Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2099

MARVEL LEGACY Brings Back Classic Heroes, Original Numbering

Publisher DC Comics has had tremendous success over the past year with their “back to basics” approach to their line with DC Rebirth, and now Marvel Comics seems to be taking a cue from their so-called “distinguished competition” and doing a rebirth of their own, with the just announced Marvel Legacy. After paying homage to their legacy heroes this upcoming summer with the Generations series, Marvel Comics is set to launch a new initiative that puts the spotlight on their most popular and iconic characters in all-new storylines, and are returning many of their long-running titles to their original numbering.

 

Announced at Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (via CBR), Marvel Legacy will begin this fall with Marvel Legacy #1, a 50-page one-shot written by Jason Aaron (Doctor Strange, Star Wars) and illustrated by Esad Ribic (Gamora, Secret Wars). This one-shot will “set the stage for the next chapter of the Marvel Universe with hope, heroism, heart and the Earth-shattering return of a beloved Marvel mainstay.”

According to Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, “The Marvel Legacy initiative is a celebration of everything that makes Marvel the best in fiction and it’s a signifier of a new era for Marvel Comics. It’s a loving look at the heart of Marvel as we embrace our roots and move enthusiastically forward with all the Marvel characters you know and love starring in the biggest, boldest, best Marvel stories. All of which kicks off with the giant Marvel Legacy special.” You can see Quesada’s cover for the special issue down below:

The one-shot will feature a four-panel foldout cover by Quesada, and the issue is being described as being “a perfect entry point for all readers.” After the issue hits stores, the Legacy banner will be featured prominently on the covers of new and continuing series starring such characters as the Avengers, Squirrel Girl, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, America Chavez, Deadpool, the X-Men, Ironheart, The Punisher, Ms. Marvel, Captain America, Moon Knight, the Champions, Luke Cage, Odinson, the Hulk, Iron Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

The inclusion of America Chavez and Ironheart shows that despite the old favorites returning, Marvel isn’t giving up on their diverse legacy heroes either.Marvel is also planning to bring back long gone elements from their glory days, such as the Marvel Value Stamp, the fan magazine FOOM, and corner box art on covers, just as the company used from the ’60s through the ’90s.

So the real question is just which character (or characters) will be the “beloved Marvel mainstays” who make their triumphant return? The smart money is on the Fantastic Four, who have not had their own title in nearly two years, and are the original Marvel comic from which almost all others sprang from. A variety of reasons have kept the Fantastic Four from being prominent in the Marvel Universe over the past several years, allegedly because of Twentieth Century Fox owning the movie rights and not Marvel Studios. But it doesn’t seem there can be any kind of “back to basics” approach at Marvel without their “first family” being a part of it, right?

What are you most excited (or nervous) for in the upcoming Marvel Legacy initiative? Let us know down below in the comments.

Images: Marvel Comics

Diamond Select’s KINGDOM HEARTS Action Figures Debuted at C2E2

Fifteen years ago, Kingdom Hearts‘ union of Disney and Square Enix characters proved to be a potent mix, as the first game in the action RPG series went on to become a beloved blockbuster. And while fans have waited over a decade for Kingdom Hearts 3 to finally arrive, it won’t take quite as long for the new Kingdom Hearts action figures to hit stores.

At this weekend’s C2E2 event in Chicago, Diamond Select Toys showed off the early prototypes for the first wave of its upcoming Kingdom Hearts action figure line. Diamond noted that these are not the final figures and they are still pending approval from Disney and Square Enix, but it appears we can expect to see Sora, King Mickey Mouse, Axel, a Nobody, and a Heartless in this wave.

It appears that this set of figures is primarily inspired by Kingdom Hearts 2, which debuted Sora’s darker costume and introduced the Nobodys and Organization XIII, which is represented by Axel in this pic. In the same post, Diamond said that figures of Donald Duck and Goofy are already planned. Considering that Goofy and Donald accompanied Sora throughout the first few games, we certainly hope they’re a part of the first wave.

There’s no shortage of characters from Kingdom Hearts who deserve the action figure treatment, including Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Master Xehanort, Maleficent, Pete, almost all of the Disney princesses, as well as trio known as Aqua, Ventus, and Terra. That’s not even counting the variations of Sora, Donald, and Goofy, as well as all of the cameos from across the Disney realms and the Final Fantasy icons. If Diamond really dives into Kingdom Hearts, then it would take many years to get to everyone…and they’d fill up our shelves!

What do you think about the new Kingdom Hearts figures? And which characters should be featured next? Unlock your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Square Enix/Diamond Select Toys

Target’s MARIO KART Shopping Carts Seem Like a Potentially Dangerous Idea

Well, someone in Target’s marketing department might be looking for a new job in the coming weeks. According to a recent post on The Verge, 650+ Target stores across the country are set to be converted into Mario Kart courses with wrapped shopping carts and a checkered starting line at the entry of each store. There’s no way this ends well.

The promotion, and subsequent inevitable destruction of all 650+ stores, is being done in honor of the release of Mario Kart 8 for the Nintendo Switch. The company’s press site posits a rather optimistic outlook for the promo:

Always dreamed of driving a real-life Mario kart? Here’s your chance, sort of! We’ve decked out a handful of “Super Target Karts,” featuring Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach. So go ahead, leave Bowser in the dust as you do your Target run—and keep your eyes peeled, because we have an assortment of Mario and Nintendo-related products set around the store. Bonus fact: This is the first time Target’s ever decorated our carts.

Additional Bonus Fact! It’ll probably be the last time they decorate their carts, since this sort of thing is far too tempting to play out the game in real life. We’re almost ashamed of the amount of preemptive schadenfreude we’re feeling, and can’t wait to see the mayhem this will likely cause. Not to mention the produce that’ll be wasted, since most Targets have grocery departments and playing Mario Kart without banana peels is simply impossible. We look forward to the Instagram pictures of store aisles peppered with banana peels and knocked-over displays as enthusiastic customers battle for the first place trophy of “Target World 1”.

Thank goodness they don’t sell turtles.

Looking forward to being kicked out of your local Target? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Featured Image: Nintendo

Images: Target

John Waters Is Running His Very Own Sleepaway Camp for Adults

The word camp has two primary definitions in the English dictionary. 1: “a place with temporary accommodations of huts, tents, or other structures, typically used by soldiers, refugees, prisoners, or travelers“, and 2: “deliberately exaggerated and theatrical in style, typically for humorous effect.”

Now someone has finally figured out a way to combine both definitions of the word in one spectacular event: Camp John Waters. Yes, that John Waters, the acclaimed writer/director and King of Camp (also known by the esteemed titles the Prince of Puke and the Pope of Trash) is starting his own “summer camp for grown ups”, centered around his legendary oeuvre of camp classic films like Pink Flamingos, Polyester and Hairspray.

According to Variety, this unique experience will take place in Kent, Connecticut, on September 22-24. Waters himself will host a screening of several of his films, and fans attending the event can also participate in “Bloody Mary Bingo”, a costume contest, a dance party, and even Hairspray themed karaoke.

If that wasn’t enough, there will also be a “Scotch and Cigars”session, and even burlesque lessons. Traditional camp activities like ziplines, archery, and water skiing on the nearby lake will all be a part of this as well, but c’mon…you can do that at any summer camp. If you’re going, you need to do all the activities that would have made Water’s star, the late, great Divine, proud. (Though we hope the food tastes better than the literally crappy “snack” she enjoyed at the end of Pink Flamingoes.)

via GIPHY

Waters will also perform his famous one-man show and Q&A, and attendees will also get an autographed copy of his latest book, Make Trouble. The entire weekend will set you back $499, and tickets are available now at Club Getaway. Could this be the start of a new John Waters tradition? Touring his one-man show has become a regular thing over these past few years, so maybe Camp John Waters will take off in a similar way. In lieu of another Waters film, Camp John Waters as a regularly occurring event might be the next best thing.

Do you want to go to Camp John Waters as badly as we do? Let us know down below in the comments.

Images: New Line Cinema / Club Getaway

Watch Hans Zimmer Perform THE DARK KNIGHT Theme at Coachella

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California has become more than just a home for your favorite rock music acts, EDM artists, and annoying hipsters over these past few years. Lately, they’ve expanded to include composers performing live as well. On Sunday, April 16, film scorer extraordinaire Hans Zimmer took the stage and performed the music he wrote for some of his most well known films, accompanied by a live orchestra. Of course, Zimmer performed perhaps his most famous piece of music, from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. You can watch his entire Dark Knight performance in the video down below:

Aside from his performance of The Dark Knight music, Zimmer performed several other themes from his most well known films, including the Jack Sparrow theme from Pirates of the Caribbean, music from The Lion King, Gladiator, and of course, Christopher Nolan’s Inception, maybe his most well known score outside of the Batman films. (For more on Zimmer’s epic Inception performance, be sure to click on our full story here).

About ten minutes into his set, Zimmer stopped for a moment to address the crowed, and said “It takes a special kind of crazy person to bring an orchestra out into the desert… But it had to be done, didn’t it?” At one point during the performance, he also invited Pharrell onstage for his song “Freedom.” The duo have collaborated extensively before, most recently on the Hidden Figures score.

Zimmer’s Coachella set is but the first part of what will soon be a worldwide concert tour. By all accounts, Zimmer’s performance was easily one of the highlights of the entire festival, even if some inebriated twenty-somethings with flowers in their hair seemed confused on how they were supposed to dance to a symphonic score.

Watching people try to figure out how to dance to Hans Zimmer is incredible #Coachella2017 pic.twitter.com/SYD8CESuEC

— Andrea Domanick (@AndreaDomanick) April 17, 2017

What did you think of Zimmer stealing all the Coachella thunder from everyone else? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Image: Coachella

The Gregory Brothers Give Us a Catchy, Songified Earth Day Message…With Time Travel!

In case your social media feeds haven’t told you already, today is Earth Day and it’d be easy to list the many, many reasons that a day like today is important. Thankfully, the folks Schmoyoho created this far more catchy delivery system for an Earth Day message, so you get a song and we don’t have to make a list.

That’s a “songified” version of a speech made by a 12 year-old Severn Cullis-Suzuki at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The speech pops up around this time every year because of how well-spoken her message was and how vital it still is today. We think it serves as a reminder to continue to look for answers that will help our planet and realize that the ideas that will make the future better often come from the generations who’ll be there to shape it. Her full speech is definitely worth a listen.

As children, we have parts of us that thinks we can grow up to save the world. But we sometimes lose sight of that goal on our way to adulthood. However, Suzuki serves as an inspiration, as she grew up never forgetting the words she spoke at the Earth Summit and she’s proof that we all can still do our part to save the world. Now an adult, she currently serves on the board of The David Suzuki Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to “protect the diversity of nature and our quality of life, now and for the future.”

We can all do our part to help our planet. Visit Earth Day’s “Take Action” site to see what you can do to make the world a better place to live for generations to come, and share your own ideas in the comments below!

Image: NASA

This Guy Made a Fascinating Documentary About Secretly Tracking His Stolen Phone

We hope this has never happened to you, but sometimes, things get stolen—things that are important to us. Cell phones are a major target for thieves, since they can be easily resold for a decent profit. But what happens to your phone after it’s taken from you? What kind of journey does it go on? That’s what filmmaker Anthony van der Meer wanted to find out with his short film Find My Phone, which he documents the process of tracking his stolen iPhone using hidden software.

He describes the motivation for the film in its opening narration:

“A little while ago, I was having lunch in Amsterdam when my iPhone was stolen. By the time I realized my phone was gone and I had called the police, it was already too late. On ‘find my iPhone,’ I was able to see the last few meters the thief had walked before the phone went offline. Losing such an expensive phone wasn’t even my biggest concern. But the idea of a stranger having access to all my photos, videos, contacts, emails, and messages… The way in which the thief worked made me wonder: What kind of person would steal a phone? And where do these phones end up? To find out, I started an investigation.

The investigation began with a decoy phone, which van der Meer equipped with the ability to track its location, make audio and video recordings, and take photos, all remotely, and all without the thief knowing anything about it. Once the phone is taken, it’s interesting to see van der Meer control it remotely, like he’s looking through a window in to the life of a thief. It’s a truly fascinating process that’s best described in the film, so check it out for yourself above.

What did you think of the movie? Give us a shout on Twitter and let us know!

Featured Image: Daniel Grothe/Flickr

This Working Playstation 4 Controller is Almost As Big As You Are

The DualShock 4 Playstation 4 controller is an outstanding peripheral because of how ergonomic it is and how practical and easy it is to use. It has a good weight and for most players, it’s the exact right size to fit comfortably in your hands. However, if you run into a gamer that’s forty feet tall, this giant, functioning PS4 controller might be ideal for them.

The mega controller is currently on display at the Sony Interactive Entertainment building in Tokyo, and the folks from Japanese publication Gigazine, went on over to check it out and discovered that it’s totally possible to play the new remastered release of PaRappa the Rapper, as seen in the video above. The D-pad, circle, square, triangle, X, Options, Share, and shoulder buttons work just fine, but the thumbsticks aren’t functional, nor is the TouchPad. Still, the functioning light bar in the back of the controller is a nice touch, and as far as appearances, it’s very accurate. The photo above is a standard-sized controller, but you won’t find much difference between it and the photos of the giant version here.

If we have one gripe with this magnificent behemoth, it’s that the button presses are pretty loud, but then again, this is also a novelty experience, so we’d probably put up with it if we were ever given the chance to use it. We wish we knew who made this thing, because they did an excellent job scaling up one of the finest gaming controllers of all time.

The PS4 controller is obviously great, but is it your favorite, or do you have another preference? Head down to the comments and let us know!

 Featured Image: Pete Slater/Flickr

BATMAN AND BILL Trailer Makes the Case For Dark Knight’s Lost Creator

For decades, the mythology behind Batman was that Bob Kane created everything that went into making Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego one of the most iconic superheroes of all-time. But it wasn’t true. Kane’s collaborator, Bill Finger, was denied his rightful credit for many years despite coming up with many of Batman’s signature characteristics, sidekicks, villains, and even Gotham City itself. Next month, Hulu is giving Finger the spotlight in Batman & Bill, a new documentary that tells Finger’s sad story and the quest to see him recognized for his contributions to the Dark Knight.

IGN debuted the first trailer for Batman & Bill, which features a recording of Finger’s own words as he shares his tale. The footage also features Marc Tyler Nobleman, author of Bill The Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-creator of Batman, as he relates his drive to ensure that Finger received recognition for his works. Other comic book historians and industry figures also offered their thoughts about Finger’s story.

Within his lifetime, Finger was denied the credit and compensation that he clearly deserved, and he died in poverty. However, Finger’s name has long been remembered by his fellow comic book creators, and the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing is an annual part of the Eisner Awards at San Diego Comic-Con International. Two years ago, DC Comics finally signed a new deal with Finger’s family that added his name to the credits of every Batman project going forward. Finger deserved that and so much more, but that’s the closest thing to a happy ending that we’re gonna get. Hopefully Batman & Bill will continue to spread the word about Finger’s life and career when it debuts on Hulu on Saturday, May 6.

What did you think about the first trailer for Batman & Bill? Light the Batsignal and share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Hulu/DC Comics

Carl Sagan’s COSMOS Will Marathon on Twitch in Celebration of Science Week

Rejoice lovers of space, science, and silky smooth voices of reason! To celebrate “Science Week,” Twitch will be marathoning Cosmos: A Personal Voyage with Carl Sagan in its entirety. Twice. The presentation of the OC (Original Cosmic) journey will also include live Q&A segments with Ann Druyan, co-creator of the series, as well as interviews with an “array of personalities from the science scene” throughout the rest of the week.

Science Week is coming, and it starts with COSMOS.

Details: https://t.co/srygQ4VTRr pic.twitter.com/Dtm0jl23lI

— Twitch (@Twitch) April 21, 2017

According to a Business Wire press release, the marathons will take place on Twitch, with the first starting at 12:00 PDT on April 24-25, and the second at 2:00 PDT on April 27-28.

The series, which first premiered in 1980 and has since been a source of inspiration, education, and many a college freshman’s “whoa the universe, but whoa…” moments, consists of 13 (roughly) hour-long episodes. This means that if you plan on throwing down the space gauntlet and traversing all of existence on a brain-bending galactic cruise led by a kind and wise space captain, you’ll need to spend the entire day on le canapé.

For those that are curious: you CAN (and should) co-stream COSMOS! Set a reminder. Or billions and billions of them: https://t.co/8BGWAiDRjq pic.twitter.com/wjKMUrtR5C

— Zachary Diaz (@ZacharyDiaz) April 21, 2017

Aside from the two marathons, Ann Druyan, who was also the wife of the late Sagan along with a co-creator of the original series, will be, presumably, discussing all things science, space, and Sagan — extremely relevant topics that you may wish to hear about with our own Kyle Hill in Los Angeles at this weekend’s March for Science — following the marathon on April 28.

The other scientists that will be interviewed alongside Druyan during Science Week on Twitch include: Matthew Buffington, Ariane Cornell, Scott Manley, Pamela Gay, Kishore Hari, Fraser Cain (Fraser Cain?!), EJ_SA, and the one and only Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait. Because you always need a Plait at a science buffet. (Sorry, had to make a Fraser Cain kind of joke there.)

What do you think about Cosmos streaming on Twitch for Science Week? Let your voice stand out in the cosmic fugue below!

Images: Wikimedia / JPL