Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1831

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET’s Soul Pizza Is Now an Animated Collectible

The original seven A Nightmare on Elm Street films had Freddy Krueger enacting a lot of very creative kills. He turned one poor victim into a puppet, and he turned another into a cockroach and then crushed her in a giant Roach Motel. But maybe his most memorable kill, or at least one of his most disturbing, came in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, when he trapped the souls of his victims inside little sausages on a giant pizza, and then ate them one by one.

Well, all of you Elm Streeters out there can own a permanent memento of one of Freddy’s most gruesome kills. Thanks to the folks at Geek Alerts, we’ve learned they are actually producing a replica “soul pizza” from the film. This prop decoration measures about 16-inches and features audio and animated faces. This A Nightmare on Elm Street Animated Soul Pizza comes in a themed take-out box and requires three AA batteries to work, but if you manage to buy this one for yourself, you are guaranteed to have the coolest prop at any Halloween party this year.

You can pre-order this disturbing snack, which you can see above, for $69.99 over at Entertainment Earth. Hopefully this is the first of many “Freddy Kills” replicas to arrive. After all, what true Freddy fanatic wouldn’t want a television with a replica Robert Englund Freddy head popping out of it like in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors? Although how would that work on a flat screen TV? Someone out there figure it out, so we can buy it too.

What do you think of this wonderfully gross prop replica? Let us know below in the comments.

Images: New Line Cinema / Morbid Enterprises

These pizzas won’t freak you out!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ice cream pizza.
Pizza in a box made from pizza.
Stay safe with a pizza night light.

LORD OF THE RINGS Fan Remembers His Father By Eating 15 Courses of Food from the Movies

 The Lord of the Rings trilogy is meaningful to a lot of us. Because the films were such a cultural phenomenon, rewatching them can instantly take you back to the first time you saw The Shire in theaters. For Nate Crowley, the movies keep him connected to his late father. He posted on Twitter he and his partner would be holding a Lord of the Rings movie marathon in his father’s honor on the one year anniversary of his dad’s death. But that wasn’t all. They also made food from the films to accompany their viewing. Crowley posted a rough menu based on his memories of the “key eating scenes” as he called them.

Here’s the menu, which is based entirely of my rough memory of the key eating scenes in LOTR. Feel free to follow along if you like. LET’S GO pic.twitter.com/IDAbJtdy9V

— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018

Of course, these are movies with hobbits in them, so snacking is serious business, and Crowley didn’t mess around. He kept his followers abreast of each new LOTR-inspired dish he and his partner ate, starting with low-key tea and cakes for breakfast (that’s first breakfast, mind you):

We just saw a hobbit scarf a cake onscreen, so it’s time to begin breakfast pic.twitter.com/ymffGcCKYQ

— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018

He got more creative as the feast continued, making his own version of lembas bread. He did not say whether or not he agreed with Legolas‘ lembas bread stance of one bite being enough to fill the stomach of a grown man.

Heading out of Lothlorien now, so it’s time for some Lembas bread (jacob’s butter puffs) with some pesto hummus and grapes because elves I guess pic.twitter.com/akFME1Sxkm

— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018

And while the couple happily abstained from any man or orc-flesh, meat was definitely back on the menu.

L O O K S L I K E M E A T ‘ S B A C K O N T H E M E N U B O Y S pic.twitter.com/fFWUj8wvUe

— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018

Of course, some of the food they eat in the trilogy is pretty gnarly (Eowyn’s horrific fish stew, anyone?) so after hours, the two grew weary of the incessant feasting. They managed to make it through, honoring Crowley’s dad in a sweet and totally unique way, even if it meant leaving themselves with mounds of leftovers.

~fin~ pic.twitter.com/7v24UOrYHK

— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018

We have ao many leftovers of the rings today

— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 19, 2018

The anniversary of the death of a loved one is hard, but we love this idea of celebrating someone’s life in a fun and unique way. To see everything they prepared and ate, visit this Twitter thread.

Would you ever try to eat your way through the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Have you ever done something like this to commemorate a loved one? Let’s talk about it in the comments!

Feature Image: New Line Cinema

More fictional food!

An eggcellent Gudetama-themed meal.
Catch all the food in the Pokémon cookbook.
What Studio Ghibli food looks like IRL.

Disney is Developing a MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR Animated Series

Last year, Laurence Fishburne teased a Marvel project beyond his upcoming role as Bill Foster in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Now, the news has broken that Fishburne and his Black-ish producing partner, Helen Sugland, are spearheading a Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur animated series for Disney Channels Worldwide.

Deadline broke the story about Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur‘s potential cartoon, which is apparently in such an early development phase that it hasn’t been determined if it’s going to Disney XD, Disney Channel, or even Disney Junior. What we do know is that it’s based upon the Marvel comic of the same name that was created by Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare, and Natacha Bustos.

Moon Girl’s real name is Lunella Lafayette, and she is a nine-year-old girl who may be the smartest person on Earth. Thanks to her Inhuman powers, Moon Girl also has a mental link with Devil Dinosaur, a red Tyrannosaurus Rex. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur can even switch bodies, although that doesn’t tend to work out well for them.

While Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur does have links to the larger Marvel universe, it also has its own supporting cast and villains that will probably allow the animated series to stand on its own. Considering Moon Girl has only been around for just over two years, it’s a significant push for one of Marvel’s newest heroines.

Are you excited about Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur getting their own show? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Images: Marvel Comics

More of the latest nerd news you need

Doctor Who gets a new logo and poster for the Jodie Whittaker era
The Last Jedi Blu-ray trailer teases loads of extras, and 14 deleted scenes
Jessica Jones tries out anger management in the latest season 2 trailer

THE FORCE OF SOUND Goes Behind-The-Scenes of STAR WARS’ Iconic Audio

Spoilers for The Last Jedi in the video down below!

The Star Wars saga has, easily, some of the most iconic movie sounds in all of film history. The lightsaber noise, the sound of the TIE fighters roaring through space, Vader’s breathing mask, the sound a blaster makes — all of these are instantly recognizable, even to someone who has never even seen a Star Wars film. And now there’s a documentary showcasing how it all comes to be.

This tradition started with Ben Burtt, the sound designer for the original trilogy, and continues—to this day—with recent Star Wars films like The Last Jedi, which has hundreds of newbies and veterans working to craft its unique aural atmosphere. With The Force of Sound documentary, ABC News went behind the scenes to Skywalker Ranch and captured the Foley artists and sound designers at work, trying make sure that every droid, every creature, every little instance in the film has its own unique and believable sound that goes with it.

Including the porgs.



This nearly 30 minute documentary interviews The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, as well as many other members of the Lucasfilm post production team, and is a great behind-the-scenes look at maybe one of the most important aspects of making a Star Wars film we don’t really hear about all that much about. This is definitely a must-watch for any true Star Wars fans out there.

What do you think of this very cool mini-doc? Would Star Wars be the same for you without its iconic sounds? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

More from a galaxy far, far away!

The first draft of The Last Jedi gave Poe and Finn a buddy mission to Canto Bight
Star Wars Rebels‘ Dave Filoni explains that heroic twist
The Last Jedi novelization includes a scene of Han Solo’s funeral

Images: Lucasfilm

LUCKY CHARMS Adds Unicorn Marshmallows

Have you ever eaten a bowl of Lucky Charms and known deep down something was missing? Despite the utter deliciousness of the crunchy-then-squishy marshmallows and the beautiful shade of greenish white your milk turned as soon as the cereal hit the bowl, the experience was incomplete. Your days of marshmallow-related ennui are over! According to PR Newswire, General Mills is adding a marshmallow to its permanent Lucky Charms roster for the first time in a decade. And even more exciting, it’s a unicorn!

The new marshmallow, like the rainbow, shooting stars, and others before it, is multicolored. This particular magical clump of sugar features a white head shape with a pretty pink and baby blue swirled mane. Some might say it doesn’t look exactly like a unicorn, but given that unicorns are most likely mythical, who are they to judge?

A Full (Spoiler-Filled) BLACK PANTHER Breakdown

Did you see Black Panther this weekend? If not you might be the only one, because its opening box office was mammoth. On today’s Nerdist News Talks Back we had a full, spoiler-filled breakdown of what we thought of the movie, how it will change the MCU, what Hollywood should learn from it, and lots more.

Host Jessica Chobot was joined today by senior Nerdist editor Dan Casey, producer Derek Johnson, and Nerdist News writers Aliza Pearl and Joey Clift. Were we surprised by just how massive its box office take was? What lessons should Hollywood take from its success? What will be the wrong ones we’re afraid they will? And did we like that the movie felt like a standalone entry in the MCU, or do we prefer the team-up installments more?



As for the movie itself, were we happy with how they expanded on T’Challa after his introduction in Civil War? What was our favorite set piece? How do we think the movie handled its timely theme of international isolationism? Which costume was our favorite? What “tech” in the movie is the one we’d be most excited to really have? And did we like all those modern, millennial references?

While we’re at it: what about Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger? Did we like his story arc and how they introduced his backstory? Is he the best MCU villain ever? How might the mid-credits scene where Wakanda begins to open up its technology to the world effect the future of the MCU? Could Earth be more science-fiction like soon? What about the final credits scene? Do we want a Bucky/Shuri buddy comedy? And what do we hope to see from a Black Panther sequel?

Remember Nerdist News Talks Back now airs live Monday to Thursday on our YouTube and Alpha channels, at 1 p.m. PT., and our all new hour long recap of the week in pop culture, Nerdist News What the Fridays, airs live at 1 p.m. PT exclusively on Alpha.

How much more will we be talking about Black Panther? We’re not sure, but we have a good guess: “Wakanda forever.”

We want to hear what you thought of the movie right now though, so talk back to us about it in the comments below.

Ready to Talk Back Some More?

Hear our thoughts about the Seinfeld return.
Plus: do you think George Lucas could/should return to Star Wars?
Finally, what do we think about a Michael Bay-directed Lobo movie?

Images: Marvel

Does BLACK PANTHER Concept Art Spoil a Sequel?

Who is Black Panther? After last weekend’s astonishing box office performance, it’s clear that he’s Marvel’s next big hero. But T’Challa wasn’t the only standout character in the movie that bears his name. Many of the supporting characters also captured the collective imaginations of moviegoers, and they could be poised for even bigger things to come. A piece of Black Panther concept art even hints that one of the breakout heroines may have her own destiny. Today’s Nerdist News is diving into what this could mean for Black Panther‘s inevitable sequel.

Warning: There are potential spoilers ahead for Black Panther 2. But it’s a lot less surprising if you’ve read the Black Panther comics by Reggie Hudlin.

Join host and Everett K. Ross’ mentor, Jessica Chobot, as she shows off Shuri’s Black Panther costume! It’s true, T’Challa’s little sister almost had a Black Panther costume of her own. And why not? After all, she created T’Challa’s newest costume that made its debut in this film. That’s in addition to the Golden Jaguar which Killmonger presumably stole from Shuri’s lab. In an earlier draft of the script, it’s likely Shuri took one of the Black Panther outfits when she and her mother had to go on the run.

Shuri is actually a relatively recent addition to Black Panther’s supporting cast, as he didn’t always have a sister! But from her very first appearance, Shuri coveted the mantle of Black Panther, and she eventually got the chance to prove her worth as T’Challa’s successor. Could history repeat itself in the MCU? It’s entirely possible, especially since T’Challa and Shuri were both Black Panther during their war with Doctor Doom. If it doesn’t happen in Black Panther 2, we still think that Shuri may get her chance to step up in one of the later films. After all, we fully expect that this movie will get at least two sequels. Perhaps Shuri can also headline her own franchise as well.

What do you think about Shuri’s potential future as Black Panther? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Marvel Studios  

More Nerdist News!

How Black Panther sets up the future of the MCU
Is Black Panther the Godfather of the MCU?
Why the new Solo Millennium Falcon has fans scratching their heads

LEGO’s New Hulkbuster Set is Enormous Even by Hulk Standards

This May, Marvel will be releasing its biggest movie yet, Avengers: Infinity War. In their fight against Thanos, the characters of the MCU are going to need to bring every weapon they have in their arsenal. This past weekend at Toy Fair, LEGO revealed its version of one of the Avengers’ biggest weapons: The Hulkbuster armor.

Reported over at io9, the Hulkbuster armor set, with close to 1400 pieces, will stand at 9 inches tall. If you look at the Iron Man mini figure above, you can get an idea of just how much larger the armor is, huge from a LEGO standpoint. The figure also comes with a stand and mechanical arms to help repair it whether it’s fighting the Green Goliath or a member of Thanos’ Black Order.

If you happen to have a deep-rooted fear of losing your LEGO mini-figures to either pets or the vacuum cleaner when they are displayed, it’s big enough to fit Iron Man, holding him safely from your villainous dog or cat or hoover.

One of the coolest parts of Avengers: Age of Ultron was the Hulkbuster’s jackhammer fist. Now it’s an interchangeable part of the LEGO set.

Infinity War is going to be a story told on a massive scale. Lots of superheroes, lots of action. Thanks to LEGO, you can create an infinite amount of your own adventures.

The Hulkbuster armor set will be released in March, and retail for $130.

So what do you think? Are you going to pick up the new, improved version of the Hulkbuster armor? What other cool set pieces do you hope they release? Let me know on Twitter @donnielederer or sound off in the comment below.

Images: LEGO, Marvel

More from the Marvel Universe, true believers!

From Pennywise to Pickle Rick, here are the highlights of Toy Fair 2018
Marvel Comics’ Avengers relaunch reunites Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor
Black Panther‘s opening weekend set box office records all over the world

From Pennywise to Pickle Rick, the Highlights of Toy Fair 2018

Toy Fair is one of the most wonderful and frustrating times of the year for the collector. We get to see some great new toys, and also find out just how long we’re going to have to wait before we can actually obtain them. And while we’ve shown you the Marvel Studios 10th anniversary line, some new Star Wars collector figures and the impossibly huge Jabba’s Sail Barge, and LEGO‘s latest take on Hogwarts and Jurassic World, there is, as always, more.

NECA surprised with some collector figures from older properties like Elf, John Carpenter’s The Fog, and Re-animator. But while nearly every toy company seemed to own a piece of the modern movie Pennywise the clown in various scales and styles–QMX may have had the most deluxe version…

NYTF18: Quantum Mechanix https://t.co/pQthIlUXlX #IT #Deadpool #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/9q4F3fO8Q9

— figures_dot_com (@figures_dot_com) February 20, 2018

Only NECA scored the long-requested rights to Tim Curry’s original portrayal. They also added the usual array of Aliens and Predators, including characters from the 1994 arcade game (pictured above).

With the Michael Bay Transformers movie series gearing up for possible revamp, Hasbro’s going back through the entire film series using their more recent toy technology to adapt digital models from the films into a new Studio Series. It finally includes a scale version of Age of Extinction’s villainous bounty hunter Lockdown.

From Mezco we get John Wick, who can also double in your collection as just about any other character Keanu Reeves has played recently. Here’s hoping Liam Neeson is in the pipeline somewhere too, for the same reason.

With a third series of Stranger Things on the way, McFarlane Toys is leaning heavily into that license, with an expansion that includes the four kids as Ghostbusters.

Funko, as usual, offered somewhere in the neighborhood of a literal bazillion new POPs, including Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Grease, Rainbow Brite, Super Troopers, and the Bob Ross Deadpool they digitally mocked up the moment the hero’s look was revealed in a trailer.

But that’s not all. They also showcased multiple plush versions of Pickle Rick…

…a new “Savage World” line that reimagines Thundercats, Conan the Barbarian, and horror movie icons as if they were ’80s Masters of the Universe characters…

Check out the new Savage world 5.5″ Figures from @OriginalFunko at #ToyFair2018.#Thundercats, #HorrorMovies, & #ConanTheBarbarian can all be seen here: https://t.co/sUbXphUS8l#ToyFair #NYTF #NYTF2018 pic.twitter.com/NDbwhl9djo

— The Toyark (@Toyark) February 17, 2018

…and a box set of Ready Player One movie action figures.

Diamond Select is expanding their comprehensive Ghostbusters line with the animated Real Ghostbusters, using the realistic body sculpts developed for their movie counterparts, but adjusted for the characters’ different heights on the show.

NYTF18: @CollectDST #Ghostbusters #PacificRimUprising #DCComics #Sonic theHedgehog #Marvel #NightmareBeforeChristmas pic.twitter.com/ic9QYt6M8C

— figures_dot_com (@figures_dot_com) February 20, 2018

Tamashii Nations’ samurai Star Wars line revealed upcoming designs for an Imperial Guard, Gamorrean Guard, IG-88, and Queen Amidala.

Have a nice early look at the #StarWars Movie Realization & #Marvel Manga Realization Figures from @BluefinBrands @TamashiiNations at #ToyFair2018!

See many more photos here: https://t.co/7WfFCf4fWq#ToyFair #NYTF #NYTF2018 pic.twitter.com/9QzJX3O77n

— The Toyark (@Toyark) February 17, 2018

Then, every once in a while, you’d get something you just never expect to see. Like sexy female Pinhead!

Or, perhaps…Peter Porker, the Amazing Spider-Ham! He’s part of a new comic-based Venom series, but we swear, if he’s the end-credits tease in the Tom Hardy movie, nothing else in it will matter.

Until the Fox-Disney merger is finalized, we’re not likely to see actual Deadpool movie figures with actor likenesses, but we strongly suspect Ryan Reynolds would approve of this one in underwear and slippers regardless:

What was the best thing you saw from this year’s Toy Fair? Tell us what we missed in comments.

Images: Hasbro, Funko, NECA, McFarlane Toys, Mezco

More toys to collect!

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom LEGO sets.
A Vice Admiral Holdo Black Series figure.
Hasbro’s Jabba’s Sail Barge toy.

DOCTOR WHO Gets a New Logo for the Jodie Whittaker Era

With the end of the Peter Capaldi/Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who, we pretty much figured a lot would change, and not only because we now have Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor and Chris Chibnall as the lead writer; most of the creative team has changed over for a brand new regime, including composer Murray Gold, who has had the job from series 1 all the way to series 10. Now, one of the first new pieces of change we’ve gotten visually is a new logo, which BBC America shared on Twitter, both as a short video vignette, and as a mega-awesome new poster.

New Doctor, new season, new logo. #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/vKMCt19kZ7

— BBC America (@BBCAMERICA) February 20, 2018

A new era of #DoctorWho is dawning… pic.twitter.com/cpFjATVD5M

— Doctor Who BBCA (@DoctorWho_BBCA) February 20, 2018

We got a new logo following David Tennant and Matt Smith, so it’s no huge surprise the Jodie Whittaker era is getting one, but what is surprising is the simplicity of it. As the ten-second animation shows us, the logo has the look of a map, of traversing time and space, ever in motion. It’s not as busy or ornate as any of the previous revived series logos but it definitely feels fresh and original, in a weird way.

The poster is a thing of beauty, with the Thirteenth Doctor standing on a hill, in the shadow of the sunrise about to dawn on a new age of Doctor Who. The TARDIS is right in front of the soon-to-break sun, making it the beacon of change and movement it’s always been.

The BBC America press release says merchandise with the new logo will be available from select retailers starting today, and I sure hope we get a version of this poster, because it would look amazing on any wall. An understated glimpse at the mad adventure to come in Fall of 2018.

Images: BBC America

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor and the resident Whovian for Nerdist. Follow him on Twitter!

More Doctor Who for you!

The Thirteenth Doctor comic book series gets an all-female creative team
An early Peter Capaldi deleted scene teased looking for Gallifrey earlier