Shazam 2 Will Feature ‘More Adult Humor’ And ‘More Adult Stakes’

Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be a bit more grown-up, with “more adult humor” and “more adult stakes.”

During an interview with IGN, Shazam! producer Peter Safran teased a more grown-up kind of comedy in the upcoming superhero sequel.

“I love what we've done with it,” he said. “I like that the kids are a little bit older so that you can lean into a little more adult humor and also just adult stakes and adult issues that one deals with it at 16 and 17 that you don't deal with at 13 and 14.”

The first footage from Shazam! Fury of the Gods certainly looks a lot more spectacular than the first movie, with Zachary Levi stepping back into the role of the over-the-top superhero, Shazam!

“I love the first movie,” said Safran. “I really loved it. And I thought that Sandberg hit that tone just right. It was such a... the eye of needle was so small to thread. I think the second movie's even better.”

Shazam! Fury of the Gods adds Helen Mirren as the new villain, Hespera, as well as Lucy Liu in the role of Kalypso. Arriving shortly after the upcoming Black Adam movie, it’s unsurprising to see the Shazam! focus on the characters growing older.

“We very much lean into the idea that Asher's 17 going on 18,” he added. “And I think this script for Shazam! 2 was absolutely fantastic. Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan did an extraordinary job. I am really convinced that this movie is even better.”

Although Shazam! was one of DC’s lowest-grossing movies, it was a huge critical success with audiences bowled over by its light-hearted humor. Now, it looks as though Warner Bros. is aiming to build on this.

“So, I think it's got everything that the first movie had, but frankly, bigger action, great antagonists and Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu,” said Safran. “I cannot wait. For anybody that liked the first movie, I think they are just going to go bananas for the sequel. I really do. I love everything about it.”

Zachary Levi returns in Shazam! Fury of the Gods alongside Asher Angel, and Jack Dylan Grazer. They’ll be joined by new additions, Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods debuts in theaters on June 2, 2023.

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

Andrew Garfield Remembers Not Being ‘Handsome Enough’ For Narnia Role

Spider-Man fans agree that Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker is an absolute heartthrob, but the actor has revealed not everyone has always been impressed with his looks. Specifically, Garfield says his appearance kept him from getting the role of Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia movies.

Speaking to Variety, the actor said he was desperate to join the Narnia franchise when he was just getting his start.

“I remember I was so desperate. I auditioned for Prince Caspian in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and I thought, ‘This could be it, this could be it,'” Garfield said. “And that handsome, brilliant actor Ben Barnes ended up getting the role. I think it was down to me and him, and I remember I was obsessed.”

Garfield said he pestered his agent after getting turned down for the role to find out why, leading to his agent telling him, "It’s because they don’t think you’re handsome enough, Andrew.”

Fortunately, it doesn't seem Garfield holds any ill will towards Barnes for apparently being more handsome than him, as Garfield said, "Ben Barnes is a very handsome, talented man. So in retrospect, I’m not unhappy with the decision and I think he did a beautiful job.”

And, we all know things worked out for Garfield pretty well in the end. After failing to get the part for 2008's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Garfield would go on to gain some traction in 2010's The Social Network, before getting his big break as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man.

Coincidentally Barnes also landed in the Marvel universe by appearing in Netflix's The Punisher series. Whether that series is canon though is anyone's guess.

As for Garfield, over a decade later, the actor has been in the news more than ever. The actor is now talking about how he found lying to fans about his recent roles "stressful but also weirdly enjoyable". Garfield also just won a Golden Globe for his performance in Tick, Tick... Boom! Now, you probably won't find anyone telling him he's not handsome enough for any part out there.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Andrew Garfield Remembers Not Being ‘Handsome Enough’ For Narnia Role

Spider-Man fans agree that Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker is an absolute heartthrob, but the actor has revealed not everyone has always been impressed with his looks. Specifically, Garfield says his appearance kept him from getting the role of Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia movies.

Speaking to Variety, the actor said he was desperate to join the Narnia franchise when he was just getting his start.

“I remember I was so desperate. I auditioned for Prince Caspian in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and I thought, ‘This could be it, this could be it,'” Garfield said. “And that handsome, brilliant actor Ben Barnes ended up getting the role. I think it was down to me and him, and I remember I was obsessed.”

Garfield said he pestered his agent after getting turned down for the role to find out why, leading to his agent telling him, "It’s because they don’t think you’re handsome enough, Andrew.”

Fortunately, it doesn't seem Garfield holds any ill will towards Barnes for apparently being more handsome than him, as Garfield said, "Ben Barnes is a very handsome, talented man. So in retrospect, I’m not unhappy with the decision and I think he did a beautiful job.”

And, we all know things worked out for Garfield pretty well in the end. After failing to get the part for 2008's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Garfield would go on to gain some traction in 2010's The Social Network, before getting his big break as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man.

Coincidentally Barnes also landed in the Marvel universe by appearing in Netflix's The Punisher series. Whether that series is canon though is anyone's guess.

As for Garfield, over a decade later, the actor has been in the news more than ever. The actor is now talking about how he found lying to fans about his recent roles "stressful but also weirdly enjoyable". Garfield also just won a Golden Globe for his performance in Tick, Tick... Boom! Now, you probably won't find anyone telling him he's not handsome enough for any part out there.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

#SaveRedDeadOnline Is a Cry For Support From Red Dead Online Fans To Rockstar

Fans of Red Dead Online are fed up with Rockstar's seeming inattention of late, and they've been making their feelings known on social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit with the hashtag #SaveRedDeadOnline.

The hashtag kicked off after Rockstar published an announcement on January 6 about new content coming to Red Dead Online... though most of those using the hashtag would probably hesitate to call it content. The gist of the update is that it increases the rewards for doing a bunch of existing activities in Red Dead Online for a period of time, making it easier to earn gold, experience, items, and other currency. It's all enhancement to stuff that's already there, rather than anything new.

An announcement of improved in-game rewards would normally be a cause for celebration in an online game, but a number of other factors have instead turned it into a community breaking point. For one, the last actual content update Red Dead Online received was back on July 13, 2021, and it wasn't received especially well due to focusing more on quality of life changes and new missions rather than anything meaty or transformative. Prior to that, Red Dead Online received updates roughly every six to seven months or so, a cadence that was already dissatisfying to its players.

Twice-yearly regular content for an online game might, in a vacuum, actually sound pretty good. But there's another major factor alongside the slow, thin trickle of updates that's had Red Dead Online fans riled up: its comparison to GTA Online.

The GTA Promise

When Red Dead Online first appeared in 2019, it was initially intended to follow in the footsteps of GTA Online as a persistent, online world for Red Dead Redemption 2 players to sink their teeth into for hundreds of hours, over years of updates. After GTA Online's success, it seemed certain that Red Dead Online would stand side-by-side with it as a cowboy-stuffed version of Rockstar's massive, ongoing moneymaker. But in the years since, the differences in support have grown stark.

Like Red Dead Online, GTA Online is also getting major content updates roughly every six months or so, though its updates are consistently much larger and better-received than Red Dead's. It just saw one of those major updates in December, called The Contract, which added an entire new adventure alongside the usual slate of new weapons, vehicles, and missions. These massive updates are proving financially successful, too. At the end of 2020, for instance, GTA Online brought in its highest holiday earnings ever thanks to the Diamond Casino update.

Worth pointing out is the fact that GTA Online is going on nine years old, while Red Dead Online just turned three. When GTA Online was that age, it was getting anywhere between five and eight major updates in a year (depending on how you classify a "major" update).

Red Dying Online

Perusing the #SaveRedDeadOnline hashtag, which is still going strong days after it started, reveals a number of mixed feelings. There's the initial anger at the lack of meaningful updates in the January 6 post, and reflection on how useless it is to earn more XP and gold when there's nothing new to spend it on. There are requests for specific kinds of content, like proper player housing, a DLC set in Mexico, more story, and even specific bug fixes. There are plenty of memes of course, and lots of snark directed at GTA Online, though there's also some support from GTA Online community members who recognize that their cowboy friends are getting the short end of the stick.

Many of the tweets seem to simply be worried that without major updates, Red Dead Online will die an early death — one that Rockstar is perhaps endorsing by inaction. While meaty content updates are ultimately what they want, the vast majority of users tweeting #SaveRedDeadOnline come across not so much as making demands of developers, as wanting assurance that the promise of an ongoing Wild West world in the tradition of GTA Online hasn't been broken already by Rockstar and publisher Take-Two.

IGN has reached out to Rockstar for comment.

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

#SaveRedDeadOnline Is a Cry For Support From Red Dead Online Fans To Rockstar

Fans of Red Dead Online are fed up with Rockstar's seeming inattention of late, and they've been making their feelings known on social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit with the hashtag #SaveRedDeadOnline.

The hashtag kicked off after Rockstar published an announcement on January 6 about new content coming to Red Dead Online... though most of those using the hashtag would probably hesitate to call it content. The gist of the update is that it increases the rewards for doing a bunch of existing activities in Red Dead Online for a period of time, making it easier to earn gold, experience, items, and other currency. It's all enhancement to stuff that's already there, rather than anything new.

An announcement of improved in-game rewards would normally be a cause for celebration in an online game, but a number of other factors have instead turned it into a community breaking point. For one, the last actual content update Red Dead Online received was back on July 13, 2021, and it wasn't received especially well due to focusing more on quality of life changes and new missions rather than anything meaty or transformative. Prior to that, Red Dead Online received updates roughly every six to seven months or so, a cadence that was already dissatisfying to its players.

Twice-yearly regular content for an online game might, in a vacuum, actually sound pretty good. But there's another major factor alongside the slow, thin trickle of updates that's had Red Dead Online fans riled up: its comparison to GTA Online.

The GTA Promise

When Red Dead Online first appeared in 2019, it was initially intended to follow in the footsteps of GTA Online as a persistent, online world for Red Dead Redemption 2 players to sink their teeth into for hundreds of hours, over years of updates. After GTA Online's success, it seemed certain that Red Dead Online would stand side-by-side with it as a cowboy-stuffed version of Rockstar's massive, ongoing moneymaker. But in the years since, the differences in support have grown stark.

Like Red Dead Online, GTA Online is also getting major content updates roughly every six months or so, though its updates are consistently much larger and better-received than Red Dead's. It just saw one of those major updates in December, called The Contract, which added an entire new adventure alongside the usual slate of new weapons, vehicles, and missions. These massive updates are proving financially successful, too. At the end of 2020, for instance, GTA Online brought in its highest holiday earnings ever thanks to the Diamond Casino update.

Worth pointing out is the fact that GTA Online is going on nine years old, while Red Dead Online just turned three. When GTA Online was that age, it was getting anywhere between five and eight major updates in a year (depending on how you classify a "major" update).

Red Dying Online

Perusing the #SaveRedDeadOnline hashtag, which is still going strong days after it started, reveals a number of mixed feelings. There's the initial anger at the lack of meaningful updates in the January 6 post, and reflection on how useless it is to earn more XP and gold when there's nothing new to spend it on. There are requests for specific kinds of content, like proper player housing, a DLC set in Mexico, more story, and even specific bug fixes. There are plenty of memes of course, and lots of snark directed at GTA Online, though there's also some support from GTA Online community members who recognize that their cowboy friends are getting the short end of the stick.

Many of the tweets seem to simply be worried that without major updates, Red Dead Online will die an early death — one that Rockstar is perhaps endorsing by inaction. While meaty content updates are ultimately what they want, the vast majority of users tweeting #SaveRedDeadOnline come across not so much as making demands of developers, as wanting assurance that the promise of an ongoing Wild West world in the tradition of GTA Online hasn't been broken already by Rockstar and publisher Take-Two.

IGN has reached out to Rockstar for comment.

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

Call of Duty Is Teaming Up With Attack On Titan For a New Event

Attack on Titan and Call of Duty are crossing over for a new item pack that turns you into a member of the infamous Survey Corps in Warzone and Vanguard.

The Tracer Pack: Attack on Titan: Levi Edition Bundle includes several new skins for various weapons and more. Chief among them is a new skin for the Daniel Yatsu operator that gives him Levi Ackerman's split hairdo, beige Survey Corps jacket, and white jabot collar.

Here's what else is included:

  • A new finishing move, MVP highlight, and highlight intro based on the Survey Corps high-flying aerial slash maneuvers they use against titans.
  • An emblem emblazoned with the Survey Corps wings.
  • Three weapon blueprints: The "Historia," designed for close-range from-the-hip fire, and the "Ymir Curse," a mid-to-long range weapon with near-zero vertical recoil. The third weapon blueprint is for a pair of dual-wield knives that look exactly like the titan piercer blades used by Survey Corps members.
  • A weapon charm designed to look like the infamous key to Eren Yeager's basement.
  • "One hot potato" sticker, a reference to the ravenously hungry character Sasha.

The new pack releases on January 20. Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part Two debuted just last weekend, kicking off the conclusion to the long-running anime franchise. IGN's official review called it "brutal, devastating, exciting table setting."

Also included in the new Call of Duty update, which goes live later today: A new operator named Isabella (whose "Wild Rose" pack includes two new weapon blueprints), plus a new SMG that's described as a blend between the Sten and the Owen Gun.

There's also an introduction to the Vanguard Zombies season two story via "The Void," a new part of the "Shi No Numa" map that teleports you through a portal to some sort of alternate dimension. While in the Void, you'll play classic survival rounds, and earn rewards for every three rounds you survive. Players will have the choice to flee or survive at any point after three rounds. You can earn 5,000 Essence Points for every three rounds survived (plus a Sacrificial Heart if you make it back to Stalingrad), and surviving a total of 12 rounds will earn you a perk that keeps your Perks from dropping below Tier 2 when you go down for the rest of the match. Treyarch is also teasing that players who survive even longer than that may discover details about future story beats.

Call of Duty: Warzone is currently facing a new slew of issues with invisible player skins, all while Raven Software's QA team and other Activision Blizzard employees go into their fourth week of strike action.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/one hot potato for IGN.

Call of Duty Is Teaming Up With Attack On Titan For a New Event

Attack on Titan and Call of Duty are crossing over for a new item pack that turns you into a member of the infamous Survey Corps in Warzone and Vanguard.

The Tracer Pack: Attack on Titan: Levi Edition Bundle includes several new skins for various weapons and more. Chief among them is a new skin for the Daniel Yatsu operator that gives him Levi Ackerman's split hairdo, beige Survey Corps jacket, and white jabot collar.

Here's what else is included:

  • A new finishing move, MVP highlight, and highlight intro based on the Survey Corps high-flying aerial slash maneuvers they use against titans.
  • An emblem emblazoned with the Survey Corps wings.
  • Three weapon blueprints: The "Historia," designed for close-range from-the-hip fire, and the "Ymir Curse," a mid-to-long range weapon with near-zero vertical recoil. The third weapon blueprint is for a pair of dual-wield knives that look exactly like the titan piercer blades used by Survey Corps members.
  • A weapon charm designed to look like the infamous key to Eren Yeager's basement.
  • "One hot potato" sticker, a reference to the ravenously hungry character Sasha.

The new pack releases on January 20. Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part Two debuted just last weekend, kicking off the conclusion to the long-running anime franchise. IGN's official review called it "brutal, devastating, exciting table setting."

Also included in the new Call of Duty update, which goes live later today: A new operator named Isabella (whose "Wild Rose" pack includes two new weapon blueprints), plus a new SMG that's described as a blend between the Sten and the Owen Gun.

There's also an introduction to the Vanguard Zombies season two story via "The Void," a new part of the "Shi No Numa" map that teleports you through a portal to some sort of alternate dimension. While in the Void, you'll play classic survival rounds, and earn rewards for every three rounds you survive. Players will have the choice to flee or survive at any point after three rounds. You can earn 5,000 Essence Points for every three rounds survived (plus a Sacrificial Heart if you make it back to Stalingrad), and surviving a total of 12 rounds will earn you a perk that keeps your Perks from dropping below Tier 2 when you go down for the rest of the match. Treyarch is also teasing that players who survive even longer than that may discover details about future story beats.

Call of Duty: Warzone is currently facing a new slew of issues with invisible player skins, all while Raven Software's QA team and other Activision Blizzard employees go into their fourth week of strike action.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/one hot potato for IGN.

Pig Director Michael Sarnoski Set to Direct Third Quiet Place Movie

Michael Sarnoski, the director of Pig starring Nicolas Cage, is in talks to helm a new movie in the A Quiet Place franchise.

Although this is set to be the third Quiet Place movie, Deadline reports that this is not a sequel to A Quiet Place Part 2, but rather a spinoff based on an idea by John Krasinski. The former Office actor directed both films and starred in the first one.

According to the report, neither Krasinski nor Emily Blunt will reprise their roles for this next movie.

Sarnoski shot to acclaim after directing 2021’s Pig, a movie about a lone farmer venturing into the underbelly of the Portland culinary scene to retrieve his kidnapped truffle pig. While the plot evokes animal revenge movies like John Wick, Pig is a more meditative film though with bursts of intensity.

Pig landed on multiple Best Of lists including IGN’s for Best Movie and Best Performance. You can read our Pig review here.

Meanwhile, A Quiet Place continues to grow into a hit franchise. The first film grossed over $350 million on a $17 million budget and the sequel nearly hit $300 million at the box office. The horror franchise is set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by blind monsters who hunt through hearing.

This has forced humanity to become quiet to not attract attention from these creatures, though not making any sound at all is no small challenge. Krasinski and real-life wife Emily Blunt starred in the first two movies as husband and wife ensuring the safety of their three children.

IGN praised A Quiet Place Part 2 in our review calling it a worthy sequel that almost goes toe-to-toe with its predecessor.

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

LEGO Overwatch 2 Set Delayed Over Workplace Allegations at Activision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.

LEGO has decided to delay a new Overwatch 2 LEGO set, as the company continues to review its relationship with Activision Blizzard due to misconduct and harassment allegations against the game developer.

First reported by The Brick Fan, the Overwatch 2 Titan set was supposed to be released on February 1. Now, LEGO says it will update fans on the partnership once the company comes to a decision.

"We are currently reviewing our partnership with Activision Blizzard, given concerns about the progress being made to address continuing allegations regarding workplace culture, especially the treatment of female colleagues and creating a diverse and inclusive environment," LEGO said in a statement. "While we complete the review, we will pause the release of a LEGO Overwatch 2 product which was due to go on sale on February 1, 2022."

Most recently in the Activision Blizzard saga, an ABK Workers Alliance Strike Fund just raised over $350,000. Employees across the company are currently striking in solidarity with members of Raven QA, whose contracts were terminated late last year. For more on the strike, you can read our in-depth report on the topic.

Activision Blizzard's legal issues entered the spotlight last Summer, when the company was sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing over allegations of 'frat boy culture' and sexual harassment.

As for Overwatch 2, Activision Blizzard recently delayed the sequel, alongside Diablo 4. While there was never an official release date in place, the game is now expected in 2023 or beyond.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

FIFA 22: EA Responds To High-Profile Accounts Being Hacked

Following a number of high-profile FIFA 22 Ultimate Team traders reporting that their accounts have been hacked and drained of FIFA points and in-game currency, EA has responded by saying an investigation is underway and work is being done to restore everything these players have lost.

EA shared its update on the ongoing situation on its The Pitch Notes page, saying that it can confirm that a number of accounts were "compromised via phishing techniques."

"Utilizing threats and other 'social engineering' methods, individuals acting maliciously were able to exploit human error within our customer experience team and bypass two-factor authentication to gain access to player accounts," EA wrote.

As of this writing, EA estimates that less than 50 accounts were impacted by these hackers and that it is working to "identify rightful account owners to restore access to their accounts, and the content within, and players affected should expect a response from our team shortly."

EA also shared a list of actions it has already taken to "increase the administrative and technical safeguards for EA Accounts." The changes are as follows;

  • All EA Advisors and individuals who assist with service of EA Accounts are receiving individualized re-training and additional team training, with a specific emphasis on account security practices and the phishing techniques used in this particular instance.
  • We are implementing additional steps to the account ownership verification process, such as mandatory managerial approval for all email change requests.
  • Our customer experience software will be updated to better identify suspicious activity, flag at-risk accounts, and further limit the potential for human error in the account update process.

EA warns this may "impact customer experience wait times," but it also reassures that these are necessary steps that need to be made to keep EA Accounts safe.

These hackers appeared to have filed support tickets to EA and were able to convince the customer service representatives to give them the associated e-mail and a password reset link. Some of these hackers would just try over and over again until one representative gave them what they were looking for.

For more, check out our FIFA 22 review and the story on how 30,000 players were recently banned for taking advantage of a "no loss" glitch" in the game's Ultimate Team mode.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.