The Fantastic Four’s main cast it all set. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Marvel doesn’t have many big roles left to fill in the MCU. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. Recently, Brad Winderbaum, Marvel Studios’ Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation, shared which character he would want to green-light an MCU series for immediately if he could. He revealed, “I would wanna do the Danny Ketch era of Ghost Rider. I think there are a lot of people who would be here for some Ghost Rider.”

And he’s right, there are a lot of people who would be here for it. And that includes one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, who still wants to play one of the few remaining standout characters yet to debut in the franchise. Ryan Gosling still hopes Kevin Feige picks him to play Ghost Rider.

Last year, the Oscar-nominated Barbie actor (and star of both Drive and Place Beyond the Pines, it should be noted, considering the character) told Josh Horowitz he wants to play Ghost Rider in the MCU. While interviewing Gosling and Emily Blunt for The Fall Guy, Horowitz pointed out to Gosling he personally relayed the actor’s Ghost Rider dream to Kevin Feige. That means the MCU head honcho knows he has two A-listers vying for the role. Because, another person who would be here for some Ghost Rider is Keanu Reeves. When asked to name his ideal role, Reeves has also said he wants to play the character, too. Reeves has actually wanted to play Ghost Rider since he was 10!

Will Feige choose either when the time comes to cast the role? He should choose both! What’s the point of a multiverse if you can’t have both Gosling and Keanu play Ghost Rider.

The post Ryan Gosling Still Wants to Play GHOST RIDER in the MCU (And So Does Keanu Reeves) appeared first on Nerdist.

In a real “didn’t we already know this?” piece of news, HBO has officially greenlit the DCU drama series Lanterns based on the Green Lantern comics. This was one of the titles James Gunn mentioned in his now infamous DCU slate video in early 2023. That certainly made it seem like it was a sure thing. However, given how fickle Warner Bros. is these days, I suppose it wasn’t. At any rate, HBO has given an eight-episode, direct-to-series order to Lanterns. Emmy-nominee Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country; Ozark) will serve as showrunner.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Josh Brolin will not star as Hal Jordan in Lanterns. He was eyed for the role but decided to pass on the role. It is not clear why at this time but perhaps he will speak on it in the near future. Meanwhile, new reports indicate that Kyle Chandler could instead take on the mantle of Hal Jordan in Lanterns. He could be a good choice, for sure. There has been no official confirmation yet, but he certainly looks the part.

The synopsis of the series says it follows “new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.” Pretty interesting concept for a Green Lantern series. Intergalactic cops solving an mystery on Earth. Definitely has True Detective vibes.

Joining Mundy in the writing of the show are none other than heavy hitters Damon Lindelof (Watchmen, The Leftovers) and comic writer Tom King (Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow). James Gunn and Peter Safran said of the announcement: “We’re thrilled to bring this seminal DC title to HBO with Chris, Damon and Tom at the helm. John Stewart and Hal Jordan are two of DC’s most compelling characters, and Lanterns brings them to life in an original detective story that is a foundational part of the unified DCU we’re launching next summer with Superman.”

No word yet on when the series will debut. We will, of course, keep you up to date on any casting news as it develops.

Originally published on June 25, 2024.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

The post Kyle Chandler In Talks to Star in DC’s LANTERNS HBO Series as Hal Jordan appeared first on Nerdist.

We’re going to have to cancel our visitor’s pass for Gotham City’s most notorious mental hospital. Via Variety, we’ve learned that the Max streaming service is not moving forward with the proposed Arkham Asylum series, which was formally announced back in late 2022. This would have been the first Batman-centric series set in James Gunn’s new DCU, not in The Batman universe, like the upcoming Penguin series. Antonio Campos was developing the series, which originally began as part of Matt Reeves’ universe, before switching gears. Apparently, DC Studios and Warner Bros. have not ruled out another take on the Arkham Asylum series in the future.

This series has gone through several permutations since 2020. Originally, it was a show about the Gotham P.D. That evolved into a show about Arkham Asylum itself, where Gotham City’s most mentally deranged criminals reside. So basically, every Batman foe is not named Catwoman or Ra’s al Ghul. Creators like Terrance Winter and Joe Barton came in to develop the project, but both left over creative differences. The last iteration from Antonio Campos was described as a “horror movie or haunted house that is Arkham.” That sounded pretty cool to us.

Recently, Matt Reeves discussed the canceled The Batman spinoffs, noting, “The things that we’re talking about [now] are evolved versions of those things. It’s not like that just didn’t work. It was like, we need to evolve this. I would describe it less as something that didn’t work out and more as something that is still along a path toward arriving at its destination.”

We think an Arkham-based series will see the light of day at some point. We’re just going to have to wait a bit longer.

Originally published on July 8, 2024.

The post The ARKHAM ASYLUM Series Will Not Move Forward at Max appeared first on Nerdist.

The upcoming Thunderbolts film from Marvel Studios is slated to introduce one of the most powerful characters Marvel Comics has ever produced, the Sentry. Essentially, he’s Marvel’s Superman, but with a dark secret. He’ll be portrayed by actor Lewis Pullman in the upcoming MCU film, and we officially have our first look at Pullman as the character from the MCU’s Thunderbolts* trailer. But who is Sentry, a (relatively recent) Marvel character, and what is his strange origin story, both on and off the page?

The Bizarre Backstory of Marvel Comics’ Sentry

The Sentry began his comic book existence as an elaborate trolling by Marvel Comics editorial. Back in the ’90s, the Marvel Knights line of comics helped save the company after bankruptcy. Edgy titles like Kevin Smith’s Daredevil got critical acclaim and big sales. In 2000, creators Paul Jenkins and Rick Veitch came up with the Sentry series for Marvel Knights, about a superhero in a more classic DC Comics mode than a Marvel one. His costume suggested Superman’s, or Shazam’s. Although he’s not the only analog for Superman at Marvel (Hyperion predates him) he is the most powerful. He may be stronger than Superman himself.

Sentry, The “Lost” Stan Lee Marvel Hero

When the Sentry mini-series was announced, Marvel touted the series as a discovery of a “lost” concept by Stan Lee and a forgotten artist named Artie Rosen from the early ’60s that never made it to print. When Rosen “died” in 1999, writer Paul Jenkins discovered his original creation with Lee, a classic hero named the Sentry. He decided it was time to give the hero a proper Marvel debut in his own mini-series. Marvel EIC Joe Quesada even used the octogenarian Stan Lee himself as part of the promotion, giving interviews to comic book media about how even he had forgotten he co-created this hero. Of course, all of this was complete nonsense. Sentry was a pure creation of Jenkins. The whole backstory was a marketing gimmick.

Sentry Is Marvel’s Superman, with a Dark Side

In the Sentry original limited series, we meet Robert Reynolds. He’s an out-of-shape, middle-aged man living a bleak existence. Reynolds starts remembering a superhero career in his younger days, when he was the Sentry. Having taken “the Golden Sentry Serum,’ an advanced version of Captain America’s Super Soldier Serum, he now had “the power of a million exploding suns.” His arch nemesis was a dark presence called “The Void.” He was a contemporary of early Marvel heroes like the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four. In fact, he was very close friends with Reed Richards, the Fantastic Four’s genius leader. As he encountered each Marvel hero in the present, they all slowly began to remember him. But why did they forget him in the first place?

After a deadly attack by the Void that resulted in high casualties during his heroic heyday, Sentry disappeared from the Marvel Universe when his mind was wiped, along with the memories of everyone on Earth, to make everyone forget that he ever existed. This was because of Reed Richards and Doctor Strange realizing that the Void was not just Sentry’s arch-foe, he was also a part of him. The only way to get rid of the Void was to make everyone forget that both Sentry and Void existed, including Bob Reynolds himself. So for years, he lived a life of anonymity, forgetting his heroic past entirely.

Sentry Becomes the Mightiest Avenger

In the New Avengers series in 2005, writer Brian Michael Bendis brings Sentry back to the Marvel Universe. We see Reynolds in a cell inside the supervillain prison the Raft, where he has voluntarily imprisoned himself for murdering his wife, Lindy Lee. When a huge jailbreak occurs, the Avengers catch several of the escaping villains. During this time, Daredevil finds the Sentry, and the powerful hero saves several others from Carnage, whom he flies into space and rips in half. Later, the Avengers discovered that X-Men villain Mastermind, who was at fault for Jean Grey’s descent into Dark Phoenix, was responsible for what happened to Sentry. He implanted a psychic virus in Robert Reynolds’ mind that created the delusion of the Void, but it was all really an aspect of his own repressed personality, unleashed by the serum.

Readers learned that the psychic virus does not allow Reynolds to remember his life as he lived it. Instead, he subconsciously implants his memories into the mind of comic book writer Paul Jenkins, a meta-commentary on the real-life creator of the same name who invented Sentry. Eventually, the Avengers show Reynolds that his wife, whom he confessed to murdering, is still alive. Sentry runs away, going to a house in the suburbs he shares with his wife Lindy. The Marvel heroes find him there, and attempt to reason with him. But he insists the Void is coming, and will destroy the world. Ultimately, X-Men telepath Emma Frost frees Reynolds from the psychic virus and restores his memories, and the Sentry joins the Avengers. The rest of the world does not regain their memories of Sentry. To them, he’s a brand new hero and new addition to the Avengers.

The Many Powers and Abilities of Sentry

The Sentry is one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel universe, even more powerful than his DC counterpart Superman. His powers supposedly came from a more advanced version of Captain America’s super soldier serum. Later, they revealed that an alien intelligence actually infused itself with the serum, making Reynolds its host body. Whatever the true origins are, Sentry has super strength, enough to subdue the Hulk at his most powerful. He can fly, has super speed, has telepathy, and can even shapeshift. He can also project light and project energy blasts. Sentry can also pass on a portion of his power, as he did to his kid sidekick, Billy Turner, a.k.a. Scout, an amalgamation of DC’s Robin and Captain Marvel. Jr. He even passed on powers to his Welsh Corgi, Watchdog, a riff on DC’s Krypto the Superdog. Sentry is the definition of the phrase “OP.”

Sentry’s Death and Rebirth

Sentry remained an Avenger for many years, although he constantly battled the emergence of the Void, a symptom of his own mental illness. Eventually, he joined former Green Goblin Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers, as Osborn’s secret weapon. Thanks to Norman’s mental manipulations, he is able to break down the barriers that keep Robert Reynolds’ darker Void persona at bay. In the Siege storyline, Osborn and the Dark Avengers, together with Loki, attack Asgard itself. Osborn uses the powers of the Sentry to destroy Asgard, which was hovering above Oklahoma at the time.

The Dark Avenger Ares, the actual Greek god of war, attacks Sentry for his loss of control. Then, Sentry literally rips the god in half. (It’s a pretty gross panel too). Sentry then murders Loki, although he is eventually reborn as Kid Loki. Realizing what he’s done, upon reverting to his Bob Reynolds persona, Sentry asks the Avengers to kill him. Thor obliges, and carries his body to the sun to be cremated. But Sentry is effectively immortal, and can’t truly die. He eventually merges his Sentry half with his Void half, now seemingly more in control, but also elevated to godhood. In the comics, it seems it is the destiny of the Sentry to effectively never die.

Sentry in the MCU’s Thunderbolts* Movie

The MCU Thunderbolts* trailer officially gave us our first look at Lewis Pullman as the Sentry. But we really don’t know too much about him yet. All we know about Sentry in the MCU for now is that he’ll be a part of the Thunderbolts* film. We have no idea what role he’ll play, but we imagine a scenario similar to the comics. We foresee a situation where Sentry is assigned by the government to the Thunderbolts team. Perhaps to be their public face? But when the ultra-powered hero loses control of his darker half, the former assassins will have to find a way to stop him. But that’s just us guessing. We’ll know for sure when Thunderbolts hits theaters in 2025.

Originally published on February 2, 2024.

The post THUNDERBOLTS* Trailer Reveals First Look at Lewis Pullman’s MCU Sentry (A.K.A Bob) appeared first on Nerdist.

Batman has owned many Batmobiles over his illustrious eight decades in the spotlight. And while many were awesome, at the top of our list of amazing Batmobiles is the one from Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film. The one Michael Keaton’s Dark Knight rode through the streets of Gotham City is the pinnacle of superhero aesthetics in film. And while you may never drive that iconic car yourself, you can now wear it on your feet. Crocs has released a new Batmobile Classic Clog, that gives off all the stylish vibes of Tim Burton’s film. You can check out images of the new Batmobile clog right here, as well as read the official description below:

Click To View Gallery

It’s high-octane style. The Batman Batmobile Classic Clog is ready to own the night (and the day) with a design inspired by Batman’s ride — right down to the bat wings on the side of the strap. And you can customize your new favorite mode of transportation, with Jibbitz charms. To the Batcave!

These Batmobile Crocs are water-friendly and buoyant, weighing only ounces. The ventilation ports add breathability and help shed water and debris. They feature a bat wing detail on the heel strap, which pivot for a more secure fit. The heel even has the fire exhaust port that jets out from the back of the car. They also come with appropriate Batman Jibbitz charms. Most importantly, they’re easy to clean, as well as quick to dry. They are, of course solid black, just like Batman’s world-famous car. The Batmobile clogs are $69.99, but only a few sizes still remain. These are selling out fast, so you might want to grab a pair from the official Crocs online store now before it’s too late.

The post Save Gotham City Wearing Batmobile Crocs Inspired by Tim Burton’s BATMAN appeared first on Nerdist.

While I don’t love the moniker, the Matt Reeves version of Gotham City, “The Batman Epic Crime Universe,” is pretty apt. While The Batman has a superhero and a terrifying serial killer at its center, the main thrust of the plot centered around organized crime and police and government corruption. Fun! We always knew Gotham’s rot ran deep, but The Batman really highlighted that. Fittingly, it’s this aspect the TV series The Penguin focuses on, despite having a recognizable comic villain as the lead. Much of The Penguin deals with the hierarchy and squabbling between two particular crime families mentioned in The Batman.

Here’s what you need to remember about the Falcone and Maroni criminal organizations and families before you dive into The Penguin.

Boss Carmine Falcone Is Dead

Carmine Falcone (John Turturro in the movie, Mark Strong on the show) was the longtime head of Falcone crime family. In The Batman, he more or less acts as the fulcrum from which all of the other plots in the movie circle. Falcone is Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell)‘s boss, and owner of the Iceberg Lounge which the Penguin runs. He tells Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) of his connection to Bruce’s father, Thomas Wayne. Thomas fixed up Falcone’s mob-related wounds and later when a reporter threatened to expose Martha Wayne’s history of mental illness, Thomas asked Falcone to “put the fear of God” into the reporter. Falcone also had an affair with Maria Kyle, a dancer at the Iceberg, and is the illegitimate father of Selina (Zoe Kravitz).

The big penny-drop moment of the movie is when Batman figures out that Falcone is the rat feeding info to the police in exchange for the cops and politicians leaving him alone. Falcone murdered the reporter, and Selina’s mother, and later Selina’s friend Annika when she learned the truth about him. Part of his ratting consisted of selling out Salvatore Maroni, his criminal rival and operator of the city’s “drops” drug trade, and taking over the business. He puts Oz in charge of running it.

Through the Riddler (Paul Dano)’s clues, Batman uncovers all of this corruption and the uncorrupt members of the GCPD come to arrest Falcone. While doing so, the Riddler assassinates Falcone with a rifle in a nearby building.

The Penguin Sees a Vacuum in the Criminal Underworld

At the end of The Batman, we see the Penguin—who was vehemently against Falcone’s working with the cops—looking out over Gotham, contemplating his rise to the top. The series shows us it’s not that simple. The remaining capos in the Falcone organization aren’t going to just fall in line behind a thug like Cobb. He also has to contend with Carmine’s two legitimate children, Alberto (Michael Zegen) and Sofia (Cristin Milioti). Both have eyes on controlling the organization, and Sofia is freshly out of Arkham for apparently killing several women in the guise of the Hangman.

Salvatore Maroni Also Has a Score to Settle with the Falcone Crime Family

The aforementioned rival boss Salvatore Maroni will also appear in The Penguin, played by motherf***ing Clancy Brown. Maroni was the ruling family in the drops industry before Falcone’s involvement. Now that Carmine is no more and the big secret it exposed, Maroni sees this as an opportunity to take back what’s his. One setback, he’s still in prison. Lucky for him, his wife Nadia (Shohreh Aghdashloo) is more than capable, and ruthless, to go toe-to-toe with the Penguin and the Falcone kids.

The Falcones, the Maronis, and Their Crime Families in the Batman Comics

The criminal underworld of Gotham City as depicted in The Batman and The Penguin are not wholly new characters to the Batman mythos. In fact, many members of both the Falcone and Maroni families have appeared in comics over the past several decades in prominent ways.

Carmine Falcone

Carmine Falcone first appeared in Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s seminal four-issue mini series Batman: Year One from 1987. He later appeared as a main antagonist in Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s iconic 1996-1997 series, Batman: The Long Halloween, which serves as a major inspiration for much of The Batman and The Penguin. The backstory about Thomas Wayne tending to Carmine’s wounds with a young Bruce watching comes right out of that book. Carmine dies in The Long Halloween at Two-Face’s hand.

Sofia and Alberto Falcone

The two Falcone children also both first appear in The Long Halloween and continue on in Loeb and Sale’s other big arc, Dark Victory. (They have another brother in the comics who doesn’t apparently exist in the show.) Sofia aids her father in The Long Halloween in unearthing the true identity of the serial murderer, the Holiday Killer, who kills citizens seemingly at random during specific holidays. Holiday turns out to be Alberto Falcone himself.

Later in the 2000 event Dark Victory, Sofia Falcone returns to Gotham in the guise of the Hangman, a serial murderer taking out members of the GCPD.

Salvatore Maroni

Salvatore Maroni is a very old character indeed. He first appeared in Batman issue #66 from 1942. He’s a gott-dang Bill Finger and Bob Kane creation! As one of the city’s major crime bosses, he appears on and off over the years. His major claim to fame is that he’s the one who tosses acid in Harvey Dent’s face which leads to him becoming Two-Face. This happens in The Long Halloween as well.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

The post What to Remember from THE BATMAN’s Crime Families Before THE PENGUIN appeared first on Nerdist.

The Batman in 2022 gave us our first glimpse at Matt Reeves’ version of Gotham City. While not the first “realistic” version of the fictional comic book city, though arguably more in line with a lot of more comic-booky Batman aesthetics, The Batman perfectly thread the line between grounded and fantastical. It’s not The Dark Knight, but it’s also not Batman & Robin. Because of that, several of the sillier elements had to change to fit better. Some of those are the names of characters. Chief among them, the Penguin (Colin Farrell). In the movie, we learn he goes by “Oz,” and the series The Penguin confirms his name is not Oswald Cobblepot.

The series changes the name Oswald Cobblepot to Oswald “Oz” Cobb. Small change, but bigger ramifications. In the comic, Oswald Cobblepot is a criminal in the vein of high-society wannabe. He’s the black sheep of a decidedly white sheep family. That really doesn’t fit The Batman‘s version of the character one bit, a mafia enforcer who fancies himself a bigshot. Similar vibe, wildly different execution. So the easy answer is, “Oswald Cobblepot” is a silly name.

Speaking to SFX (via GameSpot), The Penguin producer Dylan Clark explains the change further. “[DC] never got around to changing his name in the comics like they did with the Riddler, going from Edward Nigma [or Nygma] to Edward Nashton, from an unreal name to a real name.” This, of course, is true. In the comics, we learn Edward Nygma was a retrofitted pseudonym for Edward Nashton once he took on the persona of the Riddler.

“We had a lot of conversations with DC Comics and with Jim Lee [President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics],” Clark continued. “They had thought about changing his name at some point but had never done it. Matt asked, ‘Can I call our character Oz Cobb?’ And Jim said, ‘Absolutely!’ So we got a blessing from the king himself. That small change of the name allowed us to look at this character in a grounded way.”

Boy, they are really worried about a story where a guy dresses up like a bat feeling grounded. Ah well, it is what it is. Oz Cobb does fit the character better, somehow, so maybe they had the right idea.

The Penguin premieres September 19 on HBO.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

The post Why THE PENGUIN Changed Oswald Cobblepot’s Name appeared first on Nerdist.

From the first two episodes of Agatha All Along, all we know about Joe Locke’s mysterious character, simply called “Teen,” is that he’s a 16-year-old gay Westview resident. A resident with quite an interest in witchcraft. He helps to break Agatha out of the spell that Wanda Maximoff placed her under at the end of WandaVision. A spell that lasted three whole years, only weakened by Wanda’s death in Doctor Strange in the Mutliverse of Madness. He essentially tells her he’s the ultimate Agatha fanboy, a fan who knows way too much about her life.

Teen Has a Mystical Sigil Placed on Him

But when Agatha asks Teen who he is, his words sound muffled and she can’t hear what his name is. In fact, a series of cursive letters appear over his mouth, which prevents Agatha from knowing who he really is. Agatha then explains that the letters are part of a sigil, which is a concealing spell. Who (or what) placed that spell on Teen is a mystery. It’s certainly a mystery that annoys Agatha to no end since she can’t break the spell in her current powerless state.

Later on in episode two, the two characters take a car ride together. Teen attempts to explain to her where he’s from to make small talk. However, the very same magic prevents Agatha (and the viewer) from hearing it. We imagine lip readers will have a field day trying to figure out what he’s saying. This only annoys Agatha further. It’s evident to her there is something special about the boy.

Is “Teen” Billy Kaplan, a.k.a. Wiccan, or Someone Else?

The prevailing theory, of course, is that Teen is really Billy Kaplan. Billy in the comics is the reincarnated soul of Billy Maximoff, Wanda’s son she created in the Hex in WandaVision. In the comics, he becomes one of Marvel’s most important LGBTQ heroes, Wiccan, a Young Avenger.

There are other possibilities though. He could also be the son of Agatha, the one she supposedly gave away centuries ago in exchange for the Darkhold. In the comics, that son was Nicolas Scratch. Although, why her son would still be a teenager after hundreds of years is perplexing. We have a strong suspicion that we may not find out the true identity of Teen until the very end of the series.

When Will Agatha All Along Reveal the Truth about “Teen?”

We do hope that Marvel Studios understands how important the character of Wiccan is to fans, especially LGBTQ fans, and doesn’t wind up dropping the ball on the perfect way to formally introduce Joe Locke’s Teen character. As much as we loved WandaVision, we’re still a little bitter about Evan Peters’ character who they teased as Quicksilver from the Fox X-Men universe, only to really be some dude named Ralph Bohner. If the same producers pull that trick again, we might be more than a little annoyed. Right now, our money is on Teen being some form of Billy Maximoff, but who knows what the producers of Agatha All Along have in store?

The post Did AGATHA ALL ALONG Reveal Who Joe Locke’s Teen Character Really Is? appeared first on Nerdist.

The Witches’ Road, which teasers hint plays a big part in the plot of Agatha All Along, is a relatively recent addition to Marvel Comics lore. This addition to the universe first came in the 2015-2017 Scarlet Witch series, in issue #3, and was created by writer James Robinson and artist Steve Dillon. This series came after a decade-long period of instability for the character of Wanda Maximoff, and the Witches’ Road helped set her on the path to full redemption. But to explain the Witches’ Road, we have to briefly explain the modern history of the Scarlet Witch first.

The Fall and Rise of the Scarlet Witch

The 2004 event Avengers Disassembled had the Scarlet Witch lose control of her chaos magic, nearly destroying the Avengers and killing several teammates. This is after she learned her children were merely magical constructs, and not flesh and blood. Afterward, she decimated the mutant race in House of M. She vanished for years, until coming under the control of Doctor Doom. She was finally freed from his influence in Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, and embarked on a new life where she tried to redeem her heroic legacy.

The First Scarlet Witch Ongoing Series Introduces the Witches’ Road

In James Robinson’s Scarlet Witch series, the newly returned Wanda learns that witchcraft itself is broken. Magic is no longer working correctly for the witch community around the globe. To get to the bottom of the mystery, she journeys to the mystical realm known as the Witches’ Road. She embarks on this quest with her guide and former mentor, the witch Agatha Harkness. In the comics, the pair were not adversaries as they are in the MCU. Agatha actually tutored Wanda in the use of magic, beyond her own mutant powers. Wanda learns that only witches and other magic users can travel on the Road.

When Wanda embarks on the Witches’ Road, she faces a series of trials over the course of the fifteen-issue series. She learns more about herself, discovering that her superhero name “The Scarlet Witch” is actually a title first used by her birth mother, Natalya Maximoff. They adapted this idea into the MCU in WandaVision, with the name Scarlet Witch also being a formal title assigned to a powerful being, and not just a heroic codename.

The Many Trials of the Witches’ Road

As part of her trials on the Witches’ Road, Wanda comes up against various spirits, creatures, sorcerers, and demons. Although Wanda is on the Witches’ Road for several weeks, time passes far slower on Earth than on the Road. In our world, only hours have passed. She eventually learns that the battles she fought on the Road were caused by the entity called Chaos, who is the source of her own Chaos Magic. Chaos was attacking Witchcraft, itself an entity that is the source of all the witches’ powers. It was the attack from Chaos that caused the sickness in witchcraft across the world.

In the end, Wanda’s final trial is facing her own traumatic past, and all the pain and suffering she caused. Not only to her fellow Avengers, but also the mutant community. She must also confront what others did to her, especially her adopted father, Magneto. Wanda, along with Agatha and her mother, find a way to save the entity Witchcraft by combining into the so-called “Witches’ Trio,” the Mother (Natalya), the Maiden (Wanda) and the Crone (Agatha). The powers of Witchcraft and Chaos then combine in Wanda, making her the most powerful witch in the Marvel Universe.

The MCU Version of the Witches’ Road in Agatha All Along

The basics of the Witches’ Road remain the same in Agatha All Along. It’s another dimension with its own magical rules that govern reality. It’s a realm that only witches and other magically inclined people can access. In the series, most witches think of the road as a myth. Although Agatha has walked the Road before, and knows it’s real. In the MCU, one needs a coven of witches to access the road (although in the past, Agatha was able to do it alone, suggesting something was afoot there). We suspect like Wanda Maximoff in the comics, Agatha will have to face the misdeeds of her past to regain full power. Will she remain a selfish villain, or will the Witches’ Road teach her to become a better person? We will soon find out.

The post What Is the Witches’ Road? The Marvel Comics History of AGATHA ALL ALONG’s Dimension, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

Batman is about to receive an honor usually reserved for actors, directors, and musicians just in time for his 85th birthday. Believe it or not, Batman is receiving his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor the Dark Knight with the 2,790th star on Thursday, September 26. It will sit right next to Batman ’66 star Adam West’s star and the character’s co-creator Bob Kane’s star. In addition to the star on Hollywood Blvd., they will also induct Batman into the Guinness Book of World Records as the first superhero character with his own star.

Batman might be the first superhero with his own star, but it’s not his first time in the Guinness Book. His original comic book series, Detective Comics, was inducted as longest-running comic book. Back in 2012, they recognized Batman as the most adapted comic book hero in live-action movies. Back then, he’d appeared in eight live-action films. (It’s now twelve films, in case you were wondering.) That record beats Iron Man and Wolverine by a hair. He’s also the superhero with the most Oscar winners who have played him. Former Caped Crusaders George Clooney, Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck all have won Oscar gold. Batman will actually receive his new honors in front of the Guinness Museum.

In collaboration with Funko, an all-day fan event on September 26 will take place alongside the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony at the Funko Hollywood store. DC’s Chief Creative Officer (and notable Batman artist) Jim Lee will be on hand to participate in an exclusive one-hour meet and greet and signing for fans at Funko Hollywood from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Perhaps no fictional superhero is more deserving of a star on the Walk of Fame than Batman.

The post Batman Becomes First Superhero with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame appeared first on Nerdist.

Despite all the rumors, none of the OG cast of the Fox X-Men films appeared alongside Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine. Not even Patrick Stewart as Professor X came back, who was the odds-on favorite to return. We have speculated that it’s because they are planning for the original X-Men cast to return in Avengers: Secret Wars. Or maybe they will return as early as Avengers: Doomsday. Recently, Comic Book Movie asked Halle Berry if Marvel asked her to return as Storm. This was while she was promoting her film Never Let Go. Her response: “You never know. We’ll find out!”

So that’s not a yes, but certainly not a “no” either. To be fair, even if they cast her in a future MCU Multiversal Avengers project, she couldn’t say anything at this stage. But when you add Halle Berry playing coy to Kelsey Grammer’s recent comments about returning as Beast after his cameo in The Marvels, you start to think there’s a plan afoot here. Grammer recently said he’s had “some conversations” about Beast returning. This is thanks to an “overwhelming” response to his cameo. Of course, he was also sure to say, “There’s nothing I can talk about.”

Earlier this year, when asked about a return as Cyclops in the MCU, James Marsden answered by saying “That’s a bit of a Pandora’s box.” With Channing Tatum stealing our hearts as Gambit, and Hugh Jackman back as Logan, we’d only need Halle Berry as Storm, James Marsden as Cyclops, Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, Patrick Stewart as Xavier, Anna Paquin as Rogue, and Kelsey Grammer as Beast to have the complete adult members from X-Men: The Animated Series. If we see them in Doomsday or Secret Wars taking on the Avengers in battle, especially wearing their classic costumes? Well, then we’re pretty sure the internet might literally explode.

The post Could Halle Berry Return as Storm in AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY or SECRET WARS? appeared first on Nerdist.

The Penguin didn’t even get a chance to premiere before a potential second season seemed unlikely. That had nothing to do with early critical reaction to the spinoff series, though. (Initial reviews are stellar.) It’s not because Warner Bros. Discovery has budget concerns, either. (At least not yet/we hope.) It’s because star Colin Farrell isn’t sure he can keep wearing all the prosthetics the role requires. He told GamesRadar that by the end of season one he found himself saying, “I never want to put that f***ing suit and that f***ing head on again.”

As much as we love the character, we don’t blame him. Fortunately, there’s a way for him to continue living in Gotham without having to first spend hours in a makeup chair. His Oswald Cobblepot can instead transform into Emperor Penguin, an alternate version of the Batman villain who is a DC Comics character whom Colin Farrell naturally looks like.

Colin Farrell was definitely not the most obvious choice to play The Penguin in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, but he turned out to be an inspired one. The Irish actor completely disappeared into the role of the street-wise American mobster. His Oz was equal parts frightening and funny, an unforgettable presence who fit perfectly into Reeves’ version of Gotham City. Farrell didn’t do that alone, though. World-class movie magic helped him physically transform into the role. If no one told you Colin Farrell was the one waddling around underneath those scars and body you would have never known it was him. His own co-star John Turturro didn’t even believe it was him!

Obviously, all those prosthetics take a lot of time and patience to put on every day. Acting in them also takes a lot of extra energy. There’s also a big difference in how many total days you have to wear them as a supporting character in a single movie compared to when you’re the titular star of an eight-episode TV show. It’s no surprise Farrell was beyond tired of the whole process after shooting The Penguin. It’s more surprising he ever agreed to do it in the first place.

While Reeves has already said The Penguin will appear in The Batman 2, that doesn’t mean Farrell will sign on for a second season of his spinoff show. Not if it will mean many more months wearing those heavy prosthetics. But what if he doesn’t have to? There’s a way to do exactly that. Reeves and the show could let the actor appear with his own face if they adapt the story of Batman villain Ignatius Ogilvy.

Ignatius Ogilvy is a lesser-known DC Comics villain who has something very important in common with Bruce Wayne. He saw his parents killed outside a theater. His dad was a small-time crooks. But while he never stepped out of line, that didn’t get him ahead. Nor did it save his life. Ignatius never forgot the hard lessons he learned from his father’s life. They drove his own ambition as he built an underworld career.

As a kid, Ignatius joined The Penguin’s crew. In his low-level henchman role he battled with (and lost to) Batman multiple times. Eventually he rose to become Oz Cobblepot’s most trusted, favorite lieutenant. But Ignatius wanted more, and when the opportunity presented itself he took it. He usurped The Penguin’s entire criminal empire from his boss. He then named himself Emperor Penguin and started taking drugs that gave him super strength and abilities.

Before his skin turned blue and he became known as Emperor Blackgate, Ignatius Ogilvy also just so happened to look exactly like a blonde-haired Colin Farrell.

Colin Farrell did not look like an obvious choice to play Oz Cobblepot. Yet he looks like he was born to play Ignatius Ogilvy.

Matt Reeves and the writers of The Penguin don’t have to kill off Oz to make the switch. They certainly could have Farrell double dip until Ignatius replaces The Penguin entirely. Or they could simply adapt Emperor Penguin’s story. The Penguin is trying to becoming Gotham’s unquestioned underworld boss. That will make him the #1 target of Batman. If Oz gets what he thinks he wants, he might quickly find himself in need of a new identity and face. His newfound riches could make that possible with some pricey plastic surgery. It might be easier to rebuild his empire as Ignatius than it would be to keep it as Oz.

Colin Farrell’s The Penguin is a memorable comic book villain. His look, which gives him an imposing presence and identity, is a big reason why. But as much as we love his Oz and want him to come back for multiple seasons and movies, if those prosthetics prove too much to work with, we’ll gladly take Farrell’s version of Emperor Penguin instead. Especially if they end up being the same person anyway.

The post The Perfect Answer to Colin Farrell’s THE PENGUIN Prosthetics Problem: Emperor Penguin appeared first on Nerdist.

Venom: The Last Dance‘s last trailer was the first time we got to see the film’s main villain. It’s the biggest one in Venom comics history, Knull. As exciting as that reveal was, inexplicably, that promo was also the first time the people who actually created Knull found out that he’s in the movie. And now that Knull’s creators know the symbiote creator is making his live-action debut in Venom‘s third outing, they’re hoping to see something else soon: money.

Following the release of Venom: The Last Dance‘s latest and final trailer, two of the creators behind Knull took to social media. They revealed something genuinely shocking. Sony never informed them of their character’s inclusion in the film. The first of the posts (which we first saw at IGN) came from Ryan Stegman. He penciled the issue of Marvel Comics where Knull made his debut. On Twitter, he wrote that since Knull is the movie’s big bad, he expects a big payment.

A lazy river moat at home does sound nice.

Meanwhile the writer of the comic, Donny Cates, was far more direct with his thoughts. He posted a photo of the word “MONEY” alongside “lol.”

Not a whole lot of mystery around how either of them feel. These creators gave life to Knull on the Marvel Comics page. Now that he’s appearing in a live-action film, they want to be paid accordingly.

Without question or reservation, they should be.

Hollywood has not exactly treated comic book creators fairly. (Which is truly an understatement.) By going public with this blatant absurdity, Stegman and Cates are drawing attention to the latest example of money-printing companies taking advantage of people they owe everything to. There would literally not be a Knull to put into Venom: The Last Dance if not for comic book writers, artists, and other creators.

The fact Sony didn’t even tell them Knull is in the movie is not a great sign for future payment. But public outcry can change that. Hopefully, it will. Hopefully, this will stop happening to comic book creators entirely. We want to root against Knull when we see him in Venom: The Last Dance. But not for this reason.

The post We Hope the Creators of VENOM: THE LAST DANCE’s Villain Knull Get Paid appeared first on Nerdist.

Thus far, the Sony Spider-Man cinematic universe has not had what we’d call a Thanos-level threat… until now. The latest trailer for Venom: The Last Dance introduces Knull, a powerful cosmic villain who has become a major threat to the Marvel Universe in just a few short years. In the film, he’s rumored to be portrayed by Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead franchise. Here’s everything you need to know about the ancient dark being known as the King in Black, the God of the Symbiotes, and Lord of the Abyss.

The First Marvel Comics Appearance of Knull, God of the Symbiotes

Created by writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman, Knull’s first official appearance was in 2018’s Venom Vol. 4 #3. Technically, he first appeared as a nameless entity in Thor: God of Thunder #6 in 2013, a full five years earlier. In just a handful of years, he became one of Marvel’s most powerful villains, and became one of the arch-enemies of Venom, and to a lesser extent, Thor and the Silver Surfer. As the main antagonist of the crossover event The King in Black, he became a threat practically every hero on Earth had to face.

The Ancient Origins of Knull in the Marvel Comics

Knull is an entity older than time, created after the destruction of the sixth iteration of the cosmos. When the god-like Celestials created the 7th iteration of cosmos, what we think of as the 616 Marvel Universe, they offered Knull the title of “King in Black,” tasked with watching over their new creations. However, when the Light of Creation came through, it devoured his kingdom of Eldritch Darkness, and Knull rebelled. He created a weapon, the Necrosword, also called the All-Black, and used it to murder one of the Celestials. Outraged by this betrayal, the other Celestials banished Knull deep into the Primordial Void. The head of the Celestial he killed went with him.

Using that head, he created the first symbiote, combining it with the remaining Celestial energies within it. The head would eventually become Knowhere, later the home base for the Guardians of the Galaxy. The first symbiotes Knull created in the earliest years were forged in heat and noise. In doing so, he unintentionally gave the symbiotes their weaknesses to high sonic frequencies and fire. These symbiotes were an extension of his own consciousness. Knull forged a symbiote armor and began using All-Black to start killing other gods. At some point, he crash-landed on an unnamed planet where the creature Gorr took the All-Black from the incapacitated Knull and became the God-Butcher. Later, Gorr the God-Butcher became a major enemy of Thor, after killing multiple gods.

Knull vs. Thor and Knull’s Banishment

Over a thousand years ago, a gigantic symbiote arrived on Earth, hoping to assimilate our world into the Symbiote Hive. This is when a younger Thor Odinson came to Earth to battle the symbiote, who was shaped like a dragon, and which local Vikings and villagers called Grendel. A lightning strike summoned by Thor’s hammer Mjölnir shattered the connection between Knull and his symbiote hive mind. Now roaming the cosmos and free from Knull’s control, they began bonding with new hosts and learning about something other than just endless darkness. The symbiotes rebelled against their god and master, containing him inside a world made of billions of symbiotes. They named this world Klyntar, which in their language translates to “cage.”

Knull in the King in Black Crossover Event

After a millennia, archeologists discovered the remains of Grendel. Later, several SHIELD scientists tried to hone its power for military use, but it only served to reactivate their symbiote connection to Knull. Years later, he returned to full strength after a conflict between Eddie Brock, a.k.a. Venom, and Carnage, two symbiotes on Earth. Now at full power once more, Knull destroyed Klyntar, and created a suit of draconic armor for himself. He then created a fleet of symbiote dragons to conquer the universe, starting with Earth. When he attacked the Earth in 2020’s King in Black crossover event, it took Venom, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men together to defeat Knull. But it was Venom who gave Knull the killing blow, becoming the new King of the Symbiotes as a result.

Knull’s Powers and Abilities

As the God of the Abyss, the immortal Knull has superhuman strength and durability. He can fly and has regenerative powers that allow him to heal from almost any injury. Knull has the power to create and manipulate the Eldritch Darkness. He can also create weapons and living creatures out of pure darkness, creatures he can control remotely. Many of the symbiotes he creates have different powers and different shapes, like the dragon symbiotes. As a shapeshifter, Knull can transform his mouth into a set of enormous fanged jaws with an elongated tongue, a trait passed on to his symbiotes.

The Live-Action, Cinematic Future of Knull

So what does this mean for the future of the cinematic Knull? Is he the “big bad” of Venom: The Last Dance, or will he just be teased in a post-credits sequence? It’s been said that Venom: The Last Dance is the final film featuring Tom Hardy as the Eddie Brock persona, so could this be leading to Knull vs. Spider-Man in Spider-Man 4? Knull is too big a villain not to use in a significant way. He’s also a major enemy of Thor, but with the God of Thunder over at Marvel Studios, we don’t see that happening anytime soon. We’re very curious as to what the big screen future of the King of the Abyss will be.

The post The Marvel Comics History of Knull, the Villain From VENOM: THE LAST DANCE, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel fans were left reeling after Kevin Feige and the Russo Brothers revealed that Robert Downey, Jr. will be returning to the MCU to play the villainous Victor von Doom, a.k.a. Doctor Doom. Questions were immediately raised about how Downey could possibly play Marvel’s next big baddie when he already played its top hero, the dearly departed Tony Stark/Iron Man. This chatter led to theories about multiverse variants.

Not long after, Marvel Comics writer Deniz Camp posted a cryptic tease about his upcoming comic series on X/Twitter, writing, “If you want to understand Robert Downey Jr. as Doom, you MUST read Ultimates 4 on sept 4th.” Now that Ultimates #4 is out in the wild, let’s dig into the issue and see what it reveals about the man in the iron mask who will terrorize Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the upcoming films Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Ultimates Is About a Twisted Version of the Marvel Universe

Ultimates is a new comic book series about Marvel’s rebooted Ultimate Universe. The Ultimate Universe was restored by a villain known as the Maker. This character is an evil version of Reed Richards from the original Ultimate Universe. In order to ensure his rule of this new world, the Maker used time travel to make it so Marvel’s greatest saviors never became superheroes.

Despite the Maker’s best efforts, some heroes slipped through the cracks. Howard Stark became Iron Man and passed on the mantle to his son, Tony Stark. Tony took on the name Iron Lad and scraped together a team of Avengers to oppose the Maker. One of Tony’s allies is Reed Richards, who in this twisted world became Doom instead of Mister Fantastic. Ultimates #4 pulls back the curtain to reveal how a hero like Reed Richards could wind up like his classic nemesis, Doctor Doom.

The Maker Corrupted the Ultimate Doom

Ultimates #4 unveils Ultimate Doom’s backstory and shows how one small change completely altered the fate of the Fantastic Four. As we watch Reed Richards preparing for the team’s first mission to space, the Maker uses time travel to pop into Reed’s lab and sneakily ruin one of his calculations on a whiteboard. The small sabotage has big consequences as it causes the space mission to end in tragedy. Instead of the group gaining wondrous super powers, they each meet a horrific end that aligns with their would-be powers.

The cosmic rays bombarding the space shuttle set Johnny Storm on fire, which kills him. Ben is later found at the bottom of a rock quarry, seemingly dying by suicide. Sue’s health slowly “fades away” in the hospital as she succumbs to radiation poisoning. Reed is the lone survivor but the Maker kidnaps him. The Maker brings Reed to the Dome, his technologically advanced base of operations where he can manipulate the flow of time.

“I can squeeze centuries of pain into just a few thin moments,” he says. The Maker physically tortures Reed with electrocution, melting his face Palpatine-style. He then covers Reed’s face with a burning-hot metal mask. He also psychologically tortures Reed with his perceived failure that brought about the “doom” of his loved ones. Reed eventually snaps mentally and accepts the name Doom to complete the transformation.

How Ultimate Doom Could Explain RDJ Becoming Doctor Doom

The story of Ultimates #4 does indeed appear to offer valuable insight on Downey’s Doom. Even though the comic shows how Reed, not Tony, became Doom, it still demonstrates how a key change in a character’s origin story can drastically alter their life and send them down the path of doom. Perhaps the new character Downey is playing is from a different universe where Tony Stark’s origin story played out differently and he emerged from the cave as an armor-clad villain instead of a hero. Who’s to say he couldn’t reinvent himself by buying a castle in Eastern Europe and taking on the name Victor von Doom? 

Most interestingly, the story of Ultimates #4 asks us to consider the idea that Downey’s character wasn’t supposed to become Doom. Instead, a nefarious force made him Doom. We could see the same thing happen in the MCU. It could be that an evil mastermind saw how Tony Stark became Marvel’s greatest hero in one universe, so they set out to make him its greatest villain in another. If Marvel does go this route for the story, it would mean there’s a secret villain above Doom who orchestrated his creation.

If Marvel wants to wrap up the unresolved Kang the Conqueror storyline, then Kang could take the role of the Maker in this story. He is known for time travel, after all. If Kang does create MCU Doom, then it wouldn’t surprise anybody for Doom to betray Kang and replace him as the next big threat the Avengers must face. Then again, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Marvel introduces the Maker himself who is an evil version of Pedro Pascal’s Mister Fantastic. This could make sense, considering we will meet Mister Fantastic in next year’s Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Will the MCU Really Get Robert Downey, Jr.’s Doctor Doom Origin Story From the Ultimates Comic?

It is tantalizing to think that the secrets of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next big bad Doctor Doom are within the comics pages of Ultimates #4. However, it’s hard to believe that Feige would allow his master plan for Downey’s Doom to be in a comic book before the next Avengers movies have even started production. With that in mind, Deniz Camp may have been implying that his story in Ultimates #4 is more of a thematic preview of Downey’s Doom rather than a literal one. The issue speaks to how the theme of loss is core to Doom’s character.

Ultimate Reed became Doom after losing his friends and family. The classic version of Victor von Doom became Doctor Doom after losing his parents. If there’s one thing Camp wants us to understand about Downey’s Doom, it appears to be that loss will be a key element of his character. One can imagine how Tony Stark would have been a very different person if the likes of Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan met a tragic demise. If they weren’t around to help him become the hero who would go on to form the Avengers and ultimately sacrifice himself to save the Marvel Universe from certain doom, then he could have certainly become Doctor Doom. We will see what actually happens in the future.

The post Does This Marvel Comic Reveal How Robert Downey, Jr. Will Become Doctor Doom? appeared first on Nerdist.

The world of comic books has been shocked and saddened by the untimely passing of artist John Cassaday, at the age of 52. No cause of death has been revealed. A truly beloved figure in the comic book community, many creators are pouring out love for their friend and colleague on social media. Among those friends were DC’s Jim Lee, Marvel’s Bill Rosemann, Mitch Gerads, and many, many others.

A Texas native, Cassaday was known mainly for his work at Wildstorm and Marvel, where he drew a highly-praised run of Astonishing X-Men and relaunched their ongoing Star Wars series. After going to film school, Cassaday started working in comics in the early ’90s, on series like Negative Burn for Caliber Press and later Ghost for Dark Horse Comics. But it was in 1999 that Cassaday really broke through, working on the series Planetary for Wildstorm/DC Comics.

Written by Warren Ellis, Planetary was about a group of interdimensional archaeologists. It was Planetary that really put Cassaday on everyone’s radar. His detailed renderings and ability to convey facial expressions won him tons praise. Planetary came out on a random release schedule, which allowed him to pursue other projects. In total, it ran 27 issues and ten years. This included an acclaimed Batman crossover one-shot. In 2002, he began illustrating a new Captain America series, written by John Rey Neiber. The book was a hit and Cassaday’s illustrations of Cap in his WWII glory made Steve Rogers look more inspirational than he’d been in years.

In 2004, Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon chose Cassaday to illustrate his entry into comics with Astonishing X-Men. This relaunch of the iconic mutants saw massive critical acclaim and big sales, and Cassaday illustrated the entire 25-issue run. Astonishing X-Men remains one of the most critically acclaimed X-Men runs of all time, in large part thanks to his stellar art.

Cassaday’s redesign of Wolverine’s costume from Astonishing X-Men is the main inspiration for Hugh Jackman’s outfit in Deadpool & Wolverine. The series won John Cassaday two Eisner Awards for Best Penciler/Inker. After finishing X-Men, Marvel tasked him with launching Uncanny Avengers, an X-Men/Avengers hybrid series, with writer Rick Remender, in 2012.

In 2015, Marvel Comics got the Star Wars license as part of the Disney purchase of Lucasfilm. The company relaunched a brand new Star Wars series written by Jason Aaron, featuring the cast of the original trilogy. The first issue sold a million copies. After this point, Cassaday mostly just drew covers for various publishers, and no longer drew interior pages.

In 2018, publisher Humanoids hired John Cassaday to serve as its Chief Creative Officer. However, he continued to draw covers for other publishers, like Dynamite Comics. At Dynamite, he illustrated a series of covers for their Lone Ranger series. Having gone to film school, Cassaday did design work for Watchmen. He also directed an episode of Joss Whedon’s TV series Dollhouse. The world of narrative storytelling is a lesser one without him.

The post Comic Book Artist John Cassaday, Known for X-MEN and STAR WARS, Dies at Age 52 appeared first on Nerdist.

Marvel Studios’ Infinity Saga, from 2008’s Iron Man through 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, was one of the biggest success stories in Hollywood history. Over 11 years and 23 films, the MCU scored record-breaking box office numbers and critical ratings. But its follow-up, The Multiverse Saga, has not fared quite as well. Oh, it’s still a huge success, don’t get us wrong. Just look at the billion-dollar box-office for Deadpool & Wolverine. But this saga saw Marvel’s first outright flop, and just too much content all at once. Well, according to Marvel’s Brad Winderbaum, the Multiverse Saga won’t go on as long as its predecessor. 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars will mark its official end. Here’s what he told ScreenRant:

I think that’s [what] Secret Wars is going to be, an amazing culmination to the saga, I think it’s going to make the journey feel like it was worthwhile.

Although it was long assumed that Avengers: Secret Wars would mark the end of the Multiverse Saga, this is the first official confirmation from Marvel. The 2015 comic book version of Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman brought an end to that specific comic book iteration of the Multiverse, so it makes sense for the MCU to follow suit storywise. With Avengers: Secret Wars marking the end of this chapter, it will have lasted less time than the Infinity Saga (three Phases, but eight years overall) but with many more projects as a part of it. At this time, we count 24, with many more on the way before Secret Wars hit theaters.

So what comes after Avengers: Secret Wars, and whatever the RDJ version of Doctor Doom’s evil plot is? We have no concrete idea yet. However, we suspect “The Mutant Saga” is next, with the X-Men officially folded into the MCU and taking center stage. We don’t think the Avengers brand is going away or anything like that. After all, there are way too many Avengers products and Disney theme park lands to put it on ice. But we have a feeling in Marvel Studios Phase 7, we’re going to see way more mutants on the screen. We’ll know for sure when the Russo brothers’ Avengers: Secret Wars hits theaters in May, 2027.

The post Marvel Studios Confirms AVENGERS: SECRET WARS Will End the Multiverse Saga appeared first on Nerdist.

Most of the famous X-Men villains, like Magneto or Apocalypse, are products of the ‘60s to the ‘90s. But the 21st century has provided us with one of the most lethal X-Men foes of all time, Cassandra Nova Xavier. The Crown’s Emma Corrin played the character with a sense of delicious, evil glee in Deadpool & Wolverine. Here’s the comic book history of one of the X-Men’s most dangerous adversaries.

Cassandra Nova’s Marvel Comics First Appearance

The genocidal maniac is the creation of writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, introduced during their New X-Men run in the early 2000s. The story that introduced her, “E is For Extinction,” was a game-changer for the X-Men.” First appearing in 2001’s New X-Men #114, she’s since popped up several other times. Usually her appearance makes life hell for the mutant race in each instance.

Cassandra Nova’s Origin Story, and Charles Xavier

Cassandra Nova is that tried and true villain archetype of fiction — the evil twin. But in Grant Morrison’s imagination, “evil twin” has an even darker meaning. Cassandra is what the alien Shi’ar Empire calls a Mummudrai. A Mummudrai is something the Shi’ar believe every living being in the universe has, an astral “shadow self” without form. Cassandra began existence in the same womb as Charles Xavier, but without a corporeal body. She then copied her twin brother’s DNA and essentially became his physical twin, and attempted to strangle her brother in the womb with their mother’s umbilical cord. But the fetus of Charles uses his powers for the first time with a psychic blast, which causes her to be stillborn.

However, the Mummudrai’s essence survived as “chaotic cellular matter.” That blob of cells clung to a sewer wall for years and years, slowly regrowing its physical form, rebuilding itself, and copying human traits. One thing fueled this malevolent being, and that was revenge on her twin brother Charles Xavier, and everything he held dear. Particularly his dream for mutant and human coexistence. Fully grown, Cassandra activated a Sentinel Master Mold, which unleashed the Homo-superior-hunting robots on the mutant nation of Genosha. There, it murdered 16 million mutants in one fell swoop.

Cassandra Nova and the X-Men

After the Genoshan genocide, Cassandra fought the X-Men, and they thought they defeated her. Actually, she switched minds with her brother Charles Xavier, and when he was in her body, she allowed him to be shot and seemingly killed. After months of posing as Charles and creating chaos, eventually Xavier reasserted control of his old body, thanks to Jean Grey storing pieces of his psyche in every mind on Earth, and then putting them back into his original body, forcing her out. Cassandra’s essence then entered a newly created body with a synthetic brain, now locked into a self-repeating program for all time. Or so they thought.

Cassandra Nova was once thought to have been released from her mental prison a few years later in Astonishing X-Men, but she turned out to be a mental projection by Emma Frost. Eventually, she escaped her imprisonment by hopping from one host body to another. Once free, she used Sentinel tech implanted in baseline humans to kill mutants. A human with this Sentinel tech in them would go wild with rage at the very sight of a mutant. Jean Grey eventually used her considerable psionic ability to enter her mind and thwart her plans. She did this by making her feel human empathy for the first time, which caused her to surrender.

Cassandra Nova in Marvel Comic’s X-Men Spin-off, Mauraders

When the mutant community founded their own nation on the living island of Krakoa, Cassandra Nova was moved there. Hoping she’d reformed, she joined Kate Pryde’s Marauders, a sort of corsair group of X-Men on the high seas. Pryde and Emma Frost never believed Nova had reformed, and still held much animosity towards her for the genocide of Genosha. Especially Emma Frost, who was the sole survivor. At one point, the Marauders found themselves stranded over two billion years in the past on a time travel mission. Emma and Kate decided to leave Cassandra Nova stranded there as payback for her heinous acts. What became of her after that remains a mystery. We seriously doubt it’s the last we’ve seen of her in the pages of the comics.

Cassandra Nova’s Powers

Cassandra Nova is one of the most powerful adversaries the X-Men have ever faced. As a Mummudrai, she mimicked all of Charles Xavier’s powers, including his telepathy, but also, all his latent mutant powers. Powers that were dormant within his DNA. Cassandra can do things he never could, like telekinesis, as well as phase through solid matter. She has regenerative capabilities comparable to those of Wolverine’s. She can also even evolve latent mutants to their true potential with a thought.

Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova in Deadpool & Wolverine

In Deadpool & Wolverine, Cassandra Nova’s origin is fairly close to her comic book counterpart. She is still the twin sister of Charles Xavier, who tried to kill him when they shared a womb, by strangling him with her umbilical cord. The MCU version does not appear old, retaining the looks of a younger woman. There’s no mention of anything alien with her creation, however. Cassandra Nova tells Deadpool and Wolverine that Xavier telepathically tried to kill her before she could walk, and she came to the TVA’s attention that way. All we know is that at some point after that, the TVA pruned her existence from the timeline of Earth-10005, and she wound up in the Void. The suggestion is that she grew up there.

Like her brother Charles, Cassandra Nova is an Omega Level mutant with powerful psychic abilities. Unlike her brother, however, she has tremendous telekinetic powers as well. While most others sent to the wasteland of the Void in Deadpool & Wolverine saw it as a curse, Cassandra Nova loved it there. She could use her power with impunity and force those exiled there to do her bidding. In her time in the Void, she killed several variants of her brother Charles Xavier exiled there, as well as a variant of Stephen Strange, taking his sling ring. With this sling ring, she was able to leave the Void whenever she wished. Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Cassandra Nova formed an arrangement with the TVA, however, that allowed her to run the Void with an iron fist, taking care of their “scraps.” In the end, Cassandra Nova proved too much of a wild card, so the TVA’s Mr. Paradox arranged for his spy in the Void, Pyro, to kill her. When she discovered his betrayal, she set out to use a TVA Time Ripper to destroy all timelines except for the Void itself. Luckily, Cassandra Nova was thwarted by Deadpool and Wolverine, and was atomized in the resulting explosion.

Cassandra Nova’s MCU Look

Cassandra Nova sported a very unique look in the MCU. Deadpool & Wolverine‘s makeup artist Bill Corso revealed a little bit more about the process of creating Cassandra. He writes, “When Emma was first cast, I did an initial concept design that leaned a little closer to Cassandra’s interpretation in the comics, but it was decided that Emma had such a wonderful look, why mess with it, just add the bald head. Not wanting to leave it at that, I still wanted to come up with something unusual I could add that would be fun and I realized Cassandra had so much action with her hands that it might be fun to lengthen her fingers. The trick was, when I lengthened them, they just looked normal, so I decided to elongate her nail bed to emphasize the weirdness and length.” The result was unusual and fun indeed.

Will Cassandra Nova Return to the MCU After Her Deadpool & Wolverine Death?

A being of such powerful psionic energy should not be counted out, though. Her brother Charles Xavier also survived his body being destroyed more than once. It’s quite possible we haven’t seen the last of Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Cassandra Nova in the MCU.

Originally published on April 22, 2024

The post Who Is Marvel Comics’ Cassandra Nova? The Wild Story of DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE’s Villain appeared first on Nerdist.

For the first time in the history of the Spider-Man movies, a fourth official outing with a particular Peter is on the way. The Tom Holland version of the character is one of the standout characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All three of his solo movies, not to mention his appearances in three others, have made pooploads of money. A fourth movie solo film was inevitable. However, Jon Watts, the director of the previous three, had decided not to return leaving the director’s chair wide open. For whom? Why for Destin Daniel Cretton, it seems!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cretton, who directed 2021’s Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, is in talks to take over webslinging duties. Originally Cretton had been on tap to direct Avengers 5 when it was going to be Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. After Jonathan Majors’ lawbreaking, Marvel changed course, leaving Kang by the wayside in favor of Robert Downey Jr.’s Dr. Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. Cretton stepped aside to give the Russo Bros. room to direct that film. Cretton went back to only working on the Wonder Man TV series and the Shang-Chi-quel.

This is a pretty nice vote of confidence for Cretton’s work on Wonder Man which is in post-production. Shang-Chi was a highlight of the post-Avengers: Endgame landscape of Marvel Studios features. However, the raging pandemic meant not as many people were able to go see it as they might. So if not an Avengers movie, a Spider-Man movie is a pretty great consolation prize.

Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Sony’s Amy Pascal will be back to produce Spider-Man 4, as will Home trilogy screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Everyone expects the movie to begin filming early next year. More info as it thwips in.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

The post SHANG-CHI Director Destin Daniel Cretton to Helm SPIDER-MAN 4 appeared first on Nerdist.

Few voice actors love the character they portray as much as X-Men ’97’s Lenore Zann loves Rogue. And playing the sassy mutant Southern Belle for thirty years has not diminished Zann’s affection. At the 2024 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, where X-Men ’97 received a nomination for Outstanding Animated Program, Zann took her fangirling to the next level. She actually wore one of her character’s formal outfits from recent X-Men comics to the ceremony. Lenore Zann also rocked a Rogue wig with the character’s signature skunk stripe hairdo. You can see her comic book-inspired outfit below:

Comic book artist Luciano Vecchio designed the costume, which was created for last year’s Hellfire Gala in the comics. The Hellfire Gala was a formal event thrown by the mutants of the island nation of Krakoa three years in a row. Every year, the X-Men and other Marvel heroes would bring their very best attire to the party. And every year, the fans ate up all the haute couture high-end fashion. The Hellfire Gala also gave artists like Vecchio a chance to flex their design muscles and come up with new fashion for the X-Men each time the event rolled around. With the end of the Krakoan era, it may be some time before we see the X-Men so runway-ready again.

Sadly, X-Men ’97 did not win the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. That honor went to the series Blue Eye Samurai. X-Men ’97 received a nomination for its emotional and shocking fifth episode, “Remember It.” That harrowing chapter was truly a showcase episode for Zann as Rogue. Even with no win, it’s still amazing that a sequel to X-Men: The Animated Series made decades later could receive such accolades. We’re just happy the cast and crew of the series got to enjoy their much-deserved nomination and look so fierce doing it.

The post X-MEN ’97 Star Lenore Zann Rocks Rogue Cosplay at the Emmy Awards appeared first on Nerdist.

Recently, The Batman director Matt Reeves doubled down that his upcoming sequel won’t lean into fantastical elements, instead focusing on more realistic themes. But that means that for 20 years, since Batman Begins, every Batman movie will have gone for the realistic approach. But DC Comics‘ Batman stories often go big and fantastical. While Reeves’ Dark Knight is staying “real,” we’ll soon have another big-screen Batman, the new DCU’s Brave and the Bold. We hope this version of Bruce Wayne does the opposite of Christopher Nolan and Matt Reeves’ version, and finally gives us sci-fi, fantasy, and larger-than-life elements from the comics at last. These are the main elements we hope to see in the DCU Batman to differentiate from the past two decades of movies.

The Sci-Fi Freak Villains

So many of Batman’s classic villains lean into science fiction, and have been ignored in live-action film for the past 20 years. There’s Poison Ivy and her control of plant life, the shapeshifting Clayface, and the tragic “science gone wrong” characters like Mister Freeze and Man-Bat. All remain iconic Bat foes. Yet because of the campy Batman and Robin, it seems they’ve blacklisted Freeze and Ivy. But it’s been almost 30 years. It’s time for their redemption on the big screen. They can portray them as sci-fi villains without leaning into camp like the Schumacher movies. Just look Batman: The Animated Series. They don’t fit into Matt Reeves’ Gotham, but hopefully they find a place in James Gunn’s DCU.

The Supernatural Foes

Famously, the Dark Knight mostly fights colorful criminals, and then tragic sci-fi freaks next most. But he also has incredible enemies that lean into the realm of the supernatural. Yes, we’ve seen Ra’s al Ghul in Batman Begins, in the form of Liam Neeson. But they stripped the character of all of his supernatural trappings. We want a version of Ra’s that is truly an immortal despot, thanks to his constant dips in the mystical Lazarus Pits. We want to see that version of Ra’s, and his daughter Talia, on screen. Also, the zombie Solomon Grundy is due for a big-screen appearance, and maybe even the spectral Gentleman Ghost. Let’s hope DCU Batman gets a little spooky when he arrives.

The Vampire Villains

This falls into “supernatural enemies,” but Batman has fought enough of the undead they should have their own category. Going back to the Dark Knight’s earliest days, Batman has crossed paths with several bloodsuckers. In 1939, he fought a vampire called the Monk. In later years, he fought the vampiric seductress Nocturna, and even became a vampire when he fought Dracula himself in the trilogy Batman/Dracula: Red Rain comics. There was even a The Batman vs. Dracula animated film several years ago. Two dark souls in dramatic capes, one good, one evil? This deserves the cinematic treatment at some point. Here’s hoping the DCU Batman goes there someday. We just hope he carries wooden stakes in his utility belt.

The Mystical Allies

Just as Batman has supernatural enemies, he also has supernatural allies. Characters with actual ties to the magical realms who help Batman out in times of need. We saw this recently with voodoo expert Papa Midnight in Batman: Caped Crusader, but Bruce Wayne also had friends like Jason Blood, a.k.a. the immortal demon Etrigan, and the sorceress Zatanna. We love the scenes in comics and cartoons where Batman has to admit he’s not an expert in everything and goes to a strange occult bookstore and ask for help from someone who has an expertise he doesn’t. We’d love a scene like this in a live-action film.

The Bat-Family

This isn’t really sci-fi or fantasy per se, but modern grim and gritty cinema sees Batman working with a bunch of youngsters as too ridiculous. But we don’t care, they’re crucial parts of Batman lore and it’s time they got their due. We already know The Brave and the Bold will feature Damian Wayne as Robin, and probably Nightwing too. But we want to see the rest of Batman’s allies on screen. The modern post-Nolan Batman films have totally shied away from Batman having any partners, probably as a reaction to the Joel Schumacher films. But Batman has so many amazing allies, and we’re not just talking about the Robins. There are several Batgirls, the Huntress, and the Signal. It’s high time cinema reclaimed Batman’s partners, and made them as cool as they are in the comics.

The post The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Elements We Hope to See in the DCU Batman appeared first on Nerdist.

It’s been some time since we’ve heard much new information about The Batman – Part II. But in a recent interview with SFX Magazine (via Deadline), while promoting the HBO spin-off series The Penguin, director Matt Reeves revealed that he has a story very much in mind for the anticipated sequel to his 2022 film. One that may hint at a very beloved storyline about the Dark Knight from the pages of DC Comics. Here’s what he had to say:

It’s going to dig into the epic story about deeper corruption and it goes into places he couldn’t even anticipate in the first one.

An epic tale about deeper corruption in Gotham City? That sure sounds like “The Court of Owls” to us. That story is Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s 2011-2012 saga that ran through the pages of Batman. It revealed a secret society that controlled Gotham City for over a century. This secret group was made up of the city’s most rich and powerful. This society, known as the Court of Owls, wore ominous white owl masks to hide their true identities. They also employed zombie-like agents they referred to as their Talons. It’s one of the most popular modern Batman stories, and one that has never been adapted into live-action film.

Matt Reeves’ take on Batman lore is shying away from both the sci-fi and the overtly supernatural aspects. In the same interview, he confirmed Penguin’s return for the sequel, but shot down the spectral villain Gentleman Ghost (recently appearing in the animated Caped Crusader) as a potential bad guy. Reeves said the following:

We might push to the edge of the fantastical but we would never go into full fantastical. It’s meant to feel quite grounded. Gentleman Ghost is probably pushed a bit too far for us to be able to find a way to do, but there is a fun way to think about how we would take characters that might push over into a bit of the fantastical and find a way to make sense of that.”

The Court of Owls just might be the perfect villains for his next film because of this. They have an almost mystical, spooky aura around them, but are actually just a cabal of the rich and powerful. This seems very much in Matt Reeves’ storytelling wheelhouse. It also goes along with the “epic crime story” he set up in the first film. Over the past thirty or so years on film, we’ve had three Catwomans, two Penguins, four Jokers, two Riddlers, and two Two-Faces (appropriate). It’s good to introduce some newer villains from modern DC Comics lore into live-action at last. Here’s hoping the Court of Owls really make their presence felt in The Batman – Part II.

The post Did Matt Reeves Hint at The Court of Owls for THE BATMAN – PART II? appeared first on Nerdist.

Jennifer Kale is one of many powerful magic users in the Marvel Universe. And she’s about to make her live-action debut in Agatha All Along, played by Sasheer Zamata. She’ll be a part of the coven that Agatha Harkness forms when she attempts to get her magical powers back by taking the legendary Witch’s Road. Jennifer Kale may not be a name every Marvel Comics fan knows, but she’s been around for over 50 years now, weaving in and out of different series. And she has quite an interesting history.

Jennifer Kale’s First Appearance Was an Adventure with Man-Thing

Jennifer Kale first appeared in 1972’s Adventure in Fear #1, in a story starring the swamp monster known as the Man-Thing story. Born in Citrusville, Florida, her family were all magic users who lived in the Everglades. Her grandfather, Joshua Kale, was the keeper of the Book of Zhered-na, an ancient mystical tome passed down through the generations. To see if she could wield magic as well as her family members, she stole the Book of Zhered-na and attempted to try spellcasting herself. A novice in magic, she accidentally summoned Thog, one of the Hell-Lords, to our dimension. Luckily for Ms. Kale, the benevolent creature Man-Thing was nearby, and fought the creature off, saving her life.

This adventure started a friendship between herself and the mysterious Man-Thing leading to many adventures together. Eventually, the two even formed a sort of psychic bond. As a result of one of these adventures, Jennifer encountered a 20,000-year-old sorcerer named Dhakim the Enchanter, studying the mystic arts under him. Together with Dhakim, they protected the Nexus of All Realities, which existed in Jennifer’s (and Man-Thing’s) home in the Florida Everglades. As her magical abilities grew, Jennifer eventually learned that she was the reincarnation of an ancient Atlantean sorceress.

Jennifer Kale’s Connections to Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange, and the Midnight Sons

Although primarily associated with the Man-Thing, Jennifer Kale has connections to many mystical Marvel characters. She is blood cousins with two different Ghost Riders, Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch. She continued her magical studies under Dr. Stephen Strange, fighting his arch nemesis Baron Mordo alongside him. She’s even been an ally to Howard the Duck. Jennifer has also been a member of such supernatural teams as the Midnight Sons and the Legion of Night. Her old friend Doctor Strange recruited her, along with fellow spellcasters Satana and Topaz, into a trio simply called the Witches. They headlined their own series for a brief time.

When her brother, Andrew Kale, wound up possessed by the demon Hellphyr, Doctor Strange recruited Jennifer and her fellow Witches to stop him. Jennifer managed to kill him, but it was only then she found out the demon was truly her sibling. This drove a massive wedge between herself and Strange. Victoria Hand actually later killed Jennifer Kale. But death rarely keeps a good witch down. Her spirit uses her knowledge of dark magic to return to the world of the living, although she returned with the flesh missing from one side of her face. Eventually going to the dimension known as Weirdworld, she began a relationship with Deadpool that lasted years, although Wade Wilson ultimately chose to leave her.

Jennifer Kale’s Magical Powers and Abilities

Thanks to her having the Book of Zhered-na, Jennifer Kale has access to immense magical powers. She can project magical energy to fire concussive blasts, create protective shields, open gateways and portals to other dimensional planes, teleportation, and mental powers that include mind control and hypnosis.

Jennifer Kale in Agatha All Along, and the Greater MCU

We already know that Jennifer Kale is joining Agatha’s coven in Agatha All Along. Yet not much else about her MCU iteration. She might be Jennifer Kale in name only. However, she also might have similar origins to her comic book counterpart. We know Man-Thing exists in the MCU already, as we saw him in Werewolf by Night. Could he and Jennifer have a shared history, similar to the comics? Here’s hoping she has a better fate in store in Agatha All Along than her comic book counterpart. We’d hate for her to lose her facial skin or worse, date Deadpool. We’re hoping this version of Ms. Kale is another breakout witch character just like Wanda Maximoff and Agatha Harkness were.

The post Who Is the AGATHA ALL ALONG Witch, Jennifer Kale? Her Marvel Comics History Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

Marvel Studios has been hinting at a series or film based on their cosmic sci-fi hero Nova since 2017. Earlier this year, Kevin Feige revealed that Nova would indeed be coming to live-action as a Disney+ series. He said it was still “three to four years away,” but that doesn’t mean they don’t have an idea what this new show will be based on. Talking to the Phase Zero podcast, Marvel’s Brad Winderbaum revealed that Nova will draw inspiration from two specific spacefaring franchises. And for once, none are Star Wars. Here’s what he had to say:

The Nova that’s being developed right now, it’s an amazing ensemble piece. I shouldn’t say too much, but it’s like a great case of characters that’s got shades of [Star]Trek , shades of Battlestar Galactica

In the comics, Nova first appeared in The Man Called Nova #1 in 1976, as New York teenager Richard Rider. He is bequeathed the cosmic power of a Nova Centurion from the last member of the Nova StarCorps from the planet Xandar. With this power, he could tap into the Nova Force, and could fly, release energy blasts, and has super strength. (If this sounds like a cross between Spider-Man and DC’s Green Lantern, it kind of is.) Richard Rider has been a recurring player in Marvel Comics ever since. In more recent years, he became a mentor to a new Nova from Earth, teenager Sam Alexander.

We’ve actually met the Nova Corps already in the MCU, as they appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy on the planet Xandar. In Avengers: Infinity War, we later learned that Thanos later destroyed Xandar. We assume that the Nova Corps died along with it. This makes for the perfect setup for a Nova Corps survivor to make it to Earth. Once on Earth, they could hand Richard Rider the powers of Nova. Or maybe some of the Nova Corps survived the destruction of Xandar? That lines up with the Star Trek/ensemble comments from Winderbaum.

The Nova Corps in the MCU might be akin to Star Trek‘s Starfleet, with many Nova Centurions serving on board a starship. And if there are just a handful left, that would explain the Battlestar Galactica comparisons. We’re just excited to finally see Nova arrive in the MCU after all this time.

The post Marvel’s NOVA Series Will Draw Inspiration From STAR TREK and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA appeared first on Nerdist.

We always love to talk about how many Batmobiles the Batman has had over the years. But he’s had just as many costume changes as he’s changed rides. And the most evident costume difference is always in the cowl. Sometimes it’s blue, sometimes it’s black. Sometimes the ears are long, other times they’re small. Heck, sometimes, they even have painted on eyebrows! Now, via Comicbook, we’ve learned that McFarlane Toys and DC Direct are releasing a trio of 1:1 scale replica Batman cowls ranging from the comics, movies, and TV. You can check out images of the three 7-inch Batman collectible cowls right here:

The first cowl is a replica of the one Adam West wore in the iconic Batman ’66 television series and the original Batman movie. This blue cowl is the one that helped turn Batman into a household name. The second is the black one Michael Keaton wore in Tim Burton’s classic 1989 Batman film. He wore it again in Batman Returns in 1992. Finally, we’ve got a comic book-accurate version of the cowl from the DC Comics story “Knightfall.” That saga saw the villain Bane break Batman’s back, leading to new hero Azrael taking over the role. That storyline was a big influence on Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.

McFarlane Toys/DC Direct is releasing more scale Batman cowls in this series sometime in the near future. We’d sure love to see the one from Batman: The Animated Series and the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy. If we’re talking comics, let’s see DC Comics artist Kelley Jones’ version of the cowl with the long sinister ears.

These new Batman mini-cowls follow up the full-scale Michael Keaton 1989 cowl replica, which measures 24.5-inches tall, which arrived this summer. Each cowl costs $14.99, and they are available to pre-order now, and ship in November.

The post These Batman Replica Cowls Celebrate the Dark Knight’s Costume History appeared first on Nerdist.

Since the 1960s, the Teen Titans, often just referred to these days as the Titans, have been a staple of DC Comics. In fact, they were once DC’s best-selling monthly title, even outselling Batman and Justice League. They’ve gone on to star in three animated series, a live-action show, and soon, a movie in James Gunn’s DCU. But with 17 different series featuring these iconic young heroes, which ones are the best of the best? We’ve narrowed down their greatest and most influential comic book series over the past six decades.

10. Teen Titans by Bob Rozakis

with Irv Novick, Don Heck, José Delbo

The original Teen Titans series, which began in the ‘60s, ran out of steam and ended up cancelled in 1973;’s issue #43. But DC decided to try again in 1976, with a relaunched title by writer Bob Rozakis, picking up at issue #44. Now, these comics are definitely of their time. It had the Titans running a disco called “Gabriel’s Horn,” and Speedy in a rock band called The Great Frog. They also fought ridiculous villains like the Rocket Rollers, that cashed-in on popular trends at the time like skateboarding. But to writer Bob Rozakis’ credit, this run on Teen Titans elevated the female heroes more than the previous run did. That counts for something.

Also on the plus side, this run introduced new characters like the Joker’s Daughter and Bumblebee, DC’s first African-American superheroine. Both characters are still around in new and improved forms today. The concept of a Titans West spin-off team was born in this run too, years before Marvel did their own West Coast Avengers. Yes, the dialogue is kind of cringe throughout this run, and the artwork is not always that great. But this very brief era of Teen Titans is fun and charming regardless. For the Teen Titans, however, it was the third time that proved to be the charm. But we’ll get to that.

9. New Titans by Marv Wolfman

with George Pérez, Tom Grummett

In many ways, this is an extension of Marv Wolfman’s earlier New Teen Titans run. But since the series got a title change, we’re counting it as its own distinct era. In 1988, New Teen Titans needed a bit of a kick in the pants. So DC decided to let the now-adult heroes drop the “Teen” from their name, and rebranded as The New Titans. After an absence of several years, New Teen Titans co-creator George Pérez returned, to reimagine the origin of Wonder Girl for a post-Crisis era. They followed that epic up with a Batman crossover which introduced the third Robin, Tim Drake, into the DC mythos, called “A Lonely Place of Dying.”

When Pérez left after a year, Wolfman teamed up with an up-and-coming artist named Tom Grummett. Their year-long saga “Titans Hunt” saw all of the team captured by the Wildebeest Society. Only Nightwing manages to escape. So Dick Grayson has to put together a new group of misfits to find his missing comrades. This run is very soapy, with twists and shocks and character deaths in each issue. And it was fun as hell to read month-to-month. After “Titans Hunt,” things got very sloppy, leading to New Titans‘ eventual cancellation in 1995. But from ’88-’92, Marv Wolfman proved that after a decade on Titans, he could still do some darn good, meant n’ potatoes comic book yarn spinning.

Issues in Marv Wolfman’s New Titans Run:

New Titans #50-130 (1988-1995)

8. Titans by Tom Taylor

with Nicola Scott, Lucas Meyer

It’s hard to know what the final ranking for this series is, if only because it’s still running. But we’re pretty confident in placing writer Tom Taylor’s current Titans run in this spot, even though it’s not finished yet. After the events of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Justice League disbanded. As a result, Superman left the Earth in charge of the Titans for protection, believing it was finally their time to shine. Tom Taylor first proved he understood Dick Grayson as a character in his Nightwing run. Now, he proves he understands his best friends as well with this current series.

Among the great stories so far in this run include Beast World. Last year’s crossover event saw Beast Boy weaponized against the Earth, and the resulting public turn against the Titans. Also, Raven’s current turn to the dark side is providing for some fun reading. (Even if this storyline has kind of been done to death already). The initial art by Nicola Scott is gorgeous, as are the pencils from follow-up regular artist Lucas Meyer. With Taylor wrapping up his writing duties on Titans this fall, it’s ultimately a far too brief run. But one worth mentioning.

Issues in Tom Taylor’s Titans Run:

Titans (vol. 4) #1-15 (2023-2024)

7. The Titans by Devin Grayson, James M. Faerber, Tom Peyer

with Mark Buckingham, Paul Pelletier, Barry Kitson, Adam DeKraker, Peter Grau

After a chilly reception to a rebooted Teen Titans series by Dan Jurgens in 1996 with all new characters, DC decided to go back to basics. After Grant Morrison’s massively successful JLA relaunch, the company reunited the original five Titans, now all adults with new codenames. Writer Devin Grayson took the original five members and brought back Starfire and Cyborg from New Teen Titans, Jesse Quick from Mark Waid’s Flash comics, the teen hero Damage, and Argent, from Dan Jurgens’ previous and little-loved Teen Titans run. Somehow, this hodgepodge team mostly worked.

Devin Grayson got the family dynamic right off the bat, writing the core five heroes as people who literally grew up together. They also integrated well with the newer generation of heroes, even if stalwarts like Raven and Beast Boy were very missed. Some of the villains introduced in this series, like the group Tartarus, should still be around (others, like the Marilyn Manson lookalike named Goth, can stay in 1999). The artwork from pencilers like Mark Buckingham were not often flashy, but always solid. After Grayson left, writers Jay Faerber and Tom Peyer continued her storylines. Overall, this was a fun run that really cemented the Titans as adult heroes in their own right, something that continues to this day.

Issues in Devin Grayson, Jay Faerber, and Tom Peyer’s The Titans Run:

JLA/Titans: The Technic Imperative #1-3 (1998) The Titans #1-50 (1999-2003)

6. Teen Titans by Benjamin Percy

with Jonboy Meyers, Khoi Pham, Scott Eaton

The New 52 era rebooted the Teen Titans as kind of extreme, ‘90s-style versions of the characters, making them almost unrecognizable to fans. When the classic DC continuity returned in 2016’s DC Rebirth era, DC relaunched the team yet again, only with a Robin who had never been a Titan before—-Batman’s son, Damian Wayne. Robin recruits a team that, at least superficially, resembled that animated Teen Titans TV series roster. Only difference, Kid Flash Wallace West replaced Cyborg, who was in the Justice League.

Damian Wayne needed a new Titans roster to fight his grandfather, Ra’s al Ghul, and his lethal League of Assassins. Benjamin Percy writes an appropriately cocky Damian, who despite being much younger than his teammates, always thinks he knows better than they do. His learning to truly appreciate working and relying on others is a highlight of this version of the Titans. The artwork from pencilers Jonboy Meyers, and later, Khoi Pham and Scott Eaton, was modern and dynamic. The book eventually ran out of steam, but it’s one of the better modern Teen Titans series.

Issues in Benjamin Percy’s Teen Titans Run:

Teen Titans: Rebirth #1, Teen Titans (vol. 5) #1-19 (2016-2018)

5. Teen Titans Academy by Tim Sheridan

with Rafa Sandoval, Steve Lieber, and Tom Derenick

This was a very brief and fairly recent run, one that went under the radar, written by Alan Scott: Green Lantern writer Tim Sheridan. And it certainly wasn’t celebrated nearly enough. In Teen Titans Academy, the now-adult ’80s Titans members decided to train the next generation of younger heroes, and turn Titan’s Tower into a school, the Roy Harper Academy, named for the then-dead founding Titan Arsenal. (He’s much better now). Yes, it’s very X-Men as a concept. But at the time, the school aspect of X-Men had been dropped, so this filled a niche. The book focused on teen heroes with names like Megabrat and Gorilla Greg, with the adult faculty taking more of a backseat.

The ongoing mystery of the series, just what was the true identity of the mysterious student Red X, never really sticks the landing. Still, it was so fun to see these younger student characters refer to their teachers as “Mr. Nightwing” and “Ms. Starfire,” etc. The series ended prematurely with the school burned to the ground, and all of the students leaving. But someone needs to revisit this concept at some point. (It’s also odd the adult Titans have seemingly forgotten they ever tried to run a school in their new series). We hope more fans discover this hidden gem of a Titans series in the future.

Issues in Tim Sheridan’s Teen Titans Academy Run:

Teen Titans Academy #1-15, Teen Titans Academy 2012 Yearbook (2021-2022)

4. Young Justice by Peter David

with Todd Nauck

Ok, this is technically not a Teen Titans book. But only technically. In the late ’90s, Incredible Hulk writer Peter David and artist Todd Nauck were tasked with giving the new generation of teen sidekicks like Robin (Tim Drake), Superboy (Conner Kent), Impulse (Bart Allen), and Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark) their own series. DC considered the name “Teen Titans” toxic at the time, thanks to the previous few years of failed attempts at launching a new series, so they received a new name—Young Justice. But different name or not this was essentially the Teen Titans in everything but name. The core four eventually added new members, like The Secret, and Arrowette.

Young Justice operated out of the Justice League’s old mountain base. There, they found a mentor in the android JLA member, the Red Tornado. This series had the traditional mix of humor, soapy drama, and adventure that Peter David was known for in series like X-Factor for Marvel. Todd Nauck’s art was wonderfully whimsical, and actually made the kids look like, well, kids. And fans ate it up. The series ran a respectable 53 issues with this creative team, and it remains beloved to this day. Another reason we feel comfortable regarding this as a Teen Titans series? All the members went on to become the core of the Teen Titans in the 2003 revival just a few years later.

Issues in Peter David’s Young Justice Run:

Young Justice #1-53 (1998-2003)

3. Teen Titans by Bob Haney

with Nick Cardy, Sheldon Moldoff, Irv Novick, George Tuska, Neal Adams

One of comics’ longest-running teams started off as not much more than a gimmick. “What if the Justice League’s kid sidekicks formed their own group?” DC teamed up Robin, Kid Flash. and Aqualad for an adventure in a 1964’s The Brave and the Bold #54, and its sales justified a spin-off team. In 1965, Teen Titans launched, written by their creator Bob Haney. The three boys teamed up with Wonder Girl, and eventually, Green Arrow’s partner Speedy, as DC’s “Fab Five.” This was smack in the middle of the Batman ’66 era, and Teen Titans piggybacked off that success. They even got a short-lived cartoon a mere few years after their first issue hit stands.

The original Teen Titans stories are very silly, generally revolving around the Titans just hanging out in their HQ, hassling each other in a typical teenage way, and having one-off adventures. The middle-aged writers trying to write the youth lingo of the era comes across as painful, probably even at the time. There are a lot of “Daddy-O’s” and such. They were so ’60s, they even fought a villain called “Mad Mod.” The artwork, usually by Nick Cardy, pales in comparison to what Marvel was doing at the time. But it gets the job done. The Titans never called each other by their real names, had any real problems, and “character development” was non-existent. But it had a fun energy to it that was undeniable, and its light tone later informed the very successful Teen Titans animated series.

Issues in Bob Haney’s Teen Titans Run:

Teen Titans (vol. 1) #1-43 (1965-1973)

2. Teen Titans by Geoff Johns

with Mike McKone, Tony Daniel, Tom Grummett

After their triumphant ‘80s run, the Titans as a concept fell on hard times. A 1996 reboot didn’t find any traction, and the adult 1999 The Titans series run didn’t exactly set sales records either. But with an animated series on the horizon in 2003, DC decided to reboot the concept for comics with writer Geoff Johns and artist Mike McKone. In what would become a Geoff Johns trademark as a writer, especially on Green Lantern, he celebrated DC’s rich history and forged a new future for the franchise at the same time. Teen Titans vol. 3 was a very big success, reviving the franchise in a big way.

The members of Young Justice graduated at last to Teen Titans status. Meanwhile, several members of Wolfman and Pérez’s team were now the older mentors. This fusing of two eras worked like gangbusters. Johns added new layers to characters like Superboy Conner Kent, and he grew up the immature speedster Impulse into Kid Flash. He also re-established Deathstroke as the Titans’ greatest enemy, and created a link between the Titan’s nemesis Brother Blood and team member Raven. While the first couple of years remain the book’s peak, when penciler Mike McKone was mostly drawing it, Johns’ entire fifty-issue run gets what makes the Teen Titans tick more than almost any other.

Issues in Geoff Johns’ Teen Titans Run:

Teen Titans (vol. 3) #1-50, (2003-2007)

1. The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman

with George Pérez, Eduardo Baretto, José Luis García-López, Chuck Patton

The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, not only rescued the franchise, it helped rescue DC Comics overall. After a middling attempt at a revival in the late ‘70s, DC hired Marvel creators Marv Wolfman and George Pérez to relaunch the title a third time. They took the X-Men approach to this reboot—keep a few key characters from the previous run (Robin, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash) and introduce vibrant new heroes like Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire. They even took a forgotten hero named Beast Boy and made him the comic relief of the team as Changeling. Thanks to more serious storytelling, real pathos for the characters, and stunning art for Pérez, The series was a runaway hit, infusing DC with a Marvel-esque storytelling that outsold every other comic at DC at the time, five-to-one.

During this era, Wolfman and Pérez introduced iconic villains Deathstroke, and Trigon, and they transformed Robin from a joke “kid sidekick in peril” character into Nightwing, an adult hero in his own right, not just Batman’s junior partner. Their two-year storyline “The Judas Contract” saw the introduction of Terra, a young female hero who ultimately betrayed the team and broke their hearts. It remains one of superhero storytelling’s fines arcs. Perez’s art was detailed and incredible, doing career-best work here, elevating the artform. Because of this success, DC launched a second monthly book, Tales of the Teen Titans. DC eventually gave Wolfman and Pérez allowed them to reboot the DC universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths. And the rest, as they say, is history. But it wouldn’t have happened without the success of The New Teen Titans. Still, and probably always, the gold standard of Teen Titans series.

Issues in Marv Wolfman’s New Teen Titans Run:

New Teen Titans (vol. 1) #1-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41-59, Tales of the New Teen Titans #1-4, New Teen Titans (vol. 2) #1-49 (1980-1988) New Teen Titans: Games OGN (2005)

The post The 10 Greatest TEEN TITANS Comic Book Runs, Ranked appeared first on Nerdist.

The latest trailer for Agatha All Along shows Kathryn Hahn’s titular witch breaking free of the spell Wanda Maximoff put her under in the finale of WandaVision. And judging from the newest teaser, it seems Heartstopper star Joe Locke’s mysterious character, only confirmed as “Teen” in official materials, is the one who breaks the Scarlet Witch’s. But his doing so has led to further speculation as to who he’s actually playing. Watch the new trailer for Agatha All Along down below, and then we’ll unpack that big clue.

As we can see in the trailer, Joe Locke’s character is something of a fanboy of witches. Also, a novice magic user himself. He discovers who Agatha Harkness really is, and breaks her from Wanda’s spell. When Agatha asks what this boy’s name is, a stylized squiggly pattern appears over his mouth. A pattern that looks to be the letters “W” and “V.” Yes, as in WandaVision. It also might be a very stylish “M,” as in “Maximoff.” This adds juice to the speculation that his character is none other than Billy Kaplan, a.k.a. Wiccan of the Young Avengers. A character who just so happens to be one of the twin sons of Wanda Maximoff and the Vision.

So how can this teenage boy be Wanda’s son Billy? Wasn’t he only a little kid the last time we saw him a couple of years ago? And wasn’t he a kid who never really existed in the first place? Well, let’s put on our tin foil caps. Wanda created her children Billy and Tommy within the Hex and they seemingly dissipated when it came down. But that doesn’t mean their souls were destroyed. We believe that somehow, the soul of Billy Maximoff found a new home, in the body of teenager Billy Kaplan. Perhaps Kaplan died and Billy Maximoff’s soul “moved in,” so to speak, and doesn’t even know who he really is. He would still retain Billy Kaplan’s memories. This is just speculation, but this is the easiest explanation for how Joe Locke can be the future Young Avenger.

Agatha All Along drops its first two episodes on Disney+ on September 18.

The post New AGATHA ALL ALONG Teaser May Have Revealed Who Joe Locke’s Character Really Is appeared first on Nerdist.

Marvel did not start with Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark in 2008. The superhero company has been around for a very long time. This year marks Marvel’s 85th anniversary. To celebrate that momentous occasion at this year’s D23, Marvel put together a moving video montage that covers everything from its early comic book days to its status as the world’s biggest movie franchise. Now Disney has shared it with everyone. While we love reliving past glories, we can’t help but look to the future this video teases. It this offers some tantalizing glimpse at what awaits fans very soon. It features new MCU footage from Daredevil: Born Again, Ironheart, and its unlikely team of heroes from Thunderbolts*. And it ends with Harrison Ford turning into the giant crimson rage monster Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World.

This celebratory montage is worth watching just for the archival footage of Stan Lee. But the Marvel video also features comments from Kevin Feige and stars of the MCU. Most exciting is that it also provides some sneak peeks at what awaits the franchise.

In addition to new footage from Captain America: Brave New World, Daredevil: Born Again and Ironheart, this promo also shows the upcoming Thunderbolts* team. They appear all together on an elevator looking either like a team of superheroes or a pretty cool looking prog rock band. (If they end up being both in the movie we predict a 3 billion box office and a quintuple platinum album).

Not everyone is having a good time during this celebration, though. It ends with President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross going full Red Hulk at his podium. We’ve seen other brief shots of Harrison Ford’s transformation into the big red menace in Brave New World, but this is the most direct. It’s also the best, as it still looks like the beloved actor if he truly hulked out.

It’s such a great shot it won’t surprise us if Marvel also uses it someday for its 170th celebration video. It very well might. Marvel is bigger than every after 85 years. There’s no reason to think the company won’t still be around by then.

The post Marvel Shares First THUNDERBOLTS* Footage and Red Hulk Hulking Out in 85th Anniversary Video appeared first on Nerdist.

This year marks 85 years since Batman made his first DC Comics appearance in Detective Comics #27. Sadly, there’s no new Batman movie in theaters this year to coincide with his milestone birthday, but Warner Bros. is re-releasing Matt Reeves’ The Batman in theaters for a limited time to AMC Theatres, including a special preview of the upcoming The Penguin series. Like any big movie worth its salt these days, it’s getting a cool commemorative popcorn bucket. This Bat Signal popcorn bucket actually lights up, ready for display in your own Batcave when you take it home. You can see images and read the official announcement from AMC below:

On Aug. 28, as the world celebrates Batman’s 85th anniversary, AMC Theatre’s Batman 85th Popcorn Collectible Concession Vessel (CCV) beckons the Caped Crusader with a near prop quality 85-ounce light-up Bat Signal popcorn bucket (comes with a large popcorn for $34.99+tax) — and a 32-ounce lenticular (the images morph and move) drink cup with lid that comes with a large drink for $11.99+tax, while supplies last. Guests can bundle them together for $44.99+tax.

The drink cup comes with images from several of the different live-action Batmobiles over the years. It goes from Batman ’66, to the Tumbler from the Dark Knight Trilogy, all the way through to the tricked-out muscle car from The Batman. We expect this Bat Signal popcorn bucket to sell out fast. So if you want to avoid paying a hefty price for it on eBay later, we suggest getting to your theater early. We’ve seen some truly wild popcorn buckets lately. (Yes, we’re looking at you, Dune and Deadpool & Wolverine.) Yet this Batman Bat Signal bucket from AMC Theatres might just be the slickest one we’ve seen so far. It’s definitely one you’ll want to display alongside all your other Batman collectibles.

The post New Bat-signal Popcorn Bucket Celebrates 85 Years of Batman appeared first on Nerdist.

Ever since the big announcement in Hall H at Comic-Con this year that Robert Downey Jr. would be back in the MCU, the reaction has been divisive. Some fans love that the franchise’s signature star will be back. Others are mad that Doctor Doom, arguably Marvel’s greatest villain, will merely be a Multiversal variant of Tony Stark. But what if the answer is more complicated (and simple) than that? What if RDJ’s version of Doom is both a Tony variant and also authentically Victor von Doom? Here’s how Marvel Studios could, and should, handle the Doctor Doom of it all when Avengers: Doomsday arrives.

Avengers: Endgame and Captain America: Civil War May Provide the Answer

Thanks to the time travel plot of Avengers: Endgame, we know Tony Stark was born to Howard and Maria Stark sometime in 1970. We also know, thanks to Captain America: Civil War, that Tony’s parents were assassinated by the Winter Soldier some time in 1991, when Tony was about 21. For unknown reasons, Howard Stark got in Hydra’s crosshairs in a bad way and they wanted him eliminated. Probably so they could infiltrate Stark Industries. For all we know, Obadiah Stane worked for Hydra. He sure seemed the type. But what if that assassination of the Starks came much earlier in a different branch of the timeline?

Imagine a scenario where Howard and Maria Stark, along with their infant son Tony, are on a business trip to the war-torn country of Latveria. Stark was an arms dealer after all. He might have been supplying weapons to its cruel ruler, Baron Vladimir Fortunov, or local rebels. Most likely, the rebels. Howard was ultimately a good dude. It’s possible Hydra sends the Winter Soldier much earlier in the timeline to kill him. Only this time, he’s not alone. He’s with his wife and son. The part of the Winter Soldier that is still Bucky Barnes might not be able to bring himself to murder a child. So he drops off the infant at the doorstep of a local family—the von Dooms. As far as the world is concerned, the Stark family were all killed in Eastern Europe in a terrible accident. No one is looking for baby Tony.

Tony Stark/Victor von Doom: From Riches to Rags to Riches

This means that Tony, now named Victor, grew up in completely different circumstances than his Sacred Timeline counterpart. He would still have Tony’s brain, and his innate scientific genius. Genetically, they are the same person after all. But the Victor variant would have grown up in an impoverished country where he didn’t have access to the perks Tony grew up with. Sure, Tony lost his parents tragically. But he still grew up pampered and rich, living a carefree life of a playboy. Victor von Doom would not have been so lucky.

Victor would no doubt have grown up with the suffering of the Latverians all around him. They were all the subjugated subjects of Baron Fortunov. He would have grown up bitter, angry, and with plans to bend the world to his will. And just like in the comics, he would have used his genius to eventually take over the country, installing himself as its ruler. For saving them, the population of Latveria would practically worship him. His adoptive mother could have also introduced him to the dark arts, giving him an edge over his counterpart, who only knew science. In every way, Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor von Doom would be comics-accurate, except for being the twin of Tony Stark.

“New Mask, Same Task”

Doctor Doom is famous for his massive ego, and his inability to let someone else be better than him at anything. In the comics, that’s usually Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. It’s quite possible Victor learns of his variant, who got to live a life of luxury, become a superhero, and die saving his reality. That is something that would drive him to become an even better version of himself, so he’d be the ultimate incarnation of himself, despite growing up in humble surroundings. As RDJ said at Comic-Con, “New mask, same task.” Victor von Doom will try to save the world from itself like Tony tried to with Ultron. Only he’d go about it in a far more ruthless way. If you thought Ultron was bad, wait until you meet the Doombots.

Robert Downey Jr. has said in recent interviews that he is indeed playing Victor von Doom, erasing any doubt. So this isn’t just a variant of Tony Stark using the infamous Doom name, armor, and costume. Nor will they just handwave away the fact that Doom looks just like the most famous name in the MCU. Sure, many actors have played multiple roles in the MCU already, so there’s precedent for that. But this is someone who is the literal face of the franchise. There’s going to be a reason why Doctor Doom looks just like Tony Stark, even if he’s not the same guy. And we feel this is the most elegant solution. We’ll know what Kevin Feige and Marvel have planned to explain all this when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters in 2026.

The post How Robert Downey Jr. Can Be Both Tony Stark and the True Doctor Doom in the MCU appeared first on Nerdist.

Jimmy Olsen is a major staple of Superman’s mythology, going back to his earliest years at DC Comics. He’s been around almost as long as Lois Lane and Perry White, Clark Kent’s other closest confidantes at the Daily Planet. He’ll appear on screen again, played by Skyler Gisondo, in James Gunn’s upcoming Superman. Here’s everything you need to know about the Man of Steel’s longtime pal of 86 years, Jimmy Olsen.

Who Is Jimmy Olsen in Superman Lore?

James Bartholomew “Jimmy” Olsen is a pop culture icon. He’s alternately portrayed as a photographer for the biggest newspaper in Metropolis, the Daily Planet, a cub reporter for the same publication, or both. Originally portrayed as a teenager, he’s since grown up in the comics. But he’s always been a close friend and ally to fellow Daily Planet employees Clark Kent and Lois Lane. They usually depict him as Clark’s best friend, despite being several years his junior. Sometimes he’s even been Clark’s roommate. Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief Perry White famously barks orders at him in the office, but loves him like a son. His wholesome, positive demeanor has been a staple of Superman lore for decades. To this day, most non-comics Superman media features Jimmy Olsen in some form.

Jimmy Olsen in DC Comics’ Golden Age

Jimmy Olsen first appeared, in a way, as an unnamed office boy in 1938’s Action Comics #6, only six months after Superman first appeared. The traditional hallmarks of Jimmy Olsen were there from the get-go, including the bowtie and the overeager attitude. Although, in that first appearance, he was blonde and not ginger. It was in The Adventures of Superman radio serials where they gave the character a personality as well as a name, finally calling him Jimmy Olsen. He would finally appear in comics with that name in 1941’s Superman #13. Without his popularity as a character in the radio show, who knows if that “unnamed office boy” would have ever become Jimmy Olsen.

Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen

Thanks to an increased presence in the Superman comics, Jimmy would get a bigger role in the mega-popular Adventures of Superman TV series. In 1954, DC capitalized on Jimmy’s newfound prominence by giving him his own series: Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen. It was during these Silver Age adventures that Jimmy would receive a special signal watch to alert Superman whenever he was in danger, and even gained powers. In fact, this happened many, many times. Jimmy became a werewolf and a mummy. He could later breathe fire, and gained octopus limbs. Jimmy would even gain stretching powers, becoming Elastic Lad. He famously became the giant kaiju-like Turtle Boy as well. He’d also go undercover as a woman at least five times. All of that just scratches the surface of Olsen’s wilder transformations in this era. Jimmy Olsen’s series ran from 1954-1982, with the series eventually renamed Superman Family.

Nightwing and Flamebird: Superman and Jimmy Olsen Become Like Batman and Robin

There was a period of time when Jimmy was the Robin to Superman’s Batman. Inside the shrunken bottle city of Kandor, a slice of Krypton lived on in miniature form. Whenever Superman went inside, he lost his powers and became a regular Kandorian. But he was still a non-powered superhero, similar to his friend Batman. Kal-El took on the masked identity of Nightwing, and his crime-fighting partner was his buddy Jimmy Olsen, using the name Flamebird. The pair had many adventures together in Kandor, and eventually the name Nightwing was adopted by Batman’s first Robin, Dick Grayson, when he became an adult hero. The original Bat-Girl, Bette Kane, then took the name Flamebird.

Jimmy Olsen in DC Comics’ Modern Age

In DC Comics’ post-Crisis on Infinite Earths reality-rewriting reboot, Jimmy would stick around as a major part of Superman’s mythology. However, most references to his having powers or any of his more wild adventures were erased from continuity. Modern creators would reference some of those older, wackier stories in a tongue-in-cheek way. Now back as an ordinary guy with a job at the Daily Planet, he’d remain important to Superman lore, as he took the prize-winning photo of Superman’s death in the ‘90s. He’d also seriously date Lois Lane’s sister, Lucy Lane, something he also did more casually in the classic Silver Age comics.

Jimmy Olsen in Live-Action

In live-action, Jimmy Olsen first appeared in the Superman serial in 1948, played by Tommy Bond. Since then, he has appeared in most Superman-related on-screen material in one form or another. Jack Larson played him in the ‘50s TV classic Adventures of Superman TV series, which caused a spike in his popularity, leading to headlining his own comic book series. He then appeared in 1978’s Superman: The Movie, played by actor Mark McClure, who also played him in three sequels and 1984’s Supergirl, and also in several Super Powers action figure commercials. The ’90s saw two different actors portray Jimmy on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Michael Landes played Jimmy in season one, and then the more teen-looking Justin Whalin took on the role in seasons 2-4.

Smallville and Superman Returns

Jimmy played a major role in the TV series Smallville in the 2000s, played by Aaron Ashmore. Smallville’s producers eventually killed off this version of Jimmy, with his younger brother taking on the role of Daily Planet reporter alongside Clark and Lois in the series finale. In 2006, actor Sam Huntington played the character in Superman Returns. Interestingly, producers asked Aaron Ashmore’s identical twin brother Shawn to play Jimmy in Superman Returns, but had to bow out due to his role as Iceman in the X-Men films.

Supergirl and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

In the CW’s Arrowverse, actor Mehcad Brooks played the older James Olsen, becoming the first African-American actor to ever play the character. He appeared in five seasons of Supergirl starting in 2015, as the Editor-in-Chief of Catco, and Supergirl’s boss. During this same time, the character was all but removed from the Superman mythology in the DCEU. He didn’t appear in Man of Steel, and Zack Snyder only used the character in Batman v. Superman in a notorious cameo. In that film, released in 2016, Jimmy Olsen was a CIA agent who went undercover as a photojournalist. A terrorist shoots him in the head, killing him. Jimmy’s legacy was reduced to a shock value moment.

Jimmy Olsen in Animation

In animation, Jimmy first appeared in the 1941 Fleischer Studios animated shorts. That marked his first-ever appearance on screen. He later appears as a major supporting player in the 1966 New Adventures of Superman, the 1988 Superman Saturday morning cartoon, and in the ‘90s in Superman: The Animated Series. They always portrayed Jimmy as Superman’s best buddy, and almost his sidekick in these shows. In this 21st century, Jimmy has made appearances in The Batman, Batman: Brave and the Bold, Young Justice, DC Superhero Girls, Justice League Action, and currently, in My Adventures with Superman. That series is the first animated show to portray an African-American Jimmy, and also depict him as knowing Clark Kent’s true identity early on in the narrative. The character has made cameos in multiple DTV animated films as well.

Jimmy Olsen in James Gunn’s Superman

We’re not sure what role Jimmy Olsen will play in James Gunn’s Superman, but actor Skyler Gisondo looks like he stepped right out of a Silver Age comic book. We can guess he’ll be a photojournalist for the Daily Planet, and be friends with Lois Lane and Clark Kent. It’s fair to conclude he won’t be killed in under two minutes of screen time, like his previous DCEU iteration. We certainly wish this version of James Olsen a long and fruitful life on the big screen.

The post The History of Jimmy Olsen, Superman’s BFF, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

Unlike the previous administration, new DC Studios co-head James Gunn is very active on social media. Since DC announced him in the role, he’s been teasing the fans about which deep-cut characters from the pages of DC Comics might be on his mind concerning future projects. Gunn has done this with random image reveals. So far, he’s dropped a few comic book images of characters that might excite fans—including a few that have yet to appear in any live-action incarnations before. Some he teased, like Mister Terrific, were officially announced just months later. Let’s tally all the Gunn hints we’ve had so far, while remembering they might not actually be hints.

The Martian Manhunter

Gunn shared an image of Chocos cookies, the DC Universe’s version of Oreo Cookies. These are a favorite snack of none other than J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. In fact, it’s his favorite Earth delicacy. Originally, he was just into Oreos, but eventually, DC realized it would be better to create their own brand of chocolate cookie. The arrival of Chocos in an upcoming film or series means we might be seeing the Last Son of Mars in the DCU sooner than we thought.

Deathstroke

James Gunn recently hinted strongly at another major DC character, the super-powered mercenary Deathstroke. When the fan asked Gunn on Instagram to “please wink if you have plans for Deathstroke,” the DC Studios head replied with a winky face emoji. So there you have it — the deadly mercenary Slade Wilson (the obvious influence on Marvel’s Deadpool, a.k.a. Wade Wilson) is coming to the DCU. Where will he appear? It’s anyone’s guess, but we think there’s a good chance he is the villain of the announced Teen Titans movie. He’s their main adversary, so it just makes sense.

Mister Mxyzptlk

He’s been one of Superman’s most powerful (and annoying enemies) since the Golden Age, and yet, he’s never appeared in a live-action film. We refer to the imp from the 5th Dimension, Mister Mxyzptlk. This diminutive fellow is actually an all-powerful being, who can bend reality to his will. Think Star Trek’s Q, and just as annoying, and wearing a derby. He appeared every 90 days to make trouble for Superman, only returning to his home dimension whenever Big Blue could trick him into saying his name backward. James Gunn recently posted an action figure of Mxy on his Instagram, which is raising eyebrows. While the assumption is Mxy would appear in Superman, we think it may also be for the upcoming Peacemaker season two.

Captain Atom

The latest post from James Gunn suggesting a possible classic hero coming to the DCU came as a response to a fan question. When asked if he liked the character of Captain Atom, he responded on his Instagram story saying “I’ve been a big Captain Atom fan for a long time.” He even added comic artwork to his response. We’d say that’s a possible hint that he has plans for Captain Atom.

So who is the good Captain? Like Peacemaker and Blue Beetle, he originated as a hero from the Charlton Comics line in the ’60s. DC bought those characters and absorbed them into the DC Universe proper in the ’80s. Nathaniel Adam was an Air Force officer who volunteered for an experiment involving nuclear power and alien alloy, in exchange for a pardon for a crime he didn’t commit. Disintegrated in the experiment, Adam reformed decades later, now fused with the alien metal, and wielding nuclear power.

Nathaniel Adam then became the government agent and superhero Captain Atom, and joined the Justice League International. He was also the basis for Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen, although slightly less powerful. Along with Booster Gold, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Maxwell Lord, he’d be another famous JLI character joining the DCU. We think that lends further credence to our theory that the Justice League International is on the way to the DCU.

The Terrifics

James Gunn teased an image of the hero Mister Terrific back in 2022, a character later cast for Superman: Legacy. But now those plans seem to have expanded. He also shared an image of the DC heroes hovering around the Terrifics, a somewhat recent super team from DC Comics, introduced in 2018. The Terrifics are kind of a riff on Marvel’s Fantastic Four, as they are more explorer and adventurer types. Mister Terrific leads, and the other members include Plastic Man, the phasing Phantom Girl, and Metamorpho, who was also recently cast for Superman: Legacy. We could easily see them as subjects of a Max streaming series.

Deadman

On Halloween 2022, Gunn shared an image of one of DC Comics’ most prominent supernatural heroes, Deadman. Introduced by DC in the late ’60s, Deadman was circus performer Boston Brand. During a performance, a group of criminals murdered him. They (the supernatural powers that be) granted his soul the power to possess living people until he discovered who was behind his murder. In the meantime, he used the bodies he “borrowed” to help the innocent and fight various criminals.

Although a ghost, Brand’s spectral form still had his circus outfit and makeup he wore in his act. For the most part, he was essentially a superhero no one in the living world could see. However, a few mystical DC characters could perceive him. Despite being a prominent DC character for years, aside from a few animated appearances, we’ve never seen Deadman in live-action. From the look of things, James Gunn is hoping to change all that—unless he was just having some Halloween fun. Once upon a time, Guillermo del Toro talked about producing a Deadman project. Perhaps now is the time for that to finally happen.

It’s worth noting that Gunn recenly shared the image of Deadman again on his Instagram.

Lobo

And then, there’s the one that has everyone talking. Recently, Gunn posted an image of DC’s most famous intergalactic bounty hunter, Lobo, and fans got super excited. The “Main Man,” a huge seller back in the ’90s, was long rumored for a movie or TV project. In fact, it was reported Syfy was developing a Lobo TV series a few years ago, but nothing ever came of it.

With folks clamoring for Jason Momoa to play the role, including Momoa himself, it seems now would be the right time to see the space biker finally get a movie of his own. The character is an over-the-top send-up of tough-guy characters, but handled correctly, he made for some very funny comics. We think the comedy sensibilities of the character feel right in James Gunn’s wheelhouse, too.

Kingdom Come

Maybe the post that had fans most excited came on November 30. Gunn simply tweeted out the words “Making plans” accompanied by an image by artist Alex Ross from his seminal series Kingdom Come. That comic was all about an older Justice League vs their younger, more violent successors in an End Times scenario. Now, on the surface, it’s just Superman around a table with other heroes literally making plans. It’s probably just Gunn’s fun way of teasing his upcoming DC Studios plans, using an image of their headlining heroes.

On the other hand, he also used this same Alex Ross illustration as his featured image on his Hive Social account. Could he have something cooking for Kingdom Come? It seems way too soon for a live-action adaptation. You need to reestablish the Justice League first as a viable franchise. However, Gunn recently stated that DC Studios planned to incorporate animation as well. It’s at least a possibility.

Again James Gunn could just be posting random images of all of these characters and stories he likes. Time will tell.

Originally published on November 16, 2022.

The post Every DC Character James Gunn Has Possibly Teased for the DCU appeared first on Nerdist.

With the promise of a spin-off series to WandaVision focusing on the “Vision” half of that equation, speculation as to who or what might appear has run something approaching rampant. Vision, played by Paul Bettany, has had surprisingly few run-ins with out-and-out villains in his tenure in the MCU. Sure, Thanos killed him, but otherwise he tends to just fight other Avengers. That is, with the exception of his first appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Vision’s evil counterpart in that was the titular Ultron, a nefarious AI voiced by James Spader. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ultron’s back, and so is Spader.

The famously stringless creation of Tony Stark, Ultron proved an especially thorny barb in the side of the Avengers in the 2015 movie. His plot eventually led to the destruction of Sokovia, which in turn led to the eponymous Accords which pitted hero against hero in Captain America: Civil War. Ultron did appear in What If…? but not with Spader’s dulcet tones.

The Vision series, Vision Quest, will follow a rebuilt Vision, in his all-white version, as he searches for meaning following the disastrous events of WandaVision. Presumably this Vision will somehow interact with what remains of Ultron’s programming, if not a fully reconstituted Ultron. This will add an interesting layer of pathos to the proceedings. The divide between Vision’s humanity and his robotity is one of the hallmarks of the character, focusing on what it means to truly be alive.

Running Vision Quest is Terry Matalas who is no stranger to sentient robotics. He wrote for Star Trek: Picard season two and showran the wildly successful and beloved third season. According to reports, the Vision Quest series will begin filming in England in early 2025. In the meanwhile, we have another WandaVision spin-off, Agatha All Along, on the way September 18.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

The post James Spader Returning as Ultron in VISION Series appeared first on Nerdist.

The Avengers and the X-Men may have overshadowed them in recent years, but make no mistake: without the Fantastic Four, there’s no Marvel as we know it. When Stan Lee and Jack Kirby launched Fantastic Four in 1961, it caused a sensation. It led to a publishing line that changed comics forever. Now, via Comic Book Resources, we’ve learned that a very highly graded, near-mint copy of Fantastic Four #1 is going up for auction. This sale is part of Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction this fall. This copy has an impressive 9.6 Near-Mint grade. That makes it one of only two copies known to exist at that level of good condition.

A previous copy of The Fantastic Four #1, graded at only 9.2, sold for $1.5 million in 2022. The Heritage Auctions copy of the issue is in better shape, so they expect it to go for far more. Part of the reason, of course, is the current hype surrounding the team. Next year’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps is about to bring Marvel’s First Family into the MCU. And with a cast led by Pedro Pascal, it will presumably launch the team into new levels of popularity. That will only make the value of Fantastic Four #1 go up even higher.

That’s not the only vintage Marvel comic book expected to sell for an astronomical price. Also up for auction is Marvel Super Heroes #20 from 1969, graded at 9.8. This issue was the first title Doctor Doom headlined as a lead character. Although not his first appearance, which would be Fantastic Four #5 from 1962. With Robert Downey Jr. now playing Victor Von Doom, his first headlining comic is no doubt going to go for a lot more than it would have before. Other Marvel Comics and original art will be part of Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction, which takes place September 12-15. For more information, head on over to their official site.

The post Pristine Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom 1960s Comics Going Up for Auction appeared first on Nerdist.

Deadpool & Wolverine went through many different iterations before settling on a concept. At one point, it was actually going to be a road trip movie between Wade and Logan. Once the Multiverse was decided as a big part of the story, Marvel Studios concept artist Andy Park pitched a scene where Deadpool travels through various Earths in the Multiverse, and lands on the comic book version of the Marvel Universe, a.k.a. Earth-616. He even drew up a scene where Deadpool lands in the iconic shot from Avengers, only with the heroes’ comic book counterparts instead. You can check out Andy Parks’ concept art, which he shared on Instagram, below:

So who were the artists inspiring this piece of concept art from Andy Park? We spot a Rob Liefeld version of Deadpool in there (of course), and a Jack Kirby-inspired Captain America. The Hulk looks to be in the style of longtime Incredible Hulk penciler Sal Buscema, with Thor giving Walter Simonson vibes. Hawkeye looks like Al Milgrom’s rendition of Clint Barton from West Coast Avengers, and Black Widow looks a bit like her portrayal by Jim Lee in an issue of Uncanny X-Men. And Iron Man, in his white and red “Silver Centurion” armor, appears to draw inspiration from the art of Mark Bright.

Sadly, this scene never made it past the concept stage. It would have been a blast to see on screen. We have a feeling that Kevin Feige might have stepped in here. After all, he’s adamant that “the Sacred Timeline” of the MCU is Earth-616. Longtime comic book fans know that’s actually the designation of the main universe of monthly Marvel Comics. That is where the term “Earth-616” originally came from. (Something that Ms. Marvel star and superfan Iman Vellani is hilariously adamant about reminding Kevin Feige of constantly). Feige was probably wary of starting a fan discourse of which universe is really Earth-616. They’ll just have to put a pin in that debate until Avengers: Secret Wars stirs it all back up again.

The post Early DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Concept Art Shows Wade Meeting the Comic Book Avengers appeared first on Nerdist.

When Marvel mastermind Kevin Feige first announced the new Ironheart Disney+ series, he said it would feature genius inventor Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart, taking on a mystical villain known as the Hood. It will be a full-on battle of science versus magic for the first time in the MCU. The Hood will be played by actor Anthony Ramos in the show. Riri Williams actor Dominique Thorne confirmed that Ironheart won’t debut until 2025 but, in the meantime, we can get to know her upcoming adversary. Here’s a complete rundown of the origin story, powers, and overall Marvel Comics history of the Hood.

A Brief Explanation of Parker Robbins a.k.a. The Hood

When small-time crook Parker Robbins came upon a cloak of dark magic, he was granted incredible powers and became a supervillain known as the Hood. He used his street smarts and new supernatural abilities to become one of Marvel’s premiere supervillain crime bosses. Despite his small beginnings, he’s risen to become a threat to the Avengers and the entire Marvel Universe. He has been called the “Godfather of all supervillains.” 

The Hood’s Comics Origin Is a Story of Rags to Riches

The Hood first made his comic book debut in a self-titled mini-series in 2002 by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell. Growing up in New York City, a teenage Parker Robbins witnessed a battle between Daredevil and Electro, but he found himself inspired by the villain rather than the hero. As an adult, Robbins lived a shady life where he lied and stole to get by.

When he needed money to provide for his sick mother and pregnant girlfriend Sara—not to mention his secret mistress—he took a job from his crooked cousin John King to help rob a warehouse. Rather than finding valuable goods inside, they stumbled across the remains of a demonic ritual and came face-to-face with an actual demon. Robbins killed the demon with a gunshot to the head and, not wanting to leave empty-handed, took its cloak and boots.

Soon after, he discovered the boots gave him the power of levitation and the cloak turned him invisible while he held his breath. Robbins used these new tricks to help pull off daring robberies, and the police gave him the nickname “the Hood.” Emboldened by his newfound power, Robbins went on to become a notorious supervillain and the head of a criminal syndicate.

The Hood’s Demonic Powers in the Marvel Comics, Explained

The Hood’s powers and abilities originally come from his magical cloak and boots. The cloak turns the Hood invisible while he’s holding his breath. The boots give him the ability to levitate. After his origin story, the boots were never mentioned again and the Hood’s powers were attributed solely to his cloak.

However, Parker Robbins without the cloak is no slouch in a fight. He’s a great shot with his signature twin pistols. Outside of combat, Robbins is a powerful leader and strategist. He uses his persuasive skills to recruit supervillains to his criminal syndicate and outmaneuver other crime lords to rise to the top as the Kingpin of crime. 

Over the years, Robbins discovered his cloak had additional powers, such as teleportation and resurrection. The cloak also gives him the ability to see through all manner of illusion. During Secret Invasion, he was able to identify who was a shapeshifted Skrull. When battling Doctor Doom and a fleet of Doombots, he could tell which one was the real Doom.

In times of desperation, the Hood transforms his body to become more demonic. His face dons a monstrous guise, his fingers turn to claws, and he gains incredible strength, speed, and magical ability. In his demon form, the Hood can go toe-to-toe with the likes of Wolverine and Doctor Doom. (Speaking of Wolverine, one of the Hood’s most infamous acts is shooting Logan in the crotch during a fight. It didn’t end well for him.)

After some time with the cloak, Robbins began to commune with the source of its demonic power and learned it was none other than Doctor Strange baddie Dormammu. The ruler of the Dark Dimension helped Robbins access more of the cloak’s power. But the longer Robbins wore the cloak, the more he was corrupted by Dormmamu’s evil.

When an exorcism broke the link to Dormammu, Loki made a deal with Robbins to restore his powers with the Norn Stones of Asgardian legend. Loki eventually took back the power of the Norn Stones and left Robbins powerless once more. Robbins wound up in jail until a fellow prisoner told Robbins about the location of an Infinity Gem. So Robbins escaped and almost succeeded in gathering all of the gems before he was stopped by the Avengers. No matter how many times Robbins gets knocked down, he always finds a way to reclaim his power and continue his quest to become the Kingpin of crime. 

The Hood Is a Criminal Mastermind

Since becoming a crime lord in New York City, the Hood has started several criminal organizations and joined the ranks of a few supervillain groups. His first big push to become the Kingpin of crime came in the fallout of Civil War when the superhero community was in shambles. This made it easy for the Hood to amass power and organize a large group of villains to take advantage of the situation.

As the Hood’s criminal empire expanded and he learned more about the dark power of his cloak, he became a major ongoing threat to the Avengers. When Norman Osborn took over the world during the Dark Reign era, the Hood joined Osborn’s ruling council of villains called the Cabal. The Hood started his own evil version of the Illuminati with fellow baddies Black Ant, Enchantress, Mad Thinker, Thunderball, and Titania.

Anthony Ramos Will Deliver a New Twist on the Hood in Marvel’s Ironheart Series

The story of Ironheart sees gifted MIT student Riri Williams return to her home city of Chicago where she reconnects with her roots and tries to rebuild her suit of armor, only to be pulled into a world of danger when she meets Parker Robins, aka the Hood. When the Hood makes his live-action debut in Ironheart, he will be a bit different than in the comics.

Hood actor Anthony Ramos told Entertainment Weekly that his Marvel Cinematic Universe Parker Robbins will be from Chicago instead of New York—specifically the Humboldt Park area of Chicago, which has a large Puerto Rican community. The change makes sense not only because it brings the hero and villain together but creates a personal link between them. “We created this whole backstory with [Parker Robbins’] mom being from the Young Lords and raising him that way [as a gang member-turned-activist].,” said Ramos. “Chicago plays a huge part in the identity of all of our characters and the identity of this show, so I’m really excited for people to experience that.”

Another big change will see the typically heroic Riri Williams joining the Hood’s criminal organization. In the comics, the two characters don’t have any sort of connection, so their relationship will be a brand new element unique to the MCU. As we saw at the end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri had to leave her shiny new suit of armor behind in Wakanda, which is why Ironheart finds her joining the Hood’s gang to fund the creation of a new one.

“We see this common thread between [Riri Williams and Parker Robbins] where it’s like, ‘How much can I get? I get a little bit and I see how much I can do with this little bit, maybe if I get a little more I might be able to do a little more with that.’ And we see how that affects the characters positively and negatively,” Ramos explained. “And then we start to see how the characters start to use each other to get ahead and to get more, whether that’s more power, more something, more money. It’s really cool to see that journey in how the characters start to interweave between one another’s stories.”

We cannot wait to see what the MCU does with the Hood next year when Ironheart hits Disney+.

The post Who Is The Hood a.k.a. Parker Robbins in IRONHEART? The Mystical Villain’s Marvel Comics History, Explained  appeared first on Nerdist.

Harley Quinn, now played by pop icon Lady Gaga, will return to the big screen in Joker: Folie à Deux. She succeeds Margot Robbie, who played the character in three different DCEU movies. But judging from the first trailer, this take on Harleen Quinzel will be somewhat different from the ones fans have known for over 30 years. Here’s how director Todd Phillips’ version of Harley Quinn differs from the traditional version we’ve come to know since she debuted in Batman: The Animated Series.

The Batman: The Animated Series Origin of Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini in 1992, as a sidekick/girlfriend for the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series. Thanks to a wonderful performance from actress Arleen Sorkin, who inspired the character in the first place, she became a fan favorite. By the end of the ’90s, DC incorporated her into the DC Comics universe proper. A year after her debut, Timm and Dini teamed up for the comic book Mad Love. This was the first origin story presented for Harley. It would later serve as the template for a 1999 episode of The New Batman Adventures of the same name.

In her origin story, her real name was Harleen Francis Quinzel and she was the Joker’s therapist at Arkham Asylum. The name was a nod to her voice actress, Arleen Francis Sorkin. Harleen had gone to Gotham University under a gymnastics scholarship but also studied psychology. She hoped to write a book about a famous killer and make a name for herself that way. When she became a psychiatric intern at Arkham Asylum, she saw the Joker as her meal ticket. But the Joker manipulated her and told her lies. He made himself seem sympathetic and a victim of circumstance. She fell in love with him and he twisted her mind in the process. Ultimately, she helped him escape Arkham and became his willing accomplice, girlfriend, and literal partner-in-crime. Joker christened her with the name Harley Quinn, since her real name, Harleen Quinzel, reminded him of a harlequin.

DC Comics Adds to Harley Quinn’s Backstory

The writers at DC Comics kept this cartoon backstory largely intact. Later, they added an explanation for her enhanced strength and agility. Those powers were the result of a serum created for her by her sometime girlfriend Poison Ivy. It also made her immune to most toxins and poisons. Eventually, Harley broke free of the Joker’s abuse for good, and became something of an antihero. In DC’s New 52 reboot, DC added in the detail of the Joker pushing Harley into the same vat of chemicals that bleached his skin and drove him mad. The 2016 Suicide Squad movie, featuring Margot Robbie, incorporated this detail into her live-action origin story.

Lady Gaga’s Harley Is an Arkham Inmate, Not Joker’s Therapist

For the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux, it looks like Gaga’s version of Harley Quinn will differ significantly. She’ll be another inmate at Arkham, not a therapist treating Fleck. Although, for all we know, she was a therapist once, just not his. Much like the comics, it looks like she will play a key role in breaking Fleck out of Arkham. Judging from the teaser, it appears she has more of an upper hand in the relationship than he does. She seems to be manipulating him more than the other way around. At least in one scene, Harley will sport her traditional red and black color scheme, which is a clear nod to the comics. Though the name Arthur Fleck isn’t from the comics, Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn is still called Harleen Quinzel.

However, Lady Gaga revealed that her version of Harley Quinn would go by the name Lee. And Todd Phillips recently told Empire Magazine that Lee would be a fresh interpretation of the Harley we know so well. “While there are some things that people would find familiar in her, it’s really Gaga’s own interpretation, and Scott [Silver, co-writer] and I’s interpretation,” explains Phillips. “She became the way how [Charles] Manson had girls that idolised him. The way that sometimes these [imprisoned murderers] have people that look up to them. There are things about Harley in the movie that were taken from the comic books, but we took it and molded it to the way we wanted it to be.” 

Most recently, Phillips noted of this new “more grounded” rendition of Harley Quinn, “The high voice, that accent, the gum-chewing and all that sort of sassy stuff that’s in the comics, we stripped that away. We wanted her to fit into this world of Gotham that we created from the first movie.”

We’ll know for sure when Joker: Folie à Deux hits theaters on October 4.

Originally published on April 10, 2024.

The post How JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX Changes Harley Quinn’s Origin Story appeared first on Nerdist.

As every X-Men fan knows, there are many, many X-Men spin-off teams in the world of Marvel Comics. Some of them are almost as iconic as the main group, who operate out of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Well, it looks like we’re going to see at least two of those other X-teams in action in X-Men ’97 season two. Via Collider, we’ve learned that Marvel Animation’s Brad Winderbaum said the following at a Q&A screening of season one in Los Angeles, which should have fans of Marvel’s other mutants giddy with excitement:

There’s many teams, in Marvel, that have the letter “X” that are followed by a hyphen. I would put it to you like this… there’s two other X teams in Season 2.

Winderbaum stopped short of revealing which teams these were. But at the Marvel Animation panel at D23, both Lorna Dane (Polaris) and Alex Summers (Havok) appeared in the footage. Both were members of X-Factor, a government-sponsored mutant team. They appeared in the X-Men: The Animated Series episode “Cold Comfort.” That episode showed X-Factor working under the leadership of the mutant Forge. With Forge assembling a new X-Men after they disappeared into time in last season’s finale, he may seek the aide of his old team. He even had a photo of them on his wall in X-Men ’97. So we think they are the likely option for at least one new X-team.

So what about the other X-team? Well, we think we think with Jubilee and Sunspot still in the present, someone like Emma Frost might try to start a new school for the mutant teens. She may even take over as headmaster at Xavier’s. This might be a good time to bring in the New Mutants, or Generation X (or a combination of both). We also could see X-Force, the paramilitary group with Cable as team leader. We have a feeling we have not seen the last of Nathan Summers, and when he returns, he might bring friends. Of course, there’s also Excalibur, X-Statix, and the Exiles. The list goes on and on. We’ll know for sure when X-Men ’97 season two drops on Disney+, hopefully sometime in 2025.

The post X-MEN ’97 Season 2 Will Feature 2 Other Marvel Mutant Teams appeared first on Nerdist.

Our favorite caped crusader is turning 85 this year, and that’s an anniversary worth celebrating. That’s right, Batman was first introduced into the comic book world in 1939, making his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 by Bob Kane with Bill Finger. Of course, in the 85 years since then, Batman has come a long way and manifested in many different forms throughout the ages. However, some iconic elements of Batman remain the same no matter what year it is. And it’s this epic imagery that has inspired Loungefly COLLECTIV’s latest line of functional, fannish accessories. Having no powers himself, Batman knows the importance of good gear—and no one will have you and your sidekick/crime-fighting partner better equipped to take on the dark night than Loungefly COLLECTIV‘s Batman 85th Anniversary line.

Let’s take a look at everything that’s on offer in this tremendous new collection.

Loungefly COLLECTIV Batman 85th Anniversary TRAVELR Backpack

We absolutely love Loungefly COLLECTIV’s Batman TRAVELR backpack. As we mentioned above, Batman can’t just rely on his powers to get him out of tough spots. He needs his gadgets and his gear to perform at their utmost for him. But he still needs to look cool—of course. The Loungefly COLLECTIV’s TRAVELR backpack brings this exact blend of utility and Batman style to the table. We bet the Dark Knight would be proud to throw it over his shoulder, and all his fans will love wearing it, too.

In true Batman style, The Loungefly COLLECTIV x Batman 85th Anniversary TRAVELR backpack has a few tricks up its sleeve. It has a multitude of zippered compartments, expandable sizing, and functional pockets for tech and travel. (That’s very important if you’re Batman… or just have a busy day ahead at work.)

We also love how the front-facing portion of the backpack has gorgeous hints of a Batman connection, with yellow trim running down the center and subtle imprints of Batman’s logo all across its surface. Slightly more hidden, in the back of the Loungefly TRAVELR backpack is a more overt version of the iconic Batman logo, now in all its (tastefully stitched) yellow glory. And then, when you get into the heart of the bag, a full wave of fannishness hits hard. “I am Batman,” the interior of the backpack proudly proclaims as it reveals a gorgeous yellow and black print homaging Batman in his different forms. As the official description of the bag notes, “this bag pays tribute to the Caped Crusader in a toned-down look that blends into the shadows while standing out from the crowd.” We’re obsessed.

Batman 85th Anniversary TRAVELR Backpack Cost and Features

The Loungefly COLLECTIV Batman 85th Anniversary TRAVELR Backpack costs $125. A full list of its features is below.

Features:

• Vegan leather (polyurethane) with nylon trim
• Adjustable shoulder straps
• Padded mesh backing
• Slide-through back sleeve
• Side drop pocket
• Top zipper pocket
• Gunmetal hardware
• Buckle and drawstring closure
• Laptop pocket
• Internal zipper pocket
• Debossed, embroidered, raised silicone, woven artwork, and printed details
• Coordinating inside lining
• Dimensions: 1”W x 17”H x 6”D

Loungefly COLLECTIV Batman 85th Anniversary EXECUTIV Bag

Being Batman is a full-time job, but being Bruce Wayne is no picnic either. Outside of his suit, Batman still has a lot on his plate as a high-powered businessman. That means he needs a bag that can serve him in both capacities. It’s too bad Batman doesn’t have Loungefly COLLECTIV to turn to, but happily, you do. Loungefly COLLECTIV’s Batman 85th Anniversary EXECUTIV Bag is the perfect business meets fandom piece. This messenger bag will “rival any hero’s utility belt” and carry your laptop (pens, water bottle, and more) in subtle style that is absolutely perfect for running from an important meeting with executives to an important meeting with the release of your favorite new movie. (Or with your archnemisis, who am I to judge?)

As with the TRAVELR backpack, this bag gets more fabulously fannish as one delves deeper into it. On the outside of this piece, there are a few touches of Batman love. These include some of the excellent yellow Batman trim, the subtle Batman logo pattern, and a truly gorgeous bit of typographical embroidery spelling out “Dark Knight” in very evocative cursive. Once again, the exterior of the bag allows you to blend into the shadows, but catch also allows a glimpse of the fandom fun if you know where to look. And then, in the interior, one’s true identity is revealed as the bright yellow-and-black lining of the bag celebrates Batman (1989), Batman Forever, The Batman, and more.

Batman 85th Anniversary EXECUTIV Bag Cost and Features

The Loungefly COLLECTIV Batman 85th Anniversary TRAVELR Backpack costs $85. A full list of its features is below.

Features:

• Vegan leather (polyurethane), nylon, and neoprene
• Zippered closure
• Top handles
• Adjustable (detachable) shoulder strap
• Front drop pocket
• Slide-through back sleeve
• Gunmetal hardware
• Internal mesh pockets
• Elastic water bottle band
• Elastic pen holders
• Debossed, embroidered, raised silicone, woven artwork, and printed details Coordinating inside lining
• Dimensions: 14”W x 10”H x 5”D 

Loungefly COLLECTIV Batman 85th Anniversary ORGANIZR Accordion Wallet

Sometimes, the best gear comes in a small size. You can’t always bring a shoulder bag to fight the evil in Gotham; it might slow you down. In that case, Loungefly COLLECTIV Batman 85th Anniversary’s line has just the thing for you: an ORGANIZR accordion wallet. Don’t let the size of this piece fool you; it’s every bit as reliable and important as the rest, and it will surely help you prepare for your next mission. (Taking on Joker and/or having exact change for the Gotham Tranit Authority bus.)

As with the rest of the Loungefly COLLECTIV Batman 85th Anniversary line, we love the play on “sleek secret identity” vs. “heroic persona ready to emerge” themes we see in this accessory. The debossed Batman logos that decorate the wallet make it the perfect classy addition to your collection. And the fun-lined interior makes it the perfect fannish addition to your collection. What we’re saying is it’s the perfect addition to your collection.

Batman 85th Anniversary ORGANIZR Accordion Wallet Cost and Features

The Loungefly COLLECTIV Batman 85th Anniversary ORGANIZR accordion wallet costs $50. A full list of its features is below.

Features:

• Vegan leather (polyurethane)
• Zippered closure
• Gunmetal hardware
• 5 slots for holding cards
• Debossed and printed details
• Coordinating inside lining 
• Dimensions: 4.25”W x 3”H

Loungefly COLLECTIV Batman 85th Anniversary Accessories for Your Pet/Favorite Sidekick/Crime-Fighting Partner

Loungefly COLLECTIV couldn’t let you wander out into the world of heroes without the perfect superhero partner, your pet. As part of the pet accessories collection, COLLECTIV offers stylish essentials for your best sidekick. These include a Loungefly DC Comics Batman Pet Treat Bag (in a Robin design), Loungefly DC Comics Batman Pet Collar, Loungefly DC Comics Batman Mini Backpack Harness, and Loungefly DC Comics Batman Pet Leash.

We must say that giving a Robin design to the treat bag is absolutely genius. And hey, pets want to look adorable but fashionable, too. And we, as their owners, want to know we’re outfitting them with only the best-made accessories. We welcome this extension to the Loungefly COLLECTIV world. As the official description of these products notes, “Whether your pet is suiting up for a surveillance mission or sniffing out trouble, these accessories will keep them stylishly prepared for whatever comes their way.”

Loungefly DC Comics Batman Pet Treat Bag Cost and Features

The Loungefly DC Comics Batman Pet Treat Bag costs $20. A full list of its features is below.

Features:

• Vegan leather (polyurethane)
• Zippered pocket
• Lobster clip
• Gunmetal hardware
• Applique, debossed, and printed details
• Coordinating inside lining
• Dimensions: 3.3”W x 3.3”H x 1.5”D

Loungefly DC Comics Batman Pet Collar Cost and Features

The Loungefly DC Comics Batman Pet Collar costs $20. A full list of its features is below.

Features:

• Adjustable nylon strap
• Printed details
• Enamel paw print charm
• Buckle clasp closure
• Gunmetal hardware 
• Dimensions:
  • Small: 0.5”W, 9”-13” (Neck)
  • Medium: 0.75”W, 13”-20” (Neck)
  • Large: 1”W, 18-29” (Neck)

Loungefly DC Comics Batman Mini Backpack Harness Cost and Features

The Loungefly DC Comics Batman Mini Backpack Harness costs $45 for a Small, $50 for a Medium, $55 for a Large. A full list of its features (including Small, Medium, and Large dimensions) is below.

Features:

• Vegan leather (polyurethane)
• Adjustable nylon straps
• Breathable mesh fabric
• Front zipper pocket (medium, large)
• Leash hook
• Gunmetal hardware
• Applique, debossed, and printed details
• Coordinating inside lining
• Dimensions:
  • Small: 9”-16” (Neck) x 12”-20” (Chest)
  • Medium: 10”-20” (Neck) x 14”-33” (Chest)
  • Large: 13”-25” (Neck) x 23-45” (Chest)

Loungefly DC Comics Batman Pet Leash Cost and Features

The Loungefly DC Comics Batman Pet Leash costs $20. A full list of its features is below.

Features:

• Nylon strap
• Padded handle
• Printed details
• Leash hook and D-ring for attaching accessories
• Gunmetal hardware
• Dimensions: 1”W x 72”H

More About Loungefly COLLECTIV Accessories

Loungefly COLLECTIV is a “line draws its name from the way fashion connects fans, while offering subtle, functional designs that are an extension of fan-favorite franchises and characters.” Past Loungefly COLLECTIV releases have included Loki and Star Wars collections, and we can personally vouch for their quality and excellent designs. We can’t wait to see what’s coming next for the line as we head out into the shadows, ready to own the night.

The post Loungefly COLLECTIV Celebrates BATMAN’s 85th Anniversary in Style with New Line appeared first on Nerdist.

The world of comic books has no shortage of iconic superhero teams. But in the end, DC Comics‘ Justice League remains the best of the best, simply because it boasts a roster of Earth’s greatest and most iconic heroes. Among them, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. But when it comes to the League’s various series over the past sixty years, which runs are the all-time greatest? Whether it’s as the Justice League of America, International, Unlimited, or very simply “the Justice League,” these are our rankings for their greatest comic book creative runs of all time.

10. JLA by Joe Kelly

with Doug Mahnke, Chris Cross

This run of the Justice League often falls through the cracks. Probably because it’s a follow up to both Grant Morrison and Mark Waid’s more celebrated versions. After successful runs on Deadpool and Daredevil at Marvel, writer Joe Kelly took over JLA with issue #61, along with artist Doug Mahnke. Their four-year run has some great stories throughout, starting with “The Golden Perfect.” That story deals with the ramifications of Wonder Woman’s indestructible golden lasso getting severed, rewriting the rules of reality. Longtime Leaguer Martian Manhunter gets a spotlight too, as this run explores his PTSD as the sole survivor of Mars.

But the greatest story in Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke’s run was “The Obsidian Age.” It’s a magical time-travel story where the JLA goes back thousands of years to the ancient Atlantean era. Meanwhile, in the present, a new League forms made up of characters whose time as Leaguers was long overdue, like Nightwing. Joe Kelly’s run also extended into the mini-series Justice League Elite, a commentary on the brutal vigilante teams like the Authority that were all the rage at the time. For unknown reasons, this run doesn’t get the love it deserves. Hopefully, more readers will discover it in the future.

Issues in Joe Kelly’s JLA Run:

JLA #61-90, Justice League Elite #1-12 (2001-2005)

9. Justice League of America by Gardner Fox

with Mike Sekowsky, Sheldon Moldoff

To a modern reader, the original run of Justice League of America will seem very dated. It was written with little kids in mind, and the characters are all just costumes and powers, without distinct personalities. But writer and JLA co-creator Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky still managed to load up the series with tons of imagination, with villains introduced that are still major Justice League adversaries to this day. Bad guys like the alien despot Despero, the evil alt-JLA the Crime Syndicate, the android Amazo, and the sorcerer Felix Faust all debut here in the original run. Put yourself in the right preteen mindset, and these are still fun to read.

These early JLA stories would also flesh out the idea of the DC Multiverse, and begin the grand tradition of the Justice League/Justice Society annual crossovers. And as “kiddy” as they are, they do try to teach children real life science concepts via larger-than-life sci-fi stories. Early issues hid Batman and Superman, especially from the cover art, as DC editorial felt didn’t need more exposure. Once Batman ’66 blew up on TV, however, that edict went out the window. Once Superman and Batman could participate more, the series really took off. If you can view these stories through the lens of a young kid in the ‘60s, you can see how this was the foundation for a franchise that has stood the test of time.

Issues in Gardner Fox’s Justice League of America Run:

The Brave and the Bold #28-30, Justice League of America (vol.1) #1-65 (1960-1968)

8. Justice League by Geoff Johns

with Jim Lee, Ivan Reis, Jason Fabok

Geoff Johns is known for his seminal runs on DC titles like The Flash, Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, and especially Green Lantern. Not to mention a stint as president of DC Entertainment. He was known for building on DC’s vast history. But when DC rebooted their whole universe in 2011 with their New 52 initiative, Johns and superstar artist (and DC co-publisher) Jim Lee started from scratch. The pair built up the world’s greatest superheroes from the ground up, introducing them to each other as brand-new heroes. Younger versions of the DC icons came together again for the first time in the modern day, with Cyborg replacing Martian Manhunter as a team founder.

In their first adventure, the team saves the world from Darkseid, a story that greatly informed Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Later stories in this run would even see a reformed Lex Luthor join the team, and a new take on the Crime Syndicate. Some choices were suspect—we’ll never be on board with that Superman/Wonder Woman romance for example—and most of this run is no longer in continuity. (DC continuity is a mess, it’s hard to know). But that doesn’t stop this from being a fun and beautiful-to-look-at comic book. The art from Jim Lee, and later Ivan Reis and Jason Fabok, is always jaw-droppingly good.

Issues in Geoff Johns’ Justice League Run:

Justice League (vol. 2) #1-50 (2011-2015)

7. JLA by Mark Waid

with Howard Porter, Bryan Hitch

Mark Waid doesn’t get the credit he deserves as a Justice League writer, but he absolutely should. He re-introduced the classic JLA roster for the modern era in the 1996 mini-series Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare, before taking over from Grant Morrison in JLA with issues #43-60, during which he wrote the seminal story “Tower of Babel.” This storyline saw Ra’s al Ghul steal Batman’s protocols to take down the League and became the basis for the animated film Justice League: Doom. Waid also introduced the villainous Queen of Fables in a run with future Ultimates artist Bryan Hitch.

Aside from the main JLA title, Waid also wrote the JLA: Year One, telling the story of the League’s earliest days from a modern perspective, with artist Barry Kitson. You could even argue Waid and Alex Ross’ epic Kingdom Come mini-series is a Justice League story, which elevates Waid’s Justice League tenure even further. Few writers have a better understanding of these classic heroes as much as Mark Waid does. Soon, he’ll be taking on the team again in a new Justice League Unlimited ongoing series this year. If it’s as good as his past JL work, his ranking on this list could shoot up even higher.

Issues in Mark Waid’s JLA Run:

Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare #1-3 (1996) JLA ##18-21, 32-33, 43-60 (1998-2002) JLA: Year One #1-12 (1998-1999) JLA Heaven’s Ladder (2000) Kingdom Come #1-4 (1996)

6. Justice League: The Nail by Alan Davis

Technically, this is an Elseworlds run, as it takes place outside of regular DC continuity. But that doesn’t stop it from being an all-time classic Justice League story. Writer/artist Alan Davis was originally best known for his work on Marvel books like Excalibur and Avengers. But in the late ’90s, he came to DC with a twist on their mythology: what is a Justice League like in a world where Superman never existed? In the three-part mini-series Justice League: The Nail, Davis imagines a world where Ma and Pa Kent never found baby Kal-El’s rocket, thanks to a rusty nail giving Pa’s truck a flat tire.

Without the Kents’ influence, Earth has no Man of Steel. What does that mean for the very foundation of the Justice League? Davis imagines a world very similar to the DC universe we know, but without the metaphorical nail holding it all together that is Superman. The art in this series from Davis, showcasing his trademark clean lines and retro style, is superb. And the twists and turns the story takes are wild. The series was so successful, Davis returned for another mini-series sequel, Justice League: Another Nail, which takes things into an even weirder direction. Both of these JLA runs are collectively an underrated gem.

Issues in Alan Davis’ Justice League: The Nail Run:

Justice League: The Nail #1-3 (1998) Justice League of America: Another Nail #1-4 (2004)

5. Justice League of America by Brad Meltzer

with Ed Benes, Gene Ha

Novelist Brad Meltzer is a bestselling author, known for thrillers like The Tenth Justice. But Meltzer is also a lifelong comic book fan, and wanted a chance to take on the JLA. Especially after his non-traditional take on DC in Identity Crisis was so controversial. In 2006, he got to bring his love of DC heroes in a brief (but more traditional) relaunch of the team in Justice League of America. During his one-year run with artist Ed Benes, he saw the trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman reunite after a long absence to recruit a new team, adding heroes like Black Lightning and Red Arrow, Green Arrow’s ex-sidekick.

During Meltzer’s run, longtime member Black Canary finally became team leader, and stories like “The Tornado’s Path” gave some much-needed character development to neglected android member Red Tornado. Maybe the best storyline in his run was “The Lightning Saga,” in which the JLA, the JSA, and the Legion of Super-Heroes brought back Flash Wally West after over a year missing in the timestream. Ed Benes’ artwork was never more stylish or sexy than in this Justice League of America run. The only bad thing about Meltzer’s run was that it was just far too brief. We’d welcome another round from him with Earth’s greatest heroes.

Issues in Brad Meltzer’s Justice League of America Run:

Justice League of America (vol.2) #0-12 (2006-2007)

4. Justice League of America by Gerry Conway

with Dick Dillin, George Perez

Gerry Conway went down in comic book history as the man who killed Peter Parker’s great love Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man. But after his time at Marvel Comics, Conway went to DC and wrote Justice League of America for several years, working with artists such as Dick Dillin and a young George Perez. During his tenure with the League, Conway introduced more personal conflict into the group, who in the Silver Age era got along all the time. This was also the time period when the League took up residence in an orbiting satellite, miles above the Earth.

Among the highlights of the Gerry Conway era were the introduction of the magician Zatanna and Firestorm, the Nuclear Man into the main roster, a memorable Justice League/Justice Society crossover where the teams had to solve a murder on the JLA Satellite, and a three-part story where the JLA, JSA, and New Gods team up to fight Darkseid. Yes, Gerry Conway’s run ended with the less-than-beloved “Justice League Detroit” era. The less said about that misfire, the better. But we’ve got to hand some points to Conway for taking a big swing and trying something different. 

Issues in Gerry Conway’s Justice League of America Run:

Justice League of America (vol.1) #125-127, 131-134, 151-216, 219, 221-223, 228-230, 233-239, and 241-255 (1974-1984)

3. Justice League by Scott Snyder

with James Tynion IV, Jim Cheung, Jorge Jimenez, Francis Manapul, Mikel Janin

When we say we love “Snyder’s Justice League,” we mean this Snyder. After a critically acclaimed run on Batman, writer Scott Snyder decided to turn his eye toward Bruce Wayne’s allies in the Justice League. Snyder, together with artists Jorge Jimenez, Jim Cheung, and others, decided to go big in this Justice League relaunch, perhaps the most cosmic and mind-bending run of the team since Grant Morrison’s days on the title. Scott Snyder’s Justice League brought in several deep-cut characters from DC lore, not to mention one of the silliest and yet wonderful additions to the team, Jarro. He’s a clone of Starro the giant cosmic starfish, who is loyal only to Batman.

In addition to making the Legion of Doom a real threat and not just a Super Friends reference, Snyder also introduced Perpetua, mother of the Omniverse and perhaps the most powerful entity in all of DC history. The team lineup was also fantastic, mixing the animated JLU with the DCEU team. Some of Snyder’s ideas get away from him, and he’s not quite as adept with “big and cosmic” as Grant Morrison is. And far too many of his plotlines that started in Justice League were finished off in other series of his, like Dark Nights Metal. But when his Justice League cooks, it really cooks.

Issues in Scott Snyder’s Justice League Run:

Justice League (vol. 4) #1-39 (2018-2020)

2. Justice League International by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis

with Kevin Maguire, Adam Hughes, Chris Sprouse, Bart Sears, Darick Robertson, Chris Wozniak

In a post-Crisis on Infinite Earths universe, DC successfully relaunched Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. But what about the Justice League? Their previous “Justice League Detroit” version had fizzled badly, and DC didn’t want their “Big Seven” characters all together in one book just yet. So DC took a swing, and the creative team of writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, along with artist Kevin Maguire relaunched the team in Justice League International. Very unlike previous iterations, this version leaned into almost sitcom comedy to go along with the superhero action.

JLI kept iconic Leaguers like Batman and Martian Manhunter, but the breakout characters of the book were C-list heroes like Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire & Ice, and obnoxious jerk Green Lantern, Guy Gardner. Their bickering and snarky banter was unheard of for a superhero book at the time, especially one that wasn’t a straight-up parody. Artist Kevin Maguire’s expressive faces only made the comedic nature of the stories shine even more. Justice League International was so successful, it split into two books—Justice League America and Justice League Europe—and this run lasted five glorious years. It also gave artists like Adam Hughes, Darick Robertson, and Mike McKone their first big breaks in the biz. This is perhaps the only truly great version of the team that doesn’t have the DC Trinity at its center.

Issues in Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis’ Justice League International Run:

Justice League (vol. 1) #1-6, Justice League International (vol. 2) #7-62, Justice League Europe #1-36, Justice League Quarterly #1-4 (1990-1991)

1. JLA by Grant Morrison

with Howard Porter, Frank Quitely

Sometimes, it takes three decades and change to get the best version of a concept. This was the case with writer Grant Morrison and artist Howard Porter’s JLA, which reunited the original seven members of the team for the first time in decades (with Wally West and Kyle Rayner now as the Flash and Green Lantern). In Morrison’s view, the Justice League were the modern equivalent of the Greek Gods, with their Watchtower HQ on the moon as their Mount Olympus. Morrison took their weirder sensibilities from his books like Arkham Asylum and Doom Patrol and found a way to make them work in a more mainstream framework.

Grant Morrison told stories that fit that oft-overused word “epic.” They had the League taking on evil Martians posing as superheroes, and an invasion of angelic army from Heaven. Then there’s “Rock of Ages,” a saga that pits the team against Luthor and Joker’s new Injustice League, evil holographic versions of themselves, and a post-Apocalyptic future where Darkseid rules all. Somehow, that’s all just how this run starts. Later stories had the League meeting their descendants from the far future, the Justice Legion Alpha, and even characters from Sandman. Morrison and Porter’s run lasted four years and 41 issues. Yet it’s still the version of the Justice League by which all other iterations are compared.

Issues in Grant Morrison’s JLA Run:

JLA #1-17, #22-26, #28-31, #34, #36-41, JLA: Secret Files #1 New Year’s Evil Prometheus #1, JLA/WildC.A.T.S. #1, DC One Million #1-4, JLA: Earth 2, (1997-2000) JLA: Classified #1-3 (2004)

The post The 10 Greatest JUSTICE LEAGUE Comic Book Runs, Ranked appeared first on Nerdist.

Fans who watched the new trailer for Daredevil: Born Again at Marvel Studios’ D23 presentation caught a glimpse of a fearsome-looking character in a white costume with black stripes. The new superhero is none other than the White Tiger. But who is this white-clad warrior and what can we expect when he crosses paths with Daredevil? We’re going to break it all down for you with his comic origin, powers, and more.

Hector Ayala Is the Original White Tiger, Marvel Comics’ First Hispanic Superhero

The White Tiger is a superhero martial artist with powers that come from a set of mystical Jade Tiger amulets. Numerous heroes have held the mantle over the years as the amulets found new owners. The original White Tiger, Hector Ayala, is not only Marvel’s first-ever Hispanic superhero but also the first Latin-American main character in all of American comics. As one of Marvel’s premiere hand-to-hand combatants, White Tiger fights alongside the likes of Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, and Daredevil. 

The First Marvel Comics Appearance and Origin Story of White Tiger

Hector Ayala made his comic book debut in 1975’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19, a series created during the martial arts movie craze of the ‘70s. The series first starred a trio of martial artists known as the Sons of the Tiger. Each of them drew power from one of three magical Jade Tiger pendants. After the Sons of the Tiger disbanded and threw their pendants away, it was Ayala who found them and harnessed their power to become the White Tiger.

Ayala was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico before his family moved to the South Bronx in New York City. This discovery in his new country changed the course of his life and turned him into a costumed crime fighter. As the White Tiger, he used his new powers to take on street gangs and supervillains such as Fu Manchu, Gideon Mace, Lightmaster, Copperhead, and Spider-Man baddie Doctor Octopus.

White Tiger’s Incredible Martial Arts Powers Come at a Price

When all three Jade Tiger amulets are worn by the White Tiger, the magic power of the Tiger God is channeled into the wearer. They are granted the skills of a martial arts master, cat-like speed/reflexes, and superhuman strength and endurance. Though less commonly seen, other powers of the amulets include healing and camouflage. The amulets come from the mystical city of K’un L’un. It is where a magical Jade Tiger statue was stolen by thieves and broken into pieces: a head and two paws. (K’un L’un may sound familiar because it’s where Iron Fist got his powers, but that’s a whole other story.) The great power of the Jade Tiger began to negatively affect Ayala when he developed a severe addiction to it. Eventually he was forced to give up being White Tiger, for a time, and he suffered similar symptoms to drug withdrawal.

The Original White Tiger’s Tragic Death in the Marvel Comics

Despite his heroism, Hector Ayala suffered during his time as White Tiger. He had to live a stressful dual-life, battle addiction, and lose friends and family to violence. He deserved recognition for his good deeds, but he met a tragic end. After a long hiatus, Hector took up the mantle of the White Tiger once more. One fateful day, the White Tiger responded to a routine pawn shop robbery. It soon became a bloody scene where he was wrongfully accused and arrested for the murder of a cop. Despite the best efforts of his lawyer, Matt Murdock, the jury found Hector guilty. Rather than spend the rest of his life in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, Hector tried to escape. He was shot dead outside the courthouse—only for undeniable evidence of his innocence to be brought to light by Daredevil soon after. 

Other Heroes Who Have Taken Up the Mantle of the White Tiger

In addition to Hector Ayala, four other characters have held the White Tiger mantle in Marvel Comics history. The next two characters to call themselves White Tiger have no connection to Ayala or the Jade Tiger amulets, but we’ll still cover them for completion’s sake. The second White Tiger first appeared in 1997’s Heroes for Hire #1. She is an actual white tiger that was given the power to transform into a human woman by the evil High Evolutionary. The third is Kasper Cole, who made his debut in 2002’s Black Panther #50. At first, he started out trying to impersonate the Black Panther. Kasper later became the White Tiger with superpowers derived from a synthetic version of the heart-shaped herb.

The fourth incarnation of White Tiger brought the mantle back to where it started when Hector Ayala’s niece, Angela del Toro, took up the mantle. First appearing in 2005 within the pages of Daredevil #58, Angela inherited the Jade Tiger amulets from her uncle after he passed away. Working as an FBI agent, she had to investigate Daredevil. However, she quit her job to learn more about the magical amulets and her uncle’s superhero legacy. After receiving combat training from Daredevil, who knew her uncle Hector, she suited up as the new White Tiger.

The fifth White Tiger is Ava Ayala, who made her comic book debut in 2011’s Avengers Academy #20. Ava is Hector’s youngest sister. After Angela ended her time as White Tiger, the Jade Tiger amulets were passed on to Ava. When she was young, Ava witnessed the murder of her father, mother, and older sister and was gravely injured herself. They were targeted by the villain Gideon Mace in order to draw out her older brother Hector, the White Tiger. She decided to become the new White Tiger to honor her brother’s legacy as a Latinx superhero.

White Tiger Comes to the MCU in Daredevil: Born Again

Hector Ayala aka, the White Tiger, will make his MCU debut in Daredevil: Born Again. Puerto Rican actor Kamar de los Reyes portrays the live-action version of this character. Sadly, after filming wrapped Reyes passed away in 2023 due to cancer. Marvel has kept a tight lid on the plot details for this series. But it is possible that the show’s first story arc will introduce the White Tiger and feature the trial of Hector Ayala. There have also been whispers that multiple White Tigers will appear in the show. So, we could see the mantle pass down to Hector’s family members just like in the comics. Whatever White Tiger’s role is in the show, Marvel fans can expect him to be a martial arts powerhouse with a sharp sense of justice. 

The post Who Is the White Tiger in DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN? The Character’s Marvel Comics History, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

DC Studios co-head James Gunn loves to tease the future of the DCU on social media, and he just teased something that might have serious implications down the line. And it might not be what it look like at first glance. On Twitter, Gun shared a logo of an “A” shape, that looks kind of like Aquaman’s symbol. He also included an emoji of a merman, further suggesting the King of Atlantis is making his DCU debut. However, this logo actually matches another one from DC Comics—that of the organization A.R.G.U.S. You can check out the logo down below:

A.R.G.U.S. stands for “The Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans” or “Advanced Research Group United Support.” It’s a government organization that uses people with powers for their own objectives. In the comics, it’s usually led by Amanda Waller, or sometimes, Wonder Woman’s boyfriend Steve Trevor. The image Gunn shared looks like it’s from a set, so it could be something we see in Superman. However, since that wrapped filming recently, it’s more likely from Peacemaker season two. Maybe it’s something from the upcoming streaming series starring Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. Heck, maybe the merman emoji means, in Gunn’s DCU, Aquaman is in charge of A.R.G.U.S! (Probably not though).

A.R.G.U.S. was created by Geoff Johns during the New 52 era of DC Comics in 2012. They were intended as the parent organization of such DC government operations as Checkmate and the Suicide Squad. A.R.G.U.S. appeared in several Arrowverse shows, like Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow. The DCEU had a version of A.R.G.U.S. too, mentioned in Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad. The first season of Peacemaker has already mentioned the organization, along with Waller’s connection to it. Hopefully, we’ll know soon just how A.R.G.U.S. factors into James Gunn’s plans for the DCU.

The post James Gunn Teases Mysterious DC Symbol, Is It Aquaman or A.R.G.U.S.? appeared first on Nerdist.

Deadpool & Wolverine didn’t reveal whether or not Hugh Jackman will return to the MCU on a more permanent basis. But should he? Could this be the start of a whole new era for him as Logan? There’s a great case for him to put away his adamantium claws for good, but there’s an equally compelling case for him not to. So we’re making both. In this piece, Eric Diaz argues why Deadpool & Wolverine should be Jackman’s official return to playing the iconic character long term. Meanwhile, Michael Walsh made the case for why this should be Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine swan song.

Hugh Jackman’s return as Logan in Deadpool & Wolverine was a giant shock when they announced it. Mainly thanks to his very public retirement from the role after Logan, in which his iconic character nobly sacrificed himself to save his daughter Laura. Well, cut to seven years later, and Jackman is more excited than ever to pop his claws into some bad guys’ heads in Deadpool & Wolverine, which has now made over a billion dollars at the box office. And although the film works as a final swan song, we think he’s back in the saddle for the long term for him. And maybe that’s a good idea.

When Jackman retired from playing the character in Logan, he had played the part in nine films over seventeen years. He had starring roles in the original X-Men trilogy, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, and X-Men: Days of Future Past, a Weapon X cameo in Apocalypse, and one colorful f-bomb laden cameo in X-Men: First Class. It’s a lot of times at bat, so we totally get why Hugh wanted to hang up the claws for good. But then, a few things happened that we think slowly changed his mind permanently. One of those was getting the chance to act against other Marvel heroes, something Jackman has always publicly wanted to do.

Since the days of 2013’s The Wolverine press tour, Jackman has talked about how he wished to join the Avengers. At the time, that all seemed impossible. But even then, Jackman seemed confident that one day, the powers that be would allow for the Fox Marvel characters and the Marvel Studios characters to play in the same sandbox. That prediction showed Jackman was a bit of prophet, because Disney bought Fox in 2018. One year after he retired from playing Wolverine. We bet he regrets the timing of that decision.

It should be noted that Jackman takes pride in the fact no one else has played Wolverine in live-action. (Well, except for a young future pop star Troye Sivan in X-Men Origins. But we don’t really count that one) From the time he first “snikt” his claws, we’ve had three Spider-Mans, three Hulks, three Supermans, and three Batmans. Soon we’ll even have three sets of the Fantastic Four. Through all of this, Hugh has remained the one and only Wolverine, synonymous with the role. Now that he’s back, we think he wants to take the record for actor with the longest tenure as one superhero. Honestly, who can do it better than him? At this point, we can’t think of many.

Getting older is usually a hindrance to playing a superhero for more than a few years. Yet given the gruffness and general “grumpy old man” nature of Wolverine, Jackman getting on in years might actually make him more Logan-like. His best performance as the character is still in James Mangold’s Logan, where they aged him up a bit. So we know a grizzlier, older Wolverine works great on screen already. Jackman, age 55, could easily pull the character off in this manner for another decade. Even if he might finally have to relax a bit on getting so shredded.

We are fairly confident that Jackman (and Ryan Reynolds) will both be in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. But what about after? Marvel has officially announced an X-Men reboot as coming in the next few years. One assumes this would be all-new actors in the roles of Xavier’s students. We think Jackman could very well carry over into the role into the MCU proper. But how would that even work? Well, the team dynamics would have to change, for starters. If it’s a younger Cyclops and Jean Grey, having Logan in a love triangle with them would be creepy. He also wouldn’t be contemporaries with the likes of Storm and Beast.

Kevin Feige might just do what he does best—look to the comics for inspiration. In the 2013 series Wolverine and the X-Men, after the deaths of Xavier and Jean Grey, Logan takes over as Headmaster of the School for Gifted Youngsters. The “Doesn’t play well with others” guy now had to become a father figure to a new generation of mutants. This could work in the MCU. Imagine if Logan arrives at the Sacred Timeline just as mutants are coming into their own. As a way of making up for his failure in his world, he dedicates himself to shepherding the 616’s emerging mutants. Some of which might be familiar to him from a previous life.

We genuinely think that Hugh Jackman was sincere when he chose to retire from playing Wolverine back in 2017. But now that he’s chosen to come back, he feels very “all in” for the foreseeable future. And that includes going past Deadpool & Wolverine, and even past Avengers: Secret Wars, into the X-Men’s future in the MCU. In the comics, Logan’s favorite saying is “I’m the best there is and what I do. And what I do ain’t pretty.” Well, time has proven that Jackman is the best there is at what he does, which is play Logan. At this juncture, who could do it better? We have a very strong feeling Hugh Jackman is going to be the one and only Wolverine for some time to come.

The post Why DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Should Not Be Hugh Jackman’s Final Film as Wolverine  appeared first on Nerdist.

Sony is back on the prowl for a successful Peter Parker-free Spider-Man movie. The studio has dropped a bloody new trailer for its latest Spidey villain standalone film, Kraven the Hunter. Will this entry in the series find box office success without everyone’s favorite friendly neighborhood superhero around? That remains to be seen, but this action-packed look at the movie makes two things very clear. The first is that we should expect a whole lot of gore from this R-rated film. The second is that we’re finally going to get a version of Rhino worthy of the big screen.

You can watch the full Kraven the Hunter trailer below.

Johnny Cash and a guy getting murdered with a bear trap? We have our doubts about this movie, but not about either of those aspects. We’re also in on Alessandro Nivola’s Aleksei Sytsevich, who we see turn into a much more terrifying version of Rhino than we briefly got with Paul Giamatti in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

This trailer also makes clear Kraven the Hunter won’t look or feel like a typical superhero story. Even Tom Hardy’s Venom films have a comic-book feel. This looks more like a war movie, almost. That could ultimately help it stand out from Sony’s other Spider-Man-related films, but it comes with obvious risks, too.

What exactly is happening with one of Peter Parker’s most famous villains? In addition to Kraven the Hunter‘s trailer, here’s the film’s official synopsis:

Kraven the Hunter is the visceral, action-packed origin story of how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven, a man whose complex relationship with his ruthless father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe), starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.

Kraven the Hunter comes from director J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year). It also stars Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, and Christopher Abbott. It’ll go hunting for an audience (after many delays) this December. If it finds its prey Kraven might then get to go hunting for Peter Parker.

The post KRAVEN THE HUNTER’s Gory New Trailer Offers First Look at Rhino appeared first on Nerdist.

No one would have been surprised, nor would they have cared, if Deadpool & Wolverine turned Hugh Jackman’s comics accurate yellow suit into an easy joke. The gag seemingly wrote itself, especially in a fourth-wall breaking movie. The original X-Men film, which got its own meta laugh out of him not putting in yellow spandex, provided Wade Wilson with the perfect setup.

“Why are you wearing your costume?”
“What would you prefer, black leather?”

Instead the movie took 20-plus years of anticipation and gave us something so much better than a quippy one-liner. It made the payoff of finally seeing Logan’s comic book costume on the big screen worth the long wait by making his reason for wearing it one of the best parts of Deadpool & Wolverine.

We didn’t need any sort of explanation for why Hugh Jackman wore his character’s comics costume in Deadpool & Wolverine. In the infinite multiverse an infinite number of Wolverines have an infinite number of reasons for wearing a yellow and blue superhero suit. The film also worked in large part because it actively didn’t care about making sense of most things. It was just having fun. And actually seeing Jackman in yellow was a whole lot of fun. The movie successfully turned another longtime comics fan complaint into comedy gold, too. The comic accurate-tall Logan was a fantastic, short visual gag.

But Deadpool & Wolverine opted to do something much more powerful. It gave Logan’s costume real meaning to both the character and the story.

Throughout the film, Wade kept asking Logan why a disgraced superhero would not only wear his suit, but keep it on underneath his normal clothes. Wolverine repeatedly refused to answer, building more and more suspense the film would have to justify. The answer more than did that.

A sad, broken Logan finally explained his attire to Laura, the person in the multiverse who understands him best, while he considered whether or not to fight for Wade’s universe. “Scott used to beg me to wear this suit,” Logan said. “So did Storm and Beast. But I couldn’t have them thinking I wanted to be there. And now it’s too late.”

He didn’t wear the suit because he wanted to. He wore it because he needed to. It brought him closer to the friends he’d lost. That yellow and blue spandex was how he grieved. It was how he showed his love. It was how he remembered the fallen.

But he also wore it as penance for the guilt he carried with him over the mistakes he’d made. If a man with regenerative abilities had simply allowed himself to be vulnerable, to truly let himself be a part of the X-Men, he could have saved all his friends when the humans came for them.

Instead, as with the Wolverine from Fox’s X-Men films, he was too cool for that. So he pushed them away so much that he awasn’t there when his fellow mutants needed them. He failed them all in life. Then he failed them in death when he turned his anger and fury into a search for vengeance.

And yet, that yellow getup was also what he wore when he finally became the man Charles Xavier always thought Logan was. The professor knew the hero that resided inside Logan’s reluctant heart. When that Wolverine finally broke forth it did so through a yellow suit that also represented the best version of him.

That suit represented every mistake Wolverine had ever made, every dream he’d ever had, everyone he’d ever loved and lost, everything he’d always hoped to be, and everything he ultimately proved he was was represented by that suit. It was a symbol of the character in all his faults and glories. It was everything people have always loved about Wolverine – his depth, his contradictions, and his inherent triumph over himself. That’s why the movie had him wear his iconic superhero suit. Not because it was cool to see Hugh Jackman in it after all this time. Not because it was funny or would sell toys. He wore it for the best reason possible, because it had meaning.

We waited a very long time to see Wolverine on the big screen in his yellow and blue suit. The fact he never had was a literal joke from his movie debut. But all that waiting was more than worth it. We got something better than we’d ever hoped for because Deadpool & Wolverine made Logan’s comics-accurate suit truly worthy of the character.

The post DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Made the Wait for the Yellow Suit Worthy of the Character appeared first on Nerdist.

At the Marvel Animation panel at D23, fans saw a very brief sizzle reel for the second season of X-Men ’97. What we saw was brief, but enough to give us ideas on what stories from the comics will serve as inspiration. Of course, in the season finale, we got several cliffhangers, teasing what’s to come when the series returns. Those also gave us some well-reasoned guesses as to which classic comics will serve as inspiration for the new season. Here are the comic book stories we are confident will be the basis for season two of X-Men ’97.

New X-Men

For a brief scene in the season two D23 teaser, we see Scott Summers and Jean Grey fighting in their uniforms from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s New X-Men run. Those uniforms, designed by Quitely, were meant to evoke the black leather costumes of the then-new live-action X-Men films. With a little more comic-book color to make them pop that is. Cyclops and Jean wore these costumes for the entirety of Morrison’s run from 2001-2004. This suggests to us that we’ll get an adaptation of the Morrison/Quitely era in some capacity. Naturally, this era already got a major adaptation with the centerpiece Genosha/”E is for Extinction” arc in season one.

Astonishing X-Men

After Morrison left the X-Men franchise in 2004, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly creator Joss Whedon took over the flagship mutant title with artist John Cassaday in Astonishing X-Men. The second arc of that title saw the emergence of a new villain with deep ties to the X-Men. Danger was the A.I. program of the X-Men’s training facility the Danger Room, brought to physical form. She hated Charles Xavier in particular for hiding her emerging sentience from the world and sought revenge. We see a brief glimpse of Danger in the D23 sizzle reel, suggesting an adaptation of the Astonishing X-Men arc “Dangerous” is part of season two.

X-Factor

We very briefly see the magnetic mutant Lorna Dane, a.k.a. Polaris, in the D23 footage. She appears to be wearing her X-Factor costume. This was from the early ’90s, when Polaris, the daughter of Magneto, was a member of the government-sponsored mutant team. She appeared in the classic X-Men: The Animated Series episode “Cold Comfort,” which also showed her on Forge’s X-Factor team. She might be one of his new X-Men recruits when the team goes missing in time to form a new roster in season two.

X-Men vs. Apocalypse: The Twelve

Wolverine got his adamantium skeleton ripped out by Magneto in the X-Men ’97 finale, barely clinging to life in the end. This was a direct adaptation of the classic comic book storyline “Fatal Attractions.” But the trailer showed Logan with his metal claws popping out of his hands, saying “I’m back!” This means he’ll definitely get them back this season.

So just how will the adamantium get bonded to his skeleton again? In the late ’90s storyline X-Men vs. Apocalypse: The Twelve, Logan made a deal to get his metal skeleton and claws back with En Sabah Nur, who then turned him into his Horseman of Death. This occurred in Wolverine (vol.1) #145. It continued over several other X-Men titles in “The Twelve” storyline. Of course, we expect a resurrected Gambit to become Death, but that might happen after Wolverine has a turn.

We also saw brief glimpses of Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth in the D23 X-Men ’97 season two sizzle reel. No idea what storylines they are adapting for them, but at least we know they’re making a comeback.

The Rise of Apocalypse

This 1996 mini-series goes back 5,000 years to ancient Egypt and the rise of En Sabah Nur. He was the very first mutant and the being who would one day take the name Apocalypse. Written by Terry Kavanagh and illustrated by Adam Pollina, The Rise of Apocalypse details how a former slave rose up against the Pharoah Rama-Tut. (He is a variant of Kang the Conqueror, should they wish to connect to the MCU.) Apocalypse then began his war on the weakest of the species, eventually recruiting his legendary Four Horsemen. The design for young En Sabah Nur in X-Men ’97 directly recalls his design from artist Adam Pollina. So we definitely see this having a big influence on season two.

The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix (1994)

In 1991’s X-Factor #69, the tyrant Apocalypse infected Cyclops’ infant son Nathan with a techno-organic virus. The only way to save him was to send him thousands of years into the future. Cyclops was offered this choice by a warrior from the Clan Askani. We later found out the mercenary Cable, leader of X-Force, was Nathan as an adult. He’d been sent back to the present from that future.

In Scott Lobdell and Gene Ha’s 1994 mini-series The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, newlyweds Scott Summers and Jean Grey are sent into the far future. They emerge in a time period where Apocalypse rules, and they go by the names Slim and Redd. There, they meet their daughter Rachel Summers, now the ancient Mother Askani. She gives them the chance to raise young Nathan from childhood to his teen years. The arrival of Jean and Scott in the far future indicates we are definitely are going to see an adaptation of this series.

Generation X

After years of villainy as part of the Hellfire Club as its White Queen, Emma Frost’s students, the Hellions, all died in a Sentinel attack. She very nearly lost her life too, falling into a coma for months. When she finally awoke, the trauma of this loss caused her to change her ways (somewhat), and she began training a new generation of X-Men at the Massachusetts Academy, now an offshoot of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

Frost and co-headmaster Banshee taught a new group of students, nicknamed Generation X, which included Jubilee. Among the others were Synch, Chamber, Husk, Skin, and M. Writer Scott Lobdell’s Generation X series lasted 75 issues. With the school closed on X-Men ’97, and Emma narrowly surviving Genosha, she may wish to start her own school of X-Men to keep the dream alive. Maybe with Jubilee and Sunspot as students? Generation X might be a dated term now for a group of younger mutants today, but in 1997? They would have been the right age for a name Like “Gen X.”

X-Men: Blood of Apocalypse

Peter Milligan’s mid-2000s X-Men run isn’t one that gets referenced a lot. However, this comic run did contain one story that likely will inform season two of X-Men ’97. After the mutant decimation provoked by the Scarlet Witch, causing most mutants to lose their powers, Gambit was in a funk. Especially as his great love, Rogue, started a romantic relationship with another mutant with immunity to her powers. He actually volunteers to become the new Horseman of Death for Apocalypse, in a storyline that began in 2006’s X-Men #185. Gambit’s time as Death is brief, and by X-Men #200, Gambit returns to normal. This will at least partially serve as inspiration for X-Men ’97 season two.

Uncanny Avengers: The Apocalypse Twins

If Apocalypse brings back Gambit or other dead mutants as his Horsemen, it will be based on something his heirs did. This was actually something done by Uriel and Eimin, the Apocalypse Twins, in the pages of Rick Remender’s Uncanny Avengers. The Apocalypse Twins brought back to life dead characters like the Sentry, Banshee, Grim Reaper, and Daken, and turned them into their Four Horsemen of Death. If Gambit is coming back via this method, it begs the question, what other three dead mutants from Genosha are coming back too? Banshee, Sebastian Shaw, Madelyne Pryor, and Dazzler are all prime candidates for resurrection as Horsemen of Death.

Onslaught

Although Professor X didn’t wipe Magneto’s mind after he pulled the adamantium out of Logan’s body, as in X-Men #25, he did spend a lot of time in Magnus’ head. It was enough that Jean Grey worried that so much time mentally fused might break them both. While they both seem intact at the end of X-Men ’97 season one, we’re not totally buying it. We think at some point in season two (or perhaps season three) Onslaught will emerge. The entity Onslaught was born when Charles Xavier absorbed some of Magneto’s rage and hostility when he mind-wiped him, and it stayed dormant for years. We think he was in Magneto’s mind long enough on X-Men ’97 for this comic story to still happen in season two. It’s just a matter of time.

Originally published on May 17, 2024.

The post X-MEN ’97 Season 2 Will Likely Draw Inspiration From These Comics appeared first on Nerdist.

After the billion-dollar success of Deadpool & Wolverine, officially bringing in the Fox mutants into the larger story, the big question is “What’s next?” for mutants in the MCU? After all, with all the most iconic Fox-era X-Men not showing up in the film, it’s pretty clear that Kevin Feige is saving the A-list X-Men for a more proper farewell. And that solution involves putting the Avengers and the X-Men on screen together at last, almost certainly in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Yes, the return of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom is a big way of keeping this new momentum going for the MCU after Deadpool & Wolverine. But if Kevin Feige really wanted to make the next two Avengers films an event that even the most jaded and burnt-out MCU fans would have to check out in theaters? It will be a proper Avengers/X-Men crossover. Or to be more accurate, an Avengers/Fantastic Four/X-Men crossover, as we now know the FF will star in Doomsday and Secret Wars as well. Certain hints that have popped up recently suggest Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Marvel’s Mutants are headed for a collision course with multiversal ramifications.

The X-Men Hints So Far in the MCU

Since Disney acquired Fox back in 2019, fans have been asking “So when are the X-Men coming to the MCU?” Even She-Hulk asked it in her own show. And so far, Marvel Studios has been playing the long game, not jumping into anything. We got the mutant hint in Ms. Marvel, and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier in Multiverse of Madness. Heck, we’re not convinced that Evan Peters’ Quicksilver in WandaVision isn’t more than he seems and not just a gag. The biggest, of course, is Hugh Jackman returning as Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine, along with a metric ton of Fox Marvel mutants.

So why do we think the classic Fox X-Men are back for another go-round? First off, The Marvels revealed yet another connection to the X-Men universe with the return of Kelsey Grammar as Beast, working in the X-mansion from the original films. If this is indeed Earth-10005, Deadpool & Wolverine left that universe with a Logan from another timeline in it. Also, Monica Rambeau is stuck there as well. We call those incursion events. With incursion events suggesting a collision between Earth-10005 and Earth-616 is imminent, that can only mean we’re getting an Avengers vs. X-Men project. An announcement of that magnitude would stop all talk of “Marvel Fatigue” dead in its tracks. Just from a mercenary business perspective, it makes sense. But frankly, it’s also a story Marvel fans have waited decades to see.

Will These MCU Mutants Be the X-Men We Know?

The big question is, which X-Men are we dealing with here? Beast was working in a lab that looked identical to the underground medical bay in the Fox X-Men films. The Charles Xavier we saw in Doctor Strange on Earth-838 seemed very reminiscent of the one from X-Men: The Animated Series. But the Scarlet Witch killed that Charles. Obviously, the Charles that the Beast refers to seems to be very much alive. So, this is another hint that Beast is in the classic X-Men movie universe, not Earth-838. Or, at least, a version of the classic Fox X-Men world. And yes, we know his appearance looks different. We remind you that the look of comic book Beast is continually evolving. No reason to think the live-action Henry McCoy would be any different.

X-Men: Days of Future Past May Hold the Answer

Fans of the Fox X-Men films know that the timeline and continuity of those films are a bit of a mess. And that’s putting it mildly. But at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past, Logan’s adventures in the past caused him to wake up in a new present. Essentially, a “happy ending” future, where Xavier is still alive. The school was open, and former tragically dead X-Men like Cyclops and Jean Grey were alive and well. In fact, Kelsey Grammer’s Beast was there too, in a cameo moment. All of this scene takes place canonically in 2023. The “Winchester Incident,” where Charles Xavier accidentally killed hundreds of people with his powers, as described in Logan, happened in 2028. In the Earth-10005 of Deadpool & Wolverine, a functioning X-Men team is still out there. Probably the same one Beast is a part of in The Marvels.

Given one of the music cues in The Marvels’ post-credits scene is from Days of Future Past, we think that they’re trying to tell us that we’re in that “happy ending” reality from that film. A reality that takes the best elements of the original movies and loses the things viewers hated. Mainly, the random and arbitrary deaths of the main X-Men. Not to mention, comic book-accurate costumes like the ones we saw for Logan and Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine. So, it’s a “new” X-Men timeline, simply made up of bits and pieces of the old one. And part of what it’s keeping is the classic actors. The rest is up to the Russo Brothers.

Deadpool & Wolverine May Set the Stage for an Avengers/X-Men: Battle Royale

Now that Deadpool & Wolverine has come out, we know all the Fox mutants who appeared in it were secondary characters. If this was meant as the fond farewell to the Fox X-Men universe, it seems extremely odd that Kevin Feige didn’t include any of the big guns. Until you realize it’s probably because he’s saving them for Doomsday/Secret Wars. And we understand his reasoning here. If you’re going to bring back the classic X-Men cast, like Patrick Stewart and Halle Berry, it seems only using them in small roles in Deadpool & Wolverine is a waste. No, we think there are much bigger plans afoot.

Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers and Secret Wars Will Likely Be Adapted

The 2015 event comic Secret Wars, and its lead-up Avengers story, “Time Runs Out,” both by writer Jonathan Hickman, began when incursions across the Multiverse resulted in its total destruction. Eventually, there were only two realities left—the classic 616, and Earth 1610, home of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe. Eventually, both of those realities had to do battle with each other to determine which one would get to live. Spoiler alert—neither reality gets to live, and Doctor Doom fuses what remains of them (as well as a few others) together into a new “Battleworld.” And with Doctor Doom confirmed as the main villain of the next two Avengers films, an adaptation of this part of the story seems even more likely than ever.

In Doomsday and Secret Wars, we could get a version of that story. But it would be the MCU Earth vs the Fox X-Men Earth. Earth-616 (The Sacred Timeline) and Earth-10005 (X-Men Earth) battling it out. Somehow, the Fantastic Four will be part of this also. The protectors of each reality would have to fight for the existence of their world. Much like Captain America: Civil War, neither side would be wrong. A scenario familiar to the returning Russo Brothers, as well as writer Stephen McFeely. Who wouldn’t fight to protect everyone they know from total annihilation? In an Infinity Wars-type cliffhanger, we could see both realities fade to white, presumably destroyed. A sixth Avengers film could open on Battleworld, a hodgepodge reality made of elements of both universes. It would be an excuse to bring back anybody they wanted.

X-Men vs. Avengers: A Battle Fans Have Waited Decades to See

From a pure fan point of view, the battles would be cant-miss events. Thor vs. Storm, Wolverine vs. Hulk, Scarlet Witch vs. Phoenix, etc. And yes, an all-star lineup of Avengers vs. an all-star lineup of X-Men is a lot of characters. But let us remind you that Civil War juggled 18 principal characters. Infinity War and Endgame showcased 30, and somehow gave everyone something to do. So an Avengers/X-Men crossover could absolutely work. No wonder Kevin Feige gave Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame screenwriter Stephen McFeely a call. He, along with his writing partner Christopher Markus, was extremely adept at juggling so many superheroes cohesively, and giving emotional character stakes to these comic book battles.

After Secret Wars, the MCU will almost certainly reboot. Even if it’s a soft reboot. A new X-Men film will likely feature brand-new versions of the characters. But the classics will still get their swan song moment before that happens. The original X-Men films truly started the Marvel superhero craze in cinemas after Blade proved to the general audience that it could be done. It led to Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, and ultimately, the MCU. If Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are intended to bring an end to not just one era of storytelling, but going back even before the MCU, what better way to go out than with a bang?

Originally published November 16, 2023.

The post Is AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY and SECRET WARS Gearing Up to Be an Avengers/X-Men Crossover? appeared first on Nerdist.

A new villainous organization called the Serpent Society is making its Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Captain America: Brave New World. They’re a group of snake-themed bad guys led by Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder who have a long and colorful history in Marvel Comics. In 2015, MCU boss Kevin Feige jokingly revealed the title of Captain America 3 to be Captain America: Serpent Society before showing it was actually going to be Captain America: Civil War. But now it’s no laughing matter. The Serpent Society are making their MCU debut for real. Here’s everything you need to know about Sidewinder and the Serpent Society before Captain America 4 slithers into theaters on February 14, 2025.

What Is the Serpent Society? 

Since their comic book debut, the Serpent Society’s group of snake-themed bad guys have made a striking impression on the Marvel Universe. They possess monstrous appearances and a variety of squeezing, paralyzing, and poisoning superpowers. The villainous Seth Voelker, aka Sidewinder, created the Serpent Society to be more than just a group of snake-themed evil-doers. He structured the group like a trade union and made it far more organized than your standard gang of goons. The society offered profit sharing, health insurance, and kept its members out of prison thanks to Sidewinder’s teleportation ability. That’s what has made them such an enduring menace to Captain America and Marvel’s other heroes over the years. They’ve been referred to as the “Avengers of the Underworld” and have been hired as muscle by the Kingpin, the mafia, and HYDRA.

The Serpent Society’s Comic Origins and Evolution

Before we get to the origins of the Serpent Society, we have to talk about its predecessor, the Serpent Squad. In 1972’s Captain America #163, the villain Viper created the Serpent Squad to take revenge on Captain America and the Falcon for imprisoning his criminal brother, the Eel. (Yes, eels aren’t snakes, but they’re close enough to fit the theme so we give this a pass.) They were aided by the Cobra who was previously a villain to Thor. 

After their initial defeat, the team would reform with new snake-themed members joining over the years. They were little more than a group of disgruntled criminals in snake costumes. The team became much more than that when their number later merged into the Serpent Society. They made their big debut in 1985’s Captain America #310. Under the leadership of Sidewinder they became a formidable evil organization resembling a labor union. In the 2014 relaunch of Captain America in which former Falcon Sam Wilson takes up Steve Rogers’ shield, rebranded the Serpent Society. A new Viper (previously Madame Hydra) dubbed the team Serpent Solutions. This iteration offered their services to big corporations to do their dirty work and used legal loopholes to absolve them of any wrongdoing. 

Sidewinder’s Origins

At San Diego Comic-Con 2024, actor Giancarlo Esposito revealed that his Captain America: Brave New World character is Seth Voelker, better known as Sidewinder. In the comics, Seth Voelker started off as an unassuming economics professor from Kenosha, Wisconsin. His life took an unexpected turn when he failed to make tenure, taking a job at the shady Roxxon Oil Company. He discovered the corporation’s illegal activities and volunteered to undergo a mutagenic experiment that changed his physiology into that of a snake.

Sidewinder’s first comic book appearance came in 1980’s Marvel Two-in-One #64. Roxxon hired him to launch a surprise attack on the Fantastic Four’s Thing and his undersea ally Triton in order to steal a mystic artifact called the Serpent Crown. After a stint working for Roxxon, Sidewinder used his business savvy and strategic skills to start and lead his own criminal organization full of fellow snake-like baddies, the Serpent Society. 

Sidewinder’s Powers and Abilities

Even though Voelkner transformed into a snake-man, the extreme change to his body didn’t grant him any super powers. Sidewinder’s powers come from the equipment given to him by Roxxon. A technologically-advanced cape grants Sidewinder the ability to teleport. His bullet-proof armor gives him durability during combat. Sidewinder made great use of his teleportation ability by continually rescuing his teammates from incarceration. Voelkner’s key traits are his shrewd intelligence and his ability as a tactician, which he used to elevate the Serpent Society from a rag-tag group of criminals to an enduring trade union of supervillains.

Other Sidewinders

Seth Voelker is the original Sidewinder, but as is tradition in Marvel comics, other characters have picked up the mantle over the years. One successor was a flash-in-the-pan who made his debut and died in the same issue while trying to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. We never even learned his real name. The other Sidewinder is Gregory Bryan, who filled the teleporter role in the Serpent Society’s ranks after the original Sidewinder retired. He never took to the position of leader like Voelker. Instead he worked for Viper when she rebranded the business as Serpent Solutions.

Members of the Serpent Society

As one would expect, the Serpent Society’s roster includes many snake-themed villains. Each member’s powers came from their snake of choice. The original team featured the teleporting Sidewinder, superstrong Anaconda, venom-blasting Asp, telepathic Black Mamba, cybernetic Bushmaster, speedy King Cobra, bionic-jawed Cottonmouth, poisonous Death Adder, acrobatic Diamondback, shock-wave emitting Rattler, and electrifying Princess Python. It’s worth noting that Sidewinder’s love interest was fellow member Tanya Sealy, aka Black Mamba. Viper later joined the society with her crew including Black Racer, Boomslang, Coachwhip, Copperhead, Fer-de-Lance, Puff Adder, Rock Python, and Slither. 

The Serpent Society’s Beef with Captain America

The Serpent Squad started out as Captain America villains with a grudge against the Sentinel of Liberty. Though the organization had gone on to become a threat to the greater Marvel Universe, things were always personal when it came to Cap. Sidewinder often found his group in conflict with Captain America, but when the ever-ambitious Viper staged a coup and overthrew Sidewinder, he found himself with nowhere else to turn. Sidewinder decided to team up with Steve Rogers (then known as the Captain) to strike back at Viper. After the whole Viper debacle resolved, Sidewinder retired from the Serpent Society and accepted Cap’s help to raise money to treat his cancer-stricken daughter. 

Serpent Solutions was the first big threat that Sam Wilson faced when he became Captain America. Later in the controversial 2016 Captain America storyline where Steve Rogers declared his allegiance to HYDRA, Serpent Solutions played a part in HYDRA’s rise to power and takeover of the planet. This all happens in the comic event series Secret Empire.

Giancarlo Esposito’s New Take on Sidewinder

“I can finally unleash it. I am the King of the Serpent Society; I am Sidewinder!” Giancarlo Esposito revealed to a crowd of Marvel fans at San Diego-Comic Con 2024. He appears to be playing a new version of Sidewinder that’s quite different from how he’s depicted in the comics. Comic book fans have pointed out that Esposito’s orange jacket collar evokes his snakey comic book costume. But that’s as snake-like as Esposito gets, at least from what we’ve seen so far from the trailers for Captain America: Brave New World.

Esposito isn’t wearing any prosthetics, so he appears as a normal man rather than an anthropomorphic snake. That’s not to say Esposito won’t eventually transform to something a bit more scaly later in the movie. The mad scientist the Leader, played by the returning Tim Blake Nelson from The Incredible Hulk, certainly has the skills to make that happen. We already know Captain America: Brave New World will see Harrison Ford’s President Ross transform into the Red Hulk. So who’s to say Sidewinder won’t turn into a snake-man? 

Sidewinder appears to be more hands-on in the MCU than his comic book counterpart. “I have the ability in this to show not only my brain but to show my physicality. I have the tools; I know how to use them. You’ve never seen me this way,” Esposito told Total Film. Esposito’s character uses guns and knives out in the field, whereas the comics version of Sidewinder tended to stay behind plotting from Serpent Society headquarters and only pop in and out of danger with his teleportation cloak. Curiously, Esposito referred to his character as the “King” of the Serpent Society, which isn’t a title the character ever adopted in the comics. Perhaps it’s an apt moniker for a snake villain because it evokes the deadly king cobra.

The post Who Are Sidewinder and the Serpent Society? New MCU Villains Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

In the world of Marvel Comics, X-Men is its own franchise within the larger franchise. More than any other property at the publisher, they’ve managed to maintain several spin-off titles for years. But which of these X-Men spinoff comics are the best of the best? We’ve narrowed it down to ten. For this article, we’re eliminating any spinoff that has the word “X-Men” in the title. To us, that is simply another X-Men team. So no Astonishing X-Men, no X-Treme X-Men, etc. We’ve also chosen not to include two of the biggest X-Men spinoffs ever, Wolverine and Deadpool. Why? Because they have their own lists!

10. Marauders by Gerry Duggan

with Matteo Lolli, Stefano Caselli, Michele Bandini, Lucas Werneck, Mario del Pennino, Benjamin Percy, Vita Ayala

In 2019, writer Jonathan Hickman upended X-Men mythology with House of X/Powers of X, leading to what we now call the Krakoan era. During this five-year run, mutants now had a sovereign homeland on the living island of Krakoa, itself a mutant. Krakoa’s plants could even produce various life-saving drugs for humanity. Of course, many hostile nations refused to trade with Krakoa. So a group of mutant smugglers, with the pirate-like name “the Marauders,” took to the high seas to smuggle the drugs to the people of these enemy countries. Let’s just say, hijinks ensued. This was the basis for Marauders.

Leading this ragtag crew on her ship The Marauder (of course) was Captain Kate Pryde, now the Red Queen of the Hellfire Club. Her stalwart crew consisted of Storm, Iceman, Pyro, Bishop, and Emma Frost, representing the interests of the Hellfire Trading Company. Writer Gerry Duggan wrote the first run of the title, which lasted 21 issues and two years. It featured some terrific art from artists Matteo Lolli and Stefano Caselli. This series is some of the best modern Kate Pryde stories from Marvel Comics. And it’s already one of the most missed concepts from the Krakoan era.

Issues in Gerry Duggan’s Marauders Run:

Marauders (vol.1) #1-21 (2019-2021)

9. Exiles by Judd Winick

with Mick McKone, Jim Calafiore

Way before Marvel’s Multiverse was all the rage, Marvel Comics dipped their toe into an X-Men team made up of heroes from across different realities. Created by writer Judd Winick and artist Mike McKone, The Exiles series featured heroes from different universes, removed from time and space in order to correct “hiccups” from divergent timelines. (Hey, kinda like the resistance team in the Void in Deadpool & Wolverine!) Characters on the team included many alternate-universe X-Men, most of whom died on various missions.

The mainstays of Exiles were always Blink and Morph from the Age of Apocalypse reality, who were the series’ real emotional foundation. This is the series that truly made Morph an actual comics character and not just someone a reference from X-Men: The Animated Series. Judd Winick wrote the first 36 issues, which are widely regarded as the series’ best. But overall, the book ran 100 issues, which is not a bad run at all. It’s definitely one worth checking out.

Issues in Judd Winick’s Exiles Run:

Exiles (vol.1) #1-37 (2001-2004)

8. Alpha Flight by John Bryne

The Canadian superheroes known as Alpha Flight are the second X-Men spinoff team with their own title. They first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #120 in 1979 as Wolverine’s former teammates returning to force him to come back to the team under orders of the Canadian government. Among the team were the mutants Northstar and Aurora as well as Guardian, the gargantuan Sasquatch, Shaman, and Snowbird. Alpha Flight’s 1983 series was both written and illustrated by the collective’s co-creator John Byrne, a comic book superstar at the time. He added a new member, the diminutive Puck, who became a fan-favorite.

Technically, only Northstar and Aurora were mutants in that initial lineup. Yet Alpha Flight was definitely seen as an extension of the X-Men brand back in the day. In the early years, Alpha Flight even outsold books like Avengers and Thor. When Byrne left the series, momentum slowed on the title, and sales dipped. Still, the book ran for 130 issues and 11 years. It truly left its mark in history when Northstar became Marvel’s first openly gay superhero in 1992. Some of the later runs are iffy, but a lot of those early John Byrne stories still hold up today.

Issues in John Byrne’s Alpha Flight Run:

Alpha Flight (vol.1) #1-28 (1983-1985)

7. Cable by Duane Swierczynski

with Ariel Olivetti

Nathaniel Christopher Charles Summers, better known as the time-traveling cyborg mutant mercenary Cable, was the epitome of ‘90s comics aesthetic. With the big guns and the bigger pouches, he certainly had it all. Created by Rob Liefeld for X-Force, he was popular enough to receive his own ongoing series in that era, but it never made a huge splash (unlike his frenemy Deadpool). But in the late 2000s, Cable relaunched as an ongoing series, and became a take on Japan’s Lone Wolf and Cub, in a series written by Duane Swierczynski and featuring some gorgeous art by Ariel Olivetti.

Cable follows up on the heels of the mutant population decimation caused by the Scarlet Witch. After this incident, an infant “mutant messiah,” Hope Summers, is born. The series follows Cable’s new mission, where he takes baby Hope on a journey out of this timeline to protect her and raise her as his own. The X-Man Bishop follows them across timelines, in an ongoing The Fugitive type chase. Cable worked way better as the grizzled reluctant dad than the gruff soldier cliché, and even though this book only lasted 25 issues, it’s one of the better, more consistently written X-Men spinoff comics.

Issues in Duane Swierczynski’s Cable Run:

Cable (vol.2) #1-25 (2008-2010)

6. X-Statix by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred

with Laura Allred, Nick Dragotta, Darwyn Cooke

In the early 2000s, the X-Men line of comics were stale and stuck in a visual and storytelling loop forged in the ‘90s. So Marvel hired Madman creator, cartoonist Mike Allred, and former DC/Vertigo writer Peter Milligan. Together they gave the X-Force series a top-to-bottom makeover with issue #116. They crafted a deftly satirical take on reality TV, celebrity culture, and mixed it in with some mutant soap opera. In their first adventure, nearly the whole team died on a mission, replaced with a new roster in the next issue. The cartoony style of Allred often clashed with the over-the-top violence and humor, but that’s what made their version of X-Force so unique.

After a year, X-Force rebranded as X-Statix, and gained a new #1 issue, mainly because the premise was so far removed from the original X-Force concept. The most astounding part is that they made a series about immature and often unlikable new “heroes” like Mister Sensitive, U-Go-Girl, and Vivisector, and yet kept readers coming back. In 2004, the series ended as it began—with the whole team dying. X-Statix is a unicorn in mainstream comics publishing, as it’s a story (and a team) with a definitive beginning, middle, and end, and no one has dared to touch it since. Well, except for their weird green glob of a mutant cameraman named Doop, who is still floating around the Marvel Universe.

Issues in Peter Milligan and Mike Allred’s X-Statix Run:

X-Force (vol.1) #116-129; Brotherhood #9; X-Statix #1-26; Wolverine/Doop #1-2; X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl #1-5 (2001-2004)

5. Generation X by Scott Lobdell

with Chris Bachalo, Roger Cruz, Tom Grummett, Pasqual Ferry

With the end of New Mutants in 1991, the X-Men line of books was left without a crucial component—a title about young students at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. So in 1994, the NEW New Mutants launched with a title of Generation X. At the time, a title like that was very relevant to the teens and twentysomethings reading the book. Instead of being taught by Xavier, former X-Man Banshee taught these new students. They included Jubilee, as well as new characters like Monet St. Croix, Husk, Synch, and Skin. Banshee’s co-instructor was the recently reformed White Queen, Emma Frost.

Much like the New Mutants before them, these gifted students were mainly from diverse backgrounds. Scott Lobdell wrote Generation X, with detailed art by Chris Bachalo, showing off a style that made him a fan favorite. Generation X carried the torch of New Mutants well, and the genesis of Emma’s arc from villain to hero really happens in the pages of this comic. Scott Lobdell’s X-Men run isn’t considered as one of the greats. However, his run on Generation X is an extremely fun mutant teen soap opera, and remains beloved to this day for a reason. It’s just good yarn spinning.

Issues in Scott Lobdell’s Generation X Run:

Generation X #1-28 (1994-1997)

4. Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender

with Jerome Opeña, Esad Ribic, Phil Noto

X-Force as a team existed in many iterations since 1991, when X-Force #1 sold five million copies. Most versions of the team were a militant mutant paramilitary strike force, made up of various younger heroes, mostly former New Mutants members. In 2008, the concept was reinvented once again, with X-Force becoming Cyclops’ secret Black Ops team, including members like Wolverine and X-23 for the first time. Yet it took almost twenty years for an X-Force series to truly become one of the best X-Men spinoff comics ever with 2010’s Uncanny X-Force.

The X-Force concept really flourished under the creative team of writer Rick Remender and artist Jerome Opena, who forged a squad of the X-Men deadliest killers. Among them were Wolverine, Deadpool, Psylocke, Archangel, and Fantomex. Remender’s Uncanny X-Force run lasted only 35 issues, from 2010-2012. Yet this brief run produced such memorable epics as “The Apocalypse Solution” and “The Dark Angel Saga.” Both of those stories remain among the best mutant sagas ever. Other X-Force lineups have come before and after this one. But this run still goes down as the concept fulfilling its true potential at last.

Issues in Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force Run:

Uncanny X-Force (vol.1) #1-35 (2010-2012)

3. Excalibur by Chris Claremont

with Alan Davis, Ron Lim, Marshall Rogers, Arthur Adams, Rick Leonardi, Chris Wozniak, Ron Wagner

If Chris Claremont and Alan Davis’ Excalibur was pitched as a TV series, it would be “What if X-Men, but also Doctor Who?” In 1987, the X-Men franchise was the biggest in comics with four monthly titles (that was a lot for back then). During the Fall of the Mutants event, the X-Men faked their deaths and went underground in Australia. Afterward, several iconic members were left behind, including Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Phoenix (Rachel Summers). Yet writer Chris Claremont was not ready to let go of his favorites like Kurt Wagner and Kitty Pryde. So he thought outside the box for a spin-off team.

Claremont used this opportunity to launch these mutant heroes off into their own comic, which was so much more than just “X-Men U.K.” During this run, these ex-pats and ex-X-Men, were joined by Captain Britain and his girlfriend Meggan. They operated out of his lighthouse in the British Isles, traveled to other dimensions, and had generally weird adventures month in and month out. Kitty Pryde really became an adult hero in this series, finally shedding her “junior X-Man” status. We should add that the artwork of Alan Davis is absolutely gorgeous throughout this run, his clean lines and expressive faces reminding everyone he’s one of the greats. This run’s one drawback is the extensive amount of fill-in artists for Davis, who was the series co-creator.

Issues in Chris Claremont’s Excalibur Run:

Excalibur Special Edition (1988) 1, Excalibur (1988-1990) 1-34, Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem (1989)

2. X-Factor by Peter David

with Larry Stroman, Jae Lee, Joe Quesada, Pablo Raimondi, Valentine De Landro, Carmine Di Giandomenico

When X-Factor began, it was the hyped-up reunion of the original five X-Men. And that team, while having many great stories, is not the greatest iteration of the team. The best version came in 1991, when the original students returned to the X-Men proper. Marvel then handed over the title to Incredible Hulk writer Peter David and essentially left him a bunch of mutant heroes that were now homeless thanks to team restructuring. Peter David reimagined X-Factor as a government-sponsored mutant team, led by Valerie Cooper, meant as PR for Charles Xavier’s philosophy to the human masses.

Peter David mixed comedy and heroics in a way that things like Buffy the Vampire Slayer would later become famous for doing. C-listers like Multiple Man and Strong Guy, background mutants for years, now had real personalities for the first time. As field leader, Havok finally emerged out of his brother Cyclops’ shadow. David later returned to X-Factor in the 2000s, where he reimagined them once again as P.I.’s working on mutant cases. Later versions of David’s X-Factor were corporate heroes. The lineup and premise would change, but the quality under Peter David never did. This is ne of the best, and also most underrated, X-Men spinoff teams of all time.

Issues in Peter David’s X-Factor Run:

X-Factor (vol.1) #70-92, Annual #7-8 (1991-1993) Madrox #1-5; X-Factor (vol.2) #1-50; X-Factor: The Quick and the Dead; X-Factor Special: Layla Miller; X-Factor (original numbering resumed) #200-262 (2005-2013), All-New X-Factor 1-20 (2014-2016), X-Men Legends (2021) 5-6

1. The New Mutants by Chris Claremont

with Bob McLeod, Bill Sienkiewicz

By 1981, Uncanny X-Men was Marvel Comics’ biggest-selling title. Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter knew they needed a spinoff series. So Chris Claremont went back to the original concept of the X-Men—a training school for mutant teenagers. Instead of X-Men, these kids were “the New Mutants.” Under Claremont, there were many more female characters, as well as POC in Xavier’s new class. Claremont and artist Bob McLeod introduced the team in a special graphic novel. Not long after, they received their own ongoing series in 1983.

Claremont focused on the soap opera aspect of mutant stories over traditional superheroics and fans flocked to the series, making it one of Marvel’s biggest hits of the ’80s. He later teamed with artist Bill Sienkiewicz, whose stylistic art broke the boundaries of mainstream superhero comics, particularly during the psychedelic Demon Bear Saga. It was also during New Mutants that Magneto saw his biggest character growth, as Claremont made him the Headmaster of Xavier’s School, forcing the former mutant terrorist to learn to be a paternal figure.

Writer Louise Simonson took over New Mutants as writer with issue #55, and would end with #100, becoming X-Force. But the quality of storytelling never quite matched Chris Claremont’s initial run on the title. A run that proved a mutant team could work without the likes of Cyclops, Storm, and Wolverine. The characters from New Mutants, particularly Sunspot, Cannonball, Wolfsbane, and Magik, have gone on to A-List X-Men status. But their character traits were all forged in Claremont’s legendary run. The first, and still best, X-Men spin-off series.

Issues in Chris Claremont’s New Mutants Run:

New Mutants (vol.1) #1-54 (1983-1987)

The post The Greatest X-Men Spinoff Comic Books, Ranked appeared first on Nerdist.

When Deadpool 2 hit theaters in 2018, one character won all of our hearts. No, not Josh Brolin as Cable (although he was pretty cool). We speak of everyday, ordinary Peter, played by character actor Rob Delaney. Peter Wisdom was just a regular guy who was looking for a job when Wade Wilson was taking applicants for his new X-Force team he was putting together. The affable Peter, who had no powers or skills to speak of, instantly won Deadpool over, and joined the squad. Sadly, he died on his first mission along with most of the team. A truly tragic cinematic moment. Luckily, he got better, and returned in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Deadpool & Wolverine Gives Peter a Huge Moment

Thanks to Cable’s time travel device, which Deadpool stole, Wade was able to go back in time and undo Peter’s untimely death. Six years later in Deadpool & Wolverine, on Earth-100005, Peter and Wade are co-workers at a car dealership, living an uneventful existence together selling cars. Peter still awaits the day Wade gets back in the superhero game and keeps his old uniform in his work locker.

We see that Peter is one of the people that Wade cares about most, and he attends his birthday party early in the movie. At the end of Deadpool & Wolverine, Peter shows up to the big battle with the Deadpool Corps wearing Wade’s old costume as Peterpool, and his mere presence ends the fight. It turns out, every Deadpool across the Multiverse has a Peter of their own, and they just can’t bring themselves to harm him.

The Comic Book Inspirations for Peterpool

Peter Wisdom is basically a creation of the writers of Deadpool 2, and has no real Marvel Comics counterpart. Well, except in name that is. Peter is kind of a combination of two characters by the name of Peter from Marvel Comics. One very famous, and one pretty obscure. The first one should come as no surprise.

Peterpool Is Partially Inspired by Peter Parker/Spider-Man

In the comics, Wade Wilson has a unique friendship with the Amazing Spider-Man. (And also, a bit of a crush on him it seems). When Deadpool is thinking of giving in to his darkest impulses, it’s often Peter Parker who appeals to the better angels of his nature. And Wade usually listens. Because of various rights issues, Spider-Man couldn’t be that character in the Deadpool films. So a substitute Peter had to be created. Although we sincerely hope one day (In Secret Wars perhaps?) we finally see Deadpool and the real Spidey share the screen together. The universe owes us Ryan Reynolds and Tom Holland trading quips and annoying everyone.

Peterpool’s Comic Book Namesake Is X-Men Hero Pete Wisdom

The less-famous comic book hero Peter is based on is a mutant hero from the ’90s named Pete Wisdom. He couldn’t have less in common with Deadpool & Wolverine’s Peter if he tried, outside of his name. In the comics, Pete Wisdom is a snarky, dry-witted British MI13 agent and occult expert, meant as a bit of a riff on DC’s John Constantine. Like Constantine, they often show him with a cigarette in his mouth and wearing a trenchcoat. He became involved with the British X-Men team Excalibur, and even dated Kitty Pryde for a brief time. His mutant power involved throwing energy blades, which he called his “hot knives,” from his fingertips. So in a sense, he was also a British version of Gambit. Pete Wisdom would later join X-Force, so in that sense, he has something in common with his cinematic namesake.

Peter’s Future in the MCU

Ultimately, the Peter Wisdom in the Deadpool films is his own unique creation, borrowing only superficial elements from the comics. We just know that we love Rob Delaney in the role, and wherever Deadpool goes next, we hope Peter is right behind him. We think he’d have himself a good old time on Battleworld in Avengers: Secret Wars when the time comes.

The post DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE’S Peter Is a Combination of 2 Peters from Marvel Comics appeared first on Nerdist.