The most recent episode of The Mandalorianfeatured the debut of Gina Carano's character, Cara Dune. The former Rebel shock trooper teams up with the Mandalorian to protect a village of Sorgan krill farmers against a group of Klaatooinian raiders. With the episode out, Carano is opening up about her experiences with the show.
She told Vanity Fair that this was a role she never expected to play as an MMA fighter. "I thought I was going to be like the female Chewbacca," she said, speaking about when she first got the call to join the show.
Carano added, "I was ready to put on the fur outfit and be the female version of that. That's what I thought. I was surprised to find that I was one of the few people that you were actually going to see her face —and in a lot of scenes, sometimes the only face, which is pretty incredible."
Despite the ending of this week's episode, Carano's comments make it clear that she will return very soon in the galaxy far far away. She is currently filming Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
According to Carano, The Mandalorian's creator, Jon Favreau, specifically wrote the character of Cara Dune with her in mind. Allegedly, Favreau didn't audition anyone else for the role, seeing Carano as the be-all end-all perfect fit.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Omid Abtahi, Werner Herzog and Nick Nolte. A new episode is released each Friday on Disney+.
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Marvel Comics is set to continue some of its most popular series this week, as the publisher will be releasing 20 different books.
Of the new books releasing this week, there are new installments in a number of popular continuing series, including Amazing Spider-Man, Black Cat, Daredevil, Excalibur and X-Men. This week also marks the beginning of "Annihilation - Scourge," with two new series kicking off the event: Annihilation - Scourge: Fantastic Four #1 and Annihilation: Scourge - Nova #1. Readers can also travel to 2099 with Ghost Rider 2099 and Venom 2099 one-shots. And, finally, for those looking to travel to a galaxy far, far away, check out Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple #5.
From the resurgent world of Marvel 2099 to the dystopian world of Old Man Logan, Marvel has paid a lot of attention to its most popular futures recently. Even though that older version of Wolverine recently perished, the other heroes of that dark world are about to come together to form a new generation of Avengers.
Unfortunately for them, these new Avengers have their work cut out for them, as they'll face off against the shambles of a fallen world. There's quite a lot to rebuild, too. After the supervillains won 50 years earlier at the start of Old Man Logan, they divvied up the United States among themselves. While Logan managed to kill the Red Skull that united the villains, there are still a lot of threats out there, and a lot of the world needs to be rebuilt. With Ed Brisson and Jonas Scharf's Avengers of the Wastelands set to launch soon, we're taking a closer look at this future team.
Few characters have a superhero pedigree like Danielle Cage. As the daughter of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage and the namesake of Danny Rand, Dani seems destined to become a major hero in many of Marvel's futures. While other versions of the character have become Captain America, Dani wields the power of Thor as the God of Thunder in the world of Old Man Logan.
After picking up Mjolnir in Dead Man Logan and using it to take down Mister Sinister, Dani seems set to become the most powerful member of the team, and its effective leader. Given her super-strong parents, she may have inherited some other powers of her own too. Combined with her newfound Asgardian abilities, this Thor looks like the brightest light in a very dark world.
Dani is not the only legacy hero serving on the team, but Dwight Barrett's reputation is not quite so illustrious. Dwight's uncle was the petty crook Turk Barrett, a character familiar to fans of the Netflix Marvel shows, but Dwight proved from an early age to be far smarter than his uncle. After finding a lost Ant-Man helmet, Dwight tweaked it for his own personal use.
It took Dwight some time to come into his own and grow out of just being a scared child. Eventually, he managed to find a spot for himself in Des Moines where he made his living guarding a bridge and demanding a toll to pass it, threatening those who didn't pay with death-by-a-million-ants. In Dead Man Logan, the now-adult Dwight used his knowledge as one of the leaders at Forge's Compound in the Badlands. Although the new Ant-Man was sidelined in the final fight to defend the compound, he'll take his tech-savvy to the new Avengers team.
In the world of Old Man Logan, the Hulks were a group of gamma-irradiated villains who ruled over the badlands without mercy. After starting a blood feud with Old Man Logan by killing his family, Logan hunted almost all of the Hulks down and wiped them out in kind. However, one of the only survivors of that massacre was a baby Hulk named Bruce Banner, Jr.
Both Old Man Logan and Dani Cage looked after the young Hulk, who seemed to be well on his way to being as intelligent as the original Bruce Banner. After helping the old Wolverine on his final mission and comforting Thor after his death, Bruce Jr. has already started to rebuild the heroic legacy of the Hulk. While he never seemed to be as strong as the original Hulk, he's still young and could grow into the Jade Giant's super-strength. While it's not totally clear how old he'll be in Avengers of the Wastelands, this Hulk will give the team some serious brain and brawn.
In a few short weeks, the final instalment in the Skywalker saga will finally hit theaters. After helming 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams is back in the director’s chair for The Rise of Skywalker. The new movie will pick up where Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi left off, a film that took audiences by surprise by defying expectations and delivering plenty of unexpected twists and turns.
Because The Last Jedi’s story was such a surprise, fans might wonder how the Rian Johnson film affected Abrams’ initial plans, and the trajectory of Episode IX. However, in a new interview with Esquire, Abrams revealed that, in actuality, The Last Jedi didn’t change anything.
“There were some choices that made things a bit more fun for us,” Abrams said, “because, for example, Rian didn’t have the whole group collaborative adventure of it together, and that was really fun to get to tell the story of the group, the droids, out on one breakneck, crazy, desperate adventure. You know?”
He added that he loved Johnson's choices as a fan of Star Wars, noting that it was exciting to read someone else's take on the new world he helped create.
Abrams concluded, “As a filmmaker, working on Episode IX, amazingly, nothing that he did in Last Jedi got in the way of things that we had talked about wanting to do down the line, ideas that I had about where things might go, so... it wasn’t like his story somehow derailed the things I wanted to pursue. In fact, strangely, they might have even helped strengthen them because we got to make some choices that sort of take advantage of the fact that Rian hadn’t done the things that we were thinking about doing.”
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, Matt Smith, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film arrives on Dec. 20.
In the golden age of streaming, vast libraries of anime content are just a button press and a subscription deal away. Gone are the days of dodgy VHS tapes with fan-made subtitles shared via address listings on online forums. Gone, too, are the days of being glued to Toonami or the WB in late afternoons of the late '90s and early '00s. (Though Adult Swim has recently resurrected the programming block for nostalgic and newer fans alike.) If you were introduced to anime this way, chances are that you were introduced to something that closely resembled anime but, oftentimes, wasn't quite the real deal: farmed from the source, chopped up and reconstituted into another product entirely.
Anime of this period were routinely repackaged for young, western TV viewers and suffered from notorious censorship in an effort to "clean up" something previously seen as an adult-only niche. Some of the worst cases can be pinned on licensing company 4Kids Entertainment, which made huge profits -- possibly fraudulently -- from Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball Z Kai, One Piece and Pokémon. Most of the censorship focused on the kinds of things you'd expect not to see too much of in content aimed at viewers between the ages of 6-12-years-old: violence, cigarettes and alcohol.
The problem was, companies like 4Kids' solutions sometimes yielded, in retrospect, laughable results. Its original dubbed version of One Piece, which began airing in 2004, suffered from some pretty rough editing choices: characters who were supposed to have cigars in their mouths simply hung open, slack-jawed. The exception to this was Sanji, whose smoking habit is as ingrained into his characterization as John Constantine. His cigarettes were swapped out for lollipops. Not exactly something a rogue of the high seas would want to be seen with but children watching at the time would have been none the wiser. This particular change is representative of much of 4Kids' localization decisions in One Piece and other similar anime.
While Eiichiro Oda's epic tale of piracy and outlaws is certainly full of comedy, by the time 4Kids was done with it, there was almost nothing but comedy; creating a bloodless, death-less vacuum where characters were more likely to crack a joke than deal with the gravitas of what was originally intended to be an emotionally pivotal moment. A fight between Luffy and long-running villain Crocodile has become infamous among fans for these differences: instead of using his own blood to help best his opponent as he does in the Japanese version, 4Kids swapped it for sweat. Editing violence in this way was by far the most common practice: In Yu-Gi-Oh!, death became the "Shadow Realm." In Dragon Ball Z, blood was recolored an alien green.
Guns -- which were much more understandable to get rid of -- were given slightly more creative inserts in One Piece. Firearms were turned into strange, toy-like instruments or, in the case of the Marines brandishing them, water pistols. (Quiver in fear, pirates!) At least One Piece's characters had something to hold, though: Yu-Gi-Oh!'s bad guys were usually left empty-handed, simply pointing their fingers at a target as threateningly as possible. Alcohol, on the other hand, was a much simpler switch -- it's easy to tell the kids at home that everyone's getting giddy on "juice." (Regular Show, an ostensibly adult cartoon that played for children on Cartoon Network managed the same trick by having its cast of animal slackers downing "soda.")
Though young viewers at the time wouldn't have known the difference, it's easy for older and wiser anime fans to look back in disbelief at some of this. Some of the changes do smack of the puritanical: like erasing overspilling cleavage and renaming "Devil Fruit" into "Cursed Fruit." Other instances were just downright ludicrous.
But -- before getting too hot-headed -- it's important to remember that 4Kids was given a show aimed at teenagers in Japan and given the frankly unenviable task of hacking it up to satisfy what was required by broadcast standards for it to reach its target audience in America -- a target audience preselected, in a way, by prevailing Western attitudes to the purpose of animation as exclusively family-friendly entertainment. In an interview with Anime News Network, 4Kids Senior Vice President of Digital Media admitted that the company didn't examine what it was buying thoroughly enough when it came to One Piece and, when it did, regretted the decision. By this point, though, it had to go ahead with the localization or else lose its package deal.
As much as we can poke fun, without lollipop cigarettes and sweat fights, One Piece might have taken far longer to reach western fans, even if 4Kids' gutting of the source material resulted in a product so confusing to follow that the series ended up being canceled.
A key part of localization also involved disguising anime's Japanese origin. In the case of Pokémon, for instance, this famously meant referring to a common Japanese rice-based dish as "jelly donuts," with no effort made to make the food in question look any different. You'd think American kids would be able to cope with seeing a cartoon character eat a ball of rice, but back then -- and following a string of failures to successfully export Japanese media into the American market -- the recipe for success was built on the idea that western viewers would reject anything that came across as vaguely foreign. You'd also think that American kids would be able to cope with seeing non-white cartoon characters as well, but 4Kids apparently wasn't willing to let them do that either: In Episode 5 of the company's One Piece dub, fans have since noticed that a character's skin was inexplicably turned from black to white.
When it came to race, gender and sexuality in imported anime of this period, the editing decisions were understandable given the conservative policing of children's media, but no less forgivable. The violence of shonen anime was a hard enough sell, but the magical girl subgenre, created largely for and by women, proved an even more puzzling problem for western licensers. Nelvana (alongside Kids WB) was the first company to license Cardcaptor Sakurain North America, and decided that the action-oriented nature of the CLAMP series, along with the collect-a-thon element of capturing magical spirits in cards, meant it should be made to appeal more to boys who were already fans of Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon. As such, Sakura's name was dropped from the title -- becoming simply Cardcaptors -- and the show was re-edited to make Sakura's male rival-turned-love-interest, Syaoran Li, an equal star. In the words of a Mattel executive at the time, the thinking behind this rested on tie-in toys sale, and an assumption that "in America, girls will watch male-oriented programming but boys won't watch female-oriented shows; this makes a male superhero a better bet."
Just as Sailor Moon's same-sex female couple were turned into "cousins" in its American incarnation, Cardcaptor Sakura -- a show with an impressive array of different kinds of relationships -- was stripped of all and any implications of gay or bisexual romance, mainly between Sakura's brother, Touya, and his boy-next-door love interest, Yukito. In the same way that 4Kids' One Piece dub became riddled with plot holes from the chunks of episodes the company pulled out of it, Nelvana's Cardcaptors had its original episode count drastically reduced from 70 to just 39, which would have been a paltry 13 if the cuts had been "maximized," in an effort to both masculinize and heteronormalize Cardcaptor Sakura as much as possible, cannibalizing many of the subplots that provided the emotional centering for its action. Fans who would go on to seek out the original Japanese version would discover a show that was almost unrecognizable compared to what they'd grown up with.
The introduction of Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim programming block in 2001 marked a huge shift in the way that anime was marketed, taking shows geared toward older audiences like Cowboy Bebop and Death Note from Japan and making no effort to switch demographics when they were imported to America. Both shows quickly garnered cult followings and, finally, licensers began to realize that anime wasn't just for kids. The advent of anime streaming platforms in the 2010s onwards diversified this audience even further. In the meantime, 4Kids has filed for bankruptcy (twice).
Both the quality and faithfulness of dubbing and localization have continued to come on in leaps and bounds: better voice acting, better translations and a better understanding of what the fandom that has built up around Japanese pop culture actually wants. This difference is particularly clear in the recent revivals of Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura, where "best friends" and "cousins" are finally able to live out and proud, while censorship decisions are now made on the grounds of not offending western audiences for the right reasons, such as problematic racial stereotyping. Anime fans are far more discerning these days but, luckily, so are the people bringing them the content they love.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Titans Season 2 finale, "Nightwing," streaming now on DC Universe.
While the first season of Titans focused on Dick Grayson somewhat-inadvertently assembling a new generation of heroes, Season 2 addressed how they might work together, even while ghosts of the past -- to say nothing of the assassin Deathstroke -- threaten to tear them apart.
However, by the time the season wraps with a climactic battle against Deathstroke, the Titans are reunited, but rocked by the death of Donna Troy, and faced with the losses of Rachel (who returned to Themyscira with her body), and Jason Todd. However, their ranks also expanded with the additions of Conner, now free of Cadmus control, and Rose Wilson, seemingly forgiven for operating as a mole for her father.
As they press forward with this new status quo, a third season has already been smartly set up with not only a "new" leader, with Dick embracing his identity as Nightwing, even as he makes peace with his past, but also some loose threads.
Rachel tells Dick she's going to use her powers, which have expanded beyond her understanding or control, to somehow bring back Donna. However, we have no no idea whether Rachel will return from Themyscira with more control of her abilities, or corrupted by them.
If she does come back with Donna, this Wonder Girl might not even be the same. Rachel may well become overloaded trying to resurrect Donna, opening doors for her to become a villain, and to take on her friends. She's admitted she can't be trusted, and that she has a lust for blood, so the stage is set for a sinister return to action.
After Jason Todd found out Rose was working with Deathstroke, he felt he had been used again -- just as with Batman and the Titans. Jason returned to San Francisco, but he didn't rejoin his teammates for the fights with Deathstroke and Cadmus. He paid his respects to Donn Troy at the airport, from a distance, and then sped off on his motorcycle.
That suggests he's cut ties with Bruce and Dick, and could very well lead him to abandon the Robin identity, and become Red Hood. He assumed that identity in the comics, having been murdered by The Joker years earlier, and then returned from the dead.
The season's final scene depicts Kory's sister, Blackfire, possessing the body of a woman and shape-shifting into the form we saw earlier, when she communicated by hologram. Clearly, she believes if you want something done right, do it yourself, had has arrived on Earth to kill Kory, her rival for the throne of Tamaran.
However, we don't know if she's come alone. Kory has said Blackfire is a powerful enemy but, luckily, she has a reunited Titans family to lean on when the trouble comes to their doorstep. This will clearly be Titans' own Game of Thrones.
When the Titans break Conner free of Cadmus' mind control, as expected, he makes a beeline for Mercy Graves' team. Just as she sees him coming and orders her goons to attack, however, we see one of her henchmen receive a call from Lex Luthor. This plot thread isn't picked back up, however, as Mercy and her team are apprehended immediately afterward. But it's virtually guaranteed that Luthor will be angry by their failure, and determined to reclaim his property -- that is Subject 13, or Conner.
Luthor previously ordered Subject 13 to be terminated, but Mercy simply wanted to impress the boss by weaponizing the Luthor/Superman genetic hybrid for sale on the black market. So to see this asset become a full-fledged Titan, Luthor will seemingly have little choice but to retaliate. It's possible there are other Cadmus experiments to be unleashed in a fight against the Titans.
Streaming now on DC Universe, Titans Season 2 stars Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson, Anna Diop as Kory Anders, Teagan Croft as Rachel Roth, Ryan Potter as Garfield Logan, Curran Walters as Jason Todd and Conor Leslie as Donna Troy, with Minka Kelly as Dawn Granger, Alan Ritchson as Hank Hall, Joshua Orpin as Superboy, Chelsea Zhang as Rose Wilson, Chella Man as Jericho, Drew Van Acker as Aqualad, Esai Morales as Deathstroke and Iain Glen as Bruce Wayne.
Although Overhaul has only recently been introduced to fans following the My Hero Academia anime, he’s already made quite the impressions on the young heroes of UA as well as the fans. The young leader of the Shie Hassaikai yakuza crime family seems to be striving after his unknown (for fans of the anime) goal.
But what exactly does Kai Chisaki hope to accomplish with all of his underground schemings? And just how did he end up the villain that the heroes have been introduced to in the series?
10 Mysophobia
Though Overhaul is perhaps one of the most terrifying villains to have been introduced in the series so far, to say that he isn’t afraid would be a major miscalculation. While Overhaul is often shown to be incredibly calm, cool and collected, the young villain is, in fact, ruled by fear. Mysophobia, in particular.
Mysophobia, or as it’s more commonly known, germophobia, has gripped Overhaul to such a degree that it rules nearly every aspect of his being. From his outfit to his villainous goals, Overhaul is a young man ruled by his fears.
9 Ridding The World Of The Disease Called Quirks
Though Overhaul has made it relatively clear to those around him that he hopes to create a drug capable of destroying quirks in order to gain power over society and use that power to build up the Shie Hassaikai yakuza crime family from the depths to which it sank, Overhaul has much more insidious goals.
After hearing a rumor that quirks were originally a disease that was passed from rodents to humans before mutating into the quirks that fans know today, Overhaul, ruled by his fears, knew that he had to do something to rid the world of this disease which created false heroes and numerous, inadequate villains.
8 Saved From The Streets
Though Overhaul is often viewed as an incredibly powerful and capable villain that runs his own branch of a yakuza crime family, he wasn’t always the capable and confident leader that viewers have been introduced to. In fact, when he was first brought into the Shie Hassaikai crime family, Overhaul was nothing but a young boy living on the streets.
However, after the previous head of the Shie Hassaikai crime family took notice of him and took him under his wing, things really began to change to the young Kai Chisaki.
7 Finding His Purpose
After being brought into the Shie Hassaikai crime family, the young Chiskai really began to find his footing and blossom into the young villain that he would become. At the time, there was little that Chisaki wouldn’t do for the man who had taken him under his wing and spared him from a life on the streets.
Chisaki wasn’t too sure of his position in the family, but he knew he would do anything to bring the Shie Hassaikai crime family back to their previous glory for the man who had saved him.
6 Defying The Big Boss
After finding his calling, bring the Shie Hassaikai crime family back to its former glory, there was little that the young Chisaki wouldn’t do to protect the honor of both the family and the man who had saved him. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the way this manifested was to become incredibly cruel and void of remorse.
Chisaki had decided that the only way to bring the family back up to its former strength was to show everyone exactly how strong he was by using his quirk in all manner of violent and unconscionable ways. The boss, however, did not view this as the only way to assert power and regain their glory and asked that Chisaki end this behavior. A request that Chisaki would whole-heartedly ignore.
5 Betraying The Big Boss
While Chisaki had already begun to stray down a much darker path than even the big boss had intended for him, he still remained loyal to the boss. It was only after learning about the big boss’ granddaughter and her quirk, however, that Chisaki was finally willing to break rank.
He realized that because of the fact that Eri’s quirk also affected her body, they would be able to use her blood to make a quirk-destroying vaccine, which they could use to regain the previous glory of the Shie Hassaikai crime family. When the big boss refused his idea, Chisaki went on to attack the boss, leaving him in a come before taking control of both Eri and the Shie Hassaikai.
4 His Quirk: Overhaul
With his quirk, Overhaul, Chisaki can disassemble and reassemble anything that he comes into contact with. This means that if he is fighting an opponent on solid ground he can simply touch the ground and begin to shift the terrain in a way that befits him in battle.
He can also simply touch a person and disassemble their body, which has made it incredibly easy for him to kill over the years. His quirk is tremendously powerful, but that’s not all Chisaki has up his sleeves.
3 Enhanced Agility & Durability
Though Chiskai’s quirk, Overhaul, allows him to rearrange matter in pretty much any shape of form he wishes, that is not the extent of his power. Like many of the heroes and villains of My Hero Academia, Chisaki has some enhanced attributes. For instance, Chisaki has incredible speed and reaction time.
He’s also extremely durable when it comes to resisting the attacks of any of his opponents. He has been able to withstand multiple punches from Mirio Togata, whose punches are regularly able to knock out some high-tier villains. He’s also withstood punches from Deku while he was using 100% full-cowl.
2 Fusions
While his quirk has already been seen (in the anime) to wreak havoc on a person’s body, he’s also capable of doing much more than destroying a body. There are several instances, in fact, where Chisaki actually uses his quirk to fuse with one (or several) of his men during times of great distress.
When fused, Chisaki has been shown to be able to use the quirks of the men he’s assimilated in order to boost his own offensive and defensive capabilities. Yuck.
1 Kai The Quirkless
Though Chiaki’s plan had always involved using Eri’s blood in order to create a quirk-destroying drug that would not only allow the Shie Hassaikai crime family to recapture their previous glory, but also make the world a little cleaner as far as Chisaki was concerned, it was actually Chisaki that would end up the quirkless one.
Tomura and the League of Villains eventually manage to steal Chisaki’s supply of the quirk-destroying drug. To add insult to injury, however, before it is all said and done Mr. Compress and Tomura destroy Chisaki’s arms, leaving him unable to use his quirk.
My Hero Academia’s All Might might have held the position of Number One Hero for years, but he can’t say the same about being a teacher at U.A. High. Not only is All Might’s tenure as a faculty member short-lived, but he doesn't always excel at instructing his students the way he excels at saving the day.
Sure, All Might has a few shining moments as a teacher. But overall, he seems to struggle when it comes to dealing with his students — whether it's through his inability to communicate properly with them or his refusal to separate his role as a teacher from his feelings toward those he's teaching.
Here are 5 times All Might was the best teacher (& 5 times that he wasn’t).
10 He Was: During His First Class With Students From 1-A
All Might starts the series off with a promising display as a teacher, as his first lesson with Class 1-A is full of feedback that the students take to heart and use to improve themselves over the course of the series. And given that All Might is the one offering that commentary, it's safe to say that he has some talent when educating heroes in training.
During Class 1-A's final exams, All Might even takes note of how Bakugo and Midoriya use the advice he gave them during their first class. He clearly did something right during this first class if the two retained what they learned.
9 He Wasn’t: When He Played Favorites
From the very beginning of the series, All Might clearly favors Midoriya when it comes to training Class 1-A. And while that may be expected, given that the boy is his successor, it’s not a good look from a teaching standpoint. Any good teacher knows you can’t play favorites.
Not only does All Might show favoritism toward Midoriya, but he does it to the point where it's noticeable. Multiple characters have pointed out the closeness between the two, including Eraserhead, Todoroki and Bakugo.
8 He Was: When He Saved His Students At The USJ
When the USJ incident occurs, All Might isn't around, having used too much of his energy saving people earlier that day. But as soon as his intuition tells him that something isn't right, he rushes off to save his students -- even if he doesn't have much strength left.
And sure, that may be the sign of a good hero more than it's an indication that All Might is a good teacher. But despite needing the assistance, he also refuses to let his students step in and fight alongside him. He puts school rules and his students' safety first in this situation, and that's what any reasonable teacher would do.
7 He Wasn’t: When He Tried Too Hard Not To Play Favorites During Finals
After Eraserhead calls All Might out for playing favorites, the latter vows not to go easy on Midoriya and Bakugo during their final exams. Unfortunately, he tries a little too hard to keep this promise.
Not only does All Might slam into Bakugo with enough force to make him vomit, but he also breaks Midoriya’s back — both moves earning him a scolding from Recovery Girl. It's commendable that he doesn't want to go easy on the two of them, but he could have challenged them without injuring them so badly.
6 He Was: When He Sent Midoriya To Gran Torino
A good teacher can admit when a student would be better served learning from someone else, and that's exactly what All Might does when he refers Midoriya to Gran Torino for his internship. Sensing that he's not helping his successor master One for All, he suggests that Midoriya go see his former mentor instead.
And given that Gran Torino helps Midoriya take control of One for All, we have to say it was a smart decision on All Might's part.
5 He Wasn’t: When He Reacted To Midoriya's Involvement At Kamino
Midoriya and the other students from Class 1-A are always getting wrapped up in situations that only Pro Heroes should be involved in, and this has landed them in serious trouble on multiple occasions. One example of this is when Midoriya and his friends show up to save Bakugo at Kamino Ward after explicitly being told not to.
And All Might's reaction to Midoriya breaking the rules is, as usual, not ideal. First, he punches the boy in the face for disobeying his teachers, but then he hugs him and tells him he's proud of him. Not only does this send a confusing message to the poor kid, but neither response is what you'd expect from a teacher.
4 He Was: When He Helped Class 1-A With Their Special Moves
Ironically, after All Might steps down from his responsibilities at U.A. High, he has a breakthrough when it comes to actually training his students. He shows up to their first lesson centered on creating their special moves, and he offers advice to those in the class.
But while All Might does give suggestions and provide a listening ear, he refuses to give his students the answers, insisting that they'll be better off if they figure out their special moves on their own. Even Eraserhead acknowledges that All Might seems to have gotten better at teaching during this scene, and it's hard to argue with him there.
3 He Wasn’t: When He Ignored What Bakugo Was Going Through
Good teachers pay attention to their students, staying aware of changes in behavior and attempting to address any problems the kids might be grappling with. With that in mind, you'd think the teachers at U.A. High would keep an especially close eye on Bakugo after the League of Villains kidnaps him, but they don't seem concerned about the possibility of him struggling with PTSD from the incident.
It's a bit irresponsible of All Might to never check in with Bakugo after he's rescued, and it could have resulted in much worse than two of his students getting into a fight after hours.
2 He Was: When He Took Responsibility For Bakugo And Midoriya’s Fight
Although All Might didn't pick up on Bakugo's suffering after the Kamino Ward incident, he does take responsibility for the fight Bakugo and Midoriya get into because of it. While Eraserhead is prepared to go all out with their punishments, All Might shoulders the blame, insisting that the two wouldn't have been so reckless if he'd paid closer attention.
It's a fair argument, and it shows some serious integrity that All Might is willing to own up to his mistakes.
1 He Wasn’t: When He Sent Deku To His Work Study Without Telling Him The Truth
At the beginning of season four, Midoriya starts a work study with All Might's former sidekick, Sir Nighteye, and he quickly discovers that the Pro Hero isn't incredibly fond of him. When he first meets Nighteye, Midoriya is told that All Might was going to pick Mirio as his successor -- and that Nighteye believes he made a poor decision choosing Midoriya instead.
All Might allows Midoriya to walk into this situation without any warning, and it's a pretty terrible thing to do, especially as a teacher. The least he could have done was give his successor a heads up, but he leaves the poor kid in the dark.
The new hit animeThe Rising of the Shield Hero is an action-packed isekai show, where four cardinal heroes are summoned from another world (Earth) to defend a medieval fantasy world from a series of apocalyptic monster Waves. Among those four heroes is the rogue Naofumi Iwatani, bearer of many magical shields.
But Naofumi isn't alone. The other heroes can use a spear, sword, and bow, and they make up the offensive power of this theoretical team of four. Along the way, they make new allies and enemies, and some are quite powerful. Not counting the Pope (who channels on the power of others), who are the ten most powerful fighters as of Season 1's ending?
10 Raphtalia
Raphtalia is absolutely adorable, and Naofumi went a long way to rescue her from bondage and suffering. He treated her roughly at first, but now she is a free woman and a fierce fighter — a loyal one, too.
Raphtalia is acrobatic, quick in combat, and she favors swords in a fight. Best of all, despite her lack of serious magic, she's fearless and will attack legendary villains without a second's hesitation. She's right to call herself Naofumi's sword.
9 Ren Amaki
Ren is one of the four cardinal heroes summoned from Japan to the kingdom of Melromarc, tasked with protecting the kingdom from the monster Waves. To that end, Ten was given a sword, and he can charge right into combat with the Bow Hero backing him up.
Ren's a skilled fighter, but he's also somewhat careless as he goes around fighting monsters (such as when he left that dragon corpse to rot). He even clashed with the Pope, but he stood no real chance against that kind of power. Still, his potential is probably high.
8 Itsuki Kawasumi
Another of the four cardinal heroes, Itsuki was gifted with a magical bow and arrow to fight monsters from a distance. He makes for good backup to the Spear and Sword Heroes, and he fought well in the battle against Glass, L'Arc, and others.
Like the other heroes, Isuki's full potential doesn't seem to be fully realized yet, but fortunately, he should have some time to grind more levels and unlock some serious arrows. He's also a pretty nice guy, too.
7 Filo
Another adorable member of Naofumi's party. In fact, she's known him for her whole life, since Naofumi bought her egg and watched as she hatched. He's imprinted onto her as the mother bird, and she can transform into her bird form.
In combat, Filo can fly around and move at high speeds, not to mention deliver some heavy kicks with her talons. To boost her power even more, Naofumi bought some steel casings to fit over Filo's talons like a set of swords.
6 Motoyasu Kitamura
Meet the Spear Hero. Deep down, Motoyasu is a decent person, but it's tough to tell since he's also vain and thinks too highly of himself. Still, he seems to have some charisma, and acts as a leader for the Bow and Sword Heroes, leading the battle against the Waves in Naofumi's absence.
Fortunately, Motoyasu can back up his boastful words. His spear has a lot of combat power, and it's clear that Motoyasu has been training like crazy and leveling up to realize that weapon's full potential. He and Myne make for an elegant team against the Waves, against Naofumi's party, and against hostile heroes from other worlds.
5 L'Arc Berg
The red-headed man known as L'Arc is in fact a hero too, but he's from another world, and he is openly hostile to Melromarc's own heroes. At first, he struck up a friendship with Naofumi and fought alongside him to slay monsters, but that partnership didn't last.
Now, L'Arc is ready to defend his own world, and he's a vicious fighter with his scary scythe weapon. In fact, even when everyone in Naofumi's party fights together, he can fend them all off, but he did take a few scratches in the process. He's a tough one, all right.
4 Therese Alexanderite
This young woman is L'Arc's partner and she's a hero from another world. But she doesn't pack all those gems because they're pretty; she is a Jewel, and she uses the gems to channel her incredible combat power. Therese is a mage and she backs up L'Arc in combat with serious skill.
During the battle onboard a ship, Therese easily used her jewel powers to counteract a platoon of archers, and she dealt some heavy damage to the Melromarc ships in the area. She partly owes her power to Naofumi, who granted her a useful item while they were teammates.
3 Naofumi Iwatani
The one and only Shield Hero. He was ostracized after being framed for a crime, but that didn't deter him. Naofumi learned the full depths of his shield's power, and uses a staggering variety of shield types (and some limited offensive power) during his adventures.
He also recruited Raphtalia, Filo, and Melty to his party, acting as their defender during combat. Whatever you throw at him, he can block it, and he's got a sharp tactical mind that can unlock the route to victory.
2 Fitoria
She is a Filolial like Naofumi's own Filo is, but these two bird-ladies are in entirely different leagues. Filo is a mere child, and that fact is made starkly clear when she dueled Fitoria inside a magical dome.
Fitoria is the queen of all Filolials, and can effortlessly launch powerful magic from her hands while in human form. Filo didn't stand a chance, and even Naofumi was easily pushed back and knocked into submission when Fitoria's power was demonstrated.
1 Glass
Much like L'Arc, Glass is a hero from another world. She is fully ready and willing to take on the four cardinal heroes to save her own world. During her first appearance during a Wave, Glass used traditional Japanese fans to utterly devastate the opposition.
In fact, Naofumi's party only survived because the Wave ended and Glass' time was up. She appeared during a later Wave, and she easily took on many opponents at once, including the cardinal heroes. Glass also demonstrated the power to shatter Naofumi's prison-shields with practically no effort. She's beautiful and deadly.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventureis an everchanging sort of Shonen manga. Each part, the protagonist changes. And, each part the power system at play is slightly different. Parts 1 and 2 were all about vampires, Hamon breathing, and Ripple Energy. But, from Part 3 onwards, Stands become the mainstay power system, and the Ripple fell to the wayside. There's not much in-canon explanation for it, Araki just wanted to switch to something that allowed him to create weird characters and powers more freely. And believe us, Stands start to get real confusing the further the series goes. But, it still feels odd losing out on the entire basis of the first two parts, especially when Joseph makes no mention of trying to pass it down after spending his adult life mastering it. But that's not the only thing about the Ripple that makes no sense. We're here to cover just about everything nonsensical about this power system.
So, much like how Demon Slayers swords use the power of the sun to kill demons, Jojo's Ripple technique uses the power of the sun to destroy vampires. Haven't any of these people heard of a UV lightbulb? From the bare-bones explanation WIll Zeppeli gives us in Season 1, the Ripple is the act of generating energy through the creation of ripples in the body thanks to a specific breathing technique. Yes, that alone makes no sense, but we'll get there. Secondly, the energy that's created is almost exactly the same as the type of energy given off by the sun. Do you mean UV light? How in the world does making ripples throughout an organism recreate UV light? We're not scientists, but something about the way that works seems majorly off.
9 Hamon Energy Equals Stands
Then, once we get to the end of Part 1 and 2, Hamon energy goes right out the window in favor of summoning spirits, otherwise known as Stands. Why? Because they "stand" with you. Perfect work Araki, a true genius. In any case, the beginning of Stardust Crusader tries to explain this transition by briefly mentioning that Stands are made up of the same type of energy as the Ripple. But, wouldn't that mean that Stand Users would have to use Hamon breathing in order to use their Stands? And, how does this energy production suddenly advance into creating artificial life in the form of a spirit? Especially ones with such insane powers? It's obvious that they wanted to drop the Ripple and move on, but this barely thought out explanation does a really poor job.
8 The Ripple Can Heal?
And, it seems like they weren't satisfied just letting the Ripple create sunlight energy, it also has specific properties as well! But not anything concrete, it changes according to what Araki needs it to do at any moment. It can travel through organisms, inanimate objects, and even liquid.
It can harden things, stick things together, even shoot caps off soda bottles. But, did you know it can also heal? Turns out the Ripple naturally increases a persons recovery period when used, because of course it does, meaning that a simple wave of the arm with a bit of the Ripple and a broken arm is almost totally healed. Honestly, the image above is one of the best memes the series has ever produced.
7 Why Aren't There Healers In Part 3?
But, if thats the case and the Ripple can even heal, then why, at the very least, didn't Joseph teach Hamon Breathing to Jotaro so he could heal teammates? Sure would have been helpful when Kakyoin was killed by Dio, or when Avdol and Iggy were killed by Vanilla Ice. Heck, it would've been a better way to fix Joseph's terminal lack of blood than to literally squeeze his heart with Star Platinum. Don't get us wrong, we love Jojo, but a series can be bizarre and also follow common sense, it's not that hard.
6 Bubbles Into Sawblades
Going back to what Hamon Breathing can do, the character Ceasar Zeppeli shows us plenty. Ceasar is a descendant of the original Will Antonio Zeppeli, and the Italian hunk has mastered the Ripple. Caesar uses it for a variety of things, but his main weapon is using his soap-soaked gloves to throw bubbled hardened with Hamon Energy. It's unclear how it works sometimes, but the sawblade bubbles have to be the wackiest thing.
So they're hard, but Caesar spins them fast enough that they collapse in on themselves and make an outer ridge? We're not sure how something can be both hard and soft, but who really cares, Caesars fights are always so fun to watch.
5 The Ripple Can Cause Hypnosis?
Another trick Caesar uses that he sort of forgets about is the whole brainwashing aspect of the Ripple. During his initial meeting with Joseph Joestar, the two scantily clad macho men face off in a Ripple battle that ultimately ends up with Joseph trapped in a giant soap bubble. But, the start of the fight is the most interesting, as the young Zeppeli apparently infuses a random woman with Ripple Energy by kissing her, thus hypnotizing and strengthing her for a mere moment? There's no explanation here, he just does it and we're supposed to go along for the ride.
4 It Can Harden, Glue, Or Speed Up Items?
Let's go over the other physical properties the Ripple can change, just so we don't spend literally all day on them. The Ripple can be used to harden or stiffen objects, stick objects together with faux magnetism, and even add momentum to objects to turn any item into a lethal projectile. What are some examples of these things you ask? Well, Lisa Lisa uses her scarf as a kickstand constantly, Caesar makes a rope for Joseph to grab by sticking multiple icicles together, and Joseph almost kills Caesar by launching some hardened pasta noodles past him and into the wall behind him.
3 It Slows The Process Of Aging
And the last thing the Ripple can do that we want to talk about is its ability to stop aging or at least slow it. We know it's supposed to just be a knockoff type of sunlight energy, but the Ripple is also lifeforce energy don't you know? Anyway, Joseph Joestar uses this to great effect and actually travels the world in Stardust Crusaders at the ripe young age of 67. Also, he would've looked even younger, but he slaked on his Hamon training in the years between Parts 2 and 3.
Why in God's name is this technique not passed onto Jotaro and so on? Why do all the other Joestars age normally but Joseph, the guy with an awful stand who cheats on his wife, gets to live past human limits?
2 Why Aren't There Hamon Batteries?
One of the first things they mention when talking about the Ripple is its conductivity or ability to flow through different objects. The Ripple travels through liquid amazingly well, and it sort of gets absorbed by metal. This is why Josephs's Clacker balls are so weirdly powerful. But, if metal holds the energy, why not make Hamon batteries? Why did we never see anything that stockpiled this energy to use as a superweapon of sorts? I mean they could've even made a crude battery by just combining Nitric Acid and some sheets of metal in a makeshift jar or something(thanks Dr. Stone).
1 The Ripple Can Be Passed On After Death
And finally, the last thing in the long, long list of things that make no sense about the ripple, is its ability to be passed on. Not the knowledge mind you, but rather the skills and potential. Caesar literally passes his Ripple Energy down to Jotaro after passing on, making him stronger. But, the ripple is just a type of energy and is not innately tied to the user at all, they just generate it. So, how can it be upgraded? And why haven't all Hamon users passed on their energy when they're close to kicking the bucket? Every answer just leads to 50 more questions, and we sort of love that about Jojo.
The Rian Johnson-directed whodunit raked in a total of $41.7 million over five, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That is double the initial box office projections. The film also earned $28.3 million overseas for a total of $70 million off a $40 million budget.
However, the mystery film could not take the weekend crown, which went to Frozen 2. The Disney sequel earned $123.7 million, with many insiders believing the total will be closer to $126 million once the final numbers are tallied on Monday. That number beats the $109.9 million grossed by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire over Thanksgiving weekend 2013, making Frozen 2 the highest-grossing Thanksgiving film to date.
Overall, a total of $264 million was spent a the box office over the long weekend, making it one of the best outings of all time. Still, it was not enough to beat out 2018's record $315 million, which was spearheaded by Creed II, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Ralph Breaks the Internet.
Written, produced and directed by Rian Johnson, Knives Out stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Ana de Armas, and Jamie Lee Curtis, Jaeden Martell, Katherine Langford, Frank Oz, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, and Riki Lindhome. It is in theaters now.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Scream: Curse of Carnage #1 by Clay McLeod Chapman, Chris Mooneyham, Rain Beredo and VC's Corey Petit, on sale now.
The symbiotes' gooey nature makes them some of the grossest, most unnerving creatures in the Marvel Universe. This quality is amplified further depending on their host, with Carnage and the long-tongued Venom pushing the envelope of body horror. The same goes for Venom's other offspring besides Carnage: the female symbiote, Scream.
Following the events of Absolute Carnage, Scream has gained a new host in Andi Benton, who's less than happy to accommodate the alien. Her quest to rid herself of Scream in Scream: Curse of Carnage #1 leads to a drastic decision, which then causes a showdown with some of the grossest symbiotes yet.
The beginning of the issue deals with Andi Benton trying to handle the fallout of Absolute Carnage, with much the city left on edge about symbiotes. This is compounded with her own personal trauma leftover from dealing with her family life, in particular: a sense of abandonment from her mother. She tries to check into F.E.A.S.T., a local shelter where Spider-Man's Aunt May works, but even there, her solace is short-lived.
A possibly mentally ill woman who also stays there is able to discern that Andi has a symbiote, which also protects her when the woman attacks Andi with a knife. The less-than-warm welcome leads to a party, and even here, she can't help but get sucked into a fight. Feeling lost, hopeless and without a home, Andi breaks down and attempts to commit suicide by jumping off of the George Washington Bridge. Before she hits the water, however, the Scream symbiote takes over and saves her. Before it completely envelopes her body, however, a few drops of Andi's blood sink into the water, leading to an aquatic nightmare.
The blood and the symbiote droplets intertwine with fish and dead bodies under the sea and are actually able to bring the bodies to life in a horrid fusion of rotting corpses and sealife. This coincides with a scene earlier in the issue, in which a dead woman's body was found with fish growing out of it.
Examples of this disgusting new species include bipedal humanoid fish; skeletons with crustacean arms jutting from their backs and gooey corpses whose heads have been taken over by mollusks. The creatures attack Andi, who, after turning into Scream, notices how feeble they are. It would seem that using completely lifeless hosts drastically weakens the potential of a symbiote, though this wasn't necessarily the case with Sleeper's host, the long-dead Tel-Kar.
It's also not clear as to why the symbiote chose these lower intellect or dead creatures as hosts, as their ability to be easily controlled would be juxtaposed with less lifeforce/nutrients to share. Disgusted with the fish-faced freaks herself, Scream makes quick work of the aquatic cadavers, before the symbiote that had bonded with them skitters away into a gutter.
It's unclear if this symbiote and its piscine hosts will return in future Scream: Curse of Carnage issues, but the new tendency for symbiotes to merge with deceased creatures or animals makes New York even less safe.
Moon Knight made his first appearance in the 1972 comic book Werewolf by Night #32, and it looks like his entry into the MCU could also connect to the lycanthrope as well.
According to MCU Cosmic, Jack Russell, the anti-hero known as Werewolf by Night, is rumored to appear in the Moon Knight television series on Disney+. This follows the previously reported rumors that Russell was expected to make his debut in either Moon Knight or the Blade movie.
At the age of 18, Jack Russell inherited his father's curse and became a teenage werewolf in Los Angeles. Moon Knight showed up when an evil organization known as the Committee hired the mercenary to bring them Russell, which led to their first battle. However, by the next issue, the two were fighting together against the Committee and have remained connected ever since.
Last month, reports indicated that the Moon Knight Disney+ series would also connect to the upcoming Blade MCU movie starring Mahershala Ali. If Werewolf by Night appears in Moon Knight, there is always the chance that the connection between the TV show and the film could see Jack Russell and Blade possibly meet up as well.
Disney+'s Moon Knight series has yet to receive a release date.
The Arrowverse's mega-crossover event, Crisis On Infinite Earthsis almost here. The event will feature stars from all across the DC Superhero landscape, including Brandon Routh's return to playing Superman.
In an interview with TV Guide, several stars from the crossover event revealed their reactions to Routh's Superman.
Arrow's David Ramsey said, "Seeing him in the Superman outfit was just —everybody gasped." He explained, "Brandon looked like a Greek God. He looked like 6'6" or 6'7", muscles everywhere, a little gray in his hair. It was just perfect. And he just had this thing about him. His hands were always on his hips. He was golden era Superman... You think about Superman and if you say the words super man — he looked like a super man... Your eyes just couldn't get off of Brandon."
The Flash's Carlos Valdes said, "It was really fun watching Brandon Routh just like flip over and change over from Ray Palmer to being essentially Super-Brandon —that's what we've been calling him." He added that it meant a lot to Brandon and the fans to see him tackle the role of The Man of Steel again after 2006's Superman Returns.
The Flash's Hartley Sawyer offered his input, saying, "That was one of the coolest things that I've ever gotten to do in my life, just seeing [Brandon Routh] walk out in the costume. Like, 'Holy Toledo! That's that guy, that's him."
Sawyer also claimed, "Brandon has a deep, deep understanding of what Superman really represents and what that character is really about, and to see somebody who plays that character so well and then to learn the understanding that he has and the thought that he's put into it? That was really cool. I kind of just bowed down before him because it was like, 'Man, not only are you so good at this, but you get it. You completely get it!'"
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" begins Sunday, Dec. 8 on Supergirl, then continues in Batwoman on Monday, Dec. 9, and then picks up in The Flash on Tuesday, Dec. 10. After a winter hiatus, the crossover concludes on Tuesday, Jan. 14 on both Arrow and DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Detective Comics #1016, by Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Tyler Kirkham, Keith Champagne, Christian Alamy, Mark Irwin, David Baron and Rob Leigh, on sale now.
In the latest storyline of Detective Comics, longtime Batman villain Mr. Freeze was finally, after all this time, able to accomplish his goal: awaken his wife from her cryogenic sleep and save her life from the sickness that had taken her over. Lex Luthor (who is currently in his Apex Predator form thanks to Perpetua, the Mother of the Multiverse), approached Freeze and, in a bid to tip the cosmic scales of the world in favor of doom, offered him what he always wanted: a serum that allowed Victor to reanimate and cure Nora.
However, Lex's so-called cure came with side-effects. Yes, Nora is awake and physically healthy, but her mind is deteriorating. With a body now as cold as her husband's and ice weapons that make her a dangerous threat, the new Mrs. Freeze has gone solo. Leaving her husband behind, Nora is out to make a name for herself by terrorizing the residents of Gotham City -- and she's growing more and more unstable.
But it turns out Luthor may have always known something like this could happen. Why? Because the serum he gave Mr. Freeze wasn't new. Luthor used it back in Forever Evil... to create Bizarro.
Forever Evilwas a villain-centric event by Geoff Johns and David Finch published in 2013 as part of DC's New 52 continuity. In it, Lex Luthor took on a leading role as the world's only hope when the Justice League mysteriously disappeared and the villainous Crime Syndicate (an evil version of the Justice League from Earth-3) began to rule the planet with an iron fist. Luthor worked alongside Batman and put together a team of villains to fight back. One of the members of his band of misfits was Bizarro, who received a new origin in the event.
Subject B-0, as he was called, was created by Luthor in an attempt to clone Superman. Unfortunately, the experiment was less than successful and the villain ended up creating a greying, twisted version of the Man of Steel. Part of this experiment involved a serum -- the very same serum Luthor gives to Victor Fries to bring his wife back to life.
Even though Freeze says he ran a check on the serum, it still had a negative effect on Nora. The serum, combined with his own experiments, is now what is plunging Mrs. Freeze into villainy. Worse still, her condition will only continue to devolve. This means that not only will she get more dangerous, she might become more powerful if she transforms into a Bizarro version of herself.
As the issue comes to an end, Victor is back behind bars and his wife is on the run. Now, she is free... and a total freezing menace.
With Sonic the Hedgehog set to debut next year, the blue hedgehog is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Footage of the 1993 Sonic Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon accident has blown up online as fans revisited the incident.
The incident occurred in 1993, the same year that Sonic the Hedgehog made his debut at the parade (and two years after making his debut in the gaming world). The Sonic balloon was floating in the parade cessation, along with other famous characters, through New York City.
After the Cat in the Hat balloon veered off course, Sonic crashed into a lamp post and the balloon popped on live TV. Two people were also injured in the incident.
The footage, captured by ABC7NY, showed the lamp post slicing Sonic's eye open, bringing the balloon down on the crowd below. For years, the footage has been notoriously hard to find, leading some to believe it was purposely being hidden. For a long time, images of the deflated balloon and float test footage were the only reminders of the incident.
Helmed by Jeff Fowler, Sonic the Hedgehog stars Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, with James Marsden, Neal McDonald, Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally and Natasha Rothwell. The film is set for release on Feb. 14, 2020.
Originally appearing to both fans and Deku himself as a senile old man who couldn’t even remember Deku’s name, Gran Torino has proven time and time again that he is much more than meets the eye.
Throughout his time as hero, Gran Torino has not only accomplished much on his own, but beyond that, he has managed to train not one, but two inheritors of One For All (though he has never actually carried the powerful quirk himself). But what else has Gran Torino accomplished? What is his story? Let’s find out.
10 Gran Torino Starring Clint Eastwood
Though Gran Torino introduced as a senile old man to both viewers and Deku, there’s actually a lot more going on with him than viewers and the young hero first imagine. For starters, by the end of his time with Gran Torino, both Deku and viewers understand that not only is Gran Torino still a very capable teacher, but he’s also an incredibly talented mentor.
Which is, perhaps, one of the reasons why he pulls his name from the film of the same name, Gran Torino, in which Clint Eastwood plays the mentor to a young boy in a very dangerous situation.
9 Based On Yoda
Though he pulls his name from the film Gran Torino starring Clint Eastwood, the character himself is actually based on a much more popular mentor found in a galaxy far, far away, Yoda. Horikoshi has gone on record as stating that he pulled inspiration for Gran Torino from George Lucas’ classic master Jedi.
The pair have quite a bit in common should fans stop to think about it. For starters, they are both incredibly short. Then, when they are first introduced, the pair both use their old age and faux-senility to throw their young proteges off balance and mess with them a bit.
8 From Hero To….Smaller Hero
While Gran Torino’s minute stature has become a hallmark of his character to fans that have been introduced to the character through Deku, the speedy hero was not always such a small fry.
In fact, back in his glory days, when he was first beginning to teach Toshinori Yagi how to use the powers that had bestowed upon him, Gran Torino’s height actually rivaled that All Might in his muscle form. A form that stands at around seven feet two inches tall. That’s quite a bit of shrinking to do over the years, but though he is little, he is mighty. Even in his old age.
7 Teacher To The Very Best
Though Gran Torino was and still remains an incredibly talented hero, perhaps his greatest accomplishments come in the form of his teaching skills. Not only was Gran Torino Capable of teaching the young Toshinori Yagi how to use his new quirk, but he was also able to teach Deku concepts regarding his quirk within a week, that Toshinori was unable to teach after almost an entire year.
What makes all of this even more impressive is that Gran Torino never actually possessed One For All himself, so he managed to teach two great heroes based solely on his understanding of their quirk.
6 He Is Incredibly Strong
To touch on that “he may be little, but he is mighty” quote from earlier, Gran Torino, even in his old age, is an incredibly strong hero. Not only has he been shown, in his old age, to take on both villains and Nomu that even some pro heroes couldn’t handle, he’s also been shown carrying the full weight of All Might in his muscle form.
A form which is, again, seven feet two inches tall and a whopping 255kg (or 562.179 pounds!). So yeah, despite his small stature, Gran Torino can put up some serious weight.
5 Hs Quirk: Jet
With his quirk, Jet, Gran Torino is able to move at some truly impressive speeds. Seriously. The old dude can move so fast that not even All Might can see him with his naked eye. Beyond this, however, Gran Torino can also use his quirk to allow himself to fly for very short distances, as there is a limit to how much he can propel himself.
Through the holes on the soles of his feet, Gran Torino can propel himself at breakneck speeds, yes, but this air is also drawn from his breath, so there’s definitely a limit.
4 Who Needs The Speedforce?
As previously mentioned, with his quirk Gran Torino can move at incredible speeds. Not only is he capable of moving so fast that even All Might can’t manage to trace his movements, but he’s also incredibly skilled when it comes to using that speed.
He’s used his speed to make some incredible saves when it comes to his protege, he’s taken down a handful of villains all in the blink of an eye. A feat that even multiple pro heroes could not contend with.
3 Referencing Mega Man (& Proto Man)
Mangaka Kohei Horikoshi has created a rich and vibrant world positively packed with references to some of pop culture’s finest. There are numerous references to heroes like Captain America, Batman and Spider-Man as well as references to famous manga and anime like Attack On Titan and Akira.
But With Gran Torino’s costume Horikoshi references another great hero, Mega Man (Or Proto Man). The older Gran Torino has boots gauntlets and a suit that nearly perfectly matches the robot hero. His mask and yellow cape are also reminiscent of Proto Man’s attire.
2 His Stats
The Ultra Archive Book holds the stats for all of My Hero Academia’s greatest heroes, villains, and the up-and-comers. In the book, the heroes are ranked on things like intelligence, stamina, speed and strength among other things. The characters are ranked from one to five. Five being excellent and one being very poor.
While All Might’s stats are meant to be an example of his incomparable power (all categories ranked six out of five), other heroes have varies scores, some reaching five out of five and others nowhere near that. However, interestingly enough, as far as Gran Torino’s speed stat, the hero is at or above All Might’s level (six of out six).
1 Like Student Like Teacher
Throughout his career, Gran Torino has worn many different hats. He started out as a hero, doing what he could to help the people of Japan in any way he could. He eventually became a mentor to All Might, teaching All Might how to use a quirk that he didn’t even possess.
After which, much like his protege would eventually do, Gran Torino would go on to become a teacher, helping the next generation of heroes. Something he apparently never shrunk out of because, by the time Deku comes around, he’s still willing to teach the next generation One For All inheritor.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure might be the best, worst, and weirdest property of all time. It's so weird, but somehow popular enough to share article headlines with Fortnite. Never before has a series included a paralyzed man who can shoot his fingernails, a vampire who forgets about his eye lasers, and a plaid-patterned stand that just works, okay? Basically, this anime and manga are nonsense, just the amazing kind.
Author Hirohiko Araki has somehow managed to craft an incredibly complex world. And sometimes, he just, ya know... forgets about certain plotlines or characters altogether. There's a ton of memes online that go over all the things Araki has forgotten about over the years in his eight-part series, so let's cover some of the best.
Remember how we just cut Araki a bunch of slack about forgetting things since Jojo is so long? Well, nevermind, we forgot he messed something up in literally the first part. At the end of Phantom Blood, Jonathan Joestar and the head of Dio go down together in a burning ship. Jonathan's wife Erina escapes with their child by floating on the casket Dio has planned on using when he took over Jonathan's body. But, in the third part, Stardust Crusaders, it's discovered that the same Black Coffin is what Dio awoke from. So, were there two oddly garish black coffins, or did Araki literally just forget? I know what our bet is.
9 Star Platinum Bringing Jotaro Stuff Even With Its Limited Range
Speaking of Stardust Crusaders, remember how Jotaro thought he was possessed by an evil spirit? The oddly gigantic teenager holes himself up in a jail cell so he won't hurt anyone with his soon-to-be-discovered Stand, Star Platinum. And, while in jail, Jotaro either consciously or unconsciously has Star Platinum bring him things such as a boom box, a beer, a motorcycle, and some other random items. But, it seems like Araki hadn't figured out Stand ranges at this time, because Star Platinum only has a range of 3 meters. So, unless there was a Wal-mart directly behind the jail cell, this makes no sense.
8 Dio Forgets About All His Vampire Powers
Now, after Dio wakes up and goes to Egypt to hire some random nobodies, he obtains a Stand of his own. The World is one of the most overpowered stands in the series, as it can freeze time and let Dio do all sorts of wacky things during the frozen moment. It's a bit confusing, but not nearly as confusing as Stand powers get later on.
But, while this Stand is strong, it's no reason for Dio to forget about his weirdo Vampire abilities. Remember how Dio could freeze people? Or shoot concentrated beams of blood out of his eyes? Or even his ability to create horrifying human-animal hybrids? Thankfully we remember because Araki sure didn't.
7 Josuke Saving His Past Self
This next one still deeply bothers us. In Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable, we follow a new Joestar, Josuke Higashikata to be exact. Josuke is the flower-child character of the Joestar line and a real goofball. But, when we look into his past, we can see that the lad actually almost had a fatal moment when he was young.
Thankfully, he survives thanks to a mysterious stranger pushing the car out of the snow, and the series absolutely implies this stranger is Josuke from the future. Obviously, this was meant to be a moment where Josuke travels in time thanks to Kira's Bites the Dust, but it seems like Araki forgot about this plot thread. So, guess we'll just forget about this incredible moment then.
6 Hierophant Green's Got More Than The Emerald Splash
Kakyoin has quite the odd character arc in Part 3. This aloof high school student is the fourth to join the crew with his Stand Hierophant Green. But, unlike the others, Kakyoin only joins after losing to Jotaro in a Stand battle. During this battle, Kakyoin displays a series of powers, such as cutting Jotaro's legs by slashing an illustration of him with red paint, possessing other people by sending Heirophant Green inside them, or even using his Stands long tail like a tripwire.
Unfortunately, it seems like losing to Jotaro after using al these tricks took a toll on Kakyoin emotionally, because we never see him use them again. At least that makes more sense than Araki literally forgetting, which is the actual answer.
Out of all the Stands in the Stardust Crusaders crew, Joseph Jotaro's is probably the worse. To be fair, the guy is old, and he already had his own season. Hermit Purple is Josephs's stand, and other than it acting like vines that sprout from his arm, the stand can also take "spirit photos" of anything Joseph wants it to.
This seems like it would've been a helpful ability in the hunt for Kira in Part 4. A hunt Joseph was literally present for. Even if it couldn't find Kira, it would be a better use of Josephs's time over taking care of a random invisible baby that never shows up again.
4 Stone Ocean's Dio Ressurection Plotline
Part 6 of Jojo has our favorite in the Joestar line, Jolyne. This rough and tumble girl was framed for a crime she didn't commit and is stuck serving her sentence in the Green Dolphin Street Prison. During her time here, she goes up against a Stand-wielding priest named Enrico Pucci, who has ties to Dio Brando. Turns out, the Priest is following a very complicated set of instructions given to him by Dio, back when they were buds, that seems to be centered around resurrecting the fan-favorite villain.
At least, that was the plan, and when Green Baby is born, the Joestar birthmark seems to be the sign it's time to kick things off. Quite frankly, this baby is one of the strongest Stands in the franchise. But, alas, instead we get this weird world-reset ending that has nothing to do with Pucci's original goals and serves as an odd ending to an overall amazing part.
Again, during the climactic battle between Dio Brando and Jotaro Joestar, a lot happens. Cairo takes some massive damage, Kakyoin is killed, and so is Joseph Joestar. Or at least, that was the implication when Dio sucked literally all his blood out. Remember how his soul waves goodbye to Jotaro? Well, Araki doesn't, cause he brings Joseph back less than a few chapters later, with seemingly no side effects from being bitten by a vampire lord. Nevermind the fact that Jotaro tells Josuke that a human can't be brought back to life with a Stand, that rule only applies after Jotaro got his resurrecting out of the way.
2 Tiny Stand, Talking Stands, And More
Early on in the Stand days, Araki was still figuring things out. He didn't know if Stands could talk, if they were made from Ripple energy, or if their size could be changed at will. Nowhere is this better shown than in the Steely Dan fight. During this fight, Polnareff's Silver Chariot and Kakyoins Heirophant Green are shrunken down to micro-organic sizes. This is neither explained or even elaborated upon in the story. It's just regarded as something Stands can innately do, and then is never done ever again in the franchise. Neat.
1 Josuke Doesn't Use Kira's Fingernails To Find Him
Hey, remember how we talked about Josephs's lack of using Hermit Purple during Part 4? Well, there' s a more insulting example. Josuke's Stand has the ability to restore anything back to a previous state it was in. Touch a car after a crash? It's good as new. Touch a person after they've been cut? They're good as new. But, touch one of Kira's shirt buttons to follow it back to its owner? No, that would be ridiculous.
How about using it on the jar of toenails Josuke finds in the old Yoshikage house? For someone as clever as him, you would think this obvious solution would come up at some point in time.
Many villainous organizations have caused problems for the X-Men but very few have caused them the sheer amount of difficulties that the Hellfire Club has. Led by Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost, the Hellfire Club touched every member of the X-Men and its successor, The New Mutants.
With an organization like the Hellfire Club, its secrets are its most important currencies. Deals are made, lives are changed or even ended behind those ornate doors. Very few outside of the world's most wealthy and elite have ever seen what goes on in its ancient halls. That is until they targeted the X-Men and the Phoenix.
10 It’s a Real World Establishment
“The Hellfire Club” is a common name that was given to a number of clubs that were established in the 1700s around Great Britain and Ireland. The clubs were established for high society members and minor royalty to engage in less than socially acceptable activities in private.
It is widely accepted that the first Hellfire Club was established by Phillip, Duke of Wharton in London, 1718. Unlike most Gentlemen’s clubs of the time, Wharton’s club admitted both men and women. They referred to themself as “Devils” and conducted mock religious ceremonies. Wharton’s club ended in 1721. Many other clubs differed in their actions, dress, and activities. There are still a number of Hellfire Clubs in existence today.
9 The Avengers Were an Influence (But Not Those Avengers)
Chris Claremont and John Byrne, the writer, and artist on the X-Men at the time and creators of the Hellfire Club, admittedly were heavily inspired by an episode of the popular British spy series “The Avengers”. The series followed British agent John Steed in his adventures, which was aided by a number of beautiful intelligent female assistants. The most famous of these is Diana Riggs’, Emma Peel.
The inspiring episode “A Touch of Brimstone” saw Emma Peel is dressed in a whalebone corset, high heeled boots and a dog collar with spikes while she is holding a snake. The outfit is dubbed the “Queen of Sin”. This look became the direct inspiration for the White Queen Emma Frost.
8 Location, Location, Location!
One of the aspects of the Hellfire Club that has made it so successful is that it has a number of locations around the globe. In America, there are clubs in Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. In Europe and Asia, clubs exist in London, Hong Kong, and Paris.
Hellfire Club membership is hereditary and is past down through families. Members are generally the most powerful men and women in the world. The purpose of the club has always been to obtain power and influence for its members but very few knew of the mutant Inner Circle or its criminal activities and battles with the X-Men.
7 The Chess Connection
One of the most interesting aspects of the Hellfire Club is its organization. The club’s hierarchy is based around the pieces of the chessboard. Kings and Queens are at the top of the hierarchy, one black and one white each. Beneath them are Rooks and then Knights, that are the foot soldiers for the club. The DC Comics spy agency Checkmate also uses the same hierarchy with different colors.
For example, Sebastian Shaw was the Black King and Emma Frost was the White Queen through most of the initial encounters with the X-Men. The pair purged the human members of the Inner Circle, which was then called the Council of the Chosen and Shaw renamed them as the Lords Cardinal.
6 The Inner Circle
Under Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost, the Inner Circle of the New York Hellfire Club is filled with mutants. Sebastian Shaw was the Black King. Below him, was The Dark Phoenix while she was being manipulated by Mastermind and later the immortal vampire Selene as the Black Queen. Harry Leland was the Black Bishop until his death. Jason Wyngarde Mastermind was a probationary member.
On the White Side, Emma Frost was the White Queen. The White King position laid empty for many years until it is jointly held by Storm and Magneto. Cyborg Donald Pierce held the role of White Bishop until he was expelled. Emmanuel da Costa, the father of New Mutant Sunspot, was the White Rook. Formerly, there was a Lord Imperial who oversaw all the Hellfire Clubs but no one holds that position currently.
5 The Deep Cover Spy
Tessa could always be seen just behind Sebastian Shaw. Her computer-like brain proved invaluable to Shaw in his business and political dealings. With Tessa’s help, Shaw amassed a vast fortune through both his legitimate and illegal business dealings. Unknown to everyone, Tessa had a secret.
Tessa was actually a spy for Charles Xavier and was keeping track of activities of the Hellfire Club for years. Tessa had saved Xavier years earlier when his legs were crushed by a demon in Afghanistan. Shaw abandoned Tessa after the mutant telepath Elias Bogan captured her and tattooed her face. She was rescued by Storm and began to work with the X-Men under the name Sage.
4 To Rescue the Phoenix
As his calling card to become part of the Hellfire Club, Mastermind, under the psyche guise of the dashing Jason Wyngarde, captured the Jean Grey Phoenix. Using a device created by Emma Frost, he made Grey believe that she was living in the 18th Century and that she was his lover.
The X-Men infiltrate the club to rescue their friend. Cyclops engages in a psychic battle with Mastermind, that he loses but it helped break Phoenix free of his control. Wolverine brutally cuts Harry Leland and several guards with his claws. The Phoenix opened Mastermind’s mind to her own cosmic awareness for a split second, driving him completely insane. Having been driven to darkness herself by Mastermind’s manipulations, Phoenix burst off into space.
3 Emma Frost
If there is one constant in Emma Frost’s life, it is self-preservation. From an early age, she saw humans as beneath mutants, so she had no problem using her powers of telepathy against them. Her powers, business acumen, charm and beauty helped her amass a vast personal fortune at a young age.
Emma worked her way up through the Hellfire Club and used her powers to amass a library of secrets on the members. Frost began personal attacks on Kitty Pryde and Storm multiple times over the years. A psyche battle with the Phoenix left Frost in a coma for years. She would join the X-Men but still have ties to her villainous side.
2 Sebastian Shaw
In many ways, Sebastian Shaw can be his own worst enemy. After finding that the White King of the Hellfire Club was responsible for funding the Sentinels that killed his lover, Shaw staged a coup and killed the members of the Inner Circle. Conversely, Shaw would continue to provide funding for the Sentinel program, despite being a mutant himself.
Shaw sent Emma Frost to force Namor to join the Hellfire Club after the Submariner rejected the offer as a minor annoyance. Shaw sent Sentinels to Atlantis when Frost didn’t return after two weeks. Namor defeated them easily but Selene used her powers on Frost to make her loyal to Shaw again and the trio was too much for Namor, who vowed future revenge. Shaw was eventually killed by Frost but resurrected by the Krakoa Five.
1 The Hellfire Trading Company
With the establishment of the new mutant nation of Krakoa and the creation of the drugs that will aid mankind, Emma Frost decided to reorganize the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club into the company that will oversee the shipping operation and distribution of the medications. The secondary mission is to liberate Krakoa gates from oppressive governments and allow mutants in those countries to travel to Krakoa.
Emma Frost changed the organization to be a single monarch with subordinates below them. Emma Frost remained as the White Queen with her brother Christian as her White Rook. Shaw is the Black King again and Captain Kate Pryde is now the Red Queen. The other positions have yet to be filled.
