MultiVersus, the Smash Bros.-like Warner Bros. crossover fighter, has revealed new characters Rick Sanchez, Morty Smith, and LeBron James.

Announced during a San Diego Comic-Con panel, the panel unveiled these characters along with a closer look at how LeBron controls in the game. While it seems jarring to put LeBron James, a real-life person and pro basketball player in the NBA, this would not be the first time we have seen a "fictionalized" version of him, which initially debuted in 2021's Space Jam: A New Legacy.

The MultiVersus panel also confirmed that Morty Smith will join the roster on August 9th, while Rick Sanchez will be playable at a later date.

LeBron James along with Rick and Morty join a roster that includes an abundance of characters from various properties owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, such as Batman, Steven Universe, and the recently-announced Iron Giant.

MultiVersus is a platform fighter in the vein of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros., and brings together characters from across Warner Bros.' many franchises. Even before today's announcement, it was an unexpected mix, including Batman, Arya Stark, Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, and Steven Universe among others.

In a hands-on in May, we said the free-to-play fighter left us "extraordinarily impressed. Gameplay-wise, it’s not as tight as any of the Smash Brothers games, but to be fair, it’s also aiming to provide a type of experience that’s very different from Smash Brothers, or any other platform fighter for that matter."

An open beta began this week, and will run until July 26.

There's tons of news for all your favorite shows, films, games, and more coming out of San Diego Comic-Con 2022, and we've got the full schedule to guide you through the weekend of panels, announcements, trailers, and surprises.

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

It doesn't look like Justice League, Batman v Superman, and Man of Steel director Zack Snyder will be returning to make any more movies in his 'Snyderverse' setting.

Speaking during a San Diego Comic-Con panel (and shared on Twitter by @themarveImaniac, below), DC Comics chief creative officer Jim Lee said Justice League: The Snyder Cut would likely be the director's final entry in the franchise.

"I work on the projects that are in development," Lee said. "I think the Snyder Cut was Zack's vision realised, and it was a really satisfying story he told, but there's no plans for additional work on that material."

Jim Lee confirms that there are no future plans for Zack Snyder or future Snyderverse materials at #SDCC. Jim Lee is part of development for all DC films. pic.twitter.com/nrPUyLWu3w

— RJ (@themarveImaniac) July 21, 2022

The four hour version of Justice League did revitalise belief in Snyder's vision for a Marvel Cinematic Universe style take on DC films, as after it was released last year, #RestoreTheSnyderVerse trended on Twitter with over one million posts of support.

The film was left open-ended too, as Snyder said he wanted to stay true to the original vision (that would have a sequel) and "it's in-genre to end these movies on a cliffhanger".

DC's new bosses reortedly decided on a different direction, however, as in April this year Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav said he wanted to overhaul the company and find a Kevin Feige-like figure to oversee the new era. Films like The Joker (which IGN said was a masterpiece) would serve as a "shining example" of things moving forward.

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

Guerrilla has announced that it will be shutting down multiplayer servers for three games on August 12. The games are Killzone: Mercenary, Killzone Shadow Fall, and RIGS: Mechanized Combat League.

"On 12 August 2022, online servers for Killzone: Mercenary, Killzone Shadow Fall (including Intercept Mode) and RIGS: Mechanized Combat League will shut down," Guerrilla says in a Tweet. "Online features (including online multiplayer modes) will cease on that date. Single player offline modes remain available."

On 12 August 2022, online servers for Killzone: Mercenary, Killzone Shadow Fall (including Intercept Mode) and RIGS: Mechanized Combat League will shut down. Online features (including online multiplayer modes) will cease on that date. Single player offline modes remain available

— Guerrilla (@Guerrilla) July 22, 2022

Killzone: Mercenary first launched in September 2013 exclusively on the PlayStation Vita. The game's servers went down briefly back in 2020 without any advance notice or reason given, but they were eventually restored. However, they'll be closing for good soon.

Killzone Shadow Fall was released in November 2013 for PlayStation 4. Last year, Killzone’s website was “retired” but did not affect any online multiplayer functions at the time.

RIGS is a VR title that was released back in 2016. In our RIGS: Mechanized Combat League review, we said, "Rigs: Mechanized Combat League brings fast, intense multiplayer action to the PlayStation VR, but with a few notable caveats. While there was enough variety in the mechs to keep me playing through a full season of matches, the sub-par visuals distract, and big matchmaking issues made online wait times unbearable."

This isn’t the only game from Sony that suffered from server shutdowns recently. The last one that occurred was for multiple LittleBigPlanet games last year. Additionally, the servers for Everybody's Golf will shut down on September 30.

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

Avengers: Endgame and Infinity War directors the Russo brothers don't have any official plans to create a Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series but they do have a fun suggestion for one.

Speaking to TechRadar, Anthony Russo said he and his brother "love longform storytelling. That's why television has always appealed to us," plus movies based on long-running comics like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "We have a passion for TV shows and we love Marvel, but we don't have any plans to do something with them, either on the series or movie front.

When asked which heroes they'd pull from the comics, however, Joe Russo said: "Whatever we say, we're going to get asked about it 100 times over the next week. So let's pick the Great Lakes Avengers." That idea is on the more whimsical side as they suggested creating a show around the Great Lakes Avengers, that features characters including Mr. Immortal, Dinah Soar, Big Bertha, Flatman, and Doorman. Though the group was trained by Hawkeye, and has fought alongside Deadpool, they're not taken as seriously as their New York counterpart.

Russo was clearly having some fun with this, as they also suggested the story of 'Cheese-Man'. This dairy dynamo isn't actually a comic book character, and likely just a joke about the team's base in Wisconsin as "America's Dairyland", but he would likely match the style of the Great Lakes Avengers.

Thing is, given the Russos' stellar back catalogue in the MCU, we'd actually welcome their take on the GLA.

Disney is exploring the lighter side of the Marvel universe through its TV shows,with the likes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law being released just next month on August 17. If they do return to a deeper and more serious tone, the Russo Brothers have also expressed their love for the Secret Wars series of comics.

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

Disney reportedly wants to further bolster its streaming service by adding a new Doctor Who series to its library of entertainment.

Sources close to the matter have allegedly told Bloomberg that Disney is in the "early stages" of discussions with the BBC about the possibility of acquiring the streaming rights to a new series of Doctor Who. It comes at a time when the company is apparently looking to bulk up its current roster of programming on Disney+ with "established entertainment properties."

If a deal can be reached between the two companies, then the long-running sci-fi show would find its future season airing on Disney+ as well as the BBC, while every other series that has aired since Doctor Who's revival in 2005 is currently available to stream on HBO Max. That includes Season 13, also known as Doctor Who: Flux, which arrived on the platform just last month.

The BBC announced in May that Sex Education's Ncuti Gatwa had been cast as Doctor Who's fourteenth Doctor, replacing Jodie Whittaker after her three-season tenure inside the TARDIS. Whittaker will star in one final episode later this year before she passes the torch to Gatwa for the 14th season, which is expected to air sometime in 2023.

Fortunately, that gives people a bit of time to get caught up on the modern era of the British sci-fi show before Gatwa's arrival. Check out IGN's guide on how to stream every episode of Doctor Who, including those starring previous incarnations of the Doctor such as Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, and Jodie Whittaker.

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

Cover image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Not sure if you've noticed, but the Internet loves cats – so it's not a huge surprise that feline cyberpunk adventure Stray has already built up a modding scene just days after release. But no matter what you expected from Stray mods, you probably didn't think one of them would be based on Heavy Rain.

Over on Nexus Mods, you can already find ways to reskin your playable cat in a number of styles (including looking a bit like Garfield, and with an eyepatch). But nestled among the many reshades is a mod simply called JASON by creator Gibrietas.

JASON has a simple, perfect function – it replaces Stray's manual meowing with the sound of Heavy Rain protagonist Ethan Mars shouting for his lost son. I don't know why I think this is incredible, but I very much do.

https://t.co/Gy8XOLYoho

— Amongst the Catgirls of the Nephren-Ka (@pestilent_one) July 21, 2022

If you don't remember, Heavy Rain was a 2010 Quantic Dream adventure game that begins with a scene in which you can "Press X to Jason", sending out multiple shouts of, well, "Jason!". Now, 12 years later, thanks to the wonders of technology, you can do the same with a very cute cat.

Personally, I think Gibrietas now needs to work on a sequel mod, entitled SHAUN.

Stray arrived this week, and we awarded it an 8/10 review, calling it "a delightful adventure in a dark but endearingly hopeful cyberpunk world, and that’s thanks in no small part to the fact that you are playing as an adorable cat the whole time."

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.

SpongeBob SquarePants is about to get his very own Multiverse of Madness.

Announced at San Diego Comic-Con, the hit Nickelodeon show will collide with its spin-offs, Kamp Koral and The Patrick Star Show for a one-off special – “The Tidal Zone”.

“Nickelodeon will take viewers on a multidimensional adventure deep below the ocean’s surface throughout Bikini Bottom with the first-ever SpongeBob Universe crossover special,” reads the official announcement. “The one-hour special encompasses all three animated series within the SpongeBob Universe, SpongeBob SquarePants, the Paramount+ original series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years and The Patrick Star Show.”

The Tidal Zone will follow GrandPat from The Patrick Star Show as he makes his way through each dimension and is expected to premiere in November on Nickelodeon.

The upcoming special is a “journey into an hour of television where two dimensions can become three, and French divers can wear black ties.” And it sounds as though The Tidal Zone will retain the cartoon’s unique brand of absurd comedy.

“Observe a tale of both comedy and caution, of satire and stupidity,” said the announcement. “Minds may switch, bodies may shrink, and robots may rise in… The Tidal Zone.”

As well as the upcoming special, SpongeBob SquarePants has been picked up for a 14th season, extending SpongeBob’s shenanigans for another 26 episodes. Not only that but there are also three new movies on their way – each focussing on a character from the SpongeBob universe.

“We’re doubling down on giving [kids and families] what they want by expanding the universes of the characters they love the best,” said Paramount+ chief content officer of movies and kids and family, Brian Robbins.

Although the plots of these movies remain under wraps, it’s thought that one of these will be the previously reported Sandy Cheeks movie. Additionally, a fourth SpongeBob SquarePants movie from Nickelodeon Animation is currently in development for theatrical release.

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

If the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover comic didn't quench your '90s thirst, maybe the second time will be the charm. BOOM! Studios and IDW Publishing are teaming up again for a sequel to the original 2019 series.

Writer Ryan Parrott is returning for the sequel, while cover artist Dan Mora will now handle interior art as well.

We don't know much about the plot of the series just yet, but Boom is promising the sequel will outdo even the wackier moments from the original, such as Shredder harnessing the power of the Green Ranger.

“The first Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles team up resulted in iconic moments such as the reveal of the Green Ranger Shredder, the Ninja Rangers, and the mighty Turtlezord!” said Senior Editor Dafna Pleban in a press release. “But if you think there’s nothing that could top that, just wait ‘til you see what’s up next for both teams as they face familiar faces and unexpected villains in an adventure full of the new shocking twists and turns!”

In addition to this epic crossover, BOOM! Studios revealed their ambitious plans for the Power Rangers franchise as the monthly series crosses the issue #100 mark. October's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #101 begins a new status quo dubbed "Recharged." The entire team will be reunited again (ending a period where original Rangers Jason, Trini and Zack starred in their own, separate series), and the unified Rangers will confront new enemies and threats to Angel Grove.

The series will also welcome a new creative team. Writer Melissa Flores is formerly a producer on the TV series, and she'll be joined by artist Simona Di Gianfelice (All-New Firefly).

“Being able to write Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is a literal dream come true, and I can't stop pinching myself,” said Flores. “The coming issues will feature a wild ride that will aim to honor the incredible history of this iconic series, and push the Rangers to their absolute limits.”

Look for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #101 to hit stores in October 2022, followed by Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #1 in December.

For more on Comic-Con, see the full SDCC schedule and IGN's breakdown of all the biggest announcements and trailers.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

If the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover comic didn't quench your '90s thirst, maybe the second time will be the charm. BOOM! Studios and IDW Publishing are teaming up again for a sequel to the original 2019 series.

Writer Ryan Parrott is returning for the sequel, while cover artist Dan Mora will now handle interior art as well.

We don't know much about the plot of the series just yet, but Boom is promising the sequel will outdo even the wackier moments from the original, such as Shredder harnessing the power of the Green Ranger.

“The first Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles team up resulted in iconic moments such as the reveal of the Green Ranger Shredder, the Ninja Rangers, and the mighty Turtlezord!” said Senior Editor Dafna Pleban in a press release. “But if you think there’s nothing that could top that, just wait ‘til you see what’s up next for both teams as they face familiar faces and unexpected villains in an adventure full of the new shocking twists and turns!”

In addition to this epic crossover, BOOM! Studios revealed their ambitious plans for the Power Rangers franchise as the monthly series crosses the issue #100 mark. October's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #101 begins a new status quo dubbed "Recharged." The entire team will be reunited again (ending a period where original Rangers Jason, Trini and Zack starred in their own, separate series), and the unified Rangers will confront new enemies and threats to Angel Grove.

The series will also welcome a new creative team. Writer Melissa Flores is formerly a producer on the TV series, and she'll be joined by artist Simona Di Gianfelice (All-New Firefly).

“Being able to write Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is a literal dream come true, and I can't stop pinching myself,” said Flores. “The coming issues will feature a wild ride that will aim to honor the incredible history of this iconic series, and push the Rangers to their absolute limits.”

Look for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #101 to hit stores in October 2022, followed by Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #1 in December.

For more on Comic-Con, see the full SDCC schedule and IGN's breakdown of all the biggest announcements and trailers.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Transformers fans will want to take a look at this new two-pack of figures inspired by the origins of Optimus Prime. It's from the Transformers Generations Legacy series, and it's called A Hero is Born 2-Pack. It includes Voyager Class Alpha Trion and Deluxe Class Orion Pax figures, along with a few accessories. The two-pack is set to release November 1. It will be available to preorder exclusively at Hasbro Pulse, for $66.99.

If you're not familiar with the source material, before Optimus Prime was the leader of the Autobots, he was a youthful lad known as Orion Pax. After being nearly killed during his first fight with Megatron, Orion Pax gets repaired and rebuilt by Alpha Trion, one of the wise elders of the Autobots. That's how Orion Pax became Optimus Prime.

This set of transforming action figures is inspired by that important event. As for the figures themselves, Alpha Trion can transform from his robot form into a hovercraft vehicle. Orion Pax can convert from his youthful robotic self into a truck -- though one that looks quite different from the iconic Optimus Prime truck form.

Check out the slideshow above to see the various forms and poses you can do with these figures. We have a lot more news and coverage coming, so check out our full Comic-Con 2022 schedule and keep it locked to IGN for the biggest updates from SDCC.

Chris Reed is a deals expert and commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.