The clothing brand Vans has dropped a new collection of horror themed apparel involving The Shining, Friday the 13th and more. Just in time for Halloween, the Vans x Horror collectionallows a variety of big screen icons to be available on a range of Vans products. Vans, known for their classic streetwear look, has embraced pop culture many times in the past through collaborating with behemoths of film, TV and video games. Before these monsters, franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter and The Simpsons have been given the Vans treatment.
It has been a while since some of these characters were seen on the screen. The A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise hasn't recovered from its failed 2010 reboot, and the rights to Friday the 13th have been, until recently, tied up in a series of lawsuits. Stanley Kubrick's The Shining has managed to stand the test of time and Doctor Sleep, the long awaited sequel directed by Mike Flanagan, has kept the horrors of the Overlook Hotel in the zeitgeist. Younger audiences may be more drawn to Pennywise than the other villains, with both films in the recent adaptation of Stephen King's It being smash hits at the box office.
The collection is available to purchase on the Vans websiteand includes an array of clothing, from socks and shoes to hats and hoodies. All the films that inspired the collection, which includes the previously mentioned franchises and also The Lost Boys and The Exorcist, were given their own shoe designs as well as other unique clothing items. The new release combines Vans' classic designs with images inspired by some of cinemas greatest horror movies. Check out a sampling of the Vans x Horror collection, below:
As was the case with Vans' other pop culture collaborations, this collection is only on a limited release and will not last forever. Some of the designs include hi-top shoes with "REDRUM" written on the midsoles, a white t-shirt with Pennywise's evil grin printed on it, and a black hoodie with Jason Vorrhees' famous hockey mask emblazoned on the front. Horror heads are likely to go mad for these fresh looks. Fans who want to be seen in shoes that are designed after Freddy Krueger's famous striped sweatshirt will have to act fast.
Vans' past pop culture releases have all proven to be wildly successful, and horror fans are often among the most loyal (going by the longevity of some of these series) so this feels like a match made in heaven. These designs by Vans could become an annual uniform for spooky season, or just an everyday fit for gore fans. The launch of this range may also help some of these waning franchises recapture the attention of audiences, and with Jason Blum rebooting The Exorcist, the timing feels right.
Warning: Contains SPOILERS forVenom: Let There Be Carnage.
The post-credits scene in Venom: Let There Be Carnage reveals a huge twist by transporting Eddie and Venom to the MCU, but how exactly do they get there? One minute, the two are relaxing after defeating Carnage and talking about the boundless knowledge Venom has access to through the symbiote hivemind. The next, the room trembles and changes, and the TV shows the unmistakable face of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
Previously, it was believed that the Venom films took place in a different canon than the MCU. The Spider-Man movie rights are complicated and can be a bit confusing, but the gist is that Sony still holds the rights to the character and allows him to feature in the MCU through separate deal with Marvel. Sony is currently in the process of setting up its own cinematic universe of Spider-Man characters, which will include Morbius, Kraven the Hunter, and the Venom films. Now, it looks like Holland’s Spider-Man could be a part of that universe as well.
So, how do Eddie and Venom get from reality to the MCU? The Venom 2 post-credits scene intentionally keeps things mysterious, but the teleportation almost certainly is tied to the MCU multiverse, which has become the focal point of the story in Phase 4. The leading theory is that Eddie and Venom are brought to the MCU by the multiverse shenanigans caused by Doctor Strange's spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home. It's a fair guess seeing as how their jump to the MCU was accompanied by a singular blinding flash of light, which is the same thing that happened in the No Way Home trailer at the moment Strange cast the spell and it went awry. Another possibility is that Venom’s accessing of the symbiote hivemind through Eddie caused something to malfunction in some way. Considering how hard the characters of MCU's Phase 4 have been tampering with the multiverse, it's even possible that it was an entirely different multiverse event that brought Eddie and Venom to the MCU.
Since other major characters from past Sony Spider-Manfilms like Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus and Jamie Foxx’s Electro are returning in No Way Home, it wouldn’t be out of place for Hardy’s Venom to show up as well. There’s been no confirmation yet that he’ll be in the upcoming Spider-Manmovie, but because both franchises are produced by Sony Pictures, it seems most likely that Eddie’s arrival in the MCU is tied to the multiversal chaos in No Way Home.
Of course, there are still a number of things that haven’t been revealed about the MCU multiverse, any one of which could be to blame for Venom’s sudden change of reality. A powerful Scarlet Witch was messing with the Darkhold in WandaVision; Sylvie broke the timeline wide open in Loki; even Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings touched upon alternate dimensions. The Venom 2 post-credits scene may simply be setting up a Tom Holland Peter Parker cameo in Sony’s universe rather than a Venom debut in No Way Home. Either way, the ending of Venom: Let There Be Carnage sets up a lot of exciting possibilities for the character’s future.
Phantasm is one of the strangest horror franchises ever, but tying it together is The Tall Man, a towering villain who's taken multiple forms. The Phantasm movies have often been likened to nightmares captured on film, especially the 1979 original, with the kind of bizarre twists, unexpected surprises, and lack of conventional logic that often make up dreams. The Tall Man himself is certainly a nightmarish figure, and in an odd circumstance for an initially mysterious horror villain, the additional background information revealed about him in the sequels doesn't really make him any less scary.
Played to widespread acclaim by late genre mainstay Angus Scrimm, The Tall Man is, to make a long story shorter, a being far beyond normal humans, despite his human appearance. The Tall Man is strong enough to lift a full casket without help, commands an army of brain-destroying flying metal spheres, and takes dead bodies to another dimension, where he transforms them into tiny servant creatures resembling Jawas from Star Wars. He's also, perhaps most importantly, nearly impossible to damage, much less kill.
As if all those features weren't enough to make Phantasm's Tall Man a formidable adversary, he's also able to make use of a trait common to many of the best horror villains: shape-shifting. The Tall Man can use this ability to lure victims in, as well as to further terrify them. Here's every other form, aside from his standard one, The Tall Man has taken over the course of Phantasm's five-movie run.
One of the most memorable scenes in Phantasm sees Tommy - a friend of major characters Jody and Reggie - making the odd decision to get intimate with a blonde woman in a striking lavender dress while in the local cemetery. The pair have sex, but then the Lady in Lavender (Kathy Lester) kills him, before shifting back into The Tall Man. The Tall Man tries to pull the same trick on Jody - older brother to protagonist Mike - later, but things thankfully get interrupted. The Lady in Lavender does later sucker in ice cream man Reggie later, stabbing him to death.
Or at least that's how it first appears, as it's later revealed that the whole movie was a dream Mike was having, following the actual real-life death of Jody in a car crash, and that Reggie was still alive. Or maybe it wasn't a dream, since The Tall Man then appears to kidnap Mike to end Phantasm. Phantasm 2 picked up from the latter scene, and was a bit easier to follow. The Lady in Lavender wouldn't appear again until Phantasm: Ravager, the long-delayed fifth movie, again played by Lester. Oddly, Ravager seems to imply she's a separate, albeit still connected, entity to The Tall Man, despite the previous shape-shifting being shown. Reggie kills her, but The Tall Man continues on.
While Phantasm 2 is easier to follow than the original, it's still pretty confusing at times, although diehard fans wouldn't want their Phantasm movies any other way. During the sequel, Mike and Reggie are trailing The Tall Man's path of death across the country, eventually picking up a young female hitchhiker named Alchemy (Samantha Phillips). Mike immediately feels uneasy, as she resembles a strange nude apparition he had seen in a previous dream, but Reggie has no such qualms, almost succeeding in sleeping with her - although thankfully for him, it got interrupted.
After Mike, Reggie, and their new companion Liz seemingly kill The Tall Man via embalming him alive, the trio is "rescued" by a hearse driven by Alchemy. Reggie is grateful, but Alchemy starts pulling her own scalp off, revealing that she's been evil the whole time. Reggie is attacked and thrown from the hearse, which then drives off. Mike thinks it's all a dream, but The Tall Man opens the divider between the front and back of the car, and assures him it's not. In an earlier version of Phantasm 2, the fact Alchemy was The Tall Man in disguise was made more explicit, as part of the transformation was shown onscreen, but it was cut due to effects issues.
This inclusion is an odd one, but it's also one that fits perfectly in with the abject strangeness of the Phantasm franchise as a whole. Phantasm 3 picks up right where Phantasm 2 left off, with Reggie outside the hearse, and Mike and Liz still inside. The vehicle then crashes and explodes, but things are a bit hard to make sense of from there concerning The Tall Man.
Mike survives the crash, while Liz dies, but Alchemy/The Tall Man is nowhere to be seen. Reggie runs over, collects Mike and tries to make a run for it, only for The Tall Man - now completely intact and without even a scratch - to march up from behind and try to get them. This Tall Man was shown emerging from an inter-dimensional portal earlier on in the opening scenes, with the embalming method having indeed killed the Tall Man that served as Phantasm 2's primary villain. This concept of more than one Tall Man existing was made even clearer later in the movie.
Considering everything seen of The Tall Man in Phantasm 1-3, many no doubt justifiably assumed the creature was simply a monster or an alien, and was never a human being. That's not true though, as Phantasm 4: Oblivion revealed. The Tall Man was once a 19th-century mortician named Jebediah Morningside, and was by all evidence a perfectly nice, normal person. That was until his macabre job eventually led Morningside to become overly fascinated with death, and where people go afterward. He was able to make a portal capable of taking him to an unknown other world, but this ultimately proved a terrible decision.
Not long after Jebediah made his trip to the other side of the portal, he returned, but no longer as the man he once was, having been turned into The Tall Man. Or considering there's more than one Tall Man, it would seem he somehow became the original Tall Man template. Jebediah later appears in one of the realities shown in the perhaps most confusing of all Phantasm: Ravager, sharing a hospital room with Reggie long enough to have a conversation. Phantasm: Ravager ends on another ambiguous note, which makes sense for a Phantasm movie, but is also undeniably sad, since Scrimm's death effectively precludes a follow-up.
An artist has recently created 35 different colorful icons of villains in the Final Fantasy series. With 15 mainline entries and numerous spinoffs, the series has presented many antagonists throughout the years, and some fans do their best to recreate their favorites with fan art. Final Fantasy is known for its games featuring rag-tag casts of heroes facing off against powerful villains who threaten the fabric of existence in their worlds.
This comes on the heels of the Tokyo Game Show, where publisher Square Enix has announced new games and provided updates on upcoming releases in a stream. New information on Final Fantasy 16, the next mainline game, is sparse, but the company did reveal a new trailer revealing Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin's release date. This title is an action-RPG spinoff co-developed by Team Ninja, known for its work on the Nioh franchise.
Related: FF7 The First Soldier Gameplay Shows How Classes & Chocobos Will Work
On Reddit, user Old-Biscotti647 posted fanart with colorful depictions of 35 different Final Fantasy villains. This picture includes many of the main villains for each game in the series, from FF 1's Garland up to FF 15's Ardyn Izunia. The art covers the highest number of villains from entries 7 and 9, and when a Reddit user asked about it, the artist mentioned that those are among their favorites, 9 in particular. When also asked about missing villains, such as FF 12's Vayne Solidor or FF 6's Emperor Gestahl, the artist assured that those characters will be joining the roster soon. The artist also creates fanart for movies, TV shows, and other games, demonstrating them in the Instagram account platesandoatcakes. Recent games the artist has covered are Borderlands, Overwatch, and Deltarune.
Sharing fan art is a popular activity for many gamers. Recently, the Mega Man Zero artist created Metroid fanart in his signature style to celebrate the upcoming launch of Metroid: Dread. Many talented artists from all spectrums of fields like to share their love for their favorite games, movies, and television shows, and they often garner praise. It's especially interesting to see artists present characters or scenes from different games in their own unique style, which gives the art a different flair.
Whether it's official art, concept art, or fan art, people love to enjoy these works as they celebrate their favorite series. And Final Fantasy is no stranger to fan art since its first release in 1987. The series is also known for having crossover bosses, such as Final Fantasy V's Gilgamesh appearing across the series, as well as reoccurring summons. In the meantime, there's a lot to be excited about in the near future for Final Fantasy, and fans can bide their time by checking out art like this from talented creators.
Ninjas are cool, as are tabletop roleplaying games; therefore, tabletop RPGs with ninjas in them must be extra cool! But what is a ninja, exactly, and what makes them such a staple of pop culture? The following RPG systems, each with their own stylized take on Ninjas somewhere on the spectrum between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, try to answer this question.
Ask most people born in the 20th century what a ninja is, and they'll generally think of a stealthy assassin dark clothes and a hooded cowl, wielding exotic weapons such as throwing stars, sickles, and Sai daggers. Ask people who grew up during the 2000s or 2010s, and they may cite the Ninja Gaiden series or the Lego Ninjago franchises, media about warriors who wield magical "Ninjutsu" techniques and exotic martial arts. Ask a historian about Ninjas, and they might mention the "Shinobi" mercenary underclass that emerged in 12th century Japan, who hired themselves out as spies and assassins to warlords, wielded weapons inspired by agricultural tools, and would frequently disguise themselves as menial servants to close in on their targets.
Many of the roleplaying games listed below were written by people who did their research about actual historical ninjas, then decided to wholeheartedly embrace the stylized, pop-culture conception of ninjas, "Shadow Clones" and all. Some of these ninja RPGs take place in historical fantasy settings similar to the times actual ninjas existed in (as with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice's setting and NPCs), while others have ninjas leaping across the rooftops of modern day metropolises; each, regardless, are about roleplaying ninjas in stylish, stealthy ways.
The 2nd edition of The Ninja Crusade, available on Drivethru RPG.com and set in a fantasy version of medieval Japan, are about heroic ninjas from the Lotus Coalition, fighting a war of resistance against the militant forces of the Izou Empire. Players create characters aligned with one of the ten clans of the Lotus Coalition, each specializing in certain skills and embodying different archetypes of ninja. The wandering adventures PCs go on in The Ninja Crusade draw heavy inspiration from the Ninja Scroll anime, along with more modern works such as the Naruto franchise.
Legend of the Five Rings started out as a collective card game franchise with a rich meta-plot, then expanded into tabletop roleplaying. The latest edition of the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game can be used to tell stories about noble samurai and magic-users fending off the dark entities of the Shadowlands, or political plots with scheming courtiers and genius generals. If players choose to create characters who hail from the mask-wearing, ninja-patronizing Scorpion Clan, they can also immerse themselves in tales of stealth, infiltration, lies, and assassination – dishonorable deeds committed for the greater good of Rokugan.
Shinonbigami, an RPG translated from Japanese after a successful Kickstarter, is set in modern day Japan and is centered around a shadow war between the members of rival ninja clans - who also have day jobs, families, schoolwork, and other everyday concerns. The gameplay cycle of a Shinobigami session is broken into four parts. In the first three "Cycles," each ninja player character takes a turn in the narrative spotlight to pursue their secret goals, learn the secrets of other characters, and develop their relationships. The final part, a "Climax Phase," is a free-for-all battle between players and groups of players where secrets are revealed, relationships are pushed to the breaking point, and spectacular ninja arts are employed.
Ninja Burger is a low-prep RPG about ninjas. Who work in the fast-food industry. Set in a world that's a madcap blend of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Adventures of Dr. McNinja, and the "Deliverator" scene from the cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, the goal of players in a Ninja Burger session is to use the stylized ninja skills of their PCs to deliver meals to customers (undetected) within 30 minutes or less. No matter what. Obstacles standing in the path of Ninja Burger PCs can range from mutant sewer dwellers and hostile ninjas to rival fast food franchises such as Pirate Pizza, making this a tabletop RPG with ninjas that can provide as much amusement as adventure.
Tiffany Mitchell opened up about being named America's Favorite Player on Big Brother season 23. Tiffany won the coveted title after a seven-day period during which viewers could text the name of their favorite houseguest to cast their votes. The prize was doubled to $50,000 this year. With this win, Tiffany joins an elite group of Big Brother houseguests who won the respect and hearts of fans of the show. The award was introduced on Big Brother 7: All-Stars, and its first-ever recipient was Big Brother legend Janelle Pierzina. Janelle expressed her support for Tiffany on her Instagram this season, encouraging her fans to vote for her. Other notable winners include Keesha Smith (BB10), Britney Haynes (BB12), Elissa Slater (BB15), Victor Arroyo (BB18), Tyler Crispen (BB20), Da'Vonne Rogers (BB22) and Jeff Schroeder, who is the only houseguest to win the prize twice (BB11 and BB13).
Tiffany proved herself to America by creating the strategy that helped the Cookout alliance to reach the Final 6 fully intact. Her idea was nicknamed "the master plan" and consisted of each member of the Big Brother Cookout having a plus-one with whom they would share a place on the chopping block as a pawn, thus disguising the Cookout and ensuring the votes to keep it safe. Fans of the show were in awe of Tiffany's masterful gameplay, praising her intelligence and physical prowess, and her commitment to the mission of the Cookout to crown Big Brother's first Black winner.
In an interview with Parade, Tiffany discussed her win. Before revealing the result, host Julie Chen Moonves said that it was a close vote between Tiffany and fellow fan favorite Derek Xiao. Even Tiffany was surprised when she won against him because she knew how much America loves him, and she loves him too. She added, "When Julie said it was between Derek and myself, I was definitely thinking, 'Come on, America, I need the money!' I did not think that I would beat out Derek because who doesn’t love him? But the fact that America loves me, I am so appreciative of that because I talked to America every single day. America was the only person I was loyal to." Tiffany often spoke directly to the live feed cameras, explaining her gameplay and figuring out her next move. She gained the respect and admiration of fans, including Big Brother legends like Janelle Pierzina, who campaigned for Tiffany on Twitter.
When she was informed that several Twitter users had changed their usernames to "Text TIFFANY to 97979,"Tiffany exclaimed, "Get out of here!"still in awe of her win. When told that America felt she should be rewarded for her contribution to the Cookout, Tiffany again expressed her gratitude, saying, "Wow, that means so much to me. I really did feel accomplished making a contribution to the Cookout. The contribution that I made was really just a gift that was passed through me that I shared. And I’m so glad that we all welcomed the master plan. It feels great to be acknowledged in that way for what my contribution was." Once Tiffany became a member of the jury, America clearly felt that she deserved some accolades and some prize money. Her loyalty to her alliance and her plan to get them to the end of the game helped her to earn the respect of fans of the show. Her willingness to share the credit for the success of the Cookout with the rest of the alliance shows that she is a humble and grateful player.
Tiffany Mitchell participated in a season that will go down in Big Brother history for finally crowning its first Black winner. However, Big Brother season 23 will also be remembered for Tiffany's iconic "master plan." Perhaps one day, fans will see Tiffany back for an All Stars season, teaming up with her fellow America's Favorite Player legendary winners.
Apple called its App Tracking Transparency framework one of the most impactful moves towards creating a more private ecosystem, but recent independent research shows that it is not really effective against third-party trackers and doesn’t block the transfer of personal or device data either. The core premise of the ATT framework was to offer users more transparency about their data, such as which apps collect information, what data they extract, and how it is shared. More importantly, each app was mandated to ask users explicitly about tracking via a pop-up notification.
Of course, the likes of Facebook, whose coffers are generously filled by its massive advertising business, wasn’t too happy about the change and resorted to an industry-wide lobbying campaign. However, Apple remained adamant that it wants to give users a choice whether they want an app to show them personalized ads by tracking their activity across the web and apps. Following a fierce backlash and claims of Apple not implementing the rules on its own apps, the company temporarily delayed the ATT implementation for months and eventually enabled it with the iOS 14.5 release. However, the whole system might not be as effective as Apple claims.
In a study conducted by Lockdown Privacy — whose members are said to be ex-Apple engineers — App Tracking Transparency didn’t create any difference when it comes to disabling third-party trackers associated with an app and is minimally effective at blocking connection requests. As part of the research, the team selected ten top ranked apps on the App Store and monitored third-party tracking for each one under two scenarios — ATT enabled and ATT disabled. Apps like Grubhub, DoorDash and Peacock TV were found to have roughly the same number of active third-party trackers even when users enabled ATT. Another study earlier this year in June also arrived at a similar conclusion about the inefficacy of the ATT system.
The Yelp app was found to have allowed at least six active trackers even with ATT enabled using the “Ask App Not To Track” prompt. Interestingly, the same six trackers were observed when ATT was disabled. Likewise, 39 tracking attempts were recorded, which is only marginally lower than the 42 attempts when ATT was disabled. Lockdown Privacy concluded that enabling or disabling ATT didn’t make any difference for the 50 trackers they observed while running the selected pool of apps. When it came to tracking attempts, enabling ATT only reduced the number by a mere 13-percent.
In terms of the kind of data that the apps were able to share with third parties, everything from time zone, carrier name, iOS version, and iPhone model to more sensitive details such as the user's first and last name, location with exact latitude and longitude, free storage on device, battery and volume levels, as well as accessibility setting details were included. Lockdown Privacy mentions that in all test scenarios, the IP address of users was exposed as well. Contrary to what Apple claims, there was no automatic blocking of tracking requests either. Even if users denied an app’s request for tracking their activity, a majority of the test apps did not seem to honor that choice at all.
The study is a sign that Apple may need to implement a more stringent vetting process to ensure that apps do not avoid the ATT norms and violate user privacy despite an explicit denial for tracking. If it continues the same way, Apple might not be too far from another lawsuit over privacy concerns, misleading advertising, and/or more regulatory scrutiny.
DC's Stargirl has just upgraded Joel McHale to a series regular for season 3. Stargirl, which follows Courtney Whitmore, a teenager who joins the Justice Society of America, premiered on the CW in 2020 and is currently airing its second season, which is set to conclude on November 2. The series stars Brec Bassinger, Anjelika Washington, Trae Romano, Amy Smart, Luke Wilson, Yvette Monreal, and Cameron Gellman.
Joel McHale has appeared as Starman on five episodes of the series. Starman's cosmic staff is the source of his powers, and following his supposed death in the show's pilot, Courtney discovers it in her stepfather's collection. When she realizes she can activate the power of the staff, she assumes Starman is her father and takes up the mantle Stargirl. At the beginning of the second season, it is revealed that Starman is still alive and looking for Courtney's stepfather, but the show has held off on revealing further details.
While appearing on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show guest hosted by Arsenio Hall, Joel McHale confirmed that he will be a series regular on the next season of Stargirl. With typical humor, he exclaims, "In the first episode of the first season, my character dies. But now I’m back!" He says he's excited to be joining the show in a fuller capacity because lead Brec Bassinger is a "dynamo" and Luke Wilson and Amy Smart are "no schlubs" either.
Yes, [I’ll be a series regular in season 3.] I was just appearing. In the first episode of the first season, my character dies. But now I’m back! So hold onto your hat or your cosmic staff, [which] is what my character holds.
I’m Starman, but Stargirl is played by Brec Bassinger, who is a 22-year-old dynamo actor… When I was 22, I was like, “I don’t have any shirts. And I’m just gonna go out without one.” And so she’s very very, she’s great, and Luke Wilson and Amy Smart are in it, and they’re no schlubs… I’m very happy to be part of the show, so thank you Geoff Johns who invented it. It’s the greatest show on television streaming that’s ever been made, so there you go.
Joel McHale is best known for playing the sardonic Jeff Winger in the beloved cult sitcom Community, though he has branched out quite a bit since it went off the air in 2015. On the darker end of the spectrum, he starred in the demonic possession thriller Deliver Us from Evil as well as two science-fiction reboot series: The Twilight Zone and The X-Files. He has also appeared in the TV comedies The Great Indoors and Santa Clarita Diet and stopped by the Netflix film A Futile and Stupid Gesture to cameo as his Community co-star Chevy Chase.
Starman returning to Stargirl full time is big news for fans of the show who want to explore the mysteries of their relationship. This provides the potential for a lot of storylines down the road, especially considering that she has modeled her alter ego after him and is in fact using his staff. There will certainly be some conflict about who gets to wield it, and whether or the nature of their familial relationship will come into play. What is certain is that the dynamics of the Justice Society are about to have a wrench thrown into them.
Long before characters such as John Walker took inspiration from Captain America, Stan Lee's first superhero was a Cap pastiche named Destroyer. Though the character did enjoy a brief time in the spotlight of Marvel's early heroes, he quickly faded into obscurity. Still, his legacy as Lee's very first superhero has always piqued the interest of comic creators who grew up in Lee's shadow. The most radical departure came from Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, who turned Destroyer into an absolutely brutal hero.
Created in 1941 by Stan Lee and Jack Binder for Mystic Comics #6, Destroyer is the secret identity of Kevin Marlow. Marlow was a journalist in pre-World War II America who jumped at the chance to investigate Nazi atrocities when their existence was still controversial. He was quickly captured and stuffed into a cell with a Nazi scientist who was working on a super-soldier serum. The scientist sees Marlow's good nature and gives him the serum so he can break out. Marlow then becomes the superhero Destroyer, fighter of dictators worldwide. Several other characters would later take up Destroyer's mantle, with some even retconning Marlow out of existence. In 2009 though, he was brought back in a way that nobody expected.
Created by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker for Marvel's darker MAX imprint, the five-issue Destroyer series followed a much older Kevin Marlow in the modern day. Despite his advanced age, Marlow is still working as Destroyer and still serving the government to fight off terrorists. His world is turned on its head though when he receives news from his doctor that his heart could give out at any moment. Wanting to make sure his family is safe after he's gone, Marlow goes on a quest to kill every single one of his villains. The journey that follows is incredibly violent. After Marlow murders all of his villains, he finally has a heart attack in his bed. His rampage doesn't stop there though, as he kills the three grim reapers sent to take him to the after-life, allowing him to make a full recovery.
What makes Kirkman and Walker's short run on Destroyer so shocking is just how far its violence goes. Without having to worry about maintaining Marvel's typical PG-13 level of violence, Destroyer is able to truly live up to his name. He repeatedly crushes skulls with his fists in a move that will make readers think more of Mortal Kombat's fatalities than anything from the House of Ideas. During one notable encounter, Marlow literally rips a villain's arm off and tries to feed it to him.
Though the ultra-violence is easy to focus on, what makes this run on Destroyer such a treat to read is how uncynical it is. Unlike many stories of aging superheroes inspired by The Dark Knight Returns such as Marvel's own Spider-Man: Reign, Marlow's life is fairly good. He has a wife, a daughter, and a granddaughter. He even has a solid relationship with his former partner, Turret (who is his daughter's husband). Despite the abundant bloodshed, this is not a story interested in examining the psychological impact of living a life of violence.
Stan Lee'sDestroyer may have started out as a pastiche of Captain America, but evolved into a much better, and much more violent, hero than John Walker could ever be.
Why the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase Four will have the weakest version of the Hulk so far.Avengers: Endgamechanged a lot of the stakes in the MCU moving forward. It also dwindled the number of Avengers, with three of the team’s six original members dead (Black Widow, Iron Man) or displaced to another time (Captain America). The film also introduced a new version of the Hulk while also giving him a grievous injury.
The Hulk smashed his way throughThe Avengers, petulantly argued with Thor inThor: Ragnarok, and fought alongside his teammates as a whole new person — with Dr. Bruce Banner fusing the best of himself together with that of his angry green counterpart to become Smart Hulk — inAvengers: Endgame. While the Hulk’s proclivity to throw and break things was put to the side, smart Hulk was powerful enough to don the Infinity Gauntlet and successfully bring back half of the world’s disappeared population. But his action wasn’t without its consequences.
Following Thanos’ defeat, Hulk’s gauntlet-wielding arm is still very much damaged and he’s wearing a sling during Tony Stark’s funeral. While the green Avenger’s arm will likely heal, it’s possible that there will be nerve damage that will take a lot longer to fully clear up. This could result in the Hulk being weakened in the MCU’s Phase Four, potentially benched from missions he would have otherwise been able to join in on. With superhero injuries, it’s been rare that anything beyond death would remove an Avenger from fighting against any villain. But considering that the Hulk’s arm was damaged by the Infinity Stones, which were powerful enough to burn and permanently damage Thanos’ left arm, it makes sense that the Hulk’s injury from wearing the Infinity Gauntlet would also yield the same results.
This long-term healing — that is, if his arm ever does heal fully — occurring in Phase Four makes sense for the sake of MCU continuity. It also leaves the Hulk out of commission when it comes to helping other superheroes in upcoming films and TV shows, including Hulk’s cousin Jennifer Walters (aka, She-Hulk). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. Fans know that Mark Ruffalo will reprise his role as Bruce Banner/Hulk in Marvel’s Disney+ seriesShe-Hulk, but he might only be around to offer a bit of advice to his cousin rather than aiding her in battling villains. This would allow She-Hulk to strike out on her own and show off her skills without needing to rely on Hulk for any back-up.
The MCU has rarely, if ever, explored a superhero who has sustained a potentially long-term injury and it could start by doing that with the Hulk in Phase Four. The character may be at his weakest physically after his stint with the Infinity Gauntlet inAvengers: Endgame, but an injury wouldn’t make the Hulk any less valuable. It would also be realistic and pertinent for a nearly life-ending injury to be given time to heal while the character gets some further exploration in Phase Four outside of the field.
