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With Lisbeth Salander heading to theaters in a soft reboot of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo franchise, there’s something different about the titular character in The Girl in the Spider’s Web. This time around, Lisbeth Salander is empowered and she’s righting wrongs at every turn she can. In fact, she has quite a bit in common with another vigilante that dresses in black: Batman.

In the movie, Lisbeth, played this time around by Claire Foy, is very reminiscent of the Dark Knight. From her penchant for dressing in black and hiding in the shadows, to her use of high tech gadgets, it’s easy to draw a line between the two–Lisbeth even gets her own Batmobile, sort of. Even director Fede Álvarez sees a potential connection to the Caped Crusader. “It does probably go back to Batman,” he said. “Maybe also because in that first scene they ask her, ‘Who are you?’ which takes me back to the first trailer of Tim Burton’s Batman.”

It’s not just surface level traits that might remind you of the DC Comics vigilante, though. Like Bruce Wayne and his caped alter ego, she’s also a tortured soul.

For Álvarez, showing this version of Lisbeth, as an incredibly flawed human being trying her best to make the world better, is what mattered most. “It was important because I don’t like heroes usually,” he told GameSpot. “I don’t do heroes in my movies. I might introduce them like one but then part of the story is always going to show the human being behind that. I’m interested in seeing the real human being behind the flawed human being. That’s what the movie does, in a way. It starts there, but then, as you know, it just starts going deeper and deeper to who they truly are.”

He’s not wrong. The Girl in the Spider’s Web delves deep into Lisbeth in an attempt to explain the person she’s become and why she fights the battles she does. As with Batman, it’s childhood trauma that has largely contributed to the person she’s grown to be, a lot of which is explored in The Girl in the Spider’s Web. More than that, though, as fans of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, there’s far more to Lisbeth than her childhood.

It’s this kind of flawed humanity that, for Foy, makes the character so interesting to play. “I don’t think she’s a superhero because she bleeds when you cut her,” the actress said. “It’s very obvious that she’s a human and that the only superpower she has, in a way, I suppose, is her brain. She knows she’s not strong enough to fight all of these men but she’s able to think faster than them and act quicker. She will always fight to the absolute bitter end. She will be clawing her way out.”

While it may be more action-oriented than previous installments of the franchise, The Girl in the Spider’s Web is by no means a superhero film. Instead, for Álvarez, this is the story of a flawed woman who is still learning about the world, even as she tries to save it. “I like to relate to characters through their mistakes, rather than through heroic acts,” he said.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web is in theaters on November 9.

When The Girl in the Spider’s Web arrives in theaters, it’s going to tell a very different kind of stories than fans of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may be expecting. Thus far, the films in the franchise–four in total–have cast Lisbeth Salander in a secondary role to journalist Mikael Blomkvist.

This new installment from director Fede Álvarez puts the spotlight directly on Lisbeth, played by Claire Foy, with Dragon Tattoo protagonist Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) settling into the role of sidekick. When asked about that choice by GameSpot, Álvarez explained, “It was the reason to make the movie, really. For me, it was the reason to make the film. For a character that is such a feminine icon, suddenly I realized most of those movies she’s just the sidekick, almost. She’s the coolest character in those movies and those stories but she’s usually there to serve the man’s story.”

Knowing the focus would shift to Lisbeth is what made Foy sign on in the first place. “I hadn’t seen that before in the previous movies, and I was really interested,” she said. “I think if he [Álvarez] had tried to make it exactly how it was before, it would have been kind of a useless exercise, really. But he had a new take on it and an idea of how he’d like to approach it.”

And that new take was the perfect fit for The Girl in the Spider’s Web. The book it’s based on, which is written by David Lagercrantz, delves into the childhood of Lisbeth and introduces her sister as the primary antagonist. It’s a story that wouldn’t make sense told any other way. “This is the perfect opportunity because this is a story you can tell 100% from her point of view,” Álvarez said.

In doing so, there’s a potential for even more films of the franchise that follow the exploits of Lisbeth. As we previously discussed with both Álvarez and Foy, this new film turns the titular Girl in the Spider’s Web into something of a Batman-like figure, a vigilante that works in the shadows to right wrongs as she sees fit.

What remains to be seen is what any further films would be based on. Spider’s Web is the first of Lagercrantz’s two novels in the Millennium series. The author took over the book franchise following the death of Stieg Larson, who wrote the first three entries–The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest–each of which was adapted into a movie in Sweden. In 2011, David Fincher rebooted The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for American audiences, with Rooney Mara (Lisbeth) and Daniel Craig (Mikael) starring. In theory, any of those three books or Lagercrantz’s The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye could be adapted into the next chapter of the current series, but with a stronger focus on Lisbeth.

Whether any of that happens, though, depends on how audiences react to this new Lisbeth Salander. Find out for yourself when The Girl in the Spider’s Web hits theaters on November 9.

What a wild year it has been for movie theater subscription services. The meteoric rise of MoviePass is perhaps matched only by the sudden fall of the service, as other options came to market–including Sinemia and AMC Stubs A-List, each of which managed to offer perks MoviePass couldn’t. Make sure to take a look at our review of all three services.

With the year coming to a close, though, there’s another change happening. AMC is raising the prices on their A-List service, at least in some states. According to The Hollywood Reporter, AMC Theaters is raising the subscription price for Stubs A-List beginning in January 2019 in 15 states and one district–the ones where the service is most popular thus far.

With that higher price, users will still be allowed three tickets each week, including 3D and IMAX format screenings. For California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, the service will rise from $19.95 each month to $23.95. Meanwhile, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia will see their price rise to $21.95.

As AMC CEO-president Adam Aron explained to THR, the increase will help keep the program profitable. “Our decision to keep the AMC Stubs A-List monthly price unchanged in 35 states, along with only a modest price adjustment in some key markets going in place in early 2019 will keep us in that sweet spot of successfully balancing profits and popularity,” he said.

It’s not too late to lock in the $19.95 price, though, at least for a year. Aron revealed that new subscribers who sign up before the end of 2018 will not see their rates rise for a full 12 months after enrollment.

As for the future of AMC Stubs A-List, this likely isn’t a sign that the service is struggling. When MoviePass changed its terms, it tended to do so at the last minute, leaving many confused about what, exactly, they got for their money. Stubs isn’t changing any of the terms of its subscription, other than the price in selected states.

It’s incredibly easy to miss out on Red Dead Redemption 2‘s most interesting side-events and secret encounters. With the involved main story taking well over 50 hours to complete, it can often be challenging to pull yourself away from the plot to venture off to places that house strange and fascinating side events. In addition to many callbacks to the original game, featuring the return of key locations and characters, several of these moments showcase Red Dead 2’s weird and morbid side.

In this feature, we’ve rounded up a number of side events, Easter eggs, and references that speak to the amount of diversity and sheer attention to detail that Red Dead Redemption 2 has hidden in its world. A word of warning, however: Given that some time has passed since the release of the game, we’ve decided to include things from later part of the story–particularly some events of the epilogue. Spoilers follow.

Whether it’s chance meetings with ghosts, a UFO, or even a vampire, the open world Western always tries to keep things interesting for those that want to dive a bit deeper. If you want to know more about what you can find in the world of Red Dead Redemption 2, including many of the hidden weapons and the legendary animals, or if you just want to hear more of our thoughts on the finer details of the game, be sure to check out our continuing coverage–which includes our weekly show Quickdraw, highlighting many of Red Dead 2’s important details and features.

Editor’s note: This is an early take on Battlefield V for PC; a full review is in the works but we will require many more hours to fully engage and evaluate everything the game has to offer. The overall opinion is subject to change through the review process.

The Battlefield series has always been about capturing the scale of war, and Battlefield V delivers as expected. Large maps made of both open fields and narrow lanes pit players in chaotic fights to capture objectives and deplete the enemy respawn count. Different classes empower soldiers with specific capabilities that provide distinct advantages in the right situations. And of course, tanks and aircraft not only change gameplay dynamics, but can swing the tide of battle in deft hands. The initial impression is that Battlefield V revels in familiarity–this entry doesn’t stray away from the franchise formula, but it’s a fine execution thus far.

It’s been a while since the franchise set foot in World War II, but this time, it does so with lesser-known conflicts at the forefront. It’s oddly refreshing to discover aspects of history that go overlooked. While we’ve had a steady diet of the snow-covered Narvik map prior to release, the game’s collection of landscapes are varied set pieces. The lush vegetation of Western Europe and the harsh deserts of North Africa present beauty in the wake of utter destruction–all these battles have been inspired by the history books and realized in a refined Frostbite engine, which has never looked better. However, the maps themselves have their limitations.

Battlefield V is as devastating as it is beautiful.

Conquest has always been Battlefield’s staple. Two huge teams fight to control capture points across a sprawling map, which helps hasten the drain of the enemy ticket count. It’s a time-tested mode, but it also highlights the shortcomings of a few maps. I can admire the spectacle of Fjell 652 and the tight firefights that take place around the capture points, but navigating the map’s narrow paths hasn’t been much fun. Narvik’s capture points encourage a variety of encounters with regards to distance, elevation, and space, but rather than flowing together, the maps feel like a collection of disparate parts for the sake of enabling these types of engagements. Metropolitan maps have certainly worked in the series’ past, but Rotterdam hasn’t been a great showcase of Battlefield V’s strengths as matches can easily devolve into tedious shootouts on city streets.

If you’re caught out of place, you’ll be punished–in other words, you’ll be shot in the back and flanked from unsuspecting locations frequently. While it can grow frustrating, overcoming seemingly hopeless scenarios is part of the process.

Grand Operations takes you into war-like scenarios that set teams up for a series of three consecutive matches, each in a different game mode and map (or variation of a map) from the same theater. This mode can be a big time commitment, but it has been the best part of Battlefield V so far, as Grand Operations keeps up the momentum and shakes up gameplay just enough to retain players through the course of the whole set of matches. The light contextualization of what both sides are trying to accomplish that goes into each phase helps (ever so slightly) paint a more enticing picture of multiplayer, rather than having you unceremoniously jump into the fray.

Success in Battlefield V very much depends on being at the right place at the right time. If you’re caught out of place, you’ll be punished–in other words, you’ll be shot in the back and flanked from unsuspecting locations frequently. While it can grow frustrating, overcoming seemingly hopeless scenarios is part of the process. Adapting to situations that develop on the field and being a helpful teammate are further encouraged by the four returning classes: Assault, Medic, Support, and Recon. So far, it seems like a small tweak helps to bring out teamwork–squadmates can revive each other regardless of class, without negating the importance of Medics since they can revive anyone and dole out additional health packs.

Player progression is dispersed in several ways. For one, you have career progression, which is your simple overall rank. Then there’s class progression, which paves the way for unlocking equipment to further customize your loadout. And lastly, both weapons and vehicles contain their own progression paths. There appears to be a lot of systems at work, but rewards seem fairly lean outside of skins and individual weapon perks.

Microtransactions are currently absent from the game, so we can’t comment on the business model yet. However, you earn in-game currency called Company Coins, which appear to be mainly for acquiring cosmetics like soldier uniforms and weapon camouflage. A few things like weapon perks cost Company Coins, but thankfully they’re cheap and require you to reach a certain level beforehand.

The game’s not a multiplayer-only endeavor with the return of War Stories, the single-player campaign offering that debuted in Battlefield 1. It serves as a tool to acquaint yourself with the basics of the game while providing grounded perspectives from contrasting theaters of war. Battlefield V itself starts not on a main menu, but in a playable teaser of each vignette from War Stories. Part of me wants to fully accept the sincerity that’s trying to be communicated through the narration and cutscenes, but I can’t help but feel it veering off into melodrama to a fault. I’ve only touched on the English campaign, but I’m hoping it makes good on the humanizing tone it appears to go for.

Sloshing through the mud in a tank in Twisted Steel is a necessary evil.

Battlefield V can be rough around the edges. Player models can clip through the world’s geometry, sometimes sending bodies into a ragdoll frenzy. You may see teammates get revived only for their character model to frantically zip 20 feet in another direction. As of now, servers have occasional instability in terms of performance and packet loss (which causes choppy motion in-game). Thankfully, I haven’t experienced hard crashes or drops from servers.

The initial impression is that Battlefield V revels in familiarity–this entry doesn’t stray away from the franchise formula, but it’s a fine execution thus far.

As of now, it feels as if Battlefield V is a variation on a well-established theme. It maintains the series tradition of grand spectacle with incredible sound design, impactful weaponry, and large-scale multiplayer chaos. There’s a lot more to dig into, like the fortification system, squad reinforcements perks, and how destruction may change map dynamics, and spending more time with the game will paint a better picture. At the end of the day, it’s still Battlefield, and Battlefield V is shaping up to be a good one at that.