Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2084

This Giant LEGO Airplane Actually Flies (But It’s Not Actually Made Of LEGO)

One of the best things about LEGO is that it allows kids to imagine anything and then act on their creativity by easily building their ideas it in the real world. If you wanted to be a king, building a small castle is well within your reach. If you want to explore the jungle, create some trees and tigers and get to it. If you want to be a pilot, the LEGO plane piece lets us take to the skies.

As you get older, though, your imagination just might not be enough. The plane looks cool, but if you throw it, it won’t really fly. One RC plane builder decided he wanted to see the classic LEGO plane figure fly, and he did that by recreating it on a larger scale (via Sploid). For anybody who grew up playing with the LEGO plane, this is a real dream come true.

Adam Woodworth is an aerospace engineer and hardware designer at Google is responsible for this, so you can be sure that some real thought was put into the aerodynamics of this craft. Getting this plane to actually work was a task, because as Woodworth put it in the video below, “It flies in spite of its aerodynamics.” His version is made primarily from different types of foam, and as you can see in the clip above, it’s actually capable of some pretty impressive flight.

If you’re looking for a LEGO plane that’s actually made from LEGO bricks, we have you covered, since somebody achieved that feat in 2015, although that craft doesn’t fly nearly as well as this newer one. What favorite LEGO piece would you like to see recreated in real life like this? Give us a shout in the comments!

Featured image: ajw61185/YouTube

R-Rated HELLBOY Reboot Announced Sans Guillermo del Toro, Ron Perlman

It wasn’t too long ago that fans of Mike Mignola‘s supernatural superhero Hellboy all had their hearts broken when director Guillermo del Toro—who directed the original Hellboy and its sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army—went on record and told fans via his Twitter account this bit of bummer news:  “Hellboy 3 Sorry to report: Spoke with all parties. Must report that 100% the sequel will not happen. And that is to be the final thing about it.” Cue Hellboy fans everywhere crying in our cereal.

Well, good news and bad news now, all you Hellboy fans. Bad news: there will never be a third Hellboy film from Guillermo del Toro starring Ron Perlman as “Big Red.” The good news? Comic book creator Mike Mignola has just announced via his Facebook page that Hellboy will indeed return to the big screen, in a new movie reboot from Game of Thrones director Neil Marshall, starring Stranger Things‘ David Harbour.

Shortly after Mignola broke the big news on Facebook, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the production company Millennium was in negotiations for producing this new reboot with the working title of Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen. The film has a script by Andrew Cosby, Christopher Golden, and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, and longtime publisher of the character Dark Horse Comics will be producing as well.

Now, we can officially say no one saw this news coming. While it is sad that del Toro won’t be directing again, an all-new iteration of Hellboy doesn’t sound so bad. Neil Marshall is a very promising director, and if David Harbour can’t be Cable in the X-Men universe, than I can’t think of a better fit for the character outside of Perlman. And considering the movie has a director and a main star, it means this version is fairly far along in the pre-production phase. So we’ve gone from “no more Hellboy on screen ever” to “Hellboy, coming soon to a theater near you” in record time.

While it’s a bummer than Ron Perlman won’t get the chance to play the character once again, this re-casting just means that Hellboy has joined the upper echelons of the the greatest comic book heroes of all time. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, almost all the most iconic superheroes have had portrayals from different actors at this point. Heck, even the Hulk and Spidey have had three actors play them in less than 15 years. This news just means that Hellboy has joined their ranks.

What do you think of this Hellboy news? Excited about a reboot, or no GDT, no Big Red for you? Be sure to let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: Dark Horse Comics / Universal Pictures

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Japanese Voice Cast Cosplay As Their Characters

So it’s possible that you might have heard, but Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 is kind of the biggest thing when it comes to movies right now, and not just in North America but all over the world. In fact, Marvel Studios’ epic sci-fi adventure comedy has already amassed a whopping $300 million in just one week in the overseas markets. Clearly, the rest of the world loves Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot as much as we do.

But for the majority of foreign markets, they never get to hear the dulcet tones of Chris Pratt speaking as Peter Quill, or Vin Diesel or Bradley Cooper’s voice overs for Groot and Rocket, respectively. Instead, non English speaking markets have their own voice over casts for these movies, who work just as hard to bring these characters to life.

In Japan however, the voice actors who do the dubbing really get into the parts, as perhaps few international voice casts do. In fact, the Japanese voice cast of the film recently made a public appearance cosplaying as the characters — yes, even the voices of Baby Groot and Rocket Raccoon.

Thanks to Crunchyroll, we’ve learned that veteran anime voice actor Koichi Yamadera (Cowboy Bebop) who voices Star Lord, actor Kenichi Endō (Groot), Kôji Katô (Rocket), and Sayaka Akimoto (Mantis)  spent several hours with make-up artists to create elaborate Guardians themed cosplay for a special preview screening of the film in Japan. Guardians Vol. 2 officially opens in the country on May 12.

You can see a video of the cast in their amazing cosplay down below. Yes, it’s all in Japanese, but you can still get a good look at their killer cosplay in any language.

What do you make of the Japanese voice cast’s amazing cosplay and enthusiasm for their roles? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: Marvel Studios 

What can we expect from Guardians vol. 3?

We’re Here for the Emotions in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (Op-Ed)

Warning: This is an article about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so spoilers are ahead.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 caused tears to stream down my face. It wasn’t the kind of crying where you dab at your nearly overflowing eyes to dry a little moisture; it was full rivulets of salty tears down my cheeks sorta crying. My eyes leaked because I laughed so hard (in fact, I laughed so much I almost threw up during the opening sequence, but that’s besides the point) and because I was moved by the emotions expressed by everyone—from Star-Lord, to Nebula, to Yondu.

I’ve seen criticisms about the sappiness of the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel. I’ve seen people say they don’t think comic book movies should have so many Feelings, capital F (these people apparently don’t watch television series like The Flash). I’ve seen one criticism in particular about how more of these emotional revelations should have been shown rather than spoken. But what’s so bad about showing and talking about feelings?

Nothing. The answer is nothing. Emotions were shown and told in Guardians, and that’s important.

Emotions were displayed in little moments like everyone gently holding Baby Groot as he crawled from person to person during Yondu’s funeral, or when Mantis experienced Drax’s pain about his family and started crying. They were verbally shared in scenes like Nebula confessing to Gamora that she wanted Gamora to be a sister rather than a combatant to be defeated, or Peter realizing and then telling everyone why he had a cool dad all along. This group of flawed, fractured characters was able to heal and become closer because they talked through their shit.

The first Guardians of the Galaxy was about bringing together a group of misfits to form an unlikely alliance. The “we’ll stick together long enough to get out of this mess” turned into something more with Groot’s, “We are Groot.” The group of a-holes bonded. They connected because they were all discarded or distraught. Family, or a lack thereof, pushed them together.

The Guardians have become a more solid group in Vol. 2. They have their own jokes, they know each other better. They’re all part of the group parenting effort to watch and raise Baby Groot (I volunteer to babysit!). They’re a family. And you know what? Families are messy, emotional beasts—beasts that need to vocalize what they’re thinking to each other to avoid festering problems. If Feelings weren’t part of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, there wouldn’t have been a payoff to what was built in the first installment.

As far as a glut of heart-tugging speeches… We’ve all consumed media where we’ve found ourselves saying to an inanimate page or screen: “For the love of all things holy, would you just talk to each other?”

Because while getting hairy issues out in the open might not solve a problem, starting a conversation is an infinitely better option than keeping it repressed. If you don’t talk, someone else is going to make up his or her own narrative about what you’re thinking, and that rarely ends well. Use your words. Tell people what’s on your mind.

Some characters in this film haven’t always been open. Yondu was trying to protect Peter by not telling him what a tool his father Ego was. He knew that was a mistake. By wearing his vulnerability on his sleeve with Rocket Raccoon, he was helping impart lessons he learned the hard way. Nebula committed to vengeance against Gamora instead of sharing her feelings. While they’re not going to be the best of friends anytime soon (or ever), the sisters made progress because Nebula finally said why she was upset. Could some of that have been conveyed through action? Sure, but it was more meaningful because these characters were open, brave, or desperate enough to put the words into the air.

I like seeing heroes punch villains in the face. I like watching them trade ridiculous jokes and insults. And I like watching them talk about love, anger, sadness, and family. Character growth can happen in the middle of battles, but the good stuff happens in conversation.

What are your thoughts on how emotions were handled in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2? Tell me in the comments.

Images: Marvel, Tumblr/Adriana

TORCHWOOD Series 5 is Coming…as Audio Plays

It’s truly mind-boggling to think about, but we haven’t had a series of Torchwood on our screens since 2011. And it’s even more upsetting considering that the BBC/Starz co-production “Miracle Day“, had a fascinating concept—the whole world suddenly unable to die, except for the usually immortal Captain Jack Harkness—but left a lot to be desired. While a series of Big Finish audio dramas gave us some past Torchwood adventures, the most recent announcement will finally continue the TV continuity.

Big Finish has long delivered Doctor Who universe ancillary material, but almost always firmly in “the past.” For years they’ve had audio adventures for the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Doctors in between their televised outings, have revolutionized and given abundant life to the Eighth Doctor, and even brought in the Fourth Doctor and more recently the Tenth Doctor back for some new/old stories. And they have never had the opportunity to be the new and current version of a Doctor Who-realmed show—until now.

In a press release, Big Finish announced Torchwood Series 5 would be coming to us in audio format, following Capt. Jack (John Barrowman) and Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) as they head back to Cardiff to restart the Torchwood Institute, only to find the Welsh capitol is very different, and in a much worse state than when they left it. Also returning are Kai Owen as Gwen’s husband Rhys and Tom Price as Police Constable Andy.

Of the new series, producer James Goss said the following:

“[TV series creator] Russell [T. Davies]’s been wonderfully involved in the continuation of Torchwood. We came up with some characters and ideas and he very kindly, very politely said ‘Marvelous, but no. Howabout…?’. And that’s what lead to Jack and Gwen being joined by Mr Colchester (Paul Clayton), Ng (Alexandria Riley), Tyler (Jonny Green) and the enigmatic Orr (Sam Béart). Who are they? What part do they have to play in the future of Torchwood? And can they save Cardiff from an invasion that’s already been lost?”

“This is an ambitious series for Big Finish – an entire season of Torchwood! There are some great scripts by some new writers, but there are also some familiar old faces – of course Rhys and Andy are in it, but there’ll be a few other surprises, including an appearance by someone who just has to be, has to be dead…”

The season will be broken up into three chunks, with the first–containing four episodes–coming this August on CD or digital download. What on Earth (or elsewhere) could Jack and Gwen be dealing with this time?

Are you stoked for more Torchwood even if it’s in the theatre of the mind? Who do you think the “definitely dead” person is who’ll come back (it’s Ianto or I’ll eat my hat made of a sandwich). Let us know in the comments below!

Images: BBC/Starz, Big Finish

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor and the resident Whovian for Nerdist. Follow him on Twitter!

Final WONDER WOMAN Trailer Reveals a Second Villain

We’re less than a month away from Wonder Woman‘s solo movie debut, and Gal Gadot‘s title heroine has us excited to see another side of the DC Extended Universe. Sunday night, the final trailer for Wonder Woman debuted, and it confirmed that the Amazon heroine won’t just be going up against the God of War. There’s a second villain from Wonder Woman’s comic book pantheon waiting to take her on, and we’ve got the details in today’s Nerdist News!

There are some minor spoilers ahead for Wonder Woman, so consider yourselves warned!

Join host, and a person we secretly suspect is actually Wonder Woman, Jessica Chobot, as she tells us everything you need to know about Dr. Poison. The trailer didn’t even make us guess who she was, and it called her by name! We applaud the way the idea that not everything has to be a freakin’ mystery in the movie, but Dr. Poison isn’t exactly well known even among comic book fans. However, Dr. Poison does have a history that goes back to some of Wonder Woman’s earliest comic book adventures in World War II, although the movie will take place during WWI.

While Dr. Poison may not present a true physical challenge to Wonder Woman, she may end up being more dangerous to humanity than Ares himself. In the comics, Dr. Poison has a reputation for creating mind altering formulas. In fact, Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor has a line in the trailer that suggests Dr. Poison’s endgame is a war that never ends. And she may very well have found a way to chemically compel soldiers to fight well beyond the point of reason.

Are you excited to see one of Wonder Woman’s female villains step into the spotlight? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

KING ARTHUR Director Guy Ritchie Says His ALADDIN Will Be a Musical (Exclusive)

It was almost 20 years back when Guy Ritchie first made a name for himself with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels—only the first in a career’s worth of funny, brutal, hyper-stylized London-set shoot-’em-ups. Since Lock and its immediate follow-up Snatch, Ritchie has endeavored to bring his inimitable flavor to different chapters in history: the 1980s with his Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law-starring Sherlock Holmes movies, Cold War-era Europe with The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and most recently, the 5th century A.D. with his original take on King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

On today’s Nerdist News Talks Back, Ritchie joined our host Jessica Chobot and senior editor/The Dan Cave mastermind Dan Casey to speak on his films of past and present. In addition to diving deep into how Ritchie has brought his unique flare to Arthurian legend with his latest picture (starring Charlie Hunnam as the Excalibur-wielding hero of England yore), Ritchie also clued us in on his hopes for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 2 and why his live-action Aladdin remake will have to be a musical.

You can watch the whole interview below, but the Aladdin bit starts off at 17:40:

In case you don’t feel like watching, Ritchie told us that he thinks “it’d be tough not to make [Aladdin] a musical,” which makes sense given the energy of the original film. He added that it was “too early” to say more, “because I’ve really just immersed myself into that project. So I’m still looking for cast members, we still haven’t found exactly which direction we’re going in. I’m confident that at some stage it will reveal itself to me, but right now it’s just a bit too premature.”

Needless to say, we are absolutely thrilled at the prospect of a musical done in that high energy, frenetic Ritchie style.

Now it’s time to weigh in: What’s your favorite Guy Ritchie movie? Let us know in the comments below.

Anne Rice Reveals New Tidbits About THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES TV Series

Recently, Anne Rice and her son Christopher Rice did a Q&A on their Vampire Chronicles Facebook page, answering fan questions about the upcoming television series based on the adventures of the Vampire Lestat and his immortal cohorts which they are producing. It was just last week that the pair revealed that they have a new partnership with Paramount Television and Anonymous Content to bring the show to life. Although they are a bit of a way away from starting production, during the Q&A the Rices did reveal a few new nuggets of information about what fans can expect from the new series.

So, what news bits were revealed during the video? For starters, it seems that the show is going to be a more racially diverse affair than the novels. A fan asked if there would be more people of color in the show, and the Rices confirmed that indeed there would be. For starters, the characters of Queen Akasha and King Enkil (the original vampires from ancient Egypt) would likely be POC, although they were not in the novels. The only positive that the Queen of the Damned movie produced might have been casting Aliyah in the role of Akasha; she brought more diversity to the Vampire Chronicles, and was maybe the only thing good thing that movie produced.

Also, the Rices clarified that only eleven books from the Vampire Chronicles from the fourteen volume series will be included. This is because the novels Merrick (2000), Blackwood Farm (2002), and Blood Canticle (2003) include characters from Anne Rice’s Lives of the Mayfair Witches series of books, which is part of a separate media deal at the moment. Chris Rice described the contents of those books as being “frozen.”

Truth be told, although technically those three books were labeled as part of the Vampire Chronicles, they really mainly dealt with characters from the Mayfair Witches saga. Those books might be turned into a television series themselves at some point, but the Rices stressed they would be way down the line.

Anne Rice said that there might be the potential for spin-off series if the show is successful. For example, the non Lestat-centric books  The Vampire Armand and Blood and Gold, which focused on the vampires Armand and Marius, would make sense for something like this. Elements of those two books would be used for the current series, but since the focus is on Lestat for this show, a potential spin-off would make more sense down the line. The Rices added that while they wouldn’t cast a 17 year-old to play the vampire Armand (who although 500 years old, was a teen when he was a made) they would try to find a youthful looking actor who fit the physical description of the character more than Antonio Banderas did in the film version of Interview with the Vampire.

When a fan asked if the new series would fully embrace the LGBT aspects of the novels when transferring them to television, the Rices confirmed they would all be there for certain. Although Rice’s vampires don’t have sex, all the eroticism implied by the blood exchange would be there, regardless of gender. Christopher Rice added “Lestat lives in an era that is very free of labels; in the beginning before he becomes a vampire (in the 1800s), he is very much bisexual. And we plan to depict that.”

For the full one-hour Q&A on the Vampire Chronicles TV series, you can check out the video below:

What do you want to see in a Vampire Chronicles television series? Be sure to let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: Warner Brothers / Alfred A. Knopf 

AMERICAN GODS History Primer: Czernobog, a.k.a. Chernobog

The Old Gods in American Gods have roots in the past and in mythology. While we might know the ins and outs of the New Gods, like Media and Technical Boy, there’s probably a lot we can still learn about their predecessors. For those of you hoping to get a better understanding of these characters before you continue on with American Gods, we have you covered. Get to know the history that inspires the characters in our American Gods History Primer series.

Who

Czernobog, a.k.a. Chernobog, Chernabog, Tchernobog, or Black God

In the Series

The Slavic deity we meet in American Gods has experienced better times. In that way, he’s in the same boat as most of the Old Gods we’ll encounter as Shadow and Mr. Wednesday drive around America. To pay the bills and to exercise his ferocious hammer, Czernobog took a day job. He worked at a slaughterhouse, taking cows to their deaths as quickly as possible with one powerful blow to their heads.

But even there, his work and meaning was devalued by the arrival of new technology. A change to the kill process didn’t require any finesse or skill. Czernobog could no longer take pride in his work, and you can tell pride is of the utmost importance to him. This Old God who was already scrapping to survive via belief can’t seem to catch a break.

In Mythology

As I mentioned, Czernobog has roots in Slavic mythology. As the black god, he was assumed to be the bad god, with the white god Belobog theoretically occupying the role of good god. Chronica Slavorum, a medieval chronicle by historian and Saxon priest Helmold, was written in the twelfth century and has information from Slavic tribes. It mentions Czernobog as Zcerneboch, the Black God:

“The Slavs, too, have a strange delusion. At their feasts and carousals they pass about a bowl over which they utter words, I should not say of consecration but of execration, in the name of the gods — of the good one, as well as of the bad one — professing that all propitious fortune is arranged by the good god, adverse, by the bad god. Hence, also, in their language they call the bad god Diabol, or Zcerneboch, that is, the Black God.” – Translated in Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World

The idea of light and darkness is a common theme in Slavic mytholog–well, in many mythologies and religions, to be honest. They’re usually in conflict with each other or on opposite sides rather than balanced in harmony. Thus Chernobog claims the dark half of the year, winter, while Belobog has the summer.

Chernobog is known for being the god of misfortune and bad luck; the god of death, darkness, and destruction. He was said to be intentionally malicious and corruptor of everything pleasant. He’s the type of guy who would knock the ice cream off the cone in your hands. So, he’s not exactly a cheerful kind of god–which suits the man we meet in American Gods. Czernobog comes across as gruff and dangerous, but I don’t read him as an outright villain… which also plays into the mythology of Chernobog. There’s not a ton known about Chernobog–the historical sources are Christian ones, so not people who actually believed in him, therefore it’s entirely possible he wasn’t actually the worst of the worst.

In Other Stories

I’m not always going to point out other pop culture references to the Old Gods, but with Czernobog, I think a couple are particularly notable. You know Chernabog, the massive winged gargoyle-like creature in Disney’s Fantasia? Yep, he’s a nod to Chernobog. Also, the Pacific Rim Jaeger called Cherno Alpha was named for Chernobog.

Did we churn up an interest in learning more? Let us know in comments!

Images: Starz, Legendary

AMERICAN GODS Loves Lucy, Plus 6 Other WTF Moments Explained

Spoilers for episode 2 of American Gods follow! You have been warned.

After the mind-bending WTF-ery of the American Gods season premiere, things mostly fall into a more linear place in “The Secret Of Spoons.” However, for the life of me I can’t figure out why it’s called that—perhaps something to do with how the Zorya sisters read Shadow’s fortune in his coffee grinds? Oh well, maybe Bryan Fuller will tweet an explanation and we can all discover it as a group. In the meantime, there are plenty more juicy, confusing details to digest in this episode:

Coming to America

Obviously, there’s no way to cover the many ways people find themselves in America without talking about the slave trade; the book does it as well, but certainly not with as much punch as the show. Here we’re also introduced to Mr. Nancy (Orlando Jones), a.k.a. the trickster god Anansi, who is both spider and man. While the deity’s origins are based in Ghanaian folklore, he’s also an important figure in other West African cultures and in the Caribbean, having been brought there by slaves.

However, Mr. Nancy’s goal in riling his followers to mutiny may be more than just righteous fury—note the wording he uses to convince them to kill themselves, that their “sacrifice” will serve a greater purpose. In American Gods, the gods require two things to survive: belief, and sacrifice. He’s certainly dead-on about the severe mistreatment of black people in America, but make no mistake about it, he benefits directly from these deaths.

Laura Returns

Emily Browning’s been doing all the same press junkets as everybody else, so if you thought she wasn’t coming back despite the fact that her character is already dead, I’m not sure what to tell you. Here, however, her presence consists of mere dreams and flashbacks, and straightforward ones at that—no supernatural antics to be found here, just a man grieving for his wife. Speaking of which, look closely at the Motel America shirt Shadow is wearing while he packs up the house: it has a buffalo on it, like the one who spoke to him in the last episode.

I Love Lucy

Tonight! Series premiere of @AmericanGodsSTZ at 9PM est/pst! Media infiltrates your screens next week, get ready… #bts #AmericanGods pic.twitter.com/TCENsSZ6lO

— Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) April 30, 2017

While picking up supplies for Mr. Wednesday, Shadow has a run in with Media (Gillian Anderson), and finds that the god of television is doing quite well for herself; as she tells Shadow (and us, the viewers of this TV show right here), “Time and attention are better than lambs’ blood” for sacrifices. The setup of this scene deviates wildly from the book, where Media corners Shadow while he’s watching TV at a motel, but the actual conversation they have is practically word-for-word in places—yes, including the line about which, er, parts of Lucy Shadow might want to see. She wants to offer Shadow a job, but the fact that she’s spouting all the same rhetoric as the Technical Boy definitely doesn’t seem to sit well with him.

Wednesday’s Meeting

We’ll learn more about the guy Wednesday met with while Shadow was at the store in a few episodes, trust me. Until then, all you need to know is that he’s of Arabic origin, and that is definitely fire coming out of his eyes.

Bilquis

Well, guess that sort of explains what happened to Bilquis’ date from the season premiere—he’s still in there, completely frozen in ecstasy. He’s not the only one either, as we see the goddess absorbing both men and women into her during an intense love-making montage. Given the somber look on her face, I’m guessing they never come back.

A few little details to note, as we follow Bilquis through a museum exhibit in the next scene: the sign in the back confirms that these are artifacts of the Aksumite Empire, a trade-based African civilization that lasted from 100 to 800 A.D—according to some Ethiopian tradition, it was the Queen of Sheba’s home. The statue at the center of the exhibit bears a striking resemblance to those of Ishtar or Astarte, the Mesopotamian goddess of love and beauty. Judging by the way Bilquis molds the shape of the jewelry on display (the placard reads “The Queen’s Wardrobe”) to her body, it’s definitely all her.

The Zoryas

Slavic mythology isn’t exactly ubiquitous, so it’s understandable if you’ve never heard of Zorya Vechernyaya (Cloris Leachman), who represents the evening star, Mercury; and Zorya Utrennyaya (Martha Kelly), who represents the morning star, Venus. Together, they are also known as the Auroras, the goddesses of dawn and dusk. Here Vechernyaya is the leader and the most clear-headed, which makes sense if you consider the fact that Mercury is also the god of wisdom and messages in Roman mythology—that’s probably also why Mr. Wednesday gives Utrennyaya a gift of romance novels, as Venus is the goddess of love.

Neil Gaiman also invented a third Zorya for his book, Zorya Polunochnaya, who represents the midnight star. We’ve not officially met her yet, but rest assured that we will soon.

Czernobog

This guy (Peter Stormare), however, you’ve definitely heard of; he’s best known to modern Americans as the satanic monster in the center of “Night On Bald Mountain” in Fantasia. In Slavic myth his name means “Black God,” and as he tells Shadow, he has a brother, Belobog, who represents light. Wednesday (Czernobog here is calling him Wotan, the German name for Odin) needs him to join his cause, but he’s not interested—not unless Shadow plays checkers with him, and if he wins he gets to strike him with his hammer. In the book, it’s actually Shadow’s idea to wager his life, and when he loses he immediately offers to play another game. TV Shadow is not quite so confident yet, which will work to give him more of a narrative arc throughout this encounter—and also gives us a pretty compelling cliffhanger to end on.

Any other questions about what happened in this episode? Leave ‘em here in the comments and let’s see if we can’t solve a few mysteries together!

Images: Starz

 

Here’s how a god made our book club divine: