Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2371

Kurt Russell’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Character Is…

Here’s a big one, and I mean that in every conceivable way.

The identity of Star-Lord’s father was draped in mystery from the very first moments of Guardians of the Galaxy, prompting curiosity and speculation from comics veterans (whom were told by director James Gunn not to expect adherence to the printed canon on this particular note) and newbies alike. The question remained in flux when Guardians closed its final scene, though not without a few additional odd references, hints, and misdirects—most notably from Michael Rooker’s curmudgeonly alien scoundrel Yondu, who referred to his criminal protégée’s estranged father as a jackass. It was affirmed after the fact, again by Gunn, that we’d be finding out who begat our pal Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Once the news broke that Kurt Russell would be joining production, it was practically an open secret that the ’80s icon would be taking on the role of the elder Quill. Still, nobody quite knew what character from the Marvel canon that Russell would be playing, prompting the sort of theorizing that comics fans are known and loved for.

Appropriately, it was at San Diego Comic-Con, in the heat of Marvel Studios’ exceptionally active panel, that fans were given their answer: Russell would indeed be playing Chris Pratt’s alien father, and would what’s more be doing so under the identity of Ego.

Ego, the Living Planet.

No, that’s not a cute nickname. It’s a fitting description of a character who is, quite literally, a sentient astrological body.

“Yeah, his dad is a planet,” Gunn told the audience at SDCC. “It will all be explained in the film.” (Granted, what other explanation do fans of a canon laced with foul-mouthed raccoons, all-powerful tree people and giant skull space stations really need?)

Admittedly, some lines of the canon hold that Ego wasn’t always a planet, but instead the result of a mortal scientist’s melding with a planet after the sort of failed experiment that happens so frequently in the MCU. We don’t know if Gunn will employ this or any other strain of logic to explain how Peter Quill’s human mother conceived a child with a character who is now, quite unmistakably—if I haven’t mentioned this already—a planet.

But I guess we’ll see come May 5, 2017!

Featured Image: 20th Century Fox

Image: Marvel Comics

Real Life POKÉMON Battles Look Legit on the HoloLens

Apparently not everyone loves Pokémon GO the same way many of us do. Shockingly—like a lightning bolt from Pikachu—some have even gone as far as saying they’re underwhelmed by the mobile app’s battle system. This sentiment lead Gold Team Productions to create real-freakin’-life Pokémon battles using the HoloLens. Feast your eyes on the epic pre-alpha footage of a Charmander facing a Blastoise (via Generalkidd) above. (I don’t know which trainer would irresponsibly let their Charmander face a beefed up Blastoise, but that’s a conversation for another time.)

Dreams do come true, folks. At the moment, the build works both indoor and outdoors, with the voice commands working best in the former. The game is looking good, considering this is pre-alpha footage. Here’s another look at an outdoors test, this time featuring Charizard and Rayquaza competing in an intense staring contest:

This could obviously become something really interesting. Funnily enough, the project was meant to test a Yu-Gi-Oh game, which would also be pretty damn cool. At the moment the HoloLens is being marketed (and priced) as a piece of tech for professionals, but something like this could sell the general public on Microsoft’s goofy headset. You can check out the Gold Team Productions Facebook page for updates on this project.

Would you buy a HoloLense for a Pokémon game? Who are we kidding, of course you would! In that case, what features would you like to make the final build? Would this literally halt all productivity in the world? What would your go-to monster be? Let us know in the comments below!

Featured Image: The Pokémon Company

Brie Larson Cast as CAPTAIN MARVEL

From where we sit here at Nerdist, there has seemed to be no greater conversation about the potential big screen casting of a Marvel Comics character than that pertaining to Captain Marvel. Since even before it was announced that a Captain Marvel standalone film would be hitting theaters in the third phase of the MCU, writers and fans have relished in trading their predictions and preferred candidates for the role of superhero Carol Danvers. After actual years of speculation, a mainstay of these may guesses and hopes would prove to be the brass’ top choice. On Saturday, the Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con dropped the news that Brie Larson would be playing the lead in the 2019 feature. Shortly after the announcement was made, Larson herself chimed in with the following tweet:

Call me Captain Marvel. pic.twitter.com/IgqRIb9ijM

— Brie Larson (@brielarson) July 24, 2016

Larson’s has been a name of note for a few years now; though she’s been acting professionally since childhood, even costarring as Bob Saget’s preteen daughter on the family sitcom Raising Dad (which starred fellow eventual MCU inductee Kat Dennings), she really ascended to notability after accruing smaller roles in a series of popular movies in the early 2010s: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 21 Jump Street, and The Spectacular Now among them.

However, Larson’s first great exhibition would come with the drama Short Term 12, in which she played the counselor at a residential treatment facility for children. Since then, she’s moved onto high-profile comedies like Trainwreck and hard-hitting dramas like Room, for which she won a Best Actress Oscar earlier this year.

This collection of roles, disparate in nature but alike in their expression of her talent and range, gives us nothing but confidence for Larson’s abilities to handle one of the MCU’s strongest and most interesting characters. To augment the significance of the casting, we must note that Captain Marvel will be the MCU’s first standalone feature to star a female character; Larson, an actor we’ve been following for quite some time and admiring all the while, is a particularly exciting—if not altogether surprising, but that’s neither here nor there—choice for the part.

Of course, we may not have to wait until 2019 to see Larson take on Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. One year prior, the still-yet-to-be-retitled Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 will assemble a large swatch of MCU characters, including ones we haven’t yet met on the screen. It’s quite possible that Danvers will rank among the lot, and—patience be damned—we sure hope she is.

What do you think about the casting? Let us know!

Featured Image: Cinedigm/Demarest Films

DOCTOR STRANGE Trailer from SDCC Is a Big Leap from the MCU Look

If there is one gripe with the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we hear most consistently, it’s about the stylistic sameness that exists among the franchise’s many films. That an Iron Man movie, a Thor sequel, and a Guardians of the Galaxy picture can all feel like they’re playing within the same creative margins has stricken ire with some fans who’ve come to these entries fueled by their appreciation for these characters’ individual aesthetics. This is why it’s such a relief to see the new trailer for Doctor Strange, which hit San Diego Comic-Con today in the thick of the Marvel Studios panel.

This latest look at the MCU’s upcoming venture into the mystical proves that it’s not skimping on all the surrealistic, cerebral and downright trippy elements intrinsic to the Stephen Strange canon. As guided by The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), the yet-untested sorcerer Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) works his way through the arts of teleportation, energy harnessing, and the highly sophisticated skill of environmental kaleidoscopery.

And although Doctor Strange‘s weirdness may wind up being limited to its imagery, that may be just enough to prove to the above class of disgruntled fans that Marvel is still very much interested in and invigorated by interesting, challenging, and unique stories. These are principals that every character created under the Marvel imprint were founded on. The employment of these same ideas is the best way to bring these characters, now alive on the screen, to their fullest, funnest, and strangest potential.

Featured Image: Marvel/Disney

The First Trailer for JUSTICE LEAGUE Is Awesome

DC Entertainment decided to go big at Comic-Con this year, giving us the first official image of the Justice League and a sizzle reel. We had hopes that we’d maybe see some still photos, maybe a short clip, but Zack Snyder and company dropped a full blown trailer on us. It’s likely not what we’ll see in as a theatrical trailer before a movie, but it’s got tons of awesome footage, character introductions, and humor. That’s right, we said humor, something sorely missing from the previous DC Universe films.

The footage shows Bruce Wayne recruiting the “warriors” to battle an enemy on the horizon. Since we also see what appears to be a Motherbox being buried out in the woods, it’s probably safe to assume this big bad is the one and only Darkseid. That would also tie into Lex Luthor’s maniacal “pinging” at the end of Batman Vs. Superman. This footage along with the hints that have been dropped thus far gives us a pretty strong idea of what to expect. Placing your bets on the New Gods is probably a pretty sure thing.

This sizzle reel also gives us our first real glimpse of characters like Aquaman and The Flash in action. Aquaman is menacing and angry, definitely a darker version of the character, although Bruce Wayne points out that he talks to fish, so there will probably be jokes at Aquaman’s expense. Even Aquaman’s costume, which you can see in the promo image, is dark as all hell. It almost looks darker than Batman’s. Probably not going to see any green tights and orange, scaled shirt in Justice League.

The best bit of the footage features Barry Allen, who is charming, funny, and awkward. Sure, it’s a little bit of a bummer that we aren’t getting the TV version of the character, but Snyder seems to have captured that spirit, which is a good thing. That said, the less we talk about his costume, the better. It’s weird and armored looking, almost a little bit Iron Man in design. It has a pretty intense crotch piece, as well. Maybe it’ll look better when we see it in motion, but on that promo image it is seriously ugly.

There’s not much Cyborg in the trailer, no Superman at all, and very little Wonder Woman (although she had her own awesome trailer hit today, so that’s a forgivable offense). All in all, this footage has us very, very excited for Justice League. It looks fantastic and like a whole lot of fun. Between this and the Wonder Woman trailer, DC’s Cinematic Universe appears to be headed in the right direction.

STAR TREK DISCOVERY Takes Off with First Footage

Space. It’s, uhh, it’s pretty far out there. And for the past several months, we’ve been excited to get back there on a weekly basis once CBS All Access launches its Bryan Fuller-created Star Trek, series, which will be a return to television. We didn’t know the name of the flagship series, but with the caliber of people involved–Nicholas Meyer?! I mean are you kidding?!–we knew we were in good hands. But on Saturday in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, we learned the show’s title will be Star Trek Discovery, and the ship in question will be the U.S.S. Discovery.

The title, naturally, hearkens back to other shows that have used the primary ship or place to hang out as the subtitle–like Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise–but it lacks the colon, which is much more in keeping with the Kelvin Timeline movies. But that is not even the coolest part. The coolest part, friends, is that they also released a bit of CG testing for the ship itself, and it looks pretty damn awesome. You can see the video above.

I feel like the Discovery is a great mix of the original series Enterprise, with its perfectly circular saucer section and the Star Trek: The Next Generation Enterprise and its sleeker, flatter body section. The hard angles are also pretty interesting; a good way to blend the new and the old, I think.

What do you think?! Will Star Trek Discovery be the savior of the Star Trek franchise? Let us know in the comments below!

Image: CBS

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

Nerdist Podcast: Butch Vig

Butch Vig (legendary music producer, Garbage) chats with Chris and Matt about his lifetime in music, growing up in Wisconsin, and what it was like working on so many famous albums. He then talks about working with Nirvana, playing in Garbage, and Garbage’s new record, “Strange Little Birds!”

Image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

You Can FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, But Respect Strand’s Moonwalk!

Perhaps the greatest moment of this year’s Fear the Walking Dead panel had nothing to do with zombies, but a pitch-perfect Michael Jackson tribute. In a gag reel that was shown, Ruben Blades flubbed his lines over and over, and Colman Domingo was captured an amazing Michael Jackson Billie Jean lipsync/dance. The cast all agreed Colman is the most likely to crack up during a scene. Chris Hardwick, moderating, suggested the whole cast should do “Thriller,” and Gale Anne Hurd suggested that it may be a goal for next Comic-Con.

But let’s back up…

Chris Hardwick came out to the largest round of applause I’ve heard for any moderator so far, in a Ravenclaw shirt, dropping references to his Pokémon Go level of 16 and Team Mystic sympathies. He announced the second half of the season is seven episodes, followed by Talking, “Because if I don’t talk about a show, it doesn’t exist.”

A never before seen trailer was shown next (above), focusing on a blood-smeared Nick walking towards Tijuana, trying to avoid shotgun-toting gangsters and camouflaging himself among packs of zombies. Meanwhile, the family following him find themselves at an abandoned luxury hotel, and Travis STILL saying stuff about how they can get things back to normal. The whole thing had more of a Mexican gangster movie feel, like From Dusk Till Dawn might have been an inspiration.

The cast and producers came out, with Hurd touting her own Mexican heritage and how it feels like going home to her. Baja, Tijuana, and more things Hurd says you’ve never really seen on TV before in regards to Mexico will be showcased.

Dave Alpert likes seeing characters “shed their own skin,” losing their old-world ways and turning into warriors. Robert Kirkman, maintaining a long tradition of publicly fake-arguing with Hardwick, first facetiously went off on our leader’s Ravenclaw shirt being a patch sewn on another shirt, then basically said he likes seeing the new settings in this world. For Greg Nicotero, the ability to hit zombies in the face with a propeller has been his highlight. He added that Walkers and Infected are very much separate in his mind, and you’ll see different kinds of Infected as the family fractures and different groups go to different places in this world.

Cliff Curtis was asked about the difference between “bad-asses and sad-asses.” Curtis replied that Travis is the slowest to adapt, but that we may be shocked by things he does later in the season, and ultimately he will be “a bad-ass dad.” It’s the right time, he says, to take a camping trip with his son and bond.

Was Chris really going to stab Travis? Lorenzo James Henrie says “No, he’s just giving him a little tease.” Curtis thinks he absolutely was going to stab him; Henrie insists it was definitely just a threat.

Kim Dickens thinks killing Celia is indicative of more to come. “It felt like something just overcame her.” But it was “such a slap in the face” that Nick still left after that. Hardwick thinks Nick is the best adapted character in this world, and wondered if Madison knows that. She says there are things in the scripts later that will show she has learned stuff from Nick.

Frank Dillane calls the gore makeup process “really miserable” because of how sticky it is. He really went for it, and says he wound up looking like Hellboy. Nicotero emphasizes that they dumped literally a gallon of blood on him…and then took that shot out of the episode. Dillane sometimes has to be hand-fed at lunch because the gore sticks his hands together.

Alycia Debnam-Carter thinks maybe now Madison will finally focus her energy on Alicia now that Nick is unlikely to come back. She wants to be seen as an equal, and their relationship will definitely change. The actress has learned how to use a switchblade and a butterfly knife.

Domingo thinks Strand has been going through a huge deconstruction, in which everything had to be stripped down from what he thought he was, before he can figure out who he is. Says that could make him stronger…or could break him. He thinks he probably only realized he loved Thomas at the last moment. Jokes (I think?) that he has the hots for Madison. Dickens adds “they might get drunk…later!” Curtis: “There’s a lot of Madison to go around.” Travis “cannot stand the man,” but when he leaves to save his son, in the back of his mind he does believe Strand will keep Madison safe.

New cast member Danay Garcia plays Luciana, a “badass soldier” in a community outside Tijuana, La Colonia, who don’t necessarily think of the dead as a bad thing (though their beliefs are not exactly like Celia’s). Her first moment on the set was arriving at lunchtime and seeing all the Infected having lunch and waving at her.

Garcia, who is Cuban, studied up on Mexican belief in the dead, particularly the three stages of the day you die, the day you get buried, and the day you’re forgotten. This leads to disconnect when the dead are no longer buried or forgotten. She says Luciana will test Nick.

Mercedes Mason is interested in seeing how Ophelia and Nick will interact when they do see each other again and have changed; “Long distance relationships are hard, you guys!” She thinks as an orphan, Ophelia now has nothing to lose, “so you can make some crazy, fatalistic decisions.” Mason says if she were doing a fan-fiction for Ophelia, she’d be like Carol on The Walking Dead; a little caterpillar who blossoms into a badass butterfly. Wants her new nickname to be something like “Hammerface” or “Bulletface,” in keeping with her evolution into a badass.

Dickens really wants to explore Madison’s past. Hardwick said he has a fan theory that thinks Madison is somehow the connective tissue to The Walking Dead proper–in Back to the Future style, he imagined the phone call: “Yo Rick! It’s your cousin, Madison Grimes!” Kirkman told him to just stop…but we should note there was not an explicit denial, for what that’s worth.

Dave Erickson, in response to an audience question, said political subtext on the show was never intended or overtly present, but that you can project a lot on to the dead, “and then you get to kill them.” He wants to hand on to the notion of an urban backdrop in the show, so he’s looking forward to getting to Tijuana.

A fan asked if Burt Gummer from Tremors could be seen in The Walking Dead universe. She likes the idea and says the cast could learn a few things from him. I think we all like that idea, frankly.

How much Dia de los Muertos imagery will we get? Maybe a 7 on a scale of 10.

Another fan asked who Negan killed on the other show. Kirkman demanded Hardwick answer that, and they bantered more—Kirkman saying no offense, he just likes other people better than Chris, who responds that it’s okay because he made Robert’s show popular. The good news is they hugged it out. In the end, nobody has an answer to the question. It is the wrong panel for it, after all.

A cute young child asked the panel if they could die a horrible death, what would it be…on the show. Domingo said Strand would die some stupid way, like being allergic to a bee sting. Dillane would take slipping on a banana peel. Curtis votes for old age. Mason wants to swallow a hand-grenade and get brains on everyone. Hardwick notes that would not be how she dies, but rather the origin story of her becoming Hammerface! Garcia votes for dying while dancing “Thriller.”

Final question, for Kirkman and Nicotero: how much more do you enjoy Fear from the other show? Kirkman: “Lots! But I’ll have a different answer on the other panel.” He and Nicotero like the idea that Fear shows how most of us would actually react, worried perhaps about going to jail if we shoot someone behaving like a zombie, versus the post-apocalypse of TWD where everyone knows what to do.

The panel ended with the trailer being shown again, and a slideshow of fan art of both casts on the big screens, as “Thriller” played over the P.A.

 

Featured Image: AMC

TRANSFORMERS Anniversary Blu-ray Will Be a Treasure Trove for Fans

It’s been 30 years since one of the weirdest and greatest television-to-big-screen films ever created was released: Transformers: The Movie, which brought the highly popular cartoon series that debuted in 1984 to the cinemas with a star-studded voice cast including Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron, Robert Stack as Ultra Magnus, and the final performance by Orson Welles as Unicron. It’s a movie that many, many people grew up loving, and to celebrate, Shout Factory is putting out a glorious 30th Anniversary Edition, and on Friday night at San Diego Comic-Con, during Shout’s official panel, details were announced about what fans will find if they pick up the Blu-ray.

Continuing the battle for supremacy between the Autobots and the Decepticons (which, let’s be honest, we had to know they were bad guys immediately, right?) and really made the action more grown up than had been shown on the 22-minute Hasbro series. Characters get hurt, really bad. The movie crushed the spirits of millions of fans after it–spoilers–killed off Optimus Prime before the halfway mark of the run time.

In addition to the 4K scan of the movie–which will probably look good as helllllll–from the original 35mm film elements, in widescreen and full frame on two Blu-rays, there will be a Steelbox version, as well, to make your Transformers love as metal as possible. The set will have a brand new documentary called “Til All Are One” with interviews with members of the cast and crew, including story consultant Flint Dille, cast members Gregg Berger, Neil Ross, Dan Gilvezan, singer/songwriter Stan Bush, composer Vince Dicola and others. In addition, there will be audio commentary by director Nelson Shin, story consultant Flint Dille, and star Susan Blu.

There’s going to be some awesome shiz, and it’s all coming out on September 13, 2016, so mentally prepare yourself now, for the enjoyment, the childhood heartache, and the majesty of the song “The Touch” that became a hit.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Image: Hasbro/Shout Factor

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

One of a Kind Ahsoka Tano Dress Made with 10,000 LEGO Bricks

Her Universe already specializes in feminine fandom fashion, but for the last three years at San Diego Comic-Con the company has been pushing themselves to find the next great designer for their unique and much-needed aesthetic. The Her Universe Fashion Show brings in designers from all across the nerdiverse to show off their latest creations in the hopes of winning a chance to design for the company and its partners.

Last night, company founder Ashley Eckstein almost stole the show before it began. To kick off the night, Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, debuted a custom LEGO brick Tano dress. It’s the first real example of LEGO couture.

A photo posted by Ashley Eckstein (@heruniverse) on Jul 22, 2016 at 9:35am PDT

Made by world-famous brick artist Nathan Sawaya and designer Andrew Maclaine, Eckstein’s dress shows off a fan drawing of Tano recreated with over 10,000 LEGO brick. It weighed close to 25 pounds.

A photo posted by Ashley Eckstein (@heruniverse) on Jul 21, 2016 at 11:46pm PDT

Eckstein’s hair also mimicked Tano’s famous tentacles.

A photo posted by Ashley Eckstein (@heruniverse) on Jul 21, 2016 at 11:37pm PDT

While Eckstein’s amazing dress was certainly a highlight, the judge’s favorite from the 27 designers that walked the catwalk that night was Hannah Kent’s lovely Furiosa gown in the style of Mad Max: Fury Road.

What do you think? Have you ever seen a LEGO dress cooler than this (you haven’t), what other fandom deserves a LEGO dress treatment? Let us know in the comments below.

Images: Her Universe