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NetEase Games has finally pulled back the curtain on Marvel Rivals Season 3: The Abyss Awakens with a trailer, below, that features major comic book characters like the symbiote king, Knull, as well as Blade and Jean Grey.
The minute-and-a-half-long cinematic trailer was published today, revealing a first look at the upcoming season’s theme, its new playable characters, and even a few symbiote-themed skins. The Season 3 release date is set for July 11, though it remains unclear how some of the content shown in today’s video will roll out.
Where Season 2: Hellfire Gala introduced new Heroes, Ultron and Emma Frost, Season 3: The Abyss Awakens looks like it will finally allow players to control Blade and Jean Grey/The Phoenix. The former is an especially important addition, as Marvel Rivals fans have speculated about when the Daywalker would be added to the roster since teases began during the vampire-themed Season 1. Jean Grey’s inclusion, meanwhile, comes with the surprise that she’ll be able to harness the power of The Phoenix for her telekinetic abilities.
Knull will serve as the big bad this time around, with the Marvel Rivals Season 2 trailer teasing that he’ll be teaming up with Hela to take power.
“In the wake of the Timestream Entanglement, Knull stirs deep within Klyntar’s core, stretching his shadowed hands across the cosmos," an official description for Marvel Rivals Season 3 says. "Power promised by the dark symbiote god beckons the awakening of a new queen. The Phoenix arrives from across the stars to erase Klyntar before the darkness can rise again! However, she'll require unlikely aid from a warrior of two worlds who lives to fight against the tide of night. As the god of the symbiotes and the Phoenix Force collide, will you burn with the light of creation or embrace the darkness?”
Eagle-eyed Marvel Rivals players will also notice what is most likely a collection of new skins set to arrive at some point during Season 3. There is, of course, Hela’s symbiote skin, which Knull gives her early on in the footage, but it’s toward the end that we get a closer look at a few more. Wolverine can be seen sporting a Phoenix Force skin of his own, with Blade and Magik both sporting fiery outfits as well. It’s Jeff the Landshark symbiote skin that has most fans really freaking out, though.
SYMBIOTE JEFF SKIN???? pic.twitter.com/SMmm41rUYF
— Lightoss 💪🌟 (@lightossan) July 1, 2025
Marvel Rivals Season 3: The Abyss Awakens will introduce at least two new playable Heroes, but it also marks the beginning of a new chapter for the popular Marvel hero shooter experience. Starting July 11, NetEase will begin rolling out new content at a much quicker pace following pressure it received on social media. While past seasons have been approximately three months long, Season 3 will see that schedule change to two-month-long seasons. That means major updates will drop much faster than before without sacrificing any content, as NetEase hopes to keep fans engaged.
The studio has done its best to address fan feedback since launching late last year. Some examples include a major rework for Strategists that followed after Support players went on strike. While we wait to find out which roles Blade and Jean Grey will fall into, we know fans can still look forward to a closer look at some other upcoming skins when Marvel drops this year’s Swimsuit Special come July 9.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Days of Play may be over, but that doesn't mean there aren't still some great PlayStation deals to check out. From games to storage, we've searched the internet to find the best PS5 deals available at the moment. These include some great game deals, including discounts on Assassin's Creed Shadows, Monster Hunter Wilds, and more.
With Amazon Prime Day on the horizon, there are bound to be many more PS5 deals popping up once the sale event kicks off on July 8, too. For now, you can see our top picks for the best PlayStation deals today below.
If you're looking to fill up your library with some new PS5 games, there are plenty of great discounts available at the moment. One of our favorites is Assassin's Creed Shadows, which has dropped to its lowest price yet at Amazon as an early Prime Day treat.
Woot's 'Video Game Super Sale!' still has quite a few deals to explore as well, including discounts on Monster Hunter Wilds, Sniper Elite: Resistance, and more. These just scratch the surface of what's out there, though. You can see even more of our favorite video game deals above.
PS5 games continue to grow in size, and with SSD prices climbing, finding the right storage at a great price is more important than ever. We've listed our favorite deals just here, but you should keep checking back here for more updates as often as possible, as new SSD deals pop up all the time.
Keep in mind that not all SSDs are compatible with the PS5. To ensure optimal performance on the best PS5 SSD, you'll need a PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 drive with a minimum read speed of 5,500MB/s to match the console's internal storage.
The PSVR2 Horizon: Call of the Mountain bundle is available to buy for $399.99. This package is great value for everything you're getting (the PSVR2 headset and controllers alongside the Horizon: Call of The Mountain game), and pushes the PSVR2 as a strong contender against budget-friendly VR options like the Meta Quest, delivering a premium virtual reality experience without the eye-watering cost.
Sony also gave the PSVR2 a new lease of life by adding PC VR support, allowing owners of the second-generation headset to play PC VR games like Half-Life: Alyx, provided they have the Sony-made adapter.
The PlayStation Portal has come a long way since its launch. Initial skepticism surrounded the device, but over time it has proven itself as a handy companion for PS5 owners.
Despite stock challenges and surges in demand, a new feature is making the Portal even more appealing to potential buyers. Sony rolled out an update for the PlayStation Portal, currently in opt-in beta, allowing PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers to stream games from the cloud.
This means you can now enjoy a library of games on the go—even if you don’t own a PS5. The update adds another compelling reason to consider the PlayStation Portal.
If you're looking to trade in your old PlayStation consoles, you can do so at select retailers in-store and online. Often, the most widely available retailers are GameStop and Best Buy. However, you can also trade your used devices online at retailers such as Amazon and Microsoft.
Some retailers will offer you cash for your used goods, while others may provide you with a gift card that can be used in-store and online. This is a great way to offload your old gaming gear and get some money that you can put towards a newer console and games.
While trading devices in at retailers will often net you the lowest amount for your used consoles, there are also online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist, and OfferUp that may fetch higher prices, but you'll often be responsible for packing and shipping costs, or be required to meet someone in person for the transaction. The latter of which poses its own risks.
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
It’s a new month, so of course a new batch of LEGO sets is now available. This month has way fewer sets than some other months, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. We’ve got an adorable How to Train Your Dragon set, an awesome new prequel trilogy-era Star Wars set, a Nike collab, and more. Let’s dive in.
For the blurb averse, the side-scrolling catalog above has all the new sets, plus a batch of sets that are newly available on Amazon.
The live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie is burning it up at the box office at the moment, which makes it a great time to pick up this absolutely adorable Toothless set. With an 18+ age recommendation it’s technically a LEGO set for adults, but there’s no way kids wouldn’t appreciate this one. The instructions may contain parts that are tricky for kids to piece together, but that’s a good opportunity for some parent-child bonding time. Grab this one if you’re a fan of the movie.
If you ask me, the coolest set for this month is a LEGO Star Wars set that depicts one of the B1-series battle droids that debuted in the 1999 film The Phantom Menace. It comes with a very large buildable droid on a flying STAP speeder, as well as an adorable minifigure version of the set. The droid is sturdy enough for kids to play with, but it also comes with a stand and placard to use it as a display piece.
The masks, helmets, heads, and busts LEGO has been making in recent years pretty much all look great. This is one of the coolest ones yet, because it lets you build the mask of one of the best Marvel characters around. Miles Morales has been in tons of awesome stuff lately, including the Spider-Verse movies and Sony-published video games. For more, check out our picks for the best LEGO Marvel sets.
Nike Dunk is an iconic basketball sneaker that hit the market over 40 years ago. To celebrate the shoe, LEGO has teamed up with Nike to make this pretty awesome looking set. It features the Dunk logo, along with the sneaker itself, plus a brick-built basketball you can actually spin. It also comes with a B’Ball Head minifigure and secret stash compartments hidden in the set, where LEGO says you can store your “championship rings or other essentials.” It also includes extra laces, in case you want to customize the color of your Dunks.
Finally, this Shelby Cobra is available now for LEGO Insiders (sign up here for free), or July 4 for the general public. This is a gorgeous re-creation of an iconic 1960s sports car. It makes a great gift for any car enthusiast in your life, even if that car enthusiast is you. For more, check out the best LEGO car sets.
The LEGO Insiders program, which again is free to join, gets you free stuff if you shop at the LEGO Store. Signing up makes you eligible for free, exclusive Gift with Purchase sets (GWPs) that you get for buying certain sets, as well as special discounts and rewards you can exchange Insider points to receive. Signing up is a no-brainer if you do any shopping at the LEGO Store.
This month’s new GWP is Friendly Snails (40788). It’s a cute li’l 264-piece set that has you build a couple of snails in a tiny garden area. It’s available with purchases of $160 and up between July 1-7. Also still available is the Celebration: Ferris Wheel with Fireworks (40758) set that is included with purchases of $85 and up. That one is available until July 6, and you can get both GWPs if you time your purchases right.
Additionally, if you have 2,500 Insiders points, you can exchange them for the LEGO Ideas Flying Moon Car (40789) set.
Also this month, Amazon has added listings for a number of sets that were previously exclusive to the LEGO Store. We're talking LEGO Mario Kart. We're talking LEGO Lord of the Rings: The Shire. These are big, awesome sets and now you can get them from Amazon.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
If you're a Marvel fan with an action figure collection, you might want to make some space for a brand-new figure. Juggernaut is getting a Marvel Legends Retro Series Gamerverse action figure from Hasbro that's inspired by his appearance in the Marvel vs. Capcom games. The figure is currently available to preorder at GameStop for $64.99, after selling out pretty quick at Amazon, and is set to be released this year on October 1. If you've been hoping to add this figure to your collectible collection, now is your chance to get your preorder in before it's all sold out.
As mentioned before, this Juggernaut figure is inspired by the character's look from the Marvel vs. Capcom games. Standing at 8.9 inches tall, he comes with two alternate hands for posing in various fighting stances and a power effect attachment for showing off his skills in a fight, as seen below where Juggernaut smacks down Captain America with a powerful punch.
Juggernaut isn't the only Marvel Legends Gamerverse action figure worth keeping on your radar right now, either. Hasbro has a full lineup of Marvel Legends Gamerverse action figures inspired by Marvel vs. Capcom games that deserve a place in your collection once they're available, including Wolverine vs. Silver Samurai, Psylocke vs. Thanos, and a few more.
If you're hoping to add more action figures to your collectible collection, it's worth keeping Amazon Prime Day on your radar. The big summer sale event kicks off next week on July 8, and is a good opportunity to look around for discounted figures. It lasts four days this year, until July 11, so you'll have plenty of time to seek out some good collectible deals.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
Red Dead Online is showing signs of life after Rockstar added new missions to the game, and as you’d expect fans are once again speculating that a next-gen update for Red Dead Redemption 2 is in the works.
Most fans had come to terms with the idea that Rockstar had moved on from Read Dead Online back in 2022, but the developer has unexpectedly released the new Strange Tales of the West update, which includes four new missions and a tease of more to come.
The new trailer, below, is the first Rockstar has released for Red Dead Online since 2021.
Here's the official blurb:
Author Theodore Levin can’t believe the rumors and missives he’s been receiving from the four corners of the American frontier. He’s working on an anthology of these unexplained and weird phenomena and he needs your help investigating the wildest claims that cross his desk.
Strange Tales of the West will require steely resolve and courage in the face of the odd, twisted, and downright supernatural. Embark upon these four new Telegram Missions by picking up Mr. Levin’s letter at any Post Office or from your Camp’s Lockbox, then opening it via your Satchel or launching Telegram Missions from your Player Menu.
The four new missions are Strange Tales of The Plague, Strange Tales of Modern Science, Strange Tales of The Bayou, and Strange Tales of The Wilderness. As reported by @videotechuk_ on X / Twitter, the update adds a new zombie infected mode, the first mission of which takes place in Armadillo.
Rockstar has launched a new zombie "infected" mode in Red Dead Online as part of the new Strange Tales of The West telegram missions
— ben (@videotechuk_) July 1, 2025
The first mission takes place in Armadillo and the main objective to kill infected and bring them to a wagon as a team.
Infected carry knives. pic.twitter.com/TC9uOuIDEI
Fans are still digesting the news, with posts across social media and subreddits showing the level of excitement.
But what does this mean for Red Dead Online and parent game Red Dead Redemption 2? Given the zombie nature of the update, some are wondering if Rockstar has prepared an Undead Nightmare-style expansion for Red Dead Redemption 2. That would come as a huge shock given the studio’s all-hands-on-deck focus on next year’s Grand Theft Auto VI, but perhaps more likely is a next-gen port.
In May, GameReactor reported that a Nintendo Switch 2 version of Rockstar's Wild West romp was on the way, along with a "next-gen upgrade patch" that would improve the game for current-gen systems (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S). Both could be released later in 2025, according to the site.
Fans have long called for an updated version of Red Dead Redemption 2, which is considered a masterpiece. IGN's Red Dead Redemption 2 review returned a 10/10. We said: "Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game of rare quality; a meticulously polished open-world ode to the outlaw era."
For now, Red Dead Online fans are enjoying digging into Strange Tales of the West, which is officially described as Vol.1. This suggests another content drop is coming. Whatever the future holds, it seems Red Dead Online is back from the dead.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
If the thermometer hasn't clued you in yet, it's officially July. And you know what that means: a new batch of PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and PC games is heading our way. This month sees the release of the next big Switch 2 game in the form of Donkey Kong Bananza, plus a Destiny 2 expansion, College Football 26, a new Tony Hawk remaster collection, and a bunch more games besides. Read on to see release dates for all the biggest games and expansions coming out soon (or soonish). Let's have a look.
If you're someone who likes to preorder your games, you can click the links on the platform of your choice to make sure it arrives on launch day.
July is a good month for anyone who picked up a Nintendo Switch 2 at launch, because Donkey Kong Bananza hits the hybrid system on July 17. (Nintendo also just confirmed it's made by the Super Mario Odyssey team). If you didn't buy the pricy new system, you may be interested in grabbing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4, Grounded 2, or Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (which has a fantastic demo on Steam). Or, if you're more into relaxing games to chill out while playing, Tales of the Shire is out on the 29th.
For more release date fun, check out our ongoing list of 4K UHD and Blu-ray release dates.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
NVIDIA just released a new graphics card driver. The new GeForce 576.88 WHQL driver gives the best performance in the game Mecha BREAK. It also adds support for the new DLSS 4 updates for Diablo IV and Monster Hunter Wilds. This driver fixes a couple of black screen issues. To be more precise, it fixes … Continue reading NVIDIA GeForce 576.88 WHQL Driver Available for Download →
The post NVIDIA GeForce 576.88 WHQL Driver Available for Download appeared first on DSOGaming.
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Microsoft has announced Wave 1 of the Xbox Game Pass July 2025 lineup, which includes Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, the return of High On Life, and more.
As revealed in a post on Xbox Wire, out today, July 1, is Little Nightmares 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC) across Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard, and the return of Rise of the Tomb Raider (Cloud, Console, and PC), also across Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard.
Tomorrow, July 2, Legend of Mana (Console) and Trials of Mana (Console) enter Game Pass Standard. On July 3, Ultimate Chicken Horse (Cloud, Console, and PC) hits Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard.
Cool cyberpunk action RPG The Ascent (Cloud, Console, and PC) returns to Game Pass on July 8 via Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard. A day later, on July 9, Minami Lane (Cloud, Console, and PC) enters Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Here’s the big one: on July 11 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 (Cloud, Console, and PC) launches day one on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Members can get up to three days early access starting July 8, including the Doom Slayer and The Revenant playable skaters, with the Deluxe Edition Upgrade.
Moving on to July 15 and we have the return of High On Life (Cloud, Console, and PC) to Game Pass via Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard. The comedy first-person shooter was a smash hit on Game Pass back in 2022, and a sequel is on the way.
And finally, Retro Classics has a new batch of games for subscribers. This is Microsoft's collaboration with Antstream Arcade to bring Activision games from the 80s and 90s to Game Pass members.
As always, a number of games are set to leave Game Pass this month. Members can get a 20% discount to keep the games in their library.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Nintendo has finally confirmed the development team behind Donkey Kong Bananza — and as many fans had suspected, the upcoming Switch 2 blockbuster is being made by the team who previously worked on Super Mario Odyssey.
In a presentation attended by IGN ahead of a new Donkey Kong Bananza hands-on preview, Nintendo said that the same staff who worked on Odyssey also developed this new DK title.
The confirmation comes after Nintendo previously held off from stating which of its teams were behind the game, even after Bananza was playable publicly at the Switch 2's global launch tour.
Still, the news will likely come as no surprise. Fans had suspected Odyssey's talented developers were likely working on DK's impressive-looking turn in the spotlight, and had pointed to various links between the two titles — not least their shared focus on the character Pauline — as clues to their creators.
Odyssey, released for Switch in October 2017, was helmed by Super Mario 3D World director Kenta Motokura, and produced by both Super Mario Galaxy director Yoshiaki Koizumi and Super Mario Galaxy 2 director Koichi Hayashida.
Nintendo did not state specifically whether all or only some of the Odyssey team were back for Donkey Kong Bananza — and fans will likely be keen to know about Koizumi's involvement here in particular.
A key figure involved in the creation and promotion of the original Nintendo Switch, Koizumi was surprisingly absent from the announcement of Switch 2. A Nintendo veteran with more than three decades of experience at the company, Koizumi began his career as an illustrator, before rising through the ranks to serve as director on the GameCube's flagship platformer Super Mario Sunshine. Koizumi has continued to work as a key figure on every subsequent 3D Mario game, including as director of Super Mario Galaxy, and then producer for Galaxy 2, 3D Land, 3D World and Odyssey.
Odyssey remains Nintendo's most recent 3D Mario effort, with no suggestion as yet on when the company plans to launch another. Confirmation that Odyssey team members have been busy building Bananza will inevitably spark questions over whether a new 3D Mario game for Switch 2 is also being developed in parallel, or is still further off than some had expected. A closer look at Bananza's staff list and their roles, once the game launches, may provide further clues.
For now, it's simply interesting to note that Nintendo's blockbuster Mario team have built a Donkey Kong game for Switch 2's launch year — a slot that's often reserved for Mario platformers.
As for Bananza's links to Odyssey, the Switch platformer notably reintroduced Pauline as a major Mario character for the first time in years, and cast her as the music-loving mayor of New Donk City who performs the game's toe-tapping Jump Up Super Star! track.
In Bananza, a younger version of Pauline acts as DK's sidekick, and uses her growing singing prowess as a power-up. Nintendo previously took the rare step of confirming the age of this younger Pauline, and some fans have suggested that Bananza is now being lined up as an Odyssey prequel — and potentially even a precursor to the original Mario arcade game, where Pauline had to be rescued from DK's clutches.
Donkey Kong Bananza launches on July 17, 2025 as this summer's key Switch 2 title from Nintendo, before the arrival Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokémon Legends Z-A later this year.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
The first trailer for The Running Man is here, and it shows Glen Powell in a more faithful adaptation of the Stephen King novel than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 sci-fi classic.
The trailer, below, shows Glen Powell’s downtrodden Ben Richards enter The Running Man — the biggest TV show in this dystopian America — out of a desperate need for money to help his sick daughter amid a medical crisis. Powell’s employment status is declared “blacklisted” so he’s unable to work. In the Arnie version, Richards is forced into The Running Man as a framed cop.
The nature of the show itself is different, too. Powell’s Richards is hunted by the entire country as he clings desperately to survival and a chance at the huge cash prize. His every move is watched, and indeed we see this in action in the trailer. All Richards needs to do is survive for 30 days and he’s won. Of course, it’s not quite that easy.
This new The Running Man is directed by Edgar Wright of Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver fame, and you can feel his signature, fast-paced style in the trailer. Wright has spoken of his desire to more faithfully adapt King’s novel, and as a result we have Josh Brolin as Killian, the show’s executive producer, and a separate character (Colman Domingo’s Bobby Thompson) hosting the show itself. Richards has a few choice words for Killian before setting out to participate in The Running Man, and he vows to take his revenge.
The scope of this new The Running Man is different compared to the 1987 film. Powell’s Richards is on the run across the entire country, whereas Arnie’s Richard’s was confined to a closed off play area (packed with fondly remembered boss fights). The trailer teases a fun sequence where Richards runs out an apartment into a corridor while dodging bullets, then slide into an elevator to escape.
Richards is hunted throughout by a singular masked character whose identity remains a mystery, but Entertainment Weekly reported the character's name is McCone and is played by Foundation star Lee Pace.
What we are sure of is The Running Man will see Glen Powell running. A lot. And yes, he takes his shirt off. We eventually see Michael Cera, who played Scott Pilgrim in Wright’s 2010 movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, help Richards out by spraying water on an electrified floor. All very video games.
EW reports Cera plays Elton Parrakis from the book. "I think what he does in the movie is a little surprising, maybe from his previous performances," Wright added. "It was such a thrill to be with him and also just to see him and Glen Powell together. They're a very unlikely duo that it was really fun to witness."
The Running Man launches November 7, 2025.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
During a presentation right before my roughly two hours worth of hands-on time with Donkey Kong Bananza, Nintendo confirmed what many people suspected since first laying eyes on the upcoming 3D platformer: That it was in fact being developed by the same team that worked on Super Mario Odyssey. And that tracks, because my main takeaway after playing Bananza was that this is the Odyssey formula to a T. The giant open fields with tons of hidden Moon… I mean Bananas to collect, NPCs offering clues on where to find said bananas, the simple puzzles strewn all around that reward exploration and curiosity, the deep moveset with a ton of different mobility options… Odyssey’s fingerprints are all over Bananza.
But while the formula is largely the same, I never got the sense that Bananza was retreading old ground. It turns out that swapping out a mustachioed plumber for a tumbling hairy gorilla is appropriately transformative. Even in just those two hours, I was absolutely enamored with Donkey Kong’s personality, his sheer sense of strength and power, juxtaposed with his surprisingly speedy movement, and the satisfying destructibility of everything around him. As far as first impressions go, this is everything a 3D Donkey Kong game should be.
My demo had me jumping around to several different save files – the first covering the very beginning of the game with DK working in the mines of Ingot Isle. This served as a very basic tutorial covering the multiple ways DK could punch and smash both objects and the environment. It’s a unique but intuitive control scheme: the A button jumps, but then the rest of the face buttons are all punches in different directions. X punches up, Y punches straight ahead, and B punches straight down. This allows you to carve paths through the walls and create tunnels however you wish, with the only restriction being the material that you’re trying to break through. DK is pretty strong on his own, and can smash through dirt and crystal with ease, but sturdier rocks and stones will require him to grab a harder material out of the ground and use as an impromptu pickaxe.
It’s all as fun to perform with a controller as it is to look at. There’s a greatly satisfying and appropriate sense of power as DK is able to just plow through walls, send weaker enemies absolutely careening backwards with a single punch, and slam the ground with devastating impact, leaving craters in his wake. And he’s fast too! Between his already swift running speed, his roll, and his ability to surf on the objects he rips from the ground, DK’s moveset is the perfect blend of power and agility. It’s a super fun set of tools to play around with that feels like a mix of traditional Donkey Kong, plus The Incredible Hulk.
After finishing up the tutorial in the mines, the next save that I jumped to was set in the Lagoon Layer, which seemed to be the first real level of Bananza. Like Mario Odyssey, there’s a sort of main throughline in each level that takes you through a series of objectives that essentially tells the story of that layer. In the Lagoon Layer, its denizens were suffering from a water shortage thanks to some nasty invaders plugging up their water supply. So the main objective in this area was to essentially get the water flowing again in a very classic “raise the water level” style of platforming stage.
You could simply mainline it by following the exclamation point markers that are easily visible with a simple press of the L button, but much of the joy in DK Bananza is venturing off the level’s beaten path (and literally beating your own path through it.) There’s just a ridiculous amount of stuff to discover even in just the very first level. Bananas are the main collectible, much like Moons in Odyssey, and are generally tied to some sort of minor puzzle or challenge. Like for example, there was one that was in plain sight, but underwater where DK can’t dive down to reach, so I had to instead jump up and crash down with a ground pound to nab it. Others are more complex and have you completing lengthy obstacle courses, and others still were locked behind special hidden platforming or combat-related challenges.
Then there are multiple different types of fossils, which are used as a currency to purchase a variety of cosmetic upgrades, much like the different clothes and hats Mario could buy in Mario Odyssey. There are so many of these hidden all throughout the walls and caves that it honestly was a little bit overwhelming to even think about trying to collect them all, but needless to say, if you’re the type that enjoys collectibles and spending a ton of extra time in a level trying to 100% it, Donkey Kong Bananza will have you covered.
The levels themselves aren’t quite as vast as Odyssey’s, but that’s mainly because they’re structured very differently. They’re layered on top of each other, with each individual sublayer feeling roughly like the size of a Super Mario Sunshine level. Once you reach the end of that sublayer’s so-called “main quest,” you’ll be able to drop down to the next sublayer, which is still essentially part of the same level. One particular challenge even had me going back up to a previous sublayer so that I could traverse a path that would let me get down to an otherwise inaccessible part of the sublayer I was currently on. As someone who has always preferred the smaller-scale levels of games like Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy, but also still really loved the exploration and sense of discovery in the Kingdoms of Odyssey, this felt like a really great compromise between the two styles of level design. You can also very easily fast-travel between checkpoints of each sublayer, just like you could in Odyssey.
The next two sections were from a fair bit deeper (again, literally) into the game. The first had me exploring a mining town with plenty of minecart rides and lots of opportunities to throw explosive rocks and make things go boom, while the final level was jungle-themed with familiar purple poison lakes all throughout. The big thing that I got to check out in these two final areas, though, were the Bananza transformations. By collecting gold, I could fill a meter in the bottom left of the screen and press R and L together to activate a limited-time Bananza transformation. The Kong Bananza transformation basically just feels like DK on Steroids. He’s bigger, faster, and stronger too, and can pound through walls and enemies that would normally be too tough for normal DK.
The Ostrich Bananza transformation, on the other hand, gives DK the ability to flutter through the air and cross gaps that he normally wouldn't be able to. It’s worth mentioning at this point also that there’s a skill tree, with the player getting a skill point for every five bananas they find. It’s not the most exciting skill tree in the world, with a majority of the skills seeming to just make DK’s already existing skills and stats slightly better, but there are a couple that add new abilities to his repertoire, like double jumping while holding a rock, or being able to drop eggs on enemies from above while in Ostrich form.
I also got to check out Bananza’s two player mode, which amusingly has the second player controlling Pauline in a way very similar to how Mario Galaxy’s Co-Star mode worked. Much like in Galaxy’s coop mode, the second player is able to fire projectiles at enemies, only this time in the form of literal words that she belts out. You can change the power and properties of these words by hovering your cursor over a particular type of material and holding a button to absorb that material. And as you might have guessed, you can make use of the Switch 2 joycon’s unique mouse pointer feature to add some precision to your shots. It’s a mode that seems clearly intended for a parent to play with their young child, or to get someone who’s not into video games to participate, and in that way I think it succeeds, but it’s not a mode that I would ever engage with in any other sort of capacity.
It’s pretty common for me to walk away from a preview event hungry for more, but after my two hours were up with Bananza, I was left with the mightiest of cravings. As someone whose favorite Nintendo mascot is Donkey Kong, this seems to be shaping up to be the 3D Donkey Kong game that I’ve been waiting decades for. For Mario fans still waiting for Nintendo to announce the next major 3D Mario game, Bananza looks set to be a worthy substitute in the meantime.
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit
The dinosaurs are loose again, because Jurassic World Rebirth is now arriving in theaters. The seventh entry in the long-running dino franchise comes to us from Godzilla and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards, whose trademark sense of scale and spectacle makes him a prime choice for this series. With the first Jurassic World trilogy complete, Rebirth is set to usher in a “new era” of Jurassic.
But today, we want to look back on the series’ history and rank all six previous films from worst to best. This list was based on a vote from IGN’s Jurassic experts, so if you have an issue with it, take it up with the democratic process. Let’s get into it.
The most recent Jurassic film also has the ignominious honor of being rated the worst. There was a lot of potential for Dominion after the ending of Fallen Kingdom, which teased the human world being invaded by dinosaurs. Instead, Dominion squanders that setup and falls prey to many legacy sequel traps, trying to trade in nostalgia and fan service over storytelling. It also invokes more of the techno-thriller aspects of Michael Crichton’s original novel (good idea) with a subplot about genetically-engineered evil locusts (bad idea). It’s not a complete wash; the chase scene in Malta is fun and there is a surface-level pleasure in seeing the original Jurassic trio of Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler and Ian Malcolm together in the same room again, but overall, it’s just not a great movie. Shoutout to Bryce Dallas Howard for wearing some great plaid shirts, though!
Fallen Kingdom is undoubtedly the most divisive entry in the series, with some of our team voting it among the best and others voting it the absolute worst. It evened out to the fifth spot, yet there’s still a lot to recommend here. The dinosaur haunted house gives the back half of the film a delightful Gothic sensibility, the volcano set piece is pretty good, and it at least tries to introduce some new ideas into what had become a stale series premise-wise. That said, the new characters are mostly one-dimensional, the dinosaur auction feels weird given how little money the dinosaurs cost and there not being much elaboration on what the bidders want them for, and many viewers simply couldn’t get behind Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) setting the dinosaurs free at the end, which is perfectly understandable. It’s a weird entry that seems to be a firmly “love it or hate it” affair.
The least successful Jurassic film (at the box office, anyway) comes in fourth place, and it’s easy to see why. It’s not a terrible film or anything, but it’s decidedly unambitious, settling for “yet another go around” instead of anything new. Alan Grant and a bunch of new characters are given an excuse to go to the dinosaur island, and they get chased around the dinosaur island until they escape. The end. Still, the movie did include some solid set pieces like the Spinosaurus attack on the river and the pteranodon aviary sequence, both of which were inspired by scenes from the original Crichton novel that never made it into the first film. Plus, Joe Johnston turns in solid journeyman direction and moves things along at a brisk pace. That said, the series definitely needed a fresher take after this one.
That fresher take arrived in Jurassic World, which had perhaps one of the best one-sentence setups of the 2010s: “The park is open.” After all of John Hammond’s failures, someone else took up the mantle and successfully created a Jurassic Park, only for that one to also come crumbling down because of a deep-rooted cynicism that had festered inside of the park’s managers. The Indominus Rex, manufactured to give the park a promotional boost it didn’t need, makes for a great monster that tears out of its cage, setting up a Rube Goldberg plot of toppling dominos that blows up the rest of the park in spectacular fashion. From trained velociraptors hunting alongside motorcycles, to the pteranodons laying siege to the park’s main strip, to the Indominus battling the classic T-Rex in the finale, Jurassic World was full of maximalist blockbuster action and successfully relaunched the franchise.
The series’ first sequel is also the only one to be helmed by original director Steven Spielberg, who turns in one of the weirdest movies in his filmography. It has some excellent set pieces and plenty of dinosaurs, as well as the welcome return of Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm, Julianne Moore as new lead Sarah Harding, and the late, great Pete Postlethwaite as big-game hunter Roland Tembo. Despite all this,The Lost World never quite matches the original for sheer inventiveness or emotional resonance. This likely comes down to Spielberg not having the same level of enthusiasm as he did for the previous film, with the studio pressuring both him and Crichton to deliver a sequel to what was at the time the biggest box-office hit in history. Still, it can make for quality viewing, especially when it ends on the T-Rex rampaging through San Diego.
Did you really think it was going to be anything else? Jurassic Park was unanimously voted as the best film in the series by IGN’s team, and we doubt almost anyone will argue with us. Jurassic Park wasn’t just an excellent summer blockbuster and franchise starter; it was a brilliant science-fiction adventure film that balanced what was at the time cutting-edge visual technology, great character writing and performances, a classic John Williams score and a solid emotional core to deliver one of the most widely beloved movies ever made. It would be the crown jewel of nearly any filmmaker’s career, and yet it stands as one among several of Spielberg’s masterpieces. As much as we enjoy the subsequent entries for all their dino action, Jurassic Park remains a step above its sequels, and we suspect it will stay there for a very long time.
How would you rank the Jurassic Park movies? Vote in our poll and let us know in the comments!
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.
Steam has released a new in-game monitor to help players understand the causes of bad PC game performance.
In a blog post, developer Valve explained that the new performance overlay will show you framerate values, similar to the old FPS counter, "but it can also break out generated frames from DLSS or FSR vs actual game framerate." That's great timing given the new Steam Summer Sale is live.
"It can show you min/max single frame values and a graph of framerate over time," Valve continued. "Additionally, it will show you CPU performance information, GPU performance information, and system memory usage information. These pieces of data can be useful to understand the causes of bad game performance whether that be a slow CPU, GPU, or too high graphics settings that are over-subscribing your video or system RAM."
Here's a screenshot showing all four current options, although note you can only have one of these displaying at any one time — we've compiled them here to make it easier to see what the different settings — FPS Single Value, FPS Details, FPS Details, CPU & GPU Utilization, and FPS, CPU & Ram Full Details — offer:
To enable the new overlay or adjust its size or position, head to Settings->In Game and find the new Performance Overlay section.
Valve said this is "a first step" towards helping Steam users more easily understand their game and system performance, and we can expect additional pieces of data to be added to the overlay going forward.
Steam, the most popular digital game distributor for PC players, once again broke its own concurrent user record, breaching 40 million players for the first time in March 2025.
Steam has since broken that record again logging 41,239,880 simultaneous players, breaking its previous record of 40.2 million players set the weekend before.
And while that number includes idle players — that is, players with Steam open but not necessarily using it — the number of users actively in a game has hit a new record, too, jumping to 13.2 million players.
Valve recently dismissed reports its Steam platform suffered a "major" data hack, confirming there was "NOT a breach" of Steam systems. Given the prolific rise in data breaches and the fact that over 89 million of us have a Steam account, users had good reason to be worried about a possible security compromise.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Ever wondered why Clark Kent’s glasses somehow prevent him from being recognized as Superman, despite just being… glasses? It’s a fun question that often comes up whenever a new Superman comes around, and this month’s release of the DC Universe kickstarter is no different. Indeed, official social media posts for the movie have played on this idea, with Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane) and Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen) expressing their confusion when Superman actor David Corenswet takes his glasses off.
@superman Seriously though, where’d Clark go?
♬ original sound - Superman
But why exactly do the glasses work in this Superman movie? DC Universe steward James Gunn told ComicBook that he has an explanation that is comic book canon: they’re hypno glasses.
“That’s canon in the comics,” Gunn said. “It’s kind of been forgotten but that’s from the comics. I was sitting with Tom King, the comic book writer, and I was like, ‘You know the thing that I just don’t really know how to reconcile in myself is the glasses because the glasses always bothered me as a kid.’ They bothered me because I just don’t have that much suspension of disbelief to believe that.”
Gunn went on to insist that Corenswet did a great job making Clark Kent and Superman look like different people, “even more so” than Christopher Reeve. Reeve’s performance as Superman is often praised for the subtle changes he made to posture and mannerisms as he shifts from playing the tentative reporter and the world’s most powerful superhero.
“You know, they’re two different people even though I think out of all the actors that have played Superman, Corenswet looks the most different as Clark Kent to Superman, even more so than Chris Reeve,” Gunn said. “But he [King] said, ‘You know, there’s an answer for that in the comics, it’s canon that they hypnotize people.’”
The somewhat goofy explanation is in keeping with the tone Gunn’s new Superman is shooting for. Teaser trailers have revealed a number of fun one-liners from Superman, as well as the use of his freeze breath to blow a dog to safety. And, of course, there’s all sorts of co-op punching shenanigans with Krypto the Superdog.
The inevitable next question is, what does Clark Kent look like when he's wearing his hypno glasses? In the same interview, Gunn said the glasses make Kent look like he has a fuller face: "He looks a little bit blockier in my mind when he's got the hypno glasses on."
IGN’s new feature, How James Gunn's Superman Reinvents the Look and Feel of Kal-El's World, touched on the design of Clark Kent’s glasses in the new movie.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The Tuscaloosa Police Department have issued a request for help to unmask a Scooby-Doo costume-wearing criminal who stole cash from a convenience store.
The thief, who struck at the Quick Stop on Highway 82 last weekend, was caught on CCTV cameras emptying coins from gaming machines while dressed as the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon character.
At one point the suspect removed his Scooby-Doo hood — but unlike in the show, the thief had come prepared: he was also wearing a balaclava obscuring his face underneath. Zoinks.
Police say the suspect appears to be a white male, around 5'9, and have appealed for information on the villain's true identity. (Isn't it always an old guy in a disguise?)
Images posted to the Tuscaloosa Police Department Facebook page show the criminal stomping around the convenience store at 3.45am in the morning. Cops stated he "took cash and coins, but no snacks." What, no munchies?
In a follow-up comment, the department posted a photo of the Scooby gang's infamous Mystery Machine van parked outside their headquarters, and jokingly stated: "We’ve questioned the owners of the vehicle, but no solid leads yet. Continue to be on the lookout for shady caretakers and don’t meddle if you see the suspect."
Perhaps this is all viral marketing for the new live-action Scooby-Doo series in production at Netflix?
Earlier this year, the streamer confirmed that after three movies and a dozen cartoon series, Scooby-Doo would get a "modern reimagining" as a live-action series. The show will follow teens Shaggy, Daphne, Velma and Freddy (yes, Freddy) as they investigate a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp, with the help of their "very special dog."
Image credit: Tuscaloosa Police Department
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Borderlands 4 includes a slider that lets you decrease the volume of — or mute entirely — your beloved (or love-to-hate) companion, Claptrap.
The robot companion has been in the Borderlands franchise since it began way back in 2009, and you can even play as him in 2014's Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. He essentially acts as your guide and mascot, and can make you laugh/cringe in equal measure. For some, however, he can be annoying, which is likely why the developers at Gearbox have introduced a setting to let you lower the volume of his voice or simply mute him completely.
"I wrote some lines just for this feature and it includes maybe the dumbest most niche reference to a certain terrible accent in a certain classic immersive sim," teased Borderlands 4 narrative director, Sam Winkler, in a social media post responding to streamer and 2K partner, Chadly, who revealed there's an audio slider dedicated to Claptrap's voice.
When a fan suggested Gearbox shouldn't have "caved to Claptrap haters," he added: "I pitched that you should be able to put him from 0% to 200% but I think the government said no."
ICYMI:#Borderlands4 features an audio slider purely for Claptrap's voice💀 pic.twitter.com/APAtqUQu1p
— Chadly (@Chadly_99) June 30, 2025
Borderlands 4 is a looter shooter packed with billions of weapons, outrageous enemies, and intense co-op action where you'll break free from a dangerous hidden planet as one of four new Vault Hunters.
We had a good time with what we've played so far, writing in IGN's Borderlands 4 preview: "After several hours dipping my toes into what is sure to be a massive looter shooter, I’m much more optimistic about Borderlands 4’s odds of recapturing my affections after years apart."
And in case Randy Pitchford's controversial tweets had you thinking otherwise, publisher 2K Games has confirmed Borderlands 4 will cost $70, not $80, after all. Preorders are now live.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
With a new Wonder Woman movie confirmed to be in development, all eyes are on James Gunn to see who he picks to replace Gal Gadot as the world famous superhero in the rebooted DC Universe.
The attention on Gunn’s decision-making around the DCU has involved speculation sparked by who he follows on social media, and that speculation has extended to Adria Arjona, who fans believe may be the next Wonder Woman after they noticed Gunn followed the actress on Instagram.
But in a recent interview, Gunn downplayed the significance of his social media moves, although he left a tease dangling that has only fueled the rumors.
In an interview with Extra, Gunn was asked about the chances that a popular female actress will play Wonder Woman if he follows them on social media. He responded jokingly: "50%."
Gunn then name-dropped Adria Arjona, who Extra was clearly asking about. Adria Arjona, who played Dorothy Gale in the Oz book adaptation Emerald City, Anathema Device in Good Omens, and Bix Caleen in Andor, is currently the subject of intense speculation around the role of Wonder Woman after fans spotted Gunn had followed her on Instagram.
Gunn said he followed her after the pair worked together on 2016 thriller The Belko Experiment, so fans shouldn’t read anything into it. However, he also said Arjona would "be a great Wonder Woman," which is the kind of thing you’d say if Arjona was on your radar for the role, at least.
Here’s Gunn’s quote in full:
“I followed Adria Arjona on Instagram, but everybody came out, ‘He just followed her, that means she’s Wonder Woman! That means she’s Wonder Woman!’
“She’d be a great Wonder Woman, by the way. But she was in a movie that I made seven years ago. We’ve been friends and have known each other since that time. I followed her then, I didn’t just follow her. People just notice these things all the time.”
Does this mean Arjona is the next Wonder Woman? Gunn’s clarification has only fueled the rumors that she is, although it’s worth noting there is no confirmation from DC Studios at this time.
What we do know is that the new DCU kicks off in a big way with this month’s Superman, then we have Peacemaker Season 2 in August, and Supergirl and Clayface in 2026. Wonder Woman does not have a release window.
Photo by PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Cryptic teases from Minecraft's official social media accounts have hinted at something big coming soon to do with copper.
A post on the Minecraft X/Twitter account features a teasing message stating "C U in the mines!" while on Instagram, the inside of a cave with blocks spelling out "CU 29" can be seen alongside the message: "Teleported Steve to 29, 11, 63.54."
What does all this mean? Well, Cu is copper's chemical symbol, 29 is its number in the periodic table, 11 is its group in the period table, while 63.54 is its atomic mass. So it's definitely something to do with copper. But beyond that? Well, fans do have one big idea.
Copper has existed in Minecraft for some time, as one of the game's many ores you can harvest and smelt into blocks, ingots, stairs, doors and so forth. There are even exposed, weathered and oxidized versions of the material, so you can build using copper of various types.
Back in 2021, a concept for a copper golem was proposed by Minecraft developer Mojang as one of several potential mobs it was considering — though, sadly, the copper golem lost that year's Minecraft Live vote, and the concept was shelved.
C U in the mines! pic.twitter.com/2Pq0iG1gHl
— Minecraft (@Minecraft) June 30, 2025
The copper golem has remained something of a fan-favorite, however, popping up as an Easter egg in subsequent Mob Votes. The helpful creature would have acted as a regular golem, albeit with the ability to randomly press copper buttons.
One cool mechanic would have seen the golem slowly oxidize over time, eventually turning into a statue unless players remembered to chisel off the oxidization with an axe, or if the golem was struck by lightning.
"What is something important involving copper that Mojang has teased in the past?" one fan excitedly wrote on reddit. "I think it's pretty obvious we are getting a copper update, and I think it might be the copper golems introduction," wrote another.
Perhaps the best evidence of a return for the copper golem comes from yet another official tease, this time posted to the Minecraft YouTube channel. Here, Minecraft director Agnes Larsson is seen visiting an actual real-life mine after taking a break from playing Minecraft. As fans on reddit have pointed out, the brief snippet of gameplay shown at the beginning of the video shows a house clearly shaped like a copper golem, made out of copper blocks.
Could the copper golem finally be getting his moment in the sun? Well, maybe. Both the teases also seem to be pointing more underground, where copper ore can actually be found. Exactly what Mojang is hinting at, however, players will have to wait and see.
Last month, Minecraft got a big graphical update courtesy of its Vibrant Visuals update — but only on supported platforms.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
The next mainline Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon game is moving into internal alpha testing in the coming months.
That's according to Insider Gaming, which claimed the shooter, codenamed 'Over' internally, will commence alpha testing in the Fall (Q3). With testing thought to take around 12 months, IG estimated Ghost Recon may release Fall 2026.
News of a new Ghost Recon broke around the time the developer/publisher confirmed it was ceasing all new development on 2019's Ghost Recon Breakpoint. It has reportedly been in development at Ubisoft since then, although at the time, it was clear the series was undergoing a full reset, which would necessitate a lengthy development cycle.
In a statement to IGN, an Ubisoft representative said: "We do not comment on rumour or speculation."
IGN's Ghost Recon Breakpoint review returned a 6/10. We wrote: "Breakpoint offers initial fun following Ubisoft's open-world structure as gospel, but a lack of variety and conflicting pieces leave it devoid of personality."
The news came hot on the heels of the launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, which just passed the 3 million player mark. Ubisoft suffered a number of high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations in the run up to Assassin's Creed Shadows' release, and there was enormous pressure on it to succeed after the company's share price hit an historic low.
In 2022, Ubisoft canceled development on Ghost Recon Frontline a year after it was announced. It was meant to be a free-to-play battle royale spin-off with 102-players, but never saw the light of day.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Avatar director James Cameron has said Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was “a bit of a moral cop out,” while revealing his plans for his own movie, Ghosts of Hiroshima.
Last year it emerged that Cameron, the second-highest-grossing film director of all time, will take a break from making Avatar movies to direct a film based on Charles Pellegrino’s book Ghosts of Hiroshima.
The 70-year-old Terminator creator has called his adaptation an “uncompromising theatrical film” that focuses on the true story of a man who survived both bombs that dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
The Ghosts of Hiroshima book is due out August 5, and there’s no release window yet for the adaptation. But Cameron detailed the project in an interview with Deadline, where he was asked about Ghosts of Hiroshima’s potential in the context of Oppenheimer’s $1 billion box office and seven-Oscar haul.
“Yeah… it’s interesting what he stayed away from,” Cameron replied, before suggesting Ghosts of Hiroshima may not have the kind of mainstream breakthrough appeal Oppenheimer managed. “Look, I love the filmmaking, but I did feel that it was a bit of a moral cop out.”
Cameron continued: “Because it’s not like Oppenheimer didn’t know the effects. He’s got one brief scene in the film where we see — and I don’t like to criticize another filmmaker’s film — but there’s only one brief moment where he sees some charred bodies in the audience and then the film goes on to show how it deeply moved him. But I felt that it dodged the subject. I don’t know whether the studio or Chris felt that that was a third rail that they didn’t want to touch, but I want to go straight at the third rail. I’m just stupid that way.”
Nolan has responded to this criticism of Oppenheimer before, specifically that the biopic does not meaningfully depict the true horror unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Director Spike Lee said in October 2023: “If it’s three hours, I would like to add some more minutes about what happened to the Japanese people. People got vaporized. Many years later, people are radioactive. It’s not like he didn’t have power. He tells studios what to do. I would have loved to have the end of the film maybe show what it did, dropping those two nuclear bombs on Japan.”
Nolan has countered to insist Oppenheimer is about Oppenheimer himself, and so focuses on his reactions to the events.
"The film presents Oppenheimer's experience subjectively," Nolan told Variety in November 2023. "It was always my intention to rigidly stick to that. Oppenheimer heard about the bombing at the same time that the rest of the world did. I wanted to show somebody who is starting to gain a clearer picture of the unintended consequences of his actions. It was as much about what I don't show as what I show."
Deadline suggested Nolan hopes someone tells that sort of story one day, and Cameron responded to say he’s the director to do it.
“Okay, I’ll put up my hand,” he said. “I’ll do it, Chris. No problem. You come to my premiere and say nice things…”
Ghosts of Hiroshima sounds like it will be a very different movie than Oppenheimer, then, and it also sounds like it will be some time before it’s made. Cameron clarified he has yet to write a word of the script, saying: “I’m not in that head space right now.”
But he did reveal his consideration for the audience in his thinking. “How much hell can an audience absorb and go on to absorb more?” he wondered.
“I think you’ve got to do it in glimpses, and you’ve got to contextualize it with people that you care about. There are a lot of challenges in telling this story. You can say, be uncompromising, but I don’t want to be so uncompromising that people walk out of the theater after 15 minutes. You’ve got to maintain a narrative flow that keeps it in a context. But like I said, I’m following Steven’s lead, which is to show what happened.”
That’s a nod to Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, which Cameron is taking inspiration from: “I want to do for what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, what Steven Spielberg did with the Holocaust and D-Day with Saving Private Ryan. He showed it the way it happened.”
Cameron added: “Look, this may be a movie that I make that makes the least of any movie I’ve ever made, because I’m not going to be sparing, I’m not going to be circumspect.”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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