The Sonic movies "wouldn't even try" to replace Jim Carrey if the iconic actor decides to follow through on his decision to retire.

Speaking at the Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Movie "blue carpet" event hosted by IGN, producer Neal Moritz agreed with the statement that it's not possible to fill Carrey's shoes in the role of the villainous Dr. Robotnik.

"No, we wouldn't even try," Moritz said as fellow producer Toby Ascher voiced agreement.

If Jim Carrey DOES retire from acting, #SonicMovie2 producers Neal H. Moritz & Toby Ascher confirmed they would not recast Dr. Robotnik!#Robotnik pic.twitter.com/w32BT0sSG8

— IGN (@IGN) April 6, 2022

Carrey recently revealed that he is considering retiring from acting after Sonic the Hedgehog 2, saying, "I have enough. I've done enough. I am enough."

Sonic's producers, however, are confident that Carrey will return for another movie. And if he does, they say, he will be welcomed back with open arms.

"Jim Carrey is always a member of the Sonic family and he will always have a place in these movies and TV shows as long as he'd like to be around. We love Jim and he's so special, and what he does with Robotnik is so incredible, we would love him as long as he would like to be there with us," Ascher said.

"I have a feeling that he loves Robotnik so much that I don't think he'll be able to walk away from that," Moritz added.

Sega and Paramount already have big plans for follow-ups to Sonic 2 including sequels and a spin-off series starring Idris Elba. One way or another, the "Sonic Cinematic Universe" will be moving ahead.

In the meantime, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 releases on April 8. You can read our review here, where we discuss how Carrey goes "even bigger as Robotnik continues to lose his marbles."

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.

After Ezra Miller was arrested for disorderly conduct and harassment, a new report says Warner Bros. held an emergency meeting to discuss pausing Miller’s future projects with the company.

According to Rolling Stone, Warner Bros. and DC executives held an emergency meeting on March 30 to discuss Miller’s future with the studio. While a decision doesn’t appear to have been formalized, one source says the consensus is to “hit pause on any future projects involving Miller including possible appearances in the DC Cinematic Universe.”

Miller is set to reprise their role as Barry Allen in The Flash, which is set to be released on June 23, 2023. This film will co-star fellow Snyder-verse alumn Ben Affleck as Batman, as well as Michael Keaton, who will return as his version of Batman, and Sasha Calle as Supergirl.

The Flash was stuck in development hell for years and went through multiple directors before tapping It director Andy Muschietti to helm the feature. Filming was completed on October 18 and The Flash was originally set to premiere in November 2022 before being delayed to June 23, 2023.

According to reports, Miller became agitated while at a karaoke bar and grabbed the microphone from a woman singing, and reportedly lunged at another man playing darts. The couple later filed a restraining order against Miller.

Miller has starred in both blockbuster movies and indie dramas, but the recent arrest was not their first outburst. In 2020 a video showing Miller apparently choking a woman at an Iceland bar began circulating online, though no arrests were made.

Miller’s future at WB, especially as part of the DC Cinematic Universe is being discussed during a strange time for the company.

The Flash has drummed up a lot of excitement with its cast. However, the DCEU is in a strange place as WB appears to be releasing connected films like The Flash and Aquaman 2 alongside standalone films like The Batman.

As of now, The Flash is still on track for its 2023 release date and there’s no news yet of a potential sequel. IGN has reached out to WB and Miller's representatives for comment.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Dying Light 2 is getting a New Game Plus mode later this month.

Techland announced on Twitter (below) that the third major patch for Dying Light 2 was on its way with a promise it would be one of the biggest yet.

The developer didn't give an exact release date for the update but said it would be available on all platforms by the end of April, meaning it's a few weeks away at most.

Several fixes for both the single and multiplayer portions of the game will be included alongside the New Game Plus mode but Techland didn't say if anything else would be included.

Patch three would have to be fairly sizable to compete with Dying Light 2's previous updates. Its launch day patch featured more than 1,000 fixes while later ones were tasked with fixing server and co-op problems.

Techland also has two major story expansions planned for the game, with lead game designer Tymon Smektała saying these will take place "sideways to the main events" instead of beyond the game's ending.

Survivors,
Our team is working hard on patch 3 for DL2 Stay Human.
It will be one of the biggest patches we've released so far. Apart from many fixes for both multi and single-player mode, it will also introduce a New Game+ mode, giving you more reasons to re-visit The City.(1/2)

— Dying Light (@DyingLightGame) April 5, 2022

In our 7/10 review, IGN said: "Dying Light 2 Stay Human is an ambitious zombie action adventure that's packed with top-notch parkour, an awesome open world, and every painful bug in the book."

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

Apple TV+ has renewed its workplace thriller series Severance for a second season. The news comes just days before the show's first season finale airs on the streaming service.

“‘Severance’ has imagined an existence that‘s equal parts riveting and enthralling as viewers around the globe can’t get enough of these rich characters,” Apple TV+'s head of programming Matt Cherniss said in a statement. “We’re excited to go deeper into this wholly unique world and unpack more layers of Lumon in season two.”

Severance is helmed by creator and writer Dan Erickson and executive producer and director Ben Stiller. The show stars Adam Scott as Mark, a team leader at the cryptic Lumon Industries, a company that insists its employees undergo a procedure known as "severance" to divide their memories between their work and home lives.

The dystopian office series also co-stars Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Zach Cherry. Both Scott and Arquette also serve as producers.

Though there is no word of how many seasons the show will ultimately have, Stiller seems adamant that there is plenty of story left to tell about these characters and their unusual circumstances.

"It has been a long road bringing ‘Severance' to television," he said. "I first read Dan’s pilot over five years ago. It has always been a multi-season story, and I’m really happy we get to continue it. I’m grateful to our partners at Apple TV+ who have been behind it the whole way. Praise Keir!"

Severance has received widespread critical acclaim for its performances and eerie setting. In our review of the two-episode premiere, we said, "Severance's success will be determined by the payoff of its central mysteries, but the excellent cast, eerie visuals, and off-putting score make every moment of the first two episodes feel worth the ride.

Severance's Season 1 finale "The We We Are" airs this Friday exclusively on Apple TV+.

Billy Givens is a freelance writer at IGN.

The runtime for Jurassic World: Dominion has reportedly been revealed, and it looks set to be the longest entry in the franchise.

One Take News and Collider confirmed through sources that Dominion will clock in at 2 hours 26 mins, making it the franchise's longest installment. The second trilogy-closer is almost an hour longer than Jurassic Park III, the shortest entry at 1 hour 32 mins, and nearly 20 minutes longer than The Lost World and Fallen Kingdom, the lengthiest entries at 2 hours 9 mins.

Jurassic World: Dominion is expected to cap off the latest trilogy, but not the entire series, with a story that takes place four years after the events of Fallen Kingdom. This time around, the world is forced to deal with some invasive dino species, including one that is particularly deadly, after the park's genetically altered inhabitants were sold off to various companies.

Director Colin Trevorrow previously spoke about how Dominion will sink its teeth into a larger story, one that will tie together the two trilogies and serve as "a celebration of the whole franchise." The next film will also break out more animatronic dinosaurs and practical effects than the two other Jurassic World movies, so it may just need those extra minutes.

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will return for Jurassic World 3, and will be joined by original Jurassic Park stars Sam Neil, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum who will feature "all the way through" the film as opposed to popping up for a cameo appearance. Dominion is scheduled to open in theaters on June 10, but you might want to watch the prologue first.

Trevorrow broke down the prologue and what it means for Dominion after the five-minute scene transported viewers 65 million years in the past to see dinosaurs moving in herds, peacefully grazing, and even fighting. There was also a glimpse of a very familiar mosquito before arriving in present day where one dinosaur crashes into a drive-in movie theater.

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

Players can now instantly pick up resources in Horizon: Forbidden West, fixing a point of irritation for some players.

As reported by Eurogamer, the feature ppears to have arrived in the latest update but was missing from developer Guerrilla Games' patch notes. When turned on, it means players don't have to wait for an animation to play out whenever they wish to harvest enemy drops and other useful items in the open world. This also applies to when Aloy's mounted.

Instant pick-up can be turned on and off in the pause menu, and makes exploration in the Forbidden West a little smoother. Many players had found having to wait for an animation every time an item was picked up a point of frustration, not least because you can find yourself doing it a dozen times after a single fight.

Guerrilla has released several updates for the game since it launched in February, most of which have included bug fixes and minor quality of life improvements such as the automatic pickup option. In our 9/10 review, IGN said: "A triumphant combination of enthralling combat, top-tier creature and character design, and a captivating open world, Horizon: Forbidden West is an absolute blast and fantastic showcase for the power of the PS5."

We've also named it amongst our best open world games of all time alongside The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Elden Ring.

For everything you need to know about Aloy's adventure, check out IGN's Horizon: Forbidden West Wiki which has collectible locations, boss strategies, and more.

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

Warning: This article contains minor spoilers for Marvel's Moon Knight.

Marvel's Moon Knight features hidden QR codes that offer viewers free access to comic books that inspired the Disney+ series.

The second episode of Moon Knight is now streaming on Disney+, and a lot of people have taken to social media to share their insights, opinions, and critiques of the latest chapter — but some have been studying the frames a little more closely than others and have spotted interactive Easter eggs strategically placed in the background of certain scenes.

Episode 2, for example, features a QR code on the storage locker that Steven Grant visits. That QR code actually works when scanned and leads fans to a Marvel page where they can gain access to a free digital comic. This week's companion piece is Werewolf by Night #33, featuring Moon Knight's second comic book appearance.

#MOONKNIGHT SPOILERS

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The QR code on the locker leads to Werewolf by Night #33 pic.twitter.com/yyBK96azlo

— Len ☾ MK SPOILERS (@LENNIEC0N) April 6, 2022

Moon Knight's premiere also included a free comic giveaway. Redditor u/Goalless highlighted the Easter egg for those that might have missed it amongst all the chaos, writing, "There is a QR code on the wall of the museum in Moon Knight that takes you to a free digital copy of Werewolf By Night 32." GamesRadar confirmed the promotion will run for all six episodes.

Marvel is reportedly developing a Halloween special for Disney+ that will take inspiration from Werewolf by Night. Composer Michael Giacchino is rumored to be directing the project, though very little is known about it at this time. It's also unclear which incarnation of the Werewolf by Night character might be involved or whether Moon Knight will show up.

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

A new trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has shown off live-action zombie versions of Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch, and more unexpected imagery from the upcoming MCU sequel.

The new trailer, titled 'Dream', focuses a little more on Wanda Maximoff (aka Scarlet Witch), and seemingly a lot more on the various versions of Strange we'll seemingly be meeting along the way. While we've seen Marvel Zombies in animated form as part of What If...?, this trailer includes a first look at live-action Wanda and Stephen in zombie form:

We also see Sinister Strange open his literal third eye, get a loo kat what may be an alternate version of Rachel McAdams' Dr. Christine Palmer (who seems to have new MCU superhero America Chavez imprisoned behind her), and get a closer look at the mysterious new character some believe to be Superior Iron Man or an alternate Captain Marvel.

You can take a look at some of the more curious shots in the gallery below:

Between the last trailer and this one, there's a huge amount to break down, and fans have been speculating whether everyone from Deadpool to a Bruce Campbell cameo will appear. There's also the small matter of Patrick Stewart appearing in the movie, seemingly as Professor X.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, alongside Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch. They’re joined by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and Xochitl Gomez.

Sam Raimi directed the movie from a script by Michael Waldron, based on characters created by comic book legends Steve Ditko and Stan Lee.

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.

Days Gone director Jeff Ross has joined Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics.

In a tweet, Ross announced he was joining the studio as design director just hours after it revealed it was working on a new Tomb Raider game. He didn't confirm which game he'd be working on though, as Crystal Dynamics is also co-developing the Perfect Dark reboot with The Initiative, and continues to work on Marvel's Avengers.

I'm excited to announce I now work at the amazing Crystal Dynamics as Design Director. That's all I can say other than I'm thrilled with the project, and especially the team of really wonderful people.

I will become a Seattleite this summer.

Also--Come work with me! https://t.co/HjDFIFk7MF

— Jeff Ross (@JakeRocket) April 5, 2022

Ross will be joining Crystal North West in Seattle this summer, a subsidiary studio of Crystal Dynamics, but his LinkedIn profile indicates he's been a Crystal Dynamics employee since February.

Ross has previously expressed his desire to work on an Uncharted game, and considering that Crystal Dynamics took inspiration from the PlayStation exclusive when it rebooted Tomb Raider, it would certainly make sense if he was a lead in Lara Croft's latest.

He's also been vocal about the sequel to Bend Studio's Days Gone that never got to happen, saying it was pitched to be a shared universe co-op game with a "more technical direction". The original game was treated like a disappointment by management though, Ross said, and sequel hopes were apparently dashed when ex-chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden left the company.

The new Tomb Raider game is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 with franchise general manager Dallas Dickinson promising a "high-quality cinematic action-adventure experience".

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

Acting for Eidos Montreal’s Guardians of the Galaxy came with an almost unique challenge. Not only were the core cast members tasked with bringing digital avatars to life, they had to differentiate them from some of the most famous onscreen characters of the last decade. Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket, and Groot – they’re all now major pop culture names thanks to their MCU counterparts, not to mention decades of comic book appearances.

But this isn’t an MCU game, nor a straight comic adaptation. Not in the slightest. We spoke to all five lead cast members for Guardians of the Galaxy to work out how they managed the balancing act of presenting players with new versions of beloved, familiar characters.

“We were told very early on that [the developers] did not want it to be the comic books, they did not want it to be the MCU versions of the characters,” said Jon McLaren, who plays Starlord. “They wanted us to take risks, try things and really push to make these characters our own.”

That’s exactly what the cast did.

“I chose not to go back and look at the movies,” said Kimberly-Sue Murray, who plays Gamora. “I didn’t want to be influenced because I knew we were going to do our own version.”

“The narrative team did such an incredible job of crafting a unique story and unique world that is completely separate from the comics and the MCU,” explained McLaren.

Much like the MCU Guardians, the game’s Peter Quill and his rag-tag band of space heroes are a loveable ensemble brimming with heart, humor, and barely-concealed contempt for one another. But the versions we ended up seeing became very much their own - leading to widespread critical praise, and even awards recognition.

At this week’s BAFTA Game Awards, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was nominated for its Narrative and Audio Achievement, while Jon McLaren is up for Performer in a Leading Role, with Jason Cavalier (Drax) and Alex Weiner (Rocket) both up for Performer in a Supporting Role.

“This is an affirmation of that team effort as a whole,” said McLaren.

Much like his on-screen alter ego, McLaren is a rallying voice among his real-life Guardians, and he’s keen to share the credit for the game’s success. And while the narrative team gave its actors extensive background notes for each of their characters, they were very keen for the cast to develop the roles themselves along the way.

“They really emphasized doing our own versions of the characters and steering clear of the MCU,” said Murray. In her case, this meant a substantial departure from how Gamora was portrayed on the big screen. “I really loved that Gamora wasn’t anyone’s love interest,” she added.

Of course, the big-screen version of Gamora, played by Zoe Saldana, saw the galaxy’s deadliest woman become an eventual love interest for Peter Quill, but in the game, there’s not even so much as a hint of that happening.

“She stood on her own,” added Murray. “There was no ambiguity with regards to her relationship with Peter Quill. I really wanted to have her be one of the guys. She’s a team member, she’s an equal, she’s not just a love interest. As a woman, often I play the love interest, so I really wanted her to be an equal and to stand her own and have her own story that had nothing to do with lust or love.”

That carries over into the game’s mechanics, too. Gamora is an equal part of the team, and a vital one – carving up enemies with her signature blade while also offering an insight into tactical maneuvers as you decide how to approach different situations.

“It made her mission so much clearer,” added Murray. “She has her own past that she’s dealing with, her own dark secrets, and you don’t want to distract from that. It was a smart move.”

Drax says it himself – this woman is a murderess. And pretty badass, too. The Destroyer himself is also a different beast in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Sure, he’s still got his trademark straightforward nature, and the Katathian warrior clearly takes some cues from Dave Bautista when waxing literal with his chums. But actor Jason Cavalier put a lot of work into sounding out exactly what makes Drax tick.

“Drax moved differently, spoke differently, thought differently, and came from a far different culture from anything I’ve ever had to experience, so I had to create everything from scratch,” said Cavalier.

“Why was Drax so literal? I mean, we hear about the culture, but it’s never really explicitly stated why they react that way, so I had to figure out a logical reason for behaving that way. Drax comes from a warrior culture and if they were going to fight at the drop of a hat, you’d have no society left. So, these people needed to be clear with each other, and direct, so there would be no miscommunication - because most conflict comes out of miscommunication. So, that was my reasoning for why Drax was the way he was. He’s not stupid, he’s just from somewhere else and they behave differently.”

You see this throughout the game – Drax’s literal nature is played for laughs as he regularly holds onto his own butt or complains that it’s physically impossible for him to watch his head.

“I did go back and revisit the films a number of times,” said Cavalier. “Just to reacquaint myself with some mannerisms and things. I knew we were doing our own versions, but I also knew that we were probably going to have to respect certain characteristics.”

However, the depth of Cavalier’s character really comes to the fore when dealing with his past. It’s a familiar story for fans of the movies – Drax’s wife and child were killed by Thanos. Unfortunately, this grief makes him the most vulnerable, whether he realizes it or not.

“The depth of his pain was something he had never addressed and had buried,” said Cavalier. “When the opportunity to heal that pain came, that could have been what was weakening him.”

During the game, the Guardians encounter the Universal Church of Truth – a cult-like church with promises of eternal life and resurrecting dead loved ones, so it’s easy to see how Drax could fall for their mind-controlling shenanigans.

“We never explicitly see the moment he decides,” explained Cavalier. “We get little hints and glimpses of him being confused or not quite there completely, but the act of breaking under The Promise, we never see. I had to make a decision on why that would be and I just assumed it was that he wanted to be rid of the pain that he had inside.”

Considering the light-hearted, over-the-top nature of the game, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy deals with a lot of pain from its main characters. Take Rocket, for example. The MCU touches on his past as a result of experimentation on Halfworld… but never quite explores it. Here, the game goes all in – using it as motivation for much of Rocket’s quirks.

Actor Alex Weiner explained how he got under the raccoon’s skin:

“I started looking at some summaries of comics, the arcs that were present – discovering Lylla, discovering Halfworld. I did stay away from the MCU, actually. I was already a huge fan and like many people, I discovered those characters through the MCU. But now, having the opportunity to portray this character myself, I didn’t want to be influenced in any way.”

On the surface, Rocket is one of the characters that most closely resembles his MCU version. There’s that underlying rough and ready nature that permeates the character, and a deep sense of otherness – that he’s always on the outside. Then, there’s Rocket’s hang-up about being a raccoon.

“It would have been easy to play him as a human,” said Weiner. “It would have been easier to just walk around and talk, but then I made a decision to add some animalistic qualities into Rocket, so just scratching his spur sometimes, or like a little twitch in his leg. That kind of came in through the game a little bit at times. I was constantly exploring this character who claims he’s not a raccoon even though he kind of is, so how does that work? Does he have those animalistic ticks? That was one thing that I played around with quite a bit.”

Ultimately, it’s Rocket’s backstory that really sets the video game version apart. “I was immediately curious about his backstory,” he said. “We didn’t get a huge amount of it from the MCU. We knew that he was tested upon, that there were experiments involved.”

The nature of video games means that there’s a lot more time to delve into these characters compared to the movies. Essentially, we get a much deeper dive into what makes them tick, and the cast took every opportunity to portray that.

“You have twenty hours versus two to really dive into the backstories of these characters,” said McLaren. “You learn a lot about Rocket, you learn a lot about Drax, about Groot, about Gamora, and you just have more time to tell their stories.”

“The gamer gets to explore the world… you get to know the characters,” added Murray. “How many cinematic hours did we shoot, like six? That’s three movies! You have so much time with these characters.”

It’s not just about the length of time we spend with them, either. Groot actor Robert Montcalm may only have said three repeated words throughout the game, but explained it more than eloquently in our interview:

“Emotional depth makes me care about my teammates, and this is all about a team growing together,” he explained. “If you don’t have the emotional depth of everybody, you’re not really going to care about these side characters. Why should I go and rescue Rocket in that situation? Why do I care if Gamora needs help on that end of the battlefield? It doesn’t really matter. But in this game where you can go and have meetings where you talk one on one with the characters and learn more about them – that was extremely interesting for me. Now I know a little bit more and I care a little bit more. It was a journey of growing together as a family in this game. You know and you care and that’s why you want to keep playing.”

Montcalm had one of the trickiest jobs – making a new, unique version of Groot while saying just three words over and over again. To put it into context, he had 1630 lines in the game, all of them saying “I am Groot”.

“I absolutely adored doing that line,” he laughed. “I felt bad some days when we would show up and everybody had monologues to say, and I was like ‘I have two “I am Groots” in this scene’.”

Of course, there’s more to it than that. The intention and meaning behind his lines differ with every “I am Groot”, whether he’s being accidentally shot at by his best buddy, or trying to convince Rocket to give Starlord another chance.

“Some people would be like, ‘That’s ridiculous – you say one line, that can’t be that interesting’,” he explained. “To me, it was the most interesting to say that one line again and again and again.”

The dynamic between Rocket and Groot in particular means that Montcalm and Weiner had a very close working relationship. When it comes to the game, you can see that in how they depend on each other.

“Rocket and Groot have such a unique relationship, it really made the world of difference to have Robert in on all of the scenes,” said Murray.

“What’s funny is, Rocket wouldn’t always translate what I was saying, purposefully, because he would want to get his way on something I perhaps disagreed with him on,” said Montcalm. “So, I would just keep staring at him after he would give a mistranslation of what I meant.”

“There were numerous times where Robert would deliver me an ‘I am Groot’ and I knew exactly what he was saying,” said Weiner. “I just knew. He was that good.”

There’s one thing that’s clear from my time with the cast of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – these actors are as much a family as their on-screen characters. That’s bound to have paid off when making the game itself… and even now, they’re still part of their own crew.

“Some of the insults towards Starlord – ‘Floorboard’, ‘Stormlord’ – I remember we would start using them off set,” explained Weiner. “I’d call up Jon and be like ‘Hey Floorboard, how you doing?’ Starpants was the best one. They were really fun.”

“I still text Jon sometimes with the star emoji and the pants emoji,” laughed Murray.

“I have him as Starpants in my phone, actually,” laughed Weiner.

“Yeah… I have a lot of nicknames as a result of this game,” said McLaren. “We bonded really quick,” he added. “We really did become best friends really, really quickly. I hope and I think that it shows throughout the game.”

“Whatever work I was able to do, I was able to do because of my extended family here,” said Cavalier. “It wouldn’t have worked without them. I felt free and open, and if I fell, they were there to catch me. It was very much a family effort. A team effort.”

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