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OVERWATCH’s D.Va Becomes an Awesome Mech Suit Cosplay

As D.Va, Hana Song is one of the most formidable characters in Overwatch, but she’s definitely not the easiest character to pull off in cosplay. The look of D.Va’s mech suit is difficult to recreate in real life, although it’s not impossible. A cosplayer calling himself GunGryphon has unveiled his new White Rabbit D.Va costume, and it’s so good that he makes it look like the character just stepped out of the game.

Via Kotaku, GunGryphon debuted his D.Va mech suit at Salt Lake Comic Con in September 2017 before it was fully finished. But even at that stage, it was a very striking take on the character. According to GunGryphon’s YouTube page, the D.Va cosplay was based directly on the game model and took over a month and a half to build. The final creation stands around seven feet tall and weighs roughly 50 pounds.

Impressed yet? We certainly are. Now check out the view from the front.

Sadly, the D.Va mech cosplay isn’t nearly as nimble on its feet as she is in the actual game. From an aesthetic standpoint, it’s very pleasing to the eye. But according to Kotaku’s report, GunGryphon has paid a high price for wearing this heavy costume for hours while walking on stilts. He has reportedly suffered nerve damage in his toes. That’s disheartening to hear, but GunGryphon is also said to be working on a redesign of this costume that will hopefully alleviate that problem.

You can find more of GunGryphon’s cosplay on his Facebook page. We’re excited to see what he comes up with next.

What did you think about this D.Va cosplay? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: GunGryphon

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Does the New PACIFIC RIM UPRISING Footage Confirm Our Jaeger Theory?

Warning: There are potential spoilers ahead for Pacific Rim Uprising. Proceed with caution, but only if you’re drift compatible. 

Earlier this year, the first trailer for Pacific Rim Uprising contained a tantalizing glimpse of Jaegers battling each other instead of the kaiju. At the time, we theorized that humanity had turned Jaeger battles into a new form of warfare during the decade between the first Pacific Rim and its sequel. At Tokyo Comic Con, a brand new video feature for Pacific Rim Uprising not only appeared to confirm our theory, it may have uncovered a dark direction for the plot. Today’s Nerdist News is drifting through kaiju minds to find out what it means.

Join host and the woman who found Hannibal Chau’s lost shoe, Jessica Chobot, as she dodges the fallout from the giant robot battle to give us the answers. It’s entirely possible that what we’re seeing is from the beginning of the movie, which could establish the state of Jaeger warfare in a world that was seemingly free of kaiju threats. That would even echo the way that the first film set the stage for its story.

But look at the intensity in that fight. Those two Jaegers aren’t behaving like random participants in a battle. They’re acting like they have very personal stakes on top of whatever else is going on. That’s why we’re betting that it takes place later in the story after that vendetta has been set up for the audience. Settling old scores in the middle of a fresh kaiju invasion is probably a bad idea, especially if the enemy wants to destroy humanity as we know it.

An alternative way for that battle to play out is if the rogue Jaeger pilots have actually sided with the kaiju against their fellow humans. It’s extreme, but not entirely out of the question. The Jaeger wars are bound to leave emotional wounds on both sides of the conflict, especially the losing side. Who’s to say that someone wouldn’t make a deadly alliance with the kaiju just to get their revenge on their hated rivals? We can totally see that happening, but we doubt that the powers behind the kaiju would have any interest in sharing the Earth once the Jaegers are out of the way.

What do you think about our Jaeger vs. Jaeger theory? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Legendary Pictures

Editor’s note: Nerdist Industries is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.

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DOCTOR WHO/MR. MEN Mash-Ups Are Now Collectible Figures

Last year, BBC and the Sanrio Company announced plans to mash up the first twelve Doctors of Doctor Who in the style of Roger Hargreaves’ popular children’s book series, Mr. Men. Adam Hargreaves subsequently wrote and illustrated the first four books, which gave the First, Fourth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors their adorable new incarnations. Now, the Mr. Men Doctors are becoming collectible figures just in time for the holidays.

Via Bleeding Cool, RP2 Global is releasing the Doctor Who/Mr. Men figures, starting with the cool rocker granddad himself, Dr. Twelfth. It’s hilarious how much that simple style appears to capture so much of Peter Capaldi‘s Doctor.

Not to be outdone, Dr. Eleventh shares Matt Smith‘s affinity for fez hats bow ties. Both are still cool in our eyes!

Tom Baker‘s Fourth Doctor had an iconic hat and scarf, both of which made it into Hargreaves’ take on Dr. Fourth. Given this Doctor’s taste for Jelly Babies, it seems appropriate that he kind of resembles a Jelly Baby himself.

Finally, there’s the First Doctor, or Dr. First, as he’s called in the crossover books. William Hartnell‘s Doctor was a bit of a grump, as evidenced by the permanent scowl on his face.

The Doctor Who/Mr. Men figures are currently available for order on Forbidden Planet, and they are expected to be released later this month. If RP2 Global continues the series by following the order of the books, then the Second, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Doctors will be on deck for their Mr. Men figures in the next wave.

What do you think about the Mr. Men-inspired Doctor Who figures? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: RP2 Global

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Beautiful Sci-Fi Short ORBIT EVER AFTER Seeks Love Among the Stars

Being free of the terrestrial restraints of Earth and getting to live among the stars sounds like a dream, but there’s no freedom in the cosmos when you can’t be with the one you want. And in the beautiful sci-fi short film “Orbit Ever After,” a frustrated young man has to make the difficult choice between the safety of his family and taking a leap of faith to find love.

This 2013 short is one of the newest additions available across the platforms of DUST, which is dedicated to sharing visually-stunning content with science-fiction lovers. The gorgeous “Orbit Ever After” stars  Game of Thrones alum Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Nigel, the teenager who wants more than the monotonous space-rummaging life he shares with his grandfather and parents. He’s willing to sacrifice everything, even for just a moment with the girl he exchanges longing glances with every time she goes flying by his family’s rundown hovel.

And when she sends him a note offering a way for them to be together, Nigel must decide if it’s time to let go of the only life he has ever known. It turns out that it’s not any easier being with the one you love in space anymore than it is in the Seven Kingdoms.

This bittersweet short was written and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, and you might recognize another denizen of Westeros, because Nigel’s father is played by Mackenzie Cook, who was in the original UK The Office and played Jon Snow’s wildling warg enemy Orell.

What did you think of the ending of this film? Take a leap into our comments below to share your thoughts.

Images: DUST

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These Columbia STAR WARS Jackets Will Keep You Warmer Than a Tauntaun Will

It is officially winter, so it’s time to start making sure you’ve got all the cold weather gear you need to stay warm this season. And sure, you could just go to the store and snag yourself a generic, regular jacket, or you could grab yourself one of these amazing jackets inspired by The Empire Strikes Back.

Columbia is partnering with Star Wars to bring awesome replicas of the rebels’ Hoth apparel to life in a limited edition run called the Echo Base Collection, starting at 12:01 a.m. EST on December 8. Columbia will only be making 1,980 (the year Empire Strikes Back arrived to theaters) of each style so you must move faster than Han Solo making the Kessel Run. You can buy one of three jackets inspired by Luke, Leia, and Han’s Echo Base looks.

Fans of Han Solo can grab the parka he wore while exploring Hoth. Water-resistant with Omni-Heat insulation (meant to help you hang on to your natural body heat) and a faux-fur hood, this parka will make you feel like one of the biggest badasses of the galaxy.

Leia Organa fans can snag her iconic white jacket/vest combo, which is water-resistant with Omni-Heat reflective lining. The jacket has a stowable hood and gusset sleeves, perfect for any intergalactic adventures you’ve got planned.

Or you can grab a jacket modeled after Luke Skywalker‘s own Empire look. This jacket/vest combo is also water resistant with a stowable hood and Omni-Heat insulation to keep you far warmer than any tauntaun could. Save the tauntauns!

You’ll be able to find these jackets online on December 8, but you can also find them at Columbia brand retail stores. Each jacket will set you back about $400, so save your credits now!

If none of those jackets get you excited, you can also try to snag an even more limited-edition jacket, a brown version of Han’s parka. These jackets are $1980, but come with a fun perk. Not only do 100% of the proceeds from these jackets go to Conservation International (an organization dedicated to the protection of nature), but these bad boys are each hand-signed by Han Solo himself, Harrison Ford. You can check out Columbia’s website to figure out how you can buy one or enter to win one for yourself.

What do you think of these jackets? Which would you buy? What other Star Wars-inspired clothes do you have your eye on? Tell us in the comments!

Images: Columbia

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THE SNAGGLEPUSS CHRONICLES Explores ’50s Paranoia with a Gay, Pink Mountain Lion (Review)

A couple of years back, DC Comics decided to take the classic Hanna-Barbera television animation properties from the ’50s and ’60s and give them a less cartoony, 21st century makeover in the pages of the comics. This resulted in books like Scooby Apocalypse and a more “realistic” take on The Flintstones. I can’t speak to the success or failures of these titles, never having read them, but the concept behind them was interesting to say the least.

Now DC is going even further into the Hanna-Barbera vaults, and giving us a post-modern take on one of their earliest iconic characters, Snagglepuss. For those of you reading this who are too young to have heard of the character, who mostly lives now in late night reruns on Boomerang, Snagglepuss was an anthropomorphic mountain lion, who wore a propped collar and a bow tie, was colored bright pink and played as stereotypically effeminate, spouting catchphrases like “Heavens to Murgatroyd!” and “Exit, stage left!” Basically, the clip below is all you really need to know about Snagglepuss encapsulated into two minutes.

Created in 1959, this was an era where gay characters in all forms of media were all coded — as being gay was extremely taboo, and in fact, illegal — but without a doubt, the character was meant to encapsulate (and mock) what American society thought of a gay man. It would be unfair to beat up on Hanna-Barbera in particular for doing this, since basically every form of media tackled gay people disrespectfully at the time. They weren’t any better or worse than anyone else.

DC’s new comic, The Snagglepuss Chronicles: Exit Stage Left, from writer Mark Russell and artist Mike Feehan, seems like something that would have been an unofficial take on the character just a few years ago, but we live in an era where the rights owners are OK with seeing their children’s cartoon character totally deconstructed for a wide audience, which is actually pretty daring. This alone makes this comic worth checking out — it’s sort of crazy and awesome that this even exists at all.

The basic premise of this new series finds us in a world where talking anthropomorphic animals live alongside humans, if for no other reason than they did in those old Hanna-Barbera cartoons. But that’s where the cartoonishness ends, as everything else about this world is pretty much a version of our own screwed up real one, including the ugly parts of our history. Snagglepuss, or “SP” as he is most often referred, is a massively successful playwright, in the Tennessee Williams tradition. As the story opens, it’s 1953, and SP’s latest smash show is closing on Broadway, a highly charged family drama in the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof style.

SP is married, to a Lila Lion, another pink hued feline (probably a nod to ’50s societal norms about interracial marriages; SP could probably only marry a similarly hued member of his species). But his marriage is a sham, and at one point he sneaks away to meet his male lover (who is also human to boot, and a foreigner) at a local underground gay watering hole, which happens to be the historic Stonewall Inn. Not exactly subtle here, but then, what’s subtle about a gay pink mountain lion?? I should add, all of these details reflect in one form or another the real life of legendary playwright Tennessee Williams.

The background of all this is the very real House Un-American Activities, Red Scare-era witch hunts that were happening at the time, including the Ethel and Julius Rosenberg trial and execution. The first issue suggests that SP will also be brought before the House Un-American Activities Commission, blackmailed due to someone finding out about his compromising “deviant” lifestyle, something that didn’t happen to Williams, making this series more than just “the life of Tennessee Williams told with animals.”

The entire idea of using a cartoon character like Snagglepuss to explore maybe the most paranoid and repressive time in American history might seem outlandish on the surface, but writer Mark Russell finds a way to make it all work. I kept thinking this comic reminded me of Rian Johnson’s movie Brick, a 1940s-style noir thriller set in a modern American high school. The entire premise of that movie is patently ridiculous, but since the film is played straight, it forces the viewer to ignore the trappings and pay attention to the actual story. Snagglepuss is very much the same — once you get past the fact that lions and golden retrievers are just part of society, this is just a study of repressive American values in the first half of the 20th century.

This mini-series is scheduled at six issues, and it will be interesting to see if they can keep the basic premise of this working for as long as that, but they’re off to a fairly good start. The writing by Mark Russell is witty and compelling enough to keep you seriously invested in its premise, no matter how silly it may seem on the surface and the art by Mike Feehan is perfectly serviceable, although nothing Earth-shattering. Fans of LGBT and American history, especially socio-political history, will enjoy this comic more than others, but I’d say it’s definitely worth checking out once it hits comic shops next year.

What do you think of this deconstruction of a cartoon favorite? Be sure to let us know what you think down below in the comments.

RATING: 3.5 OUT OF 5 BURRITOS

 

The Snagglepuss Chronicles #1: Exit Stage Left will be available at comic book stores on January 2, 2018.

Images: DC Comics

 

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A Brand New MEGA MAN Game is Coming in 2018

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Mega Man, Capcom’s unfathomably influential side-scrolling action platforming franchise, which has spawned dozens of sequels, offshoots, spin-offs, sub-series, and a whole indie market for knock-offs and clones. I would go so far as to say that next to Mario, Mega Man could be the most important character in the original console generation. And there’ve been sequels up to fairly recently, with Mega Man 10, a downloadable, 8-bit retro throwback dropping in 2010. On Monday Dec. 4, however, Capcom made fans of super fighting robots salivate the world over when it announced a brand new Mega Man would be coming in late 2018.

Get equipped with Mega Man 11, coming to Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC in Late 2018! Watch the #MegaMan30 livestream at https://t.co/qn8POJ2KIj! pic.twitter.com/wpz3x4rybj

— Mega Man (@MegaMan) December 4, 2017

Mega Man 11, which will be available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, keeps the traditional elements that made Mega Man so popular (side-scrolling action, difficult platforming schemes, varying stages, upgradable weaponry based on boss battles) and gave it a next-gen console makeover. The colors in the trailer really pop and give a good sense of the visuals and play-type for the game. It’s a combination of retro level design and skill and modern 3D animation and backgrounds.

Mega Man’s official YouTube channel also released a longer 30th anniversary trailer taking us through the timeline of all the games and showing bits of the games in the main Mega Man series.

After attempting to play through the original Mega Man and Mega Man II recently, I was dumbstruck by just how hard 30 year old games were, so if this new game gives us that level of frustration–especially in a post-Cuphead world–we’re in for long, long nights.

Let us know your thoughts on Mega Man 11 and the entire franchise in the comments below!

Image: Capcom

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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Universal Orlando Brings Marvel Characters To Rebooted Superhero Cafe

Long before Disney purchased Marvel, Universal Orlando‘s Islands of Adventure was the exclusive theme park home for Marvel’s superheroes. And while it’s rare for a new Marvel attraction to open in the park, Universal is rebooting Cafe 4 in Marvel Super Hero Island to bring six superheroes to dinner in a new experience.

Via Universal Orlando’s official blog, starting this Thursday, December 7, fans will be able to assemble at Cafe 4 for the new Marvel Character Dinner, which will feature Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, and Rogue of the X-Men alongside Captain America and Spider-Man as they go from table to table and pose for photographs and sign autographs for the guests. It seems a little odd that none of the Fantastic Four characters will be filling these roles at Cafe 4, but these are the superhero character performers that Universal Orlando had already been utilizing in the Marvel section of the theme park. The supervillain characters are apparently not invited.

The Marvel Character Dinner will also include “a menu created specifically for this new experience.” So far, the only specifics mentioned were Penne Bolognese, stuffed jumbo shells, specialty pizzas, fresh salads, rosemary lemon chicken, shrimp scampi, chicken scallopini, and “a heroic portion of assorted desserts.”

Reservations aren’t necessarily needed, but they are recommended. The Marvel Character Dinner will only be running from Thursdays to Sundays between 5:00pm and 7:00pm. However, Universal Orlando will also be offering fans a chance to eat breakfast with the Marvel characters during select days at Loews Royal Pacific Resort and Hard Rock Hotel.

Are you intrigued by the new Marvel Character Dinner? Assemble your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Universal Orlando Resorts

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Witness the Creation of Adam Savage’s Chewbacca Mask

Former Mythbusters host Adam Savage has demonstrated his love of cosplay by donning intricate costumes at comic conventions that allow him to enjoy the experience without being recognized. In this year alone, Savage his worn an animatronic Planet of the Apes mask and appeared as Judge Dredd, in addition to his King Arthur and Kylo Ren costumes. For Savage’s Chewbacca costume, he enlisted the help of Regal Robot founder Tom Spina to create a mask that could not only hide Savage’s identity, but also pass as a recreation of the real thing. This week, Tested posted an extended video devoted to tracking the process that went into making that happen.

Savage had also recently geeked out about Spina’s amazing Star Wars customized furniture, but this was even more impressive. Spina was quick to credit the rest of his team for their contributions to the build, before explaining the way that the mask itself worked through a series of internal cables. Because the mask was customized to the exact size of Savage’s face, it was a perfect fit.

A previous Tested video depicted Savage’s experience in the full Chewbacca costume, with an animatronic C-3PO on his back, straight out of The Empire Strikes Back. And in a very amusing touch, the C-3PO actually had customized dialogue that enhanced the entire experience.

What do you think about the creation of Savage’s Chewbacca costume? Share your thoughts in the language of the Wookiees in the comment section below!

Image: Tested

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Eugene Chooses a Side in THE WALKING DEAD’s “Time for After”

Warning: Spoilers are ahead for the season eight of The Walking Dead. Keep reading at your own risk.

If I had to choose a character who frustrated me the most on The Walking Dead, it would be Eugene Porter, hands down.

Eugene is, by his own admission, a liar and a coward. Unlike his comic book counterpart, TV Eugene quickly switched his loyalty to Negan in season seven, and this week’s episode confirmed that wasn’t some long con on Eugene’s part. Even Eugene’s actor sees him as lacking loyalty: in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Josh McDermitt says Eugene is “firmly Negan…I don’t think that there is a [sense of] ‘Well I’m going to be Negan and then I’m going to be subversive and work against him’ or any of that because, again, Eugene’s all about his own survival.”

Eugene himself repeats that sentiment to Gabriel this episode. “All I want you to to do is do the right thing,” Gabriel tells Eugene, slowly dying in the Savior’s hospital and yet speaking calmly, illuminated by light streaming through the windows. “What you may have forgotten is I’m a small person who does not stick his neck out for anyone other than himself,” says Eugene, sitting in darkness and looking practically constipated with guilt. (“Ooh shit, you look worse than me,” the bedridden Gabriel says to Eugene when he first walks in the room, and can I just say I really like Gabriel now?)

Throughout the episode we see Eugene confronted by three people, Ebenezer Scrooge style, who demand he overcome his self-serving nature and do the right thing. Gabriel is the first, and then Tanya, one of Negan’s wives. Eugene, who has ridiculously bought into Negan’s lies, looks shaken when Tanya reminds him that she’s been trapped inside the compound, long before Rick’s walker horde showed up. Despite seeing himself as a clever man, Eugene never realized–or willfully ignored–that we’ve never seen Negan’s wives ever allowed outside. She then reminds Eugene of a plot point that I sorely wish the show had expanded on: that the wives wanted and tried to kill Negan, but Eugene thwarted it.

Eugene’s last confrontation is with Dwight. Eugene attempts to lure the walkers away from the Savior compound by attaching an iPod and speakers to a mini plane, but Dwight shoots it down. “I’m trying to save people, Dwight,” Eugene says. It’s easy to read between the lines, here, as Dwight does: Eugene is afraid of Negan, and he’s really just trying to save himself.

It’s difficult to buy into Eugene agreeing with Negan that the Saviors live up to their name. There’s no way he could’ve watched Negan literally throw their doctor into a smelter and listened to Negan’s wives beg for freedom from the man and still believe that lie. For a self-professed intelligent man, does Eugene really think these people are safer living under a power hungry autocrat than on their own? Perhaps that’s the kind of situation that makes sense for a person like Eugene though: with Negan, he simply has to follow the rules to live in comfort. Living out there with the walkers means having to fend for himself.

We know, as Eugene finds Sasha’s coffin and begins to cry, that Eugene is not a bad person. But he’s also not a brave one, and The Walking Dead has told us before that people who only look out for themselves are often just as dangerous as the walkers.

In the end, Eugene ends up not giving up Dwight to Negan. I’m not quite sure yet if I believe he did that because he knew it was right. (And certainly within the episode there’s a conversation about what’s “right” for one person can be wrong for another.) Did Eugene finally choose a side, or is he still simply thinking of his own hide? 

Elsewhere, Rosita, Michonne, Tara, and Daryl rendezvous with Morgan. Rosita and Michonne have reservations about ramming a truck into the Savior compound–for both the worker’s safety and their own–while the latter three are determined to go through with it. While we get some good moments with Rosita and Michonne, it’s difficult to understand why they simply disagree and walk away from the other three. Rosita and Michonne both reaffirm they believe in Rick, and in the idea that the workers deserve to be saved, so why do they not attempt to stop Daryl, when his plan is likely to severely hamper Rick’s?

There’s also definitely a thread here of Tara and Daryl running entirely on their own hatred and guilt: Tara for Denise’s death and for not speaking up about Oceanside’s guns sooner, and Daryl for his torture and being responsible for Glenn’s death (according to Negan himself). They are, in their own ways, being driven by their selfishness as well, and that’s clearly leading up to a collision with Rick.  

We also finally see Rick convince Janis to join them, only to discover Daryl and Tara have undone his work at the compound. It really does appear Eugene, working from the inside, will be the key to Rick’s victory. The question is, will he do it? Only time will tell. In the meantime, I’ll stop being disappointed in Eugene when he stops clearly being disappointed in himself.

Do you think Eugene is now going to work against Negan? Sound off in the comments!

Images: AMC

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