James Gunn On Comic Book And Superhero Movies: “They’re Mostly Boring For Me Right Now”

Movie director and writer James Gunn has shared his thoughts on the future of comic book and superhero films, calling them “really dumb” and “mostly boring for me right now.” Speaking to the Irish Times, Gunn said comic book and superhero films run the risk of fading in popularity if they don’t mix things up and try out new approaches.

“We know about the way cowboy films went, and the way war films went,” he said. “I don’t know, I think you don’t have to be a genius to put two and two together and see that there’s a cycle to those sorts of films, you know, and that the only hope for the future of the comic book and superhero films is to change them up. They’re really dumb. And they’re mostly boring for me right now.”

Gunn went on to say that he was a big fan of comic book and superhero movies at the beginning. He said he was blown away by the visual effects when he saw Superman as a kid. Later on, he was a big fan of Iron Man from Marvel, again, for the visual effects that showed Tony Stark flying around in his supersuit. “And that was a beautiful thing to be able to do. But if the movies don’t change, it’s gonna get really, really boring,” he said.

Gunn tempered his comments by acknowledging that some superhero and comic book movies these days are innovating, but in general, he hasn’t been blown away by what he’s seen of late.

“There are people trying to do some different things with superheroes. So it’s not it’s not 100% a rule that everybody isn’t, but a lot of superhero films are boring. And so for me, I think it’s just about bringing in other elements,” he said.

Gunn directed Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel, and he’s lined up to direct 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as well. He also directed The Suicide Squad, which releases on August 6, and he’s writing and directing the spin-off TV show Peacemaker. Outside of that, Gunn is attached to write and direct the Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special.

Exactly what new elements Gunn will bring to the table with these films remains to be seen. But the director has said Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will tell a “heavier” story, which could speak to what he’s trying to achieve in the space that will help set the movie apart.

“It’s pretty heavy actually. It’s a heavier story, so it’s an emotional process to go through,” Gunn told Entertainment Weekly of the script.

Before Gunn started working with Marvel and DC, he made the wacky and wonderful superhero movie Super starring Rainn Wilson, a film about a person with no superhuman abilities.

WoW Burning Crusade Classic Currently Has An Olympics Event Not Seen Since 2008

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic is getting in on the summer sport festivities by bringing back an event not seen in-game since the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.

Called the Spirit of Competition (via WoWhead), the event sees players across the Horde and Alliance competing in the game’s PvP Battlegrounds to earn special rewards in the form of a unique tabard that mimics the Olympic Rings symbol as well as a unique dragon pet.

Now Playing: World of Warcraft Classic: Burning Crusade Reveal Trailer | BlizzCon 2021

Conceived to coincide with the 2008 Summer Olympic games in the original version of the Burning Crusade expansion, it seemed Blizzard thought it would be fitting to bring it back for this year’s delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. It’s currently unclear how long the Spirit of Competition event will run. The Spirit of Competition event coincides with this year’s annual Midsummer Fire Festival in-game event, which adds new quests, cosmetic rewards, and dungeon bosses.

Horde players will likely want to take advantage of this week’s ongoing same-faction Battleground test in order to score the exclusive Olympic-themed cosmetic items. Prior to Blizzard enabling same-faction Battleground matchmaking, Horde players found themselves waiting up to an hour to participate in matches thanks to the faction’s much larger population, which would make earning the exclusive rewards far more difficult. The game’s most recent same-faction matchmaking test offers extra rewards for Alliance players who choose to participate in Battlegrounds.

The launch of the event comes just as Activision Blizzard is dealing with the fallout from a new California lawsuit against the company, stating it fosters a “frat boy” culture rife with sexual harassment. Many players are calling for the removal of NPCs in both WoW Classic and the current Shadowlands version of the game that are named after an ex-Blizzard veteran and former WoW creative director mentioned in the lawsuit.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Evangelion’s Hideaki Anno Explains What Fans Can Expect From Revisions To Thrice Upon A Time

The final Evangelion movie, Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon A Time, will be released on Amazon on August 13, but that’s not the version that aired in Japan. During Amazon’s Comic-Con At Home panel, creator Hideaki Anno explained that after the movie was released, his team went back and polished up the best they could.

When asked what fans could expect for this revised version, Anno why he went back and explained the motivation behind doing so. “Creation does not have an end,” Anno stated. “Our staff is dedicated to work on projects as long as there is time, so we want to maintain the quality and improve it if time allows us. We don’t want to compromise on quality. So basically, that’s what our staff is determined to do.”

Anno explained that they stopped working on it because of the deadline, but because of it being moved to Amazon Prime, he explains that means there’s more time to get things right.

“We wanted to show the audience the best version of our work, and since we had more time, the staff took the initiative and to revise the film,” he said, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll affect the story itself. “We upgrade it technically, so it might not be something that everyone will notice.

“Even so,” he continued. “We still want to improve technical quality in detail.”

Thrice Upon A Time is the fourth film in the Rebuild of Evangelion series, and the previous movies are also set to be released by Amazon in August as well: Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone (2009), Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance (2009), and Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo (2012).

Wheel Of Time’s Release Date And First Poster Revealed During Comic-Con

Wheel of Time is one of our most-anticipated upcoming fantasy shows, so we were eager to find out more about the adaptation during Amazon Prime’s virtual San Diego Comic-Con 2021 panel. During the panel, which consisted of a discussion with showrunner Rafe Judkins, Wheel of Time’s first teaser poster was revealed, and then subsequently tweeted out by the series’ official account. The poster confirms that the Amazon show will debut in November 2021. Check it out below:

Wheel of Time is an epic fantasy series that spans 14 novels. The character on the poster is a fan favorite named Moiraine, a sorceress who plays a pivotal role in the story, played in the adaptation by Rosamund Pike. During the panel, Judkins praised Pike’s portrayal of the character, explaining that the actress is fully embodying the beloved Moiraine.

The showrunner described the poster itself as a moment that should be familiar to fans of the series’ first book, The Eye of the World. “I think fans of the book will recognize this as a very iconic moment in The Eye of the World, and I think what I like about it is for people that don’t know anything about the books, this is a moment where you see our lead, Rosamund Pike, Moiraine, looking back over her shoulder and saying, ‘We don’t know what’s through here, but come along for the ride,'” he said.

Judkins described his own history with the series, explaining that he and his mother read them together, and that as a young gay person in Utah, he related to a story about characters who are different than those around them. He expressed his desire to stay faithful to the story while making the best version possible for the medium of television.

“[Wheel of Time] sort of sits in the fantasy pantheon as that connective tissue between Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. It was one of the first fantasy projects that really took you into this unbelievably expansive world and created more POV characters than you usually see in fantasy books up until that time,” the showrunner explained. “Obviously I want to stay as close to the books as we possibly can… There’s a great story there. We want to tell it, and we want to tell it in the way that’s best for television. This story is a true adaptation of the series. So there will be a lot of things that are different from the books, certainly, but I think it always stays true to the heart of the books and the spine of the storytelling.”

Judkins said the characters and the world itself are the two most important things he feels the show must get right. “Those are the things that drew people in and made them read these books over and over again and give them to their friends and come back year after year for 14 full novels,” he explained. “My job is to figure out how to most effectively bring that to TV.”

One of the most interesting moments that came during the panel involved a question from moderator Tim Kash about the polarizing way that Game of Thrones, a series to which Wheel of Time will inevitably be compared, concluded its final season. Kash asked Judkins whether he’s worried about running out of source material, to which the showrunner pointed out that Wheel of Time is a complete, published story already.

“My danger will never be running out of books,” Judkins said. “I think it’s more the challenge that we face is how do you tell this story the most cohesively and the most coherently in what is a reasonable number of seasons of television? … I think you really need to know the end of your story when you start telling it. I think that’s true for television even though it’s serialized and goes many years. I sat down and broke out what I thought eight seasons of the show might look like before I started writing the pilot, because I felt like you have to build in this knowledge of where you’re going and how you’re getting there from the very beginning in order to tell the stories the best you can.”

Judkins added that he believes the story of the Wheel of Time will resonate particularly during this moment in history. “I think thematically, right now a story that is really about balance is something that’s meaningful in the world,” he said. “I think with our world being very divided and hyper polarized it’s really refreshing to see a fantasy series that is not so much good versus evil as balance versus imbalance. And I think that that is a message that’s worth writing about right now and something that is really meaningful.”

Amazon’s Wheel of Time show doesn’t have an exact release date yet, but it’s scheduled to debut on Amazon Prime Video this November. Thankfully for fans, the series has already been renewed for a second season, so things must be looking promising.

The Suicide Squad: Nathan Fillion’s The Detachable Kid Gets Hands on in This Exclusive Clip

All month long, IGN Premiere is spotlighting some of the biggest upcoming releases in entertainment. Today, we have an exclusive clip from The Suicide Squad! In this scene — which you can view via the player above or the embed below — Nathan Fillion’s T.D.K., aka The Detachable Kid, is called into action during Task Force X’s beachhead assault on Corto Maltese. As his name implies, The Detachable Kid’s powers are … strange and silly. 

This isn’t the first time pals James Gunn and Nathan Fillion have worked together, of course, having previously collaborated on Slither, Super, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1. 

The Suicide Squad’s beach scene was inspired by Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. It’s been long promised that Gunn’s The Suicide Squad will be a “gritty war movie,” and that intent was evident to the press during a visit to the set back in November 2019. Producer Peter Safran and production designer Beth Mickle both cited specific modern war movie classics as their template for The Suicide Squad.

“The opener of our movie, it’s basically Saving Private Ryan,” Safran said. “It’s our team landing on a beach in a big battle and there’s got to be water. There’s got to be sand, a pond. It’s supposed to take place on Corto Maltese. So we built a beach on the backlot here that’s 260 feet across, giant tank, wave machines, thousands of trees. This is what Beth and her team built. And we shot there for the first 10 days of shooting where it was Saving Private Ryan at night, on this beach, explosions and helicopters and the whole thing.”

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/07/23/the-suicide-squad-exclusive-official-clip-ign-premiere”]

Some of this sequence was revealed in a behind-the-scenes teaser at last year’s DC FanDome, which showed the cast storming a tropical beach at night as explosions rage around them. Mickle’s team built a giant water tank to serve as the ocean from which the team emerges. It was all part of Gunn’s mandate to make the film, which is undoubtedly outlandish, still, feel as realistic as possible. That meant doing as much of the effects in-camera as possible as well as building massive sets on the Atlanta backlot rather than creating fully CG environments via green screen.

“It’s a very naturalistic film and,” Mickle explained, “it’s a war film, but it feels like Platoon and Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down where you’re literally in the boat with them arriving on the beach from, Saving Private Ryan, with bullets whizzing past you and running through the sand with bullets hitting the sand and jungle leaves hitting your face as they race through. And that’s where the limitations of CGI worlds really do come into play because you just don’t get that same sort of interaction with sand flying back and hitting people, and them coming up from the water. And I really think you can tell when it’s not physically there. So in James’ mandate to try to make this as a naturalistic, gritty, dirty, rough movie that we’re all in the midst of a battle with them, the only way we could really do that with all these sets is to have them standing physically.”

While producer Safran and production designer Mickle cited modern fare from the likes of Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott as influences on The Suicide Squad, James Gunn sees the film as more of a throwback to old school “buncha guys on a mission” movies.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=the-suicide-squad-whos-who-full-cast-and-character-reveals&captions=true”]

“I’m a huge fan of the original John Ostrander run of Suicide Squad, which he created the whole Dirty Dozen as city super-villains team,” Gunn said. “To me, that’s one of the greatest superhero runs of any comic series. And to keep that sense of it being a caper film, a war caper film, a lot of the film is within the genre of the war caper film, which is not really something that’s existed for a long time. But in the ‘60s, late ‘60s with films like Dirty Dozen and Kelly’s Heroes and Where Eagles Dare, that was a real vibrant genre and one of the big genres in the world, and you kind of take that engine and then add the fun of Suicide Squad to it.”

The Suicide Squad debuts in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6.

For more on The Suicide Squad, discover how James Gunn tricked the press about the identity of Idris Elba’s character, and learn what you need to know about Peacemaker, Polka-Dot Man, Blackguard, and the rest of the team.

Blizzard Seems to Have Pulled a New Overwatch Map Amid Lawsuit Controversy

Blizzard seems to have pulled a new Overwatch map reveal amid controversy related to a recent lawsuit.

Eurogamer (citing a since-archived piece by Dexerto) reports that a new deathmatch map was seemingly set to be added to the Overwatch Public Test Region update yesterday, July 22.

However, Blizzard has seemingly pulled the announcement after a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, discrimination and more was made public. Following a two-year investigation by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the state filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard on Tuesday. You can read the full details of the lawsuit right now.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/07/22/activision-blizzard-sued-over-sexual-harassment-and-more-ign-daily-fix”]

The new map, named Malevento, would send players into a quaint Italian town built upon high walls at the edge of a countryside vista. Images of Malevento show it to be set during daylight hours, with players battling through its sun-baked cobbled streets. The map’s romanesque architecture appears to make use of narrow archways and looming buildings to create tight passageways and wider open areas for combat around a secret Talon base. Meanwhile, bright orange rooftops are shown to be scattered with colorful green foliage that adds character to the vibrant map.

The new Overwatch map was apparently set to be released on August 17. However, since the allegations, the company has halted all social media communications and it is unclear whether this will impact any upcoming releases.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN.

EVGA Will Replace RTX 3090 Graphics Cards Fried By New World

The PC gamers who lost their high-end graphics cards while playing Amazon Games’ MMO New Worlds will be receiving a replacement. That is, as long as they had an EVGA model.

Speaking to PC Gamer, a spokesman for EVGA has confirmed that all EVGA RTX 3090 cards that have been broken or damaged “are being replaced.” The cards all broke while playing a closed beta for New World with an uncapped frame rate, which Amazon is blaming for the issue.

In a statement given yesterday, Amazon said, “The New World Closed Beta is safe to play. In order to further reassure players, we will implement a patch today that caps frames per second on our menu screen.” It’s worth noting though that while the patch caps New World’s frame rate while in the main menu, it does not implement any change in any other segments of the game. “This does not affect settings in game world available via the Settings/Video menu,” reads a post from a New World community manager on the game’s forums.

It doesn’t seem like EVGA is taking its sweet time sending gamers their replacement 3090 cards either. In a video posted by JayzTwoCents, host Jason Langevin confirmed with his own contacts at the hardware manufacturer that replacements are currently being sent out. “I straight-up asked them ‘What are you going to do for the customers that have EVGA cards that have failed while playing this game?’ And I was kind of surprised, actually, he said ‘oh, they’re already getting replacement cards.'”

Despite the challenges players with EVGA RTX 3090 graphics cards have been facing, New World has seen a significant amount of success pre-release. The game, set to release on August 31, has already been the most-viewed game on Twitch and is currently a best-selling game on Steam.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Masters Of The Universe Revelation: 5 Characters That Finally Made Their Debut On The Netflix Series

Masters of the Universe: Revelation now on Netflix

Masters of the Universe: Revelation now on Netflix

Masters of the Universe: Revelation just hit Netflix, and it’s filled to the brim with a smorgasbord of MOTU mythos fans have only experienced as action figures and toys. Some are finally brought to life in the new animated series for the first time, and it was worth the wait, especially for one particular bony ghoul.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation presented fans with age-old characters that they know and love from He-Man and Prince Adam to Teela, Man-At-Arms, Cringer, Skeletor, Evil-Lyn, Orko…you get the idea. It also introduces less than familiar characters like Stinkor, King Grayskull, Clawful, and Moss Man, all of whom make appearances along the way.But what about those characters that are finally breaking out of their packaging to get that animated treatment? Well, Revelation has more than a few of them, but let’s take a look at five characters who are, at long last, made immortal through animation.

Quick addendum here: we’re just touching on single characters and not generic cannon fodder like the Skelcons that rode an army of Rotons, but that is cool-looking for sure. There’s also the Eternian Towers, which make their animated debut. Previously, they were used for the Eternia playset, which is considered one of the grails for toy collectors.

Nier, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts Music Used in Olympics Opening Ceremony

The Olympics opening ceremony featured a medley of music from iconic Japanese video games, including tracks from Nier, Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics kicked off on Friday with the parade of nations marching out to an array of songs from popular video games developed by Square Enix, Capcom, and Sega. The first song played was Roto’s Theme from the Dragon Quest series, followed by tracks from Monster Hunter and Sonic the Hedgehog before finally concluding with Soul Calibur.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/07/13/nier-reincarnation-x-nier-automata-crossover-official-trailer”]

Here’s the full video game tracklist for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic opening ceremony, per Nikkan Sports:

  • Dragon Quest “Overture: Roto’s Theme”
  • Final Fantasy “Victory Fanfare”
  • Tales of series “Sorey’s Theme – The Shepherd”
  • Monster Hunter “Proof of a Hero”
  • Kingdom Hearts “Olympus Coliseum”
  • Chrono Trigger “Frog’s Theme”
  • Ace Combat “First Flight”
  • Tales of series “Pomp and Majesty”
  • Monster Hunter “Wind of Departure”
  • Chrono Trigger “Robo’s Theme”
  • Sonic the Hedgehog “Star Light Zone”
  • Pro Evolution Soccer “eFootball Walk-on Theme”
  • Final Fantasy “Main Theme”
  • Phantasy Star Universe “Guardians”
  • Kingdom Hearts “Hero’s Fanfare”
  • Gradius “01 Act I-1”
  • Nier “Song of the Ancients”
  • SaGa series “The Minstrel’s Refrain: SaGa Series Medley 2016”
  • SoulCalibur “The Brave New Stage of History”

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/07/05/final-fantasy-14-just-broke-its-steam-player-records-without-releasing-anything-new-ign-news”]

Gamers across the globe watched in delight as they listened to the carefully curated arrangement celebrating Japan’s rich video game history. Many took to social media to comment on the sporting event’s memorable opening fanfare, with many giving “kudos” to the orchestra providing the soundtrack for the show.

When it comes to making a lasting impression, video games have few better tools than music. While the gameplay, graphics, and story mechanics are often in the spotlight, a game’s soundtrack can enrich the experience like nothing else and turn the game into a lasting memory for the player.

While plenty of games have high-profile soundtracks, famous guest composers and even concert tours, the actual exercise of creating that music is something we rarely see explained. Fortunately, we can offer a little bit of insight into that process, as the team behind the Borderlands 2 soundtrack previously told us all about how video game soundtracks are made.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Dev Patel Discusses His Star Wars Audition, 007 Rumors, And Comic Book Movies

Actor Dev Patel has opened up on his Star Wars audition, rumors of him being cast as 007 in the James Bond series, and if he’d ever want to appear in a comic book movie.

Regarding his Star Wars audition, Patel said he was filming The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at the time in India when he got the call. “I sent them an iPhone video from my trailer in India. The next minute, I got a call-back, and I was there, and that was fascinating,” Patel told Total Film.

Whatever the part was, Patel didn’t get it, and he didn’t share anything else about which movie it was or why his audition went south.

As for the rumors that Patel could play 007 next, the actor remarked that he doesn’t understand why his name would be in the mix. “I don’t know why that is. I guess that I should take it as a compliment,” he said. “But I feel like hasn’t every young British actor been associated with Bond at some point, I’m sure?”

And as for appearing in a comic book movie someday, Patel said he’s “not opposed to it,” but he’s being selective, it seems.

“I don’t want to sh** on those movies, because there are some incredible performers that manage to go off and win Oscars, and then go and do a big Marvel movie. And there are films like Black Panther that culturally changed the paradigm in massive ways. I liked the first Captain America. I thought that was amazing, the action in that,” he said. “And so it’s just finding the right one. It’s being invited along, and also finding the right one. The ones that I have been offered, which I can’t talk about, haven’t quite worked for me.”

Patel’s next movie is the medieval fantasy movie The Green Knight, which opens on July 30 in the US. It was recently pulled from release in the UK due in part to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.