In order to morph into the vagabond monster-slaying Geralt of Rivia for Netflix’s The Witcher, star Henry Cavill occasionally had to take the character’s dirtiness into his own hands.
While talking to Vanity Fair about all the in and outs of his Geralt transformation, including multiple wigs and contacts that would eventually irritate his eyes, Cavill mentioned how much he became invested in Geralt’s overall unkempt look.
“The costumers were, towards the end, quite horrified with me,” he said. “Before takes I would look at myself and say, ‘We need more dirt on me.’ They’d come up to me with this tiny little — it’s like a pair of tights rolled up into a ball, with some dust in, and they’d sort of pat it on me. And I’d say, ‘Yeah, guys, that’s not enough.'”
“So I’d go stand out in the rain. Sometimes I’d roll around in puddles. I would just try and get as much of the world on me, so this character looked like he had lived within it.”
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Fans have been itching for a revenge-soaked follow up to Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill two-parter for years, really ever since the opening scene of Vol. 1 where Uma Thurman’s Bride character talks to the young daughter of the freshly-murdered Vivica A. Fox’s Vernita Green and tells her “When you grow up, if you still feel raw about it, I’ll be waiting.”
Even back in 2004, Tarantino was raring to go for the sequel, saying “The star will be Vernita Green’s daughter, Nikki. I’ve already got the whole mythology: Sofie Fatale [Julie Dreyfus] will get all of Bill’s money. She’ll raise Nikki, who’ll take on the Bride. Nikki deserves her revenge every bit as much as the Bride deserved hers.”
Recently though, while talking about Kill Bill sequels and/or reboot possibilities with NME, Vivica A. Fox mentioned how’d she’d love to see Zendaya play Nikki. “Zendaya! How hot would that be?” she said. “And that would probably green light this project. Because her and Uma are both very tall, and it would just be kick-butt, and I love her.”
“Hopefully now we can put that out, like ‘Tarantino, cast Zendaya!’ And spark his interest to put it on the fast track.”
So what do you think about this casting? Would you like to watch Zendaya v. Uma Thurman? In a bloody, stabby battle for Kill Bill supremacy? Also, would you like this to be Tarantino’s tenth and final film as the director has said many times that he plans on only making ten movies and then retiring. Let us know below.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Ubisoft has stated that the recent sexual abuse and misconduct allegations against some of its employees will not “be addressed directly” during its upcoming Ubisoft Forward presentation.
Ubisoft made the statement on Twitter, saying “Ubisoft Forward comes during a time of big internal change. Because all the content has been pre-recorded, we wanted to recognize that the issues we’re currently dealing with won’t be addressed directly in the show. We still have significant work to do and are committed to this process. We will provided more updates soon.”
This statement arrives just a few hours before Ubisoft hosts its Ubisoft Forward E3 replacement showcase where it will discuss Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion, Far Cry 6, and much more. You can watch Ubisoft Forward on Sunday, July 12 at 12pm PT/3pm ET/8pm BST.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
The game will release on mobile devices on August 6. Those who pre-register for iOS or Android can get a free skin for when the game is released.
Brawlhalla has been a huge success on console and PC, where it has “more than 40 million players” across Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The game supports cross-play on those platforms, and cross-play will also be available on mobile at release.
Brawlhalla has more than 50 characters, including fighters from non-Ubisoft games, including Finn and Jake from Adventure Time and Heatblast from Ben 10.
While we won’t get a new Far Cry game this year, we won’t have to wait too long into next year to get our hands on Far Cry 6. Ubisoft has announced that Far Cry 6 will release on February 18, 2021 on PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia (that’s a lot of platforms, we know). In typical Ubisoft fashion, numerous editions will be available to purchase, and pre-order listings are already starting to pop up. If you already know you’re down to jump into another zany open-world first-person shooter, you can snag some cool bonuses with your pre-order, too.
Far Cry 6 is set in the present day in the fictional country of Yara, a tropical paradise that has been “frozen in time,” largely due to the country’s tyrannical leader Anton Castillo (played by Breaking Bad actor Giancarlo Esposito). As the hero of the story, you’ll step into the shoes of Dani Rojas, who helps form a guerilla faction to oust Castillo from power.
While next-gen consoles will already be out by the time Far Cry 6 releases, it’s worth noting that you’ll be able to buy one copy of Far Cry 6 to play on PS4/PS5 and Xbox One/Series X. So if you aren’t planning on upgrading to a next-gen console right away, you’ll still be able to enjoy Far Cry 6 on PS5 and Xbox Series X whenever you do decide to upgrade.
Pre-orders have just started to go live on all platforms, but we’ll continue to update as more retailers make Far Cry 6 available to order.
If you pre-order any edition of Far Cry 6, you’ll get The Libertad Pack, which includes two in-game bonuses:
Discos Locos: a deadly disc launcher, of course
Libertad Chorizo skin: an angry-looking dog on wheels (with spikes!) that we absolutely must learn more about
Far Cry 6 releases February 18, 2021
The standard edition of Far Cry 6 comes with the bonuses listed above and is available to pre-order now at multiple retailers.
Far Cry 6 Gold edition
Far Cry 6’s Gold edition comes with the pre-order bonuses and the season pass containing three DLCs: Beware the Dictator, The Jewel of the Carribean, and A Nation Stranded in the Past. The digital Gold edition costs $100, while the physical steelbook edition costs $110.
Far Cry 6 Ultimate edition
Far Cry 6’s $120 Ultimate edition comes with the pre-order bonuses, season pass, and the Ultimate Pack containing three skin packs: Croc Hunter, Vice, and Jungle Expedition.
Far Cry 6 Collector’s edition
Far Cry 6 has a massive Collector’s edition that’s exclusive to the Ubisoft Store. Coming in at $200, the Collector’s edition includes everything in the Ultimate edition, the pre-order bonus, and a bunch of other goodies:
Tostador 72cm Replica flamethrower (non-operable, of course)
Far Cry 6 64-page art book
10 stickers
Exclusive steelbook case
“How to assemble” print detailing the flamethrower
CD soundtrack
Chroizo (dog on wheels) keychain
World map
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Far Cry 6’s reveal brought with it the confirmation of who would be joining the ranks of the series’ iconic villains — Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian actor Giancarlo Esposito. Esposito plays Anton Castillo, a dictator in the island nation of Yara and its capital city, Esperanza.
IGN spoke with Esposito ahead of the announcement to discuss Anton’s motives, his layered characterization, and a bit more about the fictional island nation at the heart of Far Cry 6.
“His father was a dictator before him and he wants to empower the people to take their country back. His goal is to use the resources that they have within the country to survive without allowing outsiders to come in and co-opt their scientists, their intellectual property, all of these things,” Esposito said, noting that Anton was “born with a silver spoon in his mouth.”
And Anton is, well, grappling with quite a bit as Esposito explained:
“He really means good, but he’s in a world that’s moving progressively forward faster than he is. And he has to find the assets that his people have to be able to exploit those assets and allow his people to believe in him, all this in the midst of a civil revolution that’s happening in his country by several different factions that he’s got to put down…and he’s trying to raise a son.”
That relationship with his son, who we also see in the Far Cry 6 reveal trailer, is key to the humanity Esposito sees in Anton. His son is played by Anthony Gonzalez, who starred as Miguel in Pixar’s Coco.
“His relationship [with his son] is he’s impatient. His son isn’t as grown as he wants him to be,” he said. “He wants him to grow up faster, he wants to give him the skills and empower him to know that he has the power over life and death. Very difficult thing for a young man, just going through puberty to get wrapped around. How do you turn your back on being youthful and grow up quickly to be groomed, to take over a small island nation?”
Esposito, who said he believed the game was set in present day, explained how Winston Churchill actually inspired the way he portrayed Anton, as a dictator ruling over a paradise that doesn’t really know how to make full use of what it offers.
“It makes me think of Winston Churchill when he went to Uganda years ago, he said that was the jewel of Africa. It had everything. And that was my vision,” he said. “It was feeling as if I’m in this lush place that had no means to get out the cucumbers and the potatoes. It had no means to really market the beautiful flowers to the world, that had no leadership, hadn’t followed through to be able to take advantage of their assets and yet keep them still at home. Anton is really complicated, yet he knows he has to rule with an iron fist and put down the revolutionaries to be able to start the process of healing to begin with.”
Another detail confirmed during the presentation was that Valhalla will have a fishing mechanic–and it’s tied into another new system for the game. In Valhalla, your health does not automatically regenerate over time, so you will need to find ways to replenish it. One way is to catch and consume fish.
Nice!
Given that Valhalla is set in 873 CE, the game does not feature actual fishing rods. So you will simply cast a line with your hand and try to catch a fish that way. Once you have a fish on the line, you’ll need to mash the A button to bring it in. You must control the direction of the fish and also the tension of your line to be able to successfully land the fish.
In the demo, we see Eivor catching a bullhead catfish, with the on-screen message stating that it’s a “regular” size, which presumably means there will be bigger and smaller fish (and of different varieties) to catch. We don’t see Eivor choosing the specific type of bait, so it’s unclear if you’ll get to choose what you want to fish with. Also worth noting is that Eivor casts her line from what appears to be a fishing village, but you can also fish from your long boat in the open water.
In addition to catching fish, players can forage for food, like mushrooms, in the wilderness to regain health.
Valhalla releases on November 17 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. It’s also coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X when those consoles release, and players who buy the game on current-gen can upgrade to the next-gen edition for free.
For lots more on Valhalla, check out GameSpot’s new hands-on impressions in the video above. You can also read Jordan’s interview with narrative director Darby McDevitt and assistant level design director Laurence Letalien about Eivor’s mysterious identity, the interwoven story, and more.
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In the reveal trailer for Far Cry 6, the main antagonist, Yara president Anton Castillo, explains the chaotic nature of power in governing society to his teenage son Diego. His son is poised to take over when the time comes, but for now, Anton wants his son to understand his point of view. Using a hand grenade as a metaphor, the elder Castillo states that, “Our country is like this grenade, except it has two basic parts: the people, and you–and you must clutch them nice and tight. Or we all go boom.”
Far Cry 6 is a game about politics and how radically different views inevitably lead to conflict. Set during an uprising in the country of Yara, which takes stylistic and historical inspiration from the island of Cuba, you’ll join the rebel force made up of citizens to overthrow Anton Castillo and his regime. His ultimate goal is to bring the country out of its period of stagnation and into a supposed new age of prosperity, even if it means oppressing and enslaving the country’s citizens to do it. Since Far Cry 3, the franchise has enjoyed putting its villains front and center, giving them plenty of time to explain their philosophies in elaborate detail. They’re larger than life figures whose presence is evident throughout the jungles, caves, and forests in the open-world settings–and Far Cry 6 is no different.
The new game coming from Ubisoft Toronto leans more heavily into the dynamic of revolution, and how Yara’s citizens rise up to free themselves instead of waiting for an outside savior to do it for them. Far Cry 6’s story is about combating fascism, and you are playing as a member of the anti-fascist movement. Speaking with Far Cry 6 narrative director Navid Khavari, he explained the backbone of Far Cry 6’s plot, and how the game’s central character, Dani Rojas, fits in.
“It all came from a place of really just trying to understand the idea of revolution, and what that really means,” said Khavari. “I started on this game about four and a half years ago, and when we began our research, you look at the history of revolutions, and that of the guerrilla revolution. When we landed on the inspiration of the island of Cuba, and got to spend about a month there for initial research, we got really excited about this idea of a modern guerilla revolution. When you’re looking at any revolution, you’re examining the nature of defiance, systemic oppression, and the idea of how far do you have to be pushed to be willing to pick up a gun–to be willing to risk your life for something you believe in?”
Given the rocky history of Cuba, which has seen its share of oppressive leaders and stagnation due to economic sanctions, Yara’s fictional setting certainly makes for a fertile place to examine the concepts of oppression and revolution in a game. The Far Cry series hasn’t been shy about treading into evocative themes and locales. For Instance, Far Cry 2’s setting in central Africa still remains one of the more harrowing and brutal depictions of conflict in a game. 2018’s Far Cry 5 focused on the antagonist Joseph Seed and his heavily-armed cult that captured the isolated area of Hope County, Montana. While it incorporated certain topics such as conservatism and feeling like “the other,” it often skirted the underlying issues in favor of keeping the priority on the traditional Far Cry open-world hijinks.
Tensions rise in the island country of Yara.
After watching the trailer for Far Cry 6, with Giancarlo Esposito’s powerful performance as Anton Castillo, the imagery of political upheaval, with citizens fighting riot cops and toppling statues was certainly effective–especially in light of what’s going on today. But after playing Far Cry 5, and seeing how it often tip-toed around heavy themes, I have a lingering feeling that the next game will fall into the same trap that its predecessor did. In that, it may not be able to do proper justice to the imagery and themes that it’s presenting in-game. With that said, Khavari seemed to embrace the parallels with the game and with the current global protests against systemic oppression.
“To be very honest, I think it’s actually been quite powerful to watch these themes gain more prominence in the last few months around the world, particularly in the United States, Canada, London. For us, what I’m proud of is when we were looking at building the revolution in Yara, we didn’t try to shy away from difficult subjects and really to draw meaning from that. So I’m hoping players will be able to see that meeting and have those themes resonate with them. I think that’s exciting for us to be able to present in the game.”
One returning feature from previous games coming to Far Cry 6 is the voiced protagonist. In Far Cry 5 and New Dawn, both games featured silent protagonists who were simultaneously the catalyst and passenger for the story. FC6’s central character Dani Rojas–who can be either male or female–has a much stronger presence than previous heroes in the series. Instead of being an outsider who manages to overthrow the antagonistic force and help the country’s citizens throughout a campaign, Rojas is a native of Yara who most definitely has personal investment in the game.
Yara’s capital city, Esperanza.
“When you’re looking at the topic of revolution, it was essential for us to ensure that the protagonist has a personal investment in that revolution,” said Khavari. “With a character like Dani Rojas having that context, to have a history [in Yara] and to have a voice, is very important for us. What’s interesting about Dani is that while they were raised in Yara, they aren’t necessarily looking to be part of a guerilla movement from the onset. One of the interesting aspects for us was seeing this character swept up in the movement, being drawn into it in that way, and embracing the almost David versus Goliath conflict across the entire island. For the series, it’ll be fresh for players to see Dani in cutscenes, to be able to see them make decisions, and interact with other characters.”
Going back to the lead antagonist, Anton Castillo, he has a confident, yet still cold presence that sets him apart from other villains in the series. Instead of the charismatic, yet unhinged Vaas from Far Cry 3, or the flamboyant warlord Pagan Min in Far Cry 4, Castillo is all serious and believes he’s doing what’s best for the greater good. During our talk, Khavari explained that the lead actor did his homework before stepping into the role.
“It was an unbelievable experience [working with Giancarlo]. Right from the beginning, when I flew down to New York to meet with him, he’d done so much research already based on the material that we sent him. He brings an amazing empathy to his characters, and he brought that same empathy to Anton that I wasn’t expecting. He really approached it from the angle of what makes Anton tick? What makes someone who’s so charismatic and intelligent, be able to justify doing such brutal things? He also looked at it from the angle of a father. That level of empathy of you’re ruling a country, but you’re also passing down these very twisted lessons to your son, but you also love your son at the same time. He brought such great nuance and ability in Anton, and he really brought the character to life in a way that I wasn’t expecting.”
Giancarlo Esposito portrays Anton Castillo, the president of Yara.
The showing at Ubisoft Forward was only a small sampling of what’s to come with Far Cry 6. I’m really looking forward to checking out the game in the months ahead to see how these themes come up, and also to explore the really cool and visually exciting setting of Yara. With that said, I hope that the game will commit to having something more to say about the themes and settings that it’s inhabiting.
For more on Far Cry 6, check out our breakdown of everything we know about the game, along with other games shown at Ubisoft Forward.
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