Month: July 2020

Even though Justice League Dark: Apokolips War wrapped up the DC Animated Movie Universe as we know it, there are still plenty of new animated projects in the pipeline. In the second half of 2020 alone, DC will release both Superman: Man of Tomorrow and Batman: A Death in the Family, with more to come in the years ahead.

Read on for a breakdown of every animated DC movie we know is in development, along with a couple of rumored projects for good measure.

Warning: This article contains some spoilers for Justice League Dark: Apokolips War!

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A New DC Animated Universe Emerges

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The recently released Justice League Dark: Apokolips War serves as the final entry in the long-running DC Universe Movie continuity, which began in 2013’s Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. Apokolips War ends with Earth’s heroes defeating Darkseid, but only after a significant portion of humanity is wiped out and the Sun itself is destabilized. The film ends with the Flash repeating his actions in The Flashpoint Paradox, running back in time to change history and hopefully create a better future for humankind.

Apokolips War doesn’t actually reveal whether Barry succeeds, as we only see the DCU setting fade out of existence. But presumably, this plot point is being used as a foundation for a rebooted animated universe setting, one that will begin with a new origin story for Superman.

Superman: Man of Tomorrow

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Superman: Man of Tomorrow is the first animated DC movie to arrive in the wake of Apokolips War. Man of Tomorrow will offer a new take on Superman’s origin story and formative years, one that seemingly draws inspiration from the comic book series Superman: American Alien. The film’s creative team includes director Chris Palmer, screenwriter Tim Sheridan and supervising producer Butch Lukic. The voice cast includes Darren Criss (Midway) as Superman, Zachary Quinto (Heroes) as Lex Luthor, Alexandra Daddario (San Andreas) as Lois Lane, Brett Dalton (Agents of SHIELD) as Parasite, Ryan Hurst (The Walking Dead) as Lobo, and Ike Amadi (Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge) as Martian Manhunter.

Man of Tomorrow is a standalone film set in a new continuity. But as mentioned before, we wouldn’t be surprised if this origin story becomes the starting point for a new shared universe. The inclusion of Martian Manhunter certainly hints at a larger world outside of Metropolis.

Batman: Death in the Family

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An adaptation of the 1988 comic book storyline of the same name, Batman: Death in the Family showcases the tragic death of second Robin Jason Todd at the hands of the Joker. This short film is a prequel of sorts to 2010’s Batman: Under the Red Hood, bringing back voice actors like Bruce Greenwood as Batman, Vincent Martella as young Jason Todd and John DiMaggio as the Joker. The twist, though, is that Death in the Family is an interactive movie (a la Netflix’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) that allows viewers to choose the course of the story at several key points along the way. In that sense, the movie is a tribute to the infamous call-in campaign where DC readers were allowed to vote on whether Jason lived or died (spoilers: He died).

Like 2010’s Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam, Batman: Death in the Family will include several other DC animated shorts to make up for its smaller scope. Also included in this release are the previously released “Sgt. Rock,” “Death,” “Adam Strange” and “The Phantom Stranger.”

DC Super Pets

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DC Super Pets will showcase the Justice League’s super-powered animal companions, such as Krypto the Super-Dog and Ace the Bat-Hound. This animated DC movie is planned as a theatrical release, with a current release date of May 22, 2022. Little else is known about the project, though we do know it’s written by The LEGO Batman Movie’s Jared Stern and John Whittington and directed by Stern and Wreck-It-Ralph’s Sam Levine.

The LEGO Batman Movie 2

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Warner Bros. announced a sequel to The LEGO Batman Movie in 2018, a year after the first film hit theaters. Director Chris McKay was expected to return, along with voice actors like Will Arnett and Michael Cera. The film is currently slated for release sometime in 2022. However, with Universal Pictures having signed a five-year contract for the LEGO movie rights, it’s unknown whether this sequel is still in the works. At the very least, Warners might have to strike some sort of agreement with Universal.

Unproduced DC Movies

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Back in 2013, DC’s then-Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns told Collider “there’s always discussions” about the possibility of adapting unproduced DC screenplays into animated movies. This has fueled rumors that both Kevin Smith’s Superman Lives script and JJ Abrams’ Superman: Flyby script might get the animated treatment. For now, though, there’s been no concrete info about either adaptation.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as surely more movies will be announced in the months and years ahead. Which animated films are you most looking forward to? Let’s discuss in the comments!

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

In a new interview with GamesRadar, 343 Industries studio head Chris Lee confirmed that Halo Infinite will be set on the ring world of Zeta Halo now under the control of The Banished led by War Chief Escharum. Known as Halo Installation 07, this ancient Forerunner superweapon was at one point home to a race of humans in author Greg Bear’s Forerunner Trilogy of novels, and is the only surviving ring of the original 12 that were created.

“Halo Infinite will be set on Zeta Halo,” Lee explained. “We want to create something that’s familiar, but different. The TACMAP gives you an idea of the size and scale, and some of the objectives that you will find in Halo Infinite. It gives players a lot of choice and freedom as they play through the world. You’ll be running into objectives, setting points on your map, and kind of navigating and exploring as you go.”

When the threat of The Flood first began to appear within the galaxy, Master Builder Faber and the Forerunners would use the humans of Zeta Halo as test subjects in an effort to find a cure for the parasitic life form that had already laid waste to The Precursors. Zeta Halo’s existence was teased as far back as 2015 as theorised by GamesRadar, when Halo 5: Guardians provided a brief glimpse of the installation in an unknown region of the Milky Way galaxy.

In the 2018 Halo Infinite trailer, Morse code could be heard from a handheld radio that translated to “SOS ZETA HALO GRD”, while the Discover Hope trailer hid another clue to the existence of the installation in a small note on the Pelican dashboard that read “Local Ref Zeta”.

Shown off in deeper detail at this month’s Xbox Series X Showcase, 343 Industries will build the game into a platform for the next decade of Halo that moves beyond the traditional standalone sequel structure. “Halo Infinite is the start of our platform for the future,” Lee said.

“We want Infinite to grow over time, versus going to those numbered titles and having all that segmentation that we had before. It’s really about creating Halo Infinite as the start of the next ten years for Halo and then building that as we go with our fans and community.”

Halo Infinite will arrive is a launch title for the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC, with Microsoft confirming that the graphics will get “better and better” in the lead up to launch.

Paper Mario: The Origami King is coming to Tetris 99 later this week as the 15th Maximus Cup event kicks off. The latest limited-time tournament begins on Friday, July 31 and runs until August 3, giving players the chance to earn an exclusive theme for the block-stacking puzzle game.

Playing Tetris 99 during the event period will earn you points, with different values awarded depending on how well you place during each match. Amass 100 total points during the event and you’ll unlock the Paper Mario: The Origami King theme to keep.

The theme gives each tetromino an origami-style makeover, adds a new background, and includes three music tracks pulled from Mario’s latest RPG. You can see how it looks in action below.

You’ll need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to participate in the event. Memberships cost $4 USD for one month, $8 USD for three months, and $20 USD for one year. Nintendo also offers a $35 USD annual Family Plan that covers up to eight Nintendo Accounts.

If you do already have a subscription, you can download and play Tetris 99 online for free. The game also offers a $10 USD “Big Block” DLC that adds a handful of offline modes, including Marathon and a Local Arena that supports up to eight players.

Paper Mario: The Origami King, meanwhile, launched earlier this month on Nintendo Switch. The series’ return earned an 8/10 in GameSpot’s Paper Mario: The Origami King review. “With a newfound combat system that steals the show and offers a novel take on turn-based combat, its winking, nodding, and adventuring shine all the brighter, Suriel Vazquez said in his review. “Its world and characters might not be the series’ best, but it’s still able to consistently throw left turns, good gags, and smart surprises at you. Each piece of The Origami King elegantly fits into its whole, taking its irreverent flair to new heights. The Paper Mario series has recently shown that being clever and being smart are two different things, but thankfully, it’s once again managed to be both.”

You can even grab the game for $10 off a week after launch.

Death Stranding finally launched on PC earlier this month, and the game’s newly formed community is already getting suitably weird with it. We already turned the game into a nightmare ourselves, but one creative fan has manifested something even eerier.

As far as first PC builds go, Twitter user Cami Roebuck might hold the award for the most impressive. No, your eyes are not deceiving you; that is, in fact, a life-size BB sitting inside a PC. The Bridges logo is a nice touch, and the case does look like a piece of mail protagonist Sam “Porter” Bridges would transport across Death Stranding’s post-disaster America, but there’s no ignoring that baby.

Precautions have been made to ensure “little Lou” doesn’t melt. The only question now is whether she’s capable of detecting any nearby BTs.

Whether your PC has its own BB or not, the recently released port is the best way to play Death Stranding. Aside from the boost in performance and visual fidelity, the PC version also includes an exclusive side-story that pays tribute to Valve’s Half-Life and Portal franchises and introduces a slew of new items (like a Headcrab hat you can make Norman Reedus wear).

Hideo Kojima’s latest was awarded a 9/10 in GameSpot’s Death Stranding review when it launched on PS4 back in November 2019. “Death Stranding is a hard game to absorb,” Kallie Plagge said in her review. “There are many intertwining threads to its plot, and silly names, corny moments, and heavy exposition belie an otherwise very simple message. That comes through much more clearly in the game’s more mundane moments, when you find a desperately-needed ladder left behind by another player or receive a letter from an NPC thanking you for your efforts. It’s positive without ignoring pain; in fact, it argues in both its story and its gameplay that adversity itself is what makes things worth doing and life worth living. It’s a game that requires patience, compassion, and love, and it’s also one we really need right now.”

Microsoft has revealed the Xbox Games with Gold lineup for August 2020, which features survival RPG Portal Knights, Xbox classic Red Faction II and more.

All of the games listed below will be free for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Live Gold subscribers and will unlock across the course of August, with Override: Mech City Brawl available until early September.

• Portal Knights (August 1 to 31 on Xbox One)
• Override: Mech City Brawl (August 16 to September 15 on Xbox One)
• MX Unleashed (August 1 to 15 on Xbox One and Xbox 360)
• Red Faction II (August 16 to 31 on Xbox One and Xbox 360)

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Portal Knights is a survival RPG with multiplayer sandbox elements and can be played online with up to 4 players in the same world. Override: Mech City Brawl is a 3D mech brawler which includes a single-player campaign and a co-op mode where each player can control part of the mech suit.

For the classic games this month we’ve got MX Unleashed, a freestyle motocross simulator which we called “a winner” back in 2004 when we reviewed it. Rounding off the quad is Red Faction II, in which you can lead a rebellion on Mars and as per usual for the Red Faction franchise, cause heaps of destruction.

You can still pick up WRC 8, Dunk Lords and Juju from July’s Xbox Games With Gold if you’re yet to redeem them, but act fast, as Juju and WRC 8 expire on Friday the 31st.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

As promised last week, Rockstar has updated Red Dead Online with a new Frontier Pursuit. Today the developer has detailed the pursuit, which is called The Naturalist and focuses on tracking Legendary Animals.

As a Naturalist, players will work with Harriet Davenport, who aims to protect and study the region’s rarest animals. You’ll be required to track these species, sedate them with the new Varmint Rifle, and draw blood samples to be handed to Harriet. A Revive Tonic can be used to rouse sedated animals so they are not left vulnerable to predators and hunters.

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Naturalists can also brew other tonics, including Weight Loss and Weight Gain Tonics, and drinks that allow you to more easily sneak up on potential animal subjects. Other brews will mitigate weather effects.

Alternatively, players may want to work for big game hunter Gus MacMillan, who will pay a generous fee for the pelts of these rare animals, and even tailor them into unique clothing. Animals can be more efficiently hunted with the new Elephant Rifle and its one-shot, one-kill Nitro Express ammunition. However, working with Gus will sour your relationship with Harriet, so you’ll want to choose wisely.

Your targets as part of this Frontier Pursuit include seven new Legendary Animals, and each of those have three subspecies. An Animal Field Guide acts as a sort of Pokedex to complete while on your animal-discovery travels.

Naturalists can learn new skills including Mercy Kill, use an advanced camera, and partake in two animal-based Free Roam Events: Protect Legendary Animals and Animal Tagging. They also have access to role-specific weapons, outfits, and a horse.

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Legendary Animal Sighting Missions allow you to raid the camps of poachers and liberate their caged animals. Or, should you choose to, you can break them out and immediately kill them for their pelts.

Alongside the Naturalist content, the update also improves the Threat indicator, and implements Asynchronous Matchmaking, new Daily Challenges, new Daily Challenge rewards, and an improved wardrobe system. A new Outlaw Pass with 80 ranks allows players to unlock bonuses including 40 gold bars, XP boosts, new weapon metals and engravings, the Australian Shepherd camp dog, and filters for the Advanced Camera.

PS4 users will also get free gifts in the form of 10 sedative ammo, 5 animal revive tonics, and 5 blending tonics, as well as early access bonuses: the Woodcote poncho, The Legendary Ram, and The Coastal, Oceanic, and Megafauna Fossil collection sets.

The update comes in the wake of the Red Dead Online community protesting against Rockstar for not updating the game with new content.

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