It’s official – MultiVersus Season 1 will launch on August 15, 2022.

A statement via Twitter confirmed the new release date for the Warner Bros. online platform fighter, along with details of a new Battle Pass.

“We’re excited to announce Season 1 will begin on August 15 with a brand-new Battle Pass for you to earn in-game rewards!” the statement reveals. “We can also confirm Morty will join the character roster on August 23 as part of Season 1. We look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks!”

We’re excited to announce Season 1 will begin on August 15 with a brand-new Battle Pass for you to earn in-game rewards! We can also confirm Morty will join the character roster on August 23 as part of Season 1. We look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks! #MultiVersus

— MultiVersus (@multiversus) August 11, 2022

Obviously, the other big news here is that Morty (of Rick & Morty fame) will finally make his way into the game as a playable character on August 23. That’s great news for fans of the show.

But Warner Bros. Games also revealed some further info about Season 1, and it looks as though it won’t just be a single content drop when the game launches. Instead, they’ll be bringing new game modes, etc throughout the first Battle Pass.

“Quick Note: Everything we are bringing to you in Season 1 will not drop on the same day,” they revealed. “New modes and content will be spread through the life of the Season. We'll continue to share dates on all the fun things to come!”

Now only a few days away, Season 1 can’t come quick enough, and it's bound to be a huge relief after the game’s launch was recently delayed.

Although some fans speculated that this could be to do with the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, game director Tony Hyunh was quick to put things straight.

“For those wondering, we are unaffected by the Discovery/Warner Bros. merger,” he said.

And with a player base soon surpassing 10 million players, it looks as though most fans weren’t put off.

Want to find out more about MultiVersus? Check out our character guide for a full list of playable characters, as well as our tips and tricks to get the most out of your match-ups.

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

Thunderful CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson has stepped down following the company’s $2.1 million loss.

According to GamesIndustry.biz the CEO, who held the position since the group first formed in 2019, is stepping down in order to take on a new role in the company’s games division.

Meanwhile, former CFO Anders Maiqvist has taken over until a new full-time CEO is found.

The original Thunderful was founded in 2017 by Sigurgeirsson, Bergsala Holding, and Klaus Lyngeled before merging with Bergsala in 2019 to form Thunderful Group.

The company is known for the SteamWorld franchise which was developed by subsidiary Image & Form and includes SteamWorld Dig, its sequel, and SteamWorld Heist.

But Sigurgeirsson’s decision to take a back seat comes after a turbulent time at the company which saw Thunderful make a net loss of $2.1 million for the second quarter of 2022, with operating profit down 62.1%.

Sigurgeirsson attributed the loss to “significant currency effects,” as well as other challenges facing the company’s distribution businesses. However, the company also made a $985,508 impairment following disappointing sales for The Gunk – the studio’s recent release which failed to gain steam in the same way as SteamWorld.

IGN’s own review gave it 7/10 saying, “The Gunk is a fun little platforming adventure full of malicious messes that are plenty satisfying to clean up. The small twists each new area puts on its fairly simple mechanics never drastically shake up its formula of vacuuming the landscape and then hopping to the next location, but an enticing story and a beautiful sense of style keep the clean-up process consistently entertaining throughout its relatively brief campaign.”

Despite the overall loss, Thunderful asserts that it was a strong quarter for its games division.

“We are now around 450 colleagues working on a large number of promising projects, and we have an exciting time ahead of us,” said Sigurgeirsson in a statement. “With that, the time has come for me to step down as CEO of Thunderful Group and for new forces to lead the group as we enter the next phase.”

“I will continue in a new role within our games segment and look forward to focusing on game development again,” he added.

What’s next for Thunderful? Check out the upcoming SteamWorld Headhunter, as well as everything announced at last year’s Thunderful World.

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

Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly looking for its very own Kevin Feige. According to Variety, studio head David Zaslav is determined to find his very own version of the Marvel maestro to lead the DCEU’s upcoming ten-year plan.

“We have done a reset,” he said during a recent earnings call. “We’ve restructured the business where we’re going to focus, where there will be a team with a ten-year plan focusing just on DC. It’s very similar to the structure that Alan Horn and Bob Iger put together very effectively with Kevin Feige at Disney.”

But who will take the top job?

There seem to be two frontrunners currently – whether they know it or not. Greg Berlanti, who already oversees many of DC’s TV projects such as The Flash and Superman & Lois, is said to be a name that’s high on the list.

However, according to Variety, nobody has actually approached the producer, and it’s thought that he would be unlikely to sign onto the top job. He hasn’t pursued the position himself and is thought to not be interested in chasing an internal position.

Elsewhere, Dan Lin, who produced The LEGO Movie and Sherlock Holmes, recently lamented his lack of involvement in the DCEU after the ill-fated 2008 George Miller Justice League fell through. During an episode of The Ankler podcast, he said that, at the time, he was pursued to “oversee the entire DC franchise”.

But as Warner Bros. Discovery has since changed the DCEU landscape, it’s unknown whether he would even be interested at this stage. Additionally, he’s already committed to his own production company Rideback, which has an ongoing deal with Universal.

At this point, the list of potential candidates is running a little low. Even the names mentioned seem unlikely to take the plunge.

So, who will take the reins of the DCEU going forward? Walter Hamada, who had been overseeing the DCEU before the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, was recently said to be so incensed by Batgirl’s cancelation that he almost quit his job.

Want to find out more about WB’s upcoming DCEU plans? Check out which DC movies could be affected by the merger, as well as what’s in store with DC’s ten-year plan.

Thumbnail image credit: Alberto Rodriguez/Getty Images

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

Batgirl star Leslie Grace may not have hung up her cape just yet. According to Variety, the 27-year-old actress is still being eyed by Warner Bros. Discovery to continue as Batgirl in some form.

“Newly installed Warner Bros. Pictures Group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, in seeking to mend fences with Batgirl star Leslie Grace, are entertaining the possibility of having her continue to play Batgirl in a future DC film,” they revealed.

But what does that mean?

Batgirl was recently canned following the high-profile Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The reason? It’s believed that the film was deemed irreparable following a damaging test screening – one that Variety reports led to middling test scores. The 10-week director’s cut was deemed to be in bad shape, and so Warner Bros. Discovery decided to use it as a tax write-down instead of releasing the film either theatrically or online.

Batgirl would have seen Leslie Grace debut as Barbara Gordon – a vigilante under the tutelage of an older Batman played by none other than Michael Keaton. But with the movie officially canceled, it looks as though Warner Bros. Discovery wants to shoehorn its lead character into another DC property.

The most likely suspect? The upcoming Black Canary movie.

Black Canary will reportedly see Jurnee Smollett return to the role she originally debuted in the 2020 DC flick, Birds of Prey. A team-up with Leslie Grace’s Batgirl certainly makes a lot of sense, especially considering that she’s already teamed up with other heroes (and villains) in her debut movie.

Whether or not that pans out remains to be seen.

After all, Leslie Grace herself might want to draw a line under it all after Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the rug out from under the production. But with plenty of other DC projects potentially affected by the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, it looks as though it may be some time before we find out.

Want to read more about Batgirl? Check out our rundown of why Batgirl was canceled, not to mention which other DC properties could be affected.

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

Although The Batman blew away the box office and was apparently confirmed to be getting a sequel, The Batman 2 still isn't a guarantee. According to Variety, the upcoming sequel to Robert Pattinson’s first Batman movie hasn’t yet been greenlit by studio Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Batman 2 is thought to be in development, with writer/director Matt Reeves as well as star Robert Pattinson both returning. But it’s still years away from the box office, and Warner Bros. Discovery hasn’t officially given it the go-ahead.

This is despite WB confirming the film with an announcement back at CinemaCon.

The Batman was a huge hit, at least by pandemic standards, when it debuted earlier this year – earning an impressive $700 million worldwide. A sequel is highly likely to still be on the cards, despite recent troubles at the studio in the wake of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

IGN’s own review of The Batman gave it 10/10 saying that “Matt Reeves’ violent, thrilling, darkly beautiful take on The Batman more than justifies its place in the franchise’s canon.”

Quite how it sits within DC’s 10-year plan remains to be seen. But I can’t help thinking that The Batman 2, along with the upcoming Joker sequel will be the ones that eventually dominate the landscape in terms of Warner Bros. Discovery superhero films.

Which heroes will join them? That’s the big question.

But it looks as though it could be some time before we get any answers, with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav waiting to find his own Kevin Feige before making any further plans.

Want to find out more about The Batman? Check out all the Robert Pattinson movies that Batman fans just have to see, as well as 10 things you didn’t know about The Batman.

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

Joker 2 is apparently getting a massive budget despite the studio's recent tax write-down. According to Variety, the upcoming sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, could get as much as three times the original film’s budget.

Joker star Joaquin Phoenix as well as director Todd Phillips are thought to be getting a staggering $20 million each for the project, with Lady Gaga getting a $10 million payday for the upcoming film. Combined with the increased cost of complicated musical sequences, this means that Joker 2 will cost around $150 million to produce.

A hefty price tag considering the studio’s recent troubles.

At the moment, Joker 2 is the only DC project to be greenlit following the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which saw Batgirl unceremoniously canceled. The reason for its cancellation? A tax write-down which was considered a safer bet than, you know, actually releasing the movie.

And that doesn’t sit well given Joker 2’s new, rather substantial budget.

Of course, that’s still a smaller budget than most superhero movies, making Joker 2 far more cost-effective than The Batman – DC’s recent Batman reboot starring Robert Pattinson. But it’s still far more than Warner Bros. Discovery was willing to set aside for Batgirl.

According to Variety, the idea of releasing smaller straight-to-streaming DC movies is now a thing of the past. Although this was the original vision for Batgirl, it looks as though Warner Bros. Discovery and its new leadership team have canned the idea.

Batgirl is no more, and while Blue Beetle was originally going to debut online, it’s now set for a theatrical release… if it releases at all.

It’s said this Blue Beetle, along with several James Gunn projects, are safe following the Batgirl cancellation, but fans are still nervous. After all, Warner Bros. Discovery continues to put money behind its big theatrical releases… and it wouldn’t be surprising to see other, smaller projects fall by the wayside.

At least, if Warner Bros. Discovery truly wants to replicate Marvel’s success.

Variety confirms that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is focused on finding his own Kevin Feige – a single executive to lead DC’s big screen efforts as part of the company’s 10-year plan.

Until that position is filled, it looks as though Warner Bros. Discovery faces even more uncertainty. At least, if you’re not making a Joker sequel.

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

Marvel should release fewer movies, says Lost creator and MCU fan Damon Lindelof.

During an interview with Vulture, the 49-year-old filmmaker explained why he thinks Marvel should release fewer films to make the experience more special.

“This is a business,” he said. “It’s an industry. And if you make a couple of great Marvel movies, the instinct is, ‘We need to make more Marvel movies, and we need to expand this.’ And I have this sort of interior feeling of like, ‘Wow, I wish they made less because it would make each one that came out a little bit more special. But I watch all of them… People don’t want things to end. I do.”

It’s difficult to argue against it — especially when you look at what Marvel has released this year.

2022 has already been the year of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arriving in November. If we’re including TV projects, we’ve seen Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel already, and still have She-Hulk: Attorney at Law later this month along with the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special soon to follow.

That’s a massive 7 MCU projects in one year. And Marvel’s upcoming Phase 5 and 6 slate shows no sign of slowing down.

“It’s always going to be hard because once you’ve got someone’s attention, you want to keep it,” said Lindelof calling the idea of potentially letting go of something as "antithetical" to the way we're wired.

Of course, Lindelof sees the big picture. But it’s hard not to agree with him.

“I don’t begrudge them the right to keep it going,” added Lindelof. “I’ve made prequels and sequels and reboots, so I can’t be a hypocrite and say, ‘God, come up with an original idea.’ Meanwhile, I’m making two Star Trek movies and Prometheus.”

Want to read more about Marvel’s upcoming projects? Check out what’s coming up in the MCU’s Phase 5 as well as why Phase 6 is the biggest ever.

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

Marvel should release fewer movies, says Lost creator and MCU fan Damon Lindelof.

During an interview with Vulture, the 49-year-old filmmaker explained why he thinks Marvel should release fewer films to make the experience more special.

“This is a business,” he said. “It’s an industry. And if you make a couple of great Marvel movies, the instinct is, ‘We need to make more Marvel movies, and we need to expand this.’ And I have this sort of interior feeling of like, ‘Wow, I wish they made less because it would make each one that came out a little bit more special. But I watch all of them… People don’t want things to end. I do.”

It’s difficult to argue against it — especially when you look at what Marvel has released this year.

2022 has already been the year of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arriving in November. If we’re including TV projects, we’ve seen Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel already, and still have She-Hulk: Attorney at Law later this month along with the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special soon to follow.

That’s a massive 7 MCU projects in one year. And Marvel’s upcoming Phase 5 and 6 slate shows no sign of slowing down.

“It’s always going to be hard because once you’ve got someone’s attention, you want to keep it,” said Lindelof calling the idea of potentially letting go of something as "antithetical" to the way we're wired.

Of course, Lindelof sees the big picture. But it’s hard not to agree with him.

“I don’t begrudge them the right to keep it going,” added Lindelof. “I’ve made prequels and sequels and reboots, so I can’t be a hypocrite and say, ‘God, come up with an original idea.’ Meanwhile, I’m making two Star Trek movies and Prometheus.”

Want to read more about Marvel’s upcoming projects? Check out what’s coming up in the MCU’s Phase 5 as well as why Phase 6 is the biggest ever.

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

Nickelodeon has released a clip from the upcoming episode of Middlemost Post, featuring iconic skateboarder Tony Hawk as "Hawk Man," which will air on Thursday, August 11 at 2:00 p.m. (ET/PT)

Here's how Nickelodeon describes Hawk's character: "Hawk Man is Mt. Middlemost’s resident daredevil…or at least was before one of his stunts went sideways. Now, with Parker’s help, this Evil Knievel will find the courage to face his fears and regain the fire to attempt his biggest jump ever!"

IGN can exclusively reveal the clip from "Hawk Man" in the video below or at the top of the page:

In a press release from Nickelodeon, Hawk had this to say about voicing Hawk Man for Season 2 of Middlemost Post:

"I’m excited to be voicing the character Hawk Man in Middlemost Post! It’s important to share that not everyone can be perfect all the time, and I hope that Hawk Man can inspire kids to face their fears and challenges through perseverance and determination."

What did you think of the clip? Let us know in the comments.

And for more on the world of entertainment, check out who's been cast as Henry and Sam in HBO's adaption of The Last of Us, our Prey breakdown and ending explained, and everything new to Netflix in August.

David Griffin is the Senior Editor, Features and Content Partnerships for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

Black Adam director Jaume Collet-Serra has compared Dwayne Johnson's titular antihero to Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry, underscoring how his character differs from other DC superheroes.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Collet-Serra explained how Black Adam - whose real name is Teth-Adam - is built differently from other DC superheroes, hinting that he operates with his own sense of justice and morality just like Clint Eastwood's iconic badass Dirty Harry. He said he spoke to Johnson early on about the similarities between the two characters and their approach to seeking vengeance.

"Systems were corrupt, so you had criminals taking advantage," he said. "You needed a cop that would cut through the bullsh**, and basically do what needs to be done. That's very much in line with Black Adam and his way of thinking. I think that's appealing to pretty much everybody. Everybody knows how the world sometimes is not fair, and you need people that break the rules to even out the playing field."

Being a rule-breaker and having phenomenal abilities could be a dangerous combination, as Johnson admits that Adam is blessed with "incredible superpowers from the gods that rival Superman." However, he isn't restrained by a strict ethical code and will turn to brutality and violence without delay, potentially making him one of the fiercest forces to be unleashed in the DC universe.

"Superman won't kill anybody. There's a code that he lives by and he honors," Johnson asserted, noting one of the key differences between the two DC characters. "Black Adam has a unique code of ethics too. He will not hesitate—and I like to have a little fun when I'm explaining this—to rip somebody in half. Literally, he'll grab someone by the neck and by the thigh and then rip them up, tear them apart."

Black Adam is certainly not your usual hero. Starting life as a comic book villain and nemesis of popular DC superhero Shazam it looks as though Johnson's portrayal of the classic DC character will veer more into antihero territory, and he says that will bring DC into a new era — one that features the Justice Society of America represented by Atom Smasher, Hawkman, Cyclone, and Doctor Fate.

"It's not your typical superhero movie where a guy wants to be a superhero and gets the powers, and then you spend 50 minutes trying to figure out how the powers work," Collet-Serra said of Black Adam's big screen debut. "This is a movie where you introduce Black Adam right away, and then throughout the movie, you slowly peel back the onion and reveal what happened."

Black Adam is scheduled to be released on October 21, 2022, and it might be worth sticking around for the credits as the film reportedly include a post-credits scene that will introduce "a new element" to Johnson's place in the DC universe. It's currently unknown what the footage will reveal, but it could be essential viewing as Johnson has previously teased a Black Adam cinematic universe.

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