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HITMAN Producer May Take DANGER GIRL Comic Book to the Big Screen

Nearly twenty years ago, comic book artist J. Scott Campbell and comic book writer Andy Hartnell released their creator-owned action-adventure title, Danger Girl. And while they only completed one Danger Girl miniseries before largely stepping away from the franchise, it may find new life as a movie.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Hitman producer Adrian Askarieh and Constantin Film are developing Danger Girl as a feature film, although a director and screenwriter have not yet been found. As described in this report, it sounds like the movie will adapt the first miniseries by Campbell and Hartnell. The comic follows Abby Chase, a rogue adventurer who finds herself recruited to join the Danger Girl organization alongside her fellow operatives, Sydney Savage and Natalia Kassle.

Danger Girl borrows pretty heavily from Indiana Jones, Charlie’s Angels, and even James Bond, as the leader of the group is Deuce, an older British man who looks suspiciously like Sean Connery. There’s also a touch of G.I. Joe in there, as the Hammer Empire echos Cobra’s terrorist organization, and there are even ninjas with mysterious pasts who are somehow linked to Abby’s past.

Danger Girl could be a lot of fun in a new medium. Campbell and Hartnell showed a talent for staging over-the-top action sequences, and there is an increased desire for more female comic book heroes in the wake of Wonder Woman’s success. Additionally, Hartnell wrote several follow up Danger Girl miniseries that expanded the mythology of the series and eventually introduced new heroines and villains.

Are you excited to see Danger Girl in live-action? Take aim in the comment section below!

Images: IDW Publishing

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How Much Work Was It to Remove Superman’s Mustache in JUSTICE LEAGUE?

If you saw Justice League at your local theater, then you might have noticed something slightly…off about actor Henry Cavill’s upper lip. Why did the Superman actor suddenly look like the digital recreation of Peter Cushing for Rogue One all of a sudden? It’s not like Cavill is dead and needed to be recreated via special effects. Nope, It’s because Supes had a mustache. Cavill was also filming Mission Impossible 6 at the same time as reshoots and his character had facial hair. He was contractually obligated to keep said facial hair, so the mustache had to be very carefully removed by a series of digital artists for Justice League.

The folks over at Business Insider contacted a well known visual effects house called The Mill over the summer to discuss the practicalities of removing a mustache. Anne Trotman, Lead 2D Artist, and Dave Fleet, the Head of 3D at The Mill, answered their questions about just how common removing an actor’s facial hair really is.

According to Trotman, “It’s very common to be asked, particularly on beauty projects. Sometimes celebrities might be shooting a commercial, but need to keep their facial hair for a film, so can’t shave on set. Also for different global markets these days some clients need alt versions.”

How long would it take to de-mustache the Man of Steel? According to Fleet, it takes “one week just to make the 3D elements; then another three weeks to track, animate, and render the shaven face; and another two weeks to composite it all together.”

What neither designer would come forward and say is just how much something like this would cost the studio. In the case of Justice League, the re-shoots were rumored to cost as much as $25 million total. I wonder how much of that money went to pesky mustache extermination.

Did you notice Henry Cavill’s weird CGI lip when watching Justice League or not? Be sure to let us know below in the comments!

Images: Warner Bros.

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Super Soothing Deepstaria Jellyfish is the ‘Lava Lamp’ of the Sea

Life 6,500 feet below the ocean’s surface generally sounds horrifying. It’s dark, cold, and there’s a whole bunch of creatures down there that look like they came from another planet or our worst nightmares. But there are, of course, some exceptionally pleasant little lifeforms. Take the Deepstaria jelly, which pulsates and undulates like a weird, fleshy lava lamp that reminds you to just go with the flow…of the oceanic currents.

The video is one of the latest to be posted by the E/V (Exploration Vessel) Nautilus, a research vessel operated by the Ocean Exploration Trust. In the clip, we watch as the Nautilus’ ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) comes upon the magnificent Deepstaria Jelly, which quickly causes the crew operating the vehicle to explode in amazement and joy.

The Deepstaria jelly, or Deepstaria enigmatica (celebrities, this would be a cool and unique name for your next baby, just saying), is usually found in or around Antarctic seas, but this one was spotted about 250 miles south of the Baja California Peninsula, around the Revillagigedo Islands. No word on how the stunning jellyfish came so far from its presumed home, but all we know is that it started from the bottom, and now it… continues to reside there.

Our last 2017 expedition launches today! We’re investigating shallow water volcanism and biological communities in the Revillagigedo Archipelago, 300mi offshore Baja California. Learn more: https://t.co/ARUlbVTYzF pic.twitter.com/EegkAbSEOi

— E/V Nautilus (@EVNautilus) November 8, 2017

E/V Nautilus notes in the video description that “This Deepstaria jelly awed us with its shapeshifting abilities as its bag-like bell inflated and undulated with current created by movement of ROV Hercules.” E/V Nautilus also notes that Deepstaria eats by capturing prey in that massive bell, which can grow up to four feet in diameter. Once the prey is captured in the bell, a network of vessels — which give the Deepstaria those stunning latticed patterns across its flesh — delivers the nutrients to the rest of the jelly.

You may also notice that the E/V Nautilus ROV blasts the Deepstaria with a pair of lasers. Alex Marshall, a marine biologist, noted in a tweet that those are used for measuring size, as the two laser points are exactly 10 centimeters apart. They also help the living lava lamp get the party started.

Deep sea lava lamp? The Deepstaria jelly awed us with shapeshifting abilities as its bell inflated & undulated with current from ROV Hercules. Capturing prey in its voluminous bell, a strikingly geometric canal network delivers nutrients through this large jelly’s body. pic.twitter.com/NS6iny7guf

— E/V Nautilus (@EVNautilus) November 15, 2017

What do you think about this Deepstaria jellyfish? Are you even reading this right now, or are you still mesmerized by its smooth, undulating body? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: EVNautilus 

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AR ‘Plane Finder’ App Turns Flat Surfaces Into Incredible 3D Air Traffic Models

Although the skies across the globe are constantly trafficked, it’s rare for anybody to get a real, visual sense of what it looks like to have thousands of behemoth planes all moving in organized swarms around each other. Now there’s a new augmented reality (AR) app that aims to bring iPhone users one step closer to visualizing the skies, as well as what it would look like if there were a tiny airport (for ants?!) on the coffee table.

The app is called Plane Finder 3D and it’s made by the same team behind the original Plane Finder app, first launched in 2009. Plane Finder 3D is a separate purchase (each app is $4.99), and it’s only available for iOS on the iPhone or iPad. One of Plane Finder’s team members, Reddit user lesmond, did say in a Reddit thread that the company is not currently working on an android version, although that may change “if there is enough demand.”

The app is able to provide real-time 3D views of air traffic as well as the terrain beneath it thanks to Apple’s ARKit as well as data streams coming from air traffic monitoring broadcasts, including Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B), Multilateration (MLAT), an FAA feed, and the FLARM feed for gliders. For example, Plane Finder is able to track many flights because the broadcasted ADS-B information has a wealth of data including, but not limited to, a plane’s call sign, position, and speed. (The ARKit is Apple’s programming interface that allows third party developers to build AR apps.)

Ultimately, for about $5.00, you get the ability to track international air traffic in real-time and 3D, investigate flight paths and holding patterns, and search for specific flights and airports. Plus, you get to turn tables or any other flat surfaces into little virtual sky dioramas, which will undoubtedly delight any plane nuts in your life.

What do you think about Plane Finder? Could you see yourself becoming addicted to watching the virtual skies? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: Plane Finder

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This Bird Really Loves to Sing Queen Songs

Freddie Mercury tragically passed away at the age of 45 due to complications from AIDS almost 26 years ago this month. While Mercury’s life was cut short, his musical legacy lives on with the classic songs of his band, Queen. While Queen’s music was very much a product of the ’70s and ’80s, their songs also have a timeless quality that has helped them remain fan favorites for decades. Apparently that fandom can extend to the animal kingdom.

Via Laughing Squid, YouTube user MrsStr1 posted a video that features her cockatiel bird, MAY-cyan, perched on the shoulder of a Freddie Mercury figure belting out a melody of two Queen songs: “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Radio GaGa.”

It’s not clear if MAY-cyan has achieved mastery of any other Queen songs, but she apparently has alternate takes on both of the previous songs, which you can see below.

Not every bird chooses to fly its Queen fandom flag in the same way. In this clip from Alex Rosco Pakalov, a parrot named Snowball dances up a storm to the beat of “Another One Bites the Dust.”

If there was any way to top these musically inclined Queen-loving birds, we would hope that some feathered friend out there could entertain us with their rendition of the ultimate Queen song: “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Sadly, we couldn’t find anything like that on YouTube. But hopefully someday, it will come to pass.

What did you think about MAY-cyan’s Queen covers? Let us know in the comment section below!

Image: MrsStr1

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Adam Savage is a Kid Again Touring an Amazing Jim Henson Museum Exhibit

It’s impossible to explain how many people Jim Henson‘s work has touched. His puppets were—and will always be—a huge part of innumerable lives. Which is why it’s hard to not get a little emotional watching Adam Savage take a tour of the new Jim Henson Exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York, which features items from his work on The Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, and Dark Crystal.

In this video for Tested, Savage got a personal tour of the museum, which has nearly 300 objects in its permanent collection. That includes 47 puppets, including Henson’s first one, Rowlf (who knew?!), to a Kermit puppet from the ’70s (with a headband and microphone Jim Henson wore while operating him), to Big Bird and Cookie Monster, as well as Ms. Piggy in her exquisite wedding dress, Cantus Fraggle, and a Skeksis. There are also costumes, production design material, and licensed merchandise, all from the nearly 500 items that were donated in 2013 by the Henson family.

I know there will be some people who lose their minds seeing Elmo or those amazing Labyrinth costumes, but I would absolutely tear up seeing the “real” Kermit the Frog that Jim Henson himself brought to life. And I’m far from the biggest Muppets fan I know, of which there are a lot.

And they are a big reason this amazing exhibit even exists, because it was in part funded by 2,000 donors who contributed to a Kickstarter campaign. Thanks to them the work of Jim Henson will continue to touch countless live for a long time.

In the words of Kermit himself: “Yaaaaay!”

Which Jim Henson puppet or other object would you be most excited to see? Operate our comments below with yours.

Images: Tested

THE MAGICIANS Season 3 Teaser Claims the Quest to Restore Magic

Last season on The Magicians, Quentin, Eliot, Alice, and Margo settled into their roles as the Kings and Queens of Fillory. It was their job to protect the kingdom and its magic. They failed. Now their bonds have been tested and they live in a world without magic, The remaining question is simple: how far are they willing to go to get back what they lost? SYFY has released a new teaser trailer for the upcoming third season of The Magicians, which offers a few hints about the epic quest to restore magic.

To get magic back they must follow the clues

5 Incredibly Bizarre MICKEY MOUSE Cartoons

When you watch a Mickey Mouse cartoon, you don’t expect to say, “What the hell?!” Out loud. Repeatedly. But it’s part and parcel when watching the modern Mickey Mouse shorts from executive producer and supervising director Paul Rudish (Samurai Jack, Clone Wars). Kicking off in 2013, the shorts run about four minutes each and put Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and their pals into some weird ass situations that will have you scratching your head. Minnie decapitating Goofy, leeches feasting on a naked Mickey, a theme park made of potatoes—that’s the least of it.

The amusing and stylized shorts will befuddle you, to be sure, but their offbeat qualities are what make them so fun. Here are five Mickey Mouse shorts you should watch:

“Mickey Monkey”

When Mickey and his friends take a trip down the river, a monkey steals Mickey’s identity and his friends don’t notice. “Mickey Monkey” features the naked Mickey incident I mentioned earlier, the monkey Mickey grooming Minnie, and other odd moments.

“Wish Upon a Coin”

Remember that time Mickey Mouse licked Bashful? No? It happens in “Wish Upon a Coin.” Mickey, Minnie, and characters from Snow White are thrown into disarray when Pete steals all the coins from the wishing well. So many silly and off color things ensue.

“Potatoland”

Dream with me for a moment fellow lovers of carbs: what if there was a theme park made of potatoes? It happens in “Potatoland.” Goofy longs to visit the mythical land, and Mickey and Donald Duck do their best to make it a reality–a twisted, gravy covered reality that pokes fun at Disney Parks.

“Split Decision”

When Professor Von Drake’s experiment to help Donald manage his temper goes wrong, Mickey has to deal with two very different Donalds–including a Hulk-like version that terrorizes townsfolk.

“The Birthday Song”

“The Birthday Song” begins innocently enough with Minnie composing a tune for Mickey’s birthday. But things go awry, and Minnie ends up decapitating Goofy. Please note his severed head on the floor at the end of the short.

Feel an itch to binge more of these shorts? Here’s the YouTube playlist. Knock yourself out.

Which of the modern Mickey Mouse shorts do you think are the weirdest? Do you like them? Head to the comments and share your thoughts!

Images: Disney

Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. Follow her on Twitter and keep up with her Disney food adventures on Instagram.

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New Yorkers: The Guy Fieri-Inspired Pub Crawl FieriCon Invades This Weekend

Normally it’s the government who warns the public about an impending threat, whether it be a natural one like a coming snowstorm or a hurricane, or a man-made issue like when a dangerous individual is on the loose or there’s tainted food being sold. But there are some menaces that pose a different type of hazard, and that’s when we in the pop culture world must sound the alarms to warn the innocent. So, to the good citizens of the Big Apple, beware! Because this weekend New York City is going to be invaded by a marching army of inebriated individuals dressed like Guy Fieri.

That’s right, it’s FieriCon 2017.

Not content to let the unholy nightmare known as the annual SantaCon event be the only drinking fiasco in New York, FieriCon (which The Takeout warned us about) will kick off at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday, November 18th at the Hog Pit (37 West 26th Street), before continuing its pub crawl around Manhattan for the rest of the day.

In addition to many drinks, we also imagine there will be some time devoted to eating dishes with big, bold, in-your-face, flavortown, redonkulous, kicking…what was I talking about? Food? A fist fight? Fighting your food?

It doesn’t matter, what matters is there is hope of surviving this event. For one you can stay home and follow “Purge” safety protocols. But two, New Yorkers have dealt with this before, because this is the second year it’s being held. So maybe this isn’t as bad as it sounds. Maybe I’m being a little dramatic. The city is still standing after last year’s FieriCon, and all jokes aside Guy Fieri just seems like a harmless cartoon character who was brought to life by a nihilistic wizard who cursed him to scream about sandwiches and boost the sales of apparel companies who makes horrible shirts.

How bad could this con be?

I went to FieriCon this weekend for @extracrispy and lived to tell the tale: https://t.co/rsYDkQnDN4 pic.twitter.com/M9JGIUfzAB

— Jordan G. Teicher (@teicherj) November 21, 2016

…God have mercy on New York.

Which unique pop culture personality should get his or her own Con? Tell us who you’d drink a toast (or 12) to in our comments below.

Images: First We Feast, Food Network

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Mercury Will Devour Your Gold If You Let It

Freddie Mercury may have had the golden voice, but real mercury, that endlessly entertaining and dangerous liquid metal, has the golden touch. That is, if it touches gold it will immediately break the lattice bonds of the precious metal and form an alloy in a process known as amalgamation. A process which, when catalyzed between a dab of mercury and a sheet of gold leaf, looks like the ignition of a metallic fire in reverse.

The fascinating, stop-motion-like demonstration comes from YouTuber and chemist NileRed, who leads us through the process of dissolving gold with mercury, and then reclaiming the former from the latter with the use of chemical treatment or boiling water. Each step is pretty magical, as the mercury gains and loses its gold content and goes from drop to blob to block and then back to drop.

The amalgamation process, where mercury breaks gold’s atomic structural bonds and forms an alloy at low temperatures, also happens between it and and almost all other metals, including zinc, potassium, aluminum, and tin. The few exceptions include platinum, which means if you’re going to be dealing with mercury, only the finest jewelry should be worn. Also gloves and lots of other protection because mercury is poisonous.

Although the process of amalgamating mercury and gold makes for great entertainment, it also serves a practical purpose for extracting gold from ore, as the gold can be extracted from the ore with the mercury, and then extracted from the mercury with heat and other chemicals. Although again, mercury is poisonous, which means this is horrible for the environment. Definitely still fun to watch in a lab though.

What do you think about this video of mercury dissolving gold? Do you want to put gold leaf on everything around your house knowing it’s only $11 for 25 sheets? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: NileRed

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