Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1767

Tom Holland Improvised That AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Scene

Warning: This post contains major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War, so if you want to avoid them until you see the movie don’t continue reading.

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Whatever happens in the next Marvel film, specifically the next Avengers film, we’ll never forget how Infinity War wrapped and the impact it had. When it comes to the shocking ending of Infinity War, when Thanos snapped his fingers and turned half of Marvel’s greatest heroes into dust, there are basically two camps. There are those who found the entire sequence devastating, and those who couldn’t overcome the feeling it will be entirely undone in Avengers 4 so it didn’t bother them that much–except for Peter Parker‘s final sad plea to Tony Stark, which totally destroyed anyone with a pulse and a soul. Because even if he comes back, watching Spider-Man vanish while Iron Man held him in his arms was a gut punch combined with a kick in the heart moment.

And it turns out Tom Holland improvised it.

In a story we came across at Digital Spy, a reddit user said Infinity War co-director Joe Russo revealed at an event in Iowa that he told Holland to “act like you don’t want to go” during his final moments, which apparently led to Holland coming up with his heartbreaking “I don’t feel so good, Mr. Stark. I don’t want to go.” farewell.

It’s not clear just how much he improvised, but this could be why he was the only one to get a significant (and vocal) goodbye during this sequence. Which is why we don’t know if we want to hug him or thank Thanos for what he did, because that was brutal to watch. It did not make us feel good, Tom, even if it was such a great way to go.

How did you react to this scene? Tell us in the comments below.

Images: Marvel

More of Tom Holland being adorable!

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His favorite dance song and sexiest time of day.

New WESTWORLD Images Bring Together Dolores and Bernard

Last week’s episode of Westworld, “Reunions,” showed how Delos became the largest investor in the park, and it was one of the show’s best. So this Sunday’s “Virtù e Fortuna,” which is Italian for “Virtue and Fortune” and was made famous by Machiavelli (gee, wonder what gun-toting robot that could be about), has a lot to live up to. And based on new images for the episode from HBO a lot of that will come down what happened when Dolores met Bernard during her two-week human and host murder spree, and whether Maeve can safely make her own way through the park.

The end of episode teaser for next week promised an ever-growing body count, more timeline bouncing, and a tiger.



Based on these new images, the center of this episode’s maze will be the meeting between the two old friends after Dolores finds Bernard in the park (Did Bernard flee Charlotte’s underground hiding place?). It should have major implications going forward, including what–if any–instructions Dolores gave Bernard following her murder of Ford.

Could this tender connection possibly have something to do with all those hosts floating dead in the river and who is responsible? Is she manipulating Bernard, or is she genuinely worried about him? Just how Machiavellian is she?

Looks like we’re also going to see more of Dolores’s particular recruiting process, which will involve another gun fight with fellow hosts.

But after last week’s surprisingly contentious showdown between Dolores and Maeve, where they each had very different ideas about how to defeat their enemy, we’re going to see even more of Maeve’s own march through the park, with her own good-looking gunman by her side.

We will never fail to appreciate the image of seeing Lee dressed like a man-child goober, but as for what is happening here it seems like they might have encountered the Native American hosts seen in the week’s teaser video. Might Maeve soon have her own army? Or is her plan to keep a low profile?

Finally, this shot of Maeve looking up, that is also in the video for next week, might be ash or snow. If it’s the latter, it could mean she made it out of her park and into another one where it snows. Could that have something to do with the tiger we will be encountering? Will this be our intro to Shogun World?

Virtue or fortune? We’re not sure it will have much virtue, but who will find that fortunate?

What do you think of these images? What do they tell us about this week’s episode? Tell us your best ideas in the comments below.

Images: HBO

More from Delos!

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The 6 Biggest Re-Castings in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Avengers: Infinity War features over 25 main cast members, most of whom have been players for several Marvel movies over the past ten years. But not all of these characters are being played by the same actors who originated them. In fact, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had its fair share of recasting over the past decade, and not only the minor roles either. Here are the six biggest recastings in the MCU thus far.

Warning: SPOILERS For Avengers: Infinity War contained within!

James “Rhodey” Rhodes / War Machine

The first big recasting in the MCU happened after actor Terrence Howard did not return to play the part of Tony Stark’s BFF James Rhodes, a role he originated in the much beloved original Iron Man film. Supposedly, Howard was highest paid actor on Iron Man, and for reasons unknown, Marvel didn’t want to give him a pay bump for Iron Man 2, so he was replaced with Don Cheadle, who has played him in every MCU film since. Although Cheadle has done a fine job, this one was initially jarring as the two actors do not remotely resemble one another.

Bruce Banner / The Hulk

Probably the second biggest casting change was with core Avenger Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk. Originally played by Edward Norton in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, the film somewhat under performed, at least by today’s Marvel standards. People seemed to genuinely like Norton’s portrayal of Banner, but apparently he’s the kind of actor who takes a lot of creative control over his character, and we all know that at Marvel Studios, boss Kevin Feige is the last word on everything. Coupled with the so-so response to The Incredible Hulk, and you can see why Feige replaced Norton with Mark Ruffalo.

Fandral

One of Thor’s Asgardian buddies known as “the Warriors Three,” Fandral was played in the original 2011 Thor film by actor actor Josh Dallas, best known for his role on ABC’s Once Upon a Time. Due to his television commitments, Dallas couldn’t return for Thor: The Dark World, and he was replaced by Zachary Levi. Both actors played the part with foppish blonde wigs, and so unless you were told, chances are you didn’t even realize the role had been recast. Levi came back briefly in Thor: Ragnarok just to be killed off like a red shirt on Star Trek.

Thanos

Here’s a pretty big one you probably didn’t realize had been recast —  Thanos, the Marvel Universe’s “big bad” and the chief antagonist of Avengers: Infinity War has been played by Josh Brolin ever since 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. However. the first time we ever see the mad Titan was in the post credits tag in the original Avengers film, where he turns to the camera and smiles. For that brief scene, Thanos was played by actor, stuntman, and Alpha Comic Book Club co-host Damion Poitier. When Thanos was required to actually have dialogue, Marvel (probably wisely) recast him with a name actor. But Damion still appeared in a recent Marvel film — he was one of Crossbones’ henchmen in Captain America: Civil War.

Groot

While the voice of Groot has always been done by Vin Diesel, the motion capture actor behind everyone’s favorite living tree has been two different people. In the first Guardians of the Galaxy, the full grown Groot was played on set by Krystian Godlewski. For Guardians Vol.2, Groot was but a wee sapling, so he was all CGI. But teenage Groot in Infinity War is played by accomplished motion capture actor Terry Notary, known for his work on the Planet of the Apes movies.  This is a case where there’s no dramatic reason for the recasting, as the heights of adult and teen Groot are totally different and require different sized actors.

Red Skull

Celebrated character actor Hugo Weaving gave us one of the best Marvel villains of the early MCU films with his take on the Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger. But in the years since then, the actor has publicly stated many times he hated the intense makeup it took to play the evil Hydra leader, making a return to the role seem unlikely. Nevertheless, the Red Skull showed up in Infinity War in a surprise cameo, and he looked pretty identical to Weaving’s version. But it wasn’t him, it was The Walking Dead actor Ross Marquand. Aside from playing Aaron on that show, Marquand is known for his vocal imitations of famous actors, so it’s no wonder that Marvel picked him to replace Weaving.

Which has been your favorite (and least favorite) recasting in the MCU? Let us know your opinions down below in the comments.

Images: Marvel Studios

More from Earth’s mightiest heroes!

Mark Ruffalo spoiled Avengers: Infinity War‘s ending last year and no one noticed !
Infinity War spoilers are only okay as out of context memes!
Tom Hiddleston’s Korg impression is too perfect!

Tessa Thompson Jokingly Explains Valkyrie’s Absence from AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

Spoilers below for Avengers: Infinity War!

One of the big lingering questions left by Avengers: Infinity War is: where the heck did Valkyrie go? And for that matter, where the heck did Korg go? Both were seen with Thor and Loki on board the Asgardian refugee ship at the end of Thor:Ragnarok, but when Infinity War opens, we see Thanos has killed a large portion of those same Asgardian refugees, and that Valkyrie is nowhere to be found, or even mentioned, leading viewers to wonder if she was unceremoniously killed off camera. That would be an ignoble fate for such a cool character. Luckily, Tessa Thompson has an answer about Valkyrie for us.

me in Infinity Wars. pic.twitter.com/g7fAjUcm95

— Tessa Thompson (@TessaThompson_x) April 30, 2018

People have been asking the Valkyrie actress where her character is, and she has a pretty great sense of humor about the whole thing. Via The Hollywood Reporter, Thompson tweeted a picture of Infinity War’s Bucky (Sebastian Stan) holding a goat, saying “Me in Infinity War.” The joke in this image is a reference to a parody account that debuted back in March, @Tessasgoats, which post images of goats that look like Thompson in a complimentary fashion. Thompson obviously takes the entire account in good stride, and she even follows it.

INFINITY WAR SPOILERS///
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I WAS RIGHT Y’ALL. JOE RUSSO CONFIRMED VALKYRIE AND KORG AND HALF THE ASGARDIANS ESCAPED AND ARE SAFE ! pic.twitter.com/87Z64ZIAI2

— Tom // Saw Infinity War ! (@TH0R0DINS0NS) April 30, 2018

In all seriousness, Tessa Thompson is said to be in the upcoming Avengers 4, which comes out in 2019, so we will probably find out what she’s been up to all this time. Infinity War co-director appeared at the University of Iowa recently and one attendee confirmed Valkyrie at least survived the attack on the Asgardian ship (see above). And after that, we’ll hopefully see her in the rumored all-female Marvel movie. A-Force anyone? Let’s all keep our fingers crossed.

Do you want to see Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie again as badly as we do? Let us know below in the comments.

Images: Marvel Studios

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What Does Hasbro’s Purchase of the POWER RANGERS Mean for the Franchise?

Hasbro just purchased the Power Rangers, and we don’t mean all our old toys. On today’s Nerdist News Talks Back we discussed what that means for the future of the franchise, along with how Ant-Man and the Wasp will fit into the MCU, and what we might see in Star Wars: Episode IX.

Dan Casey was in the big chair today, and he was joined by Nerdist News writer Joan Ford, producer Jason Nguyen, and editor Kyle Anderson. They started with the never-ending machine that is the MCU after we got a new trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp. What do we think of it, and are we up for another Marvel heist film?



From one collection of superheroes to another, Hasbro has purchased the entire Mighty Morphin Power Rangers brand for more than a half billion dollars. While the television shows are still doing well, the recent movie was underwhelming. Do we think Hasbro could simply decide to go (go) with a cinematic reboot? And how will they tie it into their larger Hasbro Cinematic Universe (movies are weird now)? Will we get a Power Rangers and G.I. Joe crossover?

Finally, with Star Wars: Episode IX set to start production this summer tidbits are starting to drop, including John Boyega saying he has to grow his hair out for the movie. Does this confirm the rumored time jump after The Last Jedi? Also The Hashtag Show says there’s a new casting call for Caro, an “ethnic female” aged 18 to 26 who is a leader with a sense of humor and strong will. Could this be the new Leia or Holdo? Or possibly a new Jedi training under Rey?

Don’t forget Nerdist News Talks Back airs live Monday through Thursday at 1PM PT on our YouTube and Alpha channels, and we end the week with our hour-long recap Nerdist News What the Fridays at 1PM PT, exclusively at Alpha. So like the Power Rangers, make sure you go go watch us live! It’s like playing with your toys, only they talk back.

What did you think of today’s topics? We still want to hear from you so share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Images: Lionsgate, Lucasfilm

More of the latest entertainment news!

How Ant-Man and the Wasp fits into Infinity War.
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Kevin Feige reveals his big MCU mistake.

Mark Ruffalo Spoiled AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR’s Ending Last Summer and No One Noticed

Warning: spoilers follow for Infinity War!

Avoiding spoilers while you wait for your turn to see Avengers: Infinity War has become a serious pastime for many folks, and for good reason. This is the biggest event in the MCU, and we’ve been told by the folks at Marvel and Disney the events from this film and the fourth Avengers will change the landscape of the MCU as we know it. It’s why hashtags like #ThanosDemandsYourSilence started to trend.

And while some of us just can’t help but spoil the ending after seeing the explosive film, which is likely why the hilarious, out-of-context spoilers have been circulating the internet, a lot of us didn’t know Mark Ruffalo actually spoiled the ending in July of 2017. A video from a Good Morning America interview with Don Cheadle and Mark Ruffalo last year has been making the rounds, and Ruffalo gets a bit excited about Thor: Ragnarok (released in November 2017). Then he starts feeling a little bit too comfortable when talking about the adventures ahead in the MCU, and lets some pretty big beans spill.



“Wait until you see this next one, ha…everybody dies.”

Is it just us or does it sound like he’s going to say “half” before changing gears?

Poor, sweet Mark Ruffalo. And this interview was before he accidentally live streamed Ragnarok while at the premiere. You can see the instant regret in Ruffalo’s eyes when Don Cheadle hears Ruffalo’s statement about the “next one” (Infinity War) and shouts out, “Dude!” It is absolutely adorable watching him quietly ask if they could “rewind that part” to undo his goof in the interview.

Still, this spoiler reveal wasn’t as bad as it could have been. After all, Marvel made it very clear as the premiere got closer that not everyone would survive Infinity War, and Ruffalo’s statement didn’t really reveal what specifically would go down. After all, even if you do remember this interview, the true weight of this spoiler doesn’t really come through until after you’ve seen the film. So we’ve got to cut ol’ Bruce Banner a bit of slack, right? Just maybe make sure Ruffalo has a very clear list of talking points before Avengers 4 press starts, just to be safe.

Did you see this interview when it aired back in 2017? Do you think it was a slip or a planned bit? Let’s talk about it in the comments!

Feature Image: Good Morning America

More Marvel silliness!

Tom Hiddleston does a perfect Korg impression.
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Season 5 of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Potentially Announced

The Bluth’s are back in town! Mitch Hurwitz dropped a major announcement via Twitter detailing what’s next for the Arrested Development family on Netflix. The promise of season five is closer than we think, according to Hurwitz, but no date has been announced. This comes after a five-year hiatus from the fourth season of Arrested Development premiering on Netflix after its cancellation from Fox.

Not only are we getting a fifth season, we are being gifted a season four remix on the Bluth family holiday known as, “Cinco de Quatro.” This remix was put together by Hurwitz himself, who has been behind Arrested Development since its conception back in 2003. Many fans of the show had been dissatisfied with how the fourth season was structured – focusing on one Bluth family member each episode before bringing them all together in the season finale. In an interview with Huffington Post, Jason Bateman said, “If I’m driving down the street in my episode and Gob’s going down the sidewalk on his Segway, you could stop my episode, go into his episode, and follow him and see where he’s going.” This was due to the difficulties of the filming schedules with all of the actors.

The remix of season four could give us our season five release date on Netflix since it falls in line with Hurwitz’s statement of the announcement being real soon. This announcement also comes after Jeffrey Tambor’s termination from Amazon Studios amidst sexual assault allegations. While Tambor has vehemently denied these claims, the cast of Arrested Development has stood by him. David Cross stated to Entertainment Weekly that, “I can’t speak for everybody, but I know there are a number of us who stand behind him. From the limited amount we know, we stand behind Jeffrey — and I am one of them.”

It will be interesting to see how Netflix handles Jeffrey being put back in the spotlight – regardless of whether or not his scenes in season five were filmed before he was called out. Either way, be looking for Hurwitz’s season four remix of Arrested Development this Friday on “Cinco de Quatro” and a potential season five announcement date following soon after.

What do you hope to see from Arrested Development’s new season? How do you feel about Tambor’s potential return with the season? Let us know in the comments below.

Images: Fox/Netflix

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How ANT-MAN AND THE WASP Fits Into INFINITY WAR

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Avengers: Infinity War .

Avengers: Infinity War has arrived, and not every Avenger made the cut in this movie. While everyone noticed that Hawkeye didn’t appear in any posters or trailers, too many people were convinced every spec of dust was secretly an Ant-Man cameo. But as revealed in the film, both Ant-Man and Hawkeye are under house arrest when the events of Infinity War occur. Today’s Nerdist News explains how Ant-Man and the Wasp fits into the MCU’s timeline heading into Infinity War.

Join guest host Giant-Size Dan Casey as he walks us through Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s newly released trailer for clues. We can probably assume the movie isn’t taking place after Infinity War, since people aren’t freaking out about half of the world’s population suddenly vanishing. But there is a case to be made the two movies are happening at the same time. Do you know the best way to distract the world from Scott Lang bringing his Giant-Man act to San Francisco? Having aliens invade New York, again.

Since the sequel is either pre-Infinity War or concurrent with it, we do have to wonder if we’ll see any of the fallout in this movie. Both Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly have filmed their parts for Avengers 4, so they won’t be turning into a dust or an internet meme. Perhaps they will be protected from Thanos’ purge during their adventure in the Quantum Realm, only to discover what occurred when they return. Losing Hank Pym or Janet van Dyne would make the post-Infinity War stakes extremely personal for Scott and Hope. We’d suggest Scott’s daughter, Cassie, could be at risk as well, but she’s been a rumored addition for Avengers 4.

How do you think Ant-Man and the Wasp will play into Infinity War‘s conclusion? Thanos demands that you leave a comment below!

Images: Marvel Studios

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How Infinity War‘s deaths could be permanent.
Kevin Feige reveals his big MCU mistake.
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WESTWORLD Renewed for Season 3

HBO announced today that Westworld has been renewed for a third season. Westworld became appointment television practically the moment it premiered, and it’s only gotten better with the time-jumping, mind-bending beginnings of season two. Now, we know that we’ll be getting even more of everyone’s favorite… however you’d describe it. Let’s just go with “sci-fi/Western/mystery/??? TV show” until we think of something snappier.

As of this afternoon, we don’t know much more than the fact that season three will exist. And given past events, we know the Westworld team won’t be giving anything away about what will transpire in the third season. (Heck, they won’t give anything away about what’ll happen in the next episode, so why would they drop anything more than esoteric clues about the future of Delos, the Man in Black, and all our favorite robots?) Still, that doesn’t make the announcement any less thrilling. But if all this vagueness doesn’t satisfying you and you can’t resist brainstorming new theories already, I suggest using Evan Rachel Wood’s Twitter feed as a springboard.

Another loop is on the way.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Spoilers Are Only Okay as Out-of-Context Memes

Warning: Even though they are totally out of context and won’t really mean that much if you haven’t actually seen the movie yet, this post contains spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War–in meme form. So if you watch them and decipher what they are talking about don’t say you weren’t warned. This is literally your warning!

When it comes to revealing secrets from Infinity War, Marvel has been telling us “Thanos demands your silence” since before it came to theaters. But while we fully encourage everyone to hold off for a little bit before openly discussing the film on social media (or as you leave the theaters and walk by people in line to see it, you monsters), we are more than okay with doing so with memes that have no context unless you have seen the movie. Because you can remain silent while letting a picture speaks a thousand words, especially when they are really freaking funny.

#infinitywar spoiler but without context pic.twitter.com/gcOe06iodc

— 9GAG (@9GAG) May 1, 2018

Some cover a whole lot of the movie. (NSFW language in this next one).

infinity war spoilers, but as vines pic.twitter.com/3uBImTykGW

— faith SAW IW (@infinitystcnes) April 29, 2018

Going through these, it’s clear we all share a lot of the same reference points.

https://twitter.com/EdwinSalazar__/st...

Infinity War Spoilers, with no context pic.twitter.com/aVXJitgdDn

— Ziggy (@mrjafri) May 1, 2018

So here are my favorite #InfinityWar spoilers with absolutely no context