StudioMDHR has been working on Cuphead in one way or other for over a decade now. With Delicious Last Course imminent, though, StudioMDHR has to look toward the future. Could there be more Cuphead after Cuphead?

According to Maja Moldenhauer, StudioMDHR got to work on Delicious Last Course because it still had left plenty of Cuphead on the cutting room floor after the first time around. Elements such as a playable Miss Chalice, and many of Delicious Last Course’s new bosses, were ideas born during the original game’s development that needed the extra time of a DLC to see the light of day.

But now, with Delicious Last Course wrapped, Moldenhauer says there’s nothing left sitting on a drawing board somewhere. “We got it all in.”

So where does that leave StudioMDHR, a studio that has been about nothing but Cuphead since 2010? Moldenhauer confirms that while this is indeed the end of Cuphead ‘Don’t Deal With the Devil,’ it’s certainly not the end for the studio’s work. She isn’t giving specifics just yet about whether or not the sentient drinking vessels will return in the future, but she did offer one clue:

“The sky is the limit,” she says. “We have a lot of ideas in our head in terms of where we want to go, what we want to do. I will say that we love 2D animation. We love pencil to paper, but beyond that, it can go anywhere.”

Whatever Moldenhauer has up her sleeve, it will likely take quite a while before we see it given the long development cycle of both Cuphead and Delicious Last Course – a fact Moldenhauer isn’t too concerned about, as long as it means the team at StudioMDHR is taken care of.

For more Cuphead ahead of its Delicious Last Course on June 30, 2022, check out our reviews of the original game and the Netflix show, aptly titled, The Cuphead Show!.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Despite appearing in movies for most of his life, Samuel L. Jackson hadn’t won an Oscar until he received an honorary award earlier this year. However, he doesn't want to let Oscars define him.

In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Jackson opened up about his history of snubs and how he still enjoys attending the ceremonies.

“As jaded as I wanted to be about it, you know thinking, 'Well, I should have won an Oscar for this or should have won for that and it didn’t happen,' once I got over it many years ago, it wasn’t a big deal for me,” Jackson said. “I always have fun going to the Oscars. I always look forward to getting a gift basket for being a presenter.”

Jackson also revealed that he’d rather focus on movies that make him happy than strive for an Oscar.

“But otherwise, I was past it,” Jackson continued. “I was never going to let the Oscars be a measure of my success or failure as an actor. My yardstick of success is my happiness: Am I satisfied with what I’m doing? I’m not doing statue-chasing movies. You know [whispers]: 'If you do this movie, you’ll win an Oscar.' No, thanks. I’d rather be Nick Fury. Or having fun being Mace Windu with a lightsaber in my hand.”

Since Jackson received an honorary Oscar, he starred in The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, a series we dubbed one of the best of the month. He’s also slated to appear in Marvel’s Secret Invasion to reprise his role as Nick Fury, though he won't be donning his iconic eyepatch this time around.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

Blogroll image credit: Amanda Edwards / Contributor via Getty Images

If meeting an alien lifeform happens to be an item on your bucket list, it could potentially happen in our lifetime. According to Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of China's Ministry of Science and Technology (via USA Today), researchers from Beijing Normal University have found "several cases of possible technological traces and extraterrestrial civilizations from outside the earth" using the "Sky Eye" telescope.

The Sky Eye is the world's largest radio telescope, and one of the goals in using it is searching for extraterrestrial civilizations. The 1,640 foot telecope, properly named Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope or FAST, can be found in southwestern China's Guizhou province.

The project, led by Professor Zhang Tongjie, chief scientist of the China Extraterrestrial Civilization Research Group, found "several narrow-band electromagnetic signals different from the past."

Via Bloomberg, Tongjie revealed he and his team "detected two sets of suspicious signals in 2020 while processing data collected in 2019" and one other "suspicious signal from observation data of exoplanet targets" in 2022. Tongjie says there's a high chance the signals could just be radio intereference. They're currently working on ruling that out but admit it's a "long process."

We know that there are over 5000 planets outside our solar system accoring to NASA. Surely one day alien life will be found - whether it's from Tongjie and his research group, the recently formed United State's UFO Task Force or through other means remains to be discovered.

In the meantime, we at least have exploring space and meeting aliens in Starfield to look forward to.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Blogroll photo credit: Mark Newman via Getty Images

Today, Netflix dropped a new trailer for its upcoming film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, and there’s a new Miss Trunchbull in town.

In the trailer, Emma Thompson is seen taking on the role of the iconic child-hating villain Miss Trunchbull, which renders her unrecognizable (and terrifying).

Meet the exception to the rules. ROALD DAHL'S MATILDA THE MUSICAL comes to Netflix this December. pic.twitter.com/Rw6jd2WRQc

— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) June 15, 2022

Thompson and her new look are joined by Alisha Weir as the titular Matilda Wormwood, Lashana Lynch as the lovely Miss Honey, and Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough as Matilda’s irresponsible parents.

The trailer also gives us a glimpse into the film’s reworking of some of the songs from the Matilda Musical, with original music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and choreography by Ellen Kane.

Directed by Matthew Warchus, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical will be released this holiday season on Netflix and will retell the story of Matilda as she uses her strange powers to overcome her parents and, of course, the tyrannical Miss Trunchbull.

Last year, Netflix acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company, allowing for more future adaptations of the classic children’s author’s books. The upcoming Matilda rework isn’t the only Roald Dahl novel slated for another movie adaptation, either, as a Willy Wonka prequel film is also on its way next year.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

Warning: this article contains minor spoilers for the first four episodes of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi!

Hasbro is going all-in when it comes to action figures inspired by the Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi series. With the series' penultimate episode now on Disney+, IGN can exclusively reveal the latest two additions to Hasbro's Star Wars: The Black Series line.

This week's "Obi-Wan Wednesday" reveal features two villains from the live-action series. One is 1-JAC, the bounty hunter droid who made an ill-fated attempt at capturing Obi-Wan in Episode 2. The other is the Purge Trooper Phase II, based on this imposing trooper's appearance in Episode 4.

Check out images of both figures in the slideshow below, along with all the other Obi-Wan Kenobi-inspired Black Series figures announced so far:

At this point, Hasbro has revealed figures for pretty much every major character in the series, apart from that surprise character introduced in the series premiere. That lineup includes two versions of Obi-Wan himself, along with a new Darth Vader and all four Sith Inquisitors featured in the series.

As with all Black Series figures, 1-JAC and the Purge Trooper are six inches in height. Both are priced at $27.99 and will be sold exclusively at Walmart, with a planned release in Fall 2022.

Hasbro previously teased a life-size, electronic Darth Vader helmet inspired by the iconic villain's live-action return. The company is also re-releasing the original Kenner Star Wars figures in a new boxset and giving The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau his own Star Wars figure.

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

Sonic Frontiers will be the first new 3D Sonic title since 2017’s Sonic Forces. Unlike previous level-based endeavors, however, Sonic Frontiers will be the series’ first title to boast a vast and freely explorable world, which Sega refers to as 'Open Zone'.

So why is it an Open Zone, as opposed to an open world? Director Morio Kishimoto told IGN all about it. Kishimoto refers to Open Zone as “Sonic Frontiers’ secret weapon”:

“Level-based platformers often have a world map. Our Open Zone is a world map, only we’ve made it entirely playable,” Kishimoto stated.

“A playable world map that includes stage-like elements is something that hasn’t really been done before, so we had to come up with a new name. What is often defined as a World in other level-based platformers is called a Zone in Sonic games, so we took that and combined it with Open, which refers to a freely explorable field. So that’s what Open Zone stands for.”

Kishimoto sees the Open Zone as an evolution of the traditional world map – of course, one that has been tailored to match Sonic’s high-speed gameplay.

“Super Mario Bros. 3 was released in Japan in 1988. I believe this was the first game to introduce a world map. The system has been used by countless platformers since, even to this day. A true evolution of this structure is what we see as the essence of Sonic Frontiers’ field. We wanted to provide a next-gen level-based platforming experience. But how do we evolve a level-based platformer like Sonic into this new Open Zone? That’s what Sonic Frontiers is all about,” said Kishimoto.

Usually, a level-based platformer’s world map is an area from which the player departs to various stages. However, going from Kishimoto’s explanation, Sonic Frontiers’ Open Zone is much more than just a 3D hub world of the likes of Super Mario 64 or Sonic Adventure.

“The Open Zone stands central in Sonic Frontiers’ gameplay, and the game’s levels exist as elements within this area. From grind rails to platform objects, loops and so on, the Open Zone is packed with the athletic action we love in Sonic games,” Kishimoto explained.

Since the Open Zone’s design was based on the concept of a world map, Kishimoto sees Sonic Frontiers as a rival to other platformers such as Mario, Kirby and Donkey Kong rather than other free-roaming experiences. Mario’s recent 3D endeavors have been more open-ended as well, and Super Mario Odyssey and Bowser's Fury seem to share similarities with the direction that Sonic appears to be taking in Frontiers’ Open Zone concept. What should differentiate Sonic Frontiers from such titles is, as always, pure speed.

“In the Open Zone, the high-speed gameplay can carry players in any direction without the limitations of a stage or course,” Kishimoto said.　

“In previous Sonic titles, we had to gradually make the stages more difficult in order to reach an amount of play time that would satisfy players. It is natural for level-based platformers to become more difficult as you progress. However, for Sonic games the problem has always been that higher difficulty can get in the way of the game’s sense of speed. In Sonic Frontiers, the Open Zone offers a lot of content already, so raising the difficulty in order to increase the play time was no longer necessary. From start to finish, we were able to maintain a sense of speed with ideal level design for a Sonic game.”

Going by Kishimoto’s comments, the contradiction between speed and platforming – a balance that has always challenged the Sonic series – could have been solved by the Open Zone’s new structure. Kishimoto added that instead of an increase in difficulty, Sonic Team has found new ways to challenge the player, so Sonic Frontiers won’t be an experience that players will find too easy either.

The Open Zone also gives room for more diverse gameplay. Sonic Frontiers comes with a more fleshed-out combat system as well as puzzles scattered throughout the Open Zone. The latter will offer some quieter moments, a rarity in Sonic games.

“Some of the puzzles are brain-teasers, while others test your action techniques or play out as a minigame,” Kishimoto explained. Kishimoto assured us that the game’s main focus remains on Sonic’s exhilarating sense of speed, which is why tackling these puzzles is mostly optional. “That being said, we’ve included ways for players to get hooked by the puzzles, so please look forward to that,” Kishimoto added.

With the implementation of the Open Zone, Sonic Frontiers boasts a lot more content than previous Sonic games. Kishimoto says that it should take the average player between 20 and 30 hours to finish the game, while completionists can easily spend double the time to see everything. To keep the player motivated throughout the journey, Kishimoto and his team decided to implement character progression to accompany the longer playtime.

“While this might be unusual for a level-based platformer, we decided to implement a skill tree and the ability to level Sonic up,” said Kishimoto.

Interestingly, Sonic’s speed itself can also be leveled up. When running, a speedometer indicates just how fast Sonic is running, and this can be upgraded. Details like this seem to indicate that no matter how much the Open Zone shakes up the formula, the main concept of what makes a Sonic game hasn’t changed one bit.

“In previous titles, Sonic fans have enjoyed time attacks for each stage. For Sonic Frontiers, doing a speed run for the entire game might be a fun challenge,” Kishimoto said with a smile.

Sonic Frontiers will be released for Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S and PC this winter. In the meantime, you can enjoy our exclusive first look at Sonic Frontiers gameplay. From more gameplay footage to previews and interviews, IGN First will bring you loads of exclusive Sonic Frontiers content throughout June, so please stay tuned!

Esra Krabbe is an editor at IGN Japan. Follow him on Twitter if you can keep up with his speed.

The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is set to expand further, with three new animated movies now in development.

Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation announced these new projects during a special presentation at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where they also revealed that Lauren Montgomery, who previously worked on the acclaimed Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, will direct the first of the three planned Avatar movies.

Several Avatar veterans are returning to assist Montgomery with the first title in the series. Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino, who co-created Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, are re-teaming as producers on this project alongside Eric Coleman, who served as the executive producer and production manager of The Last Airbender series.

"As original creators, Mike and Bryan expand the Avatar universe with us, we're keeping it all in the family with Lauren bringing the same kind of expert, beautiful work she did on the original series to her new directing duties on the forthcoming theatrical," said Ramsey Naito, President of Animation & Development at Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation.

Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation's Executive Vice President of Movies and Global Franchises, Latifa Ouaou, will be overseeing the untitled, animated Avatar film, from its development through to production, alongside Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation's Vice President of Animation Jason McConnell.

All three films are being developed under the Avatar Studios banner, which was launched last year with the goal of creating original series and movies set in the beloved world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, for release on Paramount+, Nickelodeon platforms, and unspecified third-party platforms, as well as in cinemas.

It was also announced last year that Nickelodeon had started to lay the groundwork for an "Avatar Airbender universe" that would encompass multiple TV series and movies across a variety of platforms. Avatar Studios leaders Konietzko and DiMartino noted that "there are still many stories and time periods in Aang's world" to be covered on-screen.

Netflix also has a live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender in the works, however, Konietzko and DiMartino previously departed that project, citing creative differences as the reason for their exit. Executive producer Dan Lin and his production company Rideback remain attached to the series, along with Nickelodeon.

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

Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi has talked about his new Star Wars film, which will focus on a completely new cast of characters as it aims to expand the universe.

Speaking to Total Film, Waititi explained that his goal isn't to make a film that relies on references to pre-existing lore and canon, as doing so doesn't really let Star Wars grow.

"I think for the Star Wars universe to expand, it has to expand," he said. "I don't think that I'm any use in the Star Wars universe making a film where everyone's like, 'oh great, well that's the blueprints to the Millennium Falcon, that's Chewbacca's grandmother'.

"That all stands alone. That's great. Though I would like to take something new and create some new characters and just expand the world, otherwise it feels like it's a very small story."

Waititi said last August that he has a story locked in that matches his signature style but this "new characters" update is the most information he's given otherwise. He, LucasFilm, and Disney have all remained incredibly quiet about the film since it was announced in May 2020.

LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy did confirm that it's targeting a late 2023 release window but, even then, said "we haven't locked anything in".

The movie is otherwise lacking an official title or plot synopsis, though we do at least now know (sort of) where it stands in the overarching Star Wars universe - seemingly somewhere far, far away from anything established already.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Thumbnail Image by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords will have the original version's cut content added to the Nintendo Switch re-release in Q3 this year.

The content was removed from the original version of KOTOR 2 and includes new missions, dialogue, and other content that's woven throughout the entire game. Given how intrinsic it is to the game, players will need to start a fresh save file in order to experience it.

Eurogamer spotted a tweet from developer port developer Aspyr, which confirmed: "You will need to start a new game with the DLC content enabled to access the additional content, however after the DLC releases and you still wish to finish your non-DLC playthrough, you can access those base game save files by disabling the DLC in the in-game main menu."

The extra content – which will be added for free – includes a mission where players play as their droid companion HK-47 and explore a mysterious HK manufacturing plant, a new and improved ending that includes more party interactions and extra acknowledgement of the player's past choices, livelier crew conversations overall, and a variety of other quests and challenges across the galaxy.

The Switch version of KOTOR 2 was released on June 8 and only announced shortly before that, during Star Wars Celebration. In our 8/10 review of the original, IGN said: "If you like roleplaying games or if you like Star Wars, you'll be hard pressed to find a game as enjoyable as Knights of the Old Republic II. Sure, it's got some technical problems and, sure, it starts fairly slowly but if you can see past those flaws, you're in for one hell of a treat."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Guillermo del Toro has shared new details about his stop-motion reimagining of Pinocchio, including how it differs from Disney's classic animated movie about the iconic puppet.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, del Toro discussed his approach to the story, and the themes he focused on in his upcoming animated movie for Netflix. He asserted that his version of Pinocchio remains family-friendly even though it is a significant departure from the adventure that audiences have come to know and love through adaptations of Carlo Collodi's 1883 book.

Coming to Netflix this December, GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO reimagines the classic tale in a stop-motion adventure featuring an all-star voice cast and del Toro's uniquely extraordinary vision. pic.twitter.com/xwxgU4nQ3J

— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) June 14, 2022

"We couldn't be more different than any other version of Pinocchio in our spiritual or philosophical goals, or even the setting," del Toro said, acknowledging that his film is a very different take on the tale of the wooden puppet — one that will be "for both children and adults that talk to each other" and will tackle "very deep ideas about what makes us human."

"I've always been very intrigued by the links between Pinocchio and Frankenstein," del Toro added. "They are both about a child that is thrown into the world. They are both created by a father who then expects them to figure out what's good, what's bad, the ethics, the morals, love, life, and essentials, on their own. I think that was, for me, childhood."

Del Toro's Pinocchio takes place in Italy between World War I and World War II at a time when government officials are looking for army recruits and decide to target the wooden boy. "He is recruited into the village military camp," the filmmaker noted. "Because the fascist official in town thinks if this puppet cannot die, it would make the perfect soldier."

The stop-motion movie adaptation of Pinocchio features a star-studded cast that includes Ewan McGregor as the voice of Sebastian J. Cricket. His character is the only mystical being in the picture, as del Toro was keen to make it feel as close to "the real world" as possible, which meant removing the talking animals, magical transformations, and Pleasure Island.

"Many times the fable has seemed, to me, in favor of obedience and domestication of the soul. Blind obedience is not a virtue. The virtue Pinocchio has is to disobey. At a time when everybody else behaves as a puppet—he doesn't," he explained. "I don't want to retell the same story. I want to tell it my way and in the way I understand the world."

Del Toro directed the film alongside Mark Gustafson and co-wrote it with Patrick McHale. Del Toro is also producing the film, along with Lisa Henson, Alex Bulkley, Corey Campodonico, and Gary Ungar. The movie will arrive on Netflix this December following the release of Disney's live-action retelling of Pinocchio in September.

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