#do I have TWO mutant Tom toys? absolutely I do

[thresholdbb]

Extremely normal about them

[returnn-of-the-mac]

Okay, so, you can find armor in game called “Freefall Legs” or something like that that basically turn off fall damage. Companions react to sole just hurling themselves off a tall building, not knowing they have the freefall armor on!

I broke this one into two sections: The companions reacting to Sole initially jumping off, and then their reactions when they meet up with them on the ground. Please enjoy!😊

FO4 Companions React: Sole Jumping Off a Building

Sole and their companion were standing atop an old apartment building in Boston when Sole wandered over to the edge and stared at the ground below.

Deacon: “You wanna jump,” Deacon joked, “Do it. I dare you.” Sole backed up a few feet and Deacon nervously chuckled, “You won’t.” Suddenly, Sole sprinted forward and lunged off the roof. “Wha—HEY!” Deacon cried, rushing to edge and watching their friend plummet to the ground below. “Fuck, fuck, fuck..!” Deacon chanted as he sprinted down the stairs to the ground level at full speed.

Curie: “Beautiful view,” the synth mused, “It must’ve been marvelous to live in one of these buildings.” It was then that Curie noticed Sole looming dangerously close to the edge. “Be careful next to that ledge, [Madame/Monsieur]. A fall from this height could be lethal.” Just as Curie finished her statement, Sole backed up, ran forward, and hurled themself off the side of the building. Curie‘s jaw dropped in horror as the watched her friend fall to the ground, “Oh! Oh non! I’m coming, [Madame/Monsieur]!” She cried, frantically running down the emergency stairs, medical kit in hand.

Codsworth: “Ahh...would you look at that city view,” Codsworth breathed, “I can still remember it exactly how it had looked before that fateful day...” Codsworth floated over to his companion, who was dangling dangerously close to the edge. “Please do be careful, [sir/mum]. It would be absolutely catastrophic if you were to fa—“ It was at that moment Sole decided to fling themself off the top of the building. A horrified Codsworth screamed. “[SIR/MUM]! I’M COMING!” He shouted, hovering over the edge.

MacCready: “Ha! Boston looks comically tiny from up here; it almost looks like a toy city,” MacCready laughed. He then noticed how close Sole was to the edge. “Careful, don’t fall. It might hurt a little bit.” Sole looked at their companion, and then looked back at the ground. MacCready grew concerned. “Something on your mind? If you wanna talk, I’m all ears.” Suddenly, Sole threw themself off the building. MacCready gasped and scrambled to the edge. “ARE YOU CRAZY!? KILLING YOURSELF ISN’T THE ANSWER!” He desperately cried below, “NO! [NAME]! [NAME]!” MacCready ran down the emergency steps as fast as he could to meet his partner on the ground below.

Gage: Gage sat at the very edge of the roof, legs dangling carelessly. “Talk about adrenaline. Whoo,” he called, pretending to throw himself off, “I live for this shit!” Sole smirked and backed all the way up. Gage perked up, “You’re not gonna fuckin do it, boss. You’re fulla shit.” Sole sprinted forward and threw themself off the edge. “HOLY SHIT!” Gage breathed, dryly laughing, “I ain’t no pushover. I’m comin in behind ya!” he shouted as he threw himself off the building. “WAAHOO!”

Hancock: “Not much a fan of heights,” Hancock plainly stated, taking an unusually long hit of jet, “Gotta keep the acrophobia in-check. Don’t wanna go buggin out on ya.“ It was then the ghoul noticed how close his partner was to the edge of the roof. “You got balls, my friend. Clearly, I do not in this kinda situation. Would ya mind doing me a solid and backing up a few inches?” Sole obeyed their companion and walked away from the ledge. “Thanks pal, means a lot to me. I—“ before Hancock could finish his thought, Sole threw themself off the top of the building. “FUCKING HELL!” Hancock yelped, looking on in terror as his partner plummeted. He began furiously puffing his jet as he practically flew down the emergency stairs to meet his friend at the bottom.

Cait: “Admirin the view,” Cait inquired, “Damn fine one if ye ask me. Breathtakin.” Sole nodded in agreement as they backed up to the other side of the roof. Cait raised an eyebrow. “Whatcha plannin on doin? Jumpin?” She joked. As soon as the words escaped her lips, Sole ran forward and leapt from the top of the building. “Shite! You’re mad!” Cait cried as she ran down the emergency stairs.

Preston: “There’s something comforting about being this high up,” Preston mused, “It’s like all of my troubles were left below.” Preston watched his partner make their way over to the edge. “Careful, General,” Preston warned, “A lot of these old buildings are insecure. They could crumble if you make one wrong move.” Sole looked at Preston, and then at the ground. Without a second thought, Sole jumped. Preston froze in place, his heart sinking and a lump forming in his throat. His legs gave way and he crumpled to the ground, unable to move.

Ada: “A robot like myself doesn’t often get the opportunty to enjoy these sights,” Ada declared, “I am so grateful you invited me to accompany you up here, [sir/ma’am].” Ada waddled over to Sole, who was standing perilously close to the edge. “[Sir/Ma’am]? I would strongly advise that you step at least 7.446 inches backwards. A fall from this height without the proper equipment could be fatal.” Suddenly, Sole launched themself off the roof. Ada watched their companion plummet to the ground. “I was unaware that humans contain a self-destruct mechanism. Interesting.”

Danse: “What an outstanding view,” Danse stated, “There is so much visibility from this elevation. Being in the middle of a former metropolis, there isn’t overgrowth to obstruct our view either. This would make an excellent outpost from the Brotherhood.” It was then that Danse realized his partner was more fixated on the ground below than on what he was saying. “Something down there?” The Paladin asked. Suddenly, Sole backed up, ran forward, and threw themself off the the edge. Danse ran over to edge, looked down, and smirked. “Bold. I like that about you, soldier. Look out; I’m following right behind you,” he called, hurling himself off the building behind his companion. “Ad Victorium!”

Nick: “Being up here sure is exhilarating, isn’t it?” The detective asked, taking in the view, “I should invest in a high-rise office. Sometimes it can be a challenge to crack cases in my claustrophobic Diamond City agency. I don’t think Ellie would be too keen on the idea, though. She doesn’t like heights.” Nick glanced over at his partner, who was looking at the ground below. Nick approached them and followed their gaze. “Yeah...on second thought, it might be a bit too high for my taste, too.” Suddenly, Sole sprung forward, flinging themself off the building. “What in the world—!” Nick gasped, watching his partner fall to the ground. He quickly sprinted down the emergency stairs.

Strong: “Too many stairs,” Strong complained, “Legs tired.” Strong watched as Sole walked over to the edge of the building and take in the horizon. The super mutant grunted. “Strong bored. Can we go smash now?” Sole looked at Strong and then looked at the ground. They then threw themself off the edge. Strong walked over to where Sole had been standing and looked down. “Yeah. Strong no want to climb stairs no more either. Jump down. Good idea,” he commented as he leapt off the roof after Sole.

X6-88: “Fascinating. I can see CIT from here.” X6 stated, looking at his companion. He frowned when he noticed how close Sole was to the edge. “I’d advise you to step a few feet back, [sir/ma’am]. A fall from this height would be fatal.” Sole looked at their partner, backed up, and then threw themself off the top of the building. X6 stoically watched his companion plummet to the ground. “I suppose natural selection has taken its course,” X6 commented, “I’ll confirm [his/her] death and report back to Father. He is not going to be amused.”

Piper: “Damn. We’re really high up here,” Piper stated, uncomfortably, “I mean it’s cool and all, but if you were to slip and fall...game over.” She looked to her side to see Sole teetering near the edge. “H-hey! Can you please just give me peace of mind and like...not do that,” Piper squeaked. Sole nodded, and suddenly threw themself off of the building. Piper shrieked in pure terror, “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!” The adrenaline-fueled reporter flew down the emergency stairs, tears streaming down her face.

Longfellow: “I can see the sea from here,” Longfellow commented, “Lots of gulls too. I wonder how far away we are. I’d wager about...mmm...5 miles or so.” He looked over at Sole who was hanging over the edge. He chuckled. “Good thing you’re not intoxicated right now. Otherwise, you’d stumble right over the edge.” Sole suddenly flung themself off the roof as Longfellow watched in shock. He took out a bottle of whisky and raised it to the sky. “Tally-ho!” He cried as he took a swing of his beverage and scaled the side of the building.

...

After throwing themself off the top of the building to mess with their partner, Sole stuck the landing completely unscathed. When their companion finally reached them, they revealed their trick:

Deacon: “Damn! You got me good! You duped the master,” Deacon laughed, nearly doubling over, “I should totally try that on Tom sometime. He’d totally lose his marbles!”

Curie: Curie sighed in relief as she put her medical kit back in her inventory. “You scared me [Madame/Monsieur],” the synth breathed, “Effective joke. I was fooled.”

Codsworth: “Unbelievable! You nearly made me short-circuit!” Codsworth scolded, “You have a disgusting sense of humor, [sir/mum]!”

MacCready: “You son of a...snot,” MacCready huffed, playfully punching his companion on the arm, “I thought I’d lost you.”

Gage: “Ah my fucking LEG!” Gage cursed, sprawled on the ground and glaring at Sole, “Ya coulda told me you were wearing ARMOR.”

Hancock: “Shit man,” Hancock said, shaking his head and taking one last hit of jet, “You’ve got no chill.”

Cait: “You bloody little shite!” The redhead laughed, roughly shoving Sole, “You goddamn made me piss me pants!”

Preston: “That...that wasn’t funny General. Not one bit.” Preston stated flatly, still recovering from the shock of the moment.

Ada: “Oh. You were wearing armor. That’s good news.” Ada commented, “I thought for sure I’d have to find a new friend.”

Danse: “You stuck that landing masterfully, soldier,” Danse complimented, “Now let’s move out.”

Nick: “Give old Nicky a short-circuit, why don’t ya?” Nick stated flately, “Don’t you have more important things to be doing than terrorizing your companions?”

Strong: “A lot faster than stairs,” Strong commented, “Where to now, human?”

X6-88: “Forgive me,” X6 apologized, “You are a lot more intelligent than I had anticipated.”

Piper: “You suck!” Piper shouted, gently punching her companion, “Don’t ever do that again, got it Blue? That wasn’t funny.”

Longfellow: “Hm. Clever,” Longfellow said, eying his beverage, “Can we still have a drink even though you are still very much alive?”

[omniversalobservations]

Fandom Mashups Are On The Rise

Fact: Two fandoms are better than one. When your favorite fictional worlds collide, it’s a mashup made in fandom heaven. Fandom mashups are becoming more popular, with crossovers popping up in TV shows and movies, fan art, original cosplays, and even new collectibles, making pop culture hybrids a top trend in the geek world.

Fandom mashups have such a powerful impact because they join together two groups of extremely passionate fans — or two halves of your own geeky heart. While products and entertainment moments that feature themes from two separate worlds may be a little more niche —  not every Dungeons & Dragons fan would get schwifty with Rick and Morty — they have the ability to draw fans from one property into another. And the most accessible way for companies to pull off this concept is with gotta-have-it merch — and lots of it. With the right properties and the right fan bases, the collaborations can be seamless and maintain the integrity of each brand.

Take FOCO’s line of Game of Thrones MLB Bobbleheads, for example. The cross-licensed series pairs Major League Baseball players and mascots with Game of Thrones characters and settings. The first series merges three distinct bobblehead styles — the Iron Throne, the Night King, and the Ice Dragon Viserion — with mascots and branding from all 30 MLB teams.

“We definitely think it’s an emerging category, this cross-licensed mashup that we’re going to explore,” says Matthew Katz, licensing manager at FOCO. “… We tried to make sure we had the right balance. You don’t want to go too far one way or the other because you want to capture the people who are superfans of either baseball or Game of Thrones, and then capture those people in the middle as well.”

The bobblehead collaboration started off as a partnership for MLB’s theme nights, during which every fan who walks through the stadium gates gets a promotional item, like a bobblehead. The promotion opened the door to a conversation on how to expand at retail, especially for people who couldn’t make it to the promo nights or desired a more high-end collectible than the ones handed out at the games.

A unique aspect of pop culture mashups is that it gives the creators a bit more freedom in playing around with storytelling. The Night King was an ominous Game of Thrones villain, but he’s a bit more lighthearted when he’s wearing team-themed armor and ditching his spear for a baseball bat made of ice with the team’s logo on it.

“Developing a non-traditional product line like this gives a fresh perspective and allows a fan who has love for both brands to get a refreshed look,” says Josephine Fusezi, MLB’s vice president of global consumer products. “Being able to play with key elements from both baseball and Game of Thrones gives the consumer something different and refreshing. It also gives us an opportunity to have a little fun with our fans.”

Response to the first bobblehead series was so positive that FOCO quickly developed a followup series in just six weeks, featuring characters such as the direwolf, the Kingsguard, and a White Walker, available now for preorder. New MLB theme nights began in June for a Netflix Stranger Things collaboration, too.

Fans will also know exactly who to call with Hasbro’s new Ecto-1 Ectotron figure. The Transformers universe already has heroic Autobots, evil Decepticons, and now ghosts! The iconic Ecto-1 Cadillac from the 1984 Ghostbusters movie is now a Transformers robot — a converting Paranormal Investigator called Ectotron. The figure comes with its own Proton Pack and Slimer accessory, and it converts between Ecto-1 and robot in 22 steps.

This year marks the 35th anniversaries of both Transformers and Ghostbusters, making it an ideal year to combine the best of both franchises. A five-part origin story from IDW Publishing will also be available this year, giving fans insight on Ectotron’s background.

“Brand anniversaries not only allow us to celebrate a franchise, but we can also tap into nostalgia around a brand,” says Tom Warner, senior vice president for the Transformers franchise at Hasbro. “The Transformers and Ghostbusters brands are filled with waves of millennial nostalgia as new parents share the toys and brands they loved as children with their own kids.”

Ectotron preorders sold out within 24 hours after the figure was revealed at Toy Fair New York in February, so additional preorders were made available. Fans should also be on the lookout for other potential Transformers and Ghostbusters collaborations soon, according to Warner.

“On the surface, the Transformers and Ghostbusters franchises may seem vastly different; however, they share more in common than one may expect,” Warner says. “Both have two passionate fandoms, sharing a mutual bond over out-of-this world storytelling rooted in science fiction. When combining both worlds, our goal was to create stories and a product that stays true to the origins of both brands.”

The Avengers movies are probably the most well-known, most popular crossovers, but they weren’t the first. Think of all the “most ambitious crossover event in history” memes that circulated around the time that Infinity War came out — and how we were reminded of Disney Channel’s That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana, which came out in 2006, or 2003’s The Rugrats Go Wild, in which the band of babies met Eliza and her family from The Wild Thornberries, on Nickelodeon.

Entertainment crossover content is so successful because fans of these franchises can see all of their favorite characters interacting in situations they normally wouldn’t, like when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles visited Gotham in Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019). In this movie, the heroes in a half-shell and the Dark Knight team up when Shredder joins forces with Ra’s al Ghul, and all of the heroes need to work together to defeat the combined might of the Foot Clan and League of Assassins.

These crossovers can also span multiple age groups, such as Sesame Street’s “Respect Brings Us Together” campaign. Two commercials launched in April featuring Elmo and Cookie Monster, one of which starred the notably at-odds Lannister siblings from Game of Thrones. And if anyone can convince Cersei and Tyrion Lannister to get along, it’s Elmo.

Fan demand for this type of content is loud and clear, as is the case with The CW’s DC Universe. The network has created crossover content yearly since 2014 through its DC TV shows, starting with Arrow and The Flash. At the time, in December 2014, the two-part Arrowverse crossover between the two shows was the most-watched December telecast in seven years for the network, and the most-watched episode for both shows since their respective series premieres.

In 2016, the network’s #DCWeek event delivered The CW’s most-watched week in six years, featuring a four-night DC crossover between Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. The CW’s fifth-annual Arrowverse crossover last year, Elseworlds, introduced Gotham City and Batwoman into the mix, and concluded with a tease of the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, set to air this fall.

The ratings for The CW’s crossover events clearly show that fans crave this content, and it’s safe to say we can expect more of it in the future.

Pop culture mashups also come from the most important community: the fans themselves.

While manufacturers and entertainment companies have the power to bring pop culture mashups to the masses, fans can express themselves through cosplay and fan art — without the shackles of licensing rights getting in the way. And here, creativity is key. Out-of-the-box fan mashups, including one-of-a-kind cosplays and stunning illustrations, all have one thing in common: They fuse two things that would likely never be together otherwise.

Eric Proctor is a digital artist at TsaoShin who draws vibrant fantasy pieces, with a heavy focus on pop culture artwork. His gallery features bright, fun, and whimsical pieces that incorporate characters, such as Stitch from Lilo & Stitch and Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon.

“For me, the crossovers are a Venn diagram where the two circles completely overlap of things that I absolutely love,” Proctor says. “So, any crossover that I’m currently doing is going to just be just that I love A and I love B, and I’d love to see A and B together.”

Proctor is currently working on an ongoing Grumpy Cat and Disney series, which had accidental roots. Proctor bought a new rig and tablet for his illustration setup and was practicing with his new equipment. He sketched out the iconic The Little Mermaid scene in which Ariel is singing on the rock with water splashing around her, and because he doesn’t like drawing people, he drew in Grumpy Cat as a last-minute decision. He showed it to his friends, expecting to delete it, but then people asked him what Disney scenario he was going to put Grumpy Cat into next — and the series was born.

“I say that I love both of those things, but one of the things I felt so guilty about making that particular series is that I really, really love Disney, but I’m putting Grumpy Cat in a scenario where it’s just ruining it,” Proctor says. “It’s this little bit of dark humor where you’re like, ‘I really love Disney, but honestly if Grumpy Cat was in it, this is probably what would happen.’ So it’s taking something that’s a little sacred and then ripping it to shreds a bit. I think the humor was one of those things I had to play around with.”

Proctor is currently working on his next Grumpy Cat Disney installment, a Cinderella-themed piece titled “Bippidi Boppidi No.” It will show the scene from the animated film in which the fairy godmother grants all of Cinderella’s wishes, but with everything completely ruined, such as a pumpkin dress, Lucifer the cat being the size of a horse, and other mishaps.

“It’s one of those situations where it’s so easy to imagine a lot of those crossovers together; they seem so real and fitting that it just feels like a marriage of two ideas that you’ve enjoyed both of those things so much,” Proctor says. “For me personally, when I look at a crossover that just succeeds so well, I just get so happy because someone else saw the thing that put those two things together and they made that real.”

With pop culture mashups, fans get to express themselves in a whole new way, and manufacturers and entertainment companies are taking note of the increasing fan demand and creative potential. The possibilities are limitless.

Source: The Pop Insider

(image via DeviantArt)

[aion-rsa]

Marvel's X-Men Relaunch Explained: What to Look For

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What do House of X and Powers of X mean for the future of the X-Men and Marvel?

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Jonathan Hickman’s ballyhooed X-Men relaunch has finally arrived! Both House of X and Powers Of X have seen their first issues released into the wild, and as the site that dug through Hickman’s entire body of Marvel work for Secret Wars, we felt it was important to get in on the ground floor of what is so far a 12-issue weekly series that blows out into six different books come October.

So with that in mind, and in the spirit of the books, here are X things we’re watching after issues 1 of House of X and Powers of X (get it, because it’s actually “Powers of Ten”?).

WARNING: This article contains EXTENSIVE spoilers about the first issues of House of X and Powers of X. STOP READING NOW if you haven’t read both comics.

I. The Art

There is no greater sign of the depth of Marvel’s commitment to this relaunch than RB Silva and Pepe Larraz handling art duties on the two books. If this relaunch was meant to be a short term spike for sales and a way to get people talking about the X-Men again without making any substantial changes to the line, there are plenty of monster names that could have handled six issues of art and sold a ton of books. Larraz and Silva, however, are only superstars in the making - staggeringly capable artists who absolutely blew away these first issues and will probably become superstars on the basis of what they’re showing in these books. Putting them on House and Powers of X gives them the space to grow into superstardom with the additional recognition.

Every page of House of X is a home run, and most of the attention is going to the sequence with Jean tearing up at the Professor’s welcome to Krakoa, but while that’s a great strip, it doesn’t capture the breadth of Larraz’s skill. He can go from that small moment, to the grandiose intimidation of Omega Sentinel on the Dyson Mastermold, to the blistering action sequence with Mystique, Sabertooth and Toad in the space of six pages. He’s been extremely good since Uncanny Avengers, but this is him taking his game up a notch.

read more: The X-Men Movies You Never Saw

Likewise for RB Silva. His art on Powers of X is superb all the way through, but what I found utterly shocking was how much emotion he put into Nimrod’s hands. Think about how ridiculous that sentence is: Nimrod, the pink and white Final Boss Sentinel from the future who just Terminator walks at Rachel Summers for like, 4 issues back in the early ‘80s, and RB Silva made his hands as expressive as Jean Grey’s eyes. As excited as I am to find out where the story goes, I’m just as excited to keep looking at the stupid good pictures.

II. What’s Left From The Old Continuity

House of X/Powers of X has been billed as a relaunch without a reboot, which implies that the old continuity will continue to exist. And in a way, it does - we’ll talk later about how much these books rely on older stories to build off of. But at the same time, it’s a pretty clean sweep from what came before.

After being reverse decimated post-House of M (if they were actually decimated, one of every ten would have died, instead of one out of every ten keeping their powers), the mutant population has been slowly creeping upward. Old mutants were put back whenever there was a narrative purpose, and mutant births started again in the last few years. But House of X goes full Morrison - humans will be outnumbered by mutants soon and extinct not long after that.

As far as recent continuity goes, there’s not much. Most of the deaths from the past year or so of Uncanny X-Men have been undone or are about to be. Xandra, Charles and Lilandra’s bird child from the delightful Mr. & Mrs. X, is destined to become Empress of the Shi’ar in 100 years. And that’s all we saw so far.

III. The Bad Guy Plan

The story is split across two books. Powers of X is looking at the scope of mutant history, starting with Charles and Moira meeting 10 years in the past (X^0), carrying through today (X^1), 100 years in the future (X^2) and 1000 years down the road (X^3). House of X so far is only focused on the X^1 timeframe, gathering the mutants on Krakoa under the leadership of Professor X and Magneto, and setting up mutant embassies around the world. And...um...I think the Professor is the bad guy.

The central conflict of the X-Men has usually been some variation on the Professor’s students fighting to protect and peacefully integrate with a world that hates and fears them, and Magneto and his followers either trying to completely dominate that world or separate from it entirely. In House of X, there’s no peaceful integration. It’s more like “threatening coexistence.”

The Professor has three speaking scenes across the first two issues: the EXTREMELY creepy scene with the pod people and the only slightly less creepy scene when Jean arrives on Krakoa in House of X; and the scene with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in Powers of X. There he talks about sacrificing for a new future, and I want to reiterate, *with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants*.

read more - The Essential Episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series

Ignoring the fact that “Charles” never takes his helmet off and looks like The Maker, the minor villain of Secret Wars; and the joy Magneto expresses through both issues (seriously, nobody is happier about this relaunch than him); all of “Charles’” interactions are creepy as hell and hard villain-coded.

IV. The toying with genetics

Breaking news: X-Men comics contain a great deal of genetic engineering science fiction talk! We also have film of the sun rising in the east, and documentary evidence of water being wet. Stay tuned, dear reader.

Seriously, though, these two issues are heavy on the genetics even for an X-Book. There is the obvious example, in Powers of X when we see the combination of mutants that made the Rasputin who has been tearing up the internet since the teaser image was released (for the record, it’s Unus the Untouchable, Kitty Pryde, Quentin Quire, X-23, and “Rasputin” DNA, which explains the metal but not the Soulsword).

And then there are the pod people in House of X, one of whom has very prominent red hair, and one has red energy bubbling out of his eyes. These are probably central to the big mystery of the story, and if you want blatant spoily speculation on what that all means, jump down to number X.

V. Omega Mutants

In yet another example of bad guy coding ruling the day, both books treat Omega Mutants like uranium: a dangerous natural resource to be exploited at all costs.

House of X goes into great detail about the definition of Omega Mutant. The previously commonly accepted definition in the comics was “extremely powerful,” but here it shifts to “primary power has no conceivable upper limit.” This both makes perfect sense - Iceman has been an Omega Mutant for some time now, and he’s basically an ice elemental, reforming himself from ambient moisture (or Havok’s piss that one time) - and is a terrifying new concept when you pair it with the revelation in Powers of X, that at some point in the near future, Mr. Sinister is going to start fiddling with omega powers to create super-chimerae who will collapse Mars in a singularity.

There are a handful of surprising names on HoX’s omega list - Jamie Braddock, Psylocke’s brother who has been off and on dead for 30 years is apparently alive and kicking again. Legion is around but unaffiliated, and Mister M (from the post-Decimation District X Bishop/detective book) is listed as unaffiliated. And Franklin Richards is flagged in red…

VI. References to Hickman’s Old Marvel Work

Avengers was as a concept basically outlined as a powerpoint, so the volume of infographics that Hickman and designer Tom Muller put into the two books is entirely expected. And because they’re very good, we get a lot of info just out of the way these infographics are presented.

I won’t go through all of them, but the two most important seeming ones at this moment are the list of Omega Mutants, and the reading order. Franklin Richards is the key to a lot of theories of the Marvel Universe (when you finish this article, go google “Franklin Richards + Marvel Time”), so it’s worrisome to see him mentioned so prominently in House of X. At least it should be to the people inside it.

The reading order, which appeared at the back of both books, highlights three issues in red: House of X #2, House of X #5, and Powers of X #6. Those three issues are supposed to be the paradigm shifts, and the first one comes next week!

read more: Best X-Men Movies Watch Order

And beyond the design elements, there’s a lot from Hickman’s old Marvel work present in these first two issues, and a lot that we can expect to come. Cyclops was notable in Avengers, but underutilized and eventually went out like a chump in Secret Wars. He gets more play in House of X, and it feels a little like Hickman finally getting to do with Scott Summers what he wanted to do with him before. Franklin Richards was a huge part of his Fantastic Four/FF run, and he’s very notably lampshaded in HoX, as are the Imperial Guard in PoX (Hickman introduced the human Superguardian Smasher for his Avengers). Apocalypse is almost certainly coming soon, and he was notable in S.H.I.E.L.D. There should be more throughlines as the story goes on.

VII. References to Old X-Men Comics

All the promotional materials for this relaunch talked about it being the next in a line of universe-shifting X-Men comics, following on Giant Sized X-Men #1, X-Men (vol. 2) #1, Age of Apocalypse, and Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s New X-Men #114. The books certainly feel like they belong there, and are self-consciously referential of those four books. Krakoa was the villain of Giant Sized, and Powers of X feels like a bold alternate reality in the spirit of AoA. And House of X is basically an homage to Morrison’s entire run, with mutants developing their own culture and Magneto spending the entire issue with the Stepford Cuckoos walking past various Xorns. But the continuity and thematic debts don’t end there, and there are two key stories that I think are more important to understanding these runs: Days of Future Past and the Utopia era.

Nimrod and the Hounds are hugely important villains in Powers of X, and they are straight out of Rachel Summers and Kitty Pryde’s futures in DoFP. It is the prototypical dark future, where mutants are all killed off by robot hunters and mutant traitors, and that is the world that is presented to us in this week’s comic.

Meanwhile, Utopia was a little bit different than Krakoa is presented here. Utopia was the floated remains of Asteroid M in San Francisco bay, a refuge for the 200 living mutants to try and survive. It leaned very hard into the paramilitary school subtext that’s always there in X-men stories, but was also political in a very different way that most of its predecessors. It’s my favorite era of X-Men comics because of how cohesive the line was (and because Second Coming was like a perfect X-Men action movie), but because it was a small number of mutants fighting for survival and not acceptance, it wasn’t a great example of the line over its history. There are a lot of strong parallels here, with the biggest difference being it’s no longer mutants struggling to survive, but mutants fighting to dominate.

VIII. Apocalypses

Not blue pencil lipped Rocks-Of-The-Eternal-Shore Apocalypse, but the ones where things end.

Hickman is no stranger to the end of the world, having destroyed the Marvel multiverse once already. But his X-catastrophes feel less like Secret Wars and more like another of his comics: East of West.

East of West is a biblical, American end, where Earth’s history diverges at the civil war before technology rushes forward and the Book of Revelation begins in a technological utopia. It is very smart (and incredibly gorgeous thanks to Nick Dragotta’s Sal Buscema-drawing-Akira looking art), but it’s very American and very specifically Christian. That is surprisingly all here, too, starting with the mutant decision to place their embassy in Jerusalem.

read more: Complete Schedule of Upcoming Marvel Movies

There is a strain of Christian belief that says that the end times begin with Israel’s geography being set in a particular way, and that includes Jerusalem being its recognized capitol. This has real world political implications, but it’s also been the source of a lot of good fiction. Putting Magneto, the arch-villain of the X-Men saga, in a Jerusalem embassy telling people that they have new gods now is essentially casting him as the Antichrist and setting the world up for the end times. Nothing about the war in the future of Powers of X indicates that this read is incorrect.

IX. The Timelines

We don’t just get multiple timelines represented in Powers of X: we get events sequenced across it and House of X, and things happening simultaneously in multiple time streams. Take, for example:

Sabertooth, Mystique, and Toad spend House of X breaking into Damage Control and steal plans for something (looks like Sol’s Hammer, the Dyson Sphere laser that Iron Man used to blow up an invading army in New Avengers, but that could be a fake out). Meanwhile, 100 years in the future, four mutant chimeras are caught stealing from the Man-Machine Alliance’s mainframe, and Percival (the Cypher-looking dead one) is repeating “Charles’” quote from House of X.

Is it possible we’re looking at the X-Men equivalent of “The Best of Both Worlds?” Where the same event is unfolding simultaneously across multiple times?

X. Our speculation.

Finally, it wouldn’t be a deep mystery without fanboys speculating wildly about what’s going on. So we’re absolutely going to do that. If you take all of this into account and where do you land?

Charles isn’t actually Charles. He’s Sinister.

Nobody has won more from this relaunch than the master mutant geneticist. He, along with the other brightest minds in mutantdom, couldn’t figure out why mutant births ceased after House of M, and couldn’t figure out how to get them back. Now, he’s got thousands of mutants to choose from and the ability to experiment however he wants. He can exist in off-books literal Black sites on Krakoa, cancerous growths undetectable to the rest of the island. And if he’s posing as Charles, he gets to steer public events to his liking. He gets to direct policy like “protect omega mutants at all costs,” or “Hey Magneto send the old Brotherhood to steal plans from the Fantastic Four please.”

Whether we’re right or not, Charles is almost certainly not Charles. He isn’t telekinetic, so lifting the thumb drive away from Mystique was a flag. And keeping his Cerebro helmet on at all times is a BIG sign that he’s a bad dude and not who we think he is.

Sinister works here. If he gets his hand on reality warper DNA (remember, Mister M, Legion, Jamie Braddock and Franklin Richards are all in the wind as of issues 1), he can do pretty much anything he wants. He could easily be covering up his forehead ruby with “Cerebro.” It makes sense, and we know he’s coming back.

For more on House of X, Powers of X, Bedhambers of X, Multiples of X or any other X-Books, stick with Den of Geek!

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature Jim Dandy

Jul 31, 2019

Marvel

X-Men

Jonathan Hickman

from Books https://ift.tt/314GpCF

[screenandcinema]

Looking Ahead to 2019

With December coming to an end, I thought this would be a good time to list the films I am most excited about coming to theaters in 2019. In past years, I highlighted ten upcoming films that I was highly anticipating, however, there are too many good movies to look forward to in 2019, so I present the 15 films I am most excited about coming out next year (in alphabetical order):

Ad Astra

Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones and Ruth Negga star in this science fiction thriller about a man traveling through the stars looking for his long-lost father. The Lost City of Z’s James Gray directs. Latin lesson #1: Ad Astra means “to the stars”

Avengers: Endgame

Early March marks the release of Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson, while will act as the perfect lead-in for April’s epic Avengers: Endgame which is likely to define the fabric of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years to come.

Brightburn

If you haven’t watched the trailer yet for this sci-fi horror movie produced by James Gunn yet, do it now. Then you will understand why Brightburn is on this list.

Dark Phoenix

Last year at this time in the 2018 film preview, I included X-Men: Dark Phoenix which was slated for release in late 2018. Now that the film’s release date has been moved to 2019, I am including it once again, though now with its new title, sans the “X-Men” portion. With Fox’s impending sale to Disney, Dark Phoenix could be the end of 10-film (and 18-year) X-Men saga (not counting the Deadpool series and the forthcoming New Mutants) if the X-Men characters are rebooted for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Glass

M. Night Shyamalan continues his Split and Unbreakable stories in this follow-up. Unbreakable was a movie I absolutely loved I first saw it theaters in late 2000, and I have been eagerly awaiting a sequel since then. Next month, Glass is finally here. I can’t wait.

Greyhound

This upcoming World War II film about a convoy of Allied ships doesn’t just star Tom Hanks, he also wrote the screenplay. Greyhound is based on the 1955 war novel, The Good Shepherd, and is set for release in March. 

(Editor’s Note: Greyhound has been delayed until 2020)

John Wick 3: Parabellum

I’ll admit, I joined the amazing John Wick series late. I missed both John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2 in theaters, settling for seeing the first on DVD and the second on HBO (during the same weekend last year). I won’t be making that mistake again, with the third film in the Keanu Reeves-led series set for release, I am all in. Latin lesson #2: Parabellum means “prepare for war.”

Joker

DC will have two films set for release this year, the first is the more traditional superhero fare, Shazam! coming in April. The second is Joker, an origin story of sorts set in 1980s Gotham City starring Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, and Frances Conroy. I have no idea why this movie exists or what it will end up being, but I will be there for the ride.

Knives Out

Rian Johnson directs the biggest cast in Hollywood in this mystery crime film that is his first feature since 2017′s The Last Jedi. Seriously, look at this cast: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, and Christopher Plummer. Just wow. I know who I’ll be spending my Thanksgiving with.

The Lion King

Disney has been milking through old animated properties as of late and 2019 is no different with live-action adaptations of Dumbo and Aladdin set for release. The crown jewel of Disney’s 2019 non-Marvel and non-Lucasfilm slate is the live-action remake of 1994′s The Lion King. Director Jon Favreau, following his successful live-action remake of The Jungle Book, directs. The best part of this new edition? James Earl Jones returns to voice Mufasa once again. 

Men in Black International

“The Men in Black are back! And this time, they are going International.” I can just see the trailer now. I’ll be honest, I love the Men in Black series (the first and third films are fantastic), and because of that I am excited for this spin-off/sequel/reboot starring Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Liam Neeson.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino both writes and directs this film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie, which is set to the backdrop the Charles Manson murders of the late 1960s.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Usually, I try to limit these lists to one film per franchise (one Marvel Studios, one DC Films, etc.), but how could I omit this sequel. Holland’s Peter Parker and Spider-Man have been a revelation and this sequel to 2017′s Homecoming is high on my must-see list.

Star Wars: Episode IX

The Skywalker Saga comes to end with J.J. Abrams’ return to the galaxy far far away. I’ve written about the future of the Star Wars franchise extensively here on the S&C (After IX). But the release of Episode IX and the end of the Skywalker Saga marks the close of the first great chapter of the Star Wars story and I for one will be there, first in line. Latin lesson #3: IX is 9 in Roman numerals, but you already knew that.

Us

After 2017′s breakout hit and Award-winning feature Get Out, writer/director Jordan Peele is back at it with Us starring Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, and Elisabeth Moss. With the first trailer due next week, not much is known about Us just yet. Hopefully, lightning will strike twice for Peele with Us.

Other 2019 films of merit (in no particular order): Escape Room, Serenity, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Captain Marvel, Captive State, Shazam!, Hellboy, The Aftermath, Aladdin, The Kid, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Rocketman, Shaft, Toy Story 4, Ford v. Ferrari, Hobbs & Shaw, The New Mutants, Angel Has Fallen, Gemini Man, The Addams Family, Zombieland Too, Terminator 6, Charlie’s Angels, Kingsman: The Great Game, Frozen 2, and Jumanji 3.

Now for a quick look ahead to 2020, my top picks for that year are Wonder Woman 1984, Top Gun: Maverick, and Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). 

-MB-