Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1706

How Different FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS Could Have Been

New Vegas is arguably the best game in the Fallout series, with its gorgeous open world, colorful characters, and engaging quests. But even with the game being as good as it is, we now know how much better it could have been thanks to a YouTuber named Griffin Lambert, also known as TriangleCity. He is creating a video series entitled The Cutting Room Floor, in which he looks at all of the content that didn’t make it into a game and figures out what it might have looked like if it did.



Right now he’s made three videos out of a planned fifteen on New Vegas, piecing together clues from “the game’s files, footage and images of early game builds, concept art, the collector’s edition strategy guide, and interviews with Obsidian staff.” It’s impressive to see how thorough Lambert was in creating this series—he even goes as far as attempting to recreate what some of the cut quests might have been like.

The developers only had eighteen months to finish New Vegas, which is nothing in game-development time, so it makes sense that there’s a lot that couldn’t make the game. It’s fascinating to see what could have been, especially when the clues seem scattered around the game like a scavenger hunt, but it’s also bittersweet to see so much of the team’s vision left behind due to time constraints. Of course, if this cut content looks particularly appealing to you, there are mods out there you can download to bring it back in.

Either way, we’re looking forward to hearing more from this informative and extensive look at what could have been. How about you? Let us know in comments below.

Image: Obsidian Entertainment

Cat Climbs on Unflappable Owner’s Head During TV News Interview

Recently, Jerzy Targalski, a Polish historian and political scientist, was interviewed by the Dutch news show Nieuwsuur about the Polish Supreme Court. Heady stuff no doubt, but not a typical story purr-fect for us here at Nerdist. However, this is the rare example of political coverage that is right up our alley (cat), because Targalski’s expert commentary was interrupted in the most hilarious, cutest way ever, when his supremely adorable kitty Lisio decided to get in on the conversation by climbing on his shoulders.

So what do you do when you’re a serious person talking about a serious subject on a serious news show while a cat decides to take up residence on your head? You calmly keep your kitten’s tail out of your face and you continue, BECAUSE YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL WHO ALSO LOVES HIS CAT.

The Polish historian & political scientist Jerzy Targalski remained completely unruffled during our interview when this happened

Would You Take a College Course About Batman?

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of Batman, the seminal creation of writer Bill Finger with artist Bob Kane. Over the last eight decades, DC Comics’ Dark Knight has established himself as one of the all-time great superheroes through various incarnations and adaptations. But this fall, Batman is coming to the halls of academia with “The Evolution of Batman,” a new college course at the University of Baltimore. Senior editor Dan Casey recently caught up with Steven Leyva, the instructor behind the course, to get additional insight about why Batman is worthy of study.

“It’s an opportunity, really, just to look at how Batman, this almost 80-year old icon has really grown up with 20th century America,” explained Leyva. “He has been there for all of these technological changes, for changes in mass media, for changes in pop culture. And in some ways, he’s a cultural touchstone that I think is worthy of deep academic study. And I think ultimately, just a fun place to practice critical thinking and critical writing.”

What’s on the Bat-syllabus? A steady course of some of the Caped Crusaders greatest hits, including the ’60s TV series starring Adam West, all of the big screen Batmen, and of course, Batman: The Animated Series. Unlike some comic book creations, Batman doesn’t just change with the times; he changes with the creators and is a uniquely malleable character who can be interpreted through many different perspectives.

Leyva told us that he will also dive into “Death in the Family,” the controversial Batman story that gave fans control over whether Jason Todd’s Robin lived or died. Leyva also warned potential students that they won’t simply be able to coast through the course. This is going to be a challenging class, even for those who are well-versed in their Batman-ology.

Would you take a Batman class at your college? Answer the Bat-signal in our comment section below!

Images: DC Comics

Nerdist News: WTFriday #12: Looking Back on 30 Years of Die Hard and more!

We’re celeberating the 30thanniversary of Die Hard! Is it the greatest action film of all time? We’ll get to the bottom of that with today’s panel! Plus, Mark Hamill shaved off his beard and its causing Star Wars fans to lose their goddamn minds. And with Marvel, Disney, Game of Thrones, and more dropping Hall H – is Comic Con gonna suck this year? Speaking of Marvel, Black Widow finally has a director and it’s about damn time. Also, Mission Impossible: Fallout reviews are live. You might want to wear a diaper, cuz its apparently pant-shitting good. And finally, it’s Friday the thirteenth – so of course we are doing some Friday the Thirteenth trivia. All of this and more on today’s Nerdist News What The Friday!

Be sure to check out WTFriday live every Friday at 1PM (PDT) on Alpha!

Adorable Chewbacca and Porg Family Figure Set Is Comic-Con Destiny

“My density has brought me to you. I mean…my destiny.” Forces of Destiny, that is. The Star Wars toy line that’s halfway between action figure and fashion doll, based on an ongoing series of animated shorts, is wrapping up its tenure in toy stores, but it’s giving fans one last big special item as a Comic-Con exclusive. Chewbacca. Porgs. And for the first time in a Hasbro toy line…porglets!

Because if you thought porgs upped the D’awwww factor of Star Wars by, say, 50 percent, BABY porgs do it 100 percent, since they’re basically living tsum tsums. As the package notes, you can differentiate porg gender by their coloration; male porgs have orange fur/feathers around their eyes.

The Chewbacca figure is hairy, of course. And he also talks; the 11-inch figure will come with included batteries for authentic Wookiee sounds.

The Porgs are fuzzy, and their babies soft. One is sleeping, so hush up, Chewie!

$49.99 will snag you the Falcon copilot and all four of his new friends-not-food at Hasbro’s Comic-Con booth, and at other select conventions while supplies last. And with this set, Forces of Destiny completes the Star Wars cuteness trifecta by giving us an Ewok, BB-8, and porgs. (My cousin used to insist the rancor was cute, but I think her standards might have been way off.)

Somehow we suspect even folks who never picked up a single Forces of Destiny figure before will find that the power of porgs compels them. Will you be among them? Let us know in comments below.

Images: Hasbro

Is Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman’s New Crafting Show The Next GREAT BRITISH BAKE-OFF?

For the past few years, it’s been pretty quiet in the small town of Pawnee, Indiana. At the very least, we haven’t heard much from the wildly unhealthy community since Parks and Recreation finished its farewell season in 2015. There’s no more Leslie Knope, no more Ron Swanson, but what there is more of is good news, because while there’s no word of a Parks and Rec reunion, Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman are coming back together and returning to NBC for a new endeavor called Making It, a competition show where contestants make things out of some unexpected materials. Basically, it’s the Great British Bake-Off of crafting.

In a new promo video for the show, Poehler and Offerman square off, not in a competition of creation, but a contest of words. Seated in Adirondack chairs facing each other, the two go back and forth trading some groan-worthy and/or hilarious puns.

“Y’all thready for this,” Poehler begins, cracking Offerman up with her first joke of the day. Admittedly, they peaked early, although they both got a few solid jabs in during the remainder of the video: “I felt that one,” Offerman deadpanned after one of Poehler’s barbs.

What’s nice about the show is that is seems to be a real passion project for both Offerman and Poehler: Offerman has long shown an interest in using his hands to make things, while Poehler is a co-founder of Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, a Nerdist sister website that encourages girls and women to be bold and creative.

Will you be watching Making It? Let us know what you think down in the comments!

Featured Image: NBC

Who Is More Powerful: The Rock or Neve Campbell?

Since the dawn of time, one burning question has plagued mankind: who is more powerful, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or Neve Campbell? Ancient scholars attempted to decipher this philosophical quandary for centuries, but ultimately came up fruitless, mainly because they weren’t sure who exactly the people in question were. But now we’re living in a more enlightened age and we know The Rock and Neve Campbell are two international treasures who are about to grace the silver screen in the epic action-adventure film Skyscraper, which hits theaters on July 13. In the film, Johnson and Campbell play a married couple who find themselves trapped in the eponymous burning skyscraper, surrounded by danger, destruction, and dastardly foes around every corner. They both kick approximately their own body weight in butt, so which of these two titans of cinema is more powerful?

To we sent our intrepid reporter Amy Vorpahl all the way to Hong Kong to sit down with the stars of the film–Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Byron Mann, Noah Cottrell, and McKenna Roberts–and writer-director Rawson Thurber. Their answers may just surprise you. Especially the ones given by The Rock and Rawson Thurber. Their answers were so far off base from what we set out to ask them that we basically forgot why we were there in the first place. What tangent could they have gone off on? Watch the video above and find out for yourself.

Who do you think is more powerful, The Rock or Neve Campbell? Let us know in the comments below!

Skyscraper opens everywhere on July 13.

Images: Universal

Editor’s note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Entertainment.

SKYSCRAPER’s Neve Campbell and Chin Han On Filming Their Favorite Stunts

When things go wrong, we know The Rock will rise to the occasion, but sometimes even he needs help saving the day. Like in Skyscraper when the tallest building in the world goes up in flames after it’s taken over by terrorists, which is why Neve Campbell and Chin Han also got to have some fun filming their own super stunts. Although when you’re carrying a small child on your back for two days and you are almost crushed by two huge doors maybe “fun” isn’t the right word.

Our Amy Vorpahl got a chance to sit down with Campbell and Chin in Hong Kong ahead of the movie’s release this week, and she wanted to know which stunt was their favorite to film. We shouldn’t be surprised even The Rock’s fictional family members are also a bunch of badasses, but carrying a 65-pound child on your back while walking across a small beam for two days sounds like a burden we couldn’t bare. However we’re not sure whether that’s better or worse than nearly being squished to death by two doors slamming shut on you as you try to slip through.

Getting to work on a big Hollywood movie set doing your own stunts sounds really, really cool….right up until you learn how taxing and dangerous they are. Saving the day sounds exhausting. No wonder even The Rock needs helps doing it.

Skyscraper leaps into theaters on July 13.

Which of these stunts would you prefer to do? Tell us in the comments below.

Featured Image: Universal Pictures

Why Everyone Hates Pikachu’s New Hairstyle

Next year, Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee will kick off a new era for the franchise by finally bringing a Pokémon game to the Nintendo Switch. The new game is basically a simplified version of Pokémon Yellow with a few modern enhancements and extra features. There’s going to be co-op gameplay, as well as genders and hairstyles for your favorite pocket monsters. Can you guess which one of these changes has the fans freakin’ the Pika out? We choose you to watch today’s Nerdist News as we explain why everyone hates Pikachu’s hairstyle.

Join host and underground Pokémon wrangler, Jessica Chobot, as she offers up a sampling of the vicious reviews for Pikachu’s new look. The comparisons range between Jim Carrey’s Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber to Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men. Suddenly, a new internet meme was born.

Presumably fans will have more options than we’ve seen so far, although they are admittedly very unflattering for everyone’s favorite pocket monster. There are even comparisons pitting Pikachu’s bangs against pictures of celebrities who had similar bad hair experiences. Somehow, we think this backlash could go on for a while.

However, it should be noted that some fans have jumped to the defense of Pikachu and Eevee for rocking those bizarre throwback styles. For now, we’re just curious to see what other ridiculous hair shapes and sizes we’ll see in this game.

How do you feel about Pokémon: Let’s Go‘s hair-raising possibilities? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Nintendo

HARLEY QUINN Writer Sam Humphries on Breaking the Fourth World

Ever since her first appearance in Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn has carved a black and red path of cuteness and chaos that’s led to her becoming the “Fourth Pillar” of DC Comics alongside Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. That title’s pretty fitting since the latest issue of Harley Quinn’s ongoing title sees Harleen teaming up with Granny Goodness and the Furies, smashing her mallet into Jack Kirby’s iconic Fourth World. I chatted with new writer Sam Humphries about breaking the Fourth World, writing an icon, and bringing Harley back to the center of the DCU.

Humphries is following what could easily be argued as the definitive Harley Quinn run, so he was surprised by the massive positive reaction to his announcement. “I didn’t think the response was going to be so lovely and gratifying,” he said. “My first thought was about the long shadow cast by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti’s all-star run. Five years is an amazing accomplishment! And then I thought about writing Bugs Bunny vs. The Legion of Superheroes—maybe the most fun I’ve ever had in my career. Harley Quinn is kind of like the Bugs Bunny of the DCU. She can go anywhere and meet anyone and always be herself. And just by being who she is, we see the rest of the DCU in a new light.”

As Harley is one of the most popular characters in the world of DC’s comic books, cartoons, and films, Humphries aimed to make sure that his arc would bring her back to the forefront of the DC Comics Universe. “Bringing Harley back to the core of the DCU is one of our very first goals with the run,” he said. “Another goal was to refocus the book on Harley as a character. She’s got a LOT of personality, but there’s a lot of emotion running through Harley too. She’s a survivor. Tough exterior, vulnerable core. There’s a contrast and a depth there that, if you do it right, you’ve got more than enough story for a year, two years—if I’m lucky, five years.”

Humphries’ collaborators on the new Harley Quinn book are John Timms, Gabe Eltaeb, and Dave Sharpe, who do a fantastic job of creating the iconic visual landscape of Apokolips. “Haven’t they done an amazing job?” Humphries said. “Now that the first issue has dropped, everyone knows what a dangerous duo [Timms and Eltaeb] are. It’s been so gratifying seeing so much love for the amazing work they’ve done. They’ve mastered the mayhem of Harley, the bombastic-ness of the Fourth World, and the emotions of Harleen. Not an easy trick. Wait until you see issue 46…!”

I wondered about the weight of responsibility of entering the vibrant and unique universe of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World. “It would have been easy for me to be afraid,” Humphries said. “I love Jack Kirby, and the Fourth World, so much. These characters are so meaningful to me; they reach down to the core of why I love comics. The characters of the Fourth World are strong, so you can use them in different books with different tones. They will bend, not break. And in the process, you can learn new things about legendary, beloved characters.”

Humphries continued, “This was proven years ago when Mister Miracle and Big Barda were two of the best parts of Justice League International. Kirby led by example, and he didn’t make a habit of creating from a place of fear. So with those inspirations in mind, I went in big and bold, and focused on working as authentically as possible.”

Now that the first issue is out in the world, Humphries is looking forward to the next big milestone. “Our big anniversary issue #50 is gonna be wild,” he said. “A nearly double-sized art jam issue, in which Harley Quinn destroys DC continuity. That’s right, continuity gets smashed to pieces. It is absolutely unlike any comic you’ve ever seen before. And the key to saving the day lies in one of the most elusive comic creators of all time, the mysterious M. Clatterbuck.”

Humphries is clearly overjoyed with the response to the book, as he had a message for fans. “I just wanna say to everyone reading this, I am writing these answers only five days after the first issue came out—and THANK YOU. Either online or at the stores, the love from the fans has been overwhelming, and inspiring. We’re working our asses off to return that love tenfold in future issues of Harley.”

Images: DC Comics