Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1902

INJUSTICE 2 Gives Hellboy an Ending We Never Thought the Character Would Get

Earlier this year, Hellboy was announced as the first non-Mortal Kombat character to guest star alongside DC’s heroes and villains in Injustice 2. Now that Hellboy has finally been unlocked as part of the Fighter Pack 2, his ending in the game has also been revealed. Hellboy creator Mike Mignola illustrated the artwork that revealed the fate of his signature creation. And this time, Hellboy achieved a sense of peace that he never really received in his own adventures.

In this brief video, Hellboy defeats Brainiac and ends up stuck in the DC Universe long enough to team up with Batman to take down Two-Face, Clock King, Riddler, and the Mad Hatter. However, Hellboy’s narration reveals a sense of restlessness that follows him even when he manages to return to his own universe. From there, Hellboy finally finds what he was looking for in Africa, which also gives him a chance to fight monsters as needed.

There are spoilers ahead for Hellboy in Hell! You may want to stop reading if you aren’t current with Hellboy’s comic book fate!

The closure that Hellboy received in Injustice 2 is striking because it’s a much happier ending than he received in the comics. Hellboy was killed and dragged down to Hell to fulfill his destiny as the beast of the apocalypse. Hellboy ultimately rejected that fate, but he was still lost to Hell at the end of his story. Injustice 2‘s ending almost feels like a mulligan because it gave Hellboy a second chance to find happiness.

We can’t help but wonder whether Hellboy’s upcoming cinematic reboot will also deal with Africa. That film will feature Nimue the Blood Queen as its primary villain; in the comics, Nimue was once the Lady in the Lake, which suggests that England may be the setting of that film. Still, Africa could potentially be an interesting place to go in future movies. Mignola only sent Hellboy to Africa for one of his comic adventures, and it is largely unexplored within that fictional world. Mignola’s tales have had so many European myths and monsters that it would be a welcome change of pace to see Hellboy take on the challenges of Africa in original stories that go beyond the comics. And who knows? Perhaps Hellboy could find happiness there as well.

What do you think about Hellboy’s Injustice 2 ending? And do you want to see Hellboy’s adventures in Africa? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: NetherRealm Studios

More on Hellboy!

Hellboy unleashes his inner demon in the latest Injustice 2 trailer
See David Harbour as the new Hellboy
Mike Mignola talks killing Hellboy

First Trailer for A QUIET PLACE Creates Terror With Silence

Thanks to decades of slashers, demons, monsters, and killer clowns, audiences know what to expect from a horror film. But next year, A Quiet Place may undermine those expectations by delivering a new cinematic experience of terror. The first teaser trailer for the film has arrived, and it features the real life husband and wife team of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt as parents of two children in a rural area. The family lives together in fear of some unseen force, which is why they attempt to live their lives in silence. But as you’ll soon see, the silence won’t save them.

One of the most striking things about this trailer is the way it builds tension without dialogue. These people are terrified of something, and they’ve seemingly given their lives over to it by doing everything that they can to avoid making any noise. They walk in specific paths outside of their home, they communicate in sign language, and they even know where to step to keep the floor boards from creaking.

Of course, the implication is that this family has lived this way for quite some time, and it’s not clear why they haven’t simply fled their home. But perhaps that’s how deeply this thing (or these things) has a hold over them. Unfortunately, the events glimpsed in the trailer seem to indicate that the family won’t be able to hide in the silence forever. Whatever is out there, it’s coming for them now.

Krasinski directed this film, and it will reportedly have minimal dialogue through the entire script. That should make for a very unique time at movie theaters, when A Quiet Place is released on April 6, 2018.

What did you think about the first trailer for A Quiet Place? Let us know what you’re thinking in the comment section below!

Images: Paramount Pictures/Platinum Dunes

Love, Alexi #90: Michelle Morgan

Michelle Morgan joins Alexi to talk writing, directing, and starring in her new movie “It Happened In LA”.

Follow @alexiwasser on instagram & twitter, send emails for Alexi to read on air: DearLoveAlexi@gmail.com!

Should More Movie Trailers Do What DEADPOOL Does?

Deadpool 2 released a great new teaser that was a lot more Bob Ross parody than actual footage from the film? On today’s Nerdist News Talks Back we discussed if this is a better marketing campaign than the kind used by most movies, along with what to make of the uneven Justice League reviews, and the newest commercials from The Last Jedi.

Guest host Hector Navarro from Mothership was joined today by Nerdist editor Amy Ratcliffe, Mothership producer Derek Johnson, and Director of Development Brendon Schulze. They started with the happy little teaser/lesson we got for Deadpool 2. Did anyone learn any actual painting tips from it? Do we like this type of marketing campaign where we get very little from the movie itself? And would this approach work for other movies too, or should most films stick with traditional trailers?

Today was also the day we started getting the first full reviews for Justice League, and they’re a mix of pretty good, really bad, and somewhere in between (like our own Kyle Anderson’s review). What do we make of this mixed reaction? And should we care about what score it gets from Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic? Or is that something only studios should worry about?

Finally, there are a bunch of new commercials for The Last Jedi, including one that makes it look like Rey will train with a staff before she gets a lightsaber, and another Finn-centric one where he’s apparently learned how to fly. What do we make of these? Do they have us more excited to see the movie or are we about as ready as we’ll ever be already?

If you want to get in on the conversation with us remember Nerdist News Talks Back airs live every weekday at 1:00 p.m. PT on our YouTube and Alpha channels. We’re always up for talking trailers, movie reviews, and unexpected painting lessons.

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

NEED MORE DEADPOOL?

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Will Deadpool 2 introduce Cable’s evil clone Stryfe?

Featured Image: 20th Century Fox

TEEN TITANS GO! Gets ’80s Music Video Inspired Funko Pop!s

Fans of Cartoon Network’s animated hit Teen Titans Go! are well aware of the 2005 song “The Night Begins To Shine” by B.E.R., an obscure tune that the cartoon series propelled to become a mainstream hit, ten years after it was recorded (thank you, internet!) The whole “The Night Begins to Shine” thing started out as a gag on an episode of the series a few years back, and thanks to the series’ fans, it steamrolled into its own thing and is now synonymous with the series.

Eventually, this past summer there was even a “The Night Begins to Shine” themed Teen Titans Go! television special, and Cartoon Network even released an album of covers of the song from musicians like CeeLo Green and Fall Out Boy. There was even a music video for the song, which you can check out up above.

And now our friends at Funko are releasing a new wave of Teen Titans Go! Pop!s, all based on the ’80s inspired music video for “The Night Begins to Shine.” The whole team is here — Robin, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg, all with glorious ’80s music video hair. These guys look straight out of Mad Max movie, or  maybe the cover of Heavy Metal Magazine, and it’s wonderful. Also included in this wave is Bear. Toys”R”Us has the glow in the dark version of Cyborg, who comes with an axe. Also, look for a flocked version of Bear as well. All are headed to a store near you in February!

You can see each of the new figures down below in our gallery.

Are you excited to add these guys to your Teen Titans Go! collection? Be sure to let us know down below in the comments.

 

 

Everything You Missed in the DEADPOOL 2 Teaser

Marvel’s Merc with a Mouth is about 8 months away from returning to theaters, but fans were gifted with an early look at Deadpool 2 this week; and it already looks insane in all of the best ways. The movie may not even be called Deadpool 2 anymore, if the Untitled Deadpool sequel description can be believed. Either way, Wade Wilson is back, and today’s Nerdist News is taking a closer look at the new Deadpool 2 teaser.

Join guest host and weekend A.I.M. warrior, Hector Navaro, as he walks us through the first footage from Deadpool’s sequel. But before we get to that, let’s check out the hilarious Bob Ross parody that took up most of the teaser. The marketing team behind the first movie created a PR campaign that was perfectly in character for Deadpool, and the early indication is that the sequel’s team is going to pull off the same trick in different ways.

Bob Ross Deadpool’s choice of colors seemed to reference a few dystopian sci-fi stories with Clockwork Orange, Doc Brown, and Soylent Green; but we hear that last color is people…and tasty! The Betty White shout-out is a nod to Deadpool’s love of the Golden Girls, while Silverlicious and Girls of Indigo appear to be calling upon Beyonce’s “Bootylicious” and the Indigo Girls, respectively.

While the actual footage from the film was very brief, it did offer a lot of hints and funny moments, including Deadpool holding his arm on with duct tape and sharing an intimate scene with Vanessa. Aside from a glimpse of his hand, Cable wasn’t directly seen at all. However his profile is prominently featured in the church that appears to be under attack by a fire-wielding mutant. One of the surprises is that taxi driver Dopinder has graduated from a cameo role into one of Wade Wilson’s inner circle. Even Weasel and Blind Al are back for this one.

It’s very difficult to pull any plot details from this teaser, but it does appear that the transport seen near the beginning of the film footage belongs to someone attempting to keep their mutant prisoners from escaping. The new pyrokinetic mutant seen here could be Pyro from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and it looks like Negasonic Teenage Warhead will once again play a supporting role in this adventure. Perhaps the most exciting part of the video was the quick look at Domino, but we’ll have to wait a little bit longer to see more of Deadpool 2‘s biggest new additions.

What did you think about the Deadpool 2 teaser? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

More on Deadpool!

Deadpool 2‘s new teaser is VERY Bob Ross!
Could Deadpool‘s new comic book change the status of the films?
Will Deadpool 2 introduce Cable’s evil clone Stryfe?

Images: 20th Century Fox

Amazon’s LORD OF THE RINGS Series Might be the Most Expensive TV Show Ever

Every network wants their own Game of Thrones, which is why Amazon will be venturing to Middle Earth with a Lord of the Rings TV series. While it remains to be seen if it will achieve the massive level of success HBO’s hit show has, it looks like there’s one way in which it will outdo its fantasy counterpart–it’s budget. Because it’s possible Amazon is about to air the most expensive television show ever made, with a potential commitment close to one billion dollars.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Amazon paid 250 million just for the global rights for the show, which itself is a staggering number considering the entire budget for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy was reportedly between 280 and 297 million. That’s not a perfect comparison when you consider inflation and that he made three films totaling over 11 hours in runtime (extended editions), compared to the five seasons and possible spin-off Amazon is reportedly looking at making. But it still gives you an idea of what kind of financial obligation the company is making to enter the world of J.R.R. Tolkien even before it hires a single person to work on the series.

(If you’re curious, The Hobbit trilogy cost close to 750 million. It ain’t cheap filming dwarves singing a song about cleaning the dishes!)

But to make that many years of a show at the quality fans of the Lord of the Rings movies will accept–as well as the expectations people will have for the “next” Game of Thrones–is why it’s possible the ultimate price tag to produce the series could be close to one billion, which would make it the most expensive TV series ever. The reported budget for Game of Thrones eighth and final season is 15 million for each of the six episodes, which means before any promotion it will cost HBO at least 90 million. Even in season one, before anyone could have guessed it would become the most popular show in the world, it had a massive television budget of six million per episode. A conservative estimate for the show’s total budget is probably 500 million.

But it’s hard to imagine anyone at HBO thinks the financial commitment hasn’t been worth it, considering the cultural phenomenon the show has become. Which is why we’d bet that if Amazon can achieve the same level of success with its Lord of the Rings series it will consider it money well spent.

At the very least we know one thing: dragons, swords, and magic are not cheap.

What do you think? Will this pay off for Amazon? Or is this an insane amount of money for a TV show? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Images: New Line Cinema

Go to Mordor with more Middle-earth stories!

The story of Beren and Lúthien is available.
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Gollum sings “Time After Time.”

Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie Playlist Makes Us Feel Like a Lady Liberator

Thor: Ragnarok was an embarrassment of riches for many reasons, not least of which was the incredibly badass and all-around Coolest Space Chick, Ever, Valkyrie. Tessa Thompson‘s debut in the MCU will no doubt linger on the minds of everyone who saw Ragnarok and became quickly obsessed with the cool, strong, flawed woman she portrayed on-screen. And now the actress has revealed—via Elle Magazine—the female artists she listened to in order to empower herself and embody the coolest warrior Asgard has ever seen.

The whole thing started when Thompson answered a question from a fan about what she listened to in order to go full Valkyrie. And even just the suggestions were enough to get us excited.

Kate Bush, @peaches, E.S.G, & Death Grips to name a few. Maybe I’ll make a playlist.

Is Cable a Cult Leader In DEADPOOL 2?

In the quick snippets of actual footage from Deadpool 2 in the new trailer, which is mostly just Ryan Reynolds hilariously riffing on painter Bob Ross, one thing we oddly didn’t really see was Josh Brolin as the cybernetic mutant Cable.  However, the eagle eyed viewers over at Comic Book Resources did seem to glean a significant clue as to what Cable’s role will be in the final film.

In the very brief shot of Julian Dennison’s as-yet-unnamed character, we see him in what looks to be a church surrounded by flames. The real clue though is in the background, up on the banners hung on the walls of this church. The banners say typical cult-like stuff like “The End is Near” and to “Prepare Yourself,” while another one say  that those in the room are “Pure Blood,” with the final banner reading “Purity, Humanity, Infinity.” And on one of those banners is clearly an image of a man with a cybernetic arm and an X logo on his shirt, none of than Cable.

So is Cable a cult leader in this movie? Or is he a sort of messiah figure for a cult that already exists? Now, here’s where things get interesting. In the comics, it could be said that Cable was actually raised, till a certain point in his childhood, by what could be thought of as a cult — the Clan Askani.

This is where we must get into the convoluted history of Cable. Born to X-Man leader Cyclops and his wife Maddy (a clone of Jean Grey), Nathan Christopher Summers was born with telekenitic abilities like his mother.The ancient mutant Apocalypse infected the child with a techno-organic virus (hence the metal in his body), and to save his life, Cyclops let a mysterious clan from the far future take his son away to cure him, knowing they would never see him again.

So clan Askani, also called the Askani sisterhood, cured young Nathan and he grew up to be Cable. Eventually, he would travel back to our present in order to defeat Apocalypse. Now, another member of the Askani Sisterhood (a woman named Sanctity) also experimented with time-travel and founded a cult based on the Askani principles in the 21st century. And Cable himself has been spreading the Askani philosophy in the present, seeing Askani as a way to build a strong foundation on the future. Could this be the “cult” we briefly glimpse in the trailer? Are we getting that deep cut of a reference in Deadpool 2 already? Who knows, but it is certainly possible based on the source material.

Do you think the cult we see in the Deadpool 2 trailer is a comic book reference, or is it something totally different? Be sure to let us know down below in the comments.

More on Deadpool!

Deadpool 2‘s new teaser is VERY Bob Ross!
Could Deadpool‘s new comic book change the status of the films?
Will Deadpool 2 introduce Cable’s evil clone Stryfe?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Images: Twentieth Century Fox / Marvel Comics

The History (and Mystery) of the Two Wands FANTASTIC BEASTS Just Revealed

The famed Elder Wand had a long and dark history, starting from the first night it was created in the legend of the Deathly Hallows, until centuries later when Harry Potter snapped it in half so it could never again be used to kill. But long before Lord Voldemort stole it from Dumbledore’s grave, another infamous Dark Wizard possessed it during his own reign of terror. And based on a photo shared from the set of Fantastic Beasts, the most famous wand ever made is going to be showing up in the franchise’s first sequel, alongside an all new wand we’ve never seen before, one that could possess its own unique powers. But more importantly, it might explain how Dumbledore defeated Gellert Grindelwald during the most famous duel in wizarding history.

The Fantastic Beasts twitter account posted this photo of two wands. The one on the left, with the pocked surface and round bulbs, is unquestionably the famed Elder Wand Harry Potter fans know all about. It was the wand Dumbledore used, and it became a major focal point in battle between Harry and Voldemort in the last book and movie.

But it’s the one on the right which seems to be a wand no Muggle has ever seen before. Notice how it looks like the complete inverse of the Elder Wand, both because it has a smooth, shiny finish, and also because the protrusions of the Elder Wand almost seem to fit perfectly into the grooves of the mysterious new black wand.

Wands at the ready. On 11.16.18 the #FantasticBeasts story continues. Check back tomorrow for more #MagicInProgress. #WizardingWednesdays pic.twitter.com/FLxxfXP1Am

— Fantastic Beasts (@FantasticBeasts) November 15, 2017

We know that Dumbledore didn’t come into possession of the Elder Wand until 1945, when he defeated Grindelwald in a legendary duel that helped end the Dark Wizard’s threat in Europe. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows an imprisoned Grindelwald told Voldemort that’s how Dumbledore came to be in possession of it. To own the Elder Wand you had to take it from the previous owner (which usually meant killing them), but Grindelwald had stolen it years earlier from the wand-maker Gregorovitch.

Our working theory (that we’d bet all our money on) is that the entire Fantastic Beasts series is heading towards that showdown, and we thought that even before we knew Jude Law will be playing the younger-ish Dumbledore starting with this first of four sequels. But despite having lots of information about the creation of the Elder Wand–when Antioch Peverell asked for it from Death himself, and how numerous lives were lost by wizards acquiring it over the centuries–we know almost nothing about the wand that beat it.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald were two former friends who as teenagers had dreamed of ruling the world of wizards and Muggles alike as a kind of benevolent monarchy. When Dumbledore finally answered the pleas to stop him decades later, the duel that took place was said to last for three hours. Both were extremely talented wizards, two of the most gifted ever, so it’s understandable they were so evenly matched. But if Grindelwald had the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand ever created, was Dumbledore that much more skilled that his inferior wand was able to overcome the discrepancy?

Or, as this photo suggests, was there something about Dumbledore’s original wand that lent itself perfectly to to fighting with the Elder Wand? If it really is a sort of inverse of the Elder Wand, did it provide Dumbledore with a unique way to beat his friend?

A connection between the two would be similar to how Harry and Voldemort’s wands were connected because they both shared a feather from the phoenix Fawkes. That caused Voldemort so many problems he ended up taking Lucius Malfoy’s wand, and when that failed he became obsessed with acquiring the Elder Wand. That was the reason he killed Snape (unaware Draco had truly been the one to take it from Dumbledore).

Might history have repeated itself, and could that be how Dumbledore understood immediately what happened when Voldemort and Harry faced off with one another at the graveyard in Little Harrington, when Harry and Voldemort produced Priori Incantatem (when the “ghosts” of Voldemort’s victims appeared)?

This might be a lot to extrapolate from just one new wand, but one of the histories of magic in America that J.K. Rowling wrote before the first Fantastic Beasts was released, was about the wand makers in America. Could the secrets of this mysterious wand be traced back to America? Did Dumbledore partly avoid facing Grindelwald for years because he knew he didn’t have the right weapon to fight him yet?

Dumbledore and Grindelwald will forever be connected, and even though we might know how their relationship ended with the most famous duel in history, there’s very little we know about how it happened. The wand Dumbledore used during that fight might hold just as many secrets and powers as the Elder Wand. And if that’s the case it raises another question: what happened to it?

Did it end up playing a role years later when a second Dark Wizard followed in the robes of Grindelwald? Are the connections between the prequels and Harry Potter much deeper than we thought?

We don’t know, but with this many questions raised by a single photo, we now understand why we’ll need four more movies to get all the answers.

What do you think? Is this the wand Dumbledore used to defeat Grindelwald? Could it have some powerful connection to the Elder Wand? Conjure your best theories in our comments section below.

Images: Warner Bros.

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