Den of Geek Magazine Issue 7 - Dwayne Johnson & Black Adam by Den of Geek

E X C LU S I V E P R E V I E W

COMICS SPECIAL

DIEGO LUNA TALKS ANDOR

INSIDE MARVEL AND DC’S MASSIVE SUPERHERO CROSSOVER EVENTS

HBO'S HOUSE OF THE DR AGON P LU S : INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE QUANTUM LEAP

BE AST BULLET TRAIN RAM V

TALES OF THE WALKING DEAD

AND THE MOST UNDERRATED SUPERHERO GAMES EVER!

SHE-HULK RINGS OF POWER AND MORE…

BLACK ADAM

DWAYNE JOHNSON IS THE NEW ANTIHERO IN TOWN… AND THE DC MOVIE UNIVERSE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. B O N U S : M E E T T H E J U ST I CE SO C IE T Y O F A ME R IC A

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

BY EXPERTS. FOR FANS.

ON THE COVER

Our cover star is none other than Dwayne Johnson, playing the role he has been longing to bring to the screen for decades, DC’s legendary antihero Black Adam. Get ready for an exclusive look at the future of DC movies in our most comprehensive cover story ever! Check out page 40 featuring exclusive interviews with Johnson, director Jaume Collet-Serra, and producers Hiram Garcia and Beau Flynn. As a special bonus, we also heard from the entire big screen JSA: Pierce Brosnan, Noah Centineo, Aldis Hodge, and Quintessa Swindell. The DC movie universe is about to expand in a big way, and Den of Geek is your inside ticket to what’s coming next! COVER PHOTO CREDIT: WARNER BROS.

ISSUE 7 | FALL 2022

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HOUSE OF THE DRAGON The “successor show” to Game of Thrones is fast approaching and we’re very excited, especially after talking to showrunner Ryan J. Condal about what we might expect from this bloodthirsty prequel. PG. 66

ANDOR

Diego Luna, star of the latest Star Wars show, talks exclusively about this Rogue One prequel and delving into the dark past of Cassian Andor. PG. 56

BULLET TRAIN

Brad Pitt goes on a wild ride in the latest highoctane thriller from director David Leitch. We chat with Leitch about stunts, fights and learning from Buster Keaton and Jackie Chan. PG. 16

JUDGMENT DAY

Avengers meet Eternals meet the X-Men and they all have a massive fight in this epic Marvel crossover comic from Kieron Gillen. PG. 50

ACTION!

DARK CRISIS

IMAGE CREDITS: WARNER BROS./ MARVEL COMICS/ OLLIE UPTON/HBO/ SONY PICTURES/SCOTT GARFIELD/ PHOTOFEST/ ALAMY

We polled our staff and readers to come up with the definitive list of the greatest action movies of the past 15 years. Will your favorite make the cut? Come at us in the comments at DenofGeek.com to vehemently disagree! PG. 78

Writer Joshua Williamson and artist Daniel Sampere on DC’s latest big crossover. It’s still a crisis, but it’s not necessarily going to reboot things... PG. 74

QUANTUM LEAP

Oh boy! This body swap, time travel sci-fi has been rebooted for a new generation. We get the lowdown. And this is just one of the many exciting new shows including Interview With The Vampire, Tales of the Walking Dead and more which feature in our big TV preview. PG. 62

BEAST

Idris Elba goes to South Africa, fights a lion, in this wild actioner from director Baltasar Kormákur. But as Kormákur tells us, it’s a lot more than that. PG. 24

DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS Superman’s dog Krypto takes center stage in this team up of critters with newly discovered powers, charged with saving the Justice League. Director Jared Stern introduces us to Ace, PB, Merton, Chip and very good boy, Krypto himself. PG. 32 DEN OF GEEK

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

WITH ALL THE UNCERTAINTY OF the last two years still a factor in our lives, it still doesn’t feel quite real that we’re all going to get together again in San Diego for the flagship event of all fan culture. But it is real, and Den of Geek is headed to the city we’ve come to consider our summer home with our biggest presence ever, bringing with us a party, this magazine, an interview studio where we’ll be chatting with some of the brightest stars from the film, television, and comics world, and a new appreciation for just how special it is for us to be able to celebrate the stories we love together and in person. Even though “normal life” has resumed for much of the population over the last year, including in the form of conventions and other big events, for this fan, it wasn’t going to feel completely real until we were back at SDCC. Situated perfectly on the calendar and the map to make even the crushingly long hours and hard work that go into it feel like part of summer vacation, SDCC is more than just the biggest, most storied, and most beautiful of fan events, it’s the one that reminds me of the best 10

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fandom can be and why I do this for a living. This is why it was so important that we bring you our biggest cover story ever, timed to SDCC’s big return. Dwayne Johnson is the hardest working man in showbiz and one of the biggest stars in the galaxy, and thus needs no introduction.

SDCC REMINDS ME OF THE BEST FANDOM CAN BE AND WHY I DO THIS FOR A LIVING” But the role he seems born to play in Black Adam might. I’ve been a fan of the character since my parents got me a book full of old Shazam comic reprints as a kid, where I read the character’s very first appearance. While Black Adam has in more recent years become a key player in the geopolitics of the DC Universe and a more nuanced antihero, back then, he was a curiosity and perhaps the coolest, most perfect antithesis to a

Fans buzz around the concourse opposite the convention center at San Diego Comic-Con back in 2019.

hero I had ever seen. Johnson’s own passion for the character is as well-documented as it is contagious, and Black Adam has long been my most anticipated DC movie, both for the ways it promises to expand the potential of the DCEU and the way it’s introducing some other formerly obscure favorites of mine, the JSA, to the big screen. You’ve probably noticed that this issue is a little bigger than our previous ones, too. There was no way we weren’t going to go all-out to pack this one cover to cover with everything that makes summer such a special time for us. And for those of you reading this at home, who couldn’t make it to SDCC, we’ll be doing our best to make you feel like you’re right there with us over at DenofGeek.com and on our social channels. If you see us in San Diego, stop and say hi! And if you can’t do that, come hang out with us online. Virtual or in-person, print or digital, we’re all part of the same team. Mike Cecchini, Editor-in-Chief

PHOTO CREDITS: DANIEL KNIGHTON/GETTY IMAGES

FINALLY! DEN OF GEEK HAS COME BACK TO SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON!

MAG AZ I N E Editor-in-Chief Mike Cecchini Print Editor Rosie Fletcher Editorial Director Chris Longo Creative Director Lucy Quintanilla

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DEN OF GEEK

COMIC STORE SPOTLIGHT

IT’S NOW OR NEVER IN SAN DIEGO Downtown San Diego’s big comic shop is excited to have SDCC back! BY JIM DANDENEAU

EVERY MAJOR COMIC CON has a big, beloved comic shop that the locals insist visitors head to when they’re in town. New York Comic Con has several within walking distance. Emerald City Comic Con has almost as many. WonderCon has almost a dozen nearby. But the big show? The Hall H that launched a thousand shows? “When I moved out here in 2018,” Aaron Trites of Now or Never Comics tells us, “I was shocked that there wasn’t a shop downtown in San Diego.” The heady days of 2018 were an interesting time to open a new comic shop near the San Diego Convention 14

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Center. Now or Never’s first con was 2019, and it went like gangbusters. “By virtue of our proximity, [we] ended up being kind of like a shipping hub for folks,” Trites says. “People would come looking for poster tubes, portfolios, boxes, bags, and boards that they could use to transport their books home safely.” With one con under the store’s belt, they had a plan for what would come next—preparing for that comic supply raid from con attendees and having extra bags, boards, boxes, and tubes ready to go for San Diego Comic-Con 2020. “And then, of course, we never got to have another con after that,” he says.

There was no San Diego ComicCon 2020. There was no San Diego Comic-Con 2021. For most businesses, renting store space in a busy downtown knowing that a good chunk of your revenue would be centered on an event works. What works… shall we say, less well, is when that event ceases to exist for two years because of a global pandemic. But as we’ve seen time and time again, the community will come through for their comic shops. “I was shocked to see that even during the two years where there were no Comic-Cons because of Covid, we still ended up having our biggest sales week of the year during those weeks,”

IMAGE CREDITS:NOW OR NEVER COMICS

Aaron Trites of Now Or Never Comics, San Diego, takes a moment to relax before the madness of SDCC.

Trites tells us. “It was almost like migratory birds.” Covid might have shut down Comic-Con, but it didn’t shut down the people who make the Con what it is. Those people still had their cosplays set up. They still had their vacations planned, their comics budgeted for. And Now or Never Comics was there for them. “People came to the shop wearing their lanyards and badges and pins from previous shows,” Aaron says. “The first customers that we had the week of what would have been Comic-Con 2020 were waiting outside the shop with ‘Line starts here’ signs. It was so cool.”

WHEN THERE’S A TON OF PEOPLE IN THE SHOP AND PEOPLE ARE EXCITED, IT’S HARD NOT TO SHARE THAT ENTHUSIASM” San Diego hasn’t been entirely without cons since Covid hit. Special Edition was Comic-Con International’s first cautious attempt at bringing people back together in person, hosting a scaled-down version of SDCC on Thanksgiving weekend 2021. While it wasn’t the same as having the full show in town, Trites says, “...it was still so nice getting just a little bit of that con spirit back in town.” And with SDCC all the way back, Aaron is “cautiously optimistic” about the show’s return. “It’s definitely going to be long days for the staff,” he says. “When there’s a ton of people in the shop and people are excited, it’s hard not to share that enthusiasm and that excitement. It’s all worth it in the end .” Now or Never Comics is located at 1055 F Street, San Diego, CA 92101. If your shop does something fun and unexpected to get more people reading comics, tweet us @ denofgeekus.

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RIDE OR DIE

Director David Leitch began as Brad Pitt’s stuntman. Now they’re taking the Bullet Train to the end of the line. BY GENE CHING

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Bad Bunny and Brad Pitt fight over (and under) a briefcase in Bullet Train.

to learn the star had been following his recent directorial work. Consequently, Pitt trusted him as a director, and their collaborative chemistry was instantly rekindled. “Brad came in immediately with such great ideas for his character that I was really excited about,” Leitch says. “And together, we got to develop that into Ladybug, who you see on the screen.” While unconventional, Leitch feels the road from stuntman to choreographer to second unit director to director was perfect for him. He views designing action as just part of the bigger narrative, always seeking to service the story and characters first. “I decided to start to lean into directing because I’d had a lot of time practicing these mini-stories within action sequences,” he explains.

Bullet Train is based on the Japanese noir novel Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka. According to Leitch, the characters in the book are all remorseless killers, which presented a challenge. “How do I make them relatable, empathetic, and human, even if they’re not redeemable?” He shifted the film toward a slightly heightened world that allowed the filmmakers to have more fun and be more irreverent, colorful, and bold. “Ours is more of a pop, graphic novel sensibility with humanity, stakes, and this theme of faith that’s running through, like a philosophical question that we’re asking that’s connecting all these characters.” Bullet Train is funnier than its source material, particularly within the action sequences. “There’s a levity to [the

IMAGE CREDIT: SCOTT GARFIELD

WHEN IT COMES TO ACTION cinema, David Leitch is one of the genre’s hottest directors working today. His first official film in the director’s chair was Atomic Blonde, but he also served as the uncredited co-director of the first John Wick. Since then, he’s directed Deadpool 2 and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. His latest film is another off-the-rails actioner. Bullet Train stars Brad Pitt as Ladybug, an assassin hired to do a job while confined on the fastest train in the world—and it’s packed with a horde of rivals. It’s a non-stop thrill ride of ultraviolence that puts Ladybug on a headlong collision course with his lethal adversaries. Fortunately, Leitch has an intimate understanding of how action works because he began his cinematic career as a stuntman—specifically for Brad Pitt. Leitch was Pitt’s stunt double in Fight Club, Spy Game, Ocean’s Eleven, Troy, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. “We had such a great collaboration as stunt double and actor,” Leitch remembers. “It was great to reconnect as his director.” Leitch says directing Pitt was a dream; he was also touched

This cute critter is called Momomon. In the trailer Brad Pitt punches Momomon in the stomach...

action scenes] that doesn’t necessarily undermine the stakes but makes you enjoy the moments with these characters. You want to see more, you want to root for them, and just go on this journey. So when they do find their demise, you kind of feel bad.” To do that, Leitch took inspiration from Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton. “We were looking to lean on some of the greats in physical comedy as inspirations as we build out Ladybug’s language and the language for the choreography,” he says. Every action choreographer has dissected the greats like Chan and Keaton’s work, and for Leitch, it is no different. Every camera angle has a purpose in the director’s films—to capture the choreography from the best cinematic angle and punctuate the drama or, in Bullet Train’s case, the comedic moment. It requires meticulous preparation. “When you watch a great Jackie Chan fight, he does all versions of choreography,” Leitch says. “He’s a great action filmmaker.” While Leitch may have started as Pitt’s body double, he backs the press claims that Pitt did 90 percent of his own stunts for Bullet Train. “Brad is an incredible athlete and obviously one of the biggest movie stars working today, and that’s because of his work ethic and his talent,” Leitch says. According to the director, actors on Pitt’s level put in the time to make the character come to life in all possible ways, not only emotionally but also in the physicality. Pitt leaned into the training and rehearsing that was required of him, despite pandemic restrictions inhibiting much of their filmmaking process. “We did have a little bit of a reduced schedule and some restrictions because we shot in the height of the pandemic,” Leitch explains. They only had a few weeks to prepare when the stunt team blocked out all the sequences and then rehearsed them with Pitt and the other actors. It was also part of the reason behind the heightened style. Due to the pandemic, they were not allowed to travel to Tokyo to shoot, so 90 percent DEN OF GEEK

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of the film was shot on a soundstage on a Sony lot in L.A. The train was like a giant simulator with LED screens outside the windows. The outside environments were all in-camera as opposed to a blue screen, giving the actors a more immersive experience. “When you were sitting on that set, you felt like you were on a train. And the environments outside were real and compelling,” Leitch says.“To stay on a train for two hours and make the fight scenes compelling inside a tube was a big challenge.” Leitch worked closely with the art department to design cars that would allow for fun opportunities in choreography like the quiet car, the bar car, the dining car, the concession car, and the driver pod. What’s more, he stacked the deck with some noted Asian action stars well-versed in the martial arts. Leitch enlisted one of the most esteemed veterans of samurai films, Hiroyuki Sanada, who he worked with previously when he was second unit director for The Wolverine. He had helped Sanada get that part by introducing him to that film’s director, James Mangold. Sanada has starred in well over a hundred roles, both in 18

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Hollywood and Japanese productions. “I love Hiroyuki, and I was excited to cast him,” Leitch says. “He was my first thought for the Elder. In fact, there was no other person I went to.” The filmmaker likens Sanada to a machine when it comes to choreography, capable of remembering 20 moves at a time with impeccable precision. If the other actor or stuntman was off, like a

THERE’S A MOMENT OF COMEDY, AND THEN BAM, THERE’S A MOMENT OF STAKES. AND NOW I’M LIKE, OH CRAP, THIS JUST GOT REAL.” step too forward, Sanada instinctively compensated by stepping a little back. “He’s every bit as talented as any stunt fighter in the business. And on top of it, he’s an incredible actor.” Leitch also cast one of the top rising action stars, Andrew Koji, from Cinemax series Warrior and Snake

Eyes. Koji also started as a stuntman, and has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. “He has such an extensive background in martial arts that choreographing fight scenes with Andrew is actually great,” says Leitch. Because of his ability, Koji needed less time to rehearse. “I’d say, ‘Dude, I have to shoot this in three hours. Can you do it?’ And he’d remember the moves and learn it right there on set.” Leitch credits Koji’s experience on Warrior and his martial arts background, with allowing him to deliver action that would’ve taken other actors a couple of weeks to learn. “He would learn it on the spot, and we could beef up his action. So he’s great.” “The goal I have in my films is to really take audiences on an emotional roller coaster,” says Leitch. For Bullet Train, he aspires to bring out moments of human truth amidst an irreverent dark comedy. He has the same intention within each fight scene. “There’s a moment of comedy, and then BAM, there’s a moment of stakes. And now I’m like, oh crap, this just got real.” Bullet Train opens in theaters on Aug. 5.

IMAGE CREDITS: SCOTT GARFIELD/SONY

Director David Leitch and Logan Lerman on the set of Bullet Train.

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THE DEAD, THE LIVING, AND EVERYONE IN BETWEEN

ALL TITLES A L S O AVA I L A B L E IN EBOOK TO R N I G H T F I R E . C O M @ TO R N I G H T F I R E

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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT…

NCUTI GATWA

There’s a new Doctor in the house. BY LOUISA MELLOR

Ncuti (pronounced ‘Shooty’) is actually Gatwa’s middle name. It means “friend” in the Kinyarwanda language of Rwanda, from where his family fled the 1994 genocide. They moved to Scotland and settled near the city of Edinburgh before Ncuti earned his degree in acting from Glasgow’s Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. His first name is Mizero, which translates to “hope.”

He’ll be taking control of the TARDIS as the new Doctor in 2023. Speaking at the May 2022 BAFTA TV Awards, returning showrunner Russell T Davies said that Gatwa’s “blazing audition” was the very last held for the role, which had been pretty much filled by then. “We thought we had someone, and then in he came and stole it!”

Those high school bonds just never break, do they? Not only is Gatwa joined by Sex Education’s Maeve, aka Emma Mackey, in 2023’s live-action Barbie movie, but the cast also includes former Moordale bully Adam Groff, aka Connor Swindells. Their roles alongside Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken remain under wraps for now.

20 DEN 20 DENOFOF GEEK GEEK

Growing up was a tricky balance for Gatwa, who told BBC doc Black and Scottish that some people “couldn’t even understand the concept that someone could grow up in Scotland and be Black.” On Netflix’s Strong Black Lead, he described the clash between “being a Rwandan boy in the house and a Scottish bampot outside.”

IMAGE CREDITS: DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES FOR BELSTAFF

Gatwa is known for playing gay Nigerian-Ghanaian teenager Eric Effiong in Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education, a fan-favorite role for which he’s received multiple award nominations and won Best Actor at the 2020 Bafta Scotland Awards. In true high school TV show tradition, at 29 years old Gatwa is over a decade older than his character.

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NEW RELEASES

EVOLUTION MAN Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal brings cave art to life as he continues to reinvent cartooning. BY TONY SOKOL GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY’S Primal has no words but deep meaning. The Adult Swim series about a caveman and his dinosaur struggling to survive made it to a second season, a lost love, and a new world. It also picked up some Emmys, like his series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The Russian-born artist reinvigorated Cartoon Network by creating shows like Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack, with Unicorn: Warriors Eternal upcoming. He made his film debut directing Hotel Transylvania and is currently at work on the animated feature, Fixed. But for now, evolution itself hangs on the hope that Spear and Fang can rescue a mysterious woman in a faraway land.

Most Monster-of-the-Week shows ultimately find their overall arc. How is Primal going to solidify in season two? Season one is about survival and the brutality of the world, the tragedy of the world where some things must die so that other things can live. Even though we’re obviously heading into a more civilized age, the brutality is, in a way, worse because now they’re doing it consciously. Now you’re getting that extra level of complexity in it where it’s not enough for the polar bear to survive, he’s got to eat the baby seal. What are some of the next steps in the characters’ evolution? They’re going to discover a lot of things. There’s a lot of contemplation about their place in this world, especially for Spear, because once you discover something more evolved than you, how do you reflect on that, and how do you feel about it? You start to think about your place in the world. These are all really hard, complex things. It’s exciting to do something of this level with no dialogue. What did limited dialogue teach you about telling stories? I keep learning, and I think that season two is a great example of how 22

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complex we can go. [With] the love triangle, you understand how they’re feeling. It’s pretty amazing to do that without somebody saying, “Oh, you like him, and he likes you. Don’t kill him because he’s my friend.” We’re talking about loss and death and can you feel for them. In the second season, we got to push the complexity. Why are people doing things for what reason? What are the next emotional stakes we can push Spear and Fang into? How do they feel about each other? What’s Spear’s place in the world? How do

Primal creator Genndy Tartakovsky

we communicate those ideas? That’s what really makes it fun because that’s where the more original stories come out. The “Plague of Madness” episode from season one has been singled out as a viewers’ favorite. What inspired it? It started off very simply as just a zombie episode. It’s really funny that people like that one because it’s a chase cartoon. It’s just: dinosaur gets bitten, he goes crazy, and he’s after our characters. The nightmare scene is the first look inside our characters and how they feel. That was a new thing. Then the ending, the tragedy of the innocent. It’s kind of poetic, I think. For the ending, you can draw a lot of conclusions. It’s just one of those things where everything kind of clicked in and the animation and the detail was so cool. There’s a tense feeling rising through it. I think it’s just a fun episode to watch, and

Caveman Spear bonds with his Tyrannosaur friend, Fang, in Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal. Below: An enraged Spear.

I think people like zombies at the end of the day. How far of an arc have you envisioned for Primal? I have an idea for Primal that can have it continue on and on. It’s a really big idea, and I don’t know if anybody’s going to buy into it. I never intended for Primal to be a cult hit. Anything that I do, I hope it’s going to be for the masses and super unique, but in this day and age, there’s so much, you have to be a little different to stand out. What is left to conquer for you in animation? I’m still figuring out how to do the old frontier. What’s new to conquer? In a way, I’m doing it. For Primal, for Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, it’s extremely gratifying to just work on my own

things, creating new characters, creating new worlds. That’s what’s super exciting. I think this evolution of Primal could be a big thing for me. I feel like in television, I’m really making strides. [I want to] keep pushing TV wherever it’s going, to

ONCE YOU DISCOVER SOMETHING MORE EVOLVED THAN YOU, HOW DO YOU REFLECT ON THAT?” be different, and then do the same thing for the movies. I want to try to do what I’m doing in TV, but in the theatrical format.

What else can you tell us about your movie ambitions and upcoming projects? We’re doing Fixed, which is incredible, and it’s going to be my first original movie, which is great. It’s a rated R, 2D, animated comedy. It’s going to look really good. We’ve got really amazing animators working on it. It’s going to feel very different because it’s got heart, it’s got raunch, it’s got good character stuff, and it has visual humor and dialogue humor. It has it all, and it’s cartoony. It’s going to be something, or it’s going to be the end of my career and I’ll get canceled. I don’t know. Primal season two airs on Adult Swim this summer. Fixed is in production with Sony Pictures Animation. DEN OF GEEK

NEW RELEASES

KING OF THE JUNGLE Idris Elba takes on a rogue lion in action thriller Beast, but it’s more than just a monster movie. BY ROSIE FLETCHER

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panoramas, giraffes, ostriches, elephants… and a rogue lion hell-bent on revenge. Unsurprisingly, the lion isn’t real. Mostly, as Kormákur points out, because a real lion would kill you. But the CGI approach came with a lot more advantages. Because this lion wasn’t just any lion. “It is based loosely on a lion called Scarface that has just passed away,” Kormákur explains of his influences. “That and Brad Pitt in Snatch, believe it or not. I was just trying to explain what kind of physicality I was looking for, like ripped and out-of-control. Kind of a sexy lion, you know? We want villains to be sexy, and in my mind, an animal could be very sexy in a kind of exotic way.” According to Kormákur, the lion in the original script was too big and chunky for his liking. “It should be as

I WAS LOOKING FOR BRAD PITT IN SNATCH. RIPPED AND OUT OF CONTROL. KIND OF A SEXY LION.” big as they can get, but it’s lean and fast and mean, not like a heavy sausage of a lion. Because I think what scares you and gets to you is something that you connect with reality, and if it’s too big it just starts to feel like Jurassic Park or something.”

Above: Idris Elba plays Dr. Nate Samuels who finds himself hunted by an angry lion. Below right: Elba with Iyana Halley and Leah Jeffries who play his daughters, and Sharlto Copley who plays a friend of the family.

This is not that movie. In fact, Kormákur wanted to tell a family story grounded in reality. “I loved the way [the story] wasn’t over complicated. Because the story is, in some ways, rather straightforward, it allows for the execution to be special. And what I went for, which is unusual in these kinds of movies, is very long takes and trying to put the people in the perspective of the characters as a lion is coming after them. It just feels like you can’t get out of it. You’re there, and the lion is coming at you.” These characters are, of course, Nate and his daughters, played by Iyana Halley and Leah Jeffries. Kormákur had wanted to work with Idris for some time, and this seemed like the perfect role. “What I admire about Idris is that he has all the star wattage needed on-screen. He has a huge persona, a lot

IMAGE CREDIT: LAUREN MULLIGAN/UNIVERSAL PICTURES

THE PITCH IS PRETTY STRONG. It’s Idris Elba versus a lion. It’s Jaws on land. And it’s from a director who has well-proven teeth when it comes to the action and disaster movie genres. Icelander Baltasar Kormákur, who made true story-based adventures Everest and The Deep, as well as actioners including 2 Guns and Contraband, has a further connection to the material. When he was little, he wanted to be “a lion scientist.” “I have always been fascinated by animals, but [particularly] lions. So I was like, ‘Okay, this is something I would love to do,’” he tells Den of Geek. Kormákur is talking to us from London, where he’s currently in the edit suite putting the finishing touches on the movie. He had one condition when agreeing to the project: “I made it clear that, if I was to do this movie, I would have to shoot it in Africa.” The movie follows Idris Elba as Doctor Nate Samuels, a father of two teenage girls who is taking his daughters on safari to connect with the place where their recently deceased mother grew up. It’s a pilgrimage for the family, with the hope that they can bond after their collective loss. Filming took place in South Africa, from Cape Town to Limpopo, to Northern Cape. “It’s the three corners of the country,” says Kormákur. “I wanted to get versatility in the land. I wanted to show you more. I wanted to get the city look and the more bush, savanna look of it.” Check out the trailer, and you’ll see gorgeous vistas, extraordinary

of sex appeal, and everything that a star really needs, but he also is an incredibly good actor, which doesn’t always come with the package with stars, you know?” Kormákur says. “For this role specifically, in the beginning, it’s a broken man, trying to patch his family together. And he does that incredibly well without overdoing it; feeling that even that big hulk of a man is still very vulnerable in the beginning of the movie, and he needs to find the strength and the power when this lion starts attacking them.” Diversity was very important to Kormákur too, who hired local crew where possible, while the only white main cast member is Sharlto Copley, who plays a friend of the girls’ mother. “He’s authentically South African, and I think he brought a lot to the movie in that way,” he says.

“I also liked the fact that it was about a Black family traveling into Africa as tourists. That’s something Hollywood wouldn’t have done 10 years ago. It would always be a white family going and experiencing that world.” Kormákur lists his cinematic influences as including Children of Men and The Revenant—in fact, it was Revenant director Alejandro G. Iñárritu who advised him to take reference shots of real lions to help inform the

look of the lion they called “Beast.” Beast isn’t just a film about a “hardcore guy fighting a lion” (though it is that too). It’s about family and place, and Kormákur says he hopes that with the movie, audiences can “go on a little safari. You get to see a piece of culture, a piece of land, or a place you haven’t been to. It’s a cheap ticket to the world.” Beast opens in cinemas on Aug. 19. DEN OF GEEK

READING LIST

POP CULTURE FANDOM Fan heroes and henchmen collide in these reads about comics, superheroes, and video games. BY NATALIE ZUTTER

FANGIRL

RAINBOW ROWELL (ST. MARTIN’S GRIFFIN)

Every millennial who first explored the internet through fanfiction needs this charming coming-of-age tale about college freshman Cath, worshipped online for her Simon Snow stories but horribly awkward IRL compared to her twin and former co-author Wren. Rainbow Rowell bookends the chapters with excerpts from her fictional fantasy series, so you get to watch her write the fanfic and the source material.

TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW GABRIELLE ZEVIN (KNOPF)

Sadie and Sam are game designers who first meet as kids, each inviting the other into the vulnerability of play. Together and apart, they create video games with inspirations as disparate as Emily Dickinson, the Third Reich, and The Tempest. Tracing a lifetime of professional collaborations and a will-they-won’t-they romance, the novel debates gaming success through popularity versus art. 28

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THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY MICHAEL CHABON (RANDOM HOUSE)

Michael Chabon’s exhaustively detailed, emotionally resonant magnum opus is about cousins Sammy Clay and Josef Kavalier, inspired by the recent success of Superman, pouring their talents and souls into their original comic book character, The Escapist. But it’s really about two Jewish boys in New York City during World War II doing their part to punch out fascism on the page.

THE HAZEL WOOD

MELISSA ALBERT (FLATIRON BOOKS)

The first time that Alice’s world cracks in half is the revelation that her grandmother Althea Prosperpine’s cult-classic collection Tales from the Hinterland is not fiction and that Alice herself has fairy tale magic running through her veins. But when Alice recruits superfan Ellery Finch to help, she learns that the darkness of the Hinterland is the most alluring to its readers.

HENCH

SECRET IDENTITY

Masked vigilantes fight crime in this incisive debut, but it’s the baddies’ hench(wo)men who get caught in the crossfire. Anna Tromedlov works in the supervillain gig economy, but when a hero’s carelessness leaves her disabled, she’s laid off without health insurance. Anna feels powerless until she finds other temps left behind by the system, with their own damning data to weaponize.

This noir is set in the 1970s comicbook world—grimier than the Golden or Silver Ages but still devoted to the medium. Assistant Carmen Valdez lends her personal experience to writing a new superhero, the Legendary Lynx, yet can’t get an author credit. But when her co-creator is murdered, Carmen must stay one step ahead of the killer while ensuring that the Lynx makes it to the next issue.

NATALIE ZINA WALSCHOTS (WILLIAM MORROW)

NUMBER ONE FAN MEG ELISON (MIRA BOOKS)

“A gender-swapped Misery” is already an excellent hook for Meg Elison’s forthcoming thriller (released Aug 30), in which author Eli Grey is kidnapped by a loyal reader who loves her fantastical world and wants it to live on forever. But Elison escalates the conversation with Stephen King’s horror classic by exploring the entitlement of modern parasocial fandom in a post-#MeToo world.

ALEX SEGURA (FLATIRON BOOKS)

USER UNFRIENDLY VIVIAN VANDE VELDE (HARCOURT)

This is a ’90s throwback to the era when Dungeons & Dragons campaigns were all played in the basement instead of over Zoom… Except that for Arvin and his friends, their fantasy quest in a pirated virtual reality game is so immersive that if they die in the game—well, you know the rest. You’ll never look at a glitch the same way again.

THE MAGICIANS SHIP IT

BRITTA LUNDIN (DISNEY-HYPERION)

Tumblr fanfic author Claire joins Forest—the television star playing one half of her favorite (relation)ship on supernatural series Demon Heart —on a comic-convention road trip as a PR stunt. Riverdale writer Britta Lundin deftly balances the awkwardness of viewers who get too invested in a show with the beauty of actors collaborating with fans to change the canon.

LEV GROSSMAN (PENGUIN BOOKS)

While “fantasies inspired by Harry Potter” is its own subgenre, Lev Grossman’s stands out for shattering the wish-fulfillment dreams of Quentin Coldwater and his schoolmates at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy. In the world of The Magicians, magic demands a bloody cost, magicians are petty and fallible, and the Fillory novels that Quentin grew up on are far more brutal than even the darkest Narnia tales. DEN OF GEEK

TALKING STRANGE

HOME OF THE WEIRD SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON IS THE domain of weirdos. What began in a hotel basement in 1970 as the one-day Golden State Comic-Minicon grew to become SDCC in 1973 and then Comic-Con International: San Diego (CCI) in 1995. It is the Super Bowl of pop culture fandom. It is a place where 130,000 ticketed attendees—not counting thousands more who will make a pilgrimage to the city during the con—will arrive once more after a three-year hiatus to let their geek flags fly. And over the course of five days, San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter is the worldwide capital of weirdos. But what is a weirdo? The word has its etymology in “wyrd,” which means “fate” or “destiny.” And a weirdo is one who is in control of their own destiny. Hat tip to weird researcher John E.L. Tenney for reminding me of that. Yet “weird” also means “strange” or “bizarre.” There’s a bounty of that in “America’s Finest City,” too. San Diego is considered a hotspot for UFO activity. One of the more well-known recent videos of a UFO is the “Flir1” capture, filmed by a fighter pilot in 2004 from the aircraft carrier Nimitz off the city’s coast. The footage—widely reported on by The New York Times in 2017 and part of the June 2021 “UFO report” by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence— was deemed unidentified. According to the report, four pilots observed a large object “submerged 10 to 15 feet below the surface” then “a white UAV, shaped like a large cylindrical butane tank, or a Tic-Tac candy, moving erratically back and forth, almost like a bouncing ping-pong ball making instantaneous changes in direction without changing speed.” But there was a previous “flap” in 1989—involving a triangular or boomerang shape with red lights— reported on by the San Diego Reader at the time, which noted the city had been on the UFO map since the 1950s. 30

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AARON SAGERS PARANORMAL POP CULTURE EXPERT

But it’s not only potential extraterrestrial life that contributes to the weirdness of San Diego, it’s the afterlife. Built in 1857, the Whaley House in Old Town might be the most famous allegedly haunted location in town. According to ghostlore, that has something to do with settler Thomas Whaley building the home atop an old execution site. The stories say the specter of “Yankee Jim” Robinson, executed on the grounds, continues to clomp around, as do the ghosts of Whaley’s infant son, adult daughter, and countless others, including a little dog. The town lovingly refers to Whaley House Museum as the most haunted house in America, although it’s uncertain how they measured that. But the apparitional oddness continues with the rumored hauntings at the Davis-Horton House, Horton Grand Hotel, Hotel del Coronado, Pioneer Park, El Campo Santo Cemetery, and the Star of India, the world’s oldest operational sailing ship.

And the ghost stories in San Diego run the gamut of classic Victorian lady specters, Old Californian gamblers, horseback soldiers from the U.S.Mexican war, a trenchcoat-wearing man, and even an enchanted piano. The reputation for weirdness significantly predates the swarms of congoers who frequent every year. Rather, it’s been well documented in The San Diego Union-Tribune. “Remarkable Serpent Fish About Thirty Feet in Length Seen in San Diego Bay” read one newspaper headline in 1873. “Ghost Bride on Headless Horse is Riding Again,” declared another in 1934. And another asked, in 1991, “A chilling hairy query: Is Bigfoot lurking around Alpine?” In fact, whether it was labeled the Borrego Sandman, the Wild Man of Warner Springs, Rancheti yeti, or the famous Proctor Valley monster, the Union-Tribune’s archives have numerous accounts of hairy bipedal beasts in the area dating back to 1876. So those who join the domain of the weird at SDCC might not just spot a celeb, there may be an alien, ghost, or cryptid in their midst as well. Find more of Aaron’s paranormal adventures at DenofGeek.com/paranormal

The Whaley House in the Old Town of San Diego, California, circa 1965. It was built in 1857 and was named the most haunted house in America by the television show America’s Most Haunted.

IMAGE CREDITS: ILLUSTRATION BY ASIA REYNOLDS, HARVEY MESTON/ARCHIVE PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES

As crowds gather, we investigate the strangeness of San Diego.

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NEW RELEASES

Right: Krypto (Dwayne Johnson) with his beloved owner, Superman (John Krasinski). Below: The League of Super-Pets assembles.

Meet the super-powered creatures of DC League of Super-Pets. BY BRYAN CAIRNS EVERY DOG HAS THEIR DAY, and that includes Superman’s loyal companion, Krypto. The animated film DC League of Super-Pets finds the Justice League captured by Lex Luthor. But when a mysterious explosion grants a rag-tag team of shelter pets extraordinary powers of their own, it falls to these unlikely heroes—led by Krypto—to save Metropolis. “The anchoring narrative is, we have Krypto, Superman’s dog,” director Jared Stern tells Den of Geek. “He’s got all the same powers as Superman. He has a pretty great life. He has the best owner in the universe. But he doesn’t 32

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know quite how to be a regular dog. The movie is about Krypto learning to be a bit more of a regular dog and making other friends.” The movie’s all-star voiceover cast includes Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Keanu Reeves, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna, and Vanessa Bayer, to name a few. Stern, however, maintains they didn’t cast these huge stars because of name recognition but rather because the talent fit the characters. “We put up our character designs, shut our eyes, and just listened to the voice quality of these actors,” Stern says. As for whether there’s potential for

Krypto the Superdog leads a mission to rescue the Justice League.

a sequel—might we suggest the Super-Pets versus Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew —anything sounds paws-ible. “I’ve thought about it constantly, especially about some of those characters that we weren’t able to fit in this movie,” Stern concludes. “Perhaps it could be Captain Carrot, or perhaps it could be some other ones I love. So, yeah, it would be fun to go to some different places in the sequel. And there’s no shortage of wonderful animal characters in the DC canon.” DC League of Super-Pets opens in theaters on July 29.

IMAGE CREDIT: WARNER BROS. PICTURES

A HERO’S BEST FRIEND

YPTO KR

MEET THE GANG

CE A

Kevin Hart voices this Bat-hound, who has been imbued with a certain degree of invulnerability and indestructibility. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when he gets beat up,” Stern notes. An older dog, he’s been in the shelter for a long time. In fact, Ace doesn’t believe he has a shot at being adopted anymore. It seems the younger pets tend to find homes easier than the more seasoned vets. “Ace is the leader of the gang of idiots in the shelter,” Stern adds. “He takes care of them. He knows they are idiots, but they are his idiots. He wants to protect them.”

M E RT

Dwayne Johnson tackles the cocky canine, who possesses the same Kryptonian powers as his master. A celebrity in his world, there’s something sad about Krypto. “He loves Superman so much,” director Jared Stern explains. “Any thought that he might lose him makes us feel for Krypto, even if he’s full of himself.” Krypto is used to hanging out with the Justice League… and the League of Super-Pets is anything but that well-oiled machine. Initially, they don’t come together as a team, and that exasperates Krypto. “He’s going to need to be a leader and friend to them and bring them together to master their powers,” Stern explains.

CHI P

Vanessa Bayer provides the voice for this potbellied pig. PB can alter her size, but she’s having difficulties controlling that ability. “PB goes big when she wants to go small,” Stern explains. The heart of the group, she really wants to get adopted. PB knows everything about superheroes from reading the Daily Planet pages that line her cage at the shelter. The fan pig of the group, PB is especially obsessed with Wonder Woman.

Few creatures move at a more leisurely pace than a turtle. As for Merton, voiced by Natasha Lyonne, she’s even slower. That, however, changes when she gains super-speed. The problem is, Merton can’t see a thing. “It’s like someone gave Mr. Magoo a Ferrari,” Stern says. Unfortunately, this slowpoke has been getting run over by cars. All she wants is a peaceful life and a delicious piece of lettuce.

Voiced by Diego Luna, this squirrel can shoot electric energy from his hands. As it turns out, Chip is more of a scaredy-cat than a nut forager, though. He is terrified of the world around him—and his electrifying powers. “He doesn’t want to hurt anyone with them… or himself,” offers Stern. And while Ace longs to get out of the shelter, Chip wants to stay right where he is, feeling much safer behind bars. DEN OF GEEK

COMICS SPOTLIGHT

LIFE AND DEATH

Writer Ram V discusses making comics informed by his Indian upbringing. BY RITESH BABU

When did Laila Starr really start forming in your mind? I think I had come up with various versions of that story long before I even started writing comics, to be honest. There were early versions of short stories where it was “Krishna comes down to Earth!” and whatnot, but I suppose it really turned into Laila Starr when I had this kind of need to write about death, even as a teenager. And I always felt I couldn’t because I hadn’t experienced enough of it, if you will. There are always things you feel that way about, and you feel you’re not equipped to write them, and then BOOM! Studios editor Eric Harburn came to me and said, “You know you’ve done Grafity’s Wall. We want something similar to that, but we want a bit more of a fantastical genre aspect to it.” I went away and started thinking about stories that could be slice of life, could be about growing up in India, in Mumbai, but also had a little bit of a fantastical element. And literally, both those pieces I mentioned earlier kinda fell into place. And I said, “Okay, I feel like I’m grown up enough to write 34

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about death now.” Obviously, the immediate question when you start thinking about writing about death in comics is, “Y’know, what can I say that Neil Gaiman hasn’t said already?” Immediately my head went to this idea that Death is a cultural manifestation. She or it cannot be the same thing necessarily to different people. It is always gonna be a different concept, depending on where you come from, what you’ve encountered in life. So I felt like there were enough new things to say there and yet have it feel poignant and emotive in a similar way. Your books Black Mumba, Grafity’s Wall, and Laila Starr form a sort of Mumbai Trilogy. How has your relationship with Mumbai evolved and changed with time? How do you deal with that in your comics? I think I read somewhere, and I found this to be quite useful, that a writer’s job was to take something familiar and make it interesting and unfamiliar all over again. Which I think is a very interesting way to look at it, because I grew up in Mumbai, I was there until

IMAGE CREDITS: DARK HORSE COMICS, IMAGE COMICS, DC COMICS

COMICS IS A REALM OF THE NEW. It is an ever-changing landscape of fantastic possibilities and new voices. Ram V is among the new wave of brilliant creators changing the face of comics right now, presenting wholly fresh stories that display the medium’s power. Hailing from Mumbai, Ram has roamed the world working as a chemical engineer and now resides in London, wherein he writes spellbinding stories about life in India like Grafity’s Wall, but also grand superhero epics for DC and Marvel. His latest indie hit and Eisner-nominated comic, The Many Deaths Of Laila Starr, is among his best.

I was 18–19. And I later went back and lived there for about another three or four years. There are so many things you take for granted, because they’re familiar to you. And then you go and live elsewhere and all of those things you took for granted are entirely foreign concepts in other cities. One of my earliest experiences of that was to do with friendships, which I think I explore a little bit with Jay and Suresh in Grafity’s Wall. I had friends like that when I was growing up. I could go over to their home and

IMMEDIATELY MY HEAD WENT TO THIS IDEA THAT DEATH IS A CULTURAL MANIFESTATION. SHE OR IT CANNOT BE THE SAME THING NECESSARILY TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE.” Clockwise, from above: Ram V’s projects include Grafity’s Wall (art by Anand RK), Detective Comics, and Blue in Green.

take whatever food was on offer without saying thank you and spend the whole day on their couch even though they hadn’t invited me, and I also had friends who came over to my place and took the keys to my motorcycle and used it all day without asking me or anyone else, and it was completely fine. Then I went and lived in the States, and you have to knock before you enter someone’s room, even if they’re your roommate. And I completely understand why, but those are cultural markers, they say a lot about the society we grow up in. Even though people keep talking about India and Mumbai as a city of poor people and poverty, there is simultaneously such generosity present. All these things that coexist with all these other things? Yeah. Yeah. There are contradictions that defy any kind of stereotyping, really. And so, now, when I go back to the city, I look at all of those things DEN OF GEEK

COMICS SPOTLIGHT

Given music is so central to much of your work, what do you think about the comics-as-music school of thought? I think that comics is a very interesting medium in that it finds itself at a crossroads with a lot of other mediums. Architecture in comics is interesting, design in comics is interesting, prose in comics is interesting. And I feel like the one that gets looked at the least in all of that, actually, is music in comics. There’s a very obvious commonality between the two of them in that they’re both heavily dependent upon rhythm. The way you pace a page is very similar to the way you think about pacing a song in music. Again, you’ve got three or four different people playing, like a band. But also, how much each person does in the same unit of time is very important to how good your song sounds, and the same is true in comics. There has to be a balance of how much each person does in each given real estate on the page. And that’s on the technical aspect of it. On a more creative aspect, I think good storytelling always pushes to create some form of synesthesia. In that, you start blurring the lines between “Am I reading something? Am I hearing something? Am I touching something?” Good prose does that as well, so there’s no reason good comics shouldn’t. And uniquely, because of this technical relationship with music, there’s a possibility of making people hear things in comics, which is unusual, and so I like using that. So I think that ties in really well with my love of music. You’re launching a Detective Comics run in July. What are your Batman touchstones, whether they be creators, texts, or movies? I’m gonna leave out the obvious ones in that, y’know, Year One is great, 36

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Cover art for issue 2 of Ram V’s Eisner-nominated, The Many Deaths Of Laila Starr (art by Filipe Andrade).

probably one of the best comics ever made, period. But Batman: The Animated Series is a big touchstone, although it is outside comics. I think within comics, a lot of the Tim Sale Batman work with [Jeph] Loeb. Certainly, it’s a big influence for me in the stories that I’ve enjoyed. And then there have been bits and pieces of runs that I’ve really enjoyed. The [Grant] Morrison run certainly is a big influence. There are definitely beats and characters taken straight out of it that I’m using in the current run.

There are bits and pieces of [Scott] Snyder’s Court Of Owls that were certainly things that I enjoyed. And then there are also things that aren’t considered mainline Batman books. Gotham Central is an influence. Black Mirror by Snyder/Jock is a big influence, bits and pieces of the [Tom] King run, so I’m taking bits and pieces from everywhere. How do you deal with the intense and massive fandom that comes with handling these global icons?

IMAGE CREDITS: BOOM! STUDIOS/ DC COMICS

with necessarily fascinated, amused eyes. Which I wouldn’t have been able to do if I hadn’t lived outside. And also I probably wouldn’t be interested in doing as much if I wasn’t a writer.

Above: Cover art for Detective Comics #1062, which will mark the start of Ram V’s run. Top right: comic writer Ram V himself.

It makes no difference to me, I’m very good at ignoring the fandom part of it. Not that I condone ignoring readerships or anything of the sort. But necessarily I think, and I’ve had this discussion before with people who’ve taken umbrage to it, because fanfiction is a thing, and I’m not speaking against fanfiction when I say this: if you’re hired to write a character, you cannot approach it as a fan. Because you have to be willing to do things with those characters that push them into places they haven’t been

before. And necessarily, the definition of a fan is someone who thinks what they’ve already read or consumed is the best version of that character, that’s why you’re a fan. But your job as a creator is to go: “What can I do that hasn’t been done before? What can I do that is new? What can I do that will create new fans rather than satisfy existing ones?” And because there is that sort of intrinsic conflict between those two approaches, I don’t consider myself a fan when I am writing. But also, my

interest in whatever I’m working on ends when I’ve finished writing it. And when I say writing, I mean finished creating it, in that it’s done, it’s a finished PDF, and it’s lettered and it’s off my desk. The moment that is done, my attachment as a creator has ended. So I almost have no reaction to how people feel about it after that. It seems like an odd thing to say, but it’s also true of my creator-owned work. I remember there was this time I was talking to my collaborator Aditya [Bidikar] who had re-read Blue In Green, our musical noir OGN, just as it was coming out and he’d messaged me to say, “Hey! I just read the whole thing! It felt so good! We really made something cool!” and I appreciated that, but also I went, “Ahh, I don’t wanna look at it! I can’t stand looking at it one more time!” I have to develop a disconnect with a project before I can come back and look at it with any kind of objectivity. I feel the same way about the work I do on these big characters as well. I do get a lot of fandom reactions. Most of the time, they’re really nice, in that people have really enjoyed the work. Sometimes they are a bit negative because someone expected something and they didn’t get that. But largely all of that is like, “Huh, cool,” and then it’s done. That’s a very healthy way to approach it. Yeah. I’ve never been interested in finding engagement or validation through that side of things. The Many Deaths Of Laila Starr is out now. DEN OF GEEK

THE BEST OF GEEK

“DEADPOOL IS GONNA BE DEADPOOL.”

— Sam Neill on Jurassic Park III.

— Paul Wernick on bringing the merc with a mouth into the family-friendly confines of the Mouse House.

Quotes of the month from Den of Geek exclusive interviews. “I was able to just sort of relax and enjoy that extraordinary experience while knowing that he was flying.” — Jennifer Connelly on being Tom Cruise’s wingman.

“I’VE NEVER SEEN MORE FLIES IN MY LIFE.” — Aaron Paul on the insect-heavy Westworld season 4.

“What if we stopped fighting this? What if, in fact, what’s happening is a good thing?” — David Cronenberg on the transformation of the human body

“You have no idea what’s inside a hot dog.” — Bob Odenkirk on Summer in Argyle’s hot dog eating contest.

“IT GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF DO BAD ACTING.” — ERIN MORIARTY ON “STARRING” IN DAWN OF THE 7.

“IT MADE ME SAD, ACTUALLY, IT MADE ME REALLY SAD.” — Léa Seydoux, on first reading the end of No Time to Die.

“NEVER SAY NEVER.” — Stephen Amell on returning to the Arrowverse.

“There’s no way I’m going to play that part.” — Ethan Hawke on his initial reaction to playing The Grabber in The Black Phone.

“If you’re a carpenter, you build a lot of tables. Pretty soon, you are going to be great at making tables… On Community, we built a hell of a lot of tables.” — Joe Russo on how he developed as a director pre-Marvel.

V I S I T D E N O F G E E K . C O M F O R T H E L AT E S T I N T E R V I E W S , R E V I E W S , N E W S , A N D F E AT U R E S . 38

DEN OF GEEK

IMAGE CREDITS: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX (DEADPOOL), THE CW TELEVISION NETWORK (ARROW), PRIME VIDEO (MORIARTY)/ PHOTOTEST; ADOBE STOCK (FLIES, HOTDOGS)

SAY WHAT?

“I know it has its critics, but I actually think it’s a much better film than a lot of people say.”

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DEN OF GEEK MACMILLAN AUD IO

WE GO BEHIND THE SCENES O F T H E H I G H LY A N T I C I PAT E D DC MOVIE WITH D WAY N E J O H N S O N , DIRECTOR JAUM E C O L L E TSERRA, AND MORE! BY ROSIE KNIGHT

DEN OF GEEK

THE LONG JOURNEY OF

BL ACK ADAM

LIKE EVERY INTERVIEW DOES, OUR CHAT WITH DWAYNE JOHNSON BEGINS WITH A QUESTION. But it’s not Den of Geek asking it. Instead, Johnson wants to know how we feel about Black Adam and what it’s bringing to the world of superhero movies. The answer is, just like the star, excited. We’re on the Warner Bros. lot in Los Angeles to talk about Black Adam, and the actor is pursuing one of his favorite lines of conversation: what the fans of these iconic DC characters think about his upcoming blockbuster, which, in his words, will “disrupt” the superhero movie landscape. Johnson’s passion for Black Adam—the DC Comics antihero who was first introduced in 1941’s The Marvel Family #1 by C.C. Beck and Otto Binder—comes through as he

Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan) meets Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson).

talks. It’s that drive and enthusiasm that’s led him on a long, winding journey to bring the character to the big screen. “There’s nothing like him,” Johnson says. “There’s no character that I’ve ever felt more connected to for a variety of reasons.” That connection is so strong that Johnson has been working on bringing the DC antihero to life for a decade. And when we speak, he’s just unveiled the movie’s first full trailer for the first time. “It feels incredibly gratifying because it’s been a long time, a lot of ups and downs.”

WHO IS BLACK ADAM?

In the earliest comics, Black Adam was introduced as a Shazam villain. The character’s first story revealed that the wizard who bestowed the powers on Billy Batson originally

gave them to an ancient Egyptian hero who soon realized he had the power to rule the world. The wizard renamed him “Black Adam” and banished him to the farthest star. The character’s fearsome anger and quest for revenge eventually brought him back to Earth, which took him an unbelievable 5,000 years. Black Adam returned periodically through the years to battle Shazam, but it wasn’t until the late ’90s that he began the road to his unique antiheroic redemption. Over the decades, new layers were added to the character, including a rise to power as the leader of his fictional homeland, Kahndaq. In recent years, readers were introduced to his backstory as a former Kahndaqi enslaved man who only wanted to use his powers to save his people. It’s that tragic element to the character that helps inform Johnson’s vision for the movie, which will show the character in the ancient past as well as the modern day.

PIERCE BROSNAN IS DOCTOR FATE

How are you feeling about Black Adam and making your debut as Doctor Fate? PIERCE BROSNAN: I’m so excited about this film. I’ve actually never been so excited about something. I had such a great time making it with Dwayne and my compatriots. Were you a comic-book fan before making Black Adam? I am! I grew up in Ireland, and there was one comic book that my mother would send me all the time, and that was Dan Dare. So began my comic-book life, I suppose. I wasn’t really aware of Black Adam, [at the time]. Doctor Fate found me at a good point in my life; having traversed the world of James Bond and having been at the table as long as I have, it felt like a good fit. And Jaume is such a collaborative director—he made me very comfortable and gave me the confidence to portray Doctor Fate. Down to the design of the helmet, I was a participant, so it was an education for me to find out this character was so loved and one of the oldest heroes in the pantheon of comic books. As a lover of comics, what was it like to step into your first superhero role? It was a joy to play. You can get overwhelmed by trying to take on this universe. But you let all that go, and you play the humanity of the man who’s burdened with the beauty and the curse of this helmet. He’s shackled to this relic that wields so much power, he’s subservient to it. He tries to live his life with this beautiful trauma of seeing the future of what can happen to humankind. As an actor, if you go to the most human level of compassion, you release yourself from the technical aspects of it and leave it to the audience’s imagination. You mentioned your “compatriots.” What was it like to work alongside your JSA teammates? They have become dear cherished friends. Watching them, I was a member of the audience. I was bewitched by moviemaking. The sweet innocence of Cyclone, the erudite life that Quintessa has, mixed with the jovial charisma and big puppy dog energy of Noah. Then the commanding presence of Hawkman: my oldest friend, my commander, my leader. DEN OF GEEK

NOAH CENTINEO

Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, the JSA’s two newest members.

AS ATOM SMASHER

When you first started to learn about Atom Smasher, what was the thing that excited you about him the most? NOAH CENTINEO: What I love about Al at this place in his life is that he’s still very naïve. We get to watch a young superhero taking a lot of intense action in crosssections of morality for the very first time, and we see it start to mold him and affect him. The Atom Smasher, who we’ve come to read about in the comics, is usually the fully developed and adult version of himself. I’m excited to set a foundation to hopefully grow into and out of that. Can you tell us about the importance of Atom Smasher’s relationship with Cyclone? One of the important aspects of Cyclone and Atom Smasher’s relationship in the film is that together they lend two very different but fresh perspectives to one of Black Adam’s central ethoses. Another is that, and this is the root of their relationship, the audience gets to witness the phenomenal process of two young metahumans becoming heroes. How does coming from a family legacy of heroes and villains inform Al’s journey? Atom Smasher’s pedigree is a driving force for him. On one side, there’s a hovering darkness of his familial past, and there’s a fear and shame there that motivates him to drive a stake into the ground to differentiate himself from that past and say, “I am good,” even taking it upon himself to right the wrongs committed by his bloodline. And then you have, on the other side, his uncle, who is an absolute legend and his number one role model, really, who sets such a prime example for him to follow and leads the way for him to be good. How did it feel to first put on the costume? Oh my god, it felt like I was a kid again—a kid whose imagination had finally somehow fused together with reality. I mean, as a boy, I grew up pretending to be superheroes all the time, running around my room, backyard, playgrounds, recesses. And now, to be able to portray one in such an epic way is surreal, to say the least.

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Black Adam’s unique powerset and attitude are one of the reasons that Johnson and his collaborators see the character as a “disruptor,” both in the world of superheroes and the wider movie industry. “This world of superheroes has been around a long time and is responsible for a lot of massive business in our industry,” Johnson explains. “It’s responsible for some of the greatest movies of all time. But now you have this guy who, as our director likes to call him, is the Dirty Harry of superheroes.” Shifting the tone of what it means to be a hero in the DCEU is key to Johnson, who sees the movie as an opportunity to “expand the DC Universe” while introducing Black Adam as an anchoring force for what comes next. When Johnson talks about the character, it’s clear he’s in for the long haul, and Black Adam is only the beginning.

A H E R O I C U N D E R TA K I N G

While Johnson’s motivation and ambition have finally brought his dream of a Black Adam movie to fruition, there was a moment when the actor thought that his first foray into the world of superheroes might not happen. And it all goes back to the project where his conflicted antihero was originally supposed to debut: Shazam!.

It was initially the plan for that film to tell both Shazam and Black Adam’s origins side-by-side. But Johnson wasn’t convinced that this was the right approach. “There was always something funky about that,” he recalls. “I just didn’t feel it in my gut 100 percent… I didn’t think we should go in that direction.” (Ultimately, though, Johnson feels “the movie they made with Shazam! was tonally perfect.”) Johnson called then-New Line president (and later Warner Bros. Pictures chairman) Toby Emmerich and told him that the script pitting Black Adam against the heroic Shazam was “a collision of tone and energy.” Looking back now, Johnson says of that early version of the project, “I think it would have been fine for Shazam, but not good for Black Adam.” It was a nerve-wracking moment, but it ultimately paid off, as an hour later, Emmerich called him back and agreed. Johnson’s belief in Black Adam has led him here, but if the wait has felt long for fans, it’s been even more so for the actor, who describes himself as “frothing at the mouth,” knowing what’s in store for the DC Universe. “I have goosebumps right now thinking about this,” he says, “because you’re watching things unfold, knowing that we have an opportunity here to disrupt and change the paradigm.” To get a concept of just how long Johnson

has been waiting to unleash Black Adam, some of the projects that “unfolded” from then to now include 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, 2017’s Wonder Woman and Justice League, Aquaman (2018), Joker (2019), Birds of Prey and The Suicide Squad in 2020, and The Batman (2022). And, of course, 2019’s Black Adam-less Shazam!. “It’s been an incredible journey,” Black Adam producer and longtime Johnson collaborator Hiram Garcia tells us. “It has been a very long journey. But everything happens for a reason.” Like the rest of the world, Black Adam’s beginnings were impacted by the global pandemic. Even after years of ups and downs, Johnson says Covid was “the biggest roadblock” that the film came up against. As people worked out how to survive in a scary new world and how to make the best out of a bad situation, so did the team behind the movie. “We were rolling along, and then we got shut down,” Johnson explains. “But the shutdown made us say, ‘Are we telling the best story we can tell? Is there anything else that we’re leaving on the table that we know fans want to see?’ Because I’m a big believer in listening to the fans and what they want.” That’s a lesson he says he learned “very early on” in his wrestling career when he “wrestled in flea markets in front of 50 people… [the fans] will always guide you.” It’s something that’s clearly very important to Johnson, which shouldn’t come as a surprise because he’s a fan, too. “Since I was a little boy, I’ve admittedly always been into DC,” he says. “I’m of that time when on Saturday mornings, we had Super Friends. So I’ve always been a champion and advocate of DC heroes, but also the villains. DC has the best villains!” The reason why DC is known for having “the best villains” is because of how expansive, recognizable, and maniacal its rogues’ gallery is. In fact, some of them are better known than the heroes. Part of their appeal is that many of these villains have tragic backstories that have helped cement them in the pop-culture pantheon. Black Adam looks to continue that tradition.

F A M I LY C O M E S F I R S T

Throughout the trailer launch event and our chat, Johnson comes back to how the idea of family became the driving force for the film. The first trailer for the movie reveals that in the distant past, Adam’s son died to save him, which becomes a motivation for everything that comes after. It’s something that clearly inspires Johnson and his love for the potential of the character. “Having someone who was so dead set in his ways,” he says, “who has a code but the other side of that code is death if you fuck with his family,” was vital, especially because Johnson sees Adam’s love for his family as a path for growth, allowing the character to evolve as his journey unfolds. “That’s a big element of this movie, how important family is,” director Jaume Collet-Serra explains. Though the

creative team didn’t want to reveal “THERE’S NOTHING LIKE BLACK ADAM. too much, the director confirms that THERE’S NO CHARACTER THAT I’VE element plays into the character’s past and present in the film. Found EVER FELT MORE CONNECTED TO FOR families are at the heart of many of comics’ best stories. A VARIETY OF REASONS” And in Black Adam’s comic-book past, he has created close bonds Dwayne Johnson with the characters with whom he has aligned himself. powers up as the Among those characters are the Justice Society of eponymous antihero, America. The group first appeared in 1941’s All-Star Comics Black Adam. #3, which Johnson gleefully notes means they pre-date the Justice League by decades. And it’s true the JSA is the first comic book superhero team. Founding members include Hawkman and Doctor Fate—who will make their big-screen live-action debuts in Black Adam. The classic golden age team has fought many battles in comics and on TV, but has never appeared in a movie. The responsibility of building the first live-action cinematic JSA wasn’t something Johnson and the filmmakers took lightly. “I love that there was no reference for this—we have a chance to start from scratch,” Johnson says. “It’s rare to have an opportunity to introduce something that is beloved, that’s extremely well known, respected, honored, and embraced by comics fans that a large majority of the world does not know. We have that opportunity here to introduce these characters, but then also to bring in people who maybe have not seen a superhero movie.” In fact, the origins of Black Adam always included a plan to introduce DC’s oldest superteam and make them a key part of the DC films going forward. “The whole goal was that our film was going to set off a larger universe, where we were able to introduce the JSA and then also build from there,” says Johnson. Those foundations were key to building their Black Adam universe. “If audiences respond to these characters—which we believed that they would, and now we see that they do—we want to honor their mythologies and build out their stories on their own in terms of spin-offs, movies, TV shows, and things like that,” he says. “That was always important.” So who are the heroes that Johnson wants viewers to connect with? That would be two original JSA members—Hawkman, played by Aldis Hodge, and Doctor Fate, by Pierce Brosnan — and two young upstarts: Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone and Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher. “We had the unique opportunity to really be precise in terms of how to cast the movie and look for people that were really passionate and inhabited the role,” producer Beau Flynn explains. That included bringing a Hollywood icon to the comic-book movie world for the first time with the addition of Brosnan as Doctor Fate. “It’s crazy

that Pierce hadn’t been in [a superhero movie],” Flynn says. The longstanding legacy of Doctor Fate matches Brosnan’s own career. But there was a balance that the creative team wanted to bring. “There have been so many characters in the JSA,” Garcia says. “We wanted to anchor it in some of the original members [such as Hawkman and Doctor Fate]. Their history is fascinating.” But they also saw it as a chance to “inject some youth” into the movie with the addition of newer characters like Atom Smasher and Cyclone.

SHIFTING THE C I N E M AT I C PA R A D I G M

Black Adam is a first in many ways. It’s Johnson’s first superhero movie, it’s Black Adam’s first time in live-action, and it’s the big-screen debut of the JSA. That groundbreaking ethos continued behind the scenes, too. So how do you begin to construct a new superhero universe? Collet-Serra was best known for horror and action movies before he worked with Johnson on Jungle Cruise. That epic adventure gave him a chance to explore and experiment with a big-budget, special effects-laden film. Now he’s taking that even further with Black Adam. The chance to play in the epic blockbuster landscape and push the boundaries of what can be done in tentpole films is “what these big movies bring to the table for filmmakers,” Collet-Serra says. To take advantage of that (and to fill theaters), filmmakers need to become what the director calls “world creators.” With his catalog of gritty action and horror flicks, a superhero movie might seem unexpected for Collet-Serra even after Jungle Cruise, but the conflicted, morally gray world of Black Adam was a natural fit for the director. Shooting high-octane action is second nature, along with “the fact that Black Adam can be a little more questionable in his decisions and morality,” he says. That darker side of the film leans into something that he thinks audiences seek out. “They want to feel the danger when they’re watching something that’s a little bit risky.” The moral quandaries at the heart of Black Adam gave the director the chance to play with one of his favorite storytelling devices. “A character could be doing something that you really agree with but is it the right thing? I like to put the audience in that situation,” he says. Black Adam takes place in both the distant past and modern times, which poses challenges for the filmmakers. Collet-Serra didn’t have to just create a new world with the fictional nation of ancient Kahndaq, which is Black Adam’s birthplace, but he also had to craft a contemporary timeline, too. And that was before he introduced the rest of the movie’s superpowered cast. “I had not only one but five superheroes,” he says. “They all have their own powers and their outfits had to be designed from scratch.” Those supersuits, created by costume designers Kurt

QUINTESSA SWINDELL IS CYCLONE

What was it about Cyclone that first got you excited? QUINTESSA SWINDELL: Honestly, it was the way that they wanted to represent the character. It was definitely different from any other project I’d gotten. They wanted the character to be quirky, to have fun, and to resemble the experience that I, myself, would be going through in the filming process. This is the first time that she’s utilizing her powers on such a large level. So she’s excited about Doctor Fate. She’s excited about Hawkman. She’s excited about being a part of the team and also living in the legacy of Red Tornado. You mentioned Red Tornado. How does being a legacy character inform Cyclone? I think the interesting thing that this movie questions, in general, is who’s to say who’s a villain and who’s a hero? That’s a question that’s asked for each character. Cyclone has these moments when she’s looking around and asking, “What would Red Tornado do? What was that legacy? What is my legacy?” Which I feel like are questions that are asked among all people, whether it’s in real life or whether it’s in comics: “What do I want to do? And who do I want to do it for?” She’s constantly asking these questions. And she’s incredibly intelligent. She’s weighing everything that she’s doing and wondering what’s the most reasonable outcome of this. Could you tell us a little more about Cyclone’s relationship with Atom Smasher? It’s really important because we’re the newcomers. We’re both just starting to use our powers for something. So I think we’re each other’s counterparts. We balance each other; we’re a team and a unit. It’s interesting how they come together. There are scenes with both of us where we’re just asking each other about our origin stories. It’s very cute. In the comics, Cyclone’s origin is a tragic one. How does that shape her journey? She’s not born with her powers. Her powers were inflicted upon her by a mad scientist. So I think it’s really interesting, being in a position that you didn’t choose and deciding that it’s not about the situation, it’s about what you do in that situation. DEN OF GEEK

ALDIS HODGE

Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, one of the founding members of the Justice Society of America.

IS HAWKMAN

What first excited you about playing Hawkman? ALDIS HODGE: It was his affiliations, his history, who he was to DC. He’s been all over, he’s been through so many different things. He’s touched so many different stories. When we first started, I didn’t know what journey they were taking him on. So I was getting excited thinking about what the next journey is for him. And I couldn’t wait to see what the costume looked like.

How was it getting to have Pierce as your BFF in the movie? I don’t know if you know, but 007 is my bestie? Pierce is cool. That is the coolest brother. And they brought that to all the casting. Noah is one of the sweetest guys ever. Quintessa is amazing, really artsy, we still share art and fashion stuff together. What’s it like to be part of a new superhero universe? We are part of the inception, we get to establish what some of those marquee rules are. We get to have fun with building out more, we get to be architects, and that’s what I love the most about this experience. Talking to Jaume [Collet-Serra], he was like, “So what do you want to do?” I asked, “What about the hair?” So when they told me, “Do what you want with the hair,” my boy, Art Williams—who has been a brother to me and my barber for 13 years now—we got together to design and create the hair for Hawkman. 48

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Swanson and Bart Muller (who work under the shared name Kurt and Bart), are something that Collet-Serra is particularly proud of. Each of the heroes’ looks was brought to life with 3D printing technology that the director explains “has advanced so much [that] you can really create a sense of depth in them.” Black Adam is bringing another first to the table, too, when it comes to Johnson and his costume: “We don’t know any other superhero who doesn’t have any padding in the suit,” Garcia laughs. “They had to take padding out,” Flynn adds. Stepping into the costume and taking on the mantle of Black Adam is “an honor,” according to Johnson, and not something he took lightly, “from the work that I was willing to put in to prepare physically to immersing myself in all these worlds.”

TA K I N G F L I G H T

When it came to how to make Black Adam fly, Collet-Serra and special effects supervisor J.D. Schwalm—best known for his Academy Award-winning work on First Man—knew they needed to break new ground. “It used to be that you put an actor on wires,” the director explains, “and wires are so limiting for many reasons. So we were, I think, one of the first to actually use robots.” The idea was born of necessity. Black Adam flies, yes, but he also levitates. So the team needed to find a way to do that which looked smooth, natural, and cool as hell. “J.D. Schwalm brought, basically, a car manufacturing robot,

IMAGE CREDITS: WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC.

What does Hawkman bring to the JSA? Moral foundation. He has a bit of a sordid history, his past is peppered with barbarism. He’s truly a warrior. And he brings all of that to a point of making a decision to use his savagery for good. His choice, because of what he’s been through, is to reach for justice, regardless of what sacrifices are made along the way. Everybody who knows the history of Hawkman and why he is destined to constantly reincarnate will understand why his choice is what it is. He’s a man who’s constantly tested, and the thing that I love about this film is we get to see the friendship that keeps him steady, that friendship with Doctor Fate.

“I’M CALM BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT WE’VE MADE. I THINK FANS ARE GONNA REALLY ENJOY IT. NOT ONLY THE QUALITY, BUT THE SWING WE TOOK TO HONOR THE MYTHOLOGY” one of those arms, and he adapted it so that Dwayne could stand on it,” the director reveals. Schwalm then programmed the device with what Collet-Serra calls “very intricate moves,” meaning that they could truly bring Black Adam to life in the air. That wasn’t the only new technology that the crew used to make sure they were changing the way superhero movies were made, expanding on the Volume technology that Lucasfilm made famous with The Mandalorian to create virtual environments. “We put Dwayne in a completely 360-degree, very small Volume with a hundred cameras,” Collet-Serra says. “His whole body becomes a CG asset, and his performance then can be inserted into a shot, and we can use any virtual camera move on him.”

This technique means the team can create not only a CG version of Black Adam but also a world for him to exist in. “I would go on set, get put in the apparatus, and start flying,” Johnson says. “Not only did it allow [director of photography] Larry Sher and Jaume to be able to see the scene as I’m flying, I saw it too, in 360 degrees, and where I would lean, the city would lean. I would fly around buildings but I’m watching myself do this and controlling it. It was unbelievable.”

E X PA N D I N G T H E D C E U

As to whether—as fans ask him every day—Black Adam will ever follow his comic-book counterpart in facing off with Superman, Johnson offers an almost philosophical answer. In the comics, the pair have fought multiple times, as Johnson knows, but someday he hopes for something simpler: “The dream is just to have them acknowledge each other.” In his mind, it’s not quite the handshake that we see in the comic-book pages, but “just a head nod,” a recognition from both that “we exist’’ at the same time and in the same vast DC Universe. After the long and winding path to the film, Johnson is feeling confident. “I’m just calm and in the pocket because I know what we’ve made,” he says. “I think we made a really good movie. I think fans are gonna really enjoy it. I think they’re gonna appreciate it. Not only the quality, but the swing we took to honor the mythology.” Black Adam hits theaters on Oct. 21, 2022.

Battle of the Centuries BY JIM DANDENEAU

Marvel’s big summer crossover pits the X-Men against the Eternals, with the Avengers caught in the middle. It’s going to be huge…

IMAGE CREDITS: MARVEL COMICS

HOW THE HELL has Kieron Gillen never written a summer event comic before? Gillen is the writer behind Eisnerand Hugo-nominated comics such as perennial Den of Geek favorites Once & Future and The Wicked + The Divine. But even before that, he was part of that mid-aughts wave of Image writers who took over Marvel’s flagship books. Gillen wrote a couple of excellent Utopia-era X-Men books (Generation Hope and Uncanny X-Men), as well as a beloved run with Kid Loki that helped inspire one Disney+ show and a relaunch of Young Avengers with Jamie McKelvie that is likely going to have an impact on the MCU further down the line. And yet, somehow, his first blockbuster comics crossover is out in 2022. AXE: Judgment Day is a six-issue series that ties Gillen’s work on the recently completed Eternals series with his story in the ongoing X-Men flagship title, Immortal X-Men, along with what Jason Aaron has been building toward in Avengers. “I’m just interested in writing consequences,” Gillen tells us when we ask about the crossover. “The starting point [of AXE] is this is the book that emerges from

the tensions between [Eternals and Immortal X-Men].” Gillen launched Immortal X-Men earlier this year with art from Lucas Werneck. There, mutants are at the pinnacle of their power: they control Krakoa, one of the most powerful nations on Earth; they terraformed and colonized Mars with a million battle-hardened mutants from a hell dimension; and they are, as the title says, functionally immortal— each time a mutant dies, they are resurrected by the combined mutant powers of The Five, who are hard at work bringing back every mutant who has ever died. The book follows the ruling council of Krakoa, the heroes (like Storm and Nightcrawler) and villains (like Mister Sinister or Mystique) who govern all mutantkind. “What I love about the X-Men is… the extended cast of mutantdom, they’re all the same team. They just occasionally disagree with each other,” Gillen says. So too do the Eternals. The question with hero-versus-hero crossovers like this is inevitably, “Which side is

right?” Each team has its fans, and even the heroes on the wrong side need to at least look slightly sympathetic. In AXE, Gillen tells us, “the Eternals are bad guys here,” a journey that started when he relaunched their book last year with Esad Ribic and Matt Wilson. The Eternals are superpowered beings sent to Earth ostensibly to protect it from the Deviants, an offshoot race subject to uncontrolled expansion and mutation. Eternals are limited in number, vastly powerful, and also functionally immortal. They discover in the series, though, that there’s a catch to their immortality: each time one of them dies, a human is killed to resurrect the Eternal. This discovery, in the pages of Gillen’s run, leads to a schism where the more heroic Eternals such as Ikaris (think Superman, but less subtle) and Thena (often mistaken for the Greek goddess Athena) abandon Eternal society, opening the door for their less scrupulous brothers and sisters, like the power-hungry cynic Druig or the imprisoned religious fanatic Uranos, to take control of Eternal society. “The Marvel Universe is in desperate need of good villains,” says Gillen. “The Eternals are a complicated group DEN OF GEEK

of people, some of which are as bad as Apocalypse or Sinister. And sometimes they’re in charge.” As AXE dawns, Druig, who schemed his way onto the Eternal throne after manipulating Thanos (yes, that Thanos) into a near-extinction level event, tries to consolidate control through his genocidal, imprisoned uncle, Uranos. Uranos’ heresy takes the Eternals’ programming to “correct excess deviation” to a logical, genocidal extreme. In the past, he used it to justify making entire classes of animals extinct, defining them as “excess deviation.” In AXE, Druig uses it to justify the mass slaughter of Krakoan and Martian mutants. There are, of course, multiple sides to the Eternals’ internal conflict. The heroic faction that walked away from The Machine that resurrects them is living with the Deviants and trying to find a way to break their own programming. The Uranite maniacs left behind and led by Druig are another—they see value in Uranos’ methods, both in his broad application of the rule on “excess deviation” and in his belief that the gods who created them and required their service are idiots who should be torn down. But there’s a third faction, and it’s one that harkens back to Gillen’s first time writing the X-Men. “If you read the Eternals story [beginning with Jack Kirby and through] the Neil Gaiman/ John Romita, Jr. run, into Charles and Daniel Knauf and Daniel Acuña’s run, that story is basically them building the Dreaming Celestial and this whole new religion for the Eternals,” Gillen says. “And then a series of X-Men

AVENG ERS

W H AT TO READ BEFOR E A XE

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AVENGERS: THE FINAL HOST (collects Avengers #1-6 and material from Free Comic Book Day 2018) The Avengers of 1,000,000 BCE start causing problems on Earth as the Avengers of the present-day set up in the hollow corpse of the dead Progenitor Celestial.

ETERNALS AVENGERS: ENTER THE PHOENIX (collects Avengers #39-45)

ETERNALS: ONLY DEATH IS ETERNAL (collects Eternals #1-6)

The Phoenix Force—formerly the X-Men’s Jean Grey, one of the fundamental forces of creation in the universe and potential competitor to the Celestials—chooses a new host on Earth. And she’s an Avenger.

The opening salvo of Kieron Gillen’s Eternals: Only Death is Eternal features spectacular art from Esad Ribic and lays the groundwork for an Eternal society that becomes genocidal.

writers just chop up the Dreaming Celestial for parts. [Laughing] Like me.” Ajak and Makkari are a counterpoint to the Uranite heretics —rather than loathing their gods, they’re just going to build a new one, and they show up at the end of the issue in the Avengers base (the husk of a different dead Celestial) with Gillen’s butcher of the Dreaming Celestial and Krakoan ruling councilmember, Mister Sinister, in tow. The Avengers have mostly been innocent bystanders in the bubbling conflict between the Eternals and the X-Men. Well, other than the fact that they’ve made the corpse of a dead Eternal god their headquarters. Or that one-time Eternals Ajak and Makkari broke into that dead godslash-Avengers office space to try to talk to its ghost, revealing to the Avengers that the world was on the verge of destruction at the hands of the new Prime Eternal, Thanos. It was a rough patch for everyone involved. Things aren’t all sunshine and roses between the Avengers and X-Men, either. By the time Judgment Day starts, the secret of Krakoan resurrection has been revealed to the world. “There’s some tension between the Avengers and the X-Men at the moment, especially with the reveal of the secret of immortality,” Gillen says, “but I don’t think the Avengers are gonna go to war for that.” And they don’t, at least at the start. Their role is more expository at the beginning: they’re trying to figure out what’s going on. Post-Thanos, Eternal society remains a mystery for the Avengers, and Judgment Day opens

with Tony Stark and company doing something about it: bringing Sersi back to their base for interrogation and finally discovering how out of the loop the good Eternals really are. Valerio Schiti and Marte Gracia are the art team for AXE: Judgment Day, and what we see on the page is immaculate summer blockbuster comic art. “I was very conscious of trying to encourage what I consider a modern, state-of-the-art blockbuster aesthetic,” Gillen says. So the opening shot of the issue will certainly evoke

“THE MARVEL UNIVERSE IS IN DESPERATE NEED OF GOOD VILLAINS… SOME OF THE ETERNALS ARE AS BAD AS APOCALYPSE OR SINISTER.” that same sense of wonder as the establishing shot in House of X #1, but it also goes back a bit further. “For me, the opening shot, I was thinking of The Ultimates,” Gillen says. “[Ultimates co-creators Bryan] Hitch and [Mark] Millar, they regularly did an opening shot of New York. They were trying to ground it… treat it as Earth and remind people all that stuff is about people.” The people-level consequences will probably be felt most acutely through the main characters of the book: Ajak, Druig, and Sersi on the Eternals side;

Captain America and Iron Man on the Avengers; and Nightcrawler, Exodus, and Mister Sinister for the X-Men. Gillen will also be writing several tie-ins: AXE: Death to the Mutants with Guiu Vilanova will tell the conflict’s story from the Eternals’ point of view. “Phastos is a bit-player [in the main book], but he’s much more important in Death to the Mutants,” Gillen says. “Ikaris is doing cool stuff in the main book, but the real story of his utter desolation at this situation [is there].” He’s also writing the tie-in issues of Immortal X-Men. Each issue of that series has focused on a specific member of the Quiet Council, and those perspective shifts will continue during the AXE tie-ins. “Immortal X-Men #6 is basically Exodus versus one of The Hex,” says Gillen, referring to the giant Celestial-looking Eternals from Uranos’ armory rising from the Pacific Ocean during AXE #1. “I get to do bits of each one’s perspective. Both sides think they’re losing.” Immortal X-Men #6 will be through Sebastian Shaw’s eyes, the ruthless former head of the Hellfire Club who is now one of the more politically savvy members of the council. And Immortal X-Men #7 comes during the third act of the crossover, so that means hero time. As Gillen teases: “Everyone’s backs are against the wall, it’s tight, and can Nightcrawler hold it all together?” It’s not clear if he can, but if the first issue is anything to go by, it should be a hell of a ride. AXE: Judgment Day #1 is published on July 20, with issue #2 arriving in August. The story continues through September.

X-MEN ETERNALS: HAIL THANOS; THANOS RISES; ETERNALS: CELESTIA; ETERNALS #7-9; ETERNALS: THE HERETIC; ETERNALS #10-12 A schism opens among the Eternals as Druig schemes his way to the throne. Thanos takes control and meets his uncle, Uranos, who’s even worse.

INFERNO (collects Inferno #1-4) The utopia created by the mutants begins to unravel as mutantkind’s greatest precog, Destiny, is resurrected. She carries a grudge back from beyond the grave against Krakoa’s architect and longtime X-Men ally, Moira MacTaggert.

X LIVES & DEATHS OF WOLVERINE (collects X Lives of Wolverine #1-5 and X Deaths of Wolverine #1-5) Moira, now ostracized from mutant society, starts this book as Sarah Conner and ends it as a T-800 as she goes full villain to become the greatest threat that Krakoa has ever faced.

IMMORTAL X-MEN #1-4

Kieron Gillen does an ambitious deep dive into the machinations, alliances and sinister secrets of Krakoa’s mutant leaders, The Quiet Council, as they navigate a post-Moira world, only to have the next greatest threat staring them down: the Eternals. DEN OF GEEK

Diego Luna returns as rebel hero Cassian Andor in Andor.

TV PREVI DEN OF GEEK LOOKS FORWARD TO THE HOTTEST NEW SCI-FI, FANTASY, HORROR, AND COMIC BOOK SHOWS COMING TO YOUR TELEVISION SCREENS SUMMER AND BEYOND…

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ANDOR

DIEGO LUNA DIGS UP CASSIAN’S DARK PAST IN THE NEXT SMALLS C R E E N S T A R W A R S . BY JOHN SAAVEDRA

FROM THE MOMENT HE STEPS onto the screen, you know this rebel is not like the others. Cassian Andor can be cold and ruthless, has a certain air of danger about him, and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty—even if it means killing an informant in a tight spot. When we first meet him in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Cassian is a far cry from the altruistic rebel heroes featured in the morally blackand-white movies George Lucas made in the late ’70s/early ’80s. As we spend more time with Cassian, we learn he’s the agent the Rebel Alliance sends in when it’s time to go off the books. But how did this lifelong freedom fighter become the Rebellion’s

starring :

foremost assassin? That’s the question at the center of Andor, a new liveaction series coming to Disney+ in August. The spy thriller follows Cassian five years before the events of Rogue One and reunites actor Diego Luna with writer-director Tony Gilroy, who oversaw extensive reshoots for the 2016 movie. When Luna sits down to chat with Den of Geek over Zoom, there’s clear enthusiasm, but also relief, in his voice. Andor is finally seeing the light of day, but the 42-year-old actor is quick to point out how tough the shoot was—cameras started rolling in the UK in Nov. 2020 in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The show

DIEGO LUNA, GENEVIEVE O’REILLY, STELLAN SKARSGÅRD, ADRIA ARJONA, FIONA SHAW eta : AUG. 31, DISNEY+

was originally supposed to film earlier that year, but production delays across virtually every studio on the planet meant that Luna was left to wonder if he’d ever actually get a second chance to play Cassian: “I went through so many stages, different ones of thinking this wasn’t happening, there was no need for something like this. Then I went, ‘Oh, we have to do this. The whole team needs to know that they’re capable of pulling this off.’” Luna, who hails from Mexico, grew up a Star Wars fan, like most other kids born in the late ’70s. The saga, which in Spanish is called La guerra de las galaxias, has always been a big part of his life. Yet, as an actor, Luna’s stellar career has largely been defined not by Star Wars-sized blockbusters but by Oscar-nominated dramas, such as Alfonso and Carlos Cuarón’s coming-of-age road trip movie Y tu mamá también, in which he starred opposite Maribel Verdú and childhood friend Gael García Bernal. That film, which is set in 1999 against the backdrop of a major political shift in Mexico where the ruling party was ousted after 71 years in power, was an international hit and broke box office records in Luna’s home country. It also launched the movie career of the actor, who, at the time, was best known from telenovelas. On top of many other Spanish-language productions, he’s also worked with Steven Spielberg (The Terminal), Gus Van Sant (Milk), and Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk). One can guess the reason why Luna has had such a fruitful acting career: he is very passionate about his roles. As he recounts what it was like suiting up as a younger version of his Star Wars character four years after the release of Rogue One, you get the sense that there’s quite a bit of Cassian in the actor, who is loyal to the cause and driven to get the job done, no matter the odds, until the very end. “It was quite an experience,” Luna says of wrapping the show’s first season. “I don’t think anything in my life has been like that. And I’m sure nothing will be like that ever again. It was such a mix of emotions.” DEN OF GEEK

“WE KNOW WHERE THIS CHARACTER ENDS, BUT HOW COMPLICATED CAN WE MAKE IT FOR H I M T O G E T T H E R E?” –DIEGO LUNA

“We know where this character ends, but how complicated can we make it for him to get there? And that’s where creativity comes in because it’s never the way you approach a story. It’s like a different part of your brain that has to connect,” Luna says. “It’s exciting to have that opportunity in storytelling of going backward and not forward. Going forward is easy. As an actor, this is what you’re always asked to do.” Rogue One doesn’t reveal very much about Cassian’s past, but the spy does mention that he’s been fighting the Empire since he was six years old. That line, and the backstory Luna formed in his head to better understand his character’s motivations in the movie, are the jumping-off points for the show. But back in 2016, Luna assumed that Cassian’s origin 58

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Adria Arjona (Morbius, Good Omens) joins the Star Wars universe.

criticism. After all, social commentary was at the core of the first six Star Wars movies—the Original Trilogy tackled the Vietnam War and the Nixon era, while the Prequels were especially prescient in the ways that they explored how complacent democracies can give rise to fascism. Much of the Sequel Trilogy and the other big-screen “Star Wars Story”, Solo, seemed to forget this core tenet of Star Wars storytelling, but not Rogue One, which very much felt like a reflection of the political turmoil of 2016—even as it homaged A New Hope—and Andor seems poised to follow suit. Gilroy and Luna have both said that the show talks about how the disenfranchised can stand up to effect change. In Luna’s own words: “Trying to find the opportunities, the freedom, the chances they don’t find where they’re born. That energy is inside Cassian.” “When I was acting, when I was trying to think what each moment meant, I was trying to find reference to my life,” Luna says of finding a personal entry point into the character and story of Cassian Andor. “I think Star Wars has always been great at that. It always speaks about its time.

IMAGE CREDITS: LUCASFILM

But to some viewers, a show about Cassian might seem like an odd choice. Didn’t we watch him die, obliterated by the Death Star, in Rogue One? What’s the point of exploring this character’s past when we already know how it all ends? But since 1977, Star Wars has often worked backward, showing us the ends of things before taking us all the way back to the start of the story. Andor continues that tradition. “For me, Rogue One is the beginning of something,” Luna says. “I’m so happy to be able to dig in deeper.” In fact, the actor views “going backward” with the tale of Cassian Andor as an exciting challenge.

story (“Something that was very personal and that just belonged to me”) would only live on in his imagination—he never thought we would see the rebel’s formative moments on the screen. “All this story just happened in my mind. It wasn’t relevant to anyone. He talks about a traumatic past, but there is no specificity,” Luna says. “Obviously, as an actor, I had my backstory. You don’t arrive on set without knowing where you’re coming from and what motivates every decision your character makes, but that’s information that no one cared about for years.” According to the actor, fleshing out the character’s history with Gilroy and the writing team for Andor “was like when you dream something, and then suddenly, you’re talking about that dream with others… I was asked so many times, ‘What were you thinking when you said this? What was your backstory in this moment?’” While the series has already been greenlit for a second season that sets up the events of Rogue One, the Cassian Andor we’ll meet at the start of the show isn’t all that interested in revolution and definitely isn’t willing to sacrifice himself for the Rebel cause. Instead, Andor season one is the story of a migrant trying to survive in a foreign (and hostile) place. We learn on the show that, when he was just a boy, Cassian’s home planet was taken over by the Empire, forcing him to escape off-world. Much of his anger toward the Empire stems from this traumatic event and the feeling that his home was ripped away from him. “It’s difficult to find out where he comes from because obviously he’s been forced to move,” Luna says. “And today, the story of a refugee is a story that is very pertinent to the world and where we find it. It’s so difficult to find yourself in a place where people aren’t coming from somewhere else.” Disney’s recent Star Wars films have sometimes been criticized for being too preoccupied with the past, taking a more nostalgic view of Lucas’ work instead of trying to say something new about the present moment. It’s a valid

Genevieve O’Reilly, reprising her role as Rebellion leader Mon Mothma, alongside Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael.

Killing Eve’s Fiona Shaw as Maarva, a character seemingly on board with the Rebels.

And that’s what makes, not just this project, but Star Wars really important for so many.” Although Luna first displayed his genre acting chops in Neill Blomkamp’s 2013 sci-fi actioner Elysium, Rogue One is his biggest film to date—in terms of budget, scale, and expectations—and it solidified his place as a mainstream popcorn movie star who could carry a major franchise offering. But Rogue One was an ensemble piece. Andor is all about Luna, who joins a growing list of Latin American leads in modern Star Wars stories. Yet, even in the company of Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron and Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin, what Cassian represents is unique. As Luna points out, no other character in Star Wars even sounds like Cassian. “He fights on a team where no one speaks like him and he’s surrounded by so many different accents in Rogue One,” Luna says. “That speaks to that diversity, that richness, and it has a lot to do with the world you and I live in. And that’s the beauty of this story, of these characters, and the braveness of Rogue One.” Its use of performers’ natural accents is just one way that Rogue One weaved real-world meaning into its story of heroes of different backgrounds uniting to fight a system that seeks to devalue or other them. The movie also introduced new faiths and cultural identities, and the Star Wars universe now feels so much bigger and more diverse because of it. Andor seems to take a similar approach by centering a refugee who’s trying to make it on a planet that’s not his own and then defend that place from an Empire that assimilates and strips away people’s rights. On display, even in the show’s first teaser, is that important element of social commentary that’s been missing from recent Star Wars fare. “I can tell you, everyone in [Andor] is there because they have something to say, and that’s a beautiful thing to be part of,” Luna says. “We need to work, we need to tell stories, and we need to remind ourselves that what we do is important.” DEN OF GEEK

ANNE RICE’S INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE CREATOR ROLIN JONES PROMISES AMC’S REVAMP WILL MAKE YOU FORGET BRAD PITT AND THAT O T H E R G U Y . BY TONY SOKOL “THE WORLD CHANGES, WE DO NOT, THEREIN LIES THE IRONY THAT kills us,” Anne Rice wrote in Interview with the Vampire. AMC will test that theory. Its upcoming series is based on the books but set in a changed world. Adaptations of Rice’s works always find controversy. There will be alterations, and “Vampire Chronicles” fans can be resistant to change. The timeline now starts in the Jazz Age, and Louis (Jacob Anderson) owns brothels instead of plantations. Sam Reid is Lestat, whose first-book character reflects the full book series’ persona. Bailey Bass plays the young plague victim turned immortal child, Claudia, now aged 14. Creator/writer Rolin Jones believes those three names will set the new standard for the modern vampire.

What will longtime Anne Rice fans enjoy in this new telling? Rolin Jones: People who are very familiar with the first three books will be very happy. Fans will know when I speak of the difference between the Lestat who is in books two through 12, and the Lestat who is in book one. Anne, obviously, hadn’t written the Lestat that she ended up landing on when she wrote Interview with the Vampire. We’re building a universe. We actually have more knowledge 60

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than Anne did when she wrote Interview because we have the follow-up books. There will be some differences, but it’s generally locale and time and setting. I think the fans will be very excited about how much of Anne’s prose made it into our series. What fan backlash are you predicting? Look, if you can make it through these first seven episodes, I’ll be back at

starring : SAM REID, JACOB

ANDERSON, BAILEY BASS, ERIC BOGOSIAN eta : FALL, AMC

Comic-Con next year, and if you’re still upset with me, I will set myself up at a booth, and you can kick me in the shins. I’ll be there for you. I really do think [the fans] will be surprised at how we are constantly going back to the book. How does the contemporary setting affect the timeline? One of the things AMC asked when they tasked me with the gig was: here and now, how does it change? Prince Lestat is the first time Anne talked about how difficult it is to be a vampire with technology as it is today. The timeline is not going to be wildly different. Lestat was born exactly when he was born. He might meet Louis a little bit later than in the books. We’d go into a big hole if we were to write the Lestat from book one because book two and onward is the “Brat Prince.” We wanted to quickly establish the Lestat that she settled on and put him back into the first book. We made Louis an African American, which is not a swing if you consider the demographics of New Orleans. Will the new adaptation be able to explore the fluid sexuality of the books? It’s aggressive subtext in the first book, but by the time you read books eight

many hours. We decided to make her trapped in all the chemical excitements of puberty, and we put our Claudia at 14. How does Eric Bogosian’s Daniel Molloy vary from the book? He was a boy when he did the interview in 1973, and we are seeing him now in 2020. He is a journalist who is capable of asking really cutting questions.

and nine, it was the love affair of the century. Without spoiling too much, subtext becomes text in our show. How did you cast Lestat? You can imagine the number of tapes that were sent in for auditions for this. When Sam Reid’s first tape came in, I would be lying if I did not say: “This is not Lestat.” Then he started to speak. He had a facility with language and this alien presence that immediately made him feel like he was different from anybody.

IMAGE CREDITS: ALFONSO BRESCIANI/AMC/ MARVEL STUDIOS

Why is Louis’ situation changed from the book? To be perfectly frank, I didn’t know how to tell the plantation owner story. I wasn’t going to be the writer to do it. The other reason was aesthetic. If you were going to make this heightened Gothic drama, what is the next period in New Orleans where there was a sexiness, a feast of the senses? I’ll say this, we’ve given Louis a little bit more of a spine. How did you update Rice’s immortal child, Claudia? Claudia, for me, personally, is her greatest creation. The five- or six-yearold girl permanently trapped in that body is aggressively original. I think everybody knows the origin of the book, the passing of Anne’s child, and the great depths of mourning these pages are soaked in. Claudia is this stunning creation. It was very important for us to shoot in New Orleans, where child labor laws say your actor can only work so

What are you most excited about for this adaptation? Most people have this image of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. In this, the

emotional stakes are super high. It’s Love with a capital L and Hate with a capital H, Remorse and Regret, and mostly reverence and respect. I gotta say, I’m really mostly excited for everybody to see Sam and Jake. You will not be thinking about Tom and Brad, ever again. Of that, I am supremely confident. It’s a very big, grand show. AMC is taking all the right risks on this thing. They are putting something very aggressive out there. They put more money into this than they thought they would, and I don’t think that they’re upset about it. There’s a big, big thing coming.

SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW BY KIRSTEN HOWARD TATIANA MASLANY, MARK RUFFALO, TIM ROTH, JAMEELA JAMIL eta : AUG. 17, DISNEY+ starring :

MARVEL STUDIOS’ ONGOING

Disney+ ride takes another wild turn this summer with the arrival of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. In the upcoming show, Jennifer Walters, a single attorney in her 30s, has to balance her working life with a sudden, green-skinned Hulk affliction. Anyone familiar with She-Hulk’s lead actress, Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany, will know that she can easily slip into a variety of guises, but this might be her most challenging transformation to date: a 6-foot-7-inch superhero! Will you like Jennifer when she’s angry? That remains to be seen, as there have been some questions surrounding the production techniques that Marvel has used to bring her to life. But unlike this year’s Moon Knight, She-Hulk will definitely

have links to the MCU films, so fans might find this story easier to digest. Straight out of the pages of Marvel Comics, Jennifer is indeed the cousin of Bruce Banner, and Mark Ruffalo will reprise his iconic movie role in this series. Also returning are Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/the Abomination and Benedict Wong as Wong. If She-Hulk sticks closely to the comics, we may also see more cameos from superheroes and villains, both old and new, as Jennifer specializes in legal cases involving superhumans. And, for those who have been missing The Good Place’s Jameela Jamil in live-action on the small screen, we have some good news: Jamil plays a key role in She-Hulk. She’ll be clashing with Jennifer as super-strong rival Titania. DEN OF GEEK

QUANTUM LEAP I T ’ S A L M O S T 30 Y E A R S S I N C E W E DISCOVERED DR. SAMUEL BECKETT “NEVER RETURNED HOME” AFTER STEPPING INTO THE QUANTUM LEAP ACCELERATOR. BUT NOW SOMEBODY ELSE IS GOING TO DO T H E T I M E W A R P … BY CHRIS FARNELL WE’LL DEAL WITH THE MOST controversial change first. The new Quantum Leap series will not begin each episode with the show’s star, Raymond Lee, looking into a mirror and saying, “Oh boy!” “I think obviously the idea of him looking into a mirror and seeing another person’s reflection will be core to the show, and we’ll have those moments,” concedes writer and executive producer Steven Lilien. “I think the ‘Oh boy!’ was so specific to Sam Beckett, and I think we’re trying to carve out a new path for our character, Ben.” The original Quantum Leap told the adventures of Dr. Sam Beckett after his time travel experiment leaves him jumping randomly through different times and different bodies. His 62

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adventures saw him play the roles of Lee Harvey Oswald, Elvis Presley, and on one memorable occasion, a chimp in the space program. It’s a strong, high-concept idea, but rather than taking that premise and starting from scratch, the new series will be set 30 years after the original, with new characters. “When we sat down to tackle this project, it felt like we wanted to honor and respect what came before and build on it,” Lilien says. The new show will respect the continuity and lore of the original series but will also aim to be a good jumping-on point for new audiences. It will also aim to preserve the heart of the original series. “The idea of walking in someone else’s shoes and how powerful that

starring : RAYMOND LEE, MASON ALEXANDER PARK, ERNIE HUDSON eta : SEPT. NBC

idea is, it’s still relevant, if not more relevant today,” says Bryan Wynbrandt, Lilien’s co-writer and executive producer on the show. That idea of empathy will be accompanied by fun fish-out-of-water stories, some of them wish fulfillment, some more thrilling and dangerous. This will all sound familiar to fans of the original show, but the new Quantum Leap is also unafraid to experiment with the formula. While in the original series, the audience rarely saw more of the present beyond Sam Beckett and his holographic sidekick, Al, the new series will broaden that canvas. “You have the leaps of the week, but you have an ongoing narrative that is the mystery of why did Ben leap?” Wynbrandt adds. “What is he after? What is really going on?” Unlike the original series, this Quantum Leap will be far more than the story of a man and his hologram. “We’re going to be spending a great deal of time within the world of Quantum Leap,” Lilien says. “What does this top-secret government time travel project look like, and who are the characters that inhabit that world?” Ben, played by Raymond Lee, will be backed up by a stellar cast including Caitlin Bassett, Ernie

Hudson, Mason Alexander Park, and Nanrisa Lee. Although rarely seen, Sam’s Quantum Leap Project included a “waiting room” where the historical figures Beckett body-swapped with would wait while he inhabited their bodies, but this won’t make an appearance. “There’s a scientific quantum principle called the law of superposition where two entities can hold the same time and space at the same time,” Wynbrandt explains, although this is a storytelling solution as much as a scientific one. “We personally felt the waiting room was a little difficult to wrap our minds around, so we’re actually moving on from it.” Of course, the “waiting room” was only one aspect of Quantum Leap’s

time travel logistics that needed thinking through. “In the original series, Sam saved his brother’s life, and then his brother was alive in his life and they did things like that,” Wynbrandt says. “So we’re not going to shy away from the causality of changing things.” At the same time, the premise has always been “to set right what once went wrong.” “In some ways, it’s repairing the timeline, not changing the timeline,” Wynbrandt points out. “But we are going to play with the causality of what’s happening. And we, with our writer’s room, we talk about this a lot.” Along with the “How?” there are also plenty of questions to answer about the “Why?” “I think those are the interesting

arguments. Who’s in control? Who makes the decision? And that’s the idea of free will and fate and predestination,” Lilien says. “We’re not going to shy away from that. I think the fun is you never really know, right? I mean, that’s up for interpretation by the viewer. But I think each character will wrestle and have a point of view on them.” Beyond that, there is only one more big question audiences will want the answer to. “I think we’d all love to see Sam Beckett,” Lilien says. “I think it’s comforting knowing that he’s out there helping people. We’d love to see that character again. But for now, we want to focus on our characters and invest our audience in this new set of characters and get excited for their story.”

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER BY JULIETTE RANDLE

IMAGE CREDITS: NBC UNIVERSAL/AMAZON STUDIOS

THE RINGS OF POWER IS, AT THE

time of writing, the most expensive TV show ever made, with season one costing Amazon $465 million. That alone makes it an intriguing prospect, and the production values are expected to be sky-high. There’s more to this show than just having a bucketload of money thrown at it, though. The Rings of Power is set to adapt some of the least fleshed-out parts of Tolkien’s Middle-earth mythology, taking the bare bones of its narrative from the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings and building a complex, coherent story spread across what Amazon hopes will be several seasons of television. It follows the story of the Second Age of Middle-earth, the Age when Sauron

starring : MORFYDD CLARK, ROBERT ARAMAYO,

MAXIM BALDRY, BENJAMIN WALKER eta : SEPT. 2, PRIME VIDEO

emerged as a villain following the defeat of his master Morgoth, when the Rings of Power were forged, when the Elven strongholds of the Grey Havens and Lindon were built, and when the human kingdom of Númenor was destroyed. The Rings of Power has already stirred up controversy among some Tolkien fans with just about every

decision that has been made. That includes the show’s focus on the Second Age, the compression of Tolkien’s timeline, and the inclusion of a race of people who are the ancestors of hobbits. Amazon will be fervently hoping that the quality of the show will ensure these complaints are blown away once it actually gets going—and we hope so, too. DEN OF GEEK

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REGINALD THE VAMPIRE

JACOB BATALON THROWS HIS WEIGHT AROUND AS SYFY’S NEW V A M P I R E I N T O W N . BY TONY SOKOL

taste buds, I hated it. I could throw up just thinking about it.” The actor is also executive producing and has a large say in the show. “They relied on me for storytelling, character choices, and moves,” he says but swears it’s not autobiographical. “It’s tough because Reginald is very smart, and I’m very not smart. He’s very neurotic, and there’s nothing going on

in my head. I get paid to say other people’s words.” Reginald is brilliant enough to rise in a hostile bloodthirsty environment. Batalon’s unlikely hero role makes him leading man material, and he’s got a plan. “This is all a bid for me to have my own Star Wars trilogy,” he says. “I’m making the moves. I want a lightsaber. I want the Force powers.”

starring : JACOB BATALON,

EM HAINE, RACHELLE GOULDING, ANDRE ANTHONY eta : SUMMER, SYFY

IMAGE CREDITS: SYFY

FROM THE SWEEPING MAJESTY of Dracula’s cape to the picture-perfect teens of Twilight, vampires have traditionally been portrayed as beautiful, elegant, commanding, and full of themselves. Reginald the Vampire aims to change that. Based on Johnny B. Truant’s Fat Vampire novels, Syfy will hold a modern mirror to the less-reflected night creatures sucking high-calorie liquid proteins. The series stars Jacob Batalon—best known for playing Peter Parker aka Spider-Man’s best friend Ned Leeds—as Reginald Baskin, newly turned vampire. “Vampires are vapid, very beautiful, but there’s nothing going on in their minds,” Batalon tells us. “Reginald is a very thoughtful and intelligent person. He toys with these vampires who are clearly not on his intellectual level.” This is because the newly-sired immortal can’t compete on a physical level. Even at his human day job, Reginald was bullied and belittled. Created by mystery drama series master Harley Peyton (Twin Peaks, Channel Zero, Project Blue Book, 2013’s Dracula with Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Reginald the Vampire is a dramedy informed by off-kilter, self-effacing horror. “His writing is unique,” Batalon says. “I would say Twin Peaks-esque, but we’re steering away from things people will think we’re inspired by.” The series still wears its influences on its cape. “If you’re a true fan of vampire-themed things in movies and television, you will absolutely get the references.” The supernatural sequences are cost-effective but deceptively impressive. “We had to make stunts seem crazy and action-packed, but we didn’t really have the resources,” Batalon says. “People will be surprised none of the things we did were actually on wire.” The production, however, splurged on the gore. “There were a lot of nights where I was covered in blood, and honestly, my

TALES OF THE WALKING DEAD

IMAGE CREDITS: CURTIS BONDS BAKER/AMC

THIS ANTHOLOGY SERIES FROM THE WALKING DEAD UNIVERSE EXTENDS THE STORIES OF SURVIVORS TO DIFFERENT TIMES, P L A C E S , A N D G E N R E S . BY ISAURA BARBÉ-BROWN IT’S FAIR TO ASSUME THAT not everyone who makes it in a world overrun by reanimated corpses would be a rag-tag team of badass survivors. Tales of the Walking Dead uses six standalone episodes to give audiences a fresh perspective on what survival looks like depending on time and place. “Every episode is new,” says showrunner Channing Powell, who was also a writer for both The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead. “There’s a new director, we have different sets, different actors, and entirely different characters and settings.” But she is clear that this show is for old fans and new fans alike. “I actually think it’s pretty balanced, half and half.” There will be “small easter eggs” and returning characters, such as the complicated fan favorite and antagonist of The Walking Dead season nine, Alpha, played by Samantha Morton, as well as episodes that play with genre and “push the boundaries of the universe.” The original Walking Dead comic book and series follow Sheriff Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln on screen) waking up in “the walker apocalypse,” finding his family, and becoming the decisive and occasionally authoritarian leader of a group of people doing their best to find a safe homestead. It documents the ebb and flow of power and relationships

in a thrown-together community desperately trying to stay alive. This anthology is “a different beast,” says Powell. “We did really try to go off-piste. Each episode has its own tone and look to it.”

In that vein, the new characters are also often unexpected and are played by an impressive roster of actors, including Parker Posey, Terry Crews, Olivia Munn, and Jillian Bell, to name a few. “I was really excited to cast outside of the box and cast outside of type,” says Powell. “I’m really curious to know what the reactions will be.” The specific details of the new storylines are obviously being kept tightly under wraps, but one thing’s for sure: audiences should be prepared to be surprised. “We wanted to present a new option,” notes Powell. Some episodes will skew more humorous, while others will have the serious and bloody familiarity of the original series but “in different time frames, different places in the United States and beyond.” Besides zombies, there is something else that ties all stories, old and new, together. As Powell explains: “All the characters have to decide who they are at the end of the world.”

Terry Crews as Joe and Olivia Munn as Evie.

Jillian Bell as Gina and Parker Posey as Blair.

starring : TERRY CREWS,

OLIVIA MUNN, PARKER POSEY, JILLIAN BELL eta : AUG. 14, AMC AND AMC+

Daniella Pineda as Idalia and Danny Ramirez as Eric. DEN OF GEEK

HOUSE OF THE

DRAGON THE GAME OF THRONES PREQUEL IGNITES THE BLOODIEST CIVIL WAR I N W E S T E R O S ’ H I S T O R Y . BY DAVID CROW

FOR MANY YEARS, GEORGE R.R. Martin made it a point to look up Ryan Condal whenever the fantasy author was in Los Angeles. Often, that meant on the weekends Martin was in town to pick up another Emmy for the latest season of Game of Thrones, he’d also squeeze in a beer, a coffee, or just a fond hello with the fellow genre writer. The pair had been friendly ever since Condal “stalked” Martin in his hometown of Santa Fe—in truth, Condal had invited him to dinner while shooting a pilot nearby—and through the years, they liked to exchange notes and trade barbs. But on a sunny day in 2018, Martin had more on his mind than simple words and wind. “I thought we were just getting together socially,” Condal tells Den of Geek, “but he said, ‘I need you to write a pilot for me. Would you be up for it?’” Martin had handpicked Condal to take over the Game of Thrones “successor show” the author was most excited about. He wanted Condal to help him create and run what would become House of the 66

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Dragon for HBO. “Fireworks were going off in my head,” Condal smiles. House of the Dragon, a prequel based on the ghastly Dance of the Dragons civil war, which pitted Targaryen against Targaryen, and literal dragon against dragon, was the event Martin first mentioned to HBO when they came to him around 2015 to discuss a possible successor to their flagship series Game of Thrones. However, HBO would go on to take a gardening approach while developing its spin-off(s) by commissioning several pitches. They even let Condal, who was working on his sci-fi series Colony, pitch an idea he had based on Martin’s Dunk and Egg novellas. Before that day, Condal had already been a lifelong fan of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series (on which Game of Thrones is based) and the larger Westerosi world. He first read the earliest books after the third novel, A Storm of Swords, was published in 2000, discovering the saga while fresh out of college. At the time, he was only beginning to nurture dreams of becoming a screenwriter. And as

Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen.

Condal tells it, “I learned more from George’s prose writing than I was learning from reading screenplays.” The two became acquainted in 2012, and Martin seemed eager to get Condal into Westeros ever since. While HBO was uninterested in a Dunk and Egg show in the mid-2010s, it was only after they struggled to launch a prequel they were happy with—first by passing on a previous House of the Dragon treatment from a different creative team and later by not sending to series a pilot based on the events of the Long Night— that Martin flatly told the network, “Please hire [Condal], because he knows my books and he likes them.” Now on the other side of managing the production of the first season of House of the Dragon in England, Spain, and other locales, Condal is still very grateful and perhaps a little exhausted. Due to brushes with Omicron last December, the production lost about six weeks in its schedule, and when we catch up with the co-creator/executive producer, they’re currently in “the

Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen.

starring :

PADDY CONSIDINE, OLIVIA COOKE, EMMA D’ARCY, MATT SMITH, RHYS IFANS, SONOYA MIZUNO eta : AUGUST 21, HBO

teeth” of finishing the series’ VFX ahead of its August premiere. Yet there’s an undeniable excitement in Condal’s voice while discussing the new show; he’s eager for fans to discover a different era of Westeros, one set about 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.

IMAGE CREDITS: OLLIE UPTON/HBO

“IT IS VERY MUCH A STORY ABOUT A PATRIARCHY TOLD THROUGH THE POINT OF VIEW OF TWO W O M E N.” –RYAN CONDAL “This is just a very decadent time,” Condal says. “It’s a moment of high wealth and greatness. The Targaryens have been in high power for a hundred years, and they’re really beyond reproach.” Indeed, the series picks up during the reign of King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), the grandson of the wise “Old King” Jaehaerys Targaryen, who ushered in

Milly Alcock as a young Rhaenyra and Emily Carey as a young Alicent. DEN OF GEEK

Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower and Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower.

five decades of peace and prosperity —and a time during which each of Viserys’ children, and those children’s children, ride a dragon whose fires can blot out the sun.

“WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT HOW THIS WAS AKIN TO THE UNITED STATES AT THE END OF THE COLD WAR IN 1990, 1991.” – R Y A N C O N D A L

“When we were breaking the story in the room, we talked a lot about how this was akin to the United States at the end of the Cold War in 1990, 1991,” Condal says of his writer’s room, which includes Orange Is the New Black’s Sara Hess and six others (as co-creator, Martin also has access to outlines and scripts). “Their great enemy had fallen in the Soviet Empire, democracy had triumphed, 68

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and then they find themselves at the very top, this great superpower with all the nuclear weapons they could need, and it began this real period of high decadence. You’re coming in on this story just before the bloom starts to come off the rose… but they don’t know it yet.” To demonstrate that grandeur, Condal and his co-showrunner, director Miguel Sapochnik (who helmed several of the most visceral Game of Thrones episodes), felt emboldened to develop a preening splendor that may look shocking to those accustomed to the wearied Baratheon court in Game of Thrones. The Iron Throne, for one, is now immense in size. “If you think about our world, where obviously technology is moving much faster than it did back in this era, a lot changes in 200 years,” Condal explains. “A lot even changes in 200 years in medieval times. If you look at what’s going on in the year 1200 versus what’s going on in the

year 1400, fashion, military, strategy, technology they’re all different. But the castles are still standing… So it’s anchoring the world in those things that don’t change, like the thousandyear-old castle that maybe gets a bit more patinated and older-looking as the years pass.” Also, who lives in those castles can be strikingly different. Whereas Game of Thrones began in the 17th uneasy year of Robert Baratheon’s reign, House of the Dragon picks up 105 years after Aegon Targaryen I conquered Westeros and founded King’s Landing. It is in that familiar location that we’ll be introduced to a host of Targaryens of various political ambitions and a whole palace of new courtiers. Although, the one who promises to make the splashiest initial impression might be Prince Daemon, King Viserys’ younger brother and the rock star of King’s Landing. According to the co-showrunner, casting this role left only one option.

IMAGE CREDITS: OLLIE UPTON (HIGHTOWER, VELARYON), GARY MOYES (COLE)/HBO

“Matt [Smith] is really the only person we talked about,” says Condal. We would say, ‘Like a Matt Smith or a Matt Smith type,’ when talking about Daemon.” The series co-creator even likens the bad boy prince to a surprising figure from our own recent history. “I just absolutely loved his work on The Crown as Prince Philip, who somewhat ironically is a similar character. He’s the second fiddle, in that case to the Queen of England, his own wife, and is a bit adrift. [Daemon] is similarly a bit of a rogue prince trying to find his footing and place in this world.” Yet, it’s not only Daemon’s story. As with Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is a vast ensemble piece that will walk you through the bloodiest civil war in Westerosi history (be warned). So the hardest thing Condal and Martin faced when creating and outlining the pilot together was picking the exact moment to begin the series—and how to follow the lives of two young women whose family and society pushed them toward a decades-spanning rivalry. “The trick with this story is it’s multi-generational,” Condal says. “It’s the story of generations within the storied Targaryen dynasty, and we had to figure out a way to convey the passage of time over these generations because it essentially starts with the fathers who then have daughters in Rhaenyra and Alicent, and then those daughters’ children are the ones who, as very young adults, get embroiled in the war.” That’s why, unlike Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will be nonlinear, jumping between events separated by about 20 years. This begins with the day that Viserys names his firstborn daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock in her youth, Emma D’Arcy later) as his heir, even as he’s urged to take a second wife in hopes of producing a son. So enters Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey as a teenager, Olivia Cooke as an adult), daughter of the Hand. The series then follows how that question of succession—and the misogyny of a realm’s lords who fear seeing a woman ascend the Iron Throne —causes a war many years later.

It is the non-conformist lives of these two women that will be the heart of the series. “This show is about these two women who we meet in their youth when they’re in their mid-teens,” Condal explains, “and it tells the story of these two people who grow up in this deeply political world at the height of power and wealth and influence, and then the pressures that are put upon them by the patriarchal structure that they live in, making them head off into their own directions as they grow into women.” He pauses. “It is very much a story about a patriarchy told through the point of view of two women.” As with Game of Thrones, that comes with its own historical parallels (the English Anarchy in lieu of the War of the Roses), and like those conflicts,

there’s a dreary, timeless element about the power men wield to prevent women from claiming what should be theirs. With such overlap, does Condal think audiences can draw parallels between Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen and Rhaenyra, two women that men would go to war against before seeing on the Iron Throne? He notes the would-be queens share literal DNA, the blood of the dragon, but adds, “Rhaenyra’s story is about trying to hold onto this thing that her family has built over a hundred years, whereas Daenerys’ story is about trying to win back something that was lost. Rhaenyra is her own person who was born into this time of extreme power, wealth, and decadence, whereas Daenerys was born a pauper because this dynasty fell—largely as a result of events in this story.”

Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon and Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen.

Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole. DEN OF GEEK

THE 20 MOST

UNDERRATED SUPERHERO GAMES

THESE SUPERHERO GAMES MUST HAVE SECRET IDENTITIES BECAUSE NOBODY PAID ATTENTION TO THEM. BY MATTHEW BYRD

20 BLADE PlayStation One

19 GREEN LANTERN: RISE OF THE MANHUNTERS PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

18 THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN

Game Boy Advance It’s hard to remember, but there was a time when Iron Man wasn’t considered one of Marvel’s biggest mainstream heroes. Maybe that’s why so many people overlooked this incredible 2002 Game Boy Advance game. Essentially a Mega Man game starring Iron Man, this fast-paced 2D action game is really just an elaborate excuse to let you play with Iron Man’s various toys. It’s simple, familiar, and somehow remains the best Iron Man game ever made. 70

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Released as a tie-in to Ryan Reynolds’ notorious film, many fans suspected that this game would be nothing more than another cash-in. Instead, Rise of the Manhunters proved to be significantly better than the movie it’s based on. Highlighted by its main character’s diverse abilities, this 3D action title does an exceptional job of making you feel like the Green Lantern. It turns out that a character who can conjure nearly anything makes for a fantastic video game protagonist.

17 SPAWN: IN THE DEMON’S HAND

Sega Dreamcast, Arcades Spawn: In the Demon’s Hand is… strange. It’s like Super Smash Bros. combined with a single-player mode that tasks you with clearing out arenas filled with CPU enemies. There’s never really been another game like this. Though often clunky and confusing, this game understands that Spawn’s appeal is based entirely on his attitude and grim nature. The non-stop action and gloomy world design tap into those core elements that drew so many to Spawn in the first place.

IMAGE CREDITS: ACTIVISION/ WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT/ ACTIVISION BLIZZARD/ SEGA/ 2K GAMES/ EA GAMES/ NCSOFT/ ATARI/ KONAMI

While technically a prequel to the 1998 film of the same name, 2000’s Blade perfectly captures the style and rebellious spirit that helped turn that movie into a revolutionary hit. Blade is a third-person action game that combines Resident Evil horror with intense action setpieces. It’s a surprisingly mature and forward-thinking title that may have been just a bit too ambitious for its own good.

12 FREEDOM FORCE

16 X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

You’re not alone if you decided to ignore this 2009 game based on what might be the worst X-Men movie ever. However, this hidden gem happens to feature some of the absolute best Wolverine action in video game history. Despite its poor plot, short runtime, and sometimes repetitive gameplay, this game’s “devil may care” design makes it equal parts ridiculous and ridiculously fun. Where else do you get to take down a helicopter using only Wolverine’s claws?

15 TEENAGE

MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (2003)

PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, PC The early TMNT beat-em-up games of the ’80s and ’90s are considered some of the best action titles of their eras. While this title couldn’t match its predecessors, it’s an excellent little game in its own right. This 3D multiplayer beat-em-up is highlighted by its incredible co-op play and a lovely cel-shaded visual style. It may only last you for a weekend, but it’s a great way to spend that weekend.

PUNISHER 14 THE PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC

Though released the same year as the 2004 Punisher movie, this game is actually based on the comics. The Punisher’s absurd levels of violence will be too much for some, but beneath the overthe-top gore lies a solid shooter with style to burn. Developer Volition clearly enjoyed making this game, and its enthusiasm shines.

PC Stylistically inspired by the Golden Age of comics, this 2002 video game was released to widespread critical acclaim and disappointing sales. Years later, it remains arguably the best “original” superhero video game ever. Freedom Force tasks you with guiding a variety of nostalgiainspired superheroes through several dangerous missions. Its strategy gameplay might be a little too slow and complicated for some, but this game’s good vibes will remind you why you once dreamed of becoming a superhero.

13 CAPTAIN

AMERICA: SUPER SOLDIER

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Believe it or not, there have only been a few games based on MCU movies. Equally shocking is the fact that most of them are terrible. Captain America: Super Soldier is a slight exception to that rule. While not quite as good as the Batman: Arkham games it borrows its gameplay from, this title offers a thrilling and original World War IIset story that proves to be a great companion piece to the hero’s MCU adventures.

11 SPIDER-MAN:

WEB OF SHADOWS

PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PC While Web of Shadows’ gameplay is rough around the edges, it’s the way this game uses a symbiote invasion as the basis of a surprisingly dark Spider-Man story that helps it stand apart. Throughout this game, you’ll be forced to make difficult decisions that help determine your reputation. While sometimes gimmicky, those choices allow you to see how challenging it is to be Spider-Man. They also affect the events of the game in ways both great and small. DEN OF GEEK

LEGO DC SUPER-VILLAINS 10 BATMAN BEGINS

PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox

While nowhere near as brilliant as the movie it’s based on, a surprising number of people wrote this adaptation off without realizing how much fun it really was. Batman Begins recreates many memorable sequences from the movie while expanding upon that film’s story in logical ways. It’s a solid all-around action game that shines during stealth sequences where you intimidate criminals from the shadows rather than simply throwing punches their way.

8 GUARDIANS OF

PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC The LEGO games have never been shy about taking liberties with established properties, but LEGO DC Super-Villains raises the bar. Based on the idea that DC’s biggest villains have reluctantly become Earth’s only heroes, this game combines that classic and accessible LEGO gameplay with a fascinating “Elseworlds” narrative. It’s the kind of superhero game anyone can pick up, play, and immediately fall in love with.

7 BATMAN: THE

BRAVE AND THE BOLD Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS

As Batman’s big-screen adventures become increasingly dark, it’s easy to long for a time when the character was a bit campier. If you prefer your Batman adventures to be kind of silly, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is for you. This side-scrolling beat-em-up is filled with unironic humor. It’s a playable cartoon that reminds us that even the Dark Knight can afford to lighten up.

6 DEADPOOL

PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC

Before 2016’s Deadpool film introduced millions to the merc with a mouth, this 2013 game showed the character at his best (and therefore worst). A meta-comedy where Deadpool knows he’s in a video game, this adventure pulls no punches when it comes to exploring how depraved its lead character truly is. Equal parts immature and surprisingly smart, this is simply one of the funniest games ever.

THE GALAXY

PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC

Though only released in 2021, it’s not too early to call Guardians of the Galaxy underrated. While critically praised, this game’s poor sales made it clear that too few bothered to really give it a chance. That’s a shame because Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the most heartfelt, original, and visually striking superhero games of the modern era. This game delivers the intergalactic adventures and interpersonal conflicts of the titular crew in ways even the movies can’t match. 72

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OF HEROES | PC 5 CITY Imagine a World of Warcraft-like online adventure filled with player-

created superheroes locked in a never-ending battle for truth and justice. Sounds like a dream game, right? Instead, City of Heroes became one of those games that many loved and too few played. Its blend of deep MMORPG gameplay and superhero wish-fulfillment earned it a cult following. Sadly, the game’s servers were shut down in 2012, and now it’s little more than a memory.

2 THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN Super Nintendo

4 THE INCREDIBLE HULK: ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION

PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is at its best when Hulk is smashing whatever is in front of him. It’s essentially an open-world game that allows you to tear through every environment and maybe save the day in the process. The game isn’t particularly sophisticated, but that’s kind of the point. There’s a simple joy to playing as the Hulk, and Ultimate Destruction lets you realize that joy again and again.

Based on the revolutionary Batman: The Animated Series, The Adventures of Batman & Robin is a classic Super Nintendo action game with a few twists. This gem’s beautiful cartoon visuals, labyrinth-level design, and gadget-based puzzles make it so much more than the (still pretty good) beat-em-up game it could have been. It’s not an easy game, but it showed what makes Batman games unique.

1 SPIDER-MAN

3 SUPERMAN: SHADOW OF APOKOLIPS PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube |

In a sea of truly terrible Superman games, Shadow of Apokolips stands apart by virtue of being surprisingly fun. While uneven and riddled with technical issues, this is still the Superman game that comes closest to making us believe a man can fly. It’s a colorful adventure that emphasizes how nice it is to use unlimited powers for unlimited good.

PlayStation One, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, PC Developed by the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater team as a side project, Spider-Man is simply a masterpiece. From its soundtrack and colorful graphics to its Stan Lee-voiced level intros, every element of this game was clearly the product of love. More importantly, Spider-Man is a tribute to the Marvel comics rather than the TV show or the movies. At a time when comics are often overshadowed by their adaptations, that aspect of this game alone makes it feel truly special and unique. DEN OF GEEK

ifferen t DKIND

JOSHUA WILLIAMSON and DANIEL SAMPERE tell us about putting the next generation of DC superheroes through their paces in Dark Crisis.

BY MIKE CECCHINI 74

DEN OF GEEK

WHEN DC COMICS FANS hear the word “crisis,” certain things spring to mind: crowded panels featuring luminaries from every corner of the DC multiverse, universe-shattering stakes, dramatic character deaths, and sometimes big changes for DC’s storytelling continuity itself. Several big events bearing the “Crisis” moniker have altered the history of the DC Universe. But Dark Crisis writer Joshua Williamson wants to assure everyone that things are a little different this time around. “I don’t necessarily think that it has to involve rebooting anything,” Williamson tells Den of Geek via Zoom while idly paging through a hardcover omnibus of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. “I don’t think that’s what we wanted to do. We really wanted to focus on making it more about the characters, and leveling up and putting a spotlight on certain ones you haven’t seen in a situation like this before.” Dark Crisis is DC’s big crossover this year, the latest in a proud tradition

that began in 1985 with the legendary Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. In the decades since, DC has unleashed a “Crisis-level event” roughly once a decade, all featuring all-star creative teams depicting superheroes and villains at their most desperate hours, always with the fate of the universe, time, or the multiverse itself at stake, with tremendous ramifications for

IMAGE CREDITS: DC COMICS

OF CRISIS

DC’s main heroes. But while Dark Crisis is very much a cosmic story with multiversal implications, it also follows some less likely central characters this time around. And that’s by necessity. Williamson took the Justice League off the board before Dark Crisis even started, apparently killing the team in Justice League #75. When Dark Crisis begins, Jon Kent, the son of Superman, is

trying (and failing) to assemble a new League, even as the standard-bearers of legacy in the DC Universe, the Titans, find themselves under a brutal attack from Deathstroke and a supervillain army. If that’s not enough, Pariah, one of the catalysts of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, puts a deluded plan in motion to restore the life he lost when his world was destroyed, no matter the cost to the existing multiverse.

“When you’re doing a Crisis, you have to find ways of showing some of these characters interact with each other in ways you haven’t seen in the past, or having some new connections,” Williamson says. “You’ve also got to remember to do a lot of grounded stuff, people on the ground, the supporting characters, and try to hit different points of view. A lot of people forget when you look at the original DEN OF GEEK

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sometimes it can be a little bit much,” Williamson says. “I just want to focus on the characters. I do see it as everything happened, and we are still trying to sort out what that means, and so are the characters. They’re trying to figure out what they remember and what they don’t because it does create contradicting story points… I didn’t want us to be so caught up in continuity. I have to recognize not everyone knows the continuity the way I do, so we want to make sure it’s still about the characters going through this unique situation [and not] feel like you have to do

schoolwork to read this comic book. I try to avoid that when I can.” Whenever you’re dealing with a story of this scale, fans naturally expect the characters with the heaviest power sets to take center stage. But that isn’t necessarily the case in Dark Crisis, which features a mix of longstanding heroes (and antiheroes) from Hal Jordan and Black Adam to legacy characters like Jon Kent and Nightwing. In fact, it’s Nightwing who has some of the most emotional (and action-packed) beats early on. “A lot of the character choices… the people who stepped up into these

IMAGE CREDITS: WARNER BROS./PHOTOFEST/DC COMICS

Crisis on Infinite Earths, it’s not a Justice League story. You look at some of the early issues, and the main characters are not really in it that often.” Striking the tricky balance between multiverse-shattering action and grounded character work takes a special kind of artist. Enter Daniel Sampere, whose crystal clear, dynamic work most recently helped kick off the ongoing “Warworld” epic in the pages of Action Comics. Sampere was brought on board as Dark Crisis artist in June of 2021, almost a full year before the first issue hit stands. “I didn’t know the specific project, but I was told that an event was coming, and they were thinking of me,” Sampere recalls about getting the job. Artists are notoriously pushed to bring their A+ game when illustrating one of DC’s flagship events, so when he found out what it was, “I understood why they name them ‘Crisis,’ because it’s what I had,” he jokes, “but it’s super exciting at the same time.” Sampere’s first step was to dive back into as many of DC’s event stories as he could, from the original Crisis on Infinite Earths through Infinite Crisis, Blackest Night, and Dark Nights: Metal. “Not to read as a fan, but to study them,” he says. “How did these artists do those books so well, and what can I learn from them? A lot of the imagery we associate with these events was put forth by George Pérez and Phil Jimenez and all the people who worked on previous Crisis books, so I studied well. I wanted to pay tribute to those images but mix them with my own vision and not just do the same thing, trying to make something new, but always looking to what they did before me because it’s so good.” If even the book’s artist was a little intimidated, what does this mean for readers? Fortunately, as devoted to the scope of DC history as Dark Crisis may be, it’s more interested in the spirit than the letter of it, even nodding to the notion that it doesn’t matter which version of the Justice League’s origin you consider canon these days, because all the great stories you love “happened” in some form. “I don’t always want to get too deep into that stuff because I do feel like

main roles, all of it was organic,” Williamson says. “Someone like Black Adam… I was able to find an emotional arc with him. With Jon being Superman right now, it made sense for him to be in this story. Part of the story is about the different generations of DC, so it’s not just about these brand-new characters in the last couple of years. I looked at each character’s viewpoint on legacy. If you think about Nightwing, [he’s] the first sidekick in the DCU. So much of the DCU is about growing the mythology, and Robin being added to Batman is the first growth for each mythology. Now every single character

has this huge mythology and these legacies, and it all started with Robin. Think about how popular Nightwing is and how much he stands as his own character. So if we’re going to do a story about legacy, we have to do Nightwing.” Despite all the cosmic, multiversal stakes and the dozens (if not hundreds) of characters who appear in the first two issues of Dark Crisis, it’s fitting that the central piece of action in the series thus far is a throwdown between longtime enemies Nightwing and Deathstroke, as Titans Tower burns around them. It’s a brutal fight, rendered with all the weight and power in Sampere’s arsenal. “When I read the script, I was so excited,” Sampere says. “I’m a big fan of the Titans from the days of George Pérez and Marv Wolfman, so having the chance to draw a fight like this was super exciting. The whole scene is so well written, it’s so epic and emotional. I had this idea of rendering them in big, full body shots and then filling the page with random fight shots. I wanted to show some chaos, punches and kicks and people getting hurt, not with styled choreography, but as a fluid fight. It was such a fun thing to do.” The tradition of making room for the smaller moments in the face of the multiverse realigning has been a hallmark of these events since the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, which among many other beautiful character moments, featured Supergirl and Batgirl having a conversation about how saving even one life in the face of the end of the world still matters. “We try to let there be a couple of quiet moments per issue, and just let the characters live in the moment and react to what’s happening,” explains Williamson. “I think that’s the way to keep it grounded, to remind the characters that they’re human. That’s the job—you’re constantly trying to think about what the character would do, not what you would do. So every issue, I try to find a place to slow down for a moment and think about what the characters are dealing with.” The first two issues of Dark Crisis are on sale now, with issue #3 arriving in August. The story continues through December.

CRISIS M A N UA L A GUIDE TO THE MOST FAMOUS CRISIS-LEVEL EVENTS OF ALL TIME. 1985

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS The original is still one of the greatest comic stories of all time. The stakes don’t get any higher than the entire multiverse collapsing, with the outcome that all DC stories could exist in one streamlined, rebooted DCU. 1994

ZERO HOUR: A CRISIS IN TIME The continuity and editorial anomalies that the original Crisis couldn’t fix are addressed in a story that attempts to place every DC story that ever happened on one coherent timeline. 2006

INFINITE CRISIS The multiverse is reborn, opening up new storytelling possibilities for the first time in decades. 2009

FINAL CRISIS Less a traditional Crisis event and more one of Grant Morrison’s famed meditations on the nature of the DC Universe itself, it’s the most essential read since the original.

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T HE B E S T

ACTION MOVIES OF T HE L AST 15 YEARS

We rank the films with the best thrills and spills released since Den of Geek launched.

15. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE— ROGUE NATION (2015)

The huge, franchise-reviving success of 2011’s Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol saw Tom Cruise and his team fully embracing the globe-trotting, gravity-defying aesthetic they’d been moving toward since 1996; a true American answer to James Bond. With Christopher McQuarrie on board as the franchise’s new writer-director-mastermind, Rogue Nation upped those stakes. This fifth chapter exceeded the highest of action expectations and completed Cruise’s long transition from cocky, romantic leading man to rugged, I’ll-do-anything-for-the-audience stuntman supreme, with the sequence in which he hangs onto the side of an airplane 5,000 feet in the air remaining the series showstopper. — DON KAYE 78

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IMAGE CREDITS: THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY (DJANGO UNCHAINED, SKYFALL), FILMDISTRICT (DRIVE), SONY PICTURES (DISTRICT 9), /PHOTOFEST; PHOTO 12/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (DREDD)

14. Dredd (2012)

Forget the 1995 Sylvester Stallone misfire; this is the Judge Dredd movie the world was waiting for. Directed by Pete Travis and written and produced by Alex Garland, Dredd stars Karl Urban as Mega City One’s ultimate judge, jury, and executioner. Simmering with coiled rage behind his helmet (which he never takes off), Urban is fantastic, as is Lena Headey as Ma-Ma, the drug lord waiting for Dredd at the top of a 200-story apartment block-turned-fortress. A dystopian ascent full of bombastic, gruesome action, Dredd moves like a deadly snake and gives its title character the mythic quality he needs. — DK

13. The Nice Guys (2016) Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe are a surprisingly funny double act as a washed-up detective and thuggish enforcer forced to work together to find a missing girl in this action-comedy caper. Shane Black of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3 co-wrote and directed a movie that’s quippy but full of pathos and a decent mystery, as well as providing plenty of fights, car wrecks, and action set-pieces. This was also a breakout role for Angourie Rice, who is fabulous as the precocious, intelligent daughter who’s often more handy and mature than her boozy PI dad. — ROSIE FLETCHER

12. Drive (2011)

The plot is pure action: Ryan Gosling plays a nameless stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway guy and gets caught up in extreme violence when mobsters attempt to doublecross each other. In reality, Nicolas Winding Refn’s celebrated movie is soaked in arthouse sensibilities, from Gosling’s sensitive, stoic turn to the gentle love story between him and his neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), and from the neon-soaked lighting to the iconic score. The film’s most violent scene is also the most tender—The Driver kisses Irene for the first time, then stomps a hitman to death right in front of her in an elevator. Perfection. — RF

11. District 9 (2009)

No one really knew who Neill Blomkamp and Sharlto Copley were before this fascinating—and funny—sci-fi actioner landed (well, no one except Peter Jackson, who was one of the producers). But the film wowed audiences and went on to be nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture—pretty groundbreaking for a movie about aliens. Set in Johannesburg, Copley plays Wikus, a Department of Alien Affairs employee who gets infected by a substance that slowly turns him into one of the “Prawns” who have found themselves stranded on Earth. Highly political, nuanced, and the best kind of weird. — RF

10. Django Unchained

(2012)

Quentin Tarantino’s first full-throated Western—even though it’s technically set in the South—continued the iconoclast filmmaker’s penchant for rewriting grim histories into invigorating power fantasies. And there’s little on the big screen as powerful as the sight of Jamie Foxx’s Django in front of a Mississippi plantation, watching it burn to a cinder. Better still, he doesn’t just watch. He and his horse are dancing in the firelight. It’s one of the many giddy flourishes in Django Unchained, a revisionist Spaghetti Western that’s been deep-fried and dipped in butter. Right down to its title, QT pulls from his favorite European Oaters, yet he also gives that flavor of grandiose violence new bite in a story about a Black man wreaking biblical vengeance on two truly heinous villains: Leonardo DiCaprio’s enslaver Calvin Candie and his favorite “uncle” Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson). — DAVID CROW

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8. HOT FUZZ (2007)

It was a surprise when Christopher McQuarrie was announced as the first director to helm a second Mission: Impossible movie. Previously, each chapter was an excuse for a new filmmaker to put their own stamp on the material. In retrospect, it’s astonishing we thought anyone else could do the job. McQuarrie reinvigorates the franchise for a second time by eschewing the classical flourishes of Rogue Nation for an edge-ofyour-seat thriller that, pound-forpound, has the best collection of action set-pieces to come out of Hollywood in the past decade. There is a sequence in this movie where a Parisian heist becomes a car chase and then turns into a motorcycle chase, all before finally transforming into a second motorcycle chase where now Tom Cruise is the one being pursued by the series’ other MVP, Rebecca Ferguson. It just keeps going, almost all of it captured by visceral IMAX photography. You can get punch-drunk. — DC

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7. Ip Man (2008)

Star Donnie Yen had over 40 films under his belt when he stepped into the role of Ip Man, the real-life grandmaster of Wing Chun Kung Fu who taught Bruce Lee. No one could have guessed it would trigger a global blockbuster franchise. With fights choreographed by Sammo Hung, Yen’s Ip Man canon delivered four films and a spin-off over 11 years. Yen is painfully cool as the titular master. Unlike many martial arts actors, he embodies different styles appropriate to the roles in his films—a choreographic chameleon. In Ip Man, he blends wirework and cinematography into a fitting Wing Chun homage. — GENE CHING

6. Inception (2010)

Christopher Nolan always wanted to make a James Bond film—and he did with Inception. Only, his homage to 007 is almost a movie within a movie, one layer of the dream world that most of his trippy action thriller takes place in. Full of scope and ambitious storytelling, this is mind-bending sci-fi shaken and stirred with some of Nolan’s best-ever set-pieces. Among the highlights are a hand-to-hand fight in a topsy-turvy hotel hallway and the climactic mountain assault that’s like On Her Majesty’s Secret Service on steroids. If there’s such a thing as a cerebral action movie, Nolan mastered it here. — DK

IMAGE CREDITS: FILMDISTRICT (DRIVE)/PHOTOFEST, SONY PICTURES CLASSICS (THE RAID 2, THE RAID: REDEMPTION), /PHOTOFEST

9. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

During any given week, the delicious middle part of Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy will almost certainly be playing somewhere on UK TV. Such is the staying power of his buddy action comedy Hot Fuzz, which reunites Shaun of the Dead stars, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and puts them in the midst of a rural English murder-mystery. Pegg plays a high-achieving Met officer called Nicholas Angel, who is assigned to a mundane beat after pissing off every cop in London, and Frost is his lazy new partner Danny Butterman. When Angel and Butterman forge a tentative friendship over the latter’s obsession with cheesy, over-the-top action movies, Hot Fuzz sets about building its very own actioner in its final act, resulting in one of the most creative, violent, and joyful endings in cinematic memory. — KIRSTEN HOWARD

IMAGE CREDITS: SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT (JOHN WICK), WARNER BROS. (MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, THE NICE GUYS, INCEPTION), /PHOTOFEST

5. The Raid 2 (2014)

Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans and Indonesian Silat master Iko Uwais reteam for this tour de force sequel, which picks up right where The Raid: Redemption left off. Gritty, bloody, and visceral, its fights include hammers, baseball bats, pickaxes, broken bottles, metal pipes, shanks, machetes, shotguns to the face, and pistols to the forehead. It’s sanguineous, with gratuitous use of digital blood splattering everywhere. The fight choreography is superb from every angle—long, extended sequences show Uwais’ virtuosity with plenty of fast, tight action, all captured with sharp-eyed cinematography. — GC

4. Skyfall

(2012)

History books will tell you that Bondmania occurred during the peak of Sean Connery’s popularity in the 1960s. And yet, a good case could be made that 2012 was the year of his true ascendence: Daniel Craig opened the London Olympics with Queen Elizabeth; Adele won the series’ first “Best Song” Oscar; and then there’s Skyfall itself, the Bond movie that’s sold more tickets at the global box office than any other. Beyond all that 50th anniversary hype, though, Skyfall remains a tense (if surprisingly melancholic) spy adventure where the sins of 007’s greatest female co-star, Dame Judi Dench’s M, come back to haunt her via one of the series’ better villains. Javier Bardem’s Silva forces 007 and his fans to look inward on the legacy of this world, with director Sam Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins crafting the most starkly beautiful Bond movie to date. Plus, it gets Bond to finally ride the tube! — DC

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3. THE RAID: REDEMPTION (2011)

It’s quite possible that The Raid is the single most action-packed movie on this list, if not ever made. Without a wasted frame or line of dialogue, there’s a case to be made that it’s the ultimate example of the modern action movie. Star Iko Uwais’ grace, athleticism, and martial arts prowess combine with director Gareth Evans’ relentless story and direction to leave viewers as anxious and exhausted as its heroes, as wave upon wave of bad guys are dispatched in an almost hypnotic, seemingly neverending display of brutality. — MIKE CECCHINI

2. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Fury Road is the ultimate Mad Max movie, which means it might just be the ultimate action movie. Director and co-writer George Miller, who created the original Mad Max in 1979 on a nothing budget, took the fourth film in the series to unparalleled extremes of post-apocalyptic intensity and relentlessness, staging some of the best chase and fight scenes of all time with a bravado and physicality rarely seen in today’s CG-fests. Tom Hardy stepped easily and solidly into the title role left behind by Mel Gibson, but the beating heart of the movie is Charlize Theron’s Furiosa—a feminine force to be reckoned with and a new paradigm for a future ruled by toxic men. It may have been Max’s name in the title, but this action behemoth belonged to the women. — DK

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1. John Wick

(2014)

John Wick is the touching story of a man who once did terrible things and then reluctantly returns to do even more terrible things, all for the most understandable and justifiable of reasons: to take glorious, brutal revenge on the rat bastards who killed his puppy. Like The Raid, the appeal of John Wick lies as much in its simplicity as in its spectacular action. Keanu Reeves’ titular antihero is a man of few words, and the film itself is as efficient and economical as a trained killer should be, knowing exactly when to cut its brutality with a hint of humor. With its eye-popping fights and Reeves on top form, John Wick would be a great action flick no matter what, but it’s the little details that keep viewers intrigued: supporting characters come with a rich, implied history, and organizations tease their own intricate rules and structure, often in just a few spoken words. — MC

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PG. 88

T H E G R E AT E S T

SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON EXCLUSIVES BY CHRIS CUMMINS

This article is part of Collector’s Digest, an editorial series powered by eBay.

THANKS TO THE WONDER OF THE INTERNET,

you can now learn about huge San Diego Comic-Con announcements the second they happen. However, the one aspect of the con that remains tricky is landing the exclusive collectibles that have become as important to SDCC as all the news that comes out of it. You could very easily bankrupt yourself trying to track down all the limited-edition comics, collectibles, ephemera, and other merch that is available at the con each year on the secondary market. In fact, the demand for these things is so high that it’s hard to get what you want even if you are in attendance at the show. Fortunately, none of this expense is your concern right now. Instead, let’s take you to Comic-Cons past for an exploration of the greatest SDCC exclusives ever. On second thought, you probably will want to spend some money after reading this. Our apologies in advance…

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STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE JEDI FIGURE COLLECTION Incredibly popular (and expensive) on the secondary market is Hasbro’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Jedi figure collection, which was an SDCC exclusive back in 2011. Drawing its name from the original title of the second Star Wars sequel and packaged in a massive replica of the second Death Star, this set includes seven action figures—Boba Fett, Salacious Crumb, Wicket the Ewok, Han Solo in Trench Coat, Admiral Ackbar, Princess Leia (Slave Outfit), and a Tie Fighter pilot—packaged on a card with the scrapped Revenge of the Jedi logo, making this release an absolute must for Star Wars completists in the process.

IMAGE CREDITS: KEVIN SULLIVAN/DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA/ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER VIA GETTY IMAGES

ABOVE: FANS TAKE TO THE MAIN FLOOR OF 2017’S COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL AT THE SAN DIEGO CONVENTION CENTER

AQUAMAN: BETWEEN TWO DOOMS FIGURE SET In 2018, Mattel offered this DC Multiverse exclusive that featured an impressively sculpted figure of Aquaman battling Black Manta and Ocean Master. Presented in comic-inspired packaging, this release confronted collectors with that age-old problem—display the figures loose or keep them mint in the box? DEN OF GEEK

TMNT: THE LAST RONIN #3 VARIANT

BRUCE LEE GAME OF DEATH FUNKO POP! In 2018, Funko released two POP! collectibles featuring a high-kicking Lee (one standard, one gold colored) that recreate the actor and athlete in his most iconic pose and outfit from his final film, Game of Death.

SDCC 2019 MATTEL HOT WHEELS SPIDER-MACHINE GP-7 “Yeah, yeah yeah! Wow!” Recent years have seen Toei’s 1978 Supaidāman TV series explode in popularity in America. In this, well, marvel of a tokusatsu series, Spidey fights all manner of rubber-suited creatures with the help of a giant robot and his incredibly cool Spider-Machine GP-7 car—the latter of which Hot Wheels created a replica of as a 2019 SDCC exclusive.

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A standout exclusive at the 2021 San Diego Comic-Con was this variant cover of the third issue of IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin comic by Ben Bishop. The story is a brooding affair that is a far cry from the turtles’ cowabungapacked TV heyday, and also a must read for even the most novice fans of the decades-spanning franchise.

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SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING SDCC EXCLUSIVE TONY STARK FUNKO POP! Tony Stark was such an integral part of the first Spider-Man film in the MCU that Funko decided to commemorate the character in this Funko POP! collectible from 2017. Here, Tony is holding an Iron Man head, lest you forget about his superheroic alter ego. Always with the ego, that Stark.

TRON FIGURE IN VHS PACKAGING In 2020, Diamond Select released a 7” action figure of Tron sculpted by Gentle Giant Studios. What would just be typically a cool toy became something extraordinary when it was decided that the figure would feature packaging replicating the aesthetic of the Tron VHS tape. An ideal tribute to the retro 1980s feel that the film evokes.

STARRO SUICIDE SQUAD MASK Long before James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad brought Starro into the mainstream, the sinister alien starfish-esque foe was the subject of a highly desired SDCC exclusive from Mattel. Released in 2010, this retro-styled mask is a wonderful reminder of how weird DC Comics can get at times.

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SDCC EXCLUSIVE MARVEL’S WONG FUNKO POP!

BATMAN ’66 PHOTO COVER VARIANT COMIC Holy collectibles, Batman! In 2013, DC Comics partnered with Mattel for this exclusive variant cover for the excellent Batman ’66 comic—based on the iconic Adam West series—that utilized the latter company’s action figures.

In 2019, Funko offered an SDCC exclusive Wong POP! as part of their Avengers: Endgame line of collectibles. Since he is one of the MCU’s most lovable characters —thanks to personality traits like grousing about Doctor Strange and participating in underground fight leagues—we think there’s no such thing as too much Wong. Needless to say, we snatched up this POP! as soon as we could.

MARVEL HOT WHEELS THANOS COPTER This rundown has seen some bizarre Marvel tie-in vehicles, but none are cooler/weirder than the Thanos Copter. Originally appearing in the 39th issue of Spidey Super Stories (an ostensibly educational comic book based on Spider-Man’s 1970s appearances on The Electric Company PBS series), the comic had Thanos flying his own branded helicopter in pursuit of the Cosmic Cube. This Hot Wheels toy version of the Thanos Copter is just as silly and sensational as its comic-book counterpart.

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OR’S T C E L L O C DIGE S T

SUPER 7/FUNKO ALIEN EARLY BIRD PACKAGE Super 7 initially teamed with Funko for their ReAction Figures, with their first offering being Alien figures that were prototyped by Kenner in 1979 but never produced since, oh yeah, the movie was most definitely not for children (the fact that the Alien merch they actually made sat on toy store shelves didn’t help matters either). At the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con, they paid homage to the company’s infamous Star Wars Early Bird Certificate package. Complete with a display stand, the Alien version of the kit marked the arrival of a new era for retro collectibles.

HOT WHEELS SPIDER-MOBILE 2017 SDCC EXCLUSIVE Back in March of 1974, the biggest automotive dud this side of an Edsel was introduced to the world in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #130. The Spider-Mobile was created to give Spidey a cool roadster as he fought evil on the streets of NYC (which is something of a headscratcher as webslinging is kind of his whole deal). While this car never caught on, it did give fans of weird Spidey ephemera something to obsess over… and this remarkably goofy bit of merch.

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MOUNT GEEKMORE: THE TOP FOUR OF EVERYTHING, LITERALLY SET IN STONE.

BEST STAR WARS ROBOTS The Droids You’re Looking For.

BY JOHN SAAVEDRA ILLUSTRATION BY JESSICA KOYNOCK

C-3PO

K-2SO

L3-37

R2-D2

He’s the galaxy’s most beloved coward, but this protocol droid has actually participated in more battles than the average star warrior. Threepio briefly (and accidentally) fought in the Clone Wars, he was on Yavin and Hoth, and helped the Rebels and Ewoks win on Endor. All while doing calculations, being extremely polite, scared of nearly everything, and dealing with Artoo’s constant sass. Somehow, Threepio beats the odds every time.

The absolute opposite of the aforementioned scaredy-cat: K-2SO loves a good fight almost as much as he loves roasting all of his meatbag companions in Rogue One. He was once an Imperial security droid designed to punish rebels, but since meeting Cassian Andor, K2 has revealed a robotic heart of gold under his metallic exterior. Whatever his past crimes, this trusty battle droid made up for them through his heroic sacrifice for the Rebellion.

Droid rights! Her robotic comrades may have been forced into servitude, but L3-37 is having absolutely none of that. She’s strong, independent, and bows to no master. She’s a hell of a pilot and navigational expert to boot. L3 demands to be treated as an equal partner during her adventures with Lando Calrissian, who may be in love with her (but she’s not interested). L3 is one of a kind, and while she may no longer be with us as a droid, her legacy lives on.

Artoo is much more than the little astromech you call in to open doors, fix your hyperdrive or serve drinks in your palace if you’re Jabba the Hutt. He’s the bravest droid in the Star Wars universe and is the reason the saga even happened in the first place. If it weren’t for his determination to get Leia’s message to Obi-Wan, the Death Star plans wouldn’t have been destroyed, Luke wouldn’t be a Jedi, and the Emperor would still reign supreme!

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