Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1995

The House That Inspired Stephen King’s PET SEMATARY is Up For Sale

Nearly 40 years ago, Stephen King moved his family into a rented home that went on to inspire one of his most successful novels: Pet Sematary. Now, that home can be yours if you have the will and the money to pay for it. But we can’t guarantee that any supernatural properties are attached to the land behind the home!

Via the Associated Press, WCSH-TV is reporting that the house in question is being sold for $255,000.00. For that price, you’ll get a four-bedroom home that was built in 1904, three acres of land, and potentially enough nightmares to last a lifetime. According to King, he moved into the house while he was the writer-in-residence at the University of Maine at Orono. The house was located near a road frequently used by truckers that infamously claimed the lives of several neighborhood dogs and cats. The local children created an actual pet cemetery behind King’s house, which he had to use when his daughter’s cat was killed by a truck on the road. After a close call with his son and the road, King hatched the idea for Pet Sematary.

The picture above is from the Pet Sematary movie that was released in 1989. That’s actually a different house in Maine, rather than the one used by King. Within the novel and the movie, the titular Pet Sematary did have the power to raise the dead. However, animals returned to the living as shells of their former selves, and resurrected people became vicious murderers. We can understand why the fictional realtors would leave that part out of their sales pitch for the home!

In reality, you can get a glimpse of King’s former home here, and it looks quite pleasant in that real estate listing. This realtor is also very upfront about the house’s past, and they use it as a selling point.

Would you want to live in King’s former home? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Paramount Pictures

 

Haruo Nakajima, First Actor to Play GODZILLA, Has Died at 88

We know people like Doug Jones and Andy Serkis and Terry Notary and Ron Perlman for transforming into fantastical characters onscreen, either via performance capture or elaborate makeup and costumes. The people who do this important work have finally begun to receive their due, but back in the ’50s that wasn’t the case. We all should know the name of actor Haruo Nakajima, who passed away this week at the age of 88, because he played one of the biggest screen icons of all time.

Despite appearing in small roles in Akira Kurosawa films like Seven Samurai and The Hidden Fortress, Nakajima’s claim to fame is being the man inside the suit for the first 12 appearances of Godzilla spanning 1954 and 1972. In all of the outings of the King of All Monsters for the first 18 years of his existence, his movements were the result of Nakajima’s incredible physicality inside the incredibly heavy suit, created by famed special effects designer Eiji Tsuburaya. And he took his job, and the character of Godzilla, very seriously, as this video essay/interview from Great Big Story just a few months ago shows.

Prior to the ’80s reboot of the Godzilla franchise (with the excellent Godzilla 1985), the outings by director Ishiro Honda were the best, the ones starring Haruo Nakajima. On top of the original 1954 film, Nakajima appeared as Godzilla in Godzilla Raids Again, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah: the Three-Headed Monster, Invasion of the Astro-Monster, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, All Monsters Attack, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, and Godzilla vs. Gigan.

In addition to Godzilla, Nakajima also portrayed monsters in Rodan, Mothra, The H-Man, and Frankenstein Conquers the World, and The War of the Gargantuas, as well as the Tsuburaya-produced series Ultraman: A Special Effects Fantasy Series. Simply, if you’ve seen a kaiju movie made before 1973, you’ve seen phenomenal and iconic work of Haruo Nakajima. He’s a legend.

Enjoy this little silent home movie of Nakajima putting the suit on one last time for a promotional photoshoot in the early ’80s.

Images: Toho

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He writes the weekly look at weird or obscure films in Schlock & Awe. Follow him on Twitter!

GOLDEN GIRLS Dorbz Figures Will Be Your Pals and Confidants

Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia taught me a lot about true lady friendship in The Golden Girls. Though the comedy is most definitely a product of its time–Golden Girls aired from 1986 to 1992–the problems the women faced hit home. We can still relate to their wins and losses and Sophia’s humor, else we wouldn’t have Golden Girls merchandise. For example, a Golden Girls edition of Clue is coming soon and Funko‘s already released Pop! figures. Funko’s following up those collectibles with Golden Girls Dorbz, and they are as precious as can be.

The Dorbz include all the girls and a bonus Sophia. We all need more Sophia. My favorite thing about the Dorbz format as applied to the Golden Girls is it makes the ladies all look sweet as pie, which only happened about once an episode.

The chase Dorbz in this set is the winner. Remember when Sophia thought a hurricane was going to blow Miami away? It happened in season seven and was part of a crossover event with Empty Nest and Nurses–because of course. Sophia sported a fitting custom shirt for the occasion: “I’m ready! Take me hurricane ’91.” And now, it’s immortalized on a Golden Girls Dorbz.

Bless us, everyone.

See Blanche, Rose, and the non-chase Sophia in the gallery below. The adorable Golden Girls Dorbz will be available wherever you get your Funko figure fix in October.

Will you be adding more Golden Girls to your collection? I mean, you kind of have to buy them as a set, right? Head to the comments and tell us which Dorbz you’ll be bringing home.

Images: Funko

Be Your Own Pickle Rick with Our RICK AND MORTY T-Shirt Giveaway

Science is a great thing. It’s so great in fact that it can include things that are both helpful and wholly terrifying. Science has no morality, it only exists for people to use one way or another. While some scientists create penicillin that has been used to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people—preserving generations of people by killing bacteria and curing illnesses the world over—others use their innovations to turn themselves into a brine-soaked cucumber. The latter is Rick in Rick and Morty, and he is being immortalized in a brand new t-shirt from Spencer’s Gifts.

What’s this? T-shirts? Yes! And it’s here in a giveaway!

Every Monday, we’ll be giving away 10 t-shirts themed to that week’s specific Rick and Morty episode… and this week, it’s all about the most murderous gherkin in this or any part of the multiverse: Pickle Riiiiiiiick! And not only did Rick Sanchez turn himself into a pickle, but he didn’t rest on his laurels, building his own Aliens loader– (or Exo Squad e-frame-) esque robot suit, out of the bones and musculature of the detestable rats. It’s the kind of thing he does all the time, really. You know, the usual.

You are Pickle Rick. BE THE PICKLE RICK.

This shirt is only available at Spencer’s and it can be yours by visiting Spencer’s Online right now, OR simply click here to Tweet and enter to win one for free. So simple, even a Jerry could do it.

Images: Adult Swim

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He’s written the animation retrospectives Batman: Reanimated, X-Men: Reanimated, Cowboy Rebop, and Samurai reJacked. Follow him on Twitter!

GAME OF THRONES Recap: The Spoils of Speed (and Dragons)

Hello, fair citizens of the Realm! It’s that time of year again—the most wonderful of them all— Game of Thrones  season. And, in addition to winter: spoilers are coming! (And maybe a few swears, too. Woops!) As this is a recap, it goes over everything in crazy detail, so proceed at your own risk and don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire, y’all: the Stark kids are all nearly reunited and Dany has gone full-dragonlord (and not in a good way). With the fate of Jaime Lannister unknown (lol jk of course he’s still alive—because he is almost definitely/certainly the Prince That Was Promised, a.k.a. Azor Ahai), Game of Thrones has given us its most bonkers episode to date this season and we are WAY TOO HYPED TO FUNCTION. Wow, what a crazy two weeks of episodes, eh? Thank you, “The Spoils of War,” for making this ultra-speedy pace sorta worth it.

But before we get to the Stark reunion, let’s get some little tediums out of the way: the Tyrell gold is safely (for now) in King’s Landing, but Dany’s burned the entire crop (and a heck of a lot of Lannister-allied soldiers) to the ground on their way back from Highgarden (not exactly your best move if you want the people you intend to rule to survive the winter, girl). With gold in hand, no doubt the Iron Bank of Braavos will be more than happy to supplement Cersei’s reign of terror because ooh, do banks love them some loan repayment profits. However, Tycho Nestoris certainly made it clear that the Iron Bank’s support is deeply fickle and financially dependent, so don’t think that’ll be all that guaranteed for long. (Also: anyone else thinking it’s decidedly NOT a coincidence that it’s called the Iron Throne right now? In the real world or otherwise, banks are truly the worst. Ugh.)

Now. Let’s talk about the Stark kids.

BECAUSE LOOK AT THIS IMAGE Y’ALL:

OH MY GOODNESS THE STARK SIBLINGS ARE ALL NEARLY REUNITED AND I SERIOUSLY CANNOT BREATHE I AM JUST SO HAPPY. Y’all!!!! I knew it was coming BUT STILL: I screamed. (A lot.) It was just so joyful! The moment Sansa walked into the crypt and found Arya? Near-tears. And all that sisterly “we’re not dead yet” bonding? SO SWEET, SO STRONG, SO CAPABLE, SO BADASS. (Arya and Sansa used to HAAAAATE each other, y’all! I love it when sisters come together.)

Even when they went over to Three-Eyed Bran who is apparently not really Bran Stark anymore (lol ok Bran we get it you’re a cool teen now, jeez), the warm-fuzzies were all over that icy heap o’ stone better known as Winterfell. But that’s because, more than anything, it was such a relief (despite how good our own Scott Begg’s theory was) to see that Arya had decided to head home instead of King’s Landing. Because Arya, unlike Nymeria, is not a wild animal: she’s just really, really, really, really good at fighting and killing. Which: let’s talk about that fight scene with Brienne.

IT WAS THE BEST FULL STOP THE END THESE TWO WOMEN NEED TO BE BEST FRIENDS.

Gosh. Is it normal to cry at other people’s catharsis? The Starks just deserve happiness, y’all: they’re the best House on the series by a miracle mile, they’ve been to hell and back, and all they want to do is sit up in the castle in the North, praying to their blood-crying tears, remembering. At least we got to see Sansa, Bran, AND Arya (!!!) get, at least, a few minutes respite from living the worst lives imaginable.

As for the nitty-gritty of what went down in Winterfell, there are still a few things to break down, like Meera Reed leaving Winterfell and the return of that pesky Valyrian dagger that was used to try and kill Bran back in season one. It had been Littlefinger’s (and Bran surely knew that, what with his creepy-ass Raven powers), but we’re fairly certain that his question about who the blade belonged to goes MUCH farther back than Littlefinger itself. And now that Bran has given it to Arya, don’t think for a SECOND she isn’t going to murder the fuck out of Littlefinger with it (at least, a girl can hope).

Also — Bran’s line (“I’m not really him anymore. I remember what it was like to be Brandon Stark, but I remember so much more now.”) gives SO MUCH MORE CREDENCE TO OUR THEORY ABOUT HIM BEING ALL THE BRANS, Y’ALL:

And then there was Dany.

Oh, Daenerys Targaryen. Oh how it hurts to see you result to the crazy, maniacal, ruthless ways of your father and the more angry dragonlords that came before you.

It is very hard to reconcile how well-intentioned and earnest everyone around Dany is when she is so arrogant and stubborn and angry. (Not saying we blame her, but: there are better ways, girl.) After getting mighty pissed at Ty-ty for his clever but ultimately ineffective plans, Dany took matters into her own wings and descended upon Jaime and Bronn and the Tarly boys and their armies with Drogon and a couple thousand Dothraki who did not die at Casterly Rock. And ooh, what a dirty, nasty, unfair fight it was. Dany, in that moment, was every bit the queen of the ashes — she had no care for saving the crops or the Lannister-loyal soldiers which, in our opinion, is a huge mistake. It would’ve been much more effective, frankly, to fly across Westeros on her dragon, showing the people of the Seven Kingdoms that dragons and magic and the Targaryens have returned to help, and let all those she’s helped do the talking.

We knew Olenna Tyrell’s words would be poison in Dany’s ear — seems she’s still got a monarch to take down, even in death. If only she’d listened to Eeyore Jon Snow, who told her that, “if you use [the dragons], you’re not different, you’re just more of the same.”

Speaking of more of the same: the telegraphed romance-to-be between Jon and Dany. We see you, Ser Davos and Missandei, with your hints and nods at Jon Snow and Daenerys needing to bone. We understand why it makes sense for the story (what if they were BOTH the Prince That Was Promised, combined?), but we’re not so sure we’re with you, since we’ll never really be on board with an aunt and her nephew falling in love.

Not more of the same, however, was the scene in the dragonglass caves, where we learned that the Children of the Forest and The First Men were at Dragonstone a long, long, looooong time ago, carving White Walkers into the stone so the world remembers what happened during The Long Night. Two groups of beings, so very different from one another, teamed up to fight the army of the dead and won. However, their cyclical markings certainly had us wondering: will the winds of change and repetition of history always lead the Realm to this sort of story, time and time again? Here’s hoping there’s more information regarding that in the rotting scrolls Samwell has been tasked with transcribing over at the Citadel.

OTHER ODDS AND ENDS:

BRIENNE AND ARYA ARE THE NEW BEST.
Like, THEY HAVE TO BECOME BEST FRIENDS—THEY HAVE TO. That fight! That fight was SO GOOD.
“Who taught you to do that?” “No one.” OMFGGISHUTGDJNIPFWHUEGO No One SURE DIIIID, Arya!
What do we think Cersei means when she says she needs to expand the armies and navies because she “would like them to recover some things that belong to me.” What are these things? It feels ominous but we can’t put our finger on it.
Also: Jaime needs to stop. (Don’t question it, he just does.)

That said: don’t think for a SECOND Jaime drowning/etc isn’t going to be some sort of “Azor Ahai reborn amid salt and smoke” moment whenever we see him next, because what bigger baptism could he have than that?


Anyone else shocked that Bronn survived? Raise your hand, it’s OK.
But also: BRONN! BRONN! BRONN! BRONN!
Bran’s throwback “Chaos is a ladder” line was NO THROWAWAY:

What did you think of this week’s episode? Let us know in the comments below.

Images: HBO

Alicia Lutes is the Managing Editor, creator/co-host of Fangirling, and resident Khaleesi of House Nerdist. Find her on Twitter but only if you really want because, like—I’m not your boss.

Landmark CRISPR Breakthrough Makes Us Ask: ‘How Realistic Are Designer Babies?’

CRISPR, a remarkably effective biological tool for genetic engineering, recently allowed scientists to remove a malfunctioning gene from a human embryo in a landmark procedure. This success subsequently implies all sorts of future possibilities for trait selection and deletion, but once this procedure is perfected (theoretically) in the future, and all genetic diseases are cured, how far will it take us toward so-called “designer babies”? Are we, like John from Brave New World or Vincent from Gattaca, about to head into a society sharply divided by the altered quality of our genomes, or will we forever be able to achieve fates not determined solely by our biological blueprints?

To answer these questions, we first need to understand how CRISPR, or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, works, and what the process is capable of achieving. The biological phenomenon, which was first identified by researchers in Japan in the ’80s, is actually a bacterium’s defense system against bacteriophages (viruses that attack bacteria). It turns out that this defense system can be inserted into other types of cells, and repurposed to select specific genes from a given genome—human or other—and either cut them out completely, or delete them and replace them with substitute genes.

The bacterium’s defense system can be repurposed in this fashion because it basically operates by taking the genes of invading bacteriophages, duplicating those genes, inserting them into the genome as “spacers” between repeating genes (hence “Palindromic Repeats”) and then telling RNA (or “messenger RNA” because it does the bidding of DNA in the cell) to find any DNA that matches the recorded spacers, and destroy it. In the case of purposefully engineering a genome, instead of deleting the genes of invading bacteriophages, a specific unwanted gene is made “the enemy” and destroyed.

But you may be saying to yourself: I’ve heard of lots of genetic engineering breakthroughs before, what makes CRISPR—and particularly this success with the removal of a defunct gene from a human embryo—so special? Well, what makes CRISPR such a breakthrough technology is the exactitude with which it locates and deletes specific genes. Right now, doctors can alter DNA with the use of radiation therapy (in an effort to destroy cancer cells, for example), or they can use gene therapy that uses viral vectors to deliver DNA into target cells. But both of those methods are relatively scattershot, as radiation harms healthy cells as well as cancerous ones, and viral vectors can target the wrong cells for DNA insertion. But CRISPR is far more targeted, as scientists can program CRISPR genes, as well as Cas9 (an RNA-guided enzyme that obeys the orders of the CRISPR genes) to target a single specific gene and have it wiped out.

Cas9 selecting and removing an invading bacteriophage’s genes. This is the same process used to delete unwanted genes in the human genome. Image: YouTube / MIT

This is exactly what researchers, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health and Science University, were able to achieve recently inside of a human embryo. In their paper published in the journal Nature, Mitalipov and the rest of the team describe how they were able to use CRISPR to clip a malfunctioning MYBPC3 gene—responsible for making cardiac proteins—from an embryo’s DNA. And while CRISPR has been used by Chinese researchers to treat a human before, meaning this isn’t the first human experiment, this is the first time that an embryo has been altered using CRISPR without any apparent issues arising.

While this experiment was only a trial run (the genetically altered embryos are going to be discarded), it does seem to stand as an adequate proof-of-concept for CRISPR working as a tool for accurately modifying an embryo’s genome. Which takes us to our question: When we gettin’ those babies as athletic as Wonder Woman and as brilliant as Tony Stark poppin’ off the line?

That issue is obviously still up for debate. Essentially, scientists who claim that CRISPR will never be able to consistently create super geniuses or super athletes make their argument on the grounds of what amounts to genetic whack-a-mole. That is, “fixing” one gene in one part of the genome may cause an issue with another gene somewhere else in the genome. And aside from that, unlike the MYBPC3 gene that was removed from human embryos in this most recent procedure, traits like intelligence are affected by multiple genes. It’s going to be far more difficult to determine which genes, in which combinations, are responsible for broad traits.

On top of that, the argument has been made that regardless of how good CRISPR becomes, there will always be the issue of nature vs. nurture. That is to say, even if you could engineer an embryo to have a “perfect” genome, it still may not be expressed perfectly due to environmental factors. For example, even if you give an embryo the exact same genes as Michael Phelps, if all he does as he’s growing up is sit on the couch and eat Doritos, he’s not going to be any kind of world-class athlete (except for maybe esports?). In other words, the genome for exceptional performance may be present inside a person’s cells, but the environment may not allow the expression of said DNA. That interplay between nature and nurture is known as epigenetics, and it’s responsible for who we are just as much as our genomes.

But what if we do manage to figure out which sets of genes are responsible for general traits like intelligence or charm or grace or even talent? Then you get into what Elon Musk calls “The Hitler Problem.” When asked about why he hadn’t gotten into genetic engineering, Musk responded: “Hitler was all about creating the Übermensch and genetic purity, and it’s like— how do you avoid [that]?”

If Musk believes there’s no way to avoid that problem, then it’s probably worth some serious consideration for the rest of us. Worlds like the ones in Gattaca or Brave New World are not exactly utopian, although as Vincent notes, “there’s no gene for fate.”

What do you think about CRISPR and the possibility of designer babies? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: Columbia Pictures 

Apparently Princess Leia Got a PhD When She Was 19

Princess of an entire planet. Hero of the Rebellion. General in the Resistance. And…academic prodigy? As a tweet that went viral this week revealed, Star Wars‘ Princess/General/Senator Leia Organa Solo is even more amazing than we thought.

According to a Buzzfeed report, the tweet highlighted a key piece of information about Leia that somehow flew under our radar for 13 years. In the commentary for the 2004 DVD release of Star Wars: A New Hope, the tweet said, George Lucas described Leia’s character as “a very sophisticated, urbanized ruler, a Senator, a politician, she’s accomplished, she’s graduated, got her PhD at nineteen…”

That’s right. A doctorate at the age of 19. You know, in case General Senator Princess Leia’s accomplishments–sorry, Doctor General Senator Princess Leia’s accomplishments–didn’t already put everyone else’s in the shade. For the sake of comparison, when I was 19, I had a LiveJournal where I unironically used terms like “yummah” and “T3H SUCK,” and at the same age Luke Skywalker was still playing with model spacecraft in his bedroom.

This trivial tidbit raises several key questions: Did Leia start her higher education ridiculously early, or did she just start a bit younger than everyone else and burn through almost a decade of schooling in a couple of years? Either way, it’s a wonder she didn’t collapse from sleep deprivation at the beginning of A New Hope. Maybe she let herself get captured just so she could finally take a nap.

Also, what field of study did Leia pursue for her PhD? Given her career in politics, it was probably something like Political Science or the Star Wars version of International Relations (Intergalactic Relations?). Can you imagine the conferences? Being condescended to by academics from all those different species, having to deal with crusty researchers from the other side of the galaxy “explaining” Alderaanian customs to her–no wonder she’s hard as nails from the get-go.

And of course, the most burning question: how does one woman get to be so freaking amazing? We may never know. Naturally, something offhandedly said by Lucas on a DVD commentary over 25 years after the fact is not full-on canon, but it is interesting to note that he has this opinion of her, and has conjured up a backstory where she’s got more titles than Danaerys Targaryen.

All we can say for now is that Doctor Organa, PhD continues to be a hero to us all.

Images: Lucasfilm

In-Depth Look Into the Comedy of KEY & PEELE

Comedy Central brought audiences some of the most hilarious sketch work ever produced with its five seasons of Key & Peele. What’s more is that the brand of comedy that Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele created usually managed to say something on a deeper level that made us think as much as it made us laugh. A recent video essay by the folks over at Wisecrack aimed to explain this a bit further.



Overanalyzing any form of comedy can sometimes steal away some of the laughs but with Key & Peele, it somehow manages to heighten the experience. Wisecrack’s Jared goes into great detail as to why the show and the comedy duo’s other work hits a special part of our funny bones by breaking down a few sketches and shedding light on the sort of comedic formula you can expect in each of them.

Though applying math to comedy seems like a death sentence for laughter, the one above tends to work with a lot of what Key & Peele create. In most cases, their sketches spend a lot of time setting the rules for a primary joke and hitting on it a few times. If we were given just that then K&P would still be hilarious but the duo almost always go for a final punchline that specifically subverts the world they’ve built. Additionally, that final punch either legitimizes the absurdity they’ve created or is an honest commentary on something wrong/weird/off in the real world. When it’s both, the entire sketch and why we initially thought it was funny can take on a whole new meaning.

What’s your favorite Key & Peele sketch? Does it fit Wisecrack‘s formula? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Images: Comedy Central, Wisecrack

RICK AND MORTY Meme Generator is the Rickest

Rick and Morty has been one of TV’s most ridiculously quotable shows since its debut in 2013, and the newly premiered third season will likely continue that trend. Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon‘s animated comedy is so rich with characters, hilarious dialogue, and completely insane sci-fi ideas that we could lose hours just going through the first two seasons alone. Now, there’s a much easier way to relive the glory of this series with Master of All Science: a fully cataloged Rick and Morty meme and gif generator.

Via AVClub, Master of All Science was created by Paul Kehrer, Sean Schulte, and Allie Young, the team behind The Simpsons‘ meme generator– Frinkiac— as well as its Robot Devil-approved Futurama counterpart, Morbotron. While Rick and Morty doesn’t have as many episodes to call upon as the other two series, there is still a lot of material from which to draw. For example, take Krombopulos Michael, the very polite and extremely violent Gromflomite assassin. Rick and Morty encountered him during “Mortynight Run.”

Remember Summer’s subplot in “The Ricks Must Be Crazy”? In that episode, Rick’s car was Summer’s nemesis as it came up with horrible ways to “keep Summer safe.” But that didn’t mean the car bothered to hide its disdain for Summer.

We’re eagerly awaiting the inevitable return of Evil Morty from “Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind.” But in the meantime (or “memetime”) we’ll enjoy Evil Morty’s Keyser Soze moment.

The Master of All Science database will be updated after each episode of Rick and Morty season 3 airs, but there may be some delays in getting the new material posted. Either way, we know how we’ll be spending Sunday night!

Share your favorite Rick and Morty memes and gifs in the comment section below!

Images: Adult Swim

ONE-PUNCH MAN Artist Did the Japanese SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Poster

Spider-Man: Homecoming may be closing in on the $300 million mark at the domestic box office, but there are still some countries that still haven’t seen Peter Parker’s first solo film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Next week, the film is opening in Japan, and Sony is paving the way for its release with an all-new poster by One-Punch Man illustrator Yusuke Murata!

Via io9, the poster was released via the official Japanese Spider-Man: Homecoming Twitter account. It’s definitely an arresting image of Spider-Man battling the Vulture, with Iron Man hanging back near the bottom of the piece.

【️ド迫力の空中戦コラボイラスト解禁】

大のスパイダーマンファンで『アイシールド２１』『ワンパンマン』の漫画家・村田雄介先生 @NEBU_KURO の原画イラストが到着 #スパイダーマン と宿敵 #バルチャー、飛び込む #アイアンマン の空中戦に目が釘付け❢ pic.twitter.com/ZLywnCPySI

— 映画『スパイダーマン』公式 (@SpidermanfilmJP) August 4, 2017

This is by far, one of our favorite posters for Spider-Man: Homecoming. It kind of makes us wish that Murata would take on an adaptation of the film in manga form. Or better yet, an original Spider-Man tale.

Spider-Man actually has a long history in Japan, so we expect that Homecoming will do very well there. Back in 1978, Marvel allowed Toei to create a live-action Spider-Man TV series that completely re-imagined the title character. For that incarnation, Spidey got his signature powers from an alien, and he also had his own giant robot called Leopardon! Spidey’s iconic costume was more or less intact.

Some fans may think that Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s artificial intelligence (a.k.a. Karen) is too out of place for the title character. But we think it would be awesome to see Leopardon make its MCU debut as well. After all, the Japanese incarnation of Spidey and Leopardon have already been made canon by Marvel Comics’ Spider-Verse event. A new live-action version of Leopardon should be the natural next step. Make it happen, Sony!

What do you think about the new Japanese Spider-Man: Homecoming poster? Let us know in the comment section below!

Image: Sony Pictures