Monthly Archives: February 2022

Netflix’s Sandman Is ‘All About Reinventing Itself’

Expect the unexpected in The Sandman – the upcoming Netflix show that reimagines itself with every episode.

During an interview with Empire, original Sandman comic creator Neil Gaiman said that the upcoming TV adaptation is all about surprising its viewers.

“If you didn’t like an episode of Game of Thrones, you probably won’t like any other episode of Game of Thrones,” he explained. “With Sandman, it’s all about surprising you. It’s all about reinventing itself. It’s all about taking you on a journey you’ve not been on before.”

Gaiman also added that the series takes a genre-hopping approach, switching things up with each and every episode.

“You watch Episode 1 and think, ‘Oh, I get this thing: it’s like Downton Abbey, but with magic,’” he said. “Then you’ll be wondering, ‘What the hell is this?’ by Episode 2, when you’re meeting Gregory The Gargoyle in The Dreaming. Episode 5 is about as dark and traumatic as anything is ever gonna get, then you’ve got Episode 6, which is probably the most feel-good of all the episodes.”

It certainly sounds like a lot to get your head around, but that’s definitely a good thing.

The Sandman comics were first published in 1988 by DC and writer Neil Gaiman. A fantasy tale starring the anthropomorphic representation of metaphysical entities, it’s long thought to have been difficult to bring to the screen. Exploring life, death, and the metaphysical nature of dreams, The Sandman is quite a sprawling epic.

An impressive cast will bring the whole thing to life for Netflix, with Tom Sturridge taking the lead role as Dream. We even got our first look at the upcoming show just a few months ago, with posters for each of the main characters. A recent glimpse of Gwendoline Christie’s Lucifer was also unveiled.

The Sandman was officially greenlit back in 2019, with Neil Gaiman serving as executive producer. But it’s been a long road to get the show made, with Gaiman trying for years to get the project off the ground.

If you want to learn more about The Sandman comic series and how it’s being adapted, here's everything you need to know about The Sandman.

Tom Sturridge stars as Dream (aka Morpheus) alongside Vivienne Acheampong as the librarian Lucienne. Joining them is Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian, Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess, Asim Chaudry and Sanjeev Bhaskar as Abel and Cain, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, and Stephen Fry as Gilbert.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

PSA: Elden Ring Spoilers Have Leaked Onto the Internet

Elden Ring spoilers have leaked online just a week ahead of its official launch on February 25.

The game's opening cinematic has been unofficially published, so for those avoiding all Elden Ring content until its release, avoid searching the game's name on YouTube.

Several screenshots have also been posted on Reddit that show a never before seen area of the game, clearly something developer FromSoftware wanted players to discover organically themselves.

Eurogamer spotted the leaks and also reported that several extended gameplay clips had been published, though Bandai Namco quickly took these down.

A less impactful leak that actually delighted fans came a few weeks ago, however, when Elden Ring's incredibly in-depth character creator was posted online.

IGN had the chance to play the first six hours of Elden Ring. We said this "was far too little time to scratch the surface" but "FromSoft seems determined to provide more of what they do best."

The game will include plenty of challenge, of course, and Elden Ring's producer said there are some particularly difficult bosses hidden in its open world. For players on PC, however, the most challenging part of Elden Ring may be meeting its system requirements.

The game's story will seeminlgy prove as complex as other FromSoftware games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but director Hidetaka Miyazaki has been equally cryptic about what it may include.

He said that George R.R. Martin, who helped create the game world's history, may be shocked to see what has become of his characters, though he likened working with Martin to speaking with an old friend.

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

PSA: Elden Rings Spoilers Have Leaked Onto the Internet

Elden Ring spoilers have leaked online just a week ahead of its official launch on February 25.

The game's opening cinematic has been unofficially published, so for those avoiding all Elden Ring content until its release, avoid searching the game's name on YouTube.

Several screenshots have also been posted on Reddit that show a never before seen area of the game, clearly something developer FromSoftware wanted players to discover organically themselves.

Eurogamer spotted the leaks and also reported that several extended gameplay clips had been published, though Bandai Namco quickly took these down.

A less impactful leak that actually delighted fans came a few weeks ago, however, when Elden Ring's incredibly in-depth character creator was posted online.

IGN had the chance to play the first six hours of Elden Ring. We said this "was far too little time to scratch the surface" but "FromSoft seems determined to provide more of what they do best."

The game will include plenty of challenge, of course, and Elden Ring's producer said there are some particularly difficult bosses hidden in its open world. For players on PC, however, the most challenging part of Elden Ring may be meeting its system requirements.

The game's story will seeminlgy prove as complex as other FromSoftware games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but director Hidetaka Miyazaki has been equally cryptic about what it may include.

He said that George R.R. Martin, who helped create the game world's history, may be shocked to see what has become of his characters, though he likened working with Martin to speaking with an old friend.

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

Uncharted Movie Features Fight Moves ‘Stolen Straight From the Games’

Uncharted has borrowed a lot more from the video games than we thought.

During a new interview, 25-year-old Uncharted star Tom Holland revealed that you’ve probably seen some of his fight moves before. “There are moves in the film which are stolen straight from the game,” he revealed.

He then went on to demonstrate one of them. “There's stuff like that that we stole, but the balance of trying to make it look really cool while also being believable was tricky, and there's some creative freedom that we took.”

But it’s not just the fighting you’ll recognize from the games.

Appearing in a recent trailer, the cargo plane sequence was one of the toughest stunts Holland has ever filmed. But it’s also one of the multiple scenes which are clearly based on the video games – in this case, mirroring the impressive action sequence in Uncharted 3.

“The hand-to-hand stuff is really, really cool,” said director Ruben Fleischer. “But it’s worth talking about the sequence out of the back of the plane. That’s the one that truly we just wanted to take a moment that everyone would recognize from the games and then try and bring it to life on the screen.”

Here, we see Nathan Drake (played by Tom Holland) falling out of the back of a cargo plane… and then desperately scrambling across cargo crates to clamber his way back inside. It certainly is impressive.

“It’s one of the most iconic from the Uncharted series,” said Naughty Dog president, Neil Druckmann. “It was so thrilling when Nate hits that crate and spins in the air – I’ve never seen anything like that in a video game. And it’s playable. You remove the interactive part and now you’ve got to make it even more exciting, visually.”

Tom Holland stars as Nathan Drake alongside Mark Wahlberg as Sully. Joining them are Sophia Ali as a fellow treasure hunter and love interest Chloe Frazer, Tati Gabrielle as Braddock, and Antonio Banderas as the film’s currently unnamed (but presumably badass) villain.

Uncharted is directed by Ruben Fleischer, and based on a script by Rafe Judkins, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Uncharted Movie Features Fight Moves ‘Stolen Straight From the Games’

Uncharted has borrowed a lot more from the video games than we thought.

During a new interview, 25-year-old Uncharted star Tom Holland revealed that you’ve probably seen some of his fight moves before. “There are moves in the film which are stolen straight from the game,” he revealed.

He then went on to demonstrate one of them. “There's stuff like that that we stole, but the balance of trying to make it look really cool while also being believable was tricky, and there's some creative freedom that we took.”

But it’s not just the fighting you’ll recognize from the games.

Appearing in a recent trailer, the cargo plane sequence was one of the toughest stunts Holland has ever filmed. But it’s also one of the multiple scenes which are clearly based on the video games – in this case, mirroring the impressive action sequence in Uncharted 3.

“The hand-to-hand stuff is really, really cool,” said director Ruben Fleischer. “But it’s worth talking about the sequence out of the back of the plane. That’s the one that truly we just wanted to take a moment that everyone would recognize from the games and then try and bring it to life on the screen.”

Here, we see Nathan Drake (played by Tom Holland) falling out of the back of a cargo plane… and then desperately scrambling across cargo crates to clamber his way back inside. It certainly is impressive.

“It’s one of the most iconic from the Uncharted series,” said Naughty Dog president, Neil Druckmann. “It was so thrilling when Nate hits that crate and spins in the air – I’ve never seen anything like that in a video game. And it’s playable. You remove the interactive part and now you’ve got to make it even more exciting, visually.”

Tom Holland stars as Nathan Drake alongside Mark Wahlberg as Sully. Joining them are Sophia Ali as a fellow treasure hunter and love interest Chloe Frazer, Tati Gabrielle as Braddock, and Antonio Banderas as the film’s currently unnamed (but presumably badass) villain.

Uncharted is directed by Ruben Fleischer, and based on a script by Rafe Judkins, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Baldur’s Gate 3: 2022 Will Be The Last Full Year of Development

Baldur's Gate 3 is nearing an official release as developer Larian has said this will be its last year in development.

Studio head Swen Vincke told PCGamesN that, while the priority is always to make the game as good as possible, he expects Larian to achieve a full release in the next year.

He said: "We’re going to release it when it’s ready. The main goal here is quality: getting the game at the quality level that it needs to be.

"That said, we do think we still need a year to do that. But it will be the last year. We’re getting to the end of it."

Vincke added that Baldur's Gate 3's full release is "probably not this year, but it's not going to be much later than that."

While this still seems uncertain, Larian said in June last year that the game wouldn't leave Early Access until at least 2022, so its official launch does appearing to be inching closer.

The Early Access version of Baldur's Gate 3 released in October 2020 with several dozens of hours of content, and IGN said it was "probably the closest a story-focused RPG of this kind has come to emulating the experience of tabletop Dungeons & Dragons."

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

Baldur’s Gate 3: 2022 Will Be The Last Full Year of Development

Baldur's Gate 3 is nearing an official release as developer Larian has said this will be its last year in development.

Studio head Swen Vincke told PCGamesN that, while the priority is always to make the game as good as possible, he expects Larian to achieve a full release in the next year.

He said: "We’re going to release it when it’s ready. The main goal here is quality: getting the game at the quality level that it needs to be.

"That said, we do think we still need a year to do that. But it will be the last year. We’re getting to the end of it."

Vincke added that Baldur's Gate 3's full release is "probably not this year, but it's not going to be much later than that."

While this still seems uncertain, Larian said in June last year that the game wouldn't leave Early Access until at least 2022, so its official launch does appearing to be inching closer.

The Early Access version of Baldur's Gate 3 released in October 2020 with several dozens of hours of content, and IGN said it was "probably the closest a story-focused RPG of this kind has come to emulating the experience of tabletop Dungeons & Dragons."

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

Robert Pattinson’s Original Batman Voice Was ‘Absolutely Atrocious’

The Batman star Robert Pattinson had a bit of trouble finding his Bat-voice.

During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the 35-year-old Batman revealed that he wanted to do something “radically different.”

“Everyone does this kind of gruff, gravelly thing,” he explained. “And I’m like, ‘I’m going to do the opposite — I’m gonna go really whispery.’ And I tried to do it for the first two weeks, and it just looked absolutely atrocious, and they told me to stop doing it.”

Eventually, Pattinson found his voice, with a deeper, more traditional Batman tone. “You can feel when it feels right,” he added. “You put the suit on, and you have to speak in a certain way.”

But it turns out his whispery version had been seen before.

“I found out from Nick, who was putting me in the suit every day, that’s what Christian Bale did on Batman Begins,” said Pattinson. “And if you listen to the first Batman Begins teaser trailer, you can hear the original voice. I only found this out a couple of weeks ago.”

This isn’t the first time Pattinson spoken about finding his Bat-voice. He recently explained that it took him a while to get it right, with a lot of trial and error before he found something he was happy with.

“It's weird, it just suddenly starts to feel right,” he explained. “It seems that the more you embody the suit, the more you embody the character; it just started to come out quite organically. That's kind of what I was trying to do with the character; I was trying to think, he's not putting on a voice -- he puts on the suit, and the voice just starts happening for him.”

Obviously, the voice is an important part of the role when playing Batman. And while Christian Bale used a deeper tone, much like Pattinson, Ben Affleck’s version used a voice modulator instead, to bring his voice down a couple of octaves, giving him more of an autotune sounding tone.

Robert Pattinson stars as The Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Colin Farrell as The Penguin, and Paul Dano as The Riddler. The Batman is directed by Matt Reeves, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Peter Craig.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Robert Pattinson’s Original Batman Voice Was ‘Absolutely Atrocious’

The Batman star Robert Pattinson had a bit of trouble finding his Bat-voice.

During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the 35-year-old Batman revealed that he wanted to do something “radically different.”

“Everyone does this kind of gruff, gravelly thing,” he explained. “And I’m like, ‘I’m going to do the opposite — I’m gonna go really whispery.’ And I tried to do it for the first two weeks, and it just looked absolutely atrocious, and they told me to stop doing it.”

Eventually, Pattinson found his voice, with a deeper, more traditional Batman tone. “You can feel when it feels right,” he added. “You put the suit on, and you have to speak in a certain way.”

But it turns out his whispery version had been seen before.

“I found out from Nick, who was putting me in the suit every day, that’s what Christian Bale did on Batman Begins,” said Pattinson. “And if you listen to the first Batman Begins teaser trailer, you can hear the original voice. I only found this out a couple of weeks ago.”

This isn’t the first time Pattinson spoken about finding his Bat-voice. He recently explained that it took him a while to get it right, with a lot of trial and error before he found something he was happy with.

“It's weird, it just suddenly starts to feel right,” he explained. “It seems that the more you embody the suit, the more you embody the character; it just started to come out quite organically. That's kind of what I was trying to do with the character; I was trying to think, he's not putting on a voice -- he puts on the suit, and the voice just starts happening for him.”

Obviously, the voice is an important part of the role when playing Batman. And while Christian Bale used a deeper tone, much like Pattinson, Ben Affleck’s version used a voice modulator instead, to bring his voice down a couple of octaves, giving him more of an autotune sounding tone.

Robert Pattinson stars as The Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Colin Farrell as The Penguin, and Paul Dano as The Riddler. The Batman is directed by Matt Reeves, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Peter Craig.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Spider-Man: Andrew Garfield And Charlie Cox’s Efforts To Avoid Spoilers Included Eating Lunch Facing the Wall

Tom Holland doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to Marvel spoilers, but it looks as though Andrew Garfield takes it all a bit more seriously and was determined to keep those Spider-Man: No Way Home secrets.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Daredevil star Charlie Cox revealed that he and Andrew Garfield met for lunch during production. But they tried to hide from fans to avoid giving the game away.

“While we were sitting down, it occurred to both of us, ‘Oh, shit. If we’re filmed here together, that’s not a good sign’,” he laughed. “So, we ended up sitting facing the wall, both of us.”

Of course, both Cox and Garfield had cameos in the recent Spider-Man film.

And if they were spotted together in Atlanta, that could have been enough for eagle-eyed fans to join the dots. Thankfully, now the film has long been released, Cox can relax a little.

"I hate lying," he said. "But I really don’t want to ruin it for anyone. My feeling is, if someone asks you, and you say, 'I don’t know… We’ll have to wait and see.' That gives it away! It’s obvious! No one is going to say that if you’re not in it. I am relieved it’s over."

The appearance of Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home cemented Daredevil’s return to the MCU. And it’s no secret that Tom Holland wants to see his Spider-Man team up with the Man Without Fear.

But with the return of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, it looks as though there could be bigger fish to fry for Charlie Cox’s Daredevil.

“Look, I don’t have any idea what anyone’s plans are at this stage, but I presume there’s more for us to do,” Cox said about Kingpin, implying that they could face each other once again.

But he soon confessed that he does know more than he’s letting on.

“I know a little bit — not a huge amount — but a little bit. I am imagining, I am hoping, that our worlds will collide again because the stuff we’ve done in the past was tremendous fun to do, and he’s such an incredible actor. We have to start every conversation with, ‘What do you know?’ because you have to be careful. It’s really exciting.”

For now, it looks as though Cox might have to keep a few more secrets.

And if anyone spots Vincent D’Onofrio eating lunch while facing the wall, you’ll have some idea who might be sitting beside him.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.