Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1823

The KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra is Going Back on Tour

Last year, Square Enix and Wildfaery celebrated the 15th anniversary of Kingdom Hearts by launching a worldwide tour of the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra.  Kingdom Heart‘s unique combination of Disney characters, Final Fantasy heroes and villains, and original creations has proven to be extremely popular, and the music tour was a huge success. Now, the orchestra is getting ready to go back on tour, and there may be even bigger things ahead for Kingdom Hearts fans.

Via ComicBook.com, the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra: World Tour Encore! will begin on Saturday, June 9, in Los Angeles before heading to Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Honolulu. Outside of the U.S., the tour will have stops in Canada, Australia, Brazil, Germany, South Korea, and Mexico. (See below for exact dates!)

Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura and composer Yoko Shimomura are supervising the tour, and the orchestra will play music from the previously released games in the series. There’s also a good chance fans may get the chance to hear a few selections from Kingdom Hearts 3. After all, at last year’s Los Angeles concerts, a new Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer debuted, so we wouldn’t be surprised if history repeats itself this year.

Additionally, the official site hints that the tour will return in 2019 with a Kingdom Hearts 3-themed program, which should give the series’ music-loving fans another reason to get excited. Pre-sales for this year’s tour have already gone on sale, and the remaining dates will have tickets available on March 13.

Los Angeles (USA): June 9, 2018

Chicago (USA): July 13, 2018

Pittsburgh (USA): July 16, 2018

Atlanta (USA): July 26, 2018

Dallas (USA): July 28, 2018

Philadelphia (USA): August 2, 2018

Phoenix (USA): August 4, 2018

Las Vegas (USA): August 5, 2018

Munich (GER): September 15, 2018

Sydney (AUS): July 7, 2018

Detroit (USA): July 14, 2018

Boston (USA): July 19, 2018

Toronto (CAN): July 21, 2018

Honolulu (USA): August 12, 2018

Sao Paolo (BRAZIL): September 8-9, 2018

Milan (ITALY): September 22, 2018

Seoul (S. KOREA): October 6, 2018

Mexico City (MEX): October 20, 2018

Are you eager to check out the new Kingdom Hearts Orchestra tour? Let us know in the comment section below!

More Kingdom Hearts News!

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Watch Kingdom Hearts visit other video game worlds characters.
And finally, watch the new trailer!

Images: Square Enix

Marvel Gives ‘Fresh Starts’ to CAPTAIN MARVEL, DOCTOR STRANGE, SPIDER-MAN and More

After constant relaunches for the past few years, Marvel is looking to make a “Fresh Start” with comic readers…by running another relaunch. Marvel has already revealed that Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing both Black Panther and Captain America, with artists Daniel Acuña and Leinil Yu, respectively. Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness are taking on The Avengers, with a new series that may actually be the only Avengers book for a while. Now we know what’s coming up for a few of Marvel’s other headliners.

Mark Waid and artist Jesus Saiz taking Doctor Strange to outer space in his new series. Maybe he’ll run into T’Challa out there! The premise for this book is that Strange’s magic has been depleted (again), and he’s heading to the stars to find a way to recharge his battery, so to speak. The first issue will be released on Wednesday, June 6.

Waid is also writing the Ant-Man and the Wasp six-issue miniseries, which will be drawn by Javier Garron. It’s probably meant to ride the wave of attention from the new movie of the same name by teaming up Scott Lang with Hank Pym’s daughter for the first time in the Marvel Universe. But this Wasp isn’t Hope van Dyne, she’s Nadia Pym, the daughter of Hank’s first wife. In this story, Nadia enters the Microverse to find Scott, who has somehow managed to get himself hopelessly lost. Ant-Man and the Wasp #1 will hit on Wednesday, June 6.

On July 4th, Margaret Stohl and artist Carlos Pacheco are giving Carl Danvers an updated origin story in the five-issue miniseries, The Life of Captain Marvel. Apparently, this tale will dive into Carol’s previously unexplored past, including her childhood, while digging up a few family skeletons that may come back to haunt her in the present.

Also in July, Amazing Spider-Man is getting a new volume from former Captain America writer Nick Spencer, and artist Ryan Ottley, who is coming off of his long stint on Invincible. Story details for this one are sketchy, but Spencer’s interview with ComicBook.com seemed to indicate a back-to-basics approach while promising a new roommate and a new love interest for Peter Parker.

Which of these relaunched titles are you most interested in? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Marvel

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James Gunn Shares GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY’s “Awesome Mix Vol. 0” Playlist

The classic rock songs of Awesome Mix Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. have played a major role in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. And now, at long last, director James Gunn has decided that the time is right to share Awesome Mix Vol. 0, the music that he played on the set of the first film.

I finally got around to making a @Spotify playlist of Awesome Mix Vol. 0, the secret, personal mix I made to play on the set of @Guardians Vol. 1, especially for the drunken partying scenes in the Boot of Jemiah. Enjoy! https://t.co/XEPVmWKOh9

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 28, 2018

In case you’re wondering, “the Boot of Jemiah” is the bar on Knowhere where the Guardians went to get drunk while waiting for their meeting with the Collector. You can check out all of the songs from Gunn’s playlist below.

 

It’s unfortunate that there may not be an official release of Awesome Mix Vol. 0, because it would probably be another best seller even if the music wasn’t in the film. And despite the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we fully expect to see and hear a new Awesome Mix in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but it will probably be a list curated by Peter Quill instead of his late mother. Either way, we’re eager to get our hands on that one as well!

What do you think about Gunn’s Awesome Mix Vol. 0? What’s your favorite track on the playlist? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Marvel/Disney

More on the music scene

John Williams says he’s done with Star Wars
Anna and Kristoff get a duet in the Frozen Broadway musical
Weird Al has created a polka cover of Hamilton

Rian Johnson Previews THE LAST JEDI Deleted Scenes

The Star Wars: The Last Jedi Blu-ray is hitting stores in late March, and it’s coming with 14 (!) deleted scenes. When I learned we’d be getting so much extra content, I was thrilled because I am greedy, greedy fan. What if we get more Phasma? What if we see more of the Caretakers? Rey was quite rude to them, and I want to see them yell at her for being a brat. I want it all. And I know some of my deleted scene wishes will come true because Episode VIII director and writer Rian Johnson talked to Entertainment Weekly (EW) about what five of the cut scenes will include.

Johnson told EW the scenes were left out in order to make the movie stronger as a whole, not because they’re not worthy. In fact, the ones he describe all sound fantastic. To summarize: one scene includes BB-8 showing Finn when Rey said goodbye to him on D’Qar, another depicts Rey witnessing raiders attacking one of the Caretakers’ villages, a third takes the time to highlight Luke mourning for Han, another features more of Rose and Finn sneaking around the Supremacy in their First Order disguises, and finally, one of the deleted scenes gives us a different, longer showdown with Phasma.

I’m here for more Phasma.

Learn more details about the scenes from Johnson at EW. The Last Jedi Blu-ray will be out on March 27.

What scene are you most looking forward to seeing when you get the Blu-ray? Share it in the comments.

Images: Lucasfilm, Giphy

Even more The Last Jedi goodness!

See what it takes it make a Snoke.
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The Finn and Poe buddy mission that was almost in The Last Jedi.

Tessa Thompson Reveals Her Dream Lady Liberators Lineup

After ten years of unprecedented franchise filmmaking, the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems poised to put its plethora of kick-ass ladies in the limelight. Between Captain Marvel coming in 2019, a Black Widow solo movie in development, and the cultural thunderclap created by fan favorite characters like Thor: Ragnarok‘s Valkyrie and Black Panther‘s Shuri, Okoye, and the Dora Milaje, it’s easy to see that the future of the MCU is decidedly female. So isn’t it about time that we got a female-fronted team-up movie? We’re not the only ones who think so. In fact, we sat down with the woman who kicked talk of a Lady Liberators/A-Force movie into overdrive in the first place: Tessa Thompson.

“I think [in] Phase IV the female characters really rule supreme,” Thompson told our reporter, Markeia McCarty, at a recent press day for Thor: Ragnarok‘s home video release. “What was so exciting for me about Wakanda and seeing Black Panther was how incredible the women were in it.”

Although Thompson played coy about when we’d next see Valkyrie on the big screen, she did reveal who would be the members of her personal Lady Liberators team, and it’s definitely not who you would expect (or anyone who is canon to Marvel Comics for that matter). Thompson also revealed some of her choices to step behind the camera and helm a film like this, but with an important caveat.

“As much as I would like to see women directors really get big studio movies like this, women should also be able to direct things where women aren’t at the center of it,” said Thompson. “We should be able to make all sorts of content.”

Thor: Ragnarok is available digitally in HD and 4K Ultra HD and Movies Anywhere now, and 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on March 6

Who would you want to see in a Lady Liberators/A-Force movie? Let us know in the comments below.

Images: Marvel Studios

The biggest MCU news happening right now

Surprise! Avengers: Infinity War is coming out a week early.
A Silver Surfer movie is in the works.
Agent Carter is back…as Captain America?!

What would happen if a vibranium meteor hit Earth?

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).

STAR WARS REBELS Fan Video Unites the Entire Saga

Spoilers for Star Wars Rebels in this article! You’ve been warned!

Star Wars: Rebels is nearly over, with its final episodes airing next week. But before it comes to an end, the series had one big bombshell to drop on Star Wars fans. In the most recent episode, “A World Between Worlds,” young Jedi Ezra Bridger discovered something that changed the way we see the Star Wars universe forever. On his home planet Lothal, Bridger was able to gain access to an other dimensional nexus point of the universe, one which had many portals…portals which allowed for a form of time travel. Time travel which he used to save fan favorite character Ahsoka Tano from her former master, Darth Vader. And while in that nexus of space, many familiar audio clips were heard.



Thanks to Comic Book, we’ve learned that the Star Wars Explained YouTube account has now added the visual components to all those audio clips used in this sequence, just in case you weren’t 100% sure where each moment came from. We heard moments from not only the original trilogy films, but also the prequels, The Clone Wars, older episodes of Rebels, and even Rogue One, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. This clip not only shows how the animated shows are connected to the live-action films, but how the Star Wars saga is really one grand connected story across several mediums.

While the Star Wars saga has elements of almost every major sci-fi trope, from robots to spaceships to aliens, this is the first time that time travel has been introduced into the canon. The portals in “A World Between Worlds” are very similar to one from another famous franchise, the Guardian of Forever from Star Trek. And in this ultimate Easter egg, almost every part of the saga is celebrated, a true treat for longtime fans.

What do you think of this new element added to the Star Wars mythology? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: Lucasfilm

More from a galaxy far, far away!

New The Last Jedi Funko POPs let you recreate the Reylo throne room scene!
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Star Wars fan favorite Jaxxon, the green rabbit, is canon again!

Mighty Muggs Figures Show Off AVENGERS Mood Swings

Mood swings happen to the best of us—even our beloved superheroes. After all, it isn’t easy fighting crime, alien beings, and mad titans. It’s bound to play with your emotions.

Hasbro’s line of Mighty Muggs captures all the facial expressions a hero goes through over the course of their day. The toy is a reflection of feisty attitude—just one push and the head spins to reveal the many sides of your favorite characters. Excitement, happiness, and pure smashable anger are all reflected on these fun push-and-turn toys.

Just in time for Avengers: Infinity War, the Marvel collection includes a very serious, unfreezable Black Panther, a thoughtful Doctor Strange, a suspicious Spider-Man, an always-at-the-ready Black Widow, a happy little Groot, and not-so-happy little Rocket. Maybe it’d be better to just let the little trash panda be.

Captain America’s Mighty Mugg is heroic, but fierce. The figure has a brown chin strap for his helmet, but if you put some thought into it, you can visualize it as Steve Roger’s new Infinity War beard. Hipster Emo Cap is the toy we want, and the toy we deserve.

The Hulk Mighty Mugg is probably the most reflective of a normal range of daily emotions. Imagine sitting at your desk, pushing Hulk’s plastic head as you sit on a long-winded conference call. Go ahead and let Hulk display how you feel while you mask your true feelings.

Hasbro is releasing more than 50 new Mighty Muggs this year, including brand new Star Wars figures, all ready to show off their innermost thoughts. Check out the figures in the gallery below. Mighty Muggs are available at most major retailers and on HasbroToyShop.com.

Which hero best reflects your emotions? I think I’ll just leave Hulk permanently on angry. Let us know in the comments and tag @nerdist and @justjenn on twitter to show us your best superhero face!

Images: Hasbro

More from the MCU!

Will Shuri become the MCU’s Black Panther ?
Watch the Black Panther cast sing “All My Life.”
8 times Michael B. Jordan geeked out over anime

Donald Glover Bought Every Box of the “Redbone” Girl Scout’s Cookies

With Solo: A Star Wars Story coming out in a matter of months and Atlanta season two nearly here, Donald Glover is at the front of many of our minds. And while Lando Calrissian/Glover is a totally brilliant actor, that’s only a small slice of what he’s known for. Most of us are already pretty well-versed in his work as the rapper Childish Gambino and are huge fans of his work. While you and I might blast “Redbone” while we’re driving home from work, it seems that one young girl from Atlanta, Georgia used the song as a way to bolster her Girl Scout cookie sales. Charity Joy rewrote some of the lyrics to “Redbone” and used the song to advertise her delicious cookies.

The video of her singing her Girl Scout cookie-infused version of “Redbone” quickly went viral. When Glover made an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Colbert made sure to show the video to Glover, who was understandably touched at the adorable homage to his work. Unsurprisingly, Colbert quickly revealed that Charity was not only backstage, but she was still smack in the middle of the cookie-selling season. Take a look at the video that we first saw over at Mashable (Charity’s section starts at about 7:23) to see the adorable interaction.

Glover was quick to help Charity out in meeting her goal for this year’s cooking-selling season, buying up 113 boxes of Thin Mints to get her to her goal. We love that he wasted no time helping a young fan reach her goal, but we’re also super impressed with his choice to get over a hundred boxes of Thin Mints. Seriously, those months in between Girl Scout cookie season can creep by slowly, but Donald Glover’s going to be made in the shade with his newfound cache of cookies.

We love that Charity got a chance to meet someone she clearly admires, and it’s always fun to watch artists experience the impact their work has had on their fans. With the news feeling increasingly bleak these days, we’re so happy to find stories like this one. Keep rocking the Girl Scout cookie selling game, Charity, and congrats on meeting your 2017 sales goal in the coolest way possible.

What are some of your favorite stories of artists meeting their fans? Let’s talk about it in the comments!

Need More From Glover?

Here’s our review of  Atlanta: Robbin Season .
Did you know Donald Glover wrote jokes for Black Panther?
And finally, here’s why Donald is the perfect Lando.

Feature Image: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

How Bloody Will Things Get in WESTWORLD’s Second Season?

New photos for the next season of Westworld has everyone looking very serious. You might even say deadly serious. On today’s Nerdist News Talks Back we discussed how bloody season two might be, along with Kristen Wiig as the next Wonder Woman villain, and if we’re ready to go to Hogwarts with the new Harry Potter game.

Jessica Chobot was joined today by producer Jason Nguyen, along with Nerdist editors Alicia Lutes and Kyle Anderson, and they leapt into action to break down reports Kristen Wiig could play Cheetah in Wonder Woman 2. What do we think of this unexpected casting choice? Does it fit with the DCEU’s lighter tone lately? Do we like the idea of a comedian playing a villain? And if they don’t go with Wiig, who would we like to see play Cheetah?

We also got the full trailer for the new Harry Potter RPG. Are we excited to play the game? Was mobile the right platform for it? Do we like that it will have “social” quests? Will it have long term success, or flame out the way Pokemon Go did? And what are the odds it will truly be “free” to play?

Finally, EW has new photos for the second season of Westworld showing the characters looking very intense. What secrets are they hiding? Do all the costume changes and team-ups have us excited for the show to return? What new park do we hope to see this year after getting a glimpse of Samurai World during last year’s season finale? And is Westworld TV’s new Lost?

Nerdist News Talks Back airs live on our YouTube and Alpha channels Monday through Thursday at 1 p.m. PT, and remember to tune in tomorrow to our brand new show Nerdist News What the Fridays, a recap of the pop culture week which airs on Fridays at 1 p.m. PT exclusively at Alpha.

When you join us live you can be a part of the conversation with our hosts. But we don’t mean “hosts” as in robots, we just mean they host the show.

As far as you know.

But we still want to hear from you about today’s topics, so talk back to us in the comments below.

Images: HBO

How WONDER WOMAN 2’s Villain is Changing the DCEU!

The Wonder Woman sequel is starting to take shape, and we now know Gal Gadot‘s Amazon heroine will be facing off with Cheetah, one of her most memorable foes. The real surprise is former Saturday Night Live cast member, Kristen Wiig, is apparently in negotiations to play Cheetah. Today’s Nerdist News is examining the implications of Wiig’s potential casting and how Cheetah could change the entire DC Extended Universe.

Join host and Greek God-killer, Jessica Chobot, as she offers a brief history of Cheetah’s relationship with Wonder Woman. The first two incarnations of Cheetah weren’t very distinctive, but the third one, Barbara Minerva, struck the perfect tone that finally made the character click with readers. Unlike her predecessors, Barbara was both friend and foe to Diana, which gave their battles a much needed personal touch.

Cheetah could easily be an intense role, which is why some fans have balked at Wiig potentially playing her on screen. But everyone should remember Wiig has range as a performer, and she’s far from the first comedian to land a major comic book movie role. Remember Danny DeVito‘s turn as the Penguin in Batman Returns? Or even Batman himself, Michael Keaton? Those two choices worked out nicely.

Given the positive response to the lighter elements of Justice League, it’s entirely possible Wonder Woman 2 will be utilizing Wiig’s comedic talents as well as her dramatic skills. Gadot’s Wonder Woman could be the perfect straight man for some of Cheetah’s material, assuming the film can recapture the tone of the original. But we have faith in Patty Jenkins, and Wiig’s casting could pave the way for more comedians to land big roles in the DCEU.

What do you think about Wiig as the Cheetah? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: DC Comics

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