Across its first season, X-Men '97 has been remixing the Marvel mythos to great effect. That has especially been the case for Magneto (Matthew Waterson), who has had some poignant and surprising moments throughout the episodes thus far. With X-Men '97 existing in its own place in the Marvel multiverse, and occasionally featuring cameos from other animated Marvel characters, fans have wondered if and how certain crossovers could become a reality. In an exclusive interview with ComicBook's Phase Zero podcast, Waterson revealed which Marvel crossovers he would most like to explore with Magneto -- and went so far as to argue that his character probably could have stopped Thanos from snapping his fingers and destroying half the universe in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War.

"I mean, there are the obvious ones. If you're looking in terms of what Marvel has been doing recently, there's fun ones. Magneto might have been an interesting addition into the Thanos thing, because the glove is metal. Magneto might have been able to solve that relatively quickly. I don't know what it was actually made out of. It looked metal. So, there's things like that, where you can have a lot of fun with it, starting to say, 'To what extent does this person's powers actually give them an ability to manipulate whatever that is? What could you do with that, or what can you do with this?' The interactions between Magneto and Wolverine have always been so much fun, because Wolverine has such a 'I don't care' attitude. And then, Magneto is always just looking at him, going, 'I can literally disassemble you, because you're made of what I manipulate.' That's always been a fun interaction, going through the entire first series, and even in the movies, and in comics, and everything like that."

"The person in the X-Men IP that I've always really, really liked, and just found fascinating, is Sebastian Shaw. He's already been in the show a little bit. I think that there's a lot of fun, just because of his personality, and the way his powers work and things like that. I think there's a reason why, in a lot of the comics, he's gone in and out as a major force on both sides. I've always just found that character fascinating. So that's one where, if there was more stuff coming up that interacted with him, yeah."

"Could Magneto have just solved Endgame much more quickly? Obviously, narratively and dramatically, is not as useful, [since] it's like, 'Oh, we're all fighting this thing. There's this one guy who just [uses his powers once] and it's done, negates it. But yeah, there's a lot of fun things that you can go, 'Ooh, how will that work?'"

Is X-Men '97 Renewed for Season 2?

Work has already begun on a sophomore season of X-Men '97, which was already renewed by Marvel Animation prior to the show's premiere.

"We're working on season two. But we haven't started yet. I know a little bit of the storylines and characters," co-composer Taylor Newton Stewart explained in a recent interview. "It's always upping the ante. I mean, it's pretty intense what happens. Yeah, immediately when I was told, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening? This is incredible.' So, just as a fan alone, I am very excited."

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

We're just a few episodes away from the Season 1 finale of X-Men '97, after the Marvel Animation series has delivered plenty of surprises. One of the most grandiose character arcs of the season has been Magneto (Matthew Waterson), whose role as a newfound ally of the X-Men has gone into some complicated territory. That included an epic sequence in X-Men '97's second episode, in which Magneto is put on trial at the United Nations, only to get the upper hand and convey his pro-mutant message to the world. In an exclusive interview with ComicBook's Phase Zero podcast, Waterson shared his insight on Magneto's speech to the U.N., and the key turning point it signifies for the character.

"I can't say enough about the stuff that I've got to do in this whole series," Waterson revealed in our interview. "I mean, Magneto being who he is, gets to talk a decent amount, and gets to make a pretty good argument for his point of view. Initially reading that scene, and reading through that speech, that was one that we tweaked a lot. We went back to that in additional recordings, because they would decide to change just a line or a word. And every single time, we would read it and think, "This is phenomenal, this sounds great." They would come back and change, sometimes just one line, or one word, and you would go, 'Oh, okay. Oh no, that's better. That hits harder. It's more cutting, it's more succinct, it's more emotionally rich.' We kept working on, "How do we get more into it?' Those sorts of things, that was just fun. The whole speech is so good and is so cutting, in that it's not a plea, and it's not a defense. 'This is why this happened, and I'm willing to take responsibility for my part of it, but I'm not letting you off the hook, for the bits of it that are your responsibility.'"

"Going into where that scene goes to, leading to, what I still think, is one of the coldest and most terrifying threats that I've ever heard made is really, really cool," Waterson continued. "To get to do that speech, and then to have it go into that bit, where you see him struggling so much to maintain what he has promised Charles that he would do, and the outlook that he's promised, that he would take. And still going, 'Let's be clear, it's not that I can't do what I've always done. I'm choosing not to. And if you push me far enough, I can change my mind.' And the way that that whole thing was put together, and the way that it was written, and then once I saw what the directors and animators had done, it worked so well. So it was a blast to get to do. And it was really amazing to finally get to see, once it was all realized, what it looked like when everybody else had put their parts into it, and when the Newton Brothers music was in there and everything, it all added to it. It made me look way better, which was great for me."

Waterson also argued that the U.N. scene essentially encapsulates the mission statement of X-Men '97's first season, especially now that mutant-human relations have been complicated by the Genosha massacre.

"They put the overall mission statement of the show in the second episode, coming out of one of the characters when everybody -- not just watching the show, but everybody in the show was focused on it, because this was Magneto on trial at the United Nations," Waterson explained. "Everybody on the planet in the world, at the time, was focused on watching [and wondering] 'How is this going to go?' Because half of them see him as a threat, and half of him see him as a potential savior. What is laid out in that speech is really an ideal distillation of what the show is trying to say. And I am not better with words than the writers, so I can't do better justice than that. But that idea of, 'Like it or not, we all live in the same place, and we don't have a choice about that. So rather than trying to figure out ways to separate ourselves, when we're never going to be able to do that, we need to figure out how to work together. And that doesn't mean ironing out any differences or anything that we don't recognize, or aren't naturally comfortable with. That means everybody is different. Let's figure out how to take people for what they are, and not try and make them fit into our idea, or our model, or our wish for the way the world might be.'"

Is X-Men '97 Renewed for Season 2?

Work has already begun on a sophomore season of X-Men '97, which was already renewed by Marvel Animation prior to the show's premiere.

"We're working on season two. But we haven't started yet. I know a little bit of the storylines and characters," co-composer Taylor Newton Stewart explained in a recent interview. "It's always upping the ante. I mean, it's pretty intense what happens. Yeah, immediately when I was told, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening? This is incredible.' So, just as a fan alone, I am very excited."

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

Bastion, Avengelyne, Blood Coven, and Weapon XIII (13) are either new or old characters dominating the market this week! Many have little familiarity with most of this list, and that's awesome! We've seen the same faces, names, and storylines dominating the aftermarket for months, and change is good. However, Deadpool, Wolverine, and Dazzler still make their presence known, with Spider-Woman also featured heavily. First 'team' appearances outshined individual character's first appearances for the first time in forever. Variety is the name of the game on this week's Top Ten!

Want to know what comic books are trending each week and why? COVRPRICE.COM uses live sales analytics to identify and compile the most robust market price guide, highlighting the weekly top trending comics. No opinions. Just data. Each week, they present a newly updated list of the TOP 10 COMICS trending in the aftermarket. These trends are due to rumors, fan-favorite covers, story-driven content, and content-related news.

#10: The Uncanny X-Men #333 | MARVEL | 1996: We welcome another under-the-radar character to our lists, and this week, it's Bastion. He first appeared in this book and is an odd combination of humanoid sentinel destruction. With the newest episode of X-Men 97,' they're truly bringing into focus how much of a threat Bastion is. With a whole new audience indulging in the character, there are bound to be fans who feel the urge to visit the aftermarket in search of a copy of his first appearance! We tracked it at a high sale of $28 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $10.

#9: Wolverine #154 | MARVEL | 2000: Typically, issue #155 gets all the love, but this book is where the fun begins. In an early meet-up between Deadpool and Wolverine, shenanigans are bound to arise, much like they appear to be doing in the upcoming Deadpool and Wolverine. It also features a gaggle of first appearances like Geronimo Crowe, Cargo, Hardwire, Shooter, the Administrator, AND the first team appearance of the Scourge. The rumor mill is turning regarding the Scourge and their potential appearance in the film or down the line. Numerous fans opted to be cautious, picking up a copy before the hype train could reach new heights. We tracked it at a high sale of $30 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $29.

#8: Spider-Woman #7 - Leinil Francis Yu | MARVEL | 2024: Spider-Woman sure was hot last week! They made some serious moves in the story and added a new team to the lexicon with the Assembly. Fans were on board, with a resounding "more please" coming from fans of the run. It sold out quickly with many local comic shops, resulting in collectors turning to the aftermarket to secure a copy. Spider-Woman has her fans and they were out in force for this book! We tracked it at a high sale of $20 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $12.

#7: Avengelyne #1 | MAXIMUM PRESS | 1995: This book was hot a few weeks ago when it was announced Oliva Wilde was set to direct an adaptation of the series. Avengelyne is a fallen angel, which lends itself well to the screen. Then, rumors began circulating that Margot Robbie was in talks to portray the character. As many know, she also lends herself well to the screen, which caused a spike in aftermarket search and sales for the first appearance of Avengelyne! We tracked it at a high sale of $30 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $21.

#6: Spider-Woman #7 - Peach Momoko - Black Costume | MARVEL | 2024: Three fandoms collide with this book. You have your Spider-Woman, Momoko, and Black Suit fans feasting. This variant sports an amazing cover and also features a new super squad with an intriguing roster, including Titan, Cadet Marvel, Moon Squire, Liberty, and Hellrune. We tracked it at a high sale of $25 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $17.

#5: Spider-Woman #7 - Todd Nauck | MARVEL | 2024: We've touched on this book already, but this is the version fans are clamoring for. With only three covers to choose from, fans often pivot to the one that features the team or individual character. This book does mostly that, featuring Moon Squire, Hellrune, and Cadet Marvel front and center behind Spider-Woman. With all variations trending for roughly the same price, this is the one the fandom has settled on as a must-have. We tracked it at a high sale of $25 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $19.

#4: Dazzler #1 | MARVEL | 1981: Geez, this book has been hot for months! The rumors of Taylor Swift portraying the character in Deadpool and Wolverine just won't quit. It almost feels like Swift has been leaning into it for the past few months. She's appeared publicly with the stars of the film as well as producers, dodged questions regarding the project, AND the last word on her newest album was "Dazzling," for Pete's sake! Until we get an official yes or no, or the movie comes out, expect this book to trend for a while longer, despite it feeling like the world's worst-kept secret. We tracked it at a high sale of $23 for a raw VF copy and a current raw NM FMV of $19.

#3: Blood Hunt: Red Band Edition #1 - Pepe Larraz | MARVEL | 2024: Marvel doesn't typically lean into the extreme violence in their comics, but something has to give when you're dealing with the Marvel Universe versus vampires. Blood Hunt was the recent darling of NCBD and Free Comic Book Day, drawing in oodles of fans who wanted a taste. Some were lucky enough to secure this variation of the book, which immediately found a healthy aftermarket for those who missed out. We tracked it at a high sale of $16 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $13.

#2: New X-Men #128 | MARVEL | 2002: This book features the first appearance of Fantomex, or Weapon XIII (13). He's an under-the-radar character that's jumped in popularity recently. The Weapon X program is rumored to be featured in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World, which naturally sends fans on a Weapon X hunt. There is a ton of hype surrounding the character, as a subset of collectors has been eager to see him adapted to the screen for years. If that does happen, those who spent last week picking up this book are in a good spot! We tracked it at a high sale of $129 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current raw NM FMV of $28.

#1: Blood Hunt: Red Band Edition #1 - Leinil Francis Yu - Crime Suspense Stories #22 Homage (1:25) | MARVEL | 2024: The Marvel Universe VS Vampires? Yeah, sign us up. The fandom embraced the idea and ran with it, making this the hottest book of last week! Fans are all in and were after this variant from Yu hard, thanks to the wonderful homage to a time long past that many consider the golden age of horror comics, and it is the only variant available for this book. It also features the first full appearance of Blood Coven, which consists of Megrim, Smoke Eater, Unusual, Cruel, and Damascene. It has a ton going on and helps scratch the itch some collectors feel toward Marvel, IE, the lack of hard-hitting, violent, over-the-top action series. It was a risk for Marvel, but it is one worth taking! We tracked it at a high sale of $125 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $116.

We're nearing the end of the first season of X-Men '97, but the Marvel Animation series is expected to deliver some bombshells along the way. The series' latest episode, "Tolerance Is Extinction -- Part 1", culminated in Val Cooper (Catherine Disher) freeing Magneto (Matthew Waterson) from his imprisonment in Bastion's (Theo James) evil lair, flat-out admitting that she now realizes "Magneto Is Right." The moment then culminated in Magneto traveling to the North Pole and using his powers to send a shockwave throughout the Earth, which helped the X-Men in their global fight against the Sentinels. In an exclusive interview with ComicBook's Phase Zero podcast, Waterson shared his reaction to that moment, as well as his excitement for how the "Tolerance Is Extinction" arc continues from here.

"One of the really, really nice things has been -- I get the scripts that I'm in, and a lot of the time, I've not necessarily spent a huge amount of time focusing on parts of scripts that are not the bits that I'm responsible for working on, and making come alive," Waterson revealed in our interview. "So one of the really fun things about the show airing has been being able to see the episodes that I didn't even read the scripts for, so I didn't know what was happening, and then being able to see the scripts that I did read actually fully realized. Knowing what it's been building to throughout the first seven episodes, and knowing these last three, how the whole thing comes to a head and wraps up, one of the things that I was really looking forward to was 'Okay, what does it actually look like, once Magneto has found himself in this situation he finds himself in, for the majority of this episode?' And then, 'When he does get loose, what does that choice of his actually, visually, look like? What does it look like when he decides to do that?' Because there are a million ways you can do it. Being able to see how they did it, and how they sort of visually represented it, was really, really cool."

"I don't know if production would describe it this way, but to me, these last three episodes exist almost as a feature, in and of themselves," Waterson continued. "So this first one is like Act One -- you have the big incident that switches you into the second act of the story, and there's a couple of things that are a part of that. But Bastion's activities, and then, Magneto's response, and then, getting everybody finally in the same geographical place. So it's like, 'Okay, all the players are now on the board, and literally on the board. They're not scattered to the four winds. Everybody is in position, now how do we solve this? Because this is going to be a really complicated Rubik's Cube.'"

Is X-Men '97 Renewed for Season 2?

Work has already begun on a sophomore season of X-Men '97, which was already renewed by Marvel Animation prior to the show's premiere.

"We're working on season two. But we haven't started yet. I know a little bit of the storylines and characters," co-composer Taylor Newton Stewart explained in a recent interview. "It's always upping the ante. I mean, it's pretty intense what happens. Yeah, immediately when I was told, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening? This is incredible.' So, just as a fan alone, I am very excited."

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

Deadpool & Wolverine's director talked about the various cameos in the movie and how they came to be. Entertainment Weekly had the chance to catch up with Shawn Levy as he's getting ready to unite Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in the same MCU movie. A lot of the online discussion surrounding this movie has revolved around the idea of multiple former Marvel actors reprising fan-favorite roles from the 2000s X-Men franchise. Levy argues that all of these Easter eggs and appearances organically occur within the story.

A big example of Aaron Stanford's return as Pyro in the trailer. Expect more stuff like that. But, also believe that Reynolds, Jackman and Marvel Studios are poised to really swing for the fences this summer. Take a look at what the filmmaker had to say.

"I'll say we didn't start off with a wishlist," Levy smirked when asked about the Internet frenzy over cameos. "From the day we started devising this Deadpool and Wolverine story, we let the story dictate the characters, not the other way around. Aaron and his return as Pyro was an outgrowth of that, and that applies to pretty much all the characters you'll see in the movie."

Deadpool & Wolverine Has No "Marvel Homework"

One of the biggest stumping points for this movie in the early days of its marketing campaign has been the lack of "homework." Levy told The Associated Press that fans could feel free to roll in for Deadpool & Wolverine without feeling like they'd need to see every single piece of Marvel content out there to understand it. (It's a neat marketing trick, but the movie is built off a lot of the Fox X-Men Marvel universe and undoubtedly being familiar with some of those movies will enhance the experience.) Still, fans are over the moon with the declaration as they're going to make this the biggest Marvel movie since Spider-Man: No Way Home.

"I was a good student in school. I'll do my homework as an adult. But I am definitely not looking to do homework when I go to the movies," Levy told the Associated Press in a previous interview. "I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world. But I didn't want to presume that. This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research."

What's your most-anticipated cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Iger Makes Massive MCU Announcement

Marvel has announced the roster and creative team for the new X-Factor series launching out of the X-Men: From the Ashes relaunch. The new era of X-Men comics begins this summer, and there's already a stacked lineup of titles for readers to digest. Marvel is making sure each X-Men series is unique and offers a different perspective on the franchise, which is where the premise of X-Factor comes in. The series is going back to its roots as a government-sanctioned mutant team, except this time fame and fortune are part of the deal.

X-Factor is written by Eisner winner Mark Russell (Fantastic Four: Life Story, The Flintstones) and illustrated by veteran X-Men artist Bob Quinn (Captain America, Knights of X). It features Angel and Havok as co-leaders, with Pyro, Frenzy, Feral, and more as part of their recruits. So it sounds like X-Factor could have a rotating cast of characters, with each member called in for specific missions. The press release describes the team as part "special agents for missions that require an arsenal of superpowers and part celebrity propaganda machine," and also teases some of the threats X-Factor will face, like the Mutant Underground and X-Term.

X-Factor creative team discusses new X-Men series

"The thing I've always loved about the X-Men is that they're characters first, super heroes second," Russell shared. "So being able to write characters like Havok and Angel and Frenzy in a post-Krakoa reality is an opportunity to write about what I really care about, which is how do we help each other survive the apathy of the world we live in?"

"It's so exciting to be back and drawing mutants in the X-Men universe again, and doubly exciting to work with Mark again," Quinn added. "To my mind, Mark's mix of humor and ability to shine a light on the peculiarities of modern society make him the perfect writer to tackle the relaunch of X-FACTOR. Drawing this team and every unexpected twist and turn of the story has been a blast so far, and I can't wait for readers to get their hands on it."

What is X-Factor about?

Formed by the government in response to a post-Krakoa outbreak of mutant paramilitary, ops squads, and mercenary teams, X-FACTOR will be co-led by Angel and Havok and include recruits like Pyro, Frenzy, Feral, and more. Part special agents for missions that require an arsenal of superpowers and part celebrity propaganda machine, X-FACTOR will wage war against emerging factions like the Mutant Underground and X-Term. Whether they believe in their actions or are just doing it for a check, the members of X-Factor are no fools when it comes to shady politics. As hidden agendas rear their ugly head, they'll fight against the dark consequences and disastrous public opinion from the inside!

FAME, FORTUNE, MUTANTS! From the ashes of Krakoa, a new mutant arms race sweeps the globe! International governments are building their own mutant armies. But only America's X-Factor has the most powerful, most patriotic, most marketable mutant heroes to stem the tide and make the world safe for democracy! Join them as they go from one death-defying mission to another. Who will die? Who will fall in love? Who will be the first to sell out? Like, comment and subscribe to find out!

X-Factor #1 goes on sale August 14th.

Even Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy is willing to admit that the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn't what it once was.

"You'd have to live under a rock not to know that the last few Marvel movies have failed to ignite the world in the way that so many did," Levy says in the latest issue of Empire Magazine. However, Levy wasn't throwing shade at the MCU so much as trying to explain the challenge (and lofty fan expectations) that Deadpool & Wolverine needs to meet: Not just delivering another successful Deadpool movie, but also rekindling hype for the MCU franchise as a whole.

"We do come along at an interesting time," Levy said. "And we are decidedly something different. Whether it is of Messianic proportions, time will tell."

Like everything in Deadpool's world, the idea of Deadpool & Wolverine being the 'MCU's savior' is a notion that the film is having some meta fun with. In one scene, Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool outright declares himself to be "Marvel Jesus," and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige had to admit, there's a kernel of truth in that joke: "Some of the lines that Ryan and his writers and Shawn worked on have taken on more of a meaning."

Feige found himself inundated with MCU content production as the 2020s began under the new leadership of Disney's former CEO Bob Chapek. Now that Chapek is out and Bob Iger is back at the head of the company, Disney is committing to producing less MCU content every year - something Feige is grateful for.

It's nice to be able to rally behind one feature project this year. I'm much more comfortable being the underdog. I prefer being able to surprise and exceed expectations. So it does seem like the last year, which has not been ideal, has set us up well for that."

What Is Deadpool & Wolverine About?

The trailer and early synopsis for Deadpool & Wolverine have teased the story of Wade Wilson (Reynolds) being detained by the TVA and sent on a mission. Wade recruits an emotionally-broken Wolverine variant from a dark timeline where the X-Men died, and their mission takes them to the multiversal wasteland the TVA has been using as a dumping ground, and where the beast Alioth (as seen in Loki) roams. Somewhere in that mix is Cassandra Nova (Emma Corin), a villain with deep ties to Charles Xavier, and a malevolent history in X-Men comics.

There have been teases of former Fox-Marvel movie stars coming back en masse for cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine - and even mega-star Taylor Swift appearing in the film as an iconic X-Men character. Despite there being a menagerie of cameos appearances expected in Deadpool 3, Shawn Levy has promised MCU fans are not required to do any "homework" to enjoy the film:

"I was a good student in school. I'll do my homework as an adult. But I am definitely not looking to do homework when I go to the movies," Levy told AP. "I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world. But I didn't want to presume that. This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research."

Deadpool & Wolverine has a release date of July 26th - the 11th Anniversary of The Wolverine's release.

One of the most seminal storylines in the history of Marvel Comics is the 12-part Secret Wars event, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. In honor of the event, artist 100% Soft has crafted an all-new tribute to the event by replicating the cover to Secret Wars #8, which put Spider-Man's black costume front and center in a striking image. What makes the tribute poster so charming is that, while the original cover is intense and ominous, 100% Soft has replicated it in their signature, adorable fashion, putting a delightful spin on the otherwise morose artwork. The new poster will be available on the official 100% Soft website on Wednesday, May 8th at 1 p.m. ET.

The artist describes the poster, "It's the 40th anniversary of Marvel Comics' Secret Wars, so to celebrate, I recreated one of my favorite comic book covers ever -- and one of the best of all time -- Secret Wars #8, as a limited edition licensed screenprint. This is the issue where Spider-Man gets his iconic black symbiote suit. Did you know he basically gets it out of an alien costume-making machine? Comics rule."

The official details on the new poster are as follows:

• 16"x24" Screenprint
• Limited edition of 200, dayglow variant edition of 100
• Individually numbered and signed by artist Truck Torrence
• Printed by D&L Screenprinting
• Available Wednesday, May 8th at 1 p.m. ET
• $50 regular, $60 dayglow variant
• Available in the US, UK, and Canada
  

Spider-Man's black suit has become a fan-favorite ensemble for the character, especially in regards to how the costume became intrinsically linked with the alien symbiote that would become known as Venom. Despite ultimately being linked with a more sinister take on the character, its origins were a bit more humble and more benevolent than the ruthless Venom.

The suit first debuted in live-action in Spider-Man 3, which replicated the nature of the black suit tapping into Peter Parker's more aggressive tendencies, and once Peter realizes the impact the suit is having on him, he's able to separate himself from it. A desperate Eddie Brock finds the suit and enjoys the power it gives him, even if it drives him towards violence.

With the events of Secret Wars reportedly set to be the basis for an upcoming Avengers movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this new poster is a great opportunity to not only share your love of Spider-Man, but also to start getting excited for Avengers: Secret Wars, which will reportedly release in 2027.

The new poster will be available on the official 100% Soft website on Wednesday, May 8th at 1 p.m. ET.

Will you be adding the poster to your collection? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

X-Men '97 just gave fans some new looks at the classic costumes coming this week. The fan-favorite e animated series is rocketing towards an exciting conclusion on Disney+. On social media, Marvel Studios is hyping the next part of the finale with some iconic Wolverine, Storm, and Marvel Girl looks for the fans. It's no secret that showrunner Beau DeMayo was a big fan of Pryde of the X-Men. These costumes are dead-ringers for the ones featured in the short-lived animated series. Seeing some of these looks in live-action has been a dream of some fans for most of their lives. While this is not that, it's going to go a long way in keeping the hype around X-Men '97 at a fever pitch!

Before the series got rolling on Disney+, DeMayo sat down with Entertainment Weekly to preview X-Men '97. The throwback aesthetic was something they talked a lot about. "Every design choice is actually a clue to the storylines we're doing," DeMayo told the outlet. "Nothing is arbitrary." He also nodded toward the 1989 X-Men pilot some of the designs were to be used in. "It's a nice nod to Pryde of the X-Men," he continued. "But it is to throw the X-Men back to a time where they're thinking about: What part of this do I want to keep? Was it truly simpler back then, or were we just more naive?"

The more things change, the more they stay the same #xmen97 #xmen pic.twitter.com/vV8ARlOmps

-- Beau DeMayo (@BeauDemayo) May 7, 2024

X-Men '97 Helping Mutant Fever Take Over

There's no question that the fans have responded to X-Men '97 in a real way. ComicBook's Phase Zero podcast spoke to Professor X actor Ross Marquand about the impact this show is having on social media and beyond. The fan-favorite voice actor is proud of what they've accomplished. He's hoping that X-Men '97 can provide some of the same inspiration for the current generation that X-Men: The Animated Series did for him as a youngster. It all comes in cycles like that.

Marquand said with ComicBook, "You know, it's just like it's so heavy and I really feel like I'm grateful and I'm hopeful for the next generation of fans who are 10 or 11 years old now watching the show. For them to have the same reaction that I did. For them to be like, 'I wanna do that or I wanna draw Marvel Comics, or I wanna be a part of that world.' That's my hope for this."

X-Men '97 Is Gearing Up For A Massive Conclusion

Over on Disney+, there are just two episodes left for Season 1. Marvel Studios' teases their new animated series: "X-Men '97 revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future."

'The voice cast includes Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler."

"Beau DeMayo serves as head writer; episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura. Featuring music by The Newton Brothers, the series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso and DeMayo."

Are you pumped to see these iconic suits in X-Men '97? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Marvel Studios is two months away from its lone theatrical release this year. Deadpool & Wolverine represents the first time that either famed 20th Century Fox character will operate within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a move that was first made possible when Disney acquired the company in 2019. The movie brings back Ryan Reynolds to cap off his trilogy in grand fashion, as he reunites with Hugh Jackman for the first time since X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While that story's depiction of Deadpool was panned by fans and critics alike, there were shades of promise in Wade Wilson's opening scene alongside Logan. That charm and chemistry is being set to maximum effort in Deadpool & Wolverine, a reunion 15 years in the making.

New Deadpool & Wolverine TV Spot Highlights High-Octane Action

The ultimate X team-up is dialing up the action.

The latest TV spot for Deadpool & Wolverine sets itself to Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight" and recycles prior trailer footage in a way that emphasizes the slicing and dicing of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman's excellent adventure.

"I don't know anything about saving worlds," Deadpool lectures Wolverine. "But you do."

The frenemies battle TVA agents in an Avengers: Age of Ultron-esque setting and a menagerie of misfits in The Void's wasteland as Collins sings that he's been "waiting for this moment, for all [his] life."

You can watch the new TV spot below...

?Nuevo spot de 'DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE'! pic.twitter.com/3DM8w8trco

-- QuidVacuo (@QuidVacuo) May 7, 2024

That action is largely thanks to Jackman's Wolverine, complete in his comic-accurate blue and yellow suit for the first time in live-action.

"From the moment I put it on here, I was like, 'How did we never do this?' It looked so right," Jackman said. "It felt so right. I was like, 'That's him.' There are different sides of Wolverine we haven't seen before in the movies. It was exciting for me."

"I just felt privileged every day because you're talking about two massive movie stars in their most iconic roles," director Shawn Levy said in a recent interview. "It also gave me an opportunity. It's the third Deadpool movie, but it's not Deadpool 3. It's a different thing that's very much Deadpool & Wolverine. And it's not trying to copycat anything from the first two movies. They were awesome, but this is a two-hander character adventure."

Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters on July 26th.

Below you'll find a breakdown of the new Marvel Legends releases along with release dates and pre-order links where applicable. Note that this article will be updated with additional launch dates and links when the info becomes available.

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES WOLVERINE (MARVEL 85TH ANNIVERSARY) - $24.99 / Available here at Entertainment Earth and here on Amazon: "With unstoppable healing powers and adamantium metal claws, the astonishing Wolverine battles threats alongside the mutant X-Men team. Celebrate the MARVEL UNIVERSE and 85 years of MARVEL COMICS with this MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES WOLVERINE (MARVEL 85TH ANNIVERSARY) figure. This quality 6-inch scale figure features deco inspired by the character's appearance in Marvel's Astonishing X-Men comics. The figure features extensive articulation and is highly posable for display and play. Includes figure and 6 comics-inspired accessories including masked and unmasked heads and hands with and without claws."

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN (MARVEL 85TH ANNIVERSARY) - $29.99 / Available here at Entertainment Earth and here on Amazon: "When Doc Ock swaps bodies with Peter Parker, gaining his powers and conscience, he becomes the unlikely hero Superior Spider-Man. Celebrate the MARVEL UNIVERSE and 85 years of MARVEL COMICS with this MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN (85th ANNIVERSARY) figure. This quality 6-inch scale figure features deco inspired by the character's appearance in Marvel's The Superior Spider-Man comics. The figure features extensive articulation and is highly posable for display and play. Includes figure and 11 comics-inspired accessories including alternate head and Spider-Arms with removable backpack."

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES IRON FIST AND LUKE CAGE (MARVEL 85TH ANNIVERSARY) - $49.99 / Available here at Entertainment Earth and here on Amazon: "Luke Cage and Iron Fist reach new heights as heroes when they're called to join the roster of New Avengers, teaming up to fight for justice. Celebrate the MARVEL UNIVERSE and 85 years of MARVEL COMICS with this MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES IRON FIST AND LUKE CAGE (85TH ANNIVERSARY) 2-pack. These quality 6-inch scale figures feature deco inspired by the characters' appearances in Marvel's The New Avengers comics. The figures feature extensive articulation and are highly posable for display and play. Includes 2 figures and 12 comics-inspired accessories including alternate head and hands for each figure."

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES GHOST RIDER (DANNY KETCH) (MARVEL 85TH ANNIVERSARY) - $49.99 / Pre-orders will launch on 4/30 at 10am PT / 1pm ET here at Entertainment Earth / Amazon: "When Danny Ketch crosses paths with a cursed motorcycle, he is transformed into the Spirit of Vengeance, wielding supernatural powers as Ghost Rider. Celebrate the MARVEL UNIVERSE and 85 years of MARVEL COMICS with this MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES GHOST RIDER (DANNY KETCH) (85TH ANNIVERSARY) figure set. This quality 6-inch scale figure and vehicle features deco inspired by their appearances in Marvel's Ghost Rider comics. The figure features extensive articulation and is highly posable for display and play. Set comes with 6-inch scale Hell Cycle vehicle with moveable foot peg, semi-translucent fire wheels, and fire stands for displaying on 2 wheels or 1. Includes figure, bike and 9 comics-inspired accessories including motorcycle display pieces and alternate hands and chain for figure".

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES VENOM (MARVEL 85TH ANNIVERSARY) - $24.99 - This Walmart Exclusive is expected to launch on July 25th or 26th during Walmart's next SDCC Collector Con event. When it does drop, you'll be able to find it here. "When Spider-Man breaks free from an alien symbiote, it latches onto Daily Bugle reporter Eddie Brock - who becomes the supervillain Venom, seeking revenge on the web-slinger. Celebrate the MARVEL UNIVERSE and 85 years of MARVEL COMICS with this MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES VENOM (MARVEL 85TH ANNIVERSARY) figure. This quality 6-inch scale figure features deco inspired by the character's appearance in Marvel's Spider-Man comics. The figure features extensive articulation, is highly posable for display and play and comes on collectible cardback packaging with retro-inspired design. Includes figure and 3 comics-inspired accessories including alternate hands and an alternate head."

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES SKAAR, SON OF HULK (MARVEL 85TH ANNIVERSARY) - $39.99 / Fan Channel Exclusive / Release Date TBA: A born fighter from the brutal world of Sakaar, the Son of Hulk seeks the power needed to destroy his enemies. Celebrate the MARVEL UNIVERSE and 85 years of MARVEL COMICS with this MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES SKAAR, SON OF HULK (85th ANNIVERSARY) figure. For the first time, fans can add Skaar, the son of Hulk to their collection. This quality 6-inch scale deluxe figure stands 8 inches tall and features deco inspired by the character's appearance in Marvel's Skaar: Son of Hulk comics. The figure features extensive articulation and is highly posable for display and play. Includes figure and 5 comics-inspired accessories including alternate head, hands, and weapons accessories."

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES MARVEL'S WARBIRD (MARVEL 85TH ANNIVERSARY) - $24.99 / Target Exclusive / Release Date TBA: "After damaging her powers while saving Earth's sun, Carol Danvers joins a team of Avengers and takes on the codename of Warbird. Celebrate the MARVEL UNIVERSE and 85 years of MARVEL COMICS with this MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES MARVEL'S WARBIRD (85th ANNIVERSARY) figure. For the first time, fans can add Carol Danvers as Marvel's Warbird to their collection. This quality 6-inch scale figure features deco inspired by the character's appearance in Marvel's Avengers comics with her black Warbird-era costume from her time on the Avengers team. The figure features extensive articulation and is highly posable for display and play. Includes figure and 5 comics-inspired accessories including alternate head, hands, and power FX."

Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy talked about how Hugh Jackman signing on changed the sequel. Entertainment Weekly has a big feature about the Marvel Studios movie this morning. Of course, the questions about Jackman's biggest return to action in years persist. Interestingly, it seems as though the plot of Deadpool 3 was very different before Ryan Reynolds called his friend up for one last ride in the saddle. Chances are doubtful that we'll ever know exactly what Levy had on the table for Deadpool & Wolverine in its previous state. However, fans probably won't care too much, as long as the movie released this summer proves to be amazing.

"Everything changed radically on the day that Hugh called Ryan," Levy told EW when they asked about the Wolverine actor. "We had been workshopping a lot of ideas about possible stories for a third Deadpool movie. Those were story ideas that were more sequelly to the first two Deadpools, but None of them imagined such a seismic shift. I can safely say that the story completely changed and, in fact, came to us very, very quickly starting that day."

Getting Jackman Into Deadpool & Wolverine

Jackman's involvement in Deadpool & Wolverine is just one of many ideas that Reynolds had for the sequel. In a recent Empire Magazine interview, Kevin Feige looked back on those paths not taken. One thing he was resolute about was the idea of not usurping the ending for Wolverine that Logan provided. A lot of fans also hold that entry in the X-Men movie franchise as almost sacred, so his intentions have been mostly correct there. However, viewers still don't know much about this version of Wolverine that "failed his reality" in Deadpool & Wolverine. Feige and company are really excited for whatever's coming in the summer blockbuster.

"The truth is, I wasn't even sure how to incorporate Deadpool yet," Feige shared recently. "I was very much thinking about how to bring mutants and the X-Men into [the MCU], and I thought it needed to be more than just playing the hits. But the truth is, Ryan is an idea machine. So he may have pitched that to me, but he also pitched 25 other thoughts and ideas."

Deadpool & Wolverine Evolved A Lot Over Time

From all of these statements, a clear picture emerges. Deadpool & Wolverine is a movie that has changed multiple times during the long road to production. One event that also shaped this film was the writers and actors strikes. Levy previously told The Associated Press that all the time on the sidelines gave him time to find perspective. Then, when the writers got their contract, the fine-tuning began in earnest.

"The impact was real," Levy revealed. "For me as the director, and the producer, the multi-month pause happened right in the middle of filming. All I could do was edit and review the footage. But it taught me about my movie, and it really revealed what was working and what the movie wanted to be."

"It really focused our work and I think improved our work in the second half," Levy continued. "That's not a luxury we ever get in live-action filmmaking."

What do you think Deadpool 3's story was at first? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

The Marvel Midas touch has minimized in recent years. After early risks like Iron Man and Captain America: The First Avenger paid off, Marvel Studios cemented itself as a bonafide box office juggernaut. Nine figure opening weekends were the norm. Billion dollar worldwide grosses became the measuring stick. Net profits were high enough to finance multiple future films alone. There was such an obsession with the Marvel Cinematic Universe that audiences were going out in droves and turning even the most obscure characters on the page into cultural phenomenons. It wasn't until Marvel experimented with a new medium that this stretch of unfazed dominance began to show cracks.

Marvel Studios expanded to streaming shows in 2021. While the first couple of releases, like WandaVision and Loki, were smash hits, the sheer volume of what the MCU was dropping became overwhelming for the average fan. 2021 alone had four theatrical movies, four live-action streaming shows, and an episodic animated installment to boot. Nonetheless, the overall quality of 2021's releases came close to Marvel's gold standard. The same could not be said for 2022 and 2023, which dropped divisive projects like Thor: Love and Thunder and completely critically-panned installments like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Marvel Studios Decreasing Annual Output

Less is more with Marvel Studios moving forward.

Speaking during Disney's earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the House of Mouse is shifting its focus on quality over quantity, and that that strategy is "particularly true with Marvel."

"We're slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three," Iger said. "And we're working hard on what that path is."

As of this writing, Marvel Studios has just one theatrical release this year in the form of Deadpool & Wolverine. It is the first time that Marvel is sending one film to the box office in a calendar year since 2010 (Iron Man 2).

"[Marvel has] a couple of good films in '25 and then we're heading to more Avengers which we're extremely excited about," Iger added, alluding to blockbuster 2025 projects Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four. "Overall, I feel great about the slate. It's something, as you know, that I've committed to spending more and more time on. The team is one that I have tremendous confidence in and the IP that we're mining, including all the sequels that we're doing, is second to none."

Marvel Cinematic Universe fans will soon be introduced to Dogpool, Deadpool's loveable four-legged canine companion. While Deadpool & Wolverine will focus on the titular characters, played by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, respectively, there will be tons of additional guest stars, familiar faces, and even surprises galore in the multiversal adventure. One character fans may have been surprised to see in behind-the-scenes photos was Dogpool, a dog dressed up in Deadpool's classic red-and-black costume. While details on Dogpool's involvement in Deadpool & Wolverine have been kept hush-hush, we now know the doggie is the winner of a rather prestigious award.

"It's love at first sight," Ryan Reynolds told Empire when discussing Dogpool. "He loves Dogpool." He then talked about how Dogpool, whose real name is Peggy, won the Ugliest Dog award in Britain. "Her real name is Peggy, and she won the award for Britain's Ugliest Dog," Reynolds said. "The reason why I was a huge proponent for her was because she feels like the animal manifestation of Wade Wilson."

How Dogpool factors into Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool and Wolverine are obviously the headliners of a movie titled Deadpool & Wolverine, but according to Ryan Reynolds, Dogpool's role grew unexpectedly during the writing process. "It was, just like many things during the writing process, a tiny little afterthought, and it grew," he explained. "It was one of those things where you just keep listening to the movie, and Dogpool became a staple."

Reynolds then joked about how and where Dogpool might relieve itself. "Dogpool's a Pool, so probably has some moral flexibility about where she wees and poops," Reynolds said.

Who is returning for Deadpool & Wolverine?

The Deadpool & Wolverine cast features returning Deadpool stars Morena Baccarin as Wade's ex-fianc?e, Vanessa; Brianna Hildebrand and Shioli Kutsuna as Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio of the X-Men; Stefan Kapi?i? as the metal-skinned X-Man Colossus; Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Wade's roommate; Karan Soni as cabbie Dopinder; and Rob Delaney as Wade's co-worker Peter. Emma Corrin plays the villain Cassandra Nova, the evil twin sister of Professor Charles Xavier.

"I always wanted Hugh to come back," Reynolds explained in a previous interview with Collider. "My first meeting with Kevin Feige when Disney bought Fox years ago, maybe three years ago, or three and a half, four years ago, I'm not sure, was about doing a movie with the two of us, a Deadpool/Wolverine movie. And that was not possible at the time. And then Hugh just happened to call at that perfect moment and express that he'd be interested in coming back and doing this one more time. And the contents of that conversation, I'll let Hugh, because I know it's only inevitable that you and Hugh are going to speak at some point soon, I'm sure. I'll let Hugh answer that on his own. But he expressed interest in coming back, and then it was my job to take that to Kevin Feige one more time and sell it."

Deadpool & Wolverine opens in theaters on July 26th.

https://comicbook.com/movies/news/deadpool-wolverine-trailer-rob-liefeld-feet-easter-egg-mcu/#

The Marvel Cinematic Universe stood still on December 17th, 2021. Since Spider-Man: Far From Home swung into theaters in Summer 2019, speculation ran rampant that the next installment would feature Tom Holland's Spider-Man uniting with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's preceding web-slingers in a multiversal affair. Years of cross-examining stunt doubles and hyper-analyzing set photos were proven true when Spider-Man: No Way Home hit theaters, as Maguire and Garfield's Peter Parkers popped up late into the second act to help Holland's Peter fight off a quintet of villains from the Spider-Man franchise's past.

While the guns were blazing for that third act showdown, Maguire and Garfield's first scene came in a much quieter environment. In an attempt to find his friend, Jacob Batalon's Ned Leeds uses a Doctor Strange sling ring to open a portal for "Peter Parker." Rather than Holland answering the call, the portal instead summons Maguire and Garfield's Peters.

Speaking to ComicBook.com ahead of Reginald the Vampire Season 2's premiere, Batalon reflected on that historic day on the Spider-Man: No Way Home set.

"I think everyone on set knew it was really special. It had never been done before. I feel like everyone understood the gravity of the moment, but we also kept it really light," Batalon said. "At that point in filming, because we were working during the pandemic, we were just all grateful to be there."

Some set photos of Maguire and Garfield slipped through the cracks ahead of the film's release, but nothing from Batalon's scene specifically was seen until the threequel arrived in theaters.

"Working on that scene specifically was such a delight because Andrew and Tobey are super great. I remember thinking that it was probably one of those moments where people will probably be talking about it for a long time," Batalon continued. "It was really fun. I feel like that was probably the time where I kind of got to know them the most."

Batalon's MCU future moving forward is uncertain. Holland has confirmed that there are plans for a Spider-Man 4, but considering how No Way Home ended, it's unclear just how much of the trilogy's ensemble will return for future films.

Batalon stars in Reginald the Vampire Season 2, premiering on May 8th on SyFy.

The ComicBook Nation crew reviews The Fall Guy, new horror film Tarot and Jerry Seinfeld's directorial debut with Netflix's Unfrosted. We also say farewell to Star Wars: The Bad Batch after its Series Finale, and get into part 1 of X-Men '97's finale arc.

PLUS: Breakdowns of the new trailers for Mufasa: The Lion King, the Batman: Arkham Shadow game - and a preview of WWE's Backlash event!

The Fall Guy Review

Critic Patrick Cavanaugh gave The Fall Guy 3 out of 5 stars, writing that:

The Fall Guy is perfectly palatable summer fare featuring attractive movie stars being charming, with the romance occasionally being broken up by more thrilling scenes. For better or worse, the scope and scale of both the storyline and the stunts themselves feel more like an extended episode of the source material as opposed to an opportunity to take a core premise and elevate to new heights. Given the more humble origins of the Mission: Impossible franchise and the ways Brian De Palma tapped into the core components of the TV series and revived them in unexpected and exciting ways and just how bombastic that franchise has since become, we can't rule out The Fall Guy becoming a franchise that can more fully push the effective elements to further heights in subsequent installments, especially after this entry lays a solid foundation of talent involved in the overall experience. Leitch is no De Palma, however, so while all of the core pieces come to life relatively cohesively, there isn't much to elevate The Fall Guy to be anything more than the sum of its parts.

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Speaking with ComicBook recently about his career in geek media, The Walking Dead and Avengers: Infinity War star Ross Marquand revealed that the way he brought the Red Skull to life in Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame was inspired by Star Wars. Specifically, it came from a note, with Joe Russo telling him to infuse the ancient and somewhat doomed feeling of Yoda into the character -- something Marquand understood and responded to right away. Prior to that, Marquand said, he was trying to do his best to mimic what Hugo Weaving had done in the character's first screen appearance -- but the directors wanted him to lean into the ancient, troubled, cosmic being that the Skull had become.

Marquand, who also plays Charles Xavier in X-Men '97, told ComicBook that it took him a while to dial in the new voice, but that once he figured it out, it felt totally at home. Ironically, he also pointed out to us that Cedric Smith, who played Xavier in the original '90s X-Men cartoon, also voiced Red Skull at some point.

"They were great, and they gave me the best direction, because once I figured out what it was, I was thinking, 'I gotta do a straight voice match to what Hugo [Weaving] did in [Captain America:] The First Avenger,' which is very pitched," Marquand told ComicBook.com. "And the Russo brothers really stopped me, quickly, and they said, 'No, no, no, no, this is a broken version of that character. He's 80 years older but he's cursed with infinite knowledge, and now he can fly and he's got all these other powers, kind of like a phantom.' So they said, I think it was Joe Russo, he said, 'I want you to infuse a bit of Yoda into this character, not voice-wise, but a creature that had been around for over a thousand years,' and I thought, 'Ah, okay.' And that's what brought the high-clipped, nasally, German tone down into something of this creature that had been alive and seen everything and just cursed with all this pain and knowledge, but could do nothing with it. Like Atlas holding up the Earth, he wants the [Infinity] Stones so badly but he can't attain them now."

You can see our full-length interview with Marquand on YouTube here.

Wolverine and X-Factor are the next titles Marvel is adding to its X-Men: From the Ashes relaunch. When Marvel first announced what is in store for X-Men: From the Ashes, there were only three series fans could look forward to: X-Men by Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman, Uncanny X-Men by Gail Simone and David Marquez, and Exceptional X-Men by Eve L. Ewing and Carmen Carnero. Since then, we've had the announcements of X-Force, Phoenix, and NYX, but the hits keep on coming, as we now know we can add X-Factor and Wolverine to that growing list of X-Men comics.

Marvel released two teasers for X-Factor and Wolverine, with both series debuting in August. The publisher states that the official announcements for both titles will come later this week, though we do have some slogans to go with each. X-Factor has the logline, "Officially sanctioned to protect a world that hates and fears loves and adores them," while Wolverine states, "He'd kill for some alone time, but the fight always finds him. It's in his bones." Of course, those bones refer to Wolverine's Adamantium skeleton. You can get a look at the logos for X-Factor and Wolverine below.

Magneto gets a new look for X-Men: From the Ashes

The first variant cover for X-Men #1 by celebrated X-Men artist Tony Daniel is a group shot of Cyclops, Beast, Psylocke, Magik, Juggernaut, Kid Omega, Temper, and Magneto. Magneto is in his familiar red and purple costume with a matching helmet, which he went back to in the final issue of Resurrection of Magneto. However, you can see that Magneto has grown out a white beard and mustache. Perhaps Magneto is playing the role of Charles Xavier and leading the X-Men as a mentor figure, similar to what's transpiring on the X-Men '97 animated series on Disney+.

The other variant covers feature a character spotlight by fan-favorite cover artist J. Scott Campbell, which will also be available as a virgin variant cover, and a hidden gem piece by the legendary George P?rez. His iconic depiction of Beast during his time with the Avengers inspired Stegman's own take on Beast in X-Men.

Stay tuned to ComicBook this week for more information regarding Wolverine and X-Factor.

There are new villains and changes to be found when Marvel officially kicks off the X-Men: From the Ashes era. The next era of X-Men comics comes after the Fall of X, which wraps up the Krakoan era of X-Men storytelling that started when Jonathan Hickman essentially became the showrunner of the franchise. One of Marvel's Free Comic Book Day titles puts the spotlight on X-Men: From the Ashes, introducing a new villainous threat and a change to a locale that has become synonymous with the Children of the Atom.

*WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men #1. Continue reading at your own risk!

The X-Men story in Marvel's FCBD title comes from Gail Simone and David Marquez, the creative team on the upcoming Uncanny X-Men. The story follows Jubilee, who is checking in on the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. The school is the former home of the X-Men, where Professor Charles Xavier used to teach and train the next generation of mutants. The school hasn't been used in some time, especially after the X-Men relocated to the sovereign island nation of Krakoa. But here we learn that the Xavier School is no longer a school, but a detention center for mutants called Graymalkin Prison.

We then meet our new villains, Doctor Corina Ellis and her associate Phillip. As far as we can tell, Ellis is a human, but Phillip is a mutant telepath with pale skin and walking crutches. Ellis quickly tasks her team to gut Xavier's former office and to have it looking like an Ikea catalog. As we circle back to the prison aspect of the facility, we see someone who appears to be Theresa Cassidy, aka Siryn, held prisoner with her mouth clamped shut, a large gentleman who could be Blob, and a mysterious prison behind a door labeled "Inmate X."

Rogue steps up as leader in Uncanny X-Men

With Cyclops leading in Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman's X-Men, Rogue will take the leadership role in Uncanny X-Men. She'll be joined on the team by Wolverine, Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Jubilee, which will relocate to New Orleans as their new base of operations.

"Most of my time lately has been spent trying to keep my brain from exploding right out of my skull from this book," Simone shared. "It's either the fun of all my favorite mutants acting in surprising and wonderful ways, the impossibly brilliant work of the art team, or the thrilling collaboration with all the other writers, but somehow every DAY is just filled with some kind of manic joy. Ever since I took the book, I've been scribbling notes and plots and bits of dialogue day and night. I feel like a kid at a carnival. Who DOESN'T want to write Rogue and Jubilee and Gambit all the rest?"

"Uncanny X-Men is the book that made me fall in love with comics," Marquez said. "It's been a dream come true getting to work with Gail, Matt [Wilson], and the whole Marvel editorial crew under Tom to put together this story: a badass, heartfelt, action-packed, character driven X-Men mystery. I hope readers have at least half as much fun reading it as we have had making it."

"I absolutely have to take a moment to praise David Marquez," Simone added. "Not only is this going to be one of the best-looking books on the stands, he's simply an idea MACHINE and he makes every single page better than I wrote it. Anyway, come join us, we're having an X adventure and you're all INVITED!"

It appears that the devourer of worlds could be heading back to Fortnite. Several prominent Fortnite leakers have been discussing the possibility of a Galactus return, thanks to some NPC conversations that were added to the game as part of the 29.40 update. First shared by @Egyption_Leaker and @Rezztro, one of these conversations is with the character Anwar, who mentions how "a hungry beast consumed star after star to warm its belly" and "they say the beast still roams the dark, hunting for some eternal warmth it cannot snuff out."

Fortnite's Leaked Roadmap

That description would fit pretty well with Galactus! The villain famously appeared during the live event at the end of Chapter 2: Season 4 back in 2020. While a whole bunch of Marvel content has made its way to Fortnite since then, Galactus remains missing, seemingly defeated. A possible Fortnite roadmap leaked online last month, which suggested that another Marvel themed season will be arriving in August. The validity of that roadmap has been in question, but there have been indications that it could be real. Just a few days after the roadmap appeared online, Billie Eilish was announced for Fortnite Festival, confirming at least one aspect as real. It remains to be seen whether Fortnite will actually see a Marvel-themed season in August, but if it does, that would be the perfect place for Galactus to show up.

Is it Galactus, or a Different Beast?

It should be noted that this is all just speculation at this time. In fact, it's possible that the description from Anwar could point to something else entirely. @FNChiefAko speculated that this could also be lore tied to The Nothing. Interestingly enough, some Fortnite fans are speculating that it could connect to an entirely different planet eater! 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Hasbro's Transformers franchise, which has seen content in Fortnite in the past. It's possible we could see the arrival of Unicron, the main villain from the 1986 classic Transformers: The Movie. Unicron consumed planets and moons on his way to devour Cybertron, before being defeated by Rodimus Prime. Unicron has been a pivotal character in Transformers lore in the decades since, so it's not inconceivable that he could appear.

For now, Fortnite fans are just going to have to wait patiently to see what the future will bring. Even if we don't get another Marvel season, the close relationship between Disney and Epic Games guarantees that we'll see a lot more Marvel content in the coming months. There are still an awful lot of Marvel characters that haven't gotten Fortnite skins yet, and fans are constantly asking to see more. Of course, if more evidence starts to accumulate related to that roadmap, we could know about that potential Marvel season much sooner than August!

Do you think we'll see Galactus back in Fortnite? Do you think the leaked roadmap is legit? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

2024 is flying by, which means Deadpool & Wolverine will be here before we know it. The highly-anticipated film marks Deadpool's first entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will see Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman reprising their roles as the titular characters. In addition to checking out the movie, fans can also expect some exciting Marvel-themed products and cool promotional materials in honor of the film. This week, a brand new poster for the movie came out of CCXP Mexico.

The poster showcases Deadpool, Wolverine, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), and Colossus (Stefan Kapi?i?) all on prayer candles. You can check it out below:

New #DeadpoolAndWolverine poster. pic.twitter.com/1UgTvX6fGk

-- Phase Zero - MCU (@PhaseZeroCB) May 4, 2024

What Is Deadpool & Wolverine About?

Deadpool & Wolverine was helmed by Shawn Levy from a script written by Bob's Burgers' Wendy Molyneaux and Lizzie Molyneaux-Loeglin, with Deadpool and Deadpool 2 writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick also returning to contribute to the script. Not much is known about the plot, but there has been a lot of speculation and exciting teases.

"I always wanted Hugh to come back," Reynolds explained in a previous interview with Collider. "My first meeting with Kevin Feige when Disney bought Fox years ago, maybe three years ago, or three and a half, four years ago, I'm not sure, was about doing a movie with the two of us, a Deadpool/Wolverine movie. And that was not possible at the time. And then Hugh just happened to call at that perfect moment and express that he'd be interested in coming back and doing this one more time. And the contents of that conversation, I'll let Hugh, because I know it's only inevitable that you and Hugh are going to speak at some point soon, I'm sure. I'll let Hugh answer that on his own. But he expressed interest in coming back, and then it was my job to take that to Kevin Feige one more time and sell it."

While speaking with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Levy addressed the many wild rumors surrounding the film and talked about the movie's connection to the greater MCU.

"I'm so wary of giving anything away because I've learned the hard way that even with a few titles - like any Marvel title - everything and anything you say can lead to not only rumors but misinformation. I'll just say this: It's very much part of the MCU, what a privilege, what a wealth of resources and knowledge."

Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters on July 26th.

Captain America: Brave New World dropped a new look at Sam Wilson's suit and some details about the story for our new Captain America. But, some of these comments paint a dire picture for Sam and his allies. Director Julius Onah talked to Empire about the MCU blockbuster and teased "putting [Sam] through his paces." Fair enough, but the rest of the comments about having a hero that "can bleed" raised some eyebrows online. With Captain America largely out of action since the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, people have been anxious to see Anthony Mackie's Avenger back on the big stage.

Onah also mentioned, "The action in this movie is incredibly exciting because this is a guy who can break, this is a guy who can bleed. We get to have a lot of fun pushing him to the limit." All of this sounds rather ominous. With all the talk of the stakes needing to be raised, could we see something really bad happen to Sam Wilson? Thunderbolts is later in the year and whatever would get the government to assemble that group of vigilantes would probably warrant a call to Captain America.

What if the reason Mackie's hero hasn't come up in any of the promotion for Thunderbolts is because he's out of commission. After all, if Captain America is a normal man, how will he stand up to a much bigger threat. (Maybe one with Gamma radiation powers if you've been reading the tea leaves on this movie.) Still, it's a harrowing prospect for a longtime Avenger in the MCU. But, nothing is truly off the table in these movies right now.

Sam Wilson As An Underdog Story

If it were just these sparse comments, there would be enough reason to be concerned. But, when placed with the other statements from Marvel, a certain picture emerges. Back when Eternals had hit theaters, ComicBook's Phase Zero spoke to Marvel Studios Producer Nate Moore. He's also a producer on Captain America: Brave New World. When he talked to us, Moore said similar things about Sam Wilson having to fly through a gauntlet to prove his mettle in his first big screen MCU project.

"I think, he's not Steve Rogers and I think that's a good thing," Moore told our hosts. "Because to me, this new Cap is Rocky. He's going to be the underdog in any situation. He's not a super soldier. He's not a hundred years old. He doesn't have the Avengers. What happens with this guy who announces publicly kind of, without the support, 'I'm new Captain America.' What happens next? I think is fascinating because he's a guy. He's a guy with wings and a shield, but he is a guy.

"So, we're going to put him through the wringer and make him earn it, and see what happens when he is outweighed, outclassed, out-everything," the producer added. "What makes somebody Captain America? I'm going to argue it's not being a super soldier. And I think we're going to prove that with Mackie and Sam Wilson."

So, What's Really Going On With Cap 4?

Despite all these clear signals that Sam Wilson is about to get the crap kicked out of him. There are reasons for optimism. There's virtually no reason to believe that Captain America will perish here. One big reason: Avengers 5 is still on the way. With the roster for that movie firmly up in the air, Sam is about as close to a lock as you're going to get. Also, with the long-discussed "recalibration" of the MCU, putting as many memorable household names into the picture as possible makes a lot of sense. During a chat with Entertainment Weekly, Mackie laid it all out for us.

"This movie is a clear reset. It really reestablishes the idea of what this universe is and what this universe is going to be," Mackie shared. "I think with these movies, you're getting a clear, new branding of what Marvel is headed towards the same way they did with Captain America: The Winter Soldier."

"The title implies that there's a new, bigger enemy now; there's a new frontier that we have to conquer," Mackie mused. "From Captain America: The First Avenger to Endgame, the enemy was always good versus bad. Now that we've conquered that, where do we go from here? When the bad guys reappear, in what form are they reappearing? It is a new storyline with new characters, with new beliefs, and it creates a new idea of this new world that we're going into."

Are you a little worried about Sam Wilson now? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

X-Men '97 star Ross Marquand says that X-Men: The Animated Series was the reason that he decided to become a voice actor. ComicBook's Phase Zero talked to the Professor X actor about the series so far. And, we had to touch on the impact of the original X-Men cartoon. As a kid at the time, Marquand got completely sucked in by the series. The performances, but especially Wolverine's plight made quite a mark on the young boy. His personal experiences sparked deep empathy for the characters. In fact, Marquand told us that he still remembers the line that sent him down this path all those years ago.

"That was the show that made me want to be an actor," Marquand claimed. "Really, not even joking, swear to God. I was 11 when it came out, I think. Yeah, I'm dating myself a little bit. And, I remember specifically uh having a great affinity to, and a relationship with Wolverine. I was a kid that got picked on a lot. I was in Boy Scouts, and student government, and the chess club and all the nerdy things that get you picked on."

"It's like when you have a guy who, you're watching week after week, who's not being a cartoony character. He is a cartoon, but he has so much pain and pathos within him," Marquand recalled. "I remember, my favorite episode of X-Men, I think I'll go back and forth. But, I think my favorite episode of X Men, the original, was one where Wolverine goes to Alaska. He's trying to just center himself. He's trying to find himself and get some sort of peace. And of course, Sabertooth follows him there and it's a whole mess.

"And I'll remember this line until the day I die. And that line is the reason why I wanted to become an actor. He says, 'There's no peace for me here. There's no peace for me anywhere.' And I thought that's me as a 12 year old boy. I thought I can relate to this," the star revealed. B"ecause, I feel like everywhere I get picked on, and I thought, 'If I could convey a, just a shred of what this actor has done in this role in this moment, that's what I wanna do with my life.'"

Marquand's Hopes For X-Men '97

Later in the interview, Marquand also talks about the show possibly helping other younger viewers find their voice and inspiring interest. The voice actor is extremely proud of the work they've managed to do in living up to the legacy of X-Men: The Animated Series. With that sky-high Rotten Tomatoes rating and constant daily praise on social media, it's clear that the fans would agree with that sentiment by and large. Still, with a weird malaise that doesn't actually match the quality of output being released in later months, Marquand is hoping that younger viewers will end up looking back on X-Men '97 fondly when they pick up a pencil or a microphone.

He told ComicBook, "And then, you know, it's just like it's so heavy and I really feel like I'm grateful and I'm hopeful for the next generation of fans who are 10 or 11 years old now watching the show. For them to have the same reaction that I did. For them to be like, 'I wanna do that or I wanna draw Marvel Comics, or I wanna be a part of that world.' That's my hope for this."

Did X-Men: The Animated Series ignite your fandom for superheroes? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

One of the most long-awaited fancasts in recent memory might be happening -- but with a catch. Over the years, Giancarlo Esposito has been fans' suggestion for a wide array of Marvel Cinematic Universe roles, including a potential live-action reboot of Charles Xavier / Professor X. After repeatedly indicating that he would be more than willing to join the MCU, new comments from Esposito seem to hint that it has become a reality. During a recent panel at CCXP Mexico (via Collider), Esposito revealed that he's appearing in a Marvel project "sooner rather than later," and that the title and role in question are "better than you can imagine."

The qualifier of "sooner rather than later" seems to rule out the possibility of Esposito playing Professor X, as Ross Marquand already voices the character on the animated X-Men '97 series, and Marvel's live-action X-Men reboot is presumably still years away. While there's no telling at this point what Esposito's role will be, some have already theorized that he could be playing Galactus or Doctor Doom in The Fantastic Four, which is expected to begin production in a few months for a 2025 release date, or that he might be voicing Norman Osborn in the upcoming Disney+ animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which is confirmed to be released at some point this year. Additionally, there's always the possibility that he might be referring to a non-Marvel Studios project, potentially under Sony's Spider-Man Universe.

Will Giancarlo Esposito Play Professor X?

Even if Esposito is not portraying Professor X, the actor has repeatedly shared his vision for how he would play the X-Men protagonist. This includes comments he made earlier this year, in which he indicated he would prefer to play the character without his iconic wheelchair.

"You know, I've given it a cursory glance in my brain, and immediately I go, 'Hmm, it'd be great to play Professor X in some other incarnation than just the wheelchair.' Right? Because the physical idea of being in a wheelchair every single day does not appeal to me," Esposito recently told the Fade to Black podcast. "I just don't feel that old and I don't like to sit that much. But certainly we could figure something out, maybe. Professor X wasn't always in the wheelchair, but that is part of his character development. So I think about it a little bit, but I don't give it all of my thought because it would have to come to me."

What Is the Next Avengers Movie?

At the moment, the next Avengers film is set to be Avengers 5, which currently has a release date of May 1, 2026. The film does not currently have a director or a confirmed cast, and is reportedly undergoing changes from its initial pitch, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, following the criminal conviction of former Kang the Conqueror actor Jonathan Majors late last year. Avengers 5 is then set to be followed by the highly-anticipated Avengers: Secret Wars in May 7, 2027.

"You know, I'm coming up on 23 years at Marvel," Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in a 2023 interview. "That's a long time. It's not quite half my life, but it's almost half my life. [Laughs] Many of us have been together for a decade or more. And we only do it because we are so excited and in love with the potential for what we can do ahead. The storylines that weave together through Phase 5 and 6 into Secret Wars and the opportunities that the multiverse brings storytelling-wise, it's a whole new aspect to the MCU."

X-Men '97 star Ross Marquand finally went deep on that shocking massacre on Genosha. ComicBook's Phase Zero interviewed the Professor X actor about that dramatic moment and how he found out. Like a lot of the fans, he was expecting some measure of takeout. But, Gambit's demise looks legit so far. Marquand was blown away by the quality of the episode and places it right up there with some of TV's best. In addition, there are some interesting comics parallels there as well when it comes to Charles Xavier's reaction to the tragedy. Check out what he had to say to us down below!

"When I was reading the script for that episode, I just was like that can't be real. I was like, 'So he's dead-dead?' And they're like, oh, yeah."... You know, in Marvel they often kill people off and bring them back," Marquand revealed. "But, I just thought, 'Ok. Wow, that's bold! Ok.' And obviously, we'll see where the character goes in the future. It was such a shock to me and still is. I mean that, I will say, and I hope I'm not being biased, because obviously I've worked on that very closely to it. But, I really think that's one of the best episodes of TV I've ever seen."

"It's putting the Ace of Base 'Happy Nation' Song in there in this very macabre episode. Just the symmetry of that with the events that unfold right after, with Cable coming from the future and saying, 'Get out, turn the music off!' And then, getting sucked back into the future. It's a doozy," the star opined. "It is crazy, such an emotional wallop from every episode. I think Professor X, once he finally intuits that Gambit has been taken from us, has this beautiful speech from the comics that was almost taken more or less verbatim. I was like 'my Children of the Atom destroyed. You know, they were making love drinking wine. No.'"

The series has inspired some hope for the future from the voice actor. He mused, "And then, you know, it's just like it's so heavy and I really feel like I'm grateful and I'm hopeful for the next generation of fans who are 10 or 11 years old now watching the show. For them to have the same reaction that I did. For them to be like, 'I wanna do that or I wanna draw Marvel Comics, or I wanna be a part of that world.' That's my hope for this."

Marquand Talks About Professor X & Magneto

X-Men '97 puts a real spotlight on the viewpoints of Professor X and Magneto. In the same interview, ComicBook's Phase Zero asked about that dynamic and Marquand had a lot to say. The bond between those two characters cannot be overstated. It's so wild to see both of their ideologies on full-display. Despite their differences, they truly want what is best for mutant kind.

"They're like brothers, they really are, and I have likening it to Thor and Loki," Marquand began. "It's not dissimilar at all. I think someone had made the allusion many years ago, I think it might have been Stan Lee, but basically it said that Charles Xavier is Martin Luther King, right? And Magneto was Malcolm X. Because a lot of the X-Men originally was written around the time of the Civil Rights Movement and that was not accidental, that was very intentional."

"So, I feel like these men are two sides of the same coin. They both want the same thing. But, they go about it in very different ways," the star added, "Charles genuinely believes in the goodness of all mutants and humans, and their ability to change. Magneto is just like, 'No humans are terrible and they're gonna try to kill us. So, we better strike first.' As this episode reveals, Magneto was right."

Is Episode 5 the highlight of X-Men '97 so far? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Following the latest episode of X-Men '97, the show's Professor X actor Ross Marquand joined ComicBook.com's Phase Zero podcast for a Spotlight episode. The in-person Spotlight covers many years of Marquand's career, starting with his time as Aaron on The Walking Dead which preceded his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since 2017, Marquand has taken on roles as Ultorn in Avengers: Damange Control and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Infinity Ultron in What If..?, Professor X (and now Doctor Doom!) in X-Men '97, and more.

Marquand had considered and decided on walking away from acting ahead of booking his role on The Walking Dead, with the full story being shared on the new Phase Zero episode. After becoming Aaron, Marquand booked his role as Red Skull in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame which filmed secretly in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time of booking the role, Marquand was not told the work was for an Avengers movie but the actor found out upon arrival. He quickly learned the secrets of Red Skull's scenes and was forced to keep them for years. Then, he would go on to book the Professor X role, with the original version of the character from X-Men: The Animated Series being a major reason he pursued acting, in the first place. On Monday, X-Men '97's Magneto actor Matthew Waterson joins Phase Zero for the next Spotlight episode.

Phase Zero's Spotlight episode with Ross Marquand can be seen in the video above. Additional links to Phase Zero can be found below:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• YouTube

Why is Phase Zero the Best MCU Podcast for you?

Launching on January 15, 2021, Phase Zero made its goal of building a fun and welcoming community of Marvel fans clear. In the time since, more than 3,000,000 listens across platforms and countless comments from listeners and viewers, the community has become one which celebrates the Marvel fandom and regularly engages in conversation about past and future titles. Having connected fans with some of their favorite actors, provided expert knowledge on upcoming titles, and analysis with comparisons to comics, Phase Zero is the one-stop podcast for all things Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The newly launched Spotlight episodes have featured guests looking back at new and exciting Marvel projects, with the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Iman Vellani, and Hayley Atwell joining the show. For more What If..? chatter, be sure to listen to the Spotlight episode with the creators of the series!

Phase Zero invites you to celebrate all things Marvel, hosting a weekly conversation of theories, speculation, and exclusive interviews and insights. It's the number one spot for MCU fans, welcoming those new to it all and those who think they know it all! New episodes are recorded live on Youtube every Wednesday at 12pm ET before being made available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and wherever podcasts can be found. For updates regarding the Phase Zero podcast, follow the official Phase Zero account on Twitter!

Captain America: Brave New World director Julius Onah is teasing The Leader as a big ideological threat to Sam Wilson in the upcoming movie. Empire Magazine has a big spread dedicated to the MCU's 2025 blockbuster. While Anthony Mackie's Avenger has stepped into the boots of Captain America, he's got the United States government and Samuel Sterns (aka The Leader) as a hurdle on the path to the future. Onah says of the conflict, "Sam finds himself almost standing between Samuel Sterns and what he thinks the government owes him, and how he wants to go about getting that."

There's a new sheriff in town for Captain America: Brave New World. Harrison Ford's Thunderbolt Ross is now the president. That's a lot of change for the MCU. In fact, Ross is going to butt heads with Sam Wilson as they confront whatever problems are on-deck for Phase 5 of the MCU and beyond. "Part of the challenge for Sam as Captain America, working within the government, is the way he's going to make decisions," Onah muses. "The point of view he's going to have will at times put him at odds with the President."

Tim Blake Nelson Returns As The Leader

That's right Incredible Hulk fans, your time is here with this film. Captain America: Brave New World is bringing back Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns. In what feels like another lifetime, the Marvel movie teased his transformation into The Leader. Now, things are poised to come full circle with all the changes to the MCU landscape. ComicBookMovie.com spoke to Nelson about his big Marvel return. He told the outlet that his new version of The Leader is going to look a lot like his comic book counterpart. Fans are excited at the prospect as the MCU has done more and more leaning into the comics for costume choices in recent years.

"Really excited. I had a great time filming it," Nelson began. "And [I] worked with the Marvel team and this wonderful makeup artist named David Atherton with whom I've collaborated on a dozen movies now."

"I think people are going to be pretty excited about what this guy looks like. And what he has to say and what he does," he continued. "All power to the amazing team over there at Marvel."

What Else Is Coming In Cap 4?

While all of this stuff about The Leader is very fun, there's another antagonist that fans have been waiting to see. Yes, a lot of the promotional material for the movie has centered on Thunderbolt Ross. With that character's prominent placing in the movie, tons of fans are expecting a Red Hulk appearance. With all the changes going on with Marvel Studios, a big dust-up between Captain America and a memorable comics villain could be just what the doctor ordered. Anthony Mackie told Entertainment Weekly that it's a new era for the MCU and fans should buckle up.

"This movie is a clear reset. It really reestablishes the idea of what this universe is and what this universe is going to be," Mackie reflected. "I think with these movies, you're getting a clear, new branding of what Marvel is headed towards the same way they did with Captain America: The Winter Soldier."

"The title implies that there's a new, bigger enemy now; there's a new frontier that we have to conquer," Mackie revealed. "From Captain America: The First Avenger to Endgame, the enemy was always good versus bad. Now that we've conquered that, where do we go from here? When the bad guys reappear, in what form are they reappearing? It is a new storyline with new characters, with new beliefs, and it creates a new idea of this new world that we're going into."

Are you looking forward to seeing The Leader battle Captain America? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Marvel is showing off Sam Wilson's new suit in another image from Captain America: Brave New World. The Marvel Studios movie is the first feature film starring Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson in the leading role, instead of Chris Evans' Steve Rogers. Viewers of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier followed Sam's journey of deciding if he was up to the task of being the Sentinel of Liberty after Steve gifted Sam the shield in the final moments of Avengers: Endgame. Set photos and merchandise for Captain America: Brave New World have offered looks at the suit Sam will wear, but another official image gives an all-new look.

The image from Captain America: Brave New World comes from Empire Magazine, and shows Sam Wilson in a crouched stance, with his trusty Adamantium shield on his arm. This costume has a bit more blue on the shirt portion, instead of the red-white-and-blue stripes that ran down its midsection in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Also gone is the headpiece that Sam wore in the Disney+ series, which Anthony Mackie has stated was a cumbersome piece of equipment, with parts of it having to be edited with special effects. You can take a look at the image below.

Captain America: Brave New World director teases The Leader

Julius Onah is helming Captain America: Brave New World, and he's teasing some big developments for Tim Blake Nelson's Samuel Sterns, aka The Leader. First introduced in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, Samuel Sterns hasn't been seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since then. Of course, the last time fans saw him, Sterns' forehead was being doused with Bruce Banner's blood in an open wound, foreshadowing his transformation into the villainous Leader.

"Part of the challenge for Sam as Captain America, working within the government, is the way he's going to make decisions," Onah told Empire. "The point of view he's going to have will at times put him at odds with the President."

He added, "Sam finds himself almost standing between Samuel Sterns and what he thinks the government owes him, and how he wants to go about getting that."

Captain America: Brave New World opens in theaters on February 14, 2025.

Deadpool & Wolverine is set to be a milestone chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, but if you can believe it, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige didn't go for Ryan Reynolds' first pitch for the film.

In the new Empire Magazine feature on Deadpool & Wolverine, Kevin Feige reveals what the original pitch was for Deadpool 3, and why he had to reject it.

According to Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool 3 was originally a "Rashomon story about Wolverine and Deadpool and something that they got into together, but told from three completely different perspectives," he explains. "It was a way to make a large-scale movie in a very small way."

If you don't get the reference, Rashomon is a classic 1950 film by Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa. It told the story of a Samurai, his wife, and a bandit, whose encounter resulted in murder, betrayal, and rape. However, how those dark outcomes happened is the major question at the heart of the film; the bandit and wife each recount their own versions of the story before a court, while the samurai's testimony is heard through a psychic medium since he is dead. All three versions of the story are revealed to be unreliable, with each teller idealizing themselves, and vilifying the others. It's only the account of an objective witness (a woodcutter) that gets to the heart of the truth.

As Ryan Reynolds points out, Deadpool 3 taking the Rashomon approach would've been a way to reuse the footage of a modest-budget movie multiple times to create a "blockbuster." It's actually a pretty smart idea (from a filmmaking perspective); the only problems were that the right timing wasn't right, and the focus wasn't there:

"The truth is, I wasn't even sure how to incorporate Deadpool yet," Feige said about the early pitches for Deadpool 3. "I was very much thinking about how to bring mutants and the X-Men into [the MCU], and I thought it needed to be more than just playing the hits. But the truth is, Ryan is an idea machine. So he may have pitched that to me, but he also pitched 25 other thoughts and ideas."

Reynolds admits that he was all over the map creatively, trying to crack the idea that would become Deadpool & Wolverine: "I wrote up about 18 different treatments. Some of them almost like a Sundance film, a budget of under $10 million, sort of using the IP in a way that they previously hadn't used, and I pitched bigger movies, and I pitched things in-between."

That Rashomon idea is something that Feige and co. may want to keep in mind for a future MCU movie - or maybe as the concept for a TV show episode, or Marvel One-Shot. Because it is, as stated, a pretty great idea for giving fans something different, on a very controlled budget.

Deadpool & Wolverine will be in theaters on July 26th.

X-Men '97 star Ross Marquand went deep on Professor X and Magneto's friendship in our latest interview. ComicBook.com's Phase Zero spoke to the voice actor about the season so far and a ton of other topics. But, we had to ask him about Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr's dynamic in the animated series. X-Men '97 has had a lot of Magneto so far. But, it seems like Professor X is going to be front and center for the finale. Their friendship will be interesting to see. Both of their personal philosophies have been showcased extensively this season. But, Erik seems to have been completely vindicated by the recent events in Genosha. Still, these two men just want a future for mutants, and that idea is really appealing for the voice actor.

"They're like brothers, they really are, and I have likening it to Thor and Loki," Marquand began. "It's not dissimilar at all. I think someone had made the allusion many years ago, I think it might have been Stan Lee, but basically it said that Charles Xavier is Martin Luther King, right? And Magneto was Malcolm X. Because a lot of the X-Men originally was written around the time of the Civil Rights Movement and that was not accidental, that was very intentional."

"So, I feel like these men are two sides of the same coin. They both want the same thing. But, they go about it in very different ways," the star added, "Charles genuinely believes in the goodness of all mutants and humans, and their ability to change. Magneto is just like, 'No humans are terrible and they're gonna try to kill us. So, we better strike first.' As this episode reveals, Magneto was right."

Asking Marquand about the fantastic scene with Magneto at the United Nations, the actor laments that his on-screen adversary was really coming around to Professor X's beliefs about human kind. However, those hopes were dashed after the massacre of Genosha. There's really no coming back from that. The actor exclaimed about Magneto's short-lived change of heart, "He really did! And, I don't think he was doing it for performative effect. I think he really did believe that. So, it's a damn shame that now he's been proven right, when he was trying so hard to change and really encapsulate Charles' vision for the future."

Marquand Steps Into Professor X's Mind

Before X-Men '97 was even a thing, Cedric Smith voiced the man who guided the X-Men. Obviously, Marvel Studios brought about a change by getting Ross Marquand into the mix. ComicBook.com's Phase Zero spoke to producer Brad Winderbaum about that decision. The head of streaming was absolutely complimentary to the voice actor and joked about him doing double duty in the Marvel Universe. (He played Red Skull, as most MCU fans will recall!) Still, we can expect Marquand to really get in there and mix it up during the last two parts of the finale.

"I think it has more to do with the fact that Ross [Marquand] is one of the most talented voice artists working," the executive chuckled. "And, we're lucky to have him. I mean, we were able to get so many of the OG cast back and unfortunately, we had to recast Xavier. Ross does a great Xavier."

Have you loved Professor X and Magneto during X-Men '97? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

A lot of fans know actor Ross Marquand's face from his role as Aaron on The Walking Dead; however, they may not know that he played Marvel's Red Skull in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame - and currently voices Charles Xavier in X-Men '97.

Marquand took on the role of Red Skull from Hugo Weaving, who played the villain in Captain America: The First Avenger. It was a pretty seamless change: Red Skull's scenes as the Soul Stone's keeper in Infinity War and Endgame are now some of the most iconic (and debated) scenes in The Infinity Saga finale - but did you know they were all filmed in a single day?

ComicBook.com's Phaze Zero podcast got a chance to sit down and speak with Ross Marquand recently, and he revealed the story of filming his Red Skull scenes in a day.

"It was a helluva of a way to work, and I really like that style of filming, Marquand explained, after describing arriving on set and being given his top-secret scenes as Red Skull. "I think we finished it in eight hours - both films, back-to-back, in one day. I mean that's unheard of."

After seeing Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame it's wild to think that all of those Soul Stone scenes with Red Skull were filmed in a day. Those sequences carried some of the heaviest weight of each film: Thanos sacrificed Gamora to obtain the Soul Stone (in Infinity War), and Black Widow sacrificed her own life to give Hawkeye and The Avengers a chance to undo The Snap that killed off half the universe (in Endgame). The Russo Bros. may not have finished all the major stunt work needed to pull off the Soul Stone sacrifices on the same day; more likely they filmed all the dialogue scenes "The Stonekeeper" required before the stunt sequences of the sacrifices were shot.

Either way, if you check out the interview segment in the video above, you will hear Ross Marquand further describe how he shot all his Red Skull scenes with absolutely no makeup or facial prosthetics, just the system of dots needed for CGI face-swapping. He also filmed the Infinity War scenes without Thanos or Gamora.

Some fans may hear all that and think it's the heart of what they imagine when they hear the term "movie-making magic"; others may see the kind of conveyor belt-style of filmmaking that Marvel Studios has become known for.

One thing that's undeniable: Ross Marquand's scenes as Red Skull are now iconic parts of the MCU - and are a pretty nice notch in the actor's belt.

You can stream Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame on Disney+.

The first season of X-Men '97 is nearly in the books, and the Marvel Animation series has been telling a pretty surprising story. Amid all of the show's various twists and turns, including adaptations of multiple beloved comic arcs, there has been the question of what storylines it might still tell in the future. One prevailing theory has been that X-Men '97 might lead to an animated Avengers vs. X-Men adaptation -- and it sounds like one of the series' stars is on board with the possibility. Speaking exclusively to ComicBook.com's Phase Zero podcast, Professor X voice actor Ross Marquand argued that an Avengers vs. X-Men storyline isn't out of the question, especially after the events of this season.

"You saw what happened in the last episode [with] Rogue and Captain America," Marquand argued. "There's a real chance that that could happen. He can't fly. Captain can't fly. She threw that in the side of a snowy mountain. I'm sure it's lodged in there 50 feet deep. He ain't gonna find that shield. It's not like Mjolnir where you can just like pull it back, it's stuck in that thing. He, he's gonna be pissed at Rogue for a while."

"I say this to my manager all the time," Marquand said of the prospect of continuing to play Professor X. "If this is the last thing I do with my career, I'd die a happy man. I really would."

Is X-Men '97 Renewed for Season 2?

Work has already begun on a sophomore season of X-Men '97, which was already renewed by Marvel Animation prior to the show's premiere.

"We're working on season two. But we haven't started yet. I know a little bit of the storylines and characters," co-composer Taylor Newton Stewart explained in a recent interview. "It's always upping the ante. I mean, it's pretty intense what happens. Yeah, immediately when I was told, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening? This is incredible.' So, just as a fan alone, I am very excited."

What Is X-Men '97 About?

Marvel Animation's X-Men '97 revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.

The voice cast of X-Men '97 includes Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler. Beau DeMayo served as head writer; episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura, and the series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso and DeMayo.

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

The chatter around Deadpool & Wolverine has evolved in a lot of ways, including speculation about any jaw-dropping cameos we might see in the film. In addition to characters from 20th Century Fox's former X-Men universe, there have been plenty of reports and theories suggesting that other actors from previous Marvel projects will appear in Deadpool & Wolverine. Eric Bana, who portrayed Bruce Banner / Hulk in 2003's Hulk movie, revealed that he will not be among that list, telling The Jess Cagle Show that, "I can't see that happening. I'm sorry, Jess."

"Hugh [Jackman]'s a very close friend of mine," Bana continued, before adding that he "still can't see that happening."

Would Eric Bana Return as The Hulk?

Bana has repeatedly expressed that he "can't see" himself returning to the role of Hulk in any context, revealing in a 2021 interview that he has always regarded Hulk as something of a one-off project.

"When I went and did that film, that was pre-Marvel Universe. That universe didn't even really exist, right? It always has felt like a one-time film for me," Bana said at the time. "That world that you go off and do a movie and there are going to be sequels and doing it forever, that framework didn't even exist back then. The short answer is no, it never felt like something I was going to reprise or do again. I still feel after all this time, I can't see that happening."

Is Deadpool & Wolverine Set in the MCU?

While both Jackman's Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool originated in the former Fox universe, the trailers for Deadpool & Wolverine have clearly indicated that the characters will be hopping over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In an interview last October, Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy confirmed that the project is definitely set in the MCU.

"I'm so wary of giving anything away because I've learned the hard way that even with a few titles - like any Marvel title - everything and anything you say can lead to not only rumors but misinformation. I'll just say this: It's very much part of the MCU, what a privilege, what a wealth of resources and knowledge."

What Is Deadpool & Wolverine About?

In Deadpool & Wolverine, Deadpool will change the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Wolverine. The film will also star Morena Baccarin as Vanessa Carlysle, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Stefan Kapi?i? as Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, and Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfadyen in currently-unknown roles. Jennifer Garner is expected to reprise her role as Elektra from the Daredevil and Elektra films of the 2000s.

"As far as crafting the Deadpool and Wolverine story, I just felt privileged every day because you're talking about two massive movie stars in their most iconic roles," Levy shared in a recent interview with ScreenRant. "It also gave me an opportunity. It's the third Deadpool movie, but it's not Deadpool 3. It's a different thing that's very much Deadpool & Wolverine. And it's not trying to copycat anything from the first two movies. They were awesome, but this is a two-hander character adventure."

Deadpool & Wolverine will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, July 26th.

How close to Deadpool & Wolverine star Hugh Jackman get to wearing that yellow-and-blue Wolverine costume during the Fox-Marvel era? Pretty darn close, according to Jackman!

"We almost did it in The Wolverine," Jackman said about the yellow-and-blue suit. "But from the moment I put it on here, I was like, 'How did we never do this?' It looked so right, it felt so right. I was like, 'That's him.' There are different sides of Wolverine we haven't seen before in the movies. It was exciting for me... It's great for Deadpool to have someone who will punch him in the face,"

It's now an interesting anecdote of Marvel movie lore James Mangold's The Wolverine almost went with a comic-accurate look for Jackman's Wolverine. While Jackman is referencing a yellow-and-blue costume concept for The Wolverine in his Empire interview, fans also know that Wolverine's yellow-and-brown suit did make an appearance in The Wolverine - only for the scene to be deleted from the theatrical cut. The image of Logan's yellow-and-brown suit, gloves, and cowl in waiting in a case is the only live-action hint we've had of a comic-accurate Wolverine costume... until now. Hence why it has become so iconic.

What's crazy about comic book movies is how much audience sensibilities have changed regarding their aesthetic. When Hugh Jackman first played Wolverine in X-Men (2000), there was an entire joke built into the film about Wolverine not liking the team's black leather suits, and Cyclops sarcastically questioning whether yellow spandex would be better. Now, nearly a quarter-century later, Jackman wearing that aforementioned yellow suit has become the biggest thing in movies this year.

What Is Deadpool & Wolverine About?

The trailer and early synopsis for Deadpool & Wolverine have teased the story of Wade Wilson (Reynolds) being detained by the TVA and sent on a mission. Wade recruits an emotionally-broken Wolverine variant from a dark timeline where the X-Men died, and their mission takes them to the multiversal wasteland the TVA has been using as a dumping ground, and where the beast Alioth (as seen in Loki) roams. Somewhere in that mix is Cassandra Nova (Emma Corin), a villain with deep ties to Charles Xavier, and a malevolent history in X-Men comics.

There have been teases of former Fox-Marvel movie stars coming back en masse for cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine - and even mega-star Taylor Swift appearing in the film as an iconic X-Men character. Despite there being a menagerie of cameos appearances expected in Deadpool 3, Shawn Levy has promised MCU fans are not required to do any "homework" to enjoy the film:

"I was a good student in school. I'll do my homework as an adult. But I am definitely not looking to do homework when I go to the movies," Levy told AP. "I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world. But I didn't want to presume that. This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research."

Deadpool & Wolverine has a release date of July 26th - the 11th Anniversary of The Wolverine's release.

Paul Walter Hauser's dance card continues to fill up, with the in-demand actor reportedly joining the cast of Marvel's The Fantastic Four. The First Family of the Marvel Universe has its cast, with Pedro Pascal playing Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby portraying Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn flaming on as Johnny Storm (Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the lovable Ben Grimm (The Thing). While The Fantastic Four's plot remains a closely guarded secret, at least its cast continues to be reported on, with Deadline reporting the Marvel Studios film is adding Paul Walter Hauser.

The site reports Paul Walter Hauser's role in The Fantastic Four is undisclosed, which should lead fans to speculate on just who the actor could be playing. Is Hauser voicing the Fantastic Four's trusty robotic sidekick H.E.R.B.I.E.? Is he portraying one of the team's classic villains like Mole Man? There are no answers at this moment, but it surely lends plenty of fodder for fan theories to percolate.

Paul Walter Hauser's star has risen in recent weeks, with news that he's a part of the Naked Gun reboot alongside Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, and Kevin Durand. Hauser is also playing the fan-favorite Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Farley in an authorized biopic, and can be heard as the voice of Embarrassment in Inside Out 2.

Photo credit Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

Alligator Loki - the fan-favorite Loki variant featured in Marvel's Loki Season 1 - has gone missing.

The animal actor, known as "Wally The Emotional Support Alligator" was reportedly kidnapped from his handler Joie Henney's secure enclosure while Henney was out fishing with friends in Brunswick, Georgia on April 21st, per Southern Living. According to a social media post, the kidnapper was "some jerk who likes to drop alligators into someone's yard to terrorize them." From there, the story gets even stranger: the government agency meant to handle orphaned and/or injured animals sent a trapper out to the property where Wally had been dropped off; the trapper caught Wally and dropped him off with a bunch of other gators into a local swamp.

That may not seem like a dire situation to most onlookers - but apparently, it's not a very good situation for an emotional support animal like Wally to be in. According to a post from the "Wallygator" account, "The trapper said the chances of them finding Wally is slim to none," as there's difficulty even deciding where to get started:

"We have been unsuccessful in getting specific information about a location to begin a search. Even the original swamp we were told is so large it would take months with an army to search...Thank you all for your continued support, tips, suggestions, and prayers. All of these are more appreciated than you know."

Joie Henney has been appealing to Wally's fans and good samaritans alike, pleading for help in finding his beloved friend. In a recent Wallygator TikTok post, Henney pleaded, "We need all the help we can get to bring my baby back. There's a reward out for Wally's return safely with no questions asked. Please help us. Please."

One of the latest posts (at the time of writing this) reveals that the calls for help may gotten too much of a response. While a location where Wally was released has been identified, the swamp is very large, and there are all kinds of legalities popping up when it comes to who can even venture into the swamp and attempt to trap an alligator:

"The trapper told her [the caller who reported Wally in her yard] at that time his plan was to put Wally somewhere in the Okefenokee swamp. This swamp is 438,000 acres. Let me make this clear guys, anyone other than a licensed trapper caught with taking an alligator from here risks jail time and major fines. So while we know everyone wants to do a search and find Wally it's not legal to do so."

As you can see from his various social media accounts, Wally has a lot of fans - and not just those who know him from the MCU. A GoFundMe dedicated to the search for Wally has been established.

Three of Earth's Mightiest Heroes are the first to fall in the opening of Blood Hunt. The vampire crossover event has promised massive repercussions for the Marvel Universe, with no one safe from the creatures of the night's bite. Blood Hunt #1 introduced a new species of vampires, along with the surprising character leading them. When it came time for the Avengers to square off with the new breed of vampires, a sacrifice was made, a powerful hero was quickly taken down, and the betrayal of the year took place.

*WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Blood Hunt #1. Continue reading at your own risk!

Blood Hunt #1 comes from the creative team of Jed MacKay, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia, and VC's Cory Petit. While the Avengers are helping fight the vampires in the streets, Bladecalls them up asking for help and saying he has vital information to share. The Avengers teleport Blade to their orbital base, the Impossible City, but instead of Blade showing up, a new breed of super-vampires called the Bloodcoven ambush them. The Bloodcoven gets the upper hand thanks to the sneak attack, with the blade-wielding Damascene lodging one of its sharp red blades inside Thor's skull. Since the Bloodcoven's leader, Bloodstorm One, wants to turn Captain America into a vampire as their new status symbol, Black Panther makes the hard sacrifice of evacuating as many Avengers as he can, only to wind up impaled in the chest by Bloodstorm One.

Finally, Blade pays a visit to Doctor Strange and Clea, who are working on a spell to kill every vampire on Earth. Blade fills them in on the vampire uprising, and how they've organized under a group called The Structure. Moon Knight killed their leader back in Moon Knight #18, but someone new has stepped up to fill that void. It's here that we learn that Blade is the person who blacked out the sun, assembled the vampires, and is The Structure's new leader. Blood Hunt #1 ends with Blade stabbing Doctor Strange through the back.

Are the Avengers really dead?

What we know is Black Panther will be turned into a vampire, with his adventures continuing in the Black Panther: Blood Hunt miniseries. The ongoing Doctor Strange series, written by Blood Hunt scribe Jed MacKay, will fill readers in as Clea and Wong race to save the Sorcerer Supreme, and Captain America assembles a new team of Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Avengers.

And this all took place in just the first issue of Blood Hunt! With several more chapters to come, there's no telling which way the story will go from here.

We're nearing the end of the first season of X-Men '97, the Marvel Animation series that has surprised fans at virtually every turn. This week's installment kicked off the three-part finale, "Tolerance Is Extinction", and dropped some massive revelations for the show's cast of characters. In the process, one of the episode's biggest scenes theoretically fit into -- or maybe, outright debunked -- a major fan theory that fans have had for most of X-Men '97's first season. Spoilers for X-Men '97 Episode 7, "Tolerance Is Extinction -- Part 1", below! Only look if you want to know!

Part of the episode concerns Val Cooper (Catherine Disher) visiting the lair of Bastion (Theo James), who has been holding Magneto (Matthew Waterson) captive since the Massacre on Genosha. Throughout the episode, Val learns more of Sinister's evil plan to take over the world with Sentinel-human hybrids and enslave mutants. She apologizes to Magneto for her unintentional role in the rise of Bastion, and eventually frees him from his prison, allowing him to travel to the North Pole and send a worldwide shockwave disabling all of the Sentinels. When Bastion confronts her about this choice, Val reflects on the apathy of humans following Genosha, and argues that Magneto has been right all along about how to move society out of its cycle of bloodshed. The moment is undoubtedly impactful -- but it has also led some to wonder if it confirms that Val is not secretly Mystique, as has been theorized for a lot of the season.

Is X-Men '97's Val Cooper Secretly Mystique?

The theories surrounding Val's potential identity have been around essentially since X-Men '97 premiered, as fans have wondered what role she was going to fit in the show's new status quo. Her role in the government, as well as her reaction to Rogue (Lenore Zann) and Magneto being coupled up at Genosha's gala, led some to speculate she has secretly been Mystique all along, potentially infiltrating the government as a way to push her own agenda. It would also add a distinct twist to the character, who has had a role in the X-Men comics as a civilian and ally of the mutants.

Val deciding to free Magneto in "Tolerance Is Extinction -- Part 1" could have set the record straight on whether or not she is secretly Mystique, but in theory, the scene works both ways. If Val secretly was Mystique, then her change of heart towards Magneto could signify her wanting to be more involved with mutantkind's valiant cause. But also, if Val is really just herself, the iconic "Magneto is right" moment signifies just how much his efforts have begun to matter to mankind, which is profound in and of itself.

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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The last episode of X-Men '97 made mention of a popular concept from What If...? and other MCU favorite projects. Episode 8 of the Disney+ series brought back "Absolute Points" in a huge way. Basically, when Cable is explaining why he couldn't go back and stop the massacre of Genosha from happening, he talks about not being pulled back to his present. Beast supposes that this is due to what Kamar-Taj mystics refer to as an "absolute point." Introduced in What If...?'s first season, the idea of an absolute point is an event in a universe that cannot be undone without tearing the very fabric of that reality.

Even though X-Men '97 is reported to be in its own corner of the Marvel multiverse, it's fun to see other concepts from other shows and properties bleed into the picture. What If...? Has been the flagship Marvel Animation show until X-Men '97 came around. Now, the landscape is growing more by the day. Still, it begs the question if the absolute point phenomenon exists and The Watcher is around, are other MCU elements going to start creeping around in the background as well? There's two more episodes from this season before we find out for sure!

What If...? Invented Absolute Points

Of course, the idea of an Absolute Point didn't spring out of the aether fully formed. What If...?'s creative team had been dreaming things up for a while. However, head writer A.C. Bradley talked about the concept during The GOAT Movie Podcast and shared the feeling that she wished there was some more overlap between that concept, the Nexus Event naming in Loki and possibly the whole Canon Event deal from the Spider-Verse franchise. They're all effectively the same thing, but with different names!

"When you're writing animation, you're writing so far into the future that you can't think four years down the line," Bradley explained on The GOAT Movie Podcast. "That Doctor Strange episode, I wrote in February of 2019. I think I should've called it a Nexus Point instead of an Absolute Point. The Loki scripts weren't even written yet, so that animatic locked before Loki even finished their scripts because you're always writing about two years ahead of animation. It's kind of intense and insane."

Want To Learn Where Absolute Points Come From?

Season 2 of Marvel's What If...? , is currently streaming on Disney+. The show continues the journey as The Watcher guides viewers through the vast multiverse, introducing brand new and familiar faces throughout the MCU. The series questions, revisits and twists classic Marvel Cinematic moments with an incredible voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their iconic roles.

The series is led by Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, with returning appearances that include Hayley Atwell as Captain Carter, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk, and Cate Blanchett as Hela. Devery Jacobs joins the cast as Kahhori, a new Native American character created specifically for the show. What If...? Season 2 is directed by Bryan Andrews, and executive produced by Andrews and AC Bradley.

Do you love seeing Marvel Animation build this universe? Check out all the pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Marvel and DC put out great covers for Mystique and Harley Quinn last week, and fans are hunting them down! That wasn't the only cover artwork to generate buzz; Artgerm's Something is Killing the Children also was a huge hit. Deadpool & Wolverine is getting closer, and key books are heating up again. X-Men '97 has also been causing several keys to jump back into the spotlight. Finally, a neat crossover makes it to the top ten, thanks to Invincible. Read through our top ten list to see what happened in the Invincible Season 2 finale.

Want to know what comic books are trending each week and why? COVRPRICE.COM uses live sales analytics to identify and compile the most robust market price guide, highlighting the weekly top trending comics. No opinions. Just data. Each week, they present a newly updated list of the TOP 10 COMICS trending in the aftermarket. These trends are due to rumors, fan-favorite covers, story-driven content, and content-related news.

#10: X-Men Forever #2 - Arthur Adams (1:25) | MARVEL | 2024: Arthur Adams' covers have always been a top collector's item. With the recent success of X-Men '97, X-Men covers have been rising in popularity. Mystique is also a top-selling X-Men cover character. Aside from it being fantastic cover art, this book is also a retailer incentive, a 1:25 ratio cover. The rarity adds to the desire to collect this cover and show off amazing Adams artwork! We tracked it at a high sale of $50 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $41.

#9: Harley Quinn #39 - Mindy Lee (1:50) | DC | 2024: What a great cover from artist Mindy Lee! Harley Quinn is known for her wild covers, and this one is on the list! The cover depicts the character in a colorful space suit facing off against robotic minions. It is a great cover and it is also a retailer incentive variant, making it even harder to find! We tracked it at a high sale of $150 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $124.

#8: Something Is Killing The Children #36 - Stanley Artgerm Lau - Thank You | BOOM! STUDIOS | 2024: Artgerm is one of the most sought-after cover artists in the industry today. His artwork has a huge fandom. Moreover, Something is Killing the Children is one of the most popular series, BOOM! Studios has produced. Pair these two factors with a limited retailer thank-you variant, and you have a highly desirable cover to chase! We tracked it at a high sale of $75 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $31.

#7: The Uncanny X-Men #221 | MARVEL | 1987: Mr. Sinister is playing a huge role in the latest X-Men series. The animated show depicts Mr. Sinister as one of the main villains in the series. Since the show's announcement, Mr. Sinister was rumored to be in the show. Fans did not know his role's importance, whether he would be a villain of the week or a mainstay player. It turns out that Mr. Sinister is playing a huge role, and fans are swarming to pick up his first appearance. We tracked it at a high sale of $60 for a raw copy and a current raw NM FMV of 435.

#6: Marvel Team-Up #14 | MARVEL | 2006: In this issue, we see Invincible hop through the multiverse and end up in the main Marvel comic universe. He assists Spidey and the Avengers in a battle against Doc Ock. As most fans know, the rights to IP in comics vastly differ from those of film rights. It looks like Amazon didn't have the right to use Spider-Man, but they still handled the multiverse hop in their own way. Instead of running into our favorite wall-crawler, Invincible hops the multiverse and ends up assisting Agent Spider in a battle against Prof Ock. It's an elegant way of dealing with this pivotal moment while also navigating legal restrictions over Marvel IP. Fans of this moment wanted to revisit the original team-up and are picking up tons of copies of this great event! We tracked 19 copies sold, at a 7-day trend of 63%, with a high sale of $775 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current raw NM FMV of $275.

#5: X-Men #53 | MARVEL | 1996: There has been so much going on in X-Men '97 that fans are caught up in processing the events vs theorizing storylines. However, that changed with the debut of the latest episode. The ending revealed that Magneto was currently held captive by the surprise villain Bastion. Bastion also monitored Professor Xavier's whereabouts. Fans are speculating that Bastion is attempting to pit Magneto against the X-Men team and, subsequently, Professor X. This clash, at such a high emotional time in mutant-kind, might be the catalyst to bring out the monstrous villain, Onslaught! If this is true, fans have quickly grabbed his first appearance this past week! We tracked it at a high sale of $15 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $5.

#4: The Uncanny X-Men #333 | MARVEL | 1996: The X-Men '97 series consistently boosts X-Men keys that have been dormant for years. The latest episode ended with a surprise villain debut: the mastermind behind the attack on Genosha, Bastion! In the comic books, the genocide on Genosha was orchestrated by Cassandra Nova. It looks like the showrunners are pointing the attack to Bastion and his manipulation of Bolivar Trask. Nevertheless, until the episode drops tomorrow, we won't know Bastion's endgame. We tracked it at a high sale of $20 for a raw NM copy and a current raw NM FMV of $8.

#3: New X-Men #114 | MARVEL | 2001: Cassandra Nova has been a long-rumored villain for the Deadpool & Wolverine film. This past week, the movie released a second trailer, confirming the villainess' appearance in the film. The trailer also built a ton of hype around the film in general. Fans are ready to see the merc with a mouth join the MCU! We tracked it at a high sale of $20 for a raw VF copy and a current raw NM FMV of $25.

#2: The New Mutants #98 | MARVEL | 1991: Deadpool & Wolverine continues to get closer every day! As the movie approaches, more and more rumors are unraveling. The latest rumor is about the movie's end credit scene. Several well-known leakers have shared that they have seen the end-credit scene of the movie. The scene is being praised across the board, and it is said to completely redefine the MCU. However, nearly all the leakers have a united front when sharing any information about the scene. Nearly all information from Deadpool & Wolverine has been pretty tight-lipped, but the rumors have had enough fuel to light the fire under these keys! We tracked 41 copies sold, at a 7-day trend of 24%, with a high sale of $1,382 for a CGC 9.8 and a current raw NM FMV of $386.

#1: Dazzler #1 | MARVEL | 1981: Taylor Swift cameoing as Dazzler in Deadpool & Wolverine has been the most popular rumor surrounding the film. It has been a long time since any new rumor has emerged, but the book has managed to stay on our top lists just because of Swift's star power alone. However, Swift fans are now combing through her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, to find out any information about her cameo. In the final track of her album, Clara Bow, there is a lyric that reads, "The future's bright, dazzling." This small line has been speculated as the star's way of confirming to her fans that she will be playing the character Dazzler. Obviously, this is not hard evidence, but it was enough to push this book back to the number one spot! We tracked 61 copies sold, at a 7-day trend of 110%, with a high sale of $174 for a CGC 9.8 and a current raw NM FMV of $9.

X-Men '97 is racing towards its Season 1 finale, after taking Marvel fans on quite the proverbial roller coaster over the past few months. The first portion of the season's final storyline, "Tolerance Is Extinction", began with this week's episode -- and it definitely provided a major flashpoint for the team going forward. If you need help unpacking everything that just happened in the latest episode of X-Men '97, we're here to help.

Obviously, spoilers for Episode 7 of X-Men '97, "Tolerance Is Extinction -- Part 1", below! Only look if you want to know!

What Happens in X-Men '97: "Tolerance Is Extinction -- Part 1"?

Cyclops worries about how to handle Cable's arrival, and about whether or not he failed him as a father. Cable teaches the X-Men about Bastion, and how he created the Prime Sentinels with the Techno-Organic Virus in an attempt to create a new race. As Cable reveals, any surviving mutants in his future were put to work, and he is unable to stay in the time and place of the Genosha massacre long enough to stop it. Beast argues that the massacre is a fixed point in the timeline. Cable and Cyclops bicker about how to handle Bastion, but are interrupted by the news that Charles' survival has been made public.

Jean tries to help repair Rogue's mind. Nightcrawler and Jean bond over Madelyne, as Jean argues that she and Madelyne share the emotions around each other's memories. Nightcrawler tells her of his and Rogue's relationship as siblings, and argues that family can be found outside of blood relatives.

Val Cooper finds Mister Sinister, who is holding Magneto hostage. She apologizes for the role she had in the massacre. Bastion monologues to her about his role in Genosha, as he knew it would help topple humanity's feelings towards mutants. From video screens, Doctor Doom and Zemo voice their opinions on Bastion's launch of the Sentinel program. Bastion shows Val Operation Zero Tolerance -- experiments that infect mutant-hating humans with the Techno-Organic Virus. While these humans are brainwashed not to remember their infection, they are able to be activated at a moment's notice.

Jean, Cyclops, and Cable travel to a town -- more specifically, Bastion's hometown. They visit his childhood home and are greeted by his mother. She praises her son's art skills -- including a rendering of the Sentinels attacking the X-Men. Jean is able to sense Bastion's origin story -- his dad was infected with Nimrod's Sentinel technology, which led to his birth as a Sentinel-human hybrid. Bastion's mom is activated as a Sentinel, as is the entire population of the town. They begin to flee, but the Blackbird is swarmed with them, so they crash the plane and use a car in the back of the ship to escape. Jean telepathically drives the car through the horde of Sentinels, as Gambit and Cyclops fend them off.

Trish Tilby visits Beast to apologize, but is ultimately awoken as a Sentinel, along with numbers of civilians across the globe. She and a handful of other Sentinels begin destroying the X-Mansion, as Wolverine, Morph, and Nightcrawler (armed with swords) fight them off.

Roberto and Jubilee stay with Roberto's mom, who is throwing a benefit for Genosha, but still disagrees about the topic of mutants. At the mall, Jubilee suits up in a version of her black costume, before Roberto's butler is activated as a Sentinel and they need to flee to escape. Roberto flies through the city as they try to outrun Sentinels. They crash into Roberto's mom's gala, where she instructs him to listen to the Sentinels.

Bastion visits the mansion, now ablaze, only to learn that Val let Magneto escape. He teleports back to his lair, where Val tells him the cultural apathy around Genosha helped her realize that Magneto is right. Magneto flies to the North Pole and uses his powers to send shockwaves throughout the world, disabling the Sentinels. Spider-Man, Silver Samurai, Omega Red, and more are shown reacting to the blackout.

Charles finally arrives at the mansion and sends out a distress call to all of the X-Men.

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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It's been a big day for X-Men '97 fans as the eighth episode of the series, "Tolerance Is Extinction - Part 1," featured some big surprises. Earlier today, Marvel Studios celebrated the episode by releasing a phone number that calls Jubilee. In the message, the youngest X-Men hero invites all mutants to the X-Mansion "for real." Turns out, she actually meant it! You can now crash at the X-Mansion thanks to Airbnb.

A new listing hosted by Jubilee is currently up on the rental site, and it teases fun ranging from trying out Cerebro to training in the Danger Room. "Calling all mutants! Or anyone who feels just a little bit different. Now's your shot to find out how super special you are at Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning. We're totally ready to welcome mutant trainees like you to our newest class. Anyway, get ready for the coolest orientation ever," the site reads.

The listing is for eight guests in four bedrooms in New Castle, New York. You can read more from the listing here: "The X-Mansion is the best place for you and other mutants to learn about and control your awesome mutant gifts. Your stay will be packed with training, cool experiments, secret mission briefings, a class photo, and more! When you're wiped out, crash in my room, Wolverine's, or one of our other dorms. Can't wait for our mutant sleepover!"

"I'll lead you through new student orientation (don't worry we'll get to the fun stuff fast). Enter Beast's totally gnarly lab! It's like a science playground where you'll be able to power-up with mutant energy elixirs. Take a class in the Danger Room, where some of our combat professors will teach you how to improve your fighting skills-you never know when you'll have to fend off The Hellfire Club! Head to the War Room to try on Cerebro, and find out your mutant superpower. Maybe you'll be an Omega level mutant like Storm! Before you leave, we'll debrief you on your new powers AND you can snag your official diploma and class photo. Oh, and beignets for breakfast (Gambit's secret recipe) My fave!"

Requests to book close at 11:59 PM PT on May 13th. You can learn more here.

X-Men '97 Producer Explains Why Retro Setting Was Major Advantage:

ComicBook.com's Phaze Zero podcast recently spoke with producer Brad Winderbaum, and he explained why setting the show in 1997 was an advantage.

"Well, actually, it was kind of liberating to be able to stay in the 90s," Winderbaum began. "It allowed us to go places that we could just do what we want. To be so iterative. Things that we couldn't do if we were more MCU adjacent like What If...? is. I mean, What If...? is like we're literally remixing the MCU. So, it's harder to introduce characters. Because you want to see them in live-action. Although, we do see Bill Foster as Giant Man in the second season. That's new!"

Original X-Men: The Animated Series cast members Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), and Christopher Britton (Mister Sinister) reprise their roles from the '90s series; returning cast members Catherine Disher (Jean Grey), Chris Potter (Gambit), Alyson Court (Jubilee), and Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler) voice new characters.

X-Men '97 releases new episodes on Wednesdays.

The eighth episode of X-Men '97, "Tolerance Is Extinction - Part 1" was released on Disney+ today, and it was the latest episode to feature some big surprises. Marvel Studios has been doing a lot of fun promotions for the series, including creating nostalgic ads that transport fans back to the '90s. Now, you can call one of the X-Men directly - on her flip phone, of course. The official Twitter account for Marvel Studios shared a photo with a number that you can actually call to hear a message from Jubilee.

"Dialing... ?," Marvel captioned the post. When you call 914-361-5397, you will hear the following: "Hey! It's Jubilee. I'm so stoked you got my number. Guess what. This May, we're welcoming mutants like you to the X-Mansion, for real! Come hang out and see where the X-Men crash after fighting major baddies. Sounds rad, huh? So keep your pagers on for the 411. Gotta jet. The world doesn't save itself, you know." You can view the post below:

Dialing... ? pic.twitter.com/TwQpAe96sL

-- Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) May 1, 2024

Why Are X-Men: The Animated Series Actors Voicing Different Roles in X-Men '97?

You may notice that the voice of Jubilee is different from X-Men: The Animated Series. The character is now voiced by Holly Chou. However, the original Jubilee, Alyson Court, did show up this season in another role. X-Men '97 director/producer Jake Castorena recently spoke with RadioTimes and explained why some of the voice cast has changed.

"If we're doing this show, we got to do it with the legacy cast - that was the decision from day one," Castorena explained. "[But] time hits us all - it's been 30 years and so, unfortunately, some of the legacy voice cast is no longer with us, and some of the legacy voice cast, voices, and things just change."

"Finding people to take up the mantle for the legacy cast, to fill in the roles, was an absolute process, but I absolutely love and appreciate all of our new cast taking on their new roles - and to hear the blessings from the legacy cast has been also awesome, too," he added.

"For those who wanted to come back and for whatever reasons weren't able to do the voice, we brought them back to play other characters, to make sure we still had everybody in the sandbox... because how do you invite one person to come play, but not somebody else? Especially when they're game and they want to. It's like, 'We'll find something for you,'" Castorena continued.

"Honestly, it's a way to get everybody back. It's the best way to get everybody back, as best as we could."

Original X-Men: The Animated Series cast members Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler), and Christopher Britton (Mister Sinister) reprise their roles from the '90s series while returning cast members Catherine Disher (original Jean Grey), Chris Potter (original Gambit), Alyson Court (original Jubilee), and Lawrence Bayne (original Cable) voicing new characters. The new cast includes Ray Chase (Cyclops), Jennifer Hale (Jean Grey), JP Karliak (Morph), AJ LoCascio (Gambit), Holly Chou (Jubilee), Isaac Robinson-Smith (Bishop), and Matthew Waterson (Magneto).

X-Men '97 releases new episodes on Wednesdays.

X-Men '97 Episode 8 was the official beginning of the finale arc, "Tolerance is Extinction" and it revealed the entire backstory of new villain Bastion, his deadly Prime Sentinels and "Operation Zero Tolerance" mission to turn mutants into the greatest slave labor force ever seen.

After the episode dropped, X-Men '97 director Beau DeMayo took to social media to reveal a crazy X-Men: The Animated Series Easter egg in Bastion's origin story. Turns out, Bastion's parents weren't just two random people - they were two background characters from a pivotal episode of X-Men: TAS.

X-Men '97: Who Are Bastion's Parents? Explained

Before the premiere of X-Men '97 Episode 8, Beau DeMayo gave Marvel fans a list of X-Men: The Animated Series episodes to watch, including the two-part story arc "One Man's Worth". That storyline saw Bishop, his sister Shard, and a married version of Wolverine and Storm from a different reality all team up to prevent Nimrod and Master Mold from assassinating Charles Xavier in the year 1959 when Xavier was a young university student.

When making contact with Xavier at a townie bar, the group caused a small riot over the presence of several black people and an interracial couple - major sources of prejudice in that era. Surprisingly, it turns out that Bastion was born to some of the more tolerant people of that era.

As DeMayo demonstrated in his Twitter thread, the flashback scene of Bastion's parents reveals that his mom was the waitress who served Bishop, Shard, Wolverine, and Storm in the bar - a woman who was flabbergasted when her boss, the owner, got violent over having to serve black people. Meanwhile, Bastion's dad was the leather-jacket-wearing man who aided Wolverine in the bar fight, pulling out the rug from under one of the owner's goons, "Moose" and "Rocko. The Easter egg connection is a smart one: the flashback further revealed that some surviving part of Nimrod's tech in 1959 infected Bastion's father, a janitor, creating a human-Sentinel hybrid. Bastion was born from that corrupted DNA, making something more than man or machine.

The way that X-Men '97 incorporates both comic book deep-cuts and callbacks to the original Animated Series is truly impressive. Tying Bastion's creation to a legacy of tolerance and love raises some interesting new questions about where the villain's arc could end up.

It's also one more incentive for Marvel fans to go back and watch X-Men: The Animated Series - as they should.

X-Men '97 is streaming on Disney+

Robert Downey, Jr. thinks Thor brings something really important to the table in Avengers movies, even if Chris Hemsworth seems to believe he has the least interesting stuff to do in the films. Speaking with Vanity Fair recently (you can see him on the cover of the magazine now on the stands), Hemsworth described his role as "security guard," noting that it didn't feel like there was much going on with Thor. Saying that Thor's arc through Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame was a "hat trick," Downey rejected Hemsworth's self-depreciating ideas.

It's maybe not surprised that Hemsworth has some questions about Thor's storyline; he was very open in the interview, saying that he blamed himself for the frustration fans and critics had with Thor: Love and Thunder.

"Sometimes I felt like a security guard for the team," Hemsworth told the magazine. "I would read everyone else's lines, and go, 'Oh, they got way cooler stuff. They're having more fun. What's my character doing?' It was always about, 'You've got the wig on. You've got the muscles. You've got the costume. Where's the lighting?' Yeah, I'm part of this big thing, but I'm probably pretty replaceable."

Downey didn't agree.

"First off, Thor as a character was super tricky to adapt - lots of implied limitations - but he and Ken Branagh figured out how to transcend, make him somehow relatable but godlike," Downey said. "Hemsworth is, in my opinion, the most complex psyche out of all us Avengers. He's got wit and gravitas, but also such restraint, fire and gentleness."

Thor is the first Marvel hero who is going to get a fifth solo movie, with Marvel reportedly looking for a director. Creator filmmaker Gareth Edwards was briefly rumored for the role, but seems to have poo-poohed the idea.

Edwards said, "I saw those rumors too. I saw it and I jokingly sent it to my girlfriend. I just texted her the link and said, 'I didn't want you to find out this way.'"