Category: IGN

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 zipped into theatres this past weekend, and so far we’re having a pretty good time with it. Amid the delight of learning there would be a fourth Sonic the Hedgehog film and finding out that the film’s ending teases yet another new Sonic character for that film, there’s still one major question on everyone’s minds: where is Big the Cat?

Okay, sure, it’s maybe not the most pressing question ever, but we did have a chance to sit down with Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller to ask where everyone’s favorite fisherman kitty has been all this time. And it turns out, they actually did write a cameo for Big the Cat into the second Sonic the Hedgehog film… only for it to be a bit too grim to make it to the final cut.

“In one draft of Sonic 2, we actually, when they’re going through the snowy mountains to the cave, we had a bit, because Sonic 2 was sort of an Indiana Jones,” Casey told us. “Indiana Jones, it’s a trope that at some point a skeleton pops out at you and scares you. So we were going to do that, but with a skeleton of a, I would say, a Big the Cat, not necessarily-“

Miller cuts in here, “Not necessarily the Big the Cat.”

“But we ended up cutting it,” Casey concludes. “It didn’t make any sense.”

Alas, we almost had a… dead Big the Cat in Sonic 2. The two writers said that “Big the Cat” is usually their joke answer when fans ask them who they want to add to the films, though they also informed me they’ve been unsuccessfully trying to get Rouge the Bat in as well for three fims straight.

Keep your eyes here at IGN for our full interview with Casey and Miller coming later this week, as well as all the latest on the Sonic the Hedgehog movies.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Space Marine 2 modders have once again answered players’ prayers by putting the axe from Secret Level’s Warhammer 40,000 episode into the game.

The Secret Level Warhammer 40,000 episode, called And They Shall Know No Fear, is a sequel to Space Marine 2 and stars protagonist Titus as he battles alongside his brothers to defeat the forces of Tzeentch. But while Titus appears in the animation as he looks in Space Marine 2, the episode also features a weapon players have yet to see in-game.

It sounds innocuous, but the action scene in which this mystery Power Axe is used steals the show. We see it wielded with brutal efficiency to tear apart cultists and Tzaangors. There’s even a super cool moment in which a Space Marine bashes the helm of the axe in order to shift it into the upright position in his glove.

THIS is why I’m a fan of Warhammer 40k! Hats off to @PrimeVideo for producing Secret Level: And They Shall Know No Fear. Watch it here: https://t.co/Gf0i2d0Rus

I highly recommend giving the entire 19 min episode a watch. It’s immersive and awesome. It’s a happy grim dark ray of… pic.twitter.com/iuYxprAo2J

— MiniWarGamer Dave (@MWGdave) December 10, 2024

After the release of Secret Level, Space Marine 2 fans let it be known that they wanted to see developer Saber Interactive and publisher Focus Entertainment add the axe to the game, expanding upon the arsenal of weapons already at their disposal. So far, neither has indicated plans to do so.

Modders, as they so often do, have stepped into the breach. Astartes 2.0, from Space Marine 2 modder Warhammer Workshop, has just released a new update that adds the much-anticipated Power Axe, inspired by Secret Level, to the game, as well as the Chain-Axe and the Space King’s Hate Mace complete with its unique heraldry. (Space King is a fan-made Warhammer 40,000 parody.)

Generally, the Astartes overhaul mod adds loads of new content, including lore-accurate Space Marine classes, reworked combat, and even new missions. Space Marine 2 has a thriving modding scene that makes a significant number of improvements and changes to the record-breaking third-person melee / shooter hybrid. IGN has reported on Space Marine 2’s modding scene a number of times, shining a light on everything from more in-depth customization to a fix for one of the game’s biggest problems.

Officially, Space Marine 2 is now up to Patch 5, although Focus has already talked about what to expect from Patch 6 and 7, both due out in 2025. The Year 1 roadmap for Space Marine 2 includes new content up to Season 4, which is set to kick off at some point in 2025 (we’re currently in Season 2). Space Marine 2 is set for long-term support, and dataminers have uncovered information on cosmetics set to hit the game up to Season 9. IGN has reported on the availability in-game of what looks like a Battle Barge expansion set to hit Space Marine 2 with Season 3.

In September, Saber Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits told IGN how the breakout success of Space Marine 2 had “changed everything” for the company. Eagle-eyed fans have spotted the Space Marine chapter now all-but confirmed to get a cosmetic pack after the Dark Angels, too.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Stalker 2 is a hit. Officially, it’s sold one million copies across PC and Xbox Series X and S, with many more playing on Game Pass. Reports coming out of Ukraine, where developer GSC Game World was originally based before Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in 2022, indicate Stalker 2 is already profitable. There’s even talk of a Netflix series.

But what does this success mean for GSC Game World itself and the future of Stalker 2? IGN interviewed GSC CEO Ievgen Grygorovych and creative director Maria Grygorovych at BAFTA in Piccadilly, London following a screening of War Game: The Making of Stalker 2, to ask if Stalker 2’s big sales were a game-changer for the developer.

Discussing the impact of Stalker 2’s release in English, which is obviously not their first language, Ievgen and Maria talked about how the studio now faces “a new reality” and with it a bigger audience than it’s ever had to contend with. The first steps as part of this new reality will revolve around working to improve Stalker 2 itself, something GSC has already done with multiple patches, but also to expand its plans for continued support.

A dedicated Baldur’s Gate 3 fan has searched through thousands of lines of dialogue to discover which characters agree, and disagree, the most with each other.

As reported by The Gamer, Reddit user Tarrasque-Named-John datamined the beloved Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game to calculate which characters — like Astarion, Karlach, Shadowheart, and the entire Baldur’s Gate 3 party — have the most aligning morals.

The fan used the Approving and Disapproving mechanic of Baldur’s Gate 3 to do so. When the player character makes certain decisions, messages such as “Gale Approves” or “Halsin Disapproves” pop up, and Tarrasque-Named-John looked to see which characters approved and disapproved the same decisions the most.

Minsc and Karlach agreed the most, aligning on 97% of all decisions. They’re followed by a few pairs at 96%: Wyll and Halsin, Minsc and Halsin, Jaheira and Halsin, and Karlach and Halsin.

The opposite was revealed too, with Astarion and Wyll emerging as the most disagreeable pair with just 50% alignment. They’re followed by Minthara and Halsin at 51%, and both Wyll and Minthara and Karlach and Astarion at 52%

Tarrasque-Named-John also calculated who would become “best friends” by the end of Baldur’s Gate 3, ignoring percentage and looking directly at the total number of times characters agreed with each other.

Astarion’s bestie would be Lae’zel, and Lae’zel’s would be Astarion. Gale’s would be Karlach, but Karlach’s would be Wyll. Awkward. Wyll’s bestie is therefore Karlach, as is Shadowheart’s. Jaheria’s is Wyll, Minsc’s is Karlach, Minthara’s is Astarion, and finally, Halsin’s is Wyll.

This data is true as of Patch 7, but developer Larian Studios may shake things up a touch with Patch 8, which is due sometime in 2025. Though it may not shake up the morals of each character too much, it is set to add 12 new subclasses to the game alongside loads more.

Baldur’s Gate 3 arrived in 2023 but, incredibly, is even more popular this year than last. This is due in large part to official mod support, which are even available on console and not just PC as standard.

Players downloaded more than 50 million mods via the official mod support tool in less than two months, and this number doesn’t include the thousands made unofficially. Mods released so far include one that adds real-time combat to the otherwise turn-based RPG and another that brought entire new maps to Faerûn, including the highly requested Avernus.

In our 10/10 review of Baldur’s Gate 3, IGN said: “With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Black Myth: Wukong arrived in 2024 to incredible success and has seemingly spawned some copycats as a result, with Nintendo Switch fans laughing as Wukong Sun: Black Legend hits the platform this week.

Gamers online have called out the $7.99 Wukong Sun: Black Legend as a fairly blatant rip-off of Black Myth: Wukong, which isn’t on Nintendo Switch itself. Not only is the name incredibly similar, but the promotional image could easily be mistaken for that of the actual game.

The similarities practically end there, however, as Wukong Sun: Black Legend is a side-scrolling platformer as opposed to Black Myth: Wukong’s third-person action. It also requires a meagre 338 megabytes of storage space according to the Nintendo eShop page.

The original creators of much-loved sci-fi horror video game Dead Space say they pitched EA on Dead Space 4 this year, only for the publisher to say it wasn’t interested.

In an interview with Dan Allen Gaming, Glen Schofield, Christopher Stone, and Bret Robbins, three of the leading creatives at the now shuttered original Dead Space developer EA Redwood Shores / Visceral Games, revealed they all joined together to pitch EA on Dead Space 4.

“We tried, actually, the three of us,” Schofield revealed. “Dead Space 4. We’re talking this year.”

Unfortunately for Dead Space fans, EA said it wasn’t interested, with Schofield suggesting projections for how many copies Dead Space 4 would have to sell to make the venture worthwhile were perhaps a key factor in the decision.

“We didn’t go too deep,” Schofield explained. “They just said, ‘We’re not interested right now. We appreciate it blah blah blah, and you know we know who to talk to.’ So we didn’t take it any further. And we respected their opinion. They know their numbers and what they have to ship and all that so yeah.”

Stone added that the video game industry’s high-profile struggles and its subsequent risk aversion has made projects such as Dead Space 4 a particularly hard sell.

“The industry is in a weird place right now,” Stone said. “People are really hesitant to take chances on things. So you got to take it with a grain of salt. Who knows, maybe one day. I think we’d all love to do it.”

“Yeah,” Schofield continued, “we got some ideas.”

“I’d make a Dead Space 4,” Stone declared.

Alas, it sounds like Dead Space 4 is an unlikely prospect, with EA focusing on its enormously successful sports games, The Sims, the revival of Battlefield, and Respawn’s ongoing projects, including the third Star Wars Jedi game. BioWare recently released Dragon Age Veilguard and is working on Mass Effect 5.

EA released the well-received Dead Space remake in 2023, but since then EA hasn’t said anything about a potential Dead Space 4. The last mainline game in the franchise, Dead Space 3, came out over a decade ago, in 2013.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Palworld has closed out what has been a remarkably eventful year with its huge Feybreak update.

The update, which brings Palworld up to v0.4.11, adds new areas, new pals, new buildings, a hardcore mode, expeditions, research and a lot more. Check out the patch notes, below, for more.

Feybreak arrives as developer Pocketpair works to defend itself in a high-profile patent lawsuit filed by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. After Palworld’s huge launch earlier this year on PC and Xbox, comparisons were made between Palworld’s Pals and Pokémon, with some accusing Pocketpair of “ripping off” Pokémon designs. But rather than file a copyright infringement lawsuit, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company went down the patent route. They want 5 million yen (approx $32,846) each plus late payment damages, as well as an injunction against Palworld that would block its release.

Last month, Pocketpair confirmed the three Japan-based patents, which revolve around catching Pokémon in a virtual field, it is being sued over. Palworld does include a mechanic that involves throwing a ball-like object (called a Pal Sphere) at monsters out in a field to capture them, similar to the mechanic seen in the 2022 Nintendo Switch exclusive Pokémon Legends: Arceus. However, without explanation, Pocketpair recently tweaked how players summon Pals, with observers speculating the change had to do with the patent infringement lawsuit.

Palworld launched on Steam priced $30 and straight into Game Pass on Xbox and PC earlier this year, breaking sales and concurrent player number records in the process. Pocketpair boss Takuro Mizobe has said Palworld’s launch was so big that the developer couldn’t handle the massive profits the game generated. Still, Pocketpair acted swiftly to capitalize on Palworld’s breakout success, signing a deal with Sony to form a new business called Palworld Entertainment that’s tasked with expanding the IP.

Patent experts have said Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s lawsuit against Pocketpair is evidence of the threat posed by Palworld, which has since gone on to launch on PS5, albeit after a short delay in Japan.

All eyes are on the lawsuit to see who will emerge victorious, if it isn’t settled first. Pocketpair has vowed to take on Nintendo and The Pokémon Company in court, however, saying: “We will continue to assert our position in this case through future legal proceedings.”

Through it all, Pocketpair has continued to release major updates for Palworld and Feybreak is just the latest example of that. The developer is even moving forward with crossovers with other huge video games, including the start of a Terraria collaboration with today’s release of Feybreak.

Palworld Feybreak update 0.4.11 patch notes:

▼New Content
・Meowmere from Terraria!
⤷ Meowmere, the first “bullet-firing melee weapon” in Palworld, has been added. This is only a small taste of the Palworld x Terraria collab, and in 2025, even more collaboration content will be released! Enjoy taking a step towards a new adventure alongside the sound of cat meowing!

・New Island – Feybreak
⤷A new island, Feybreak, has appeared! A mysterious island with many challenges, glowing sand and many new Pals!
⤷Conquer the Feybreak Warriors, a new faction that dominates the island with the power of their missile battery camp!

・New Resources – Chromite and Hexolite Quartz!
⤷Chromite is buried underground and can only be found by using Pals or items that can detect metal.
⤷Hexolite Quartz is a rare ore that only exists on Feybreak.

・New Mechanic – Expeditions!
⤷Obtain supplies by sending Pals out on expeditions at the Pal Expedition Station!

・New Mechanic – Research!
⤷By conducting research at the Pal Labor Research Laboratory, you can unlock permanent passives and rewards that increase the productivity of your base!
*Some existing buildings that increase work speed will now be unlocked as research rewards.

・Predator Pals
⤷Vicious Predator Pals will now appear throughout the world. These Pals are extremely difficult to defeat but those strong enough to take them down will earn rare resources in return for their bravery!

・New “Bounty” NPCs
⤷Dangerous criminals have appeared all over the Palpagos Islands. Bring these crooks to justice and cash in the country for rewards.

・New Strongholds and Stronghold Boss: The Attack Chopper
⤷A large and very difficult “Platform Oil Rig” has appeared! Great riches, important supplies and more are stored here. A powerful Attack Chopper guards this rig from any intruders!
⤷A smaller oil rig, the “Barge Oil Rig” has been added for beginners.

・Player level cap raised to 60! New technologies and more await!

・New Raid – Xenolord!
Defeat the dark mechanical dragon that controls the Xeno army!

・Sphere Modules
⤷You can now attach modules to spheres to significantly change their trajectory, such as curving it, which in turn increases the capture rate!

・New Items
⤷Metal Detector – Find chromite buried underground on Feybreak.
⤷Pouches – Increases your inventory size!
⤷Double Jump Boots – Stylish and practical, time to double jump!
⤷Air Dash Boots, – Allows the player to dash while in the air.
⤷Revival Potion – Bring your Pals back to life.
⤷New cooking recipes have been added.

・Hardcore Mode!
⤷The ultimate challenge. Player and Pal death is permanent.
Can be enabled in the world settings.

・Random Pal Mode!
⤷Turn on Random Pal Mode in world settings to randomize Pal spawns!
⤷Randomize by Region – Randomize Pal spawns while maintaining a certain regional range.
⤷Completely Random – All Pal spawns in all regions will be completely randomized! It could be a bit chaotic…

・New Area Discovery Bonus!
⤷Players will earn experience points when they discover a location for the first time.

・Many New Weapons!
⤷Makeshift SMG
⤷Makeshift Assault Rifle
⤷Makeshift Shotgun
⤷Old Revolver
⤷SMG
⤷Semi-Auto Rifle
⤷Semi-Auto Shotgun
⤷Laser Gatling Gun
⤷Plasma Cannon
⤷Compound Bow
⤷Advanced Bow
⤷Katana
⤷Beam Sword
⤷Dark Grenade
⤷Dragon Grenade
⤷Ground Grenade
⤷Grass Grenade
⤷Water Grenade

・New Buildings
⤷Large-Scale Electric Egg Incubator – Hatch up to 10 eggs at the same time.
⤷Guild Chest – Items placed in a guild chest are shared among all guild chests.
⤷Item Retrieval Machine – Search for and take any item from any chest within your base!
⤷Medicine Rack – Pals will take medicine stored to treat their illnesses and injuries.
⤷Flea Market – Sell Pals and items to other players!
⤷Large-Scale Stone Oven and Gigantic Furnace – Multiple Pals can work together to cook and refine at higher speeds!
⤷Skillfruit Orchard – Plant and grow skill fruits!
⤷Gold Coin Assembly Line – Illegally produced coins, now made at home!
⤷Ladders – Players can go up and down without needing to build stairs!
⤷Pure Quartz Mine – Mine an infinite amount in the comfort of your base.
⤷Accumulator – By storing extra electricity, you can keep your facilities running at night while your Pals sleep.

・Elemental Treasure Chests
⤷Rare treasure chests that can only be unlocked by Pals of specific elements have appeared!

▼Player
・Players can now sit on chairs!
・You can now obtain Successful Bounty Tokens by defeating field bosses. These tokens provide permanent passives to the player.
・Player climbing speed has been increased.
・Increased the maximum amount of power that can be enhanced by Lifmunk Effigies from 12 to 14.
・Implemented “Sphere Critical” hits! Throwing a sphere at a Pal’s weak spot (the same weak spot as when attacking a Pal) will temporarily increase the capture rate!
・Experience points gained from crafting and building have been increased. You now also gain experience points for Pals crafting and building even when you aren’t at your base!
・Improved player animations.
・Players will now be invincible for a few seconds after teleporting or entering/exiting dungeons.
・When mounted, Pals now cancel any active skills that are in effect, allowing it to move immediately.

▼Base Related
・A function to replace foundation structures and defensive walls without destroying them has been implemented. Walls already built can be upgraded.
・New foundation structures, “Japanese Style” have been implemented! You can recreate Sakurajima’s Japanese-style architecture at your base. Sliding doors have also been implemented.
・The maximum base level has been increased to 30.
・Pal transportation work has been improved while the player is not in the base.
・In Single-Player and COOP modes you can build much more freely around the world, except in some dungeons.
・The Pal working state set in the monitoring stand is now saved.

▼Pals
・Christmas Skins!
6 Christmas skins have been added for all players!
(※You must own the Pal to equip the skin)
⤷Pudding à la Gumoss
⤷Party Night Depresso
⤷Winter Style Chillet
⤷Winter Style Chillet Ignis
⤷Royal Frostallion
⤷White Shadowbeak

・Redistributing Limited-Time skins to all players!
(※You must own the Pal to equip the skin)
⤷Gold Relaxaurus
⤷Sailor Quivern
⤷Summer Chillet

・New Unique Skills
⤷Vanwyrm – Flame Breath
⤷Vanwyrm Cryst – Tempest Blizzard
⤷Astegon – Firefist Breathstorm
⤷Maraith – Spirit Dash
⤷Verdash – Spinning Roundhouse
⤷Univolt – Lightning Gale
⤷Blazehowl – Volcanic Fang
⤷Ragnahawk – Rush Beak
⤷Beegarde – Needle Spear
⤷Beakon – Lightning Dive
⤷Rayhound – Beckon Lightning
⤷Jormuntide – Slither Slam
⤷Jormuntide Ignis – Magma Serpent
⤷Cryolinx – Blizzard Claw
⤷Wumpo – Snow Bowling
⤷Wumpo Botan – Lawn Bowling

・New Ground Skill
⤷Stone Beat

・New Dark Skill
⤷Poison Shower

・New Dragon Skill
⤷Charge Cannon

・New Tier of Passive Skills
⤷An even higher tier of passives, “rainbow passive skill” has been added! Breed the ultimate Pal!
※ “Swift” has been promoted to a rainbow passive skill, and the chance of obtaining it has decreased.

・Work Suitability Enhancement Books!
⤷By using various technique books, you can permanently increase Pal’s work suitability.

・The limit on strengthening Pals with souls has been lifted! It’s now possible to further develop your Pals.
・If a summoned Pal has three moves that are all on cooldown, it will use the most basic move of its element.
・Enemy Pals will now use every move they know at that level.
・Alpha Pal eggs are no longer all huge but are now each the appropriate size.

▼UI
・Added a filter function to the Technology screen.
・You can now add Pals to your favourites with a single button in the Pal Box UI.
・Improved Pal Box sorting function, making it easier to find the Pal you’re looking for.
・You can now change the font size in the options settings.
・The player’s main HUD no longer becomes hidden over time. (You can revert this setting in the options.)

・Mouse and Keyboard
⤷You can now close any window with the Tab key.
⤷The right Shift key and right Ctrl key can now be registered in the key configuration.

・Controller Pad
⤷Fixed an issue where the player would continue walking if the UI was opened while moving.
⤷Changed the cutscene skip button on controller to Y.

▼Crime
・The charges have been expanded. Serious crimes, such as “Obstructing Public Officials” will increase the player’s criminal level even more.

▼Dedicated Servers
・You can now set “Maximum number of buildings per base” in the world settings.
This allows server administrators to make adjustments to stabilize server performance and maintain a comfortable playing environment.

▼Balance Adjustment
・The weight multiplier for all items can now be changed in world settings.
・Technology unlock levels have been adjusted.
・The selling prices of some Pals have been adjusted.
・Merchant stock and prices have been adjusted.
・The crafting recipes for some ammunition have been adjusted.
・Boss enemies are now immune to stuns and will now become staggered when their stun accumulation value reaches 100.
・Some technologies can now be unlocked by defeating tower bosses.

・Adjusted the work suitability of some Pals:
⤷Blazamut Ryu – Kindling 3 → 4
⤷Selyne – Handiwork 3 → 4
⤷Knocklem – Mining 3 → 4
⤷Cryolinx – Added Transporting

・Legendary Pals are now level 60, and they can learn more powerful skills.
・The recovery amount of Felbat and Lovander’s partner skills has been increased from 6% to 10%

▼Bug Fixes
・Improved base pals so they don’t get stuck as often.
・Reduced the issue of players falling under the ground after fast travel.
・Improved enemy pathing so they don’t get stuck in walls as often.
・Improved the raid algorithm and pathing to ensure that raids reach bases much more often.
・Many many many other minor bug fixes.

▼Other
・New NPCs have been added to various locations.
・Added the “Free Pal Alliance Judicator” to the Free Pal Alliance. He will now appear at their camps.
・Slowed down the work speed animation of base Pals with work speed buffs. (This is a measure to prevent the processing load from increasing too much when the effect is played at high speed. This change does not affect actual work speed.)
・Changed Paldeck to Palpedia to be more in line with other languages.

▼Soundtrack
・3 new songs have been added to the soundtrack. If you have already purchased the game, please update the soundtrack.
*Please note that the soundtrack update may be delayed by about a day.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The weekend is officially here, and we’ve rounded up the best deals you can find! Discover the best deals for Sunday, December 22, below:

Gran Turismo 7 for $19.97

When From the World of John Wick: Ballerina hits theaters in June, it will mark the first film entry in the ever-expanding franchise not led by Keanu Reeves’s titular assassin. Instead Reeves passes the baton (or should we say Glock) to Ana de Armas and her character Eve Macarro, who the team insists is complex and nuanced in her own right and not just a female John Wick clone.

De Armas leads a cast of newcomers featuring Norman Reedus and Gabriel Byrne along with returning faces Reeves, Ian McShane, Anjelica Houston, and the late Lance Reddick.

On the heels of a wild panel at CCXP last week in São Paulo, Brazil, much of the cast along with director Len Wiseman sat down with IGN to talk about building on the franchise’s mythology, if de Armas could take Reeves in a fight, and how they made a John Wick movie without John Wick himself as the lead.

IGN: At the CCXP panel, the fans were really excited to see you all.

Ian McShane (Winston Scott): Delicious. It was delicious.

IGN: With all that energy, what do you think is going to surprise and excite them about Ballerina?

Ana de Armas (Even Macarro): It’s (a) new take on this world. It is changing perspectives and a new point of view in the world that we already know and love. But this time (it’s) through Eve’s experience. We’ll see the connection and the timeline, how it intertwines with John Wick.

Len Wiseman (Director): One of the things that was very important early on was that I was not setting out to do a female John Wick, that John Wick is John Wick. This is an entirely different character, kick-ass (in) her own right. (She’s) a new character within the world, not somebody that’s replicating what John Wick does.

IGN: John Wick shows up in some form in Ballerina…

Norman Reedus (Daniel Pine): He shows up in human form. In human form.

Wiseman: Eve is looking to become an assassin. (She) starts up with the Ruska Roma, train(s), and becomes an assassin. John Wick is really essentially trying to get out of the world. So that became the building ground of what really set it apart.

McShane: It’s new but natural. I mean, don’t forget, we’ve met the character before as a girl, but now we meet her as a grown-up. So my character has been keeping tabs on her throughout all these years. So when she appears, (he tries to) dissuade her from a mission in a certain sense as he always does John. Winston’s ever, ever enigmatic. And also it’s a natural thing. It’s nice to turn around instead of looking at Keanu, I look at this gorgeous…

De Armas: Keanu’s gorgeous,

McShane: Oh, he’s gorgeous too.

De Armas: Keanu is gorgeous too. We love him.

IGN: Norman, was there something specific that made you want to join this franchise?

Reedus: Well, I’m a big fan already. I’ve worked with Len before. I am friends with Keanu. I’m a big fan of Ana’s as well, and the whole franchise. I mean, it’s a cool world to be a part of, so it was kind of a no-brainer.

IGN: Ana, you’re no stranger to fight scenes. Can you compare what you’ve done in Ballerina with what you did with Paloma In No Time To Die? Was there a change in how you approached the action scenes?

De Armas: It’s a completely different character. I mean, I loved Paloma. I really wish I had more time in the movie and…

McShane: No, it was perfect. Everybody wanted her to come back again and she never did. But now you come back as a fully fledged “Paloma Two!”

De Armas: (With) Eve, her motivation behind it all, it’s pain. In this case also, I had the time to sink my teeth into the fights and really had time to get better at it. Not just three weeks training. I was training for four or five months. So it was really intense and the stakes (of) the fights and the level of detail and everything.

These are very intricate, complicated fights with very imaginative stuff that I have around me to figure out how to defend myself in this male-dominated world. So it’s less humor, but also (in) the John Wick universe (there’s) this kind of humor or irony in these scenes. And some things are so crazy that you have to laugh at it because it’s bananas.

IGN: As the series has progressed, the mythology has gotten bigger and more complex. When you’re making this movie, how do you balance that with the action scenes the John Wick films have become known for?

Wiseman: One of the things that is very special about the franchise is the mythology and the worldbuilding. There’d be a lot of conversations (with Chad Stahelski, director of the four John Wick movies, and Keanu) about that. We’d say “what if we developed this section that’s new to the world?” And so it is a balance. It’s fun. I love worldbuilding. So it’s challenging, but it’s a lot of fun as well.

McShane: The mythology behind it has always been steeped into some kind of movie reality. That’s why people love them. Lights go down (for) two hours, you go somewhere else, then the lights go up and you should feel you’ve been somewhere (else), a little deeper each time. Fans get so obsessed by and now social media, they want to know an answer to everything that happens in a movie.

De Armas: When we met John Wick, he’s already who he is, and we didn’t see him becoming that person. We didn’t see him in the Ruska Roma. And how was that training and preparation? And we do see that through Eve. What does it mean to be protected by them or be an outsider? What are the consequences? If you break the rules, who can help you? Who can you trust? So for me, it was interesting to explore a little bit more of the origins of becoming an assassin.

McShane: I know (writers) Chad (Stahelski) and Michael (Finch) and Shay (Batten), each time kill off every character apart from Keanu. There are many versions until they decide how it should be going forward. The one thing I’ll miss if we do another one is my dear friend Lance Reddick, of course. God bless you brother. But this will be a fitting testament to his character. And he was a great human being. He was a lovely man.

IGN: Norman, you’ve been involved in projects before that have had really hardcore dedicated fan bases.

Reedus: I think the first time I experienced a rabid fan base was Boondock Saints. That movie, for not coming to theaters, was the most rented Blockbuster DVD ever above Titanic. And we filmed that for like $7 million. It became that successful because of the fan base.

(With) The Walking Dead, that fan base is crazy. Death Stranding even has a crazy fan base. Of course, (John Wick) has a crazy fan base. Every time you check into a hotel, you’re on an airplane, John Wick is playing. I’m sure this will be the same. So bring on the crazy. It’s great.

IGN: When you’re preparing for a role like this in Ballerina, do you approach it differently than your involvement in something like Death Stranding?

Reedus: That’s apples and oranges. (Ballerina) is very physical and very mathematically put together as far as action scenes go. There’s a lot of people that help put those types of things together and make them safe and make them spectacular.

(The) people on a Death Stranding game are behind a computer and the walls are blue and I have a skintight, Lycra body suit on with a camera and balls all over me. And Hideo is going “pick up that baby doll and cry.” And I’m like, “why?” And he’s like, “look, a whale goes over.” They’re totally different. There’s nothing to hold onto in a Death Stranding game.

IGN: Ana has trained so much for this, as Keanu did for all of his movies. Could you pick between Ana and Keanu if they faced off against each other? Who would win?

Wiseman: John Wick. John Wick is the Baba Yaga. He has been Eve’s character. She’s on the rise. She starts to train, so we’ll check it in a couple years.

Reedus: There’s John Wick, then there’s Keanu. If those crossed, maybe she would win because John would be “I can’t. You can have it.” You know what I mean?

IGN: Ana, with all of the training you’ve done, do you think you could take Keanu if it came to it in a fight?

De Armas: No, he’s God. Keanu is God. He’s the Baba Yaga.

This piece was combined from two separate interviews and has been edited for clarity.

The Team Fortress 2 comic has just released its newest update, seven years since the last issue and seemingly the finale to this long journey.

Team Fortress 2 Issue 7 “The Days Have Worn Away” is the first update to the online digital comic series since January 10, 2017, and it looks like it might just be the comic’s finale based on this tweet from Valve writer Erik Wolpaw.

Pic from the last tf comics meeting ever. (not pictured: Ira Crosby) pic.twitter.com/snfI2KiM27

— Erik Wolpaw (@Wolpaw) December 20, 2024

“Did you know the construction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa was one hundred and ninety nine years late? Literally everyone alive when construction started was dead by the time it finished,” The Team Fortress 2 team writes in a blog post announcing the new issue. A perhaps more extreme example of something taking a long time to complete than this comic, but an apt analogy.

For fans of Team Fortress 2, you’ll find the gang all here including a newly married Soldier and even a maskless Spy. The issue also has a dedication to Rick May, the voice of Soldier who died in 2020 at the age of 79. The story itself concludes a long, winding journey that TF2 fans have been waiting a long time to see updated, so I won’t spoil the rest of the comic here.

The comics have served as an invaluable tome to find out more about the different TF2 characters, especially background characters like Miss Pauling and The Administrator. The comics are very much worth a full read if you haven’t checked them out already.

Valve is continuing the trend of emerging from what seems like some kind of gaming hibernation, first with the release of the Steam Deck and the testing of its new hero shooter, Deadlock. This new comic issue serves that Valve creatives are still tinkering in the background, working on new stories for our favorite games.

Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.