Sonic the Hedgehog 2 director Jeff Fowler has said that fans can expect to see plenty of references to the original Sonic 2 video game in the upcoming movie.

As part of IGN Fan Fest, Fowler was asked if there would be any Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 levels or references featured in the sequel movie. The movie features Tails, who was first seen in the second game, and Knuckles, who was introduced in the third game, so would there be anything else from their respective games? “Oh yeah, all kinds,” he replied.

“One of them was in the trailer, of course, the bi-plane Tornado. It’s such an iconic visual from Sonic 2,” he said. The Tornado, first introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, is a prominent part of the Sky Chase Zone, and will hopefully provide a memorable sequence in the movie.

Fowler would not provide any more details about other game references, but did note that fans can expect many more. “As we were setting out to plot Sonic 2, we all got really excited about just pulling that great imagery that all the fans are going to get excited about seeing on the big screen, and just creating a real cinematic version of the stuff that fans have loved from Sonic 1 and Sonic 2.”

“It’s a great problem to have that there are so many great Easter eggs to incorporate, and this movie is chock full of them,” he emphasized. “I couldn’t even begin to list them because there’s just so much stuff fans get excited about.”

For more from Sonic 2, check out the trailer, and Jeff Fowler confirming which emerald is featured in that trailer.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

The Northman is the next historic thriller by director of The Witch and The Lighthouse, Robert Eggers. During IGN Fan Fest, Eggers shared four exclusive photos from the upcoming Viking movie.

As part of IGN Fan Fest, we sat down with Eggers who introduced four exclusive photos from The Northman that IGN can share today. Check out the gallery below for a look at Alexander Skarsgard’s Viking prince Amleth, Claes Bang as Fjolnir, Ingvar Sigurdsson as The Sorcerer, and Ethan Hawke who plays King Aurvandil:

Eggers calls Skarsgard’s character a “berzerker” who can channel the ferocity of a bear. Eggers also shared some design details of the characters including how The Sorcerer’s mummified head is drawn from Odin’s prophetic abilities.

The Northman is described as a revenge thriller starring a Viking prince out to avenge his father the king. In an interview with IGN, Eggers calls this movie his most blockbuster picture yet, but he maintains his dedication to historical accuracy.

“[Historical accuracy] It’s not important to filmmaking, at all really. And you can make a great period story without being accurate — you know Coppola’s Dracula is one of the best-designed movies in my opinion but it’s not accurate at all. But this is something that I like, for whatever reason. It excites me.”

Eggers says the accuracy frees him in a way, in that rather than designing an original sword, for example, he can point to a sword and say, “that’s the sword.”

Be sure to check out our full interview with Eggers who shares his favorite Viking myths he learned while working on The Northman, as well as the collaborative approach he had writing the film with Icelandic poet, Sjon.

And be sure to check out the full schedule for IGN Fan Fest for more interviews, exclusives, and more.

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

The Northman is the next historic thriller by director of The Witch and The Lighthouse, Robert Eggers. During IGN Fan Fest, Eggers shared four exclusive photos from the upcoming Viking movie.

As part of IGN Fan Fest, we sat down with Eggers who introduced four exclusive photos from The Northman that IGN can share today. Check out the gallery below for a look at Alexander Skarsgard’s Viking prince Amleth, Claes Bang as Fjolnir, Ingvar Sigurdsson as The Sorcerer, and Ethan Hawke who plays King Aurvandil:

Eggers calls Skarsgard’s character a “berzerker” who can channel the ferocity of a bear. Eggers also shared some design details of the characters including how The Sorcerer’s mummified head is drawn from Odin’s prophetic abilities.

The Northman is described as a revenge thriller starring a Viking prince out to avenge his father the king. In an interview with IGN, Eggers calls this movie his most blockbuster picture yet, but he maintains his dedication to historical accuracy.

“[Historical accuracy] It’s not important to filmmaking, at all really. And you can make a great period story without being accurate — you know Coppola’s Dracula is one of the best-designed movies in my opinion but it’s not accurate at all. But this is something that I like, for whatever reason. It excites me.”

Eggers says the accuracy frees him in a way, in that rather than designing an original sword, for example, he can point to a sword and say, “that’s the sword.”

Be sure to check out our full interview with Eggers who shares his favorite Viking myths he learned while working on The Northman, as well as the collaborative approach he had writing the film with Icelandic poet, Sjon.

And be sure to check out the full schedule for IGN Fan Fest for more interviews, exclusives, and more.

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

After close to 10 years on the air, Attack of Titan is finally coming to an end. For fans who haven't been spoiled by the manga, it's an emotional moment as they wait to see what happens to characters like Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. Indeed, even the English voice actors are uncertain what will ultimately happen to the characters they've played since 2014.

Speaking in a panel interview for IGN Fan Fest, Attack on Titan's English voice actors shared their individual perspectives on the growth of their characters throughout the series. In the process, Bryce Papenbrook (Eren) and Trina Nishimura (Mikasa) both revealed that they remain unspoiled on the ending.

"I don't know where he's going with this. I haven't been spoiled, I haven't read the manga... I love to immerse the shows I'm working on, live in that moment in real-time, then let whatever comes out of my body to come out into the show," Papenbrook explained.

Papenbrook's experience contrasts with Japanese voice actor Yuki Kaji, who is said to have cried while rehearsing for the show's final season. According to some reports, Kaji was fully caught up with the manga, but was nevertheless unprepared for the emotion of performing it for the show.

Describing his character's development, Papenbrook says that Eren is "angry" for much of the show, but that he changed in the final season. "I would describe Eren between Season 1 and 3 as 'angry.' Like, there's this anger that comes through every word he says. And in this latest season, that anger is still there, but it's under this layer of coldness, which makes him absolutely terrifying."

Nishimura, for her part, says that Mikasa hasn't been through as much change as Eren, but that certain recent developments have shifted her perception of the character over time. Overall, Nishimura is "really looking forward to seeing how everything ends."

"In my heart of hearts I really want Eren, Mikasa and Armin to get matching town homes somewhere and just be friends and just hang out. I know that's not gonna happen, but I hope for them that it'll be a happy ending," Nishimura said, adding, "It won't probably."

First released in North America in 2014, Attack on Titan was an instant sensation with anime fans when it debuted in English. The final chapter of the manga was fairly divisive among fans of the series when it was released in April 2021, leading some to wonder whether the anime would go in a different direction.

We'll know soon enough. There are just two episodes remaining in the run, with the final episode set to air on February 28. You can read our review of the premiere of Attack on Titan's final season right here, and make sure to keep an eye on all of our coverage as IGN Fan Fest 2022 continues.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

After close to 10 years on the air, Attack of Titan is finally coming to an end. For fans who haven't been spoiled by the manga, it's an emotional moment as they wait to see what happens to characters like Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. Indeed, even the English voice actors are uncertain what will ultimately happen to the characters they've played since 2014.

Speaking in a panel interview for IGN Fan Fest, Attack on Titan's English voice actors shared their individual perspectives on the growth of their characters throughout the series. In the process, Bryce Papenbrook (Eren) and Trina Nishimura (Mikasa) both revealed that they remain unspoiled on the ending.

"I don't know where he's going with this. I haven't been spoiled, I haven't read the manga... I love to immerse the shows I'm working on, live in that moment in real-time, then let whatever comes out of my body to come out into the show," Papenbrook explained.

Papenbrook's experience contrasts with Japanese voice actor Yuki Kaji, who is said to have cried while rehearsing for the show's final season. According to some reports, Kaji was fully caught up with the manga, but was nevertheless unprepared for the emotion of performing it for the show.

Describing his character's development, Papenbrook says that Eren is "angry" for much of the show, but that he changed in the final season. "I would describe Eren between Season 1 and 3 as 'angry.' Like, there's this anger that comes through every word he says. And in this latest season, that anger is still there, but it's under this layer of coldness, which makes him absolutely terrifying."

Nishimura, for her part, says that Mikasa hasn't been through as much change as Eren, but that certain recent developments have shifted her perception of the character over time. Overall, Nishimura is "really looking forward to seeing how everything ends."

"In my heart of hearts I really want Eren, Mikasa and Armin to get matching town homes somewhere and just be friends and just hang out. I know that's not gonna happen, but I hope for them that it'll be a happy ending," Nishimura said, adding, "It won't probably."

First released in North America in 2014, Attack on Titan was an instant sensation with anime fans when it debuted in English. The final chapter of the manga was fairly divisive among fans of the series when it was released in April 2021, leading some to wonder whether the anime would go in a different direction.

We'll know soon enough. There are just two episodes remaining in the run, with the final episode set to air on February 28. You can read our review of the premiere of Attack on Titan's final season right here, and make sure to keep an eye on all of our coverage as IGN Fan Fest 2022 continues.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

The co-writers of Spider-Man: No Way Home say that there are "possibilities" for an MCU take on classic villain Venom, but that they won't be the ones who can make it happen, or even confirm if it might.

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

One of the movie's post-credits scenes includes a scene featuring Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and Venom, who have missed the events of the movie in a bar, and get returned to their reality without meeting any of the other major heroes or villains. Crucially, though, we see a drop of Venom symbiote has seemingly been left behind afterwards.

During IGN Fan Fest, writer Erik Sommers conceded that this allows for an MCU Venom to appear one day, but didn't go much further than that: "It leaves the door open for possibilities. As opposed to just seeing him go back and not seeing any symbiote. So it just allows for some exciting possibilities in the future."

However, it doesn't seem as though the writers have any info they can share about whether Venom will reappear outside of his own (somewhat) separate movie series. Co-writer Chris McKenna responded to being asked what the implications of the post-credits scene are by saying:

"I have no idea. That is above our pay grade. We are part of a bigger, larger universe that we are not the gods of, we're just mortals in. I think it was a fun idea that the sixth [member of] the Sinister Six gets stuck in a bar and doesn't get out of there, but maybe he leaves a little something behind. Again, we're not masters of that course of that next adventure."

Venom's just one part of an ending that raises several questions about the future of the MCU, the future of Peter Parker himself and even the future of other Peter Parkers.

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.

The co-writers of Spider-Man: No Way Home say that there are "possibilities" for an MCU take on classic villain Venom, but that they won't be the ones who can make it happen, or even confirm if it might.

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

One of the movie's post-credits scenes includes a scene featuring Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and Venom, who have missed the events of the movie in a bar, and get returned to their reality without meeting any of the other major heroes or villains. Crucially, though, we see a drop of Venom symbiote has seemingly been left behind afterwards.

During IGN Fan Fest, writer Erik Sommers conceded that this allows for an MCU Venom to appear one day, but didn't go much further than that: "It leaves the door open for possibilities. As opposed to just seeing him go back and not seeing any symbiote. So it just allows for some exciting possibilities in the future."

However, it doesn't seem as though the writers have any info they can share about whether Venom will reappear outside of his own (somewhat) separate movie series. Co-writer Chris McKenna responded to being asked what the implications of the post-credits scene are by saying:

"I have no idea. That is above our pay grade. We are part of a bigger, larger universe that we are not the gods of, we're just mortals in. I think it was a fun idea that the sixth [member of] the Sinister Six gets stuck in a bar and doesn't get out of there, but maybe he leaves a little something behind. Again, we're not masters of that course of that next adventure."

Venom's just one part of an ending that raises several questions about the future of the MCU, the future of Peter Parker himself and even the future of other Peter Parkers.

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.

Spider-Man: No Way Home's ending leaves a seemingly major plot hole – one that the writers say they have answers for, but tell us they aren't allowed to divulge right now.

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

As I hope you know if you've read this far, the climax of No Way Home sees Dr. Strange cast a spell that erases all memory of Peter Parker from the world. During IGN Fan Fest, fan Trent Sening asked No Way Home co-writers Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna writers what happened to the physical evidence that proved Peter Parker was Spider-Man after that spell was cast.

Interestingly, the writers say they do have an answer for that, but can't say what it is – leaving an inevitable further question about whether that's important to future MCU movies.

Part of the reason to leave a seeming plot hole in the movie comes down simply to the intent of that ending – the writers wanted to focus on the human effects of Peter's decision, rather than spend more time explaining its intricacies.

"We talked about that a lot," explained McKenna, "and we can't divulge much, but just know we talked about it a lot and there were conversations about it. And I will say answering those questions by the end of the movie, felt like it would be almost too much to have to explain that, in this movie. So I would hope that it's one of those details that I feel like would've been a bridge too far for us to have to explain in this movie. But we have thoughts and answers."

"We deliberated a lot," agreed Sommers. "Is it going to be like a Back to the Future kind of thing? Or are people going to be disappearing from photos? Are physical objects going to be disappearing? All these things. And like Chris said, ultimately, we decided that it would take so much time and real estate in the movie to explain all of that. It would just detract from the emotion of it."

Perhaps more intriguing is why McKenna and Sommers can't talk about those answers, even after the film has been released. "Believe me, we have answers to it," reiterated McKenna, "but I don't think we're... We're not allowed to divulge that. But we have answers."

When FanFest host Akeem Lawanson said he'd be imagining a Back to the Future approach for now, Sommers said, "You can work with that until you get new information."

It's not clear if that means that new information will come, but it certainly leaves open that possibility. After all, No Way Home ends with Peter Parker swinging across New York in a brand new suit, and we've heard that Sony would like another trilogy of Tom Holland Spider-Man movies – perhaps it's a discovery of some physical information that helps bring Peter back into the MCU fold down the line.

There's also the question of whether that spell affects Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's versions of Peter. Again, the answer is inconclusive, but McKenna and Sommers say they kicked around ideas about how to show that:

"Believe me, we talked about it and we actually had ideas for ways of showing the effects, if there were any," McKenna explained.

"Chris and I even were tempted," Sommers continued, "we wanted to maybe pitch a tag where you got to see something, 'Oh, what would happen if this guy goes back and this has changed, wouldn't that be fun?' But again, we didn't want to distract from the emotion of what was going on with our Peter Parker."

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.

Spider-Man: No Way Home's ending leaves a seemingly major plot hole – one that the writers say they have answers for, but tell us they aren't allowed to divulge right now.

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

As I hope you know if you've read this far, the climax of No Way Home sees Dr. Strange cast a spell that erases all memory of Peter Parker from the world. During IGN Fan Fest, fan Trent Sening asked No Way Home co-writers Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna writers what happened to the physical evidence that proved Peter Parker was Spider-Man after that spell was cast.

Interestingly, the writers say they do have an answer for that, but can't say what it is – leaving an inevitable further question about whether that's important to future MCU movies.

Part of the reason to leave a seeming plot hole in the movie comes down simply to the intent of that ending – the writers wanted to focus on the human effects of Peter's decision, rather than spend more time explaining its intricacies.

"We talked about that a lot," explained McKenna, "and we can't divulge much, but just know we talked about it a lot and there were conversations about it. And I will say answering those questions by the end of the movie, felt like it would be almost too much to have to explain that, in this movie. So I would hope that it's one of those details that I feel like would've been a bridge too far for us to have to explain in this movie. But we have thoughts and answers."

"We deliberated a lot," agreed Sommers. "Is it going to be like a Back to the Future kind of thing? Or are people going to be disappearing from photos? Are physical objects going to be disappearing? All these things. And like Chris said, ultimately, we decided that it would take so much time and real estate in the movie to explain all of that. It would just detract from the emotion of it."

Perhaps more intriguing is why McKenna and Sommers can't talk about those answers, even after the film has been released. "Believe me, we have answers to it," reiterated McKenna, "but I don't think we're... We're not allowed to divulge that. But we have answers."

When FanFest host Akeem Lawanson said he'd be imagining a Back to the Future approach for now, Sommers said, "You can work with that until you get new information."

It's not clear if that means that new information will come, but it certainly leaves open that possibility. After all, No Way Home ends with Peter Parker swinging across New York in a brand new suit, and we've heard that Sony would like another trilogy of Tom Holland Spider-Man movies – perhaps it's a discovery of some physical information that helps bring Peter back into the MCU fold down the line.

There's also the question of whether that spell affects Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's versions of Peter. Again, the answer is inconclusive, but McKenna and Sommers say they kicked around ideas about how to show that:

"Believe me, we talked about it and we actually had ideas for ways of showing the effects, if there were any," McKenna explained.

"Chris and I even were tempted," Sommers continued, "we wanted to maybe pitch a tag where you got to see something, 'Oh, what would happen if this guy goes back and this has changed, wouldn't that be fun?' But again, we didn't want to distract from the emotion of what was going on with our Peter Parker."

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.

Spider-Man: No Way Home writers Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna have explained that one key scene was written and rewritten at least 10 times before it made it to our screens.

Speaking during an IGN Fan Fest panel, the co-writers were asked about how they turned what could simply have been a scene featuring simple cameos into something more meaningful to everyone involved – and revealed that it took a lot of work.

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

The scene in question is where Tom Holland's Peter meets his multiversal equivalents, played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. The scene takes place just after the death of Aunt May, and sees Peter wrestling with the idea of sending the massed villains back to their own realities, knowing that they would soon die. Sommers explained that the goal was twofold: the Spider-Men needed to get the MCU's Peter to not give up and put him on the path to the climax of the movie, but also give us a glimpse into their own lives:

"When they got pulled into this movie, what condition were they in? What were they doing? What was their mindset? The end of the last Amazing Spider-Man had this really nice speech from Gwen about staying hopeful and everything. And immediately it became interesting to us. Well, what if Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man, if his Peter Parker couldn't do it, he couldn't keep that hope. He was too hurt by what happened. And so, that led us to the attitude that we found for him.

"And then we also had to think long and hard about where Tobey's Spider-Man would be in. And that was a more difficult question 'cause more time has gone by. And what has that guy been up to? And then of course the actors had opinions about what their Spider-Man, what their Peter Parkers should have been up to, and where they'd be coming from as well."

Per Sommers, those many factors led to, "a lot of conversations and a lot of writing. I would say we must have written that scene at least 10 times."

McKenna made clear that it wasn't just the writers and actors involved in this ever-changing scene, but those in charge of the Spider-Man and Marvel universes as a whole.

"The story just evolves the entire time. This is all a collaborative experience with effort with [MCU boss] Kevin Feige and [Spider-Man producer] Amy Pascal and [director] Jon Watts and many more and we're just all working together [...] Once we knew we had Tobey and Andrew, obviously we have an MCU Peter Parker story to tell, and we knew we'd be holding off on Tobey and Andrew till the third act, but we definitely talked a lot about how will they be coming in, so it didn't feel like it was just Deus Ex Machina."

The evolutions of the meeting scene seemed to continue right up until the movie was being shot:

"It took a lot of work by everyone – Kevin, Jon, Amy, all of us – to really just work out all that," explained McKenna. "And then we brought in the actors and they then had all their own ideas. Making a movie like this is a big collaborative experience. And with each collaborator, it just gets better and better. But it changes. And even the night before that big rooftop scene with the three of them meeting together and trying to convince MCU Peter not to push the button and send these people back to their deaths. That was the kind of thing that we'd been working on over and over. And then the actors come in and then we rip it all apart and we put it all back together again."

Ultimately the version we saw onscreen – which pleased a lot of fans – is a culmination of all the ideas put forward in previous drafts, something the writers seem very happy with. "A lot of the pieces are there, but in slightly different ways," said McKenna. "And it's just a evolution and for us, it's just a privilege to work with all these incredible people. And we were all working together, that's what was so great about it. Just trying to make sure it was living up to this great concept."

Collaboration was clearly a major part of the process, with the multiple stars talking about everything from the 'therapy session' they had together to the meme Andrew Garfield added a reference to.

The result is a movie we called "the darkest and funniest MCU Spider-Man entry to date", and that "here’s Marvel showing off the fact that they have us all in the palm of their hands yet again".

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.