Even if you’re not overly familiar with Marvel Comics, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the name Jonathan Hickman at least in passing in these last few months. He’s one of the major architects of Infinity, the crossover event that inspired whole swaths of both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and introduced the concept of Thanos’ Black Order. Hickman’s run on the main Avengers title lasted around 3 years and helped redefine the team for modern audiences all over again–both on page and screen.
And now, another major arm of the Marvel universe is primed to get the Hickman treatment as he returns to Marvel for a major X-Men overhaul. Starting with two weekly, 6-issue mini-series called House of X and Power of X, Hickman plans to kickstart a brand new era of X-Men stories that will unfold across the Marvel universe in waves.
In an interview with Comicbook.com, the writer detailed his plans. “We needed to sell the idea that this is what we’re going to be doing for the next few years. So if you want to read X-Men books during the run from late-July through September, House of X and Powers of X are the only new X-books available and everything that’s going to follow is based on them. We wanted to be clear to the fans, to the stores, and just as importantly, to the creators who are going to be staffing these books in the future. We wanted the message to be very clear: This is a whole new era for the X-Men. This is what we’re doing now.”
The X-Men lines are no stranger to reboots and new issue number #1s. The latest volume of Uncanny X-Men was relaunched in 2018, hot on the heels of companion books like X-Men: Blue and X-Men: Gold, both of which kicked off with new #1s back in 2017; and X-Men: Red which concluded its mini-series run last year as well. Add to the list the X-Men adjacent Major X mini-series, still currently in progress and things get even more complicated.
Put plainly, the X-arm of the Marvel Universe is not currently the most accessible line of comics around. Though, as Hickman hopes, that will be soon to change.
“One, House of X, is a story about a pivotal month in the history of the X-men where everything changes for mutants on Earth,” Hickman elaborated. “And the other, Powers of X, is a story about the history of mutants in the Marvel Universe. It works as a series of reveals and revelations where each issue of HOX that follows POX–and vice versa–makes you reinterpret the issue you had previously read.”
Both 6-issue series will eventually culminate in what Hickman calls “wave 1” and “wave 2” of the rebooting initiative. “At the conclusion of our 12 weeks of HOX and POX, we’ll be launching an entirely new universe of X-books. Some will be traditional fare, some carry through on ideas presented in HOX and POX. Some books are completely new concepts. I, personally, will be writing the ongoing flagship X-book,” he said. “[…] We also just finished our plans for our ‘Wave 2’ books that will debut in 2020 and we’re getting ready to hire talent for those.”
House of X #1 and Power of X #1 hit stores on July 24 and July 31 respectively, everywhere comics are sold.
E3 is known for being one of the biggest showcases for games every year, and E3 2019 is looking to follow in that tradition. While this year is noticeably more low key than the larger displays of E3’s past, the show is still the primary venue for developers to announce their latest projects. There are sure to be many games that we don’t know about, but let’s go through all of the ones that have been confirmed for the convention so far.
Like previous years, E3 will last about three days going from June 11-13. A smattering of press conferences from the industry’s biggest companies are scheduled to precede the show. The first of this year will once again be Electronic Arts’ EA Play event, which will be spread out across a few days over several livestreams. You can expect updates on the publisher’s biggest games, like Apex Legends and Anthem, as well as news about its latest sports games. However, the most anticipated game in its docket is undoubtedly Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, a new game based on the massively popular sci-fi franchise made by Titanfall developer Respawn Studios.
Nintendo will appear in typical fashion with its E3 lineup mostly unknown until going live with its Direct Presentation. Microsoft will also be making a big splash due to Sony being absent from this year’s show; we’re likely to hear more about some the big new games it has in development from the various studios it acquired in the past couple of years. On the other hand, you have game publishers like Bethesda, Ubisoft, and Square Enix who are all prepared to reveal new details around its existing franchises and previously announced games.
There’s sure to be a lot more on display, and there’s always a good chance of a surprise. After all, Google did reveal that more details around its upcoming Stadia technology would come sometime this summer, which could easily be E3 2019. And while we know Sony won’t be at the show, Death Stranding director Hideo Kojima did tease via Twitter that he was working on a new trailer. Regardless, read on for the full list of confirmed games so far, and check back as we continue to update in the lead-up to the show.
The very first live-action Pokémon movie is now out after years in development, and from the moment the first trailer debuted, people were surprised to see how charming Detective Pikachu looked. But other than Pikachu talking and sounding not like Danny Devito–as some fans wanted–but like Ryan Reynolds, what really made an impression in that first trailer was arguably the new look of the Pokémon.
The world of Pokémon is filled with a variety of different creatures, each with a unique design. From the scaly and terrifying Charizard, to whatever nightmare Mr. Mime came from, the biggest surprise in Detective Pikachu may have been that Pikachu looks undeniably furry. It’s not that Pikachu and the other furry Pokemon look bad–but up until this point, they’ve always been portrayed looking, uh, smoother.
Naturally, we jumped at the opportunity to talk about Pokémon fur, whether Pokémon like Machamp wear clothes, and just what the hell Mr. Mime is with Detective Pikachu visual effects supervisor Erik Nordby.
“We didn’t really have another choice,” Nordby told us regarding furry Pikachu. “The Pokémon Company didn’t want it to have fur, and they wanted something that felt more like a horse, with very fine and short hair. But look at it. There is no real-world equivalent of a Pikachu. It just looks unnatural and a bit disturbing, since that type of yellow skin doesn’t really exist anywhere. So we built the texture and showed the company what Pikachu could look like with fur, and eventually they grew to love it.”
Having to communicate with a media conglomerate like The Pokémon Company, and across two languages, wasn’t an easy task. Nordby told us that they had a slew of rules for what Pokémon could and couldn’t look like, but one mandate was key: “They were very conservative when it came to changing the original designs, and ‘kawaii,’ or cute, was the word of the day,” Nordby said. Indeed, Pokémon fans know that in both the anime and the games, even the scariest or strangest Pokémon still make you want to hug them (with a few exceptions, like the one that’s just a garbage bag, or the ones you actually want to eat, like the ice cream cone Pokemon Vanilluxe).
This mandate of cuteness became the hardest and most important part of the design process. For Nordby and his team, the really challenging part was sticking to that while also making sure the Pokémon looked like living creatures. “We definitely wanted them to look realistic and like they could survive in our world,” Nordby said. “The ratios and proportions of cartoon Pokémon bodies are biologically wrong, so we wanted to make sure the Pokémon looked like they could eat, find shelter, communicate, and that their bodies could fit actual organs and hold the weight of their bodies. We figured out their whole anatomy, with muscle systems, bone structure, the size of the eyeballs, you name it.”
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What really helped the Detective Pikachu team create the new designs was to just stick to the original, at least their general shape. “The most helpful thing for us was being able to look at the original sketches from Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori,” Nordby explained. “We used the basic silhouette of each Pokémon, and basically stayed within that frame while still changing the texture, size of eyeballs, and other things.”
Nordby and his team also looked at real animals in order to have a reference from which to build the Pokémon designs. “We traveled to zoos all over and built an entire catalogue of animals we could reference.” He said. As fans know, a fair amount of Pokémon have direct counterparts in our world, so the Detective Pikachu team used this to their advantage for Pokémon like Pancham, which is basically just a panda with a bigger head. For others, though, the task was harder.
“Pikachu was difficult, especially because of how important it is for fans,” Nordby told us. “We started with various rodents like rabbits and wombats. We did a lot of different tests with different animals for both looks and also movement. In the end we took some basic things from actual animals but built the rest from scratch; otherwise, you lose what makes Pikachu special.”
According to Nordby, another big rule of The Pokémon Company was regarding clothing, mostly that Pokémon do not wear clothes (other than a detective hat, apparently). The visual effects supervisor recalls showing the company their initial design for Machamp, a fighting-type Pokémon seen in the movie directing traffic, who normally wears a wrestling belt and a speedo–except it is actually neither of those.
“They told us it looked like Machamp was wearing clothes, and they absolutely can’t wear any clothes,” Nordby said. “Then we asked about what that was, since it looks like Machamp is obviously wearing speedos and a wrestling belt. And they answered that it was actually just part of its skin. We replied, ‘well, if it’s just skin, why is it shiny?'” Nordby argued that while the rules may seem arbitrary, there’s a reason why this brand has become such a success.
Then there was the issue with Mr. Mime, a character that has absolutely no counterpart in the real world, and to add to the difficulty, isn’t one that looks inherently cuddly.
Just as director Rob Letterman almost cut the Mr. Mime interrogation scene out of the movie, designing Mr. Mime was one of the hardest parts of the project for Nordby and his team. “We asked The Pokémon Company, ‘What is this thing?’ and they said they didn’t know, and even tried to talk us into cutting him, because they didn’t think it could work onscreen,” Nordby said. Unlike Pikachu or Jigglypuff, Mr. Mime looks more like a pretty disturbing humanoid creature dressed as a mime–only it isn’t.
“They told us again that Pokémon don’t wear clothes. Everything about Mr. Mime is its skin, so the horns is just its hair that bends that way,” Nordby told us. “We got a real mime named Trygve [Wakenshaw], who was consulted for the movements. For the design we ended up having to look not at animals, but at toys. Rubber balls, inflatable fair gloves, just every kind of common kids toys we used for the textures–every surface feels like a toy, so it counteracts some of the creepiness.”
Whether they succeeded in making Mr. Mime not creepy is a question for another time, but it is fair to say they actually managed to make the world of Pokémon feel real, which is an undeniable achievement.
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One of the coolest pieces of merchandise to come out of last year’s Avengers: Infinity War was the articulated Marvel Legends Series Infinity Gauntlet. The follow-up for Avengers: Endgame is a worthy successor, but it does one better than last year’s model: you can actually buy one before it comes out.
The Marvel Legends Series Endgame Power Gauntlet is in stock right now, and you can order it for its $99.99 list price, but I’d recommend acting quickly. As great as the Marvel Legends Infinity Gauntlet is, it sold out entirely too fast, driving up the price. You can still get it for list price at places like Best Buy, which is nice, but if you want to get last year’s Infinity Gauntlet someplace like Amazon or Walmart, prepare to pay extra.
A case concerning late Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee has come to a close months after his passing. As reported by CNN, a man named Keya Morgan claiming to be a manager and caretaker for Lee was charged with abuse.
The case closed on Friday with Morgan being charged with “multiple counts of elder abuse, including alleged false imprisonment” and a “$300,000 arrest warrant was issued for Morgan’s arrest,” according to a representative of the Los Angeles Superior Court who spoke to CNN.
Spoiler warning: spoilers for Avengers: Endgame ahead.
While Natalie Portman’s Doctor Jane Foster made a cameo in Avengers: Endgame, the actress didn’t actually shoot any new footage for the appearance.
Reported by Entertainment Weekly, directors Anthony and Joe Russo explained the only new content Portman provided for the film was a quick piece of voiceover work. Anthony said “All she did new for this movie was…”
“The voice,” said Joe.
“A little bit of voice-over when she’s talking in the distance, that’s it,” finished Anthony.
The scene in question takes place on Asgard in 2013 and focuses on Jane in the distance thanking a group of Asgardians for taking care of her, though the newly provided piece of vocal work itself is relatively hard to distinguish, and largely just lends to the overall believability of the scene.
Stranger Things is receiving a brand-new LEGO set depicting both the regular world and the series’ infamous The Upside Down.
Available June 1 (or May 15 for LEGO VIP members), the set depicts Will Byers’ house in its real world and Upside Down states. Both halves of the set show the front and inside of the house, with detailed Eleven, Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, Joyce Byers and Chief Jim Hopper figures accounted for in the regular world, and Will Byers and the Demogorgon residing in The Upside Down.
The set includes subtle callbacks to the show, including a light up alphabet wall used to communicate between worlds, dark vines spread throughout The Upside Down, a Hawkin’s Police Department truck, and the attic even includes a drawing of the Mind Flayer and a wizard hat belonging to Will the Wise. The figures in The Upside Down cling to tiles on the ceiling, and the entire set can be flipped and displayed in either orientation.
When the heroes of Avengers: Endgame go on their “time heist” to retrieve the Infinity Stones, the audience is treated to the scene of the Avengers first assembling at the Battle of New York, however, that scene was not part of the original plan.
Speaking to Business Insider, Avengers: Endgame editor Jeffrey Ford discussed how the decision had to be made as to when our future Avengers would return to the past New York to get the Tesseract and that the winning scene had to be “something audiences would instantly recognize.”
