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Here’s What the STRANGER THINGS Gang Looks Like as X-Men

When Stranger Things 2 landed I wrote about how the next seasons of the show could turn into an X-Men-style team up with mindbender Kali joining the crew, but we don’t have to wait to see that idea in action. Artist Boss Logic is way ahead of us with a batch of X-Men meets Stranger Things fan art. He has given everyone on the series superpowers matching those of Marvel‘s mutants.

Stranger X-men @sadiesink_ Max – Emma Frost – @netflix thank you for sharing the works

A post shared by Bosslogic (@bosslogic) on Nov 15, 2017 at 6:48am PST

The phenomenal splash page renderings merge the kids from Stranger Things with the core X-Men team. Obviously, Eleven with her intense psychic powers is Dark Phoenix.

Thinking of doing a fun series of the #strangerthings kids as #xmen here is @milliebobbybrown as phoenix. @finnwolfhardofficial with the beams next

A post shared by Bosslogic (@bosslogic) on Nov 9, 2017 at 4:44am PST

The artwork is stunning, and there’s a certain logic to the character combos. Sheriff Hopper as Sabretooth is clever (and eyebrow-tastic), Dustin as a goofy Beast is great, but the smartest match-up is bookish badass Nancy with Rogue.

Stranger X-men – after some discussion @dkharbour and I agreed on SabreTooth

Ezra Miller’s Flash is the Breakout Star of JUSTICE LEAGUE

I’ve never really cared for the Flash as a stand-alone character. Somehow, the guy who runs super fast didn’t click with me in the way that, say, the guy weighed down by his parental issues and bat costume did. Then I saw Justice League, and I became a believer. Specifically, Ezra Miller‘s portrayal of The Flash made me a believer. As Barry Allen, Miller was not merely super speedy, but vulnerable, eager, awkward, alienated, and all-around endearing.

Of course, we’ve seen alienated superheroes before, or at least that’s what their marketing tells us—like the X-Men, shunned by a world that hates and fears their sweet as heck mutant abilities. But the X-Men seem to get along with their X-colleagues pretty well, barring the odd romantic rivalry or secret child from the future, and have no problem hanging out with a bunch of strangers at Professor Xavier’s mansion. While they might be alienated from Homo sapiens, their fellow members of Homo superior don’t seem to present much in the way of basic social issues.

Miller’s Barry Allen, on the other hand, is straight-up awkward. When he meets Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) for the first time, his conversation jumps from topic to topic in an enthusiastic but highly stilted fashion, as though he’s trying to approximate standard human discourse. At one point, he admits to Bruce that he has trouble understanding people in general (to which I can relate), not in a “because I’m so special” way, but in a “please tell me there’s a means to fix this” way. Later, when he meets the rest of the Justice League, he busts out the quips to prove he’s more at ease, but it comes off as classic compensation; make ’em laugh so they don’t realize you have no idea what you’re doing.

This isn’t an X-Men situation. The world doesn’t hate or fear Barry Allen; he fears the world, because it’s full of people who are difficult to understand. He secludes himself because of his personality/mindset/neural processes/whatever you want to call it. It’s a refreshing change from the witty yet misunderstood nerd type, which I was afraid we’d get once Joss “Quipmeister” Whedon’s involvement in the movie was announced. However, Barry’s inability to relate to others carries a real sense of isolation, which in turn is rooted in a thwarted desire to connect. When Bruce offers him a place in the Justice League, his excitement comes just as much from the opportunity to, for perhaps the first time in his life, make some friends as it does from the chance to use his powers.

Ironically, Barry’s disconnect from the other people on screen is what makes him so lovable. How often do we get to see a blockbuster superhero who has trouble with one of the most basic human skills: personal interaction? It humanizes him in a way that most heroes’ secret weaknesses don’t. Kryptonite is a rare find, but people and their social norms are everywhere.

What further rounds out Barry’s character is his relationship to his superheroism. The only times he seems confident or whole are the times when he’s using his powers. During his first big battle with the team, he exudes nervousness until he taps into the speed force, and then he’s off. You can almost feel the joy through the screen when he runs and the world seems to freeze around him, in those rare moments when he finally has the luxury to move through life at a pace that places him in control—almost as though connecting to his superhumanity is the very thing that makes him feel human. Or, to put it another way, he finds an aspect of difference in himself that elevates him, and that he feels is worth celebrating.

Did I expect any of this when I saw Justice League? Nah. I was mainly hoping for some super-action and wildly implausible yet fun plotlines. But whether by accident or design, the DCEU introduced a new standard against which I can measure future iterations of a major character. A Flash who, through his superheroic identity, finds a way to relate to a world that otherwise eludes him is the Flash I didn’t know I always wanted. To borrow a few words from a rival company, Make Mine Miller.

What are your thoughts on Justice League‘s scarlet speedster? Tell us below!

Images: DC/Warner Bros.

More on Justice League!

Read our Justice League review!
Examining Justice League‘s strange history with forgettable aliens
The 11 best Justice League stories in DC Comics history

Nerdist Comics Panel #126: Howard Chaykin

Superstar storyteller Howard Chaykin sits down with Adam Beechen to share his opinions – and Howard has MANY opinions – on his controversial book ‘The Divided States of Hysteria,’ on the portrayal (or not) of heroism in his work, on the unfathomable underrated-ness of artist Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, on Adam’s hair, and on a zillion other topics. Oh, and he shows off his singing voice, too.

Follow @BenBlacker and @HeathCorson on Twitter!

JUSTICE LEAGUE Is Inconsistent But Enjoyable (Review)

It’s a funny thing, that DC Extended Universe. Following the generally divisive Man of Steel, Warner Bros’ eyed the “Cinematic Universe” as a model for franchise movie making, something Marvel created and subsequently dominated. With the even more divisive Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (a movie more unwieldy than its title) and Suicide Squad, the DCEU looked like the train wreck Marvel had avoided. But the acclaim of Wonder Woman changed all that, and for the franchise to succeed, Justice League would need to succeed in kind. At times, it does.

The movie’s history is linked directly to the fallout of BvS and Suicide Squad. It had extensive reshoots, then director Zach Snyder had to step down from the project following a family tragedy. Joss Whedon stepped in to helm the reshoots and redirect the tone of the franchise, with the final running time a full 50 minutes shorter than initially reported. As a result of all of this, Justice League feels a bit like a Frankenstein’s monster of a movie, but parts of the film remain enjoyable.

The story finds Batman (Ben Affleck) hard at work trying to assemble a group of heroes who can work together to fill the void left by the death of Superman (Henry Cavill) in the previous film. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) meanwhile is doing her best to save the world when and where she can without drawing too much attention to herself in the process. The problem comes when a New God called Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) returns to Earth after millennia to retrieve the three Mother Boxes he left on his previous visit. Should he reunite them, it could spell certain doom to the planet. Perfect time for a superhero team to show up, eh?

The three new recruits, hailing from different parts of the world, consist of Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), who purposely works dead-end jobs to be near his incarcerated father (Billy Crudup); Victor Stone (Ray Fisher), a former high school football star whose scientist father (Joe Morton) has rebuilt him following an accident using technology unlocked from one of the mother boxes; and Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), a reclusive hard-drinker who is the heir to the kingdom of Atlantis but hides from his destiny. Can these five people, with their powers, abilities, and gadgets, truly save the world?

Justice League is very uneven in a lot of places. The pacing feels incredibly rushed at the beginning and we don’t get a great sense of any of our new characters, and some fairly important supporting characters (Amy Adams’ Lois Lane, J.K. Simmons’ Commissioner Gordon) feel like cameos. There’s also an emphasis on cheesier and hokier moments that, especially following BvS, don’t gel all that well. But, when you realize this movie is the franchise trying to embrace the hopeful side of these heroes, and do literal justice to all of these characters, it becomes more forgivable.

However, some of the movie actually works well. The action is phenomenal, and there are at least two if not three sequences that are as epic and exciting as anything we’ve seen in superhero cinema. Miller’s Flash is weird, quirky, and likable in all of his scenes; there are a couple of choice moments with Aquaman that had me rolling; and the scenes with the entire League together are always a joy. Gadot is without a doubt the standout of the movie. Following the success of Wonder Woman, the character rightfully becomes the center of the team. I wish we’d gotten more with Cyborg, because the few moments he gets are highlights.

Despite a couple of other quibbles (Batman’s a bit tonally inconsistent), most of what works in the movie feels linked to Whedon. It’s obvious which scenes, moments, and lines are his and they liven things up considerably. More than once, a joke or awkward moment lands much more than they have in any other DC film. What’s equally clear is that lot of care was taken in the reshooting to make everything make sense. Nothing is confusing or out of place plot-wise, a major downfall of BvS and Suicide Squad. Justice League is not as tonally consistent as BvS but it’s a lot more narratively sound. It’s not a Swiss watch, but it keeps time perfectly well and you get to where you’re going.

Justice League, despite sounding like a no-brainer, was actually a big risk for Warner Bros. They had to ensure it moved everything forward so we could get to solo Aquaman, Flash, and Batman projects–not to mention a Wonder Woman sequel–without rushing the characters. It’s great to see these five heroes take the screen to stop a big bad together, and it’s mostly cohesive, exciting, and fun in the process. After a decade of Marvel dunking on them, DC has given fans a brilliant Wonder Woman movie and a perfectly fine Justice League movie in one year, and that’s the first step to a braver and bolder cinematic future.

3 out of 5 cape-wearing burritos

Images: Warner Bros. Pictures/ TM & © DC Comics

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

Need More Justice League?

What to make of the initial Justice League reactions
New Hot Toy’s Wonder Woman figure is rad
Here’ what its like to train like Batman for a month

Breaking Down All the Latest News from STAR WARS

For events that happened a long time ago, there sure is a lot of news coming out of the galaxy far, far away these days. So we had a full Star Wars rundown on today’s Nerdist News Talks Back, along with rumors of a new Super Mario film, and a strange, unsettling spoiler from the new animated Pokémon movie.

Mothership‘s Hector Navarro filled in as host today, and he was joined by Bizarre States’ Andrew Bowser, Geek and Sundry‘s Amy Vorpahl, and Nerdist News writer Joan Ford. They started with the very latest from Star Wars Battlefront II. If you thought yesterday’s conversation about the game’s leveling system was intense, that has nothing on Han Solo’s beard from the game. Do we like this look, or is this the game’s biggest problem yet?

What about Rey’s red cloak in the new IMAX poster for The Last Jedi? Does this mean she’s going to the Dark Side? And are we excited by the possibility of getting a trilogy-specific, customizable Star Wars ride from Disneyland in the future? What else do you hope to see when Star Wars land opens?

There have also been reports that Illumination Entertainment is in talks with Nintendo to bring Super Mario back to the big screen. Does this sound like a winning team to produce the elusive great game-based movie? And how many of us have ever even seen the much-maligned live-action version from 1993?

Finally, there’s a pretty big, pretty startling spoiler from the new animated Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! Did it destroy our childhood? Will we ever recover from this unthinkable development?

Remember Nerdist News Talks Back airs live at 1:00 p.m. PT on our YouTube and Alpha channels every weekday. You can be a part of the conversation with us when you tune in live. It’s the place to be for the latest Star Wars news, as well as a great place to deal with unsettling changes to Pikachu.

Even if you missed today’s show we still want to hear from you about the latest pop culture news, so talk back to us in the comments below with your thoughts.

Images: Lucasfilm, The Pokémon Company

A Boy and a Sweet Monster Become Pals in This Christmas Ad

The holiday season is upon us, which means it’s time for ugly yet somehow still desirable sweaters, gloriously geeky gifts for friends and loved ones, and of course, a tsunami of hokey retail advertisements that will break upon the fortress of our wallets like water on rock. But the advertisement below made for John Lewis, the chain of high-end department stores in the UK, is definitely worth your undivided attention. Not only did it cost $9 million to make, but it was also directed by Oscar-winning writer-director Michel Gondry.

Laughing Squid picked up on the John Lewis commercial, which is this year’s addition to a series of surprisingly touching holiday advertising campaigns that are put on annually by the retail giant. Previous years have included Buster the Boxer, Monty the Penguin, and The Journey, which featured two snow-people that fall in love, and end up warming your heart with their cold, blizzard-tested commitment to each other.

This year’s commercial, titled Moz the Monster, features an adorable kid who finds an even more adorable monster under his bed, leading to a bad case of insomnia. The monster, Moz, looks like he wouldn’t be out of place in the live-action Where the Wild Things Are movie, and the vibe of the whole story feels reminiscent of Monsters Inc. And although the advert (it is British!) may not feel as visually distinctive as something like Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind or one of Gondry’s music videos, there are still elements unique to his style here–Moz’s snoring the toys out from beneath the bed, for example. Plus there’s that amazing track (The Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers” covered by Elbow) that carries the whole story.

John Lewis also put up a short behind-the-scenes video that gives a little glimpse into how the commercial was made. Try not to be totally heartbroken that Moz is actually just two guys in a suit.

If you want a Moz plush of your very own, you can get one (and other Moz merch) from John Lewis; a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Barnardo’s Children’s Charities.

What do you think about this commercial? Could you tell it was directed by Gondry from the first frame? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: John Lewis

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Father Daughter Face Swap Video Is As Hilarious As It Is Horrifying

Facial recognition and digital reconstruction tech has lead to a lot of growing fears recently, with smart phones using face ID as a controversial form of authentication, and neural nets producing new, passable faces from big data. But none of the recent face-tech breakthroughs have been anywhere near as horrifying (at least in the immediate sense) as this clip of a live father-daughter face swap combo. As far as nightmare fuel is concerned, “QUEEN BABY: Food Critic” is ultra-high octane.

The video, which comes via Laughing Squid, was made by Kansas City comedian and YouTuber Woodsie using the Face Swap Live app. He’s made numerous other videos swapping his mustachioed mug with one or both of his daughters, but this one, which is all about Woodsie’s “hot garbage” supper and his younger daughter Violet acting as the royal food critic, probably takes the cake for most disturbing. Although the video of Violet’s second birthday, which involves a glimpse of Woodsie’s babified face, is certainly a close second.

The only description Woodsie provides for the video is a brief caption noting that Violet is “like a tiny drunk Gordon Ramsay.” And while Violet has the disgruntled and disapproving food critic part of that personality down, she’d probably need to swear about a thousand times more in order to completely pull off her take on the famous TV chef.

What do you think about this face swap video? Do you think if Woodsie showed this to Violet she’d be scarred for life? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: Woodsie TV, ITV Studios

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Thor’s Hammer Has Been Reborn as a Set of Tools

Thor: Ragnarok has proven to be a resilient box office hit, but Marvel’s Lord God of Thunder didn’t make it out of the film fully intact. Among other losses, Thor’s beloved hammer, Mjölnir, was shattered in a scene that’s included in nearly every trailer for the film. But is this truly the end for Thor’s iconic weapon? “I say thee, nay!” We think that the hammer may return in the future, but in the meantime, ThinkGeek has memorialized Mjölnir with a new tool set.

From the outside, ThinkGeek’s latest release is a pretty good recreation of Mjölnir, but when it unfolds, it reveals a 44-piece tool set. And we’re relatively sure that you don’t have to be deemed worthy by Odin to use them. There’s even a traditional hammer in the kit that features Mjölnir’s distinctive decoration on the handle. This hammer probably won’t return when you throw it, but it should be pretty handy to have around for any home repairs.

The set also comes with a ratchet screwdriver, an adjustable wrench, a tape measure, pliers, a folding knife, and more. It may be the geekiest tool box that we’ve ever seen, but that’s why we love it. In fact, it would almost be worth owning for the aesthetic value alone.

ThinkGeek is currently accepting orders for the Thor Hammer Tool Set, which is going for $100. Odin’s enchantments are not included, but that just makes the hammer easier to lift!

What do you think about ThinkGeek’s Thor-inspired tool set? Call down the thunder in the comment section below!

Images: ThinkGeek

Prepare for battle with more stories about Thor’s hammer!

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Chris Hemsworth shares an in memoriam video for Mjölnir.
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Human-Machine Duet Dances with Uncanny Emotion

For a while now, any talk about robots has quickly led to talk about how they’re going to be hacked to kill their owners, programmed to take our jobs, or straight up summoned like a demon to annihilate us all. But you know what? Robots follow their programming (just like us) and if you program a robot to dance flawlessly, that is exactly what it will do. Here, before your very eyes, watch as the demon–of dance!–is summoned on stage.

The human-machine dance duet, which comes via Laughing Squid, occurred at an April 2017 TED conference in Vancouver, BC. The dancer is Huang Yi, a Taiwanese choreographer who has an extraordinary life story, which he describes on his personal site. He notes in his background section that after seeing his parents attempt suicide due to financial difficulties, he “grew up knowing that [he] had to be a perfect child… to be like a robot.”

After becoming a stage performer, Yi, who developed an affinity for robots over the course of his youth, finally decided that he “wanted to find a way to dance with a robot.” After doing a bit of searching, he landed on an industrial robot made by the KUKA robotics corporation, which is actually German, but Chinese owned. TED notes in the description for the video that Yi conceptualized and programmed the KUKA robot to dance with him, despite the fact that regulations state that nobody can be in the area of the robot’s action while it’s active. Yi notes that he found some way around this, but doesn’t explain how.

For a brief glimpse of the behind-the-scenes work involved in setting up a dance with KUKA, check out the clip below. It shows how much time Yi spends playing with KUKA even when they’re not rehearsing. Which makes sense considering the fact that with KUKA, Yi ” wanted to remind us of our simplest hope… that we are all just grown up kids, but still kids.”

What do you think about this human-machine dance duet? Do a little dance with your keyboard partner in the comments below!

Images: TED

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How Will JUSTICE LEAGUE’s Reception Shape the Future of the DCEU?

This week, the Justice League movie will finally hit theaters and give fans the ultimate team up of DC’s greatest heroes. To say that there’s a lot riding on this film would be an understatement. After some early stumbles (except for Wonder Woman) with the DC Extended Universe, Warner Bros. badly needs Justice League to knock one out of the park. Today’s Nerdist News is using our Mother Box to reveal how Justice League‘s reception may affect the previously announced DCEU films.

Join guest host and third alternate Space Ghost, Hector Navarro, as he runs down the early word on Justice League‘s critical reception. The review embargo is still currently in place, and the reactions have been fairly positive, but not glowing. It’s probably not a great sign that Rotten Tomatoes is actually withholding Justice League‘s score until opening day.

However, the consensus among those who have seen Justice League is that all of the heroes come off well, and the direction of the franchise is in good shape. There may be signs of the reshoots and troubled production within the film itself, but it’s arguably as good as it could be under the circumstances. No one is seriously questioning whether Justice League will have a big opening weekend. Whether it will have staying power at the theaters remains to be seen.

So far, only Wonder Woman 2 seems secure no matter what happens here. In fact, that release was just moved to November 2019, to get it away from Star Wars Episode IX. Aquaman‘s solo flick is already done filming, but everything else is still up in the air. Man of Steel 2 is years away at the earliest, and Ben Affleck is once again hinting that he’s looking to leave the DCEU. What that means for The Batman is anyone’s guess.

The fate of the Flashpoint movie is also in the hands of this film, as WB reportedly won’t go forward with it unless the film is a success. The good news is that Ezra Miller‘s Flash is said to be one of the best parts of Justice League, which may give the scarlet speedster some better odds when it comes to holding down his own movie. And in the very unlikely scenario that Justice League can’t hold its target audience, then it just means that DC and Warner Bros. will focus on solo hero films for the next few years.

What do you think about the potential future of the DCEU? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Warner Bros. Pictures