Batman star Michael Keaton has revealed why he never returned for a third movie.

During an interview with Backstage, the 70-year-old former Batman explained why he left the franchise after Batman Returns.

“I remember one of the things that I walked away going, ‘Oh boy, I can't do this’. [Schumacher] asked me, ‘I don’t understand why everything has to be so dark and everything so sad,’ and I went, ‘Wait a minute, do you know how this guy got to be Batman? Have you read… I mean, it's pretty simple.’”

It turns out that after Tim Burton exited the popular comic book franchise, Keaton wasn’t exactly keen on director Joel Schumacher’s new direction.

Schumacher famously followed up Burton’s duet with Batman Forever – a campy, over-the-top comic book movie starring Val Kilmer as Batman. It’s often thought of as one of the worst Batman movies, with only Batman & Robin (also directed by Schumacher) able to come close in terms of how bad it was.

So why did Keaton suit up as Batman in the first place?

“It was always Bruce Wayne,” he said. “It was never Batman. To me, I know the name of the movie is Batman, and it's hugely iconic and very cool and cultural[ly] iconic and because of Tim Burton, artistically iconic. I knew from the get-go it was Bruce Wayne.”

“That was the secret,” he added. “I never talked about it. Batman, Batman, Batman does this, and I kept thinking to myself, ‘Y'all are thinking wrong here.’ Bruce Wayne. What kind of person does that? Who becomes that? What kind of person?”

Upcoming DC movie The Batman is set to explore just that, looking further back into Bruce Wayne’s vigilante career and asking what kind of person dons the cowl to become Batman.

The Batman opens in theaters on March 4, 2022.

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

Quentin Tarantino is returning to the world of his 2019 film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood yet again, this time with a book focusing on Leonardo DiCaprio's actor Rick Dalton. However, there's a twist; Tarantino says the book is written by a separate, alternate history version of himself.

In an interview with Empire, the director described the strange project, saying it's titled The Films of Rick Dalton, and it contains the complete filmography of Dalton's fictional work. Tarantino says it takes inspiration from books from the 1970s where people could read up on their favorite actors.

“You know in the ‘70s, you could get those books like The Films Of Charles Bronson, The Films Of Anthony Quinn? Well, this is that,” Tarantino said. “It gives you a little quickie biography of his life. And then it starts going through the career."

The concept seems straightforward enough, but it's the backstory for the book's author where things start to get confusing. While "Quentin Tarantino" will appear on the cover, it's not the same Tarantino who directed Once Upon A Time In Hollywood in our universe — it's the Quentin Tarantino within the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood's alternate universe

In the interview, Tarantino painted a picture of the in-universe Tarantino meeting Dalton in Hawaii in 1998 at a film festival, long after Dalton has retired from acting.

"He comes down to the hotel that I'm staying at, and there's Rick! He's about 40 pounds heavier, but there he is," Tarantino said. "So we have a ball, and he's a really nice fellow, and my movie shows and he comes to the screening."

After having a good time together in Hawaii, the alternate Tarantino apparently decides to create an event celebrating Rick Dalton's career, followed up by a book called The Man Who Would Be McQueen: The Films Of Rick Dalton. That's a lot of lore for Tarantino fans to chew on.

It's unclear when it will release, as Tarantino said, "I probably need to punch it up a little bit, but the body of it completely exists.”

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is Tarantino's ninth feature film, and it follows DiCaprio and Pitt's characters as they struggle to navigate Hollywood in 1969. When the film originally released, we said "the respective performances of DiCaprio and Pitt and the film’s meticulous attention to period detail are all great."

This is the second book Tarantino has written about the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood universe, releasing a novel last year that dives into the backstory of Pitt's character, stuntman Cliff Booth. At the time, Tarantino called the novel a "complete rethinking of the entire story," rather than just a novelization. The novel did end up revealing new details about Booth, specifically the truth about the death of his wife.

Tarantino, who is most famous for directing Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, is planning to retire after his tenth feature film, meaning his next could be his last. That being said, Tarantino has multiple ideas on the table for future films, including Kill Bill 3 and a comedy spaghetti western.

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

Quentin Tarantino is returning to the world of his 2019 film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood yet again, this time with a book focusing on Leonardo DiCaprio's actor Rick Dalton. However, there's a twist; Tarantino says the book is written by a separate, alternate history version of himself.

In an interview with Empire, the director described the strange project, saying it's titled The Films of Rick Dalton, and it contains the complete filmography of Dalton's fictional work. Tarantino says it takes inspiration from books from the 1970s where people could read up on their favorite actors.

“You know in the ‘70s, you could get those books like The Films Of Charles Bronson, The Films Of Anthony Quinn? Well, this is that,” Tarantino said. “It gives you a little quickie biography of his life. And then it starts going through the career."

The concept seems straightforward enough, but it's the backstory for the book's author where things start to get confusing. While "Quentin Tarantino" will appear on the cover, it's not the same Tarantino who directed Once Upon A Time In Hollywood in our universe — it's the Quentin Tarantino within the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood's alternate universe

In the interview, Tarantino painted a picture of the in-universe Tarantino meeting Dalton in Hawaii in 1998 at a film festival, long after Dalton has retired from acting.

"He comes down to the hotel that I'm staying at, and there's Rick! He's about 40 pounds heavier, but there he is," Tarantino said. "So we have a ball, and he's a really nice fellow, and my movie shows and he comes to the screening."

After having a good time together in Hawaii, the alternate Tarantino apparently decides to create an event celebrating Rick Dalton's career, followed up by a book called The Man Who Would Be McQueen: The Films Of Rick Dalton. That's a lot of lore for Tarantino fans to chew on.

It's unclear when it will release, as Tarantino said, "I probably need to punch it up a little bit, but the body of it completely exists.”

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is Tarantino's ninth feature film, and it follows DiCaprio and Pitt's characters as they struggle to navigate Hollywood in 1969. When the film originally released, we said "the respective performances of DiCaprio and Pitt and the film’s meticulous attention to period detail are all great."

This is the second book Tarantino has written about the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood universe, releasing a novel last year that dives into the backstory of Pitt's character, stuntman Cliff Booth. At the time, Tarantino called the novel a "complete rethinking of the entire story," rather than just a novelization. The novel did end up revealing new details about Booth, specifically the truth about the death of his wife.

Tarantino, who is most famous for directing Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, is planning to retire after his tenth feature film, meaning his next could be his last. That being said, Tarantino has multiple ideas on the table for future films, including Kill Bill 3 and a comedy spaghetti western.

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

Death Stranding Director's Cut is officially heading to PC in Spring 2022, publisher 505 Games announced today.

The PC port of Death Stranding has also been confirmed to be among the first games to support Intel's XeSS supersampling technology, allowing PC gamers to have their rigs produce better performance in the game without additional horsepower. Though no additional information has been shared outside of support for Intel's XeSS, though given the game is slated to launch this Spring, we might not have to wait that long to get more information on what to expect from the PC port of Death Stranding Director's Cut.

This will mark the second time Death Stranding has been ported to PC, as the original version was previously released on PC in July 2020, seeing a release on both Steam and the Epic Games Store. That version was the first to receive Half-Life and Cyberpunk 2077 crossover content before it made its way onto the PS5 version by way of the Director's Cut.

Death Stranding Director's Cut originally launched on the PlayStation 5 last year. Although the game's creator, Hideo Kojima, doesn't like calling it a "Director's Cut," this version of Death Stranding introduced big changes not available on the original release, new combat abilities, added activities, and the devastating removal of all official Monster Energy branding.

In our review of Death Stranding Director's Cut, IGN's Tristan Ogilvie rated the game a 7/10, noting that although the Director's Cut was more accessible than the original, it still "feels like a compromised version of the director's vision."

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

Death Stranding Director's Cut is officially heading to PC in Spring 2022, publisher 505 Games announced today.

The PC port of Death Stranding has also been confirmed to be among the first games to support Intel's XeSS supersampling technology, allowing PC gamers to have their rigs produce better performance in the game without additional horsepower. Though no additional information has been shared outside of support for Intel's XeSS, though given the game is slated to launch this Spring, we might not have to wait that long to get more information on what to expect from the PC port of Death Stranding Director's Cut.

This will mark the second time Death Stranding has been ported to PC, as the original version was previously released on PC in July 2020, seeing a release on both Steam and the Epic Games Store. That version was the first to receive Half-Life and Cyberpunk 2077 crossover content before it made its way onto the PS5 version by way of the Director's Cut.

Death Stranding Director's Cut originally launched on the PlayStation 5 last year. Although the game's creator, Hideo Kojima, doesn't like calling it a "Director's Cut," this version of Death Stranding introduced big changes not available on the original release, new combat abilities, added activities, and the devastating removal of all official Monster Energy branding.

In our review of Death Stranding Director's Cut, IGN's Tristan Ogilvie rated the game a 7/10, noting that although the Director's Cut was more accessible than the original, it still "feels like a compromised version of the director's vision."

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

We already knew that Intel plans to enter the GPU market and take on AMD and Nvidia. And today, the CPU maker shared new information on its endeavors into this new market, specifically more information on its supersampling technology as part of its CES 2022 announcements.

As announced in August, Intel Arc graphics will include things such as hardware-based ray tracing, and Xe Super Sampling Tech (XeSS). XeSS, like AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) and Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), allow GPUs that support any of the three that allow more mileage from your PC rigs without working harder.

Intel also confirmed XeSS support on its upcoming GPUs and you'll get better performance from PCs outfitted with an Intel Arc series GPU and a compatible Intel Core CPU, such as the recently released Alder Lake (12th Gen) processors.

Ahead of Intel's first generation of Arc GPUs launching, the company also shared information on upcoming support for its XeSS supersampling tech. Intel confirmed that Death Stranding Director's Cut for PC will be among the first games to support the tech. Several studios, including Ubisoft, IO Interactive, 505 Games, Kojima Productions, and PUBG Studios, have also committed to integrating the supersampling tech into its games.

Here's a full list of every studio Intel has announced will support XeSS:

• Ubisoft
• Kojima Productions
• 505 Games
• Codemasters
• PUBG Studios
• IO Interactive
• Techland
• EXOR Studios
• Fioshlabs
• Hashbane
• Illfonic
• Massive Work Studio
• Wonder People

Intel has yet to release information on when the Arc line of graphics cards will launch, but the first generation codenamed "Alchemist" will launch sometime early this year. The company is also playing the long game here, as it confirmed last year that the Arc series will span "multiple hardware generations," with the next three generations codenamed "Battlemage," "Celestial," and "Druid."

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

We already knew that Intel plans to enter the GPU market and take on AMD and Nvidia. And today, the CPU maker shared new information on its endeavors into this new market, specifically more information on its supersampling technology as part of its CES 2022 announcements.

As announced in August, Intel Arc graphics will include things such as hardware-based ray tracing, and Xe Super Sampling Tech (XeSS). XeSS, like AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) and Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), allow GPUs that support any of the three that allow more mileage from your PC rigs without working harder.

Intel also confirmed XeSS support on its upcoming GPUs and you'll get better performance from PCs outfitted with an Intel Arc series GPU and a compatible Intel Core CPU, such as the recently released Alder Lake (12th Gen) processors.

Ahead of Intel's first generation of Arc GPUs launching, the company also shared information on upcoming support for its XeSS supersampling tech. Intel confirmed that Death Stranding Director's Cut for PC will be among the first games to support the tech. Several studios, including Ubisoft, IO Interactive, 505 Games, Kojima Productions, and PUBG Studios, have also committed to integrating the supersampling tech into its games.

Here's a full list of every studio Intel has announced will support XeSS:

• Ubisoft
• Kojima Productions
• 505 Games
• Codemasters
• PUBG Studios
• IO Interactive
• Techland
• EXOR Studios
• Fioshlabs
• Hashbane
• Illfonic
• Massive Work Studio
• Wonder People

Intel has yet to release information on when the Arc line of graphics cards will launch, but the first generation codenamed "Alchemist" will launch sometime early this year. The company is also playing the long game here, as it confirmed last year that the Arc series will span "multiple hardware generations," with the next three generations codenamed "Battlemage," "Celestial," and "Druid."

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

As part of its CES 2022 announcements, HyperX announced a wireless version of its widely popular Cloud Alpha gaming headset. The peripheral maker highlighted its latest wireless headset can last hundreds of hours on a single charge.

The Cloud Alpha wireless gaming headphones take advantage of the updated Dual Chamber Technology and use HyperX’s 50mm drivers, allowing the headset to have a slimmer and lighter design, but it still offers the same sound and performance as its Wired counterpart. The device itself connects wireless via a USB dongle.

HyperX claims the Cloud Alpha wireless is the first wireless gaming headset with up to 300-hours battery life when fully charged – something we'll put to the test soon. An interesting claim given the average battery life for most wireless headsets falls in double-digits. Though Sennheiser’s $200 GSP 370 wireless gaming headset promises up to 100 hours of battery life on a single charge.

The HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless gaming headset will cost $199.99, with a release date slated for February.

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

As part of its CES 2022 announcements, HyperX announced a wireless version of its widely popular Cloud Alpha gaming headset. The peripheral maker highlighted its latest wireless headset can last hundreds of hours on a single charge.

The Cloud Alpha wireless gaming headphones take advantage of the updated Dual Chamber Technology and use HyperX’s 50mm drivers, allowing the headset to have a slimmer and lighter design, but it still offers the same sound and performance as its Wired counterpart. The device itself connects wireless via a USB dongle.

HyperX claims the Cloud Alpha wireless is the first wireless gaming headset with up to 300-hours battery life when fully charged – something we'll put to the test soon. An interesting claim given the average battery life for most wireless headsets falls in double-digits. Though Sennheiser’s $200 GSP 370 wireless gaming headset promises up to 100 hours of battery life on a single charge.

The HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless gaming headset will cost $199.99, with a release date slated for February.

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

Peacock TV has kicked off the new year with its latest season of The Office: Superfan Episodes, and as part of the celebrations, the platform has shared a brand new never-before-seen cold open from the show.

Season 4 of The Office: Superfan Episodes is now available on Peacock. To spread the news, the streaming platform took to Twitter with a previously unseen cold open for the show from the episode "Job Fair" that sees Dunder-Mifflin regional manager Michael Scott dealing with some unexpected toilet trouble.

Who says New Year's isn't a gift-giving holiday? @TheOfficeTV Season 4 Superfan episodes are available at midnight - including a cold open you've never seen before. pic.twitter.com/BbcEeP2rs4

— Peacock (@peacockTV) January 1, 2022

As can be seen in the clip above, the previously unseen sequence reveals that Scott managed to drop not only his phone into the toilet, but also his Bluetooth earpiece, wallet, tip calculator, and a range of other items too. While the other Dunder-Mifflin employees get a kick out of their misfortunate boss, Scott decides to take matters into his own hands by creating the world's first (don't quote me on that) mesh toilet guard.

The device, which takes the form of a tennis racket with a dish brush attached to it, looks about as suspect as it sounds. Unfortunately... or perhaps fortunately... the show's fanbase will never know whether or not the mesh toilet guard worked as intended, as the open ends before revealing it one way or the other.

As per Peacock, the latest season of The Office: Superfan Episodes features a range of other deleted scenes, bloopers, featurettes, and interviews. In addition to the cold open from "Job Fair", the season also includes new moments from other Season 4 episodes such as "Dinner Party", "Fun Run Parts 1 & 2", and "Goodbye, Toby Parts 1 & 2".

In other news from the show, Jim Halpert actor John Krasinski recently revealed that he once refused to shoot a scene of The Office. During an entry for a new book about the show called Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Oral History of The Office, the actor said that he'd refused the scene as it depicted his character Jim cheating on his wife Pam (Jenna Fisher) during the show's eighth season.

“That’s the only time I remember putting my foot down..." says Krasinski in the book. "I remember saying things that I never thought I’d say before, like, ‘I’m not going to shoot it," he explained before stating that he took the issue to executive producer and director Greg Daniels.

Seasons 1-4 of The Office: Superfan Episodes can be streamed now from Peacock. Meanwhile, for more from the show, make sure to check out this article detailing how James Gandolfini was paid $3 million to not become the new boss in the show.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.