Marvel Studios Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding has shared an up-close look at the Iron Man 85 armor -- Tony Stark's final armor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Meinerding shared two images of the suit earlier in the week on Instagram, showcasing the detail on the armor's upper torso, arms and head. The armor made its debut earlier this year in Avengers: Endgame, and was first seen in use by Tony Stark when he embarked on the time heist with his fellow Avengers. He would continue to use the armor for the remainder of the film until his sacrifice near the end.
"Mark 85 from Avengers: Endgame!" Meinerding wrote on his Instagram post. "These are a couple of my final design images from the movie. I was so lucky to have designed Iron Man's first suit and his last one. (And a couple in between)"
The Mark 85 armor draws heavy visual inspiration from the classic Iron Man armor designed by Steve Ditko, which can be seen in the coloring of the arms and legs. Meinerding confirmed this during an interview with Polygon this past summer when he discussed the visual connection between the chest R.T.s of the Mark 85 armor and Pepper Potts' Rescue armor.
"When we were doing the more classic armor for the Mark 85, there was a moment where we considered making it into a circle to sort of speak to not only the classic MCU suits but the actual classic armor from the comics as well," he said.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Josh Brolin as Thanos. The film is available on Digital HD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for for My Hero Academia Episode 69, "An Unpleasant Talk."
Over the past several episodes, we have learned much about Overhaul, the yakuza crime lord determined to take advantage of the power vacuum left in the wake of All Might's retirement and All-For-One's defeat. He has weaseled his way into the League of Villains, and spread a toxin that negates Quirks.
His increased presence in the criminal underworld has drawn the attention of Sir Nighteye, All Might's former sidekick, now the head of a major superhero agency and the man in charge of Midoriya's work-study program. With the other three work=study program students -- Uraraka, Tsuyu and Kirishima -- dragged into the fold of the Overhaul investigation, things heat up in this episode, all in a single, significant talk.
The episode opens with Midoriya and friends going to a huge meeting with literally every other major hero. That immediately tips off Midoriya that something big is going to happen. This is when Nighteye confirms the meeting is designed to share the information gathered over the course of the past few episodes about the schemes of Overhaul and his gang.
Most notably, Sir Nighteye confirms that Overhaul's yakuza have been contacting smaller gangs, before reaching out to the League of Villains (that began in Season 3, continuing to the beginning of Season 4). That leads to the Fat Gum sharing information about Overhaul's temporary Quirk-erasing ability -- though, as Eraserhead clarifies, it functions differently than his own Quirk. Eraserhead suppresses Quirks, while Overhaul's weapon injures the Quirk genes.
When Fat Gum investigated the dart, however, they learned something: The needle was laced with human blood. That means the Quirk-erasing dart is developed from another person's Quirk. And, as Sir Nighteye confirms, Overhaul's ability allows him to break down Quirks, such as create a dart. They then acknowledge that Overhaul's daughter, Eri, had bandages on her arm, which leads many of the heroes to theorize that Overhaul is ripping and twisting her body around into the darts.
This, very obviously, horrifies Midoriya and Togata, who had a chance to save Eri. They then vow to rescue the girl from Overhaul.
Sir Nighteye unveils his plan. He presents a map of Japan, outlining areas of strategic significance where the gangs are circulating the drug. While many -- like Fat Gum -- want to go straight to Overhaul to save Eri, others, like Gran Torino and Nighteye, think it's dangerous to strike directly: With the drug so widely distributed, they'd essentially have to go through an army to get there. Additionally, the attack could backfire, and provide Overhaul with a platform to recruit more criminals.
Many, including Eraserhead, suggest Sir Nighteye use his powers to foresee what's coming, but a few issues come up: Nighteye's Quirk is limited to one person per day, and he refuses to tell them if they will die, perhaps due to the trauma of what happened with Overhaul.
The meeting leaves the students troubled, leading Eraserhead to meet up with them, and admit that he wants to suspend the work-study program due to how dangerous it is. On top of that, he isn't sure he can trust Midoriya not do something reckless. But he also tries to acknowledge that Midoriya needs to not guilt himself over not saving Eri that last time, knowing that it will eat away at him.
Meanwhile, Gran Torino admits he encouraged Midoriya to train under Nighteye in order to help mend the relationship between him and All Might. As a result, Nighteye admits he sees a great deal of All Might in Midoriya.
Popular mobile game Bleach: Brave Souls, which is based on the manga/anime franchise of the same name, is celebrating a massive new expansion with an all-new opening cinematic.
The new intro, complete with a brand new theme song, shows the characters running into battle as part of the "Can't Fear Your Own World" expansion. The expansion ties directly into the final story arc of the main manga series.
The expansion brings in three new character designs for players looking to participate in the epic finale to the long-running manga series, which was created by Tite Kubo in 2001 and ran until 2016. The manga series follows teenager Ichigo Kurosaki, who discovers his familial destiny as a Soul Reaper and defends humanity from evil spirits.
Adapted into an acclaimed anime series, trading card game and even a series of rock musicals, Bleach: Brave Souls was developed by KLabGames and launched this past January, with millions of players worldwide downloading the game for 3D action. It allows players to form teams of up to six fighters during the events of the main manga series.
Bleach: Brave Souls is available on iOS and Android devices through the App Store and Google Play.
Roronoa Zoro and Sanji are two of the strongest pirates on Luffy's crew, and both of them are equally important for Luffy on his journey to becoming the Pirate King in One Piece. Aside from Luffy, these two are the next strongest fighters in the crew. Although they're on the same crew, they're often at odds with each other, and their fans are as well.
Despite this, Zoro and Sanji understand each other very well and would lay down their lives for the crew. Each of them excels at certain things and suck at others. Here are 5 things Zoro does better than Sanji, and 5 Sanji does better than him.
10 Zoro: Fighting Women
Roronoa Zoro has proven time and again that he isn't scared of hurting women if they stand in his path in a fight. At Punk Hazard, Zoro fought against Money and sliced her in half with her sword despite her being sure that Zoro wouldn't harm her.
Sanji, on the other hand, actively avoids hurting women because that's what his father-figure, Zeff, taught him. According to Sanji, he will never do anything that brings Zeff any shame and fighting women is absolutely out of the question, no matter what is at stake.
9 Sanji: Melee Combat
Sanji is one of the strongest fighters in the Strawhat Pirates along with Luffy, Zoro and Jinbe and he specializes in melee combat. Under Red Leg Zeff, Sanji has learned to fight with his legs efficiently and developed a fighting style known as the Black-Leg Style.
Unique to Sanji, this fighting style lets him battle against even the toughest of opponents without having to rely on any weapons, unlike Roronoa Zoro, who is heavily reliant on his three swords, Wado Ichimonji, Enma, and Sandai Kitetsu, when it comes to fighting against strong enemies.
8 Zoro: Using Swords
Roronoa Zoro is a master swordsman as he's studied this art for years. As a child, Zoro trained under Koshiro until he became worthy of acquiring the Wado Ichimonji. Years later, he found himself training in this art under the Strongest Swordsman in the World, Dracule Mihawk, to better assist Luffy on his journey to becoming the Pirate King.
Zoro has grown tremendously stronger than before. Sanji possesses some skill with a sword as well, as seen when Judge forced this skill into him as a child. However, the difference between the two when it comes to using swords is staggering. Furthermore, Sanji prefers not to use his hands in combat, so he actively avoids using any weapons.
7 Sanji: Tactics
You don't have to be stronger than your opponent to win every battle. Sometimes, outsmarting them goes a long way, and that's exactly what Sanji does in times of grave danger. Over the course of the One Piece series, Sanji has repeatedly saved the Strawhat crew from trouble, thanks to his tactical thinking.
At places like Little Garden, Alabasta, Skypiea, and even Enies Lobby, Sanji has proven that his high intelligence yields results. Zoro, while not dumb, isn't smart enough to think of similar plans to make sure his enemies falter in their paths, and when he does, he usually fails at it, as seen when he tried to trick Braham during the Skypiea arc.
6 Zoro: Power
Zoro's intense training in the ways of the sword has produced great results. Not only does he get closer to the goal of beating Dracule Mihawk, but he also improves his skills drastically. For Zoro, strength is likely the most important factor of his swordplay since he rarely relies on technique.
According to Mihawk, Zoro's swordplay isn't graceful at all, and rather, ferocious. Over time, Zoro has gained immense raw power which Sanji can't best at all. That's not to say that Sanji is weak when it comes to power, he just isn't better than Zoro when it comes to strength.
5 Sanji: Speed
Just as Roronoa Zoro specializes in power, Sanji focuses more on speed. In fact, Sanji is one of the fastest in the entire crew, possibly bested only by Strawhat Luffy in Gear 4th: Snakeman. Sanji's speed is such that even the experienced fighters such as the likes of Charlotte Oven struggle to keep track of him.
In water, he makes use of his Blue Walk to move faster than a Fishman, which an insane feat. Zoro, on the other hand, isn't as fast as Sanji as he relies more on power. In terms of speed, Sanji and head and shoulders above the green-haired swordsman.
4 Zoro: Armament Haki
Roronoa Zoro was taught how to use Armament Haki by none other than Dracule Mihawk during the two-year time-skip. Over time, he's gained great proficiency in this skill. In the clash against Pica, Zoro proved that his Armament Haki was levels above his, and when compared to Sanji, it's likely going to be better as well.
According to Eiichiro Oda, One Piece's creator, Roronoa Zoro specializes in Armament Haki, so it is likely that he's better at using this form of Haki in comparison to Sanji.
3 Sanji: Observation Haki
While Roronoa Zoro specializes in Armament Haki, Sanji is a much better Observation Haki specialist. Contrary to popular belief, there are lots of feats that back this up, such as Sanji being able to hear Tashigi's tear fall from miles away at Punk Hazard, him knowing Viola was lying about betraying him, Sensing his crew under Doflamingo's threat from an island away at Dressrosa.
He also realized Pudding's true nature, and dodged Charlotte Katakuri's jelly Bean despite the Sweet Commander having seen the future. Zoro, while a decent user of Observation Haki, simply pales in comparison to Sanji in this skill.
2 Zoro: Long-Ranged Combat
When it comes to versatility while fighting, Roronoa Zoro seems to hold a slight edge over Sanji as he can fight at short-range and long-range. When at a distance, Zoro can send flying slashes at enemies, which prove to be absolutely lethal when they connect.
In short-range combat, Zoro is equally as good. Sanji is more of a close-quarters fighter and he doesn't really possess any skill that allows him to fight opponents from over a distance. Therefore, Zoro clearly bests Sanji in this aspect of fighting, without a doubt.
1 Sanji: Stealth
One of Sanji's main advantages has always been that he's quick and silent, like an assassin. This is likely due to him being part of a family of assassins from North Blue, known as the Vinsmoke Family. Furthermore, Sanji's Raid Suit gives him the ability to turn completely invisible and increases his speed drastically.
Even users of Observation Haki don't seem to know how and when he hits them (apparently), which is a huge boost to him when it comes to dealing with stronger opponents. Zoro, on the other hand, wouldn't be able to pull off a stealth move ever since that's just not his style.
Koyoharu Gotōge’s Demon Slayer series has been not only one of the most popular anime series of the last year, but one of Shonen Jump’s best performing manga. A large part of that is because they have one of the most likable characters ever in Tanjiro and his sister Nezuko, a pair of pure siblings who would do anything for one another.
But what’s a good series without good villains? While the demons don’t quite get the character development the protagonists do, they’re still some of the most fascinating characters on the show. But how much do you really know about them—where they come from, what their capabilities are? This list talks about ten things only the most eagle-eyed viewers/readers know about the demons.
10 THEY GAIN POWER BY EATING HUMANS
The most straightforward thing about demons is that they gain strength by eating humans. Of course, their ability to regenerate is strengthened from doing so, but it goes beyond that. Muzan encourages people he attacks to eat more humans because it causes them to grow and evolve.
Lower demons can develop Blood Demon Arts, then later as they become stronger they can change the shape of their bodies. The most talented of the Demon Slayers are even able to tell how many humans one has eaten just by being near them and smelling them.
9 CAN HIDE THEIR WEAK POINTS
Typically, the best way to kill a demon is the same way one kills a zombie: Cut their head off or destroy it. But as the demons become stronger, this becomes less and less of a cure-all solution. Cutting off the head of a demon can be made more difficult in a number of ways.
Lower Demon Moons have displayed the ability to make their necks so strong they simply can’t be cut, even by Nichirin Swords. Upper Demon Moons have displayed the ability to make it impossible to know what their neck even is.
8 ALL MENTALLY LINKED TO MUZAN
As the progenitor of all the demons that roam Japan, Muzan controls all of them with an iron fist. But his authority over them doesn’t merely extend to being far more powerful than any of them could imagine. No, he’s also managed to gain mental control over them as well.
During one episode where the Lower Demon Moons gathered together, he was able to read their thoughts as he expressed his frustration that, once again, one of them had been slain by the Demon Slayers. Immediately capable of sensing their fear and distress, Muzan laid waste to all but one of them.
7 CREATED BY FLOWERS
The first demon was created when a doctor was trying to help Muzan survive a deadly disease, hundreds of years ago. The disease was meant to take Muzan’s life, but the doctor created a medicine made from a blue spider lily flower.
He was still working on the medicine but tried part of it on Muzan, who transformed and killed the doctor out of frustration. Unfortunately for him, Muzan found himself unable to walk out in the sunlight as a result of his transformation.
6 CONTINUOUSLY EVOLVING
The most impressive thing about demons is that they seem to be capable of near-infinite evolution. Though they can’t necessarily control it, there doesn’t seem to be a limit to the growth of the demons.
Over time their regeneration ability grows, along with their ability to survive against the attacks of demon slayers. Their necks become stronger, they can reshape their bodies, and there seems to be no end to what they can do. Perhaps one day they can even evolve beyond their weakness to the sun?
5 CAN BE POISONED
Demons tend to be immune to nearly everything besides the sun. Their regeneration abilities pretty much allow them to come back from whatever damage is sustained. But there does seem to be one exception to this rule.
The Wisteria flower is apparently poisonous to demons. In certain doses, it can cause a demon’s system to shut down and even kill them. Shinobu Kocho, the Insect Pillar, has admitted to being too weak to actually cut off a demon’s head on her own, so she instead invented a special sword with a needle tip that can inject wisteria poison.
4 CAN GROW FROM MUZAN'S BLOOD
More often than not, Muzan prefers that anyone he selects as a demon becomes stronger on their own. This usually occurs through having them consume other humans, gaining strength with each life they take. But this isn’t the only way for them to become more powerful.
Muzan can feed them some of his own blood, forcibly causing an even greater evolution. There seems to be no upper limit to the amount of evolution they can experience, as Lower Demon Moons can gain the strength of Upper Demon Moons. The only limit seems to be what the person can take, as some have been fed too much of his blood and the results...were unpleasant.
3 CAN'T BE DESTROYED BY TRADITIONAL WEAPONS
While the series is called Demon Slayer, it’s actually far harder to slay a demon than it might seem. Because of their supernatural powers, ordinary humans don’t actually stand a chance in combat with a demon. And even if they could, demons simply don’t take damage as humans do. Swords and guns don’t inflict lethal damage no matter how proficient one might be with them.
The only weapons that seem to work are the Nichirin Blades, which are special weapons made for the Demon Slayers that constantly absorb sunlight. In other words, despite the Demon Slayers’ talent, the sun is still the only weapon capable of killing them.
2 CAN'T SAY MUZAN'S NAME
Muzan Kibutsujji is a dangerous, unforgiving man. He’s shown no mercy to anyone, from people who’ve mistakenly crossed him to even his own subordinates. When Rui, Lower Moon Five, was killed, Muzan was so frustrated with the Lower Moon’s bad habit of dying to Demon Slayers that he decided to kill all of them at once besides one.
Muzan doesn’t forgive weakness and doesn’t allow his subordinates to give out information to the enemy. We learned early on that demons aren’t even allowed to say his name and those who do often experience some horrible form of death.
1 THEY DON'T HAVE TO EAT HUMANS
Depending on the perspective, this is either sad or cruel. It’s true that demons often find themselves overcome with a hunger that can only be sated by consuming humans. However, if they choose, that’s actually something that most demons can gradually wean themselves away from.
After her initial transformation, the demon Tamayo came to her senses and began refusing to eat other humans. Over time, she completely recovered her normal senses and is now capable of surviving off small amounts of human blood. The one demon she’s created, Yushiro, has never eaten humans because he was initially shown a path to avoid doing so. Because most demons are transformed and introduced to extreme hunger, they never learn to do anything else.
It seems like in the world of Fairy Tail, everyone is some incredible mage with world-shattering powers capable of doing things you’d normally only hear about in legends. But there’s no anime where everyone can be strong, and no matter how strong the guild they all have a weak link.
This list takes a look at all of the weakest members in every Legal Guild in Fairy Tail. The only rule is that each guild member has to be an actual combatant, so we’re not sneaking in characters who don’t actually know how to fight. These aren’t the accountants or the bartenders of a guild, but those who have actually rushed into battle or taken on battle-focused quests.
10 SABERTOOTH: FROSCH
Sabertooth is essentially young Fairy Tail. They’re a group of talented mages who are learning what it means to treat one another like a family. But while they were easily the strongest guild while Fairy Tail was gone, that doesn’t mean everyone was strong. There’s a reason why Jiemma tried to obliterate Lector when he saw him—most Exceed aren’t exactly powerhouses. And while yes, Lector isn’t strong, he’s pretty clever. Frosch isn’t even that. He’s cute, so other people want to protect him, which is good because he’s helpless.
9 QUATRO PUPPY: WARCRY
The story of Quattro Cerberus was written when their strongest member tried to fight Elfman, lost, and the guild was forced to change their name to Quatro Puppy. Warcry isn’t much better either, as his special ability is Crying Magic—poking fun at how shonen characters often get stronger after shedding tears. When Warcry cries, he gains access to some powerful spells...supposedly. The truth is, we have no idea what he gets because he was up against Orga, the Lightning God Slayer, who immediately took him out before he could use anything.
8 MERMAID HEEL: BETH VANDERWOOD
They did Mermaid Heel dirty. The only all-girl guild in the series we know of, and it’s essentially full of scrubs and its relevance is buoyed by how powerful Kagura is.
Probably the weakest member of them all though is Beth, who’s special ability is Vegetable Magic. This lets her sprout different veggies from the ground and use them for battle, like she did against Gray with her Carrot Missiles. This is such a linear ability that it’s no wonder we’ve never really seen her in legitimate combat.
7 LAMIA SCALE: TOBY HORHORTA
Rule #1: never put your trust in someone named Toby. But all jokes aside, Toby is probably not really all that weak, it’s just that Lamia Scale is full of some powerful mages. With Fairy Tail gone, they were considered the second most powerful behind Sabertooth, with good reason. The guild has characters like Lyon, who trained alongside Gray, Jura, one of the Wizard Saints, and Sherria Blendy, a Sky God Slayer. Toby’s pretty strong—he can dispel powerful magics and has a paralysis claw which can kill a man...but that’s simply just not enough to rank above his fellow guildmates.
6 PHANTOM LORD: SOL
Sol was meant to be a member of Phantom Lord’s Element 4, the strongest of their guild members, all of whom lead the vanguard on the attack against Fairy Tail. But despite all of their bragging about the power of the Element 4, few of them actually proved impressive. Sol took advantage of Elfman’s inability to use his Take Over powers on more than one limb at a time, but all this succeeded in doing was helping Elfman reach the peak of his abilities. Other than that, he’s only capable of throwing rocks with his Earth magic and manipulating Sand a bit...he’s a vastly weaker version of the Alvarez Empire’s Ajeel.
5 RAVEN TAIL: KUROHEBI
It’s difficult to pick the weakest member of team Raven Tail, because we didn’t get to see much of them, and what we saw of them often involved tricks. Flare Corona managed to beat Lucy soundly, but only by threatening a child’s life. The only thing we know is that Kurohebi was powerful enough to beat Toby, but not nearly enough to beat Fairy Tail’s S-Class Lightning Dragon Slayer, even with the assistance of the rest of his guild.
4 BLUE PEGASUS: ICHIYA VANDALAY KOTOBUKI
The strength of Blue Pegasus as a guild is difficult to quantify, because they aren’t used in attacking positions often enough. This is why the Trimens never get to differentiate and prove who’s the strongest.
But while Ichiya is said to be quite powerful, the truth is he’s used as comedic relief more often than not and as a result, he rarely ever wins any fights. We do know he’s got some powerful offensive magic, however, more than enough to blow through most of the other fighters on this list.
3 FAIRY TAIL: JET AND DROY
Fairy Tail doesn’t have very many in the way of weak members. It’s pretty difficult for that to happen when they’re constantly being challenged by Dark Guilds and dragons and entire countries. But Fairy Tail’s Shadow Gear pairing is likely the least impressive of them all. Jet’s got super speed, which is excellent but he rarely uses it, and Droy has Plant magic which is neat but is only used as support magic. In either case, they just don’t get the job done enough.
2 CAIT SHELTER: WENDY
Cait Shelter was made up of, really, three members. The lead member, who was so powerful he was capable of using his magic to simulate an entire fake guild that Wendy was able to interact with and not even realize they were real-life NPCs. Then there was Carla, who was an Exceed capable of offering strategic advice, shapeshifting, and seeing the future. Lastly, there was Wendy, a powerful young Dragon Slayer with zero experience at what she did and little confidence as well. Though Wendy in Fairy Tail would become one of their best members, Wendy here was by far the weak link.
1 CRIME SORCIERE: SORANO
It’s weird to have Sorano here because much like Yugi’s grandfather’s deck, Crime Sorciere doesn’t have any useless members in it. They’re a group of former villains who decided they didn’t want to go to jail and they’d do a bunch of dangerous missions to atone for their prior bad behavior. In that group, Sorano is arguably the weakest of them all because she lost all three of her Gold Keys to Lucy after losing that fight. However, she still maintains Angel Magic, essentially a different kind of summoning, which makes her a viable threat. Crime Sorciere’s made up of so few members which are all dangerous, even their weakest member would be one of the strongest in another guild.
The Straw Hat Grand Fleet was formed towards the end of Dressrosa. The members of the Grand Fleet swore their loyalty to Luffy and vowed to help him in the time of need. The Straw Hat Grand Fleet currently has seven members: Bartolomeo, Cavendish, Orlumbus, Don Sai, Ideo, Hajrudin, and Leo.
All seven members are rather well-known throughout the One Piece world. However, there has been a lot of theorizing that more characters are gonna join the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. Back at Marineford, Mihawk said Luffy's greatest asset is his power to attract people to join him. Mihawk called it "the most terrifying power," and it is pretty obvious that Luffy is going to meet a lot more people and they could end up joining the Grand Fleet. Here are five characters who might join the Grand Fleet and 5 who won't.
10 Will Join: Boa Hancock
Boa Hancock is a former Shichibukai and one of the strongest characters in the series. She is the captain of the Kuja Pirates and the ruler of Amazon Lily. Boa Hancock is capable of using all three types of Haki, which makes her part of a very small list of characters capable of using all three Haki types. Boa has a devil fruit that apparently has no weakness(except the regular devil fruit weakness). She possesses the Mero Mero no Mi, that allows her to use the emotions of perversion. Boa is able to turn even non-living things to stone. We know that Boa loves Luffy and now that the Shichibukai don't exist anymore, I can totally see her joining the Grand Fleet.
9 Won't Join: Dracule Mihawk
Known as the "Strongest Swordsman in the World," Mihawk is one of the top tier characters in the series. He has the all-black blade called Yoru. He used to be rivals with Shanks before Shanks lost his arm. Mihawk's only goal in life is to fight strong people and he is expecting Zoro to provide him a challenge at some point in the future. Mihawk doesn't seem interested in having a crew and he is probably the only Shichibukai, who was happy that the organization was dissolved. Even though he respects Luffy's determination, he probably won't join the Grand Fleet.
8 Will Join: Remnants of Whitebeard Pirates
Whitebeard Pirates were left utterly humiliated after Marineford when the Blackbeard Pirates led by Marshall D. Teach dethroned them from the status of Yonko. The Whitebeard Pirates were led by the first division commander, Marco. After their defeat, Marco and crew disbanded. The whereabouts of most of the crew except Marco are unknown. Nekomamushi went to persuade Marco to join the alliance, whether or that is going to be a success is currently unknown. Marco is smart and he knows that it will be sensible to help Luffy and co. in order to bring down Kaido. Marco will also remember Ace's final wish, so he will very likely come to Wano and possibly join the Grand Fleet.
The main antagonist of Dressrosa, Doflamingo is a man with many secrets. Doflamingo haals an interesting past, and he is one of the few people who have seen both the best and worst of life. Doflamingo can be considered the evilest character in One Piece. He has no regard for the lives of other people except his family members. After being defeated by Luffy, he was left humiliated and it would be unlike him to help Luffy in his struggle to become the Pirate King.
6 Will Join: Charlotte Katakuri
Katakuri is the strongest Sweet Commander of the Big Mom Pirates. He was involved in a major tussle versus Luffy at Whole Cake Island. Katakuri possesses a special paramecia type devil fruit known as Mochi Mochi no Mi, and he has successfully awakened it. Katakuri has plenty of incredible feats to his name. He had a record of being undefeated until he faced Luffy. Katakuri's admiration for Luffy grew throughout their fight. Luffy and Katakuri both respect each other and if Big Mom falls during the Wano Arc, it is very likely that Katakuri might ally with Luffy.
5 Won't Join: Enel
The former God of Skypeia is yet to make an appearance ever since Luffy defeated him. Enel has the power of the Goro Goro no Mi. He could possibly become a very strong enemy if he learns to use Armament Haki. The reason that he won't join the Grand Fleet is pretty simple and that is because of his God complex. He won't be willing to join Luffy, whom he considers to be inferior. Enel will likely make a return sometime in the future, but I doubt anything would have changed about his demeanor.
Crocodile was the first Shichibukai that Luffy faced and to this date, he remains the only character who has defeated Luffy twice. Crocodile has the Suna Suna no Mi, that grants him the power to control sand. Despite their differences, Luffy and Crocodile have already teamed up once at Marineford. Crocodile even prevented the execution of Ace. He is somewhere in the New World right now and he definitely seems to be a character who stoll has a part to play in the series. It won't be all that surprising if he joins the Grand Fleet in the future.
3 Won't Join: Aokiji
Former Admiral of the Marines, Aokiji is different from most of his former compatriots. He believes in "Lazy Justice," which is unlike most Marines. Aokiji left the Marines after he lost the fight vs Akainu. The biggest surprise was that he joined the Blackbeard Pirates. It was quite shocking considering that Blackbeard is a very notorious pirate. It just doesn't feel right that Aokiji is working for Blackbeard, and it very likely that he's on an undercover mission, but either way he won't join another pirate alliance.
2 Will Join: Bon Clay
Bon Clay started as the enemy of the Straw Hats, but since then he helped them countless times. He helped the Straw Hats to escape from Hina, and he helped Luffy to escape from Impel Down to save Ace. Luffy respects Bon Clay and he definitely won't forget his sacrifices. There is a good chance that Bon Clay might join him as a member of the Grand Fleet.
1 Won't Join: Smoker
Endowed with the power of the Moku Moku no Mi, Smoker has risen through the ranks quickly. He has been chasing Luffy for quite some time now and he hasn't been successful at all. However, he doesn't completely detest Luffy as seen many times. Smoker knows that Luffy is not a regular pirate who enjoys pillage and torture. Despite all this, Smoker considers him an enemy and he will do everything in his power to stop Luffy.
Since Black Cat slinked into Spider-Man's life, she's become one of his most beloved antagonists. Sometimes lovers, often enemies, occasionally both at the same time, their relationship has taken countless twists and turns over the years, making her such a compelling addition to the wall crawler's supporting cast.
But there's much more to Felicia Hardy than her romance with Peter Parker. A skilled fighter and acrobat who chose to follow in her father's villainous footsteps, she's cunning and fiercely independent. Although she thrives in the criminal underworld, she is a deeply complex character surrounded by moral ambiguity.
With such an interesting character to play with, the creative minds at Marvel Comics have put her to work with some of the best heroes (and villains) around. Here are 10 of the best Black Cat stories.
10 Never Let The Black Cat Cross Your Path!
Created by Marv Wolfman and Dave Cockrum, the Black Cat first found her way into Marvel Comics in 1979's Amazing Spider-Man #194 - 195. Originally intended to be a villain for Spider-Woman, Felicia Hardy instead became one of Peter's most notorious antagonists with a complex relationship.
This was a perfect introduction to Felicia, instantly establishing herself as a driven character willing to break the law to achieve her own goals, with hints of nobility behind her criminal deeds. And, of course, sparks flew between Black Cat and ol' web-head almost instantly, with Felicia quickly claiming the spotlight once MJ left the picture.
9 Fantasia/Wild Beasts/At Death's Door!
Believing Black Cat to be dead, Spidey was shocked to be reunited with Felicia during the events of Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #74 - #76. With Doctor Octopus and the Owl each after a device to attack New York City, Black Cat steals a vital component from Kingpin and turns to Spidey for help.
While the story sees the pair working together as a team, it also explores the complexities of their relationship. Black Cat's reappearance forces Peter to confront the tragedy the women in his life have suffered, and he consequently tries to distance himself from her. But when she's critically injured helping him defeat Doc Ock and the Owl, Peter realizes his true feelings for her, prompting them to start dating.
8 Foreign Affairs
Black Cat regularly joined Spider-Man's adventures from Spectacular Spider-Man #115 onwards, demonstrating their natural ability to work together, their loyalty for each other, and their blossoming relationship. But her role is particularly vital in the concluding confrontation between Spidey and the Foreigner in issues #128 - #129.
Becoming entangled with the mercenary, Peter worries that Felicity may be working with the enemy. Instead, she was helping orchestrate events to clear Spider-Man's name. But being peeved that he saved her from Sabretooth when she didn't need the help, she decided to take revenge on Peter in her own cunning way: A manipulative ruse before fleeing the country. This Black Cat shouldn't be crossed.
7 The Evil That Men Do
Kevin Smith's six-part miniseries is controversial for a few reasons, but it is still a key entry in Black Cat's canon. Spider-Man and Black Cat find themselves begrudgingly working together again when their cases overlap.
But things take a dark turn when Felicia is arrested for the murder of rapist, Garrison Klum: A crime she didn't commit. Facing the death penalty, Peter hires Matt Murdock to act as her lawyer, with the pair dedicated to saving their feline friend. It's not a series for the faint-hearted, as Smith tackles some difficult and disturbing subject matter, revealing the tragic past of not one but two infamous Spider-rogues.
6 Marvel Knights: Spider-Man
Black Cat steps in to face some of Spider-Man's most sinister foes in this twelve-part series, finally coming into her own in the concluding tale called The Last Stand.
Conflicted about her life as an antihero, she confronts her villainous past head-on in a memorable monologue. As the pair prepare to release Norman Osborn from prison to save Aunt May, she tells Peter she wants to do it alone, as she will never be the noble hero he is. She knows the weight of guilt is a burden she can bare and comes to accept her troubled relationship with the law.
Not only is this a great demonstration of character progression, but it shows that Felicia is willing to risk everything to save Peter, no matter the consequences.
5 Claws
An unlikely duo teamed up in three-part miniseries, Claws. Wolverine and the Black Cat find themselves held captive in cages on a mysterious island, confronted by a group of hunters led by someone claiming to be Kraven the Hunter. If the pair make it to a boat waiting to take them to their rescue on the other side of the island, they can go free. However, they have to evade the huntsmen.
An action-packed adventure ensues, with Wolverine and Black Cat working together effectively as they dodge bullets, rockets, and even killer robots. Their sharp back-and-forth and willingness to get their hands dirty made this series so popular, it spawned a sequel.
4 Nothing Can Stop the Rhino
After the Rhino savagely beat up Peter Parker in Sensational Spider-Man #33, an angry Black Cat decides to deliver her own kind of vengeance to the giant villain. She finds Rhino on a drunken rampage. Despite his aggressive state and massive size, Black Cat confronts him, stepping into the role of a fully-fledged hero.
This story is an excellent character piece as Felicia reflects on her career as a criminal, her brief venture into heroics, and her relationship with Peter. It cements her bond with Peter as one of the most impactful aspects of her life and comes to appreciate how he's helped to steer her on the path of good (but with plenty of room to be bad).
3 Marvel Divas
This miniseries received some criticism when it launched in 2009, thanks to its tongue-in-cheek comparison to Sex and the City. However, if you can look past the soapy exterior, it's an entertaining read, bringing four unlikely characters together.
Firestar, Hellcat, Photon, and Black Cat team up in this series, each sharing their woes about their personal lives, feeding into a larger story. Most importantly for Black Cat fans, it provides a greater exploration of Felicia's character. Struggling to get a loan from the banks (for obvious cat-burglary reasons) to start her investigations business, she considers returning to crime. It's a really fun, well-written series that provides a stronger connection to each of these characters.
2 The Trophy Hunters
Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat was a short standalone side-quest series that tied into Spidey's then-ongoing 'Grim Hunt' arc. A fun heist tale, it saw the pair cross paths once again as Black Cat continued to walk the fine line between heroics and villainy.
Being manipulated to steal precious artifacts by the Kravinoff family, the series took a number of fun twists, all while building upon Felicia and Peter's ever-complicated relationship. Filled with great character work and dynamic art by Javier Pulido, the series was filled with everything Black Cat fans could hope for: Heists, comedy, drama, and plenty of action.
1 Devil and the Details
This fun crossover complicated Peter and Felicia's relationship even further when Matt Murdock entered the scene. Spanning across Amazing Spider-Man #677 and Daredevil #8, a recently heartbroken Peter tries to convince Felicia to go on a date with him. Not willing to be anybody's rebound, she rejects him and arrives home to find a Spider-Tracer on her suit and the NYPD surrounding her apartment.
After breaking out of prison and realizing she was framed, Felicia joins Peter and Matt as the trio tries to recover a hologram projector. True to her nature, it's uncertain who's side Felicia is really on at any point. Packed with fun moments, unexpected twists, and a bit of romance, this series has it all.
It’s difficult to believe, but we’ve already made it through the second decade of this century. The world of anime has only grown more popular, with major series coming out of nearly every year this decade featuring some of the strongest characters we’ve ever seen. But which one of them is the strongest?
This list takes a look at some of the most powerful anime heroes of the decade, ranking them according to their feats within their shows. The only rule? They have to have actually been a hero for most/all of their series, and they have to have come from anime series which originated in this decade. This means no Goku from Dragon Ball Super, or this list would just have a bunch of DBZ characters in it.
10 KIRITO
Does it count as being powerful if it’s only true inside of a video game? Considering how video games have taken over popular culture, why not? Kirito is the lead character in Sword Art Online, someone who gets trapped inside of Aincrad when the creator goes nuts and forces them to beat the game or be stuck forever. While there, Kirito builds his already impressive skills enough to eventually defeat Heathcliff/Kayaba Akihiko. Since then, he’s transposed his skills into no less than three different games and proven great in all of them.
9 JOTARO KUJO
The third protagonist of the JoJo series, Jotaro was certainly the most powerful member of the Joestar line up to that point. He developed the Stand Star Platinum, which seemingly had a fairly simple ability—it punched his opponents really hard, and really fast. But what’s an anime hero without some power-ups? Eventually, Jotaro gained the ability to stop time. And while that can only work for up to five seconds for a human being, Star Platinum’s speed means five seconds is plenty of time to get the job done.
8 MEDAKA KUROKAMI
It was a shame not many people watched Medaka Box, a fantastic action series that masterfully poked fun at the storytelling and character tropes of a battle shonen. Medaka’s unique power is The End, an Abnormality that allows her to use another person’s skill to one hundred and twenty percent of their capability, essentially surpassing the person she learned it from.
She also has superhuman strength, speed, and durability, which allows her to adapt to the abilities of even some of the most powerful people around her. All of this is without including her various power-up modes, at least one of which allows her to move at the speed of sound and create shadow clones of herself.
7 KORO-SENSEI
The lead protagonist from Assassination Classroom, Koro-chan started out as a legendary assassin known as The Reaper. He spent years working in the shadows before being experimented on and given a body made up of pure anti-matter. With this body, he’s capable of regenerating from nearly any attack that could be launched on him, and has even proven capable of turning invisible. But most frightening about his abilities is that he possesses incredible speed, capable of moving at Mach 20.
6 SINBAD
Sinbad was easily one of the strongest characters in Magi. Where most characters became noteworthy for conquering a single dungeon and gaining the treasure and power of one Djinn, Sinbad gained the powers and treasure of seven. This is so egregious, the dungeons won’t even allow him in to solve them anymore. Each new Djinn gave him a new metal vessel, which granted him access to their powers and elements—this gives him control over lightning, ice, and wind, the ability to force people to obey his commands, and more. He’s the rare shonen character that’s so powerful the story usually has to explain why he can’t help because he’d solve everything.
5 ALL MIGHT
The Symbol of Peace himself, All Might was the #1 Hero in his world thanks to his heroic nature and the power of his quirk, One for All. Since his successor, Midoriya, isn’t quite able to use the power to its fullest yet, all we have to go off is what All Might was able to show us. We saw him beat a monster designed specifically to beat him by refusing to give up and using a flurry of blows in one of the best fight scenes of the decade. We’ve seen him punch so hard he could change the weather itself. And the most absurd part is everything we’ve seen isn’t quite what he was capable of doing before his injury.
4 RIMURU TEMPEST
Who would have thought one of the most powerful characters created this decade would be a...slime? Certainly, not the people in Rimuru’s series, Reincarnated as a Slime, which is why people continue to underestimate him. This power comes from two different sources. One is the skill Predator, which allows him to absorb the abilities and power of anything he consumed.
The other is the Storm Dragon Veldora Tempest which is inside him, vastly increasing his magical abilities beyond what they would have been. This gives him infinite regeneration, and a level of magic power and control that’s far beyond anything even higher level monsters and humans have ever encountered.
3 HIBIKI TACHIBANA
The lead character of Symphogear has definitely earned her spot. The series she comes from is all about achieving the impossible, and with every subsequent season, that’s precisely what she does. She starts out by defeating aliens which can dissolve humans with a simple touch, works her way up into defeating an eternally reincarnating sorceress with designs on ruling the world...and that’s just in the first season. Season 2 sees her literally punch through a mountain and suplex a spacecraft, and by Season 5 she’s throwing down with God.
2 SHIGEO KAGEYAMA
Also known as Mob, Shigeo is a psychic with powers that seem to have surpassed any other. He can absorb the psychic energy of others, storing it for use later, which already places him above most challengers. But he’s also capable of using that energy and giving it to others, or infusing it into plants causing them to grow. We’ve even seen him disassemble and reassemble matter itself. And all of that is merely what Mob is capable of at 100 percent. At ???, he seems to be a psychic with limitless power.
1 SAITAMA
Could it really have been anyone else? The entire point of Saitama is that he’s the most powerful person in his own universe. The whole first season built up to an alien invasion that happened primarily because another being was incredibly, absurdly powerful and looking for a challenge. He thought he found one in Saitama and still got turned into dust by a single Serious Punch. The second season was about a dude hunting down and destroying upper-class heroes while Saitama looked for him...without realizing he’d stomped him twice in incidental encounters. With no clear upper limit or proper challenge to his strength, he can't be anything less than the most powerful hero of the decade.
Comic book crossovers are a big deal – or at least, they should be. Otherwise, what’s the point of bringing together so many different superheroes, if it’s back to business, as usual, the moment the immediate danger has passed? Yet that’s often how things pan out in so-called “event” comics: once the dust has settled and the hype subsided, it becomes apparent that the status quo hasn’t really changed all that much.
Fortunately, some crossovers do result in lasting consequences. Indeed, once the Big Two of superhero comics, Marvel and DC, decide to shake things up, they tend to adopt an “all or nothing” mentality, wreaking major havoc within the fictional universes they publish. But such wholesale change is far from a given, and as this list illustrates, for every line-wide comic book story that changes everything, there’s at least one more that winds up having no impact at all!
10 Changed Everything: House Of M
2005’s House of M was a direct follow-up to Avengers: Disassembled, which saw Earth’s Mightiest Heroes laid low by their unhinged teammate Scarlet Witch. So it had a high bar to clear in terms of delivering wide-reaching, meaningful change. But somehow creative team Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel did just that with this epic tale of the Marvel Universe gone topsy turvy.
By the time House of M and its related tie-ins had wrapped up, the dormant Phoenix Force had reawakened (in turn sowing the seeds for the Avengers vs. X-Men event), Hawkeye was alive once more, Wolverine’s memories had been restored, and – most importantly – the global mutant population was slashed from millions to merely hundreds, dramatically altering the state of play in the Marvel Universe.
9 Changed Nothing: The Infinity Gauntlet
The Infinity Gauntlet can lay claim to a higher body count than most comic book crossovers – before we even reach its halfway mark, half of all sentient life in the Marvel Universe has been snuffed out! With that many casualties, you’d think the House of Ideas’ entire line of publications would never be the same going forward – and you’d be wrong. By the time this mini-series has drawn to a close, main baddie Thanos’ act of cosmic genocide has been reversed, erasing any permanent damage.
This conclusion was as inevitable as it was underwhelming, which is probably why Marvel Studios took liberties with the Infinity Gauntlet storyline when adapting it for the big screen.
8 Changed Everything: WildC.A.T.s/Aliens
Crossovers between comics and movies are typically forgettable affairs and with good reason. After all, the rightsholders of the properties involved don’t want to throw their respective continuities into disarray over what essentially amounts to a quick cash-in – which is why they either play it safe or make it clear that the story in question takes place outside of continuity.
And that’s what makes WildC.A.T.s/Aliens so unique: writer Warren Ellis and editor Scott Dunbier insisted that this be a book that mattered. So, when several members of supergroup Stormwatch are fatally injured going head-to-head with the mini-series’ titular interstellar beasties, their demise was treated as canon for eight whole years, right up until the Wildstorm Universe itself was rebooted.
7 Changed Nothing: JLA/Avengers
Admittedly, nobody really expected there to be any large scale fallout from JLA/Avengers – that’d be a bit like demanding meaningful repercussions from Archie Meets The Punisher! OK, so maybe that’s a little unfair – this Marvel/DC collaboration was treated as canon, for one thing – but it’s clear that both publishing houses were eager to keep it a relatively self-contained affair.
That’s not to say that JLA/Avengers doesn’t boast some of the coolest moments in any crossover, because it surely does. It’s just that – other than introducing the cosmic egg that launched the first incarnation of DC’s weekly series Trinity – nothing about proceedings permanently changed either the DC or Marvel Universes.
6 Changed Everything: Invasion!
If this were a list ranking the most well-crafted crossovers of all time, then Invasion! would have struggled to make the cut. Luckily enough for this late ‘80s limited series, we’re only concerned about consequences, not quality – an area where Invasion! easily trumps other, more elegantly executed efforts.
Take the Gene Bomb that plays a pivotal role in Invasion!’s narrative: going forward, this plot device was used to rationalize the origins of new metahuman superheroes and villains. The event also made some fairly significant amendments to Legion of Super-Heroes lore and laid the foundation for Grant Morrison and Richard Case’s acclaimed run on Doom Patrol.
5 Changed Nothing: DC One Million
Don’t get us wrong: DC One Million is a blast to read. But when all is said and done, this company-wide crossover by Grant Morrison and Val Semeiks may as well have not happened, for all the influence it had on the direction of the DC Universe.
True, several developments here have been referenced by Morrison in his later works (most notably, his definitive Man of Steel tale All-Star Superman). But whether you consider that important depends on how invested you are in the Scottish scribe’s own sub-continuity – otherwise, this is yet another crossover that left the status quo firmly in place.
4 Changed Everything: Onslaught
The climactic battle in the Onslaught saga sees both the Avengers and the Fantastic Four seemingly perish in a heroic act of self-sacrifice. Obviously, Marvel wasn’t about to write-out several of its most iconic characters, so it wasn’t much of a shock when both superhero teams turned up alive and well in another “pocket dimension”.
Now, on the face of it, this is yet another huge cop-out… except that it led directly into Heroes Reborn. This year-long series saw Image Comics co-founders Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld reboot Marvel’s First Family and Earth’s Mightiest heroes as part of an entirely separate continuity – and while the affected heroes would eventually be brought back into the mainstream Marvel Universe, their 12-month absence was a big deal at the time.
3 Changed Nothing: Our Worlds At War
Our Worlds at War is a bit of a dud crossover. Yeah, this DC event temporarily thinned out the ranks of DC’s B and C-list stable of characters (most of them were back on their feet, like, a week later), but that’s about it.
Indeed, it says a lot about just how insignificant Our Worlds at War was that the only semi-permanent outcome from the storyline is that Superman briefly substituted the yellow in his famous S-shield for black, out of respect for his fallen allies. And seriously: does a minor wardrobe shake-up qualify as “changing everything”?
2 Changed Everything: Crisis On Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earthsdidn’t simply result in lasting ramifications for DC continuity – entire universes are wiped out over the course of its 12-issue run! – it altered the whole landscape of superhero comics forever, as well. For better and for worse, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s 1985 maxiseries almost single-handedly kicked off the ongoing cycle of bombastic, company-wide “event comics” from DC and Marvel that continues to this day.
Yet while such stories are now decidedly old hat, Crisis was ground-breaking in its day – playing out on the biggest canvas possible, it reset the board in a way that no other crossover had before (or arguably has since). Not only was DC’s convoluted multiverse whittled down into the streamlined DC Universe, but the tragic fates of high-profile characters like the Kara Zor-El Supergirl and the Barry Allen Flash wouldn’t be overturned until decades later, which is unheard of in the genre.
1 Changed Nothing: Armageddon 2001
Whenever people discuss Armageddon 2001 (and that’s not very often), the focus tends to be on the controversy surrounding the eleventh-hour changes made to its ending. On the plus side, this means that another of the 1991 crossover’s key flaws get overlooked: namely, that the whole dang storyline is a big waste of time.
That might sound a bit harsh – and in fairness to creative team Archie Goodwin, Dennis O’Neil and Dan Jurgens, the “potential dark future” aspect of the core series and its tie-ins are undeniably fun. However, the reality is that the only tangible revisions to DC continuity Armageddon 2001 brought about is that Hawk (of Hawk and Dove fame) broke bad, and Waverider joined the ranks of DC’s time-traveling community, which is… cool, we guess?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe started in 2008 with Iron Man. Outside of that movie and The Incredible Hulk, the next 21 films were all released in the last decade, from 2010-2019. What is impressive is that the quality of the movies remained high throughout the entire decade of cinematic releases.
From Iron Man and Captain America to team-up movies like Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel released movie after movie, playing in a myriad of genre playgrounds. From fantasy films to espionage movies and sci-fi epics to traditional superhero fare, Marvel has something for everyone when it comes to their output. Here is a look at the 10 best MCU movies of the decade, ranked.
10 SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019)
It shows how successful Marvel has become that they feel confident releasing a film where the villain is a b-level bad guy but can still sell the role to an actor like Jake Gyllenhaal to portray him to the fullest. Spider-Man: Far From Home is the second outing for Tom Holland as the Wall-Crawler while under the umbrella of the MCU.
This was the seventh Spider-Man movie, but with Marvel's magic touch, it was the first one to break the $1 billion mark at the box office. It likely helped that this was the first movie that took place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, but it stands on its own as a great film and a fantastic way to end the decade.
9 CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019)
Captain Marvel faced an uphill battle from the start due to online trolls who tried to sabotage it at Rotten Tomatoes, leading to drastic changes implemented on that website platform. Despite all the complaints about the movie and Brie Larson's offhand comments about diversity, it was a success.
The movie introduced the world to Captain Marvel in a '90s-era prequel to the MCU. It also brought in a young Nick Fury and Agent Coulson and showed where the idea for the Avengers initiative originated. The movie made over $1 billion worldwide, proving that the trolls couldn't stop it no matter how hard they tried.
8 AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019)
The Avengers movies have been hit-and-miss. The first was a true classic, and the second was a slight letdown as a follow-up. Avengers: Infinity War, which very good, was only half a movie and seemed almost like a film where Thanos was the hero all along. However, Avengers: Endgame was the perfect conclusion to the team's story.
This had Iron Man's perfect end, the first MCU hero going from a self-centered egomaniac to someone who sacrificed himself to save the world. It also was a perfect sendoff for Captain America and had one of the best final battles in any comic book movie, MCU or otherwise.
7 SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)
Spider-Man had a great start in the cinema world when Sam Raimi brought him to the big screen. However, after two great movies, studio interference by Sony doomed the third, and a reboot with Marc Webb suffered the same fate. Then Marvel stepped in and took over, with Sony just reaping the financial windfall.
This is easily the best version of Peter Parker seen onscreen, as Tom Holland fit the role better than Andrew Garfield and even Tobey Maguire. Homecoming included great action, an appearance by Iron Man, and a fantastically sympathetic villain in Michael Keaton's Vulture. Plus, how cool was it to have the original big-screen Batman as the villain in a Marvel movie?
6 CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
One of the most successful comic book crossover storylines of this century was Civil War, where Iron Man and Captain America went to war with half the Marvel Universe following Cap and the other half following Iron Man. It was slightly polarizing, though, as Marvel spent a long time with superheroes fighting each other.
When it comes to the adaptation, Marvel was smart and just left it at one movie, although there were traces of it seeping into Ant-Man & The Wasp and Avengers: Infinity War. This movie introduced Spider-Man and Black Panther into the MCU and took what worked best about Civil War and took out the filler.
5 THOR: RAGNAROK (2017)
The first Thor movie was a Shakespearian tale, and the second was a disappointment with too many cooks in the kitchen. While fans loved Chris Hemsworth as Thor, it seemed his solo movies were destined to fail. Then Taiki Waititi came along, and everything changed with Thor: Ragnarok.
Not only was Ragnarok a rousing success, but it was one of the most entertaining Marvel movies in the MCU. The action was great, it was very funny, and Thor finally got to cut loose. It is the closest the MCU will come to adapting Planet Hulk and was so good that a fourth Thor movie is coming — something no other solo hero achieved.
4 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014)
When Marvel hired James Gunn to direct Guardians of the Galaxy, it turned some heads. He was a fascinating choice, a man who got his start in Troma and had never helmed something of this size before. It was also based on characters that no one out of hardcore Marvel fans knew anything about.
Then, Guardians of the Galaxy hit in 2014 and was another massive success for Marvel. A giant sci-fi space opera along the lines of Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica, the movie made $772 million worldwide and a 91-percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
3 CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER (2014)
The first Captain America movie was a smaller story, set in World War II and introducing Cap to the mainstream world. It was an average movie with a smaller box office take an average Rotten Tomatoes score. Then, after he made his big return in Avengers, he got his second movie.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, on the other hand, was an espionage movie almost more than it was a superhero movie. Black Widow and Nick Fury were along for the ride with Winter Soldier making his big debut. The selling point was HYDRA infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D., putting the U.S. on the brink of war, and this movie did for the MCU what The Dark Knight did for DC. It was more than just a superhero flick. It was a great film, period.
2 BLACK PANTHER (2018)
Black Panther was the first Marvel movie that gained a lot of push for Oscar inclusion as a Best Picture candidate. The character was introduced in Captain America: Civil War, and this movie took place almost immediately following that film. What resulted was a fantastic film with a tremendous cast and one of the best villains the MCU has ever seen.
One of the biggest complaints about MCU movies always rested with weak villains. Outside of Loki, and later Thanos, no villain matched up to the level of the heroes he was set to face. That was not the case in Black Panther, which had one of the most sympathetic, yet evil villains in the MCU in Killmonger. With a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score and $1.3 billion at the box office, it was a monster success.
1 THE AVENGERS (2012)
The Avengers is not as great as Black Panther when it comes to critical acclaim. In fact, it's not as great as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is arguably a true piece of cinema. However, as a comic book adaptation, The Avengers is the best movie that successfully brought a comic book to the big screen.
The Avengers took characters fans met in solo movies and seamlessly integrated them into one giant team-up movie where the threat was bigger than any single hero. It was a huge box office blockbuster, making $1.5 billion, the most successful superhero movie in existence at that time. Its 91% combined Rotten Tomatoes scores proved that critics and fans both loved it. The film also proved that the MCU was here to stay.
For those who might not be aware, Shōnen (or Shounen) is a genre of anime or manga geared toward a young/teenage male demographic. The exact age group can vary, but the primary targets usually fall between the ages of 12 and 18. As expected, their plots are action-packed and utterly entertaining.
While certain Shōnen storylines can be impressively unique, the majority of them follow a methodical approach that typically comes with a handful of tropes. Sure, some Shōnen tropes are a bit cringeworthy, but others definitely rule and we don't mind watching them unfold. Let's check out some examples from both ends of the spectrum.
10 Rules: Heartbreaking Flashbacks
Make no mistake, this trope can get a bit annoying if triggered at inopportune moments. Nonetheless, flashbacks serve as an excellent source of emotion for an anime. They can create a perfect balance since Shōnen is mostly action-based and intense battle sequences are incorporated into the majority of episodes.
Heartbreaking flashbacks are generally the most efficient way to take a break from the madness and introduce a character's backstory. They might draw a few tears and heighten the stakes for the corresponding character, which makes the anime (or manga) more meaningful.
9 Doesn't Rule: Announcing Every Single Attack
Look, really cool Shōnen character(s). We understand that your attacks are awesome and that they have their own special names. However, it's not necessary to announce every single move that you're about to make. Unless you're like DC's Zatanna and have to vocalize most commands, there's really no need to tell your opponent exactly what you're about to do.
This trope is often overlooked because viewers are simply trying to bask in the heat of the encounter. Our only question is: Why do most opponents not capitalize on this? If two people are fighting and one of them pauses to reveal the exact action they're about to take, the other should have a few crucial seconds to either defend or parry.
8 Rules: Training Montage
The ever so popular training montages are usually accompanied by great music, so that automatically rules. They also grant us the chance to watch the protagonist and/or side characters develop their strengths and abilities. On top of that, a pinch of humor might be added to make the overall event more entertaining.
Training montages tend to function as a time skip of sorts where the coaching could last several days, weeks, or months. They also make sense in terms of plot — you can't just make an average character a phenomenal fighter overnight.
7 Doesn't Rule: Excessive Dialogue During Fights
This trope sometimes goes hand-in-hand with announcing every single attack, but excessive dialogue applies to any and all talking that is — for some ridiculous reason — dumped in the middle of mind-blowing fights. This dialogue might include (but is not limited to) pompous boasting, story exposition, or explanations of how certain powers/skills function.
A recent example of this trope that immediately comes to mind is Demon Slayer. While the stunning series has rightfully experienced massive success, protagonist Tanjiro Kamado really likes to talk. He'll describe absolutely everything happening mid-battle... or just about anything else that occurs onscreen. Perhaps trust your viewers a little more and let them make a few deductions on their own.
6 Rules: Tournaments
Oh, tournaments. What would Shōnen be without you? Many popular Shōnen titles dedicate at least one arc to a significant competition of sorts that the protagonist desperately wants to win. To be fair, victory isn't always guaranteed for the main character unless the stakes are obnoxiously high.
For instance, My Hero Academia's Deku might not have won the U.A. Sports Festival, but losing a tournament in a series like Dragon Ball Super could mean the obliteration of your home planet. These events up the ante and provide remarkable battle sequences.
5 Doesn't Rule: Unrealistic School Depictions
Anime and manga writers have always had an odd infatuation with depicting school as an awesome place where anything goes. We can wholeheartedly promise you that your Culinary Arts class will never be as dramatic as Food Wars. You will never meet a classmate like Bleach's Ichigo Kurosaki who can see dead spirits or Mob Psycho 100's Shigeo Kageyama who has psychic powers.
To be honest, the only reason this trope is so frustrating is because it serves as a reminder that school is never that interesting. A Shinigami will never drop a Death Note on campus in our world, so what's the point of attending class?
4 Rules: The Simple-Minded Protagonist
This Shōnen trope makes a lot of sense when you remember that the target demographic is young boys. Their personalities will more often than not correlate with those of a simple-minded main character, but in a good way. These protagonists can be relatable and are generally kindhearted.
There's something incredibly likable about a dimwitted main character. For starters, you get to watch them grow and become more competent over the course of the series. Sure, they will make silly decisions and occasionally ruin their own plans, but they have good intentions and make us laugh without fail.
3 Doesn't Rule: Absent/Dead/Non-Existent Parents
Hunter x Hunter's Gon Freecss is the poster boy for this Shōnen trope, but it applies to several anime/manga plots. What exactly are the parents doing while their child runs around the world getting into fights? Does no one care that these kids reach the brink of death every season? And that's assuming their parents aren't dead, which is a Shōnen trope that correlates with most comic book superheroes.
In terms of living parents, mothers always get the short end of the stick. If they're lucky enough to be alive, they're guaranteed to be stay-at-home moms whose personalities don't extend beyond "dinner's ready!"
2 Rules: The Power of Friendship
For a genre geared toward teenage boys, it's surprising how the power of friendship is typically placed above physical strength in terms of importance. We know that teamwork makes the dream work, but watching our favorite protagonists defeat villains with the help of something as wholesome as friendship is heartwarming.
This Shōnen trope is refreshingly selfless and opens the door for a slew of valuable life lessons. A variant of the power of friendship is the significance of sibling love. A modern example of this is Demon Slayer, which emphasizes the relationship between Tanjiro and Nezuko.
1 Doesn't Rule: Fan Service
We all know what this particular trope entails and some would argue that it's a great thing. The truth is that excessive fan service is utterly distracting and unnecessary for anyone who isn't... aroused... by animated characters. It can dwindle the intensity of a scene and turn a great moment into a cringeworthy one.
We're not saying that fan service should be totally eradicated. Anime and manga have a little bit of something for everyone, but this trope shouldn't be as in-your-face as it is in the majority of Shōnen. Not every female is so excessively well-endowed and it's okay to depict that.
Considering how anime went from being only on a single channel in the middle of the night to being a major category on Hulu and Netflix, it’s safe to say it’s experienced quite the boost in popularity. It’s glow-up is rivaled only by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that was already popular last decade.
And with anime having become more popular, unsurprisingly we’ve gotten more of it. We literally can’t seem to get away from it these days. But since there’s so much of it, which ones are actually the best? Well, this list aims to take a look at ten of the best series of the last decade, to give everyone a good idea of what series they should go back and check out before we enter 2020.
10 K-ON
A simple four-panel comedy manga created by Kakifly, K-On followed a group of young girls attending the all-girl Sakuragaoka High School who all joined the light music club to keep it from being disbanded. The group is small, and overseen by the school’s music teacher, and the manga follows them as they go from high school to university, guided by their love of music. Carrying on the 2000s trend of Cute Girls Doing Cute Things, K-On also popularized the idea of anime series following characters with a love of music that continues even today in series like Forest of Piano and Carole & Tuesday.
9 ATTACK ON TITAN
Eren Yaeager is a young man who spent his entire life inside the walls of his city, as they’re the only thing that keep humanity safe from the massive, human-eating creatures known as Titans that have nearly wiped out all of humanity. But when the Titans finally destroy the wall to his town, destroying his city and his life, he joins the elite unit known as the Survey Corps to get his revenge and wipe out the Titans once and for all. Filled with more twists and turns than almost any other series on this list, Attack on Titan was at one point the anime to watch, and it’s still easily one of the most beloved series of the decade.
8 FATE/ZERO
In 2006, Studio Deen gave us an adaptation of the popular dark fantasy light novel by Type-Moon, Fate/stay night. While popular worldwide, it ran as a simple season and that was that. But Fate/Zero, based on the prequel light novel by Gen Urobuchi and animated by ufotable, was a far different story. Telling the story of the Fourth Holy Grail War, it sees the mage families of Fate/stay night in the war prior to that story, setting up the plotlines which pay off in future series. This series is so important it revitalized the franchise in the world of anime, resulting in multiple series and films that have continued even into 2019.
7 REINCARNATED AS A SLIME
Going back as far as the 80s, there’s been a dominant genre to anime. The 80s had mecha and science fiction. The 90s had action series. The 2000s had slice of life. And the 2010s have had “isekai”--tales about characters from our world becoming trapped in another. Most isekai are just excuses to live out geeky power fantasies...and Reincarnated as a Slime isn’t different in that respect.
It’s lead character Rimuru is almost comedically powerful, capable of tearing through almost any threat that challenges him...but the story isn’t about that. Instead, it sees Rimuru learn to navigate this new fantasy world after being forced to leave his humanity behind, gathering all the monsters of the nation under him to create a peaceful kingdom. Reincarnated as a Slime is filled with beautiful animation, likable characters, and an engrossing well-developed world that makes it a perfect comfort food watch.
6 ONE PUNCH MAN
Though anime typically favors longer series, Madhouse’s twelve-episode adaptation of ONE’s One Punch Man manga became a sensation almost from the premiere of the first episode. Poking fun at the concept behind most action anime series and their stories of endless growth and characters seeking to reach their potential, One Punch Man introduces us to Saitama, a character who’s reached his potential...and can no longer find joy in life. He’s after battles which can push him to his limit...but finds every fight over after he delivers a single punch. Filled with unique characters and some great comedy, the only thing that holds this series back from being better is the comparatively poorer adaptation of the second season from JC Staff.
5 HAIKYUU
Shonen Jump has been on fire all decade, and it’s because of series like Haruichi Furudate’s Haikyuu that they’ve become even more impossible to stop than usual. The series tells the story of Shouyou Hinata, a diminutive teenager with a love of volleyball who gains a life-long rival in Tobio Kageyama, a man known as “King of the Court”. But when the two both wind up on the same team in high school, they find themselves forced to work together, helping one another to improve and make their club the best in Japan. Haikyuu epitomizes what makes sports anime work, with a focus on camaraderie, teamwork, and character development.
4 MY HERO ACADEMIA
It was only a matter of time before someone decided to base a shonen series off of superheroes. My Hero follows Izuku Midoriya, a young man who initially has no superpowers until his actions inspire the greatest superhero, All Might, to pass his powers down to him. From there Midoriya joins U.A. High School and studies to become the greatest hero ever. What makes My Hero work is that Kohei Horikoushi is a true master of character development, making you understand and root for all of the U.A. High students for different reasons. The biggest criticism of the series is that it doesn’t do anything “new”, but that’s only because the series executes the classic shonen tropes perfectly, resulting in one of the most finely tuned battle shonen ever created.
3 JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE
If nothing else, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is certainly the most meme-tastic anime series of the decade. The manga series by Hirohiro Araki plugged along for over two decades, with only an OVA and a film to show for it before the anime series came along. Fortunately, David Production has lovingly brought this wonderful story to life in all of its delightful weirdness and awesomely flamboyant characters.
The franchise follows the Joestar family line, individuals with incredible power who wind up battling dangerous supernatural villains. What makes the series stand out is Araki’s willingness to tell complete stories with one protagonist before shifting to an entirely different group, all while maintaining the same level of quality.
2 DEMON SLAYER
The newest manga and anime on this list, Koyoharu Gotoge’s Demon Slayer caught on like wildfire. A large part of this is Ufotable taking their already incredible animation talents to an entirely new level. But equally important is that Demon Slayer may have the most likable male and female leads of the decade: a pair of siblings who lived simple lives in the country before a monster transformed the sister into a demon. From there, Demon Slayer sees Tanjiro, the brother, try to find a way to restore his sister Nezuko to normal, all while keeping other humans safe from demons.
1 HUNTER X HUNTER
There’s no more perfect battle shonen series in this decade than Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter. For people who’ve wanted a world where strategy matters just as much as power, Togashi has created that world, and made it dangerous, so anyone who thinks they can succeed with only power alone often meets a quick end. Things begin with Gon Freeces, a young boy who learns his father is a Hunter, people who take on fantastic, impossible jobs. Realizing this, Gon decides to become a Hunter as well to learn why his father left him, but the story quickly becomes so much more than this. Togashi creates this massive world where adventure and danger are around every corner in equal measure, and every week it aired gave viewers a thrilling exploration of it.
Mirai Sasaki, also known by the Hero name of Sir Nighteye, is an incredible Pro-Hero who leads the Nighteye Hero Agency in My Hero Academia. Under him, some of the most intriguing characters, such as Mirio Togata and Izuku Midoriya have served. Sir Nighteye is one of the most important characters in My Hero Academia Season 4's Shie Hassaikai arc, and the magnificent role that he's played in it has made him a fan-favorite already.
Few characters in the series possess the extraordinary charisma and intellect that he does. Here are 10 things about Sir Nighteye that you probably didn't notice.
10 His Quirk
Sir Nighteye possesses one of the most powerful abilities in My Hero Academia, granted to him via his Quirk, known as Foresight. This Quirk allows him to look into a target's future once he touches them, and looks them in the eye.
There doesn't seem to be a limit to how far ahead he can look into the future as he was even able to predict the death of All Might years before it even happened (and hasn't happened yet). With this ability, Sir Nighteye has become one of the most efficient heroes in the world of My Hero Academia.
9 His Predictions
As mentioned above, the Quirk 'Foresight' gives Sir Nighteye the ability to look into the future at will. Using its powers, he has predicted millions of events with great accuracy. However, that's not to say that the future he sees isn't wrong at times.
Towards the end of the Shie Hassaikai arc, Sir Nighteye saw a future where Overhaul won the battle, yet Izuku Midoriya proved to be strong and determined enough to twist the future that he saw with his hands, and in the process, make the predictions incorrect. Therefore, the predictions, while almost always accurate, can be changed.
8 His Name
Usually referred to by his Hero name, Sir Nighteye's real name is Mirai Sasaki. Although it appears to be a normal name, at first sight, it has a deeper meaning for his character. His name 'Mirai' literally means 'Future' in Japanese.
This ties well with his Quirk 'Foresight' which gifts him the ability to see the future of a target to an apparently limitless extent when certain conditions are met. Kohei Horikoshi is known to have clever names for his character, and this is another such instance where his clever nature shone.
7 His Sidekick
Prior to leading the Nighteye Hero Agency, Sir Nighteye was actually a sidekick of none other than the former Number One Hero, All Might. Together, few could hope to escape their grasp as their power was unparalleled. Unfortunately, their little alliance broke up after he warned All Might of his death at the hands of a Villain and asked him to stop being a Hero at the time.
Stubborn as he is, the Number One Hero declined the idea, which led to the eventual split of the two. Nonetheless, he holds All Might in extremely high regard, and this feeling is reciprocated by All Might as well.
6 The Weakness of His Power
There's no doubt that Sir Nighteye's ability, known as Foresight, is very powerful. However, just like any other Quirk, this one certainly has its weaknesses as well. As seen in the Shie Hassaikai arc, when Sir Nighteye sees the future, he cannot listen to the conversations that are being made in the said future.
As such, his interpretation of the events of the future is limited and solely based on what he sees. This certainly increases the inaccuracy factor of the future that Sir Nighteye sees, although, more often than not, what he perceives is correct.
5 The Duration of Foresight
The power of Foresight comes in handy during every single operation that Sir Nighteye takes on. Due to the overpowered nature of this power, Kohei Horikoshi had made sure to nerf it to some extent so that Sir Nighteye doesn't always have the upper hand in a fight. According to what we've seen, if used once, the Foresight Quirk can only be activated 24-hours after that again.
In a fight, Sir Nighteye would have to rely on his instincts to know when to use the Quirk and when to refrain from making use of its abilities. In most cases, Sir Nighteye saves this ability for the final battles.
4 His Choice of Weapon
Although his fighting capabilities are said to be fairly average, Sir Nighteye's skill with weapons such as the Hyper-Density Seals says otherwise. The Pro Hero had displayed immense proficiency in wielding these seals, as they are extremely deadly in combat, although their appearance might downplay their power.
Each of these seals weighs about 5 kilograms and when thrown with the excessive force that Sir Nighteye uses, they can cause a decent amount of damage. Furthermore, Sir Nighteye's ability to predict the moves of his opponents means that he almost never missed his targets.
3 Connection to Dragon Ball
As seen in the Shie Hassaikai arc, Sir Nighteye has a weird requirement of making him laugh if he is to accept people under him. This was seen Midoriya met him for the first time and likely was also a prerequisite before as well. This is a reference to Kaioh from Dragon Ball, who has a similar requirement.
Furthermore, Dragon Ball's Kaioh had a pet names Bubbles, while Sir Nighteye's new sidekick is named Bubble girl. In doing so, Kohei Horikoshi has paid tribute to one of the greatest mangaka, Akira Toriyama, in Shonen Jump's history.
2 Incredible Teaching Ability
Sir Nighteye was described by All Might as a great sidekick, as he provided insight with his Quirk when necessary during the time they worked together. At the same time, he is said to have fairly average fighting capabilities. While that is something that he lacks, his ability to raise the new generation certainly makes up for it.
Sir Nighteye has turned Mirio Togata into an incredible Hero aspirant in a short span of time, displaying his skills when it comes to training others. He's also trained Izuku Midoriya to a certain extent, the results of which were seen during the Shie Hassaikai arc.
1 His Design
Kohei Horikoshi is, undeniably, one of the best artists in Shonen Jump right now, working alongside the likes of Eiichiro Oda and Kishimoto among others. Drawing hundreds of characters in My Hero Academia, Kohei Horikoshi's design for Sir Nighteye is rather mundane in comparison to others.
According to his bio in Volume 14, Horikoshi sensei wanted to invoke the stereotypical image of a Japanese man upon seeing Sir Nighteye. Nothing about him is over-the-top, and he appears to have a stern personality. It's fair to say that he did an incredible job at that.
Just what is Konosuba, anyway? This popular fantasy adventure anime is a gentle parody of the entire isekai genre, and it has some truly unforgettable characters. Kazuma is a pretty ordinary kid who died of fright when a truck grazed him on a country road, and he ended up forming a party of adventurers in a new world, including Aqua, the water goddess.
Beloved and silly anime series like this are ripe for internet memes that really capture the spirit of Konosuba and everything it stands for. That and perfectly timed screenshots can be used to explain our own real lives with humor. Let's browse a gallery of the ten finest Konosuba memes of all.
10 But the resolution!
In the 1990s and 2000s in particular, gamers could easily spot the difference between a cutscene and the game's actual gameplay. That's because a pre-rendered cutscene just goes through the motions, but it's more taxing to render the game itself as the player creates inputs and things happen in real-time.
Today's games have bridged the gap quite a bit, but older gamers may remember the days when the cutscenes were like Pixar... and the gameplay was so blurry you could hardly see a thing. Oh, the nostalgia. Care for some GameCube?
9 I'm late for an appointment!
Here's a classic meme template, and this time, the beloved explosion girl Megumin is the star. If someone is totally obsessed with something, then it's always time for that hobby! There's no room for your schedule for anything else! Use all 24 hours!
Megumin loves to set off explosions, both to practice her craft and because it's so darn fun. What's even funnier about this meme is that Megumin collapses after just one explosion spell, and has to recuperate for a full day before doing it again.
8 A trip to the cinema
Did you watch the Konosuba movie when it hit theaters? The window of opportunity was a narrow one, but for many fans, it was totally worth it to set aside time to visit the theater with fellow anime fans.
Being a Konosuba fan right now is a rather mixed bag, since there's no telling if we'll ever get a much-desired season 3 to keep the anime moving. But then again, lots of fans loved that movie, and for now, that whets our appetite for some Konosuba fun!
7 Catch 'em all... or not?
There are well over 600 Pokemon by now, and they come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles. No matter who you are, there's a Pokemon that totally embodies you, or perhaps a Pokemon trainer. It's even easier if you're an anime character.
If we're talking Pokemon, then these comparisons are right on the mark. Like Magikarp, Aqua loves water but can't do a thing in combat, and Megumin is an explosive one-trick pony. And Darkness is tough, but don't expect her to deliver the final blow!
6 I'd rather stay at home
Aw, that's not the holiday spirit at all! Don't your aunts and uncles and grandparents want to see you this winter season? Christmas or Hanukkah might get pretty lonely without you! Then again, maybe there's a lot of family drama down that road. Yikes.
Or if you're like us, going on a sleigh to Grandma's house means you're missing out on some great anime! If your uncle doesn't have a Crunchyroll account over there, well... no anime cheer for you. Sorry!
5 Carrot and stick
Poor Aqua. She means well (kind of), but she can't find her way out of a paper bag. This goddess rarely acts the part, and she has some weirdly mundane interests and desires. Most of all, she wants some cold hard cash, and Aqua is frustrated with her low pay at manual labor jobs.
So, how do you keep her happy, or at least keep her occupied? Fix a gold coin to a stick and string, and see how long it takes Aqua to catch that sucker! So far, based on this meme, the poor girl's having a hard time of it.
4 Your mood
So, how are you feeling today? Calm and happy? Stressed and annoyed? Confused or overwhelmed? Don't take it too hard; we all have bad days, and this lovely Konosuba chart can put your current feelings into perspective.
We hope you're not feeling like #8 or $5, though! What on earth is happening in those screenshots, anyway? But if you just got your paycheck and you pass a fine restaurant, maybe you're feeling more like #2! But what's going on in #3? Is Darkness riding a roller coaster, or what?
3 Not fine dining
Aqua's monetary troubles continue to haunt her! Are you in the mood to visit an upscale restaurant and treat your date to some fine dining? Well, we hope you've got the gold coins for it! Alas, someone's tastes in restaurants might outclass their wallet, and we can totally sympathize.
Aqua isn't doing so well, is she? Alas, even when her group earns a lot of cash from killing a bunch of monsters, there's always something driving them right back into debt. It doesn't help that Aqua has a pretty big appetite herself, and she's got a habit of spending her money before she gets it.
2 Unfaithful to the source material
Unfortunately, even some of your favorite anime and manga franchises might not work so well with live-action adaptations, though that doesn't stop the studios from trying. In both the United States and Japan, a serious effort is being made to make anime more accessible with live-action movies, and the results are mixed at best.
Okay, we had a few decent Death Note movies from Japan in the past, but 2017's Netflix film Death Note was a soft reboot that really did not impress. What about Fullmetal Alchemist, though? People love that series! Alas, a Japanese studio tried it, and we were let down once again with a bizarre plot, many missing characters, and iffy CGI all around. If Kazuma, Aqua, and the others get their turn for a live-action flop, anyone would feel pretty bad.
1 You're the only one for me
Kazuma-Drake knows what he likes! Who's his best friend? It's sure not Aqua, who is a goofball and a terrible fighter who is also lousy with money! Neither is it Darkness, who is morally upright but gets distracted with her indulgences.
No, his favorite girl is Megumin, our favorite explosion girl! That's the one! The two of them actually do get along relatively well, and at least Megumin is capable of damaging an enemy in combat. Well, it's a start!
Doctor Strange has encountered a whole host of threats since he was ever first introduced, going through a number of different genres and settings. However, some of his most memorable arcs have leaned into the more horrific threats that he encounters.
The first appearance of Doctor Strange ever, Strange Tales #110, by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko also featured the first appearance of one of Doctor Strange's most consistent and dangerous enemies: the entity known as Nightmare. The lord of a demented dream dimension where sleeping souls are mentally tortured, Nightmare roams his land atop his steed, Dreamstalker.
On top of being the blue-print for almost every Doctor Strange story that followed, it might have a more modern relevance soon. Nightmare is rumored to be the villain of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which could lead to a bigger role for him in the current comics going into the future.
Set during a particularly spooky run of Doctor Strange stories, "Don't Pay The Ferryman" by Peter Gillis, Chris Warner and Scott Williams sees Doctor Strange fatally wounded and in the hospital. While his astral form attempts to assist the surgeons in saving him, an army of all of his mystical enemies.
While the concept of Doctor Strange helping during his own surgery was used in the first Doctor Strange, this story could be a good indicator of what a purely horror-driven Doctor Strange story can look like. It's full of frightening visuals and perilous sorcery, with his mystical allies Wong and Topaz being captured by a group of marauding demons.
Avengers: Disassembled,by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch, began a series of major events in the Marvel Universe, which helped restructure the Avengers and bring them to the forefront of the publisher. But before the team could be rebuilt into something bigger, the old version of the team needed to be brought down.
One of the team's oldest members, Wanda Maximoff, was ultimately behind the team's downfall. Driven mad by shocking revelations about her past, the Scarlet Witch's mind snaps and she uses her reality-altering powers against the team. This leads to the direct deaths of multiples heroes like Scott Lang and the Vision. With Wanda set to make the jump from WandaVision to Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, there's a chance Wanda might try to wreak similar damage on the world. The sequel story, House of M, also showcases how powerful she was, as she reshapes all of reality.
The next Doctor Strange film isn't the only area of the MCU that seems set to lean into horror. Since Mahershala Ali's Blade will be making his MCU introduction some time soon, Marvel's vampires will head into the MCU before long. Doctor Strange has been a frequent enemy of vampires like Dracula, and "The Montesi Formula" is a good show of that.
Running from Doctor Strange #59-62, the story, by Roger Stern, Gene Colan and Stephen Leialoha, continued a crossover that had run through Thor and Avengers. This all buillt to Doctor Strange, Blade and Scarlet Witch working together to try and use the ancient Montesi Formula, which could destroy all vampires on the planet Earth. It's a good showcase of how well Doctor Strange works in the horror genre, and could show how to bring the disparate Marvel magic characters together. Plus it features Marvel's version of Dracula, a genuinely great melodramatic but deadly take on the classic literature villain.
Running from Steve Englehart, Frank Brunner and Cory Adams' Marvel Premiere #3-10, the massive arc saw Doctor Strange going up against some of his deadliest enemies, including Nightmare. More importantly ,it also introduced Shuma-Gorath, a multiversal and godly being from another dimension.
Reminiscent of the terrifying and atmospheric horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft, the coming of Shuma-Gorath is a major cause for alarm for the Earth. It took the combined might of Strange and the Ancient One to combat the massive, evil creature. In the end, Shuma-Gorath tried consuming and bonding with the Ancient One, and Strange was forced to make an impossible choice to stop the creature. Shuma-Gorath would later reappear down the line, and it's the perfect sort of cosmic-level threat that could travel across the multiverse to target Earth, which would make sense with the title Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
Though Keri Russell will be in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the inspiration for her character means we likely won't be seeing much of her face.
Empire spoke with Russell about joining the Star Wars universe and what it was like working with J.J. Abrams. They also dug into her new character, Zorii Bliss, whose allegiances seem up in the air. As for her unique look, glimpsed in the trailers so far, its genesis is certainly intriguing.
"There was this female character when J.J. was young – I think it was in Speed Racer or something," said Russell. "She rode a motorbike and had this helmet. He goes, ‘I could never see her face and I was always obsessed with what she looked like.’ That was the genesis of this character, because he always wanted to know who she was."
The similarities certainly seem to be there, as Bliss wears an instantly recognizable helmet in the shots we've seen of her so far. Whether she'll ever remove it is yet to be seen.
Though anticipation is high for not only the end of the current trilogy but the finale of the Skywalker Saga, Lucasfilm may have cause to worry. Rise of Skywalker is projected to open to smaller numbers than its two predecessors.
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Keri Russell, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film arrives Dec. 20.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1 of Watchmen, which airs Sundays on HBO.
Even though HBO's Watchmen is full of mysteries, Lady Trieu might be the most enigmatic character to emerge from the HBO series. Since she debuted a few weeks ago, the Vietnamese trillionaire has come to Tulsa, Oklahoma, with plans to build a mammoth structure referred to as a “Millennium Clock.”
While her ultimate motives remain unclear, she's been using her immense wealth, intelligence, and charisma to ensure that everything goes down perfectly. Although she never had a role in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' comic, HBO just teased a major potential connection between her and a central character from the comic book, the Comedian.
Each week, HBO releases a few text pieces online on "Peteypedia" that replicate the backmatter of the original comic series. This is a collection of documents gathered by FBI Agent Dale Petey, that helps to further flesh out the world of Watchmen. One of this week's articles is an article from the a Tulsa newspaper, The Talk of Tulsa, that attempts to sort out some rumors about Lady Trieu. One of these rumors raises the possibility that Lady Trieu's biological father was the Comedian.
As the original comic established, the Comedian (Edward Blake) was known for fathering children internationally, and the book even shows that he was responsible for at least one pregnancy while during his the Vietnam War. The Talk of Tulsa article also states that he allegedly fathered seven Vietnamese children ranging in ages from 25-39, including one of the most prominent figures in the area. Lady Trieu could easily be described with both of those terms.
While this is hardly concrete, the article itself even deducts that this claim is likely untrue, there are several factors that may suggest this rumor is valid. The article also claims that Trieu’s spokeswomen denied the idea of this, although admitted that Blake and Trieu’s mother, Ma Bian, did indeed have a passionate encounter together. If she was indeed fathered by the Comedian, easily the most infamous member of the Minutemen, this could explain why Trieu had her eyes set on completing her latest project in America, where the Minutemen reigned supreme.
While FBI Agent and former Silk Spectre Laurie Blake showed a surprising willingness to embrace her late father's legacy in the HBO show, Trieu could follow a similar path. If she understands that Adrian Veidt killed the Comedian, it's not hard to imagine the she could be connected to his extraterrestrial prison, especially since she bought his company.
While a simple revenge angle may seem a bit pedestrian for a series as complex as Watchmen, t Veidt’s subplot will eventually merge with that of the main Tulsa story, and really the only way it will (outside of Dr. Manhattan making a return) is through Lady Trieu’s advanced technology and scientific prowess.
Whatever the case, Lady Trieu could very well have a connection to the events of the comic. With only a handful of episodes left, her potential connection to the Comedian could be one of the final puzzle pieces to fall into place as the series marches towards its finale.
Developed by Damon Lindelof, HBO's Watchmen stars Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Jean Smart, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, James Wolk, Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon. The series airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Having just wrapped on the DC Black Label miniseries Superman: Year One with acclaimed collaborator Frank Miller, artist John Romita Jr. has his sights on another DC icon: Wonder Woman.
In an exclusive interview with CBR to promote the collection edition of Superman: Year One, Romita Jr. expressed interest in focusing on the Amazonian superhero in his next major project for DC, as the character appears in a supporting role in the miniseries' final issue.
"Now, what do I do next? I have no effing idea," admitted Romita. "I would love to tackle Wonder Woman, excuse the expression, I would love to tackle that character like I'm working on Superman and Batman."
Romita Jr.'s comments follow earlier comments made by Miller last month similarly expressing interest in focusing on Wonder Woman in a potential future project. After decades of working with Marvel Comics, Romita Jr. moved to DC during the New 52 era for an acclaimed run on Action Comics with Geoff Johns before teaming with Scott Snyder for the inaugural story arc on All-Star Batman. Next, Romita Jr. is poised to reunite with former collaborator Brian Michael Bendis in a return to Action Comics this month.
Next week, Team Flash's battle against Dr. Ramsey Rosso comes to a head. Even with the imminent arrival of "Crisis on Infinite Earths,"The Flash has one last major hurdle to clear before the crossover swings into action: Barry Allen's infection. Rosso successfully took over Barry's body in the latest episode, but that won't stop the series from building directly into the major Arrowverse event.
"You can look forward to an epic confrontation between Ramsey and Barry. And it’s all obviously building up to the 'Crisis' crossover and all that, which I think the fans are really going to enjoy. It has been a long time coming!" Rosso actor Sendhil Ramamurthy told TVLine.
Barry, of course, is lined up to play a critical role in "Crisis." As revealed in the Season 6 premiere, he will have to sacrifice his life in order to save the multiverse. This season has seen him grappling with this reality, but he has not come to terms with it as much as he pretended to be. So, when Rosso offered him a way out of it, he took it, leading him to become something like Negative Flash. At the time of writing, it is unclear if this will impact his "Crisis" fate, but he seems to be doing just fine in the latest slew of photos from the crossover event.
Airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW, The Flash stars Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Panabaker, Tom Cavanagh, Jesse L. Martin, Danielle Nicolet and Hartley Sawyer.
