Just three weeks ahead of Andor's premiere, Disney has shared a fresh look at the upcoming Star Wars Disney+ series with a new poster.

In classic Star Wars fashion, the poster depicts the series' ensemble cast, including looks at Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, Stellan Skarsgård's Luthen Rael, Forest Whitaker's Saw Garrera, and others.

The background of the poster shows TIE Fighters and Star Destroyers in the distance, with billows of smoke rising up the right side. The poster is accompanied by the tagline, "The Rebellion Begins".

Check out the new poster for #Andor, an Original series from Star Wars. The three-episode premiere is streaming in 3 weeks only on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/HwI9W2t6hK

— Star Wars | Andor Premieres Sept 21 on Disney+ (@starwars) August 31, 2022

Andor is the next Star Wars Disney+ series, and it will follow Rogue One's Cassian Andor along with the burgeoning Rebel Alliance. The show joins the Disney+ Star Wars lineup along with The Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

However, this show will have one big difference when compared to its predecessors, as the first live-action Star Wars show that doesn't lean on StageCraft. Instead, the show was filmed with location shooting and backlot sets, as opposed to the CGI-heavy production of the other shows.

After a three-week delay, Andor will debut on Disney+ beginning on September 21 with a three-episode premiere. The show is set five years before the Death Star plans are stolen, and there are seemingly already plans for a second season,

For more on Andor, check out how the show was influenced by Jason Bourne, or why K-2SO won't be in the upcoming prequel.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, Lifewire, and more. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant, where he's probably pleading for an F-Zero revival.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is currently busy with the Knives Out franchise, but his heart is still set on eventually returning to Star Wars to work on his previously-announced trilogy.

Speaking to Empire, Johnson said he'd be heartbroken if his time working in the Star Wars universe was done.

“I’ve stayed close to [Lucasfilm's] Kathleen [Kennedy] and we get together often and talk about it,” Johnson said. “It’s just at this point a matter of schedule and when it can happen. It would break my heart if I were finished, if I couldn’t get back in that sandbox at some point.”

Johnson's Star Wars trilogy was first announced back in November 2017, a month before his Star Wars directorial debut, The Last Jedi, came to theaters. At the time, the trilogy was set to "introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored."

However, after the mixed reception to the sequel trilogy as a whole, Lucasfilm pivoted its strategy for Star Wars from trilogies to "persistent storytelling," which we've seen through the Star Wars Disney+ series like The Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the upcoming Andor.

The Johnson-led trilogy then sat on the backburner for a few years, with Johnson becoming busy with the Knives Out franchise and Star Wars focusing on its slate of upcoming series. Earlier this year, Kennedy confirmed the trilogy was on hold, citing Johnson's Knives Out deal with Netflix.

For more on Star Wars, check out Johnson's comments about how he's "even more proud" of The Last Jedi than he was at release. Or, check out our list of every upcoming Star Wars movie and TV series.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, Lifewire, and more. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant, where he's probably pleading for an F-Zero revival.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness satisfied many with its cameo appearances. But even with the big screen debut of (alternate universe) Mr. Fantastic in the Doctor Strange sequel, writer Michael Waldron might've added more of the Fantastic Four to a post-credits scene.

Spoilers for Multiverse of Madness below

In an interview with Empire, Waldron spoke about one of the most talked about scenes in Multiverse of Madness. That, of course, being the Illuminati getting absolutely wrecked by Scarlet Witch. The multiverse' Illuminati included luminaries such as Reed Richards, played by John Krasinski, and Professor Xavier, played by Patrick Stewart.

Despite the Illuminati making an appearance, Waldron revealed how he wanted to add Reed Richards as a post-credit scene also.

“I always wanted Reed Richards in this thing,” Waldron said. “In my very first draft, I wrote a tag just for the hell of it, of the events of the movie being recorded and reviewed by somebody in the Baxter Building, and a stretchy hand coming into frame to run it back. Reed is probably my favorite Marvel comics character so I was always gunning to get him in here somewhere.”

Marvel movies (and tv shows) are renowned for their post-credit scenes. These are meant to tease us for upcoming movies and introduce us to new characters. Adding Mr. Fantastic as a post-credits teaser would definitely whet the appetites who are anxious to see the Fantastic Four on the big screen again.

The Fantastic Four appeared on screens numerous times such as the 2005 Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer. A 2015 reboot was panned by many (including IGN) for being dreary and mediocre. Marvel seems to have learned their lesson as Krasinski did an admirable (albeit brief) job as Reed Richards.

Waldron also mentioned that we may not have seen the last of Wanda Maximoff. We last saw her collpasing Mount Wundagore on top of herself towards the end of Multiverse of Madness.

“She’s removing herself from the board… For now? Forever? We’ll see,” Waldron teased. “I’d like to see her again…”

Indeed, we enjoyed Sam Raimi's take on Doctor Strange, though his style might not be for everyone. We also really enjoyed the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and should satisfy those craving a well-made fantasy epic.

David Matthews is a freelance writer specializing in consumer tech and gaming. He also strongly believes that sugar does not go in grits. Follow him on Twitter @packetstealer

The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was infamous for its difficult levels, none more than its infamous dam level. It was a stopping point for many frustrated Turtles fans, including one of the franchise's own creators.

In an interview with IGN to promote the new Cowabunga Collection, which brings together more than a dozen of the Turtles' most famous 8 and 16-bit adventures, TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman admitted that he was never quite able to clear the original NES games' second stage.

"[A] lot of times when we would go to conventions back in the day, people would come up to us and be angry with us because they thought we made the game that hard," Eastman remembers. "And we're like, 'We can't win either. We've tried.' I never made it through the water level and I've tried and tried and tried."

Eastman was in good company. The dam level was notorious for its imprecise controls, which practically ensured that the Turtles would take damage, and strict time limit. It required the Turtles to navigate what amounted to an underwater maze while disarming multiple bombs before time ran out. The level has become synonymous with the often unfair difficulty of 8-bit games.

Still, Eastman says he has fond memories of working on the original Konami games, which were published under the Ultra Games label on the NES, calling them games "a universe within itself."

"[It's] amazing to work with these guys that follow some of the same steps design-wise or whatever. But then to bring them into a thing that you can only see them in full motion, but also control that motion was ... It's really mind-blowing. But what a treat to be part of that team," Eastman says.

As for his favorite game of the bunch, most Turtles fans would probably agree with Eastman's pick.

"My first thought is the arcade game because I just liked the fact that you could play with a bunch of your friends at the same time, three of your friends," Eastman says. "But Turtles in Time was one of my favorites, because it was sort of something that we explored in the comic book. The fun part, too, is seeing something that started as an idea here evolve into something amazing and unique in the gaming format. So I like the different universes you can go to in in that game."

All of these games are memorialized in the Cowabunga Collection, which was produced by Digital Eclipse for multiple platforms. In our review that went up earlier today, we wrote that the collection had "clearly been crafted by a team that loves the TMNT — not just the games, but the shows and comics as well." However, we were frustrated by rough it online implementation.

Elsewhere, we asked Eastman for his thoughts on the various Turtles movies over the years, including the notorious Michael Bay films.

The Cowabunga Collection is available now.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Team Reptile has announced that it has delayed the release of its Jet Set Radio-inspired game, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, to next year.

“About the release: We are convinced that releasing the game this year will not take it to a level where we would be personally satisfied with,” Team Reptile says in a statement on Twitter. “To create a fulfilling and unique game we are extending the development time of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk to summer 2023.”

However, the studio followed up by saying that it will release more visuals of the game this week to show people how development is going.

About the release: We are convinced that releasing the game this year will not take it to a level where we would be personally satisfied with. To create a fulfilling and unique game we are extending the development time of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk to summer 2023.

— Team Reptile (@ReptileGames) August 31, 2022

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk was first revealed in 2020 as a successor to Jet set Radio. It will also have music composed by Jet Set Radio's Hideki Naganuma.

In this game, players can ride around with boostpacks and sketch graffiti at high heights.

So far, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk has been confirmed for a Nintendo Switch and PC release on Steam. It’ll also come to consoles shortly after. Players will have to wait just a little bit longer to play this as this is the latest game to join the long list of titles being delayed to 2023, including ones like Starfield and Sons of the Forest.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

House of the Dragon is proving to be a big hit for HBO, but co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik is already looking ahead to future projects. THR reports that Sapochnik is stepping down from his role with House of the Dragon, leaving Alan Taylor as the show's sole showrunner.

Sapochnik won't be going far. In addition to continuing to have an executive producer role on House of the Dragon, he will be getting a first-look deal with HBO to develop new projects. Sapochnik will depart his role after the first season, with Taylor taking over as a producer and director of multiple episodes.

Sapochnik's decision to step down will mark the end of three years spent developing House of the Dragon. HBO praised his work in a statement.

"Miguel Sapochnik has done amazing work on the first season of House of the Dragon, establishing its signature look and feel," HBO said. "This series simply could not have come together the way it did without him. While we would have loved to have Miguel continue in the same role, we are thrilled to have his ongoing collaboration in this new creative capacity. Looking forward, we've had a decades-long relationship with Alan Taylor, and we are delighted to have him join Ryan and rest the talented team."

Both Taylor and Sapochnik called it an "honor" to work on the series, which grabbed 10 million viewers with its first episode and has only gotten more popular since.

Taylor, for his part, has a long history with Game of Thrones, having been instrumental in defining the look and feel of the show in its first season. His episode credits include "The Night Lands" and "Beyond the Wall." Outside of Game of Thrones, Taylor has worked on shows including Mad Men and The Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints of Newark.

In the meantime, the second episode continued House of the Dragons' momentum, which we described in our review as having the "palpable sense of pieces being moved into place." We also got a look at the opening credits and lots of dragons. The next episodes airs this Sunday.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Ubisoft has delayed the shutdown date of several multiplayer servers for some of its games. The shutdowns were supposed to go into effect on September 1, but now they will stay up for an additional month, shutting down on October 1 instead.

"Decommissioning online services for older games is something we do not take lightly, but it is also a necessity as the technology that drove those services becomes obsolete," Ubisoft says in an update to the original post. "Over the last month, our teams have been hard at work exploring what is possible to reduce disruption."

The games which will continue seeing online services include:

• Assassin’s Creed II
• Assassin’s Creed III
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
• Assassin’s Creed Revelations
• Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD
• Driver San Francisco
• Far Cry 3
• Ghost Recon Future Soldier
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
• Rayman Legends
• Silent Hunter 5
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist
• ZombiU

The only exception to the new shutdown date is Space Junkies, which will have its servers turned off on September 1 as planned.

Furthermore, the team over at Ubisoft Mainz will push out an update to Anno 2070 that will upgrade and replace its old servers so players can enjoy the online components.

For PC players, Ubisoft notes to activate any single-player DLC for the affected games before the servers close on October 1 so that they can continue playing it after the date. Console players will see no impact on access to single-player DLC.

Note that the server shutdowns are only for the original PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions of the games. Any newer ones such as Far Cry 3 Classic Edition for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One or Assassin’s Creed III Remastered will not be affected.

2022 has seen quite a few multiplayer server shutdowns, including Killzone Shadowfall earlier this month.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

When the Embracer Group acquired Middle-earth Enterprises – in the process gaining the rights to the Lord of the Rings – it raised all sorts of questions about the impact on Amazon's Rings of Power. But Amazon itself isn't thinking too much about the ramifications of the deal.

Speaking with IGN, Rings of Power producer Lindsey Weber says that no one has had much time to process the ramifications of the far-reaching deal. With 50 hours of television to make, she says that the team will be busy for "quite some time."

And either way, it's a big world.

"[T]here's no shortage of stories in Tolkien," Weber says. "You could do another 50 hours and another 50 hours and you'd still have more and not scratch the surface. We are telling a Second Age story and obviously hope to be the definitive version of that Second Age story. But Galadriel, for example, is an immortal character and there's no shortage of stories to go around."

The Embracer Group's acquisition further complicates the already complex rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's stories, which is licensed out to various stakeholders including Amazon and Warner Bros. In purchasing Middle-earth Enterprises, The Embracer Group now owns the rights to movies, games, board games, theme parks, and stage productions based on Tolkien's works.

So what happens if Embracer just decides to make a Galadriel movie at the same time that Amazon is making Rings of Power?

Responding to this hypothetical scenario, Weber says, "Look, Tolkien I think, belongs to everyone and there will be many more adaptations of his work, I'm quite sure, beyond our own. And there have been before us and will be after us. And it's just a sea of imagination that I think will spawn many, many adaptations."

In any event, Amazon's $715 million venture into the world of Lord of the Rings will finally be arriving later this week, and our review of the premiere is live now. While you wait, check out our Who's Who of the new show's characters, as well as the best order to watch the Lord of the Rings movies.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Upcoming survival horror Sons of the Forest has been delayed until next year.

According to developer Endnight Games, the upcoming sequel to The Forest has been pushed back to allow the team to polish the game.

“Due to the scope of our new game Sons Of The Forest, it has been hard to pinpoint an exact release date, and today we have to delay one last time” they stated via Twitter. “Giving us time to complete the polish we feel is needed, we will release Feb 23, 2023, priced at $29.99USD.”

Hey Everyone,

Due to the scope of our new game Sons Of The Forest, it has been hard to pinpoint an exact release date, and today we have to delay one last time.

Giving us time to complete the polish we feel is needed, we will release Feb 23, 2023, priced at $29.99USD. pic.twitter.com/9SmeLelmj6

— Endnight Games (@EndNightGame) August 31, 2022

Sons of the Forest promises more unnerving gameplay as a direct sequel to The Forest – the 2014 survival horror that follows the story of Eric LeBlanc – a plane crash survivor who’s forced to fight off cannibalistic monsters while searching for his son, Timmy.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time the sequel has been delayed.

Sons of the Forest was already pushed back three months from its initial release date – a shame since the recent trailer paints such an impressively horrific picture. Clearly inspired by the likes of The Descent and Cannibal Holocaust, it’s a sure pick for horror fans everywhere.

But you’ll have to wait a little while longer before you get to check it out.

IGN’s review of The Forest gave it 8.4/10 and said: “I’ve never been terrorized, stalked, or fascinated by enemy AI quite like I was in The Forest. It’s a harrowing survival ordeal that knows how to play with tension and create the sense of a real world with complex inner workings and mysteries I was eager to discover. It’s I Am Legend told in the depths of the hinterlands, with a meaningful story progression that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Disregard the warnings on the walls and hidden between the trees at your own peril – and if you want a unique and memorable survival horror experience, then you should absolutely dare to do so.”

Want to read more snout Sons of the Forest? Get up to speed with The Forest explained in 5 minutes, and take a look at the upcoming sequel’s gameplay trailer.

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

It’s official – Harley Quinn has been renewed for a fourth season.

The popular animated DC show stars Kaley Cuoco as the voice of Harley Quinn and is currently finishing up its third season on HBO Max.

However, the next season brings a new showrunner in the form of Sarah Peters.

“We are ecstatic that HBO Max wants the story of Harley and Ivy to continue,” said creators Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker. “And we are equally thrilled that this next season will be in great hands with Sarah Peters as our showrunner and Ceci Aranovich overseeing animation production, as they have both greatly influenced the show with their brilliance since the beginning.”

Season 4. Coming sooner than you think. #HarleyQuinnS4 #HarleyQuinn #PoisonIvy #HARLIVY pic.twitter.com/ST128TEUUc

— Patrick Schumacker (@PMSchumacker) August 31, 2022

Peters is already familiar with the show, having written on Harley Quinn since Season 1.

Obviously, Harley Quinn’s renewal is great news for fans, who’ve been wondering what would happen to the show since Batgirl’s cancelation began spelling trouble for DC properties. Thankfully, it looks as though Harley Quinn and her band of miscreants have avoided the recent Warner Bros. Discovery troubles, and Season 4 is now on its way.

“Three seasons down and I can’t even begin to think about the new levels of chaos and trouble that Harley, Ivy, and the gang can get into with a fourth season,” said Warner Bros Animation EVP, Peter Girardi. “But I’m grateful to our partners at HBO Max for continuing this insane ride with us so we can all find out.”

Season 3 is currently playing out with Harley and Poison ivy (Lake Bell) wrapping up their so-called “Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour” and returning to Gotham City. They’re joined by the likes of King Shark (Ron Funches), Clayface (Alan Tudyk), and Frank the Plant (JB Smoove) with additional voices from Matt Oberg, Christopher Meloni, Andy Daly, Diedrich Bader, James Adomian, Sanaa Lathan, Briana Cuoco, and Harvey Guillen.

IGN’s Harley Quinn Season 3 review said: “Love is in the air, but that doesn’t mean Harley Quinn isn’t as insane, blood-soaked, and hilarious as it’s always been. Season 3’s take on Harley and Ivy’s newly romantic relationship is still unsurprisingly the highlight, tackling all their highs and lows in ways that are incredibly true to each character. It also manages to pack in a few surprises regarding the Bat-family, especially Batman himself, although other subplots, like Joker and James Gordon’s, don’t have the same staying power. Still, if you’re here Harlivy, and all the raunch and violence you’ve come to expect from this delightfully biting little corner of superhero streaming, you won’t be disappointed.”

Want to read more about Harley Quinn? Find out why Harley will never get back with the Joker on the show, and read more about the upcoming Kite Man spin-off.

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