 km (1,800 miles) below the surface in a phenomenally high-pressure environment, which has a temperature of around 5,000°C (9,000°F). These are not ideal conditions for scientific study.

Therefore, despite the fact that it is orbiting the Sun in the hostile environment of interplanetary space, Psyche’s exposed core seems almost too good to be true. By observing the planetary remnant, astronomers could gain insights into the formation of the mighty planets of the solar system, including Earth and the multitude of distant exoplanets that have been discovered to date.

In 2017, NASA announced its intention to send an uncrewed probe to rendezvous with and explore the alien world. The spacecraft will be powered by two solar panels — which together give the probe an impressive wingspan of 81 ft (25 meters).

Alongside running the suite of scientific instruments mounted aboard the probe, the electricity generated by the panels will also be used to convert xenon gas into xenon ions, which can then be fired out of the rear of the spacecraft to provide thrust.

The Psyche mission is currently progressing through rigorous testing prior to its eventual launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

However, the road to launch has been anything but smooth. Psyche missed its initial 2022 launch date thanks to a series of technical setbacks, including issues with the probe’s flight control software. These problems were so severe that both an internal review and an independent probe were established to examine the technical issues surrounding the mission and to see whether it was still viable.

The findings of the independent review are still being finalized and will be made available to the public at a later date.

However, on Oct. 10, NASA announced that the mission would not be scrapped after all and that instead, the agency was aiming to launch the robotic spacecraft as soon as Oct. 10 next year. The mission has a lifetime budget of $985 million US dollars, of which over $717 million has already been spent.

If all goes well during the October 2023 launch, the lonely probe will travel through interplanetary space for around three years before using the gravity of Mars to radically alter its trajectory in 2026. Assuming this is a success, mission operators expect the probe to rendezvous with the asteroid Psyche in August 2029.

“I appreciate the hard work of the independent review board and the JPL-led team toward mission success,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, the Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “The lessons learned from Psyche will be implemented across our entire mission portfolio. I am excited about the science insights Psyche will provide during its lifetime and its promise to contribute to our understanding of our own planet’s core.”

Stay tuned to IGN’s Science page to stay up to date with the weird and wonderful world of science.

Anthony Wood is a freelance science writer for IGN

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State Univ./Space Systems Loral/Peter Rubin

Ghostbusters VR Gets Official Title, and Release Window

Sony Pictures VR officially announced the official title and release window for its upcoming Ghostbusters VR game.

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord is slated to launch in 2023 for the Meta Quest 2 and PlayStation VR2. The game was initially announced back in April during Meta's Gaming Showcase as a surprise announcement to wrap up the show.

Set in San Francisco, players run their own ghost-busting business. As noted in the press release, players will have the chance to play solo or with up to three friends as they try and "stop the powerful Ghost Lord and his band of malevolent ghosts from causing chaos" through San Francisco.

Sony Pictures VR confirmed to IGN that the upcoming Ghostbusters game will not be a direct sequel to the 2021 film Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Instead, the publisher explained that it was "really important" for the game's developer, nDreams, to "move forward and create a whole storyline."

While nothing firm outside of a 2023 release window has been announced, the game will release the same year Sony's second generation VR headset, PlayStation VR2, will release.

In August, Sony confirmed that it will launch the PSVR2 in early 2023. While the Meta Quest 2 is showing its age, we do know that the newly-announced (and costly) Quest Pro was announced a few weeks back. While it is designed to focus on work and productivity, it is compatible with the Meta Quest 2 library.

Meta has also confirmed that the gamer-focused Quest 3 will release next year and might also include backward compatibility for Quest 2 games.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

The Batman Penguin Spinoff Plot Details Revealed, Female Lead Cast

Cristin Milioti has joined HBO Max's Penguin spinoff of The Batman, where she will play Sofia Falcone.

Deadline first reported the casting news, saying Milioti's Sofia Falcone is the daughter of Carmine Falcone, and will fight with The Penguin for control of the city. Fans will have recently seen different iterations of Sofia Falcone in both Gotham and Batman: The Long Halloween.

Milioti is known for appearing in How I Met Your Mother as the titular mother, as well as 2020's Palm Springs, HBO Max's Made for Love, and Peacock's The Resort.

The Penguin spinoff on HBO Max is coming from The Batman director Matt Reeves, as one of a handful of planned Batman villain spinoffs. Milioti will star alongside Colin Farrell's Penguin, who is thrilled to return to the character following The Batman.

Farrell recently shared a few details about the Penguin show, saying it begins "about a week after the film The Batman ends, so Gotham is still somewhat underwater... I read the first script for the first episode, and it opens up with my feet splashing through the water in Falcone's office. Even just that alone, I read it, I was like, 'Oh, jeez.'"

In a time of great change for DC, The Batman universe appears to be safe. In addition to the Penguin show, The Batman 2 appears to be moving ahead with Reeves. We'll have to see if the plan for future The Batman projects changes at all now that James Gunn and Peter Safran are taking over the reorganized DC Studios.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Image Credit: (Photo by: David Yeh/Peacock via Getty Images)

No, Daniel Radcliffe Is Not the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Wolverine

Daniel Radcliffe has shut down the idea that he might succeed Hugh Jackman as the next Wolverine in the X-Men movies, labelling recent speculation as "purely a press tour rumor."

In a new interview with GQ magazine, Radcliffe addressed the latest round of Wolverine casting rumors, admitting that he hasn't always helped speculation. He said his responses during press tours have sometimes fuelled the X-Men buzz, but ultimately, he isn't looking to get his claws stuck into a role that he could get "locked" into for a long time.

"It's purely a press tour rumor; I say something, and then occasionally I get bored of answering that way so I say something different, and that sets it off again. I should just never open my mouth," Radcliffe observed, later adding, "I just don't ever want to get locked into something that I am not sure I will be able to love the same amount the whole time."

Rumors that Radcliffe could be playing the next Wolverine have been swirling for years, but he has repeatedly denied claims that he is taking over the role in the MCU. The actor told The View in March that speculation fires up because "Wolverine is short, so every so often they're like, 'Who's a short actor?' There's never been any actual truth to it.

"Every so often I get bored of answering the questions sensibly," he admitted to the hosts of the ABC talk show. "So I just make a joke like I did the other day and that sort of has reignited the rumors of it, but there's nothing going on."

Radcliffe might not be suiting up as Wolverine any time soon, but Jackman is ready to return to the role again. He last played Wolverine in 2017's Logan, publicly stating at the time that it would be his last film as the clawed superhero. He has since revealed that he is reprising the role for Deadpool 3 — we just hope he's wearing the character's classic yellow suit.

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

IKEA Sends Cease and Desist to Indie Dev Making Furniture Store Survival Game

Ikea has sent a cease and desist letter to the developer of The Store is Closed, an indie survival game about spending the night in a furniture store.

As reported by Kotaku, lawyers representing Ikea have accused solo developer Jacob Shaw of committing trademark infringement and have given him ten days to change parts of his game that allegedly represent Ikea branding.

This includes a blue and yellow sign, a Scandinavian name (STYR), yellow vertical striped shirts, a grey path on the floor, and some furniture. "All the foregoing immediately suggest that the game takes place in an Ikea store", the lawyers' letter said.

No reference to Ikea exists on The Store is Closed's Steam or Kickstarter pages, however, and Shaw maintains that he wasn't inspired by Ikea for the game's furniture as he bought a generic furniture asset pack that can be used in any game. The Ikea lawyers also cite press outlets and online commentators for drawing a comparison between his game and Ikea.

The letter continued: The "unauthorized use of the IKEA indicia constitutes unfair competition and false advertising under Sections 43(a) of the U.S. Trademark Act, 15 U.S. C § 1125(a), and state unfair competition and false advertising laws.

"You can of course easily make a video game set in a furniture store that does not look like, or suggest, an IKEA store. You can easily make changes to your game to avoid these problems, especially since you do not plan to release the game until 2024."

Shaw has indicated that he plans to make the changes to The Store is Closed, but is seeking legal advice himself. "I was going to spend the last week of my Kickstarter preparing an update for all the new alpha testers," Shaw told Kotaku. "But now I’ve got to desperately revamp the entire look of the game so I don’t get sued."

Though Shaw is just one developer, the entertainment has proven that any company, no matter how big, is at threat of being sued for copyright infringement. Cheats website AimJunkies is being sued by Bungie for implementing cheats in Destiny 2, while Paramount is being sued over its ownership (or lack thereof) of Top Gun: Maverick.

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

Marvel and EA Sign Three-Game Deal, Starting With Iron Man

Marvel has entered an agreement with FIFA and Battlefield publisher EA to make at least three action adventure video games based on the Marvel comics.

As reported by Bloomberg, this deal will begin with the previously announced Iron Man game from EA Motive, with all three games coming to consoles and PC. Though details about what's coming after Iron Man are still thin, each game will feature its own original story set in the Marvel universe.

Perhaps known more for its sports or traditional shooter games, EA is looking to increase its offerings with the Marvel deal. "We have an intentional, deliberate strategy to have a balanced portfolio," said chief operating officer Laura Miele. "There will be Marvel fans who don’t play other EA games."

It's unclear if the second and third game will be centred on different Marvel characters like The Hulk or Thor or if they'll be follow-ups to the Iron Man game, similar to what Insomniac did with Spider-Man, its spin-off Miles Morales, and upcoming sequel.

Nothing about a release schedule or single versus multiplayer focus was mentioned either, though we do know that EA Motive's Iron Man is a "single player, action-adventure game".

EA Motive is the developer behind the upcoming Dead Space remake and has previously worked on the likes of Star Wars: Squadrons and Star Wars: Battlefront 2, but we'll just have to wait and see which other studios are involved with the remaining two Marvel projects.

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

DC’s Stargirl Cancelled After 3 Seasons

DC's Stargirl has been cancelled and will end with its current third season, which is scheduled to air its finale on December 7.

According to Deadline, the team behind DC's Stargirl had an early heads-up that the series would not continue beyond its third season, so they could wrap up the story in the script room. The remaining episodes of Stargirl will continue to air on Wednesdays through December 7, with creator Geoff Johns promising "complete creative closure" at the end.

"Stargirl has always held a special place in my heart for many reasons," Johns explained in a statement on Monday. "With all the brewing changes at the network, we were aware this was possibly the last season, so we wrote with that in mind and have delivered what I believe to be the best season of Stargirl yet, with complete creative closure.

"The cast and crew are extraordinary, and I'd like to thank them for helping me bring this series to life," he added. "Brec embodied Courtney in every way possible — with grace, strength and humor — exceeding my wildest expectations. I am grateful to WBTV and The CW for giving us a home to tell this story and to honor my beloved late sister, and I'm beyond thankful to the press and fans who have always championed us for three amazing seasons. Most series never get this far. We couldn't be more proud of our show and the fan community it's built!"

Lead star Brec Bassinger added, "Getting to play Stargirl and be a part of the DC Universe has been the greatest honor, and I am so grateful for every moment of it. I would like to thank our fearless leader Geoff Johns, along with WBTV, The CW, the cast and crew of Stargirl, and of course, the fans. Thank you. This show will forever live in my heart."

The cancellation of Stargirl comes less than a month after Nexstar Media Group completed its acquisition of The CW from co-owners Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global, who have each retained a 12.5% ownership interest in the network, while Nexstar has taken a 75% majority stake of the company — which is now headed up by Dennis Miller.

Stargirl is the latest series to be axed after Nexstar reportedly indicated that it was going shift The CW's demographic by moving towards unscripted content and shows. Other cancellations at The CW include DC's Batwoman, The Flash, Riverdale, Nancy Drew, and Legends of Tomorrow, which was cancelled after seven seasons and more than 100 episodes.

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

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