Yesterday Joss Whedon shut down his Twitter account, and there was a lot of rumor and speculation that suggest the reason he left was due to death threats, harassment, and outspoken feminists who didn't like the portrayal of Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron. James Gunn came to Whedon's defense about these things, but it turns out none of these things are true. In fact Whedon calls it all "Horseshit."

The director did an interview with BuzzFeed, and in regards to the rumor involving militant feminists he said:

“That is horseshit. Believe me, I have been attacked by militant feminists since I got on Twitter. That’s something I’m used to. Every breed of feminism is attacking every other breed, and every subsection of liberalism is always busy attacking another subsection of liberalism, because god forbid they should all band together and actually fight for the cause.

“I saw a lot of people say, ‘Well, the social justice warriors destroyed one of their own!’ It’s like, Nope. That didn’t happen. I saw someone tweet it’s because Feminist Frequency pissed on Avengers 2, which for all I know they may have. But literally the second person to write me to ask if I was OK when I dropped out was [Feminist Frequency founder] Anita [Sarkeesian].”

He went on to explain that the real reason he left Twitter was so that he could take a break and focus on his work.:

“I just thought, Wait a minute, if I’m going to start writing again, I have to go to the quiet place. And this is the least quiet place I’ve ever been in my life. … It’s like taking the bar exam at Coachella. It’s like, Um, I really need to concentrate on this! Guys! Can you all just… I have to… It’s super important for my law!

“The real issue is me. Twitter is an addictive little thing, and if it’s there, I gotta check it. When you keep doing something after it stops giving you pleasure, that’s kind of rock bottom for an addict. … I just had a little moment of clarity where I’m like, You know what? If I want to get stuff done, I need to not constantly hit this thing for a news item or a joke or some praise, and then be suddenly sad when there’s hate and then hate and then hate.”

Whedon went on to talk about the importance of of people like himself changing people's minds through actions and not tweets.

"For someone like Anita Sarkeesian to stay on Twitter and fight back the trolls is a huge statement. It’s a statement of strength and empowerment and perseverance, and it’s to be lauded. For somebody like me to argue with a bunch of people who wanted Clint and Natasha to get together, not so much. For someone like me even to argue about feminism — it’s not a huge win. Because ultimately I’m just a rich, straight, white guy. You don’t really change people’s minds through a tweet. You change it through your actions."

So there you have it. It's a little less dramatic than people made it out to be. The guy just needs to take a breather right now after as huge of an undertaking as Age of Ultron was and get in the zone for his next project. Whedon said he would consider coming back to Twitter at some point, but that's not a guarantee. This final quote makes it seem like he's ready to live life outside of Twitter:

“I think the articles that I found, I can find elsewhere. I’ll miss some jokes. Maybe I’ll have to go out to a club to see jokes! I think that’s already an improvement in my life. … I need to go out, do the research, turn the page, see the thing, hear the music, live like a person. I’m not great at that. So, oddly enough, because I always feel like I’m the old man who doesn’t get the tech, right now I’m the man who thinks he could do better without it.”

You can read the full interview here.

Over the last few days we've seen promo art for Captain America: Civil War featuring Iron Man and Captain America fighting each other, an image of Tony Starks "Bleeding Edge" armor, and now today we have another one featuring the titlular hero, Captain America.

The concept art comes from Umberto Gonzalez, and even though it looks a lot like the costume he wore in Avengers: Age of Ultron, there are some slight differences, like the removal of the red tint from the star on his chest. The little changes actually give the suit a much cleaner look. I've also included a side by side comparison of the two costumes so you can see the differences better. 

You can check out a great article that we posted a few weeks back that breaks down the evolution of Captain America's uniform throughout the Marvel movies here. 

RT! #Marvel #CAPTAINAMERICA #CIVILWAR #promo #art Watermark on Cap's shield. #HH #Comingsoon #artwork #marvelcomics

A photo posted by Umberto Gonzalez (@umbertogonzalez) on May 6, 2015 at 5:29am PDT

#CAPTAINAMERICA #AgeofUltron uniform & #CivilWar uniform. Another cool comparison pic. In this you can tell the subtle differences between the uniforms. Cool pic via @dailysuperhero on Twitter. Thanks! #Marvel #marvelcomics #mcu #marvelmovies

A photo posted by Umberto Gonzalez (@umbertogonzalez) on May 6, 2015 at 7:24am PDT

Avengers: Age of Ultron introduced a few great new characters into the MCU. Two of them include Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. I really liked these characters, and in separate interviews with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Joss Whedon, they discuss the future of Quicksilver in the MCU.

I can't really talk about this without going into SPOILER territory, so you've been warned:

Those of you who have seen Avengers: Age of Ultron are probably thinking, "what kind of future does Quicksilver have!?" The character met his demise while running into some enemy fire, saving Hawkeye and an awkward little boy from being killed. 

But Taylor-Johnson suggested in an interview with CinemaBlend that he may not be done with the character:

“I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed working on [this movie], and I would love to be doing more movies with the guys at Marvel. Maybe there will be some case where that might happen.”

After it was pointed to him that characters in the MCU return from the dead all the time, Taylor-Johnson responded:

“I’d love to find what that loophole is, because I think they’re the best guys I’ve worked with in a long time.”

The actor obviously really enjoyed his time working with Marvel, and he really wants to work with them again, but Whedon says he intended for Quicksilver to stay dead. Talking to the Empire Film Podcast, he said:

"It felt very disingenuous for me, especially the second time around, to make what I refer to as ‘a war movie’ and say that there is no price and everybody walks away. In this movie, we’re saying, ‘Prove to me that you guys are heroes.’ And he’s the guy that does it.

"I knew it would be resonant, and make everything else work better and matter more. The city in the air, that’s just an explosion... Wanda’s grief, that’s extraordinary."

In the end it's not really up to Whedon if Quicksilver stays dead or not. That's up to the executives at Marvel and Disney. He did prepare for Quicksilver to live through the ordeal and even shot some alternate footage for the ending.

"I said to Aaron, ‘The only way you’ll stay alive is if the Disney executives say, 'Hey idiot, this is a franchise, and we need all these people and you’re not allowed to kill them off!'”

"We did actually shoot him in the last scene, in an outfit, with his sister. We also shot him, waking up, saying, ‘Ah, I didn’t really die from these 47 bullet wounds!’"

As much as I enjoyed Quicksilver in this movie, I really hope that Marvel keeps him dead, otherwise his sacrifice means nothing. It would really take the power out of that scene. I'm done with the Marvel death fake-outs. 

I post this knowing full well the game is six months old, but I'll be damned if anyone else lives in the darkness of this great game. Perhaps "game" is a term that should be used loosely, as while you can play the games, the experience is the core of what makes New Retro Arcade so great. You are placed in the utopia of late '80s gaming arcades. The black lights and neon are plentiful, the floor galacticly themed, and not an out of service cabinet in sight. This is the arcade of your dreams, and there are no lines, no quarters to spend, and plenty of games to play.

Essentially, New Retro Arcade is a hub for emulators. Players can play their favorite arcade cabinets ranging from the classic Galaga to one of my personal favorites — Simpsons Arcade. Arcade cabinets aren't the limit, however, as the game also features emulation for SNES, Sega Genesis, Gameboy, and a very rudimentary version of darts and bowling. These games are available all around the web, but New Retro Arcade offers an immersion unseen in past gaming experience.

When you're playing Street Fighter 2 on the arcade cabinet, the glare of the overheated cabinet shows in certain areas you move your head. Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" blares in cohesion with the game volume, and just out of the corner of your left eye you can see a Ghostbusters poster. If ever there was a game to justify the purchase of an Oculus Rift, this is it.

The experience is greatly heightened with Oculus Rift, which is great as it has been struggling to find its home within the gaming community as of late. Just playing regularly on the PC, while fun, can be a bit of a trial as tilting your head to see the game properly as well as playing the game can wear on you, but it's still cool as hell.

Did I also mention the game is fully customizable? New Retro Arcade allows you to change the cabinets, movie posters, games, music... you name it. For all intents and purposes, this is THE PERFECT GAMING SIMULATION for both nostalgic and young gamers who don't remember the arcade era... save one thing.

Can you imagine how bad ass this game would be if it had the ability to play multiplayer? After all, what was better back in the day than taking on some random stranger in some Mortal Kombat or teaming up with three other guys for a Gauntlet throw down? If there is any room for improvement for this game, it's that I would like to see that. Of course, the downside is much of the content and rom's you'll use for this game are illegal, but also super fun.

My ultimate hope is that its creators, Digital Cybercherries, has the attention of the big three and will one day work on bringing a project such as this to current or next gen consoles. I can only imagine the fever a digital arcade would spark amongst the gaming community, and I'm hoping I get to see the day very soon.

The first season of The Flash is coming to an end, and it's all leading up to something amazing. I have a feeling that this season is going to end brilliantly. Reverse Flash gains the upper hand and Barry Allen is forced to turn to some unlikely individuals for help, but that might not turn out so well for him. This leads to Arrow and Firestorm coming in for reinforcement.

We have a promo spot for next week's intense-looking episode for you to watch called "Rogue Air," and here's a brief rundown of what we'll see in that episode:

As Wells (Tom Cavanagh) once again gets the upper hand on the S.T.A.R. Labs team, Barry (Grant Gustin) realizes he needs to make a big move and reaches out to an old foe, Captain Cold (guest star Wentworth Miller), for help. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) and Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) warn Barry that Cold can't be trusted. True to form, Cold has his own agenda that involves the meta-humans trapped in the containment cells. As things seem to be going from bad to worse, The Flash gets reinforcements - Arrow (guest star Stephen Amell) and Firestorm (guest star Robbie Amell).

You can catch the next episode of The Flash on May 12th! 

Artist Tom Preston created this comic strip that points out what he thinks the differences of a fan and a fanboy are. Each of the like the same things, but the fanboy is portrayed as being more rabid than just a regular fan. I've always considered myself a fanboy, but if this portrayal of a fanboy is true, then maybe I'm not. I see myself in both of these versions, so according to this I fall somewhere in between.

According to this comic, do you see yourself as a fan or a fanboy/fangirl? Do you agree with artist's interpretation of fandom? I personally don't think it's so black and white. 

When you have a movie like Magic Mike XXL, it's not surprising that the marketing team would embrace sexually charged puns in order to sell this film. While the first movie was actually more about drama than dancing, this one looks to be giving audiences exactly what they wanted the first time around: shirtless dudes with insanely chiseled bodies grinding around on stage. I respect the first movie more than I enjoyed it (McConaughey, who won't appear in this sequel, was a highlight), but this one admittedly looks like it could be fun.

Greg Jacobs is stepping in for Steven Soderbergh as the director this time around. Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez, Gabriel Iglesias, Donald Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Elizabeth Banks star. Magic Mike XXL opens in theaters on July 1st.

Picking up the story three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, “Magic Mike XXL” finds the remaining Kings of Tampa likewise ready to throw in the towel.  But they want to do it their way: burning down the house in one last blow-out performance in Myrtle Beach, and with legendary headliner Magic Mike sharing the spotlight with them.  On the road to their final show, with whistle stops in Jacksonville and Savannah to renew old acquaintances and make new friends, Mike and the guys learn some new moves and shake off the past in surprising ways.

The people at Dark Dunes Productions just sent us this trailer for a new movie called Yamasong: March of the Hollows, and this thing looks totally crazy. Here's the description they sent over:

Yamasong: March of the Hollows is the first major (non-Muppet) puppet film to be made in the US since Team America, with executive producers Toby Froud (son of Brian Froud) and Heather Henson (daughter of Jim Henson). The voice talents include Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Fillion, and Abigail Breslin.

So it obviously has some pretty high-profile people attached, and there's more: RoboCop star Peter Weller, Ed Asner, Malcolm McDowell, Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto, and even Star Trek actor George Takei are providing voices for these puppets. This is coming from a new generation of puppet filmmakers, and though I admittedly have no clue what the heck the story is about based on this trailer, I'm definitely getting a Dark Crystal vibe from it. Check it out for yourselves below.

King Kong is coming to rule the Universal Orlando Resort next year in a groundbreaking attraction called Skull Island: Reign of Kong, which looks awesome! We've got some concept art along with a trailer and announcement video for you to check out. Here's an official description of the new ride:

As you journey deep into a mysterious island, your 1930s expedition is swarmed by enormous prehistoric predators. Your only hope is the most colossal ape ever to walk the earth. As the gargantuan beasts fight for dominance, you will just fight to survive. Skull Island: REIGN OF KONG – A multi-sensory, multi-dimensional new ride for your life. Coming Summer 2016 to Universal’s Islands of Adventure® at Universal Orlando® Resort.

Executive producer Mike West goes into more detail about the epic adventure ride, and the challenge of bringing it to life:

"You’ll navigate perilous jungles, explore ancient temple structures and encounter hostile natives – and that’s only the beginning. Throughout the rest of your excursion, you’ll brave foreboding caves crawling with prehistoric creatures, fend off unspeakable terrors – and even come face-to-face with the colossal Kong himself.

"The challenge is also to tell the next generation of the Kong legend, all while delivering an unparalleled, revolutionary theme park experience guests have come to expect from Universal.  We have done exactly that with Reign of Kong – you’ll be pulled into a powerful, intense fight for survival as you discover a side of the iconic beast that has never been revealed…until now.

“King Kong is a Hollywood movie legend and a huge part of both our history and our future. He gives us the opportunity to tap into everything that makes our film history so special and everything that makes our theme park attractions so spectacular. We can’t wait to bring him to life in such an epic way.”

Universal Creative is working very closely with Peter Jackson, on the development of the ride. As you know he directed the 2005 film King Kong, which wasn't really embraced by fans. The guy was great at bring those visuals to life, so I'm sure his input on the ride came in handy. 

There a new movie in development called Kong: Skull Island with Tom Hiddleston and J.K. Simmons starring, and that will be released on March 17th, 2017. I assume this attraction is supposed to tie in with that. 

Below you'll find the trailer, announcement video, and concept art.

Here's a great cosplay mashup that combines Harley Quinn from the DC universe with Sith Twi'lek from the Star Wars universe. The character is being cosplayed by Scarlett Quinn, and the photographs were taken by Wandering Dana. I came across the awesome cosplay over on GeekxGirls.

A bunch of new photos have surfaced from the set of David Ayer's Suicide Squad. They feature the Task Force X team along with an image that reveals one of the locations in the DC universe that the film will take place. If you don't want to know what that location is, it's the last photo in the set. I'll briefly talk about it below the embedded photos.

There is also a shot of Harley Quinn's back that gives us a look at what is written on the back of the jacket she is wearing: "Property of Joker."

The characters included in the photos include Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn; Will Smith as Deadshot; Adam Beach as Slipknot; Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang; Cara Delevingne as Enchantress; Karen Fukuhara as Katana; Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg; Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc; Jay Hernandez as El Diablo; and Scott Eastwood, who is possibly playing Steve Trevor. It looks like they are being escorted into action by military personal.

It seems like fans have been warming up to the looks of the characters in the film. Over the last few days I've been seeing more positive feedback. The David Ayer-directed movie will be released on August 5th, 2016. 

Suicide Squad Set Photos - Task Force X

If you looked at the final photo, then you know the scene takes place in Midway City, which is the home of Silver Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

Via: CBM

When a big blockbuster film hits theaters, fans (myself included) will sometimes consume it and then immediately move on to the next thing. It's a natural thing to do, especially when we often have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to giant summer movies. But before Avengers: Age of Ultron fades too far into the background, let's take a few minutes to appreciate an element that we might not have otherwise given too much thought: the sound design.

A new video from SoundWorks Collection (via The Playlist) dives into the sounds of Joss Whedon's new movie, detailing how the sounds for Quicksilver, Ultron, and more were created. An interview with Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Designer Christopher Boyes is intercut with a lot of footage from the film, which is a nice reminder of some of the better sequences from the movie. Man, that Hulkbuster scene...so cool.

I haven't yet caught up with the first season of Sony's Powers TV series, but I've heard it was pretty solid. The series was available to pay for if you have a PlayStation, but free for those with PlayStation Plus, which still kind of sucks for those out there who dig comic book adaptations but have, for example, an Xbox instead.

Hopefully Sony will drop the first season onto its streaming service Crackle (the same place where Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is available) so more of us can check it out, but in the meantime, THR reports that the show will be coming back for a second season.

"There is a lot to look forward to in season two for both new and existing fans of the series, as we broaden the Powers universe and bring even more of the fan-favorite characters and storylines to life," said Jamie Erlicht, president of programming and development at Sony Pictures Television.

The show stars Sharlto Copley, Susan Heyward, Eddie Izzard, Noah Taylor, and more. If you haven't seen the pilot episode yet, you can still watch that for free by clicking here. Powers will return for a second season sometime in 2016.

“Powers” is an edgy dramatic series that follows the lives of two homicide detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, who are assigned to investigate cases involving people with superhuman abilities, referred to as Powers. Set amidst today’s paparazzi culture, “Powers” asks the questions, what if the world was full of superheroes who aren’t actually heroic at all? What if all that power was just one more excuse for mischief, mayhem, murder, and endorsement deals? Enter the men and women of the Powers Division, the brave people in charge of protecting humans like us and keeping the peace with these over-paid, commercialized, god-like men and women who glide through the sky imposing their power over the mortals who both worship and fear them.

Man and Dog is a wonderfully amusing animated short that was made as an advertisement for Coca-Cola. It follows a man who begrudgingly takes his dog out for a walk in the park, and it highlights the perspective of the dog and how he sees things. The short is charming as hell, and the music included in the video is called “Down in My Heart,” sung by Pete Seeger.

With a little help from his best friend and a bottle of Coke, one man discovers that a change in perspective can make all the difference in the world.

We really don’t know what Marvel has in store for the Hulk in any future installments of the MCU movies. After Avengers: Age of Ultron, the fate of the character is still up in the air. Ruffalo still has four films on his contract with the studio, and in an interview with Collider, he talks about the character and where we might see him next.

"I think it's four [movies] now. But that could always go further... I could show up in another character's movie. I could do Avengers 3 and 4, I could do a Hulk standalone - like any combination of those things. Up to four or five." 

I’ve been wondering if we might see the character back in action when Captain America: Civil War comes around, but there’s been no indication of that yet. When asked about that movie specifically, Ruffalo said:

"I don't know that I'm in it yet, but sometimes these things happen at the last minute in this world. I really don't know where I fit in from here on out, and I'm not sure they do. In terms of a stand-alone Hulk movie, Marvel doesn't really have the rights to that yet; that's still Universal's property. So there's that issue."

That's an issue they might be trying to work out right now. You never know, anything could happen with the Hulk at this point, and if Marvel ends up working out a deal with Universal, maybe we'll see that Planet Hulk solo film many of us have been wanting to see. 

In the meantime I think it’s safe to assume at this point that the Hulk will be back to help save the world in the Avengers: Infinity War films. 

Artist KD Stanton used his amazing artist talents to create this incredible illustration that shows Wolverine being attacked by Deadpool Corps. Even though this is a piece of art, there's a lot of energy and action-packed movement that awesomely brings it to life. If it were a photo, I imagine it was being taken by Spider-Man. 

Fan Poster by Katase6626

I'm incredibly excited to see where Marvel takes Daredevil's story in Season 2. There are so many options for them to play with, and at this point we can only speculate as to what we will see. During a recent interview with IGN, actor Charlie Cox talked about the upcoming season, the new showrunners, upping the ante when it comes to fighting, and the evolution of the suit:

He starts off by saying that it's hard to know what the new showrunners, Doug Petrie (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Marco Ramirez (Sons of Anarchy), will bring to the next season: 

"The show has had such a great response that I imagine we’ll be wanting to stick in that world and tonally feel we’re in the same universe. It’s very hard to know – when you’ve got a writer’s room and a showrunner it’s very hard to know who’s influencing the dialogue. Who’s influencing the structure of the scripts, the tone of it. I imagine it’s very much a collaborative process."

In terms of fight sequences, that first season was incredible. I imagine they are going to up the ante this next time around. When asked about that, he said:

"One thing that we tried to do in the first season is we meet Matt Murdock/masked vigilante who’s not the best fighter quite yet. He’s not had very much experience, he makes a lot of mistakes, he takes a hell of a beating on numerous occasions. Then by the end of the show he’s getting smarter, he’s training, he’s getting stronger and he’s honing his skills as it were, so when we get to the second season we’ll probably see it go further in that direction and he’ll being even better at his Daredevil activity and hopefully that will change and shift the fight sequences and choreography enough to give the fans something new."

As far as potential new characters that we might see in the series, Cox gives us some choices on who he thinks is most likely to show up:

"I think in our show we’re more likely to see the likes of Bullseye, The Punisher and Elektra. I don’t know if any of those characters will appear, and also I don’t know what’s going to happen with Wilson Fisk. He’s certainly not out of the picture. Hopefully he’ll come back."

It's good to know that Fisk will be back, and I would sure love to see Bullseye, The Punisher, and Elektra eventually all show up in the series. If the series keeps going, I'm sure it will eventually happen. As far as the suit goes, it seems like it will also continue to evolve:

"As people who have seen the show will know, we do get to the more recognizable classic red suit by the end of the series. But at this point we don’t have the ‘DD’ on the chest so maybe that’s something that will evolve with this suit as we go further along the line. Maybe he’ll decide to get that printed on."

Season 2 is scheduled to premiere sometime in 2016, and I'll be looking forward to it! You can watch the interview below:

I've never spent time trying to "mod" anything in video games, but it seems like every day or two I come across a new one that cracks me up. Since Grand Theft Auto V just came to the PC, there are floods of new videos coming out featuring some truly insane mods and all sorts of crazy tweaks to the game. This is one of my favorites that I've come across: this mod allows users to shoot cars instead of bullets from any gun in their possession. Check out the chaotic action in the video below, and download the mod for free right here:

Via: Kotaku

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 has racked up over $75 million worldwide, so like it or not, Kevin James remains a viable movie star. He'll share the screen with his frequent co-star Adam Sandler in the upcoming video game movie Pixels, but now James has lined up a new film in which to star. According to a new press release, he'll play the lead in The True Memoirs of an International Assassin, which is an original film written by Jeff Morris and directed by Kick-Ass 2 helmer Jeff Wadlow.

Morris' screenplay, which made the Black List, follows a mild-mannered accountant and would-be author (James) who is mistaken for a killer-for-hire when his fictional novel about an international assassin is published as a true story. Trying to escape his sudden fame and celebrity, he heads to Belize but is immediately entangled in an assassination plot. Thrown into a world of real danger, he must find a way to channel his lead character Colt Rodgers and save the day.

Sounds like a zany fish-out-of-water comedy, the kind of thing James is perfect for. I'm in a weird position of sort of liking the guy but absolutely hating most of his movies, so I'm always hopeful that he'll headline something I end up enjoying, so this could be the one. At the very least, it should be interesting to see what the action looks like with Wadlow at the helm.

We have both a written and a video review of Mortal Kombat X on the site already, so I'd recommend checking those out if you're looking for some solid analysis of the game itself. But if you're just here to see it get made fun of, then you've come to the right place. The team at Screenjunkies and Smosh have put together an Honest Game Trailer for the blood-soaked sequel, and we've embedded it below for you to enjoy. Let us know what you think about the game (or this video) in the comments below.