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Jumat, 09 Desember 2016

Iron Fist 'is no white saviour' in Netflix's newest Marvel show

16.00 Bilal Chamdy No comments

Thursday 8 December 2016

Game of Thrones actor Finn Jones enters the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Iron Fist

Netflix

WIRED recently visited the set of Marvel's Iron Fist, observing how Netflix shoots and converts a show for 4K HDR video quality.

While behind the scenes, we spoke with Iron Fist showrunner Scott Buck and Allie Goss, Netflix's vice president of Original series. Here, the creators discuss the genesis of the series, controversy over the casting, and the impact of Marvel's superheroes.

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Iron Fist is the fourth of the originally announced Marvel series, following Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, and leading into team-up series The Defenders. While the heroes chosen for the crossover are all "street level" characters, Iron Fist himself is the most supernaturally tinged.

Power-wise, he's no Thor, but Danny Rand â€" Iron Fist's secret identity - did grow up in a mystical realm known as K'un-Lun, where he trained in martial arts and fighting skills long lost to the mortal world. He eventually gained the power and title of the Iron Fist; the ability to channel his chi into explosive strikes. Don't expect to see too much of that backstory laid bare in the first season, though.

"The mythological aspect, we sort of keep as a mystery that lingers throughout the series. We haven't fully explored it in this first season," Buck tells WIRED. "We approach Danny Rand as a person, and try to see the world through his eyes. As for the flashiness of the fist, it's dealt with in what we hope is the most realistic way possible.

Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), Danny Rand, and recurring Marvel supporting character Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) are the core trio of Iron Fist

Netflix

The mythological aspects of the character could have made him the hardest character to fit into the mix â€" and indeed, is probably the reason Iron Fist was last in the line-up to debut, giving the creators longer to get their approach just right. For Buck, it was Danny Rand's personality that appealed most, though, as well as the opportunity to explore who he is after he returns to present day New York after being presumed lost and dead for decades.

"To me, when I first encountered the character, it seemed to me like these were not the greatest super powers in the world. Like, 'all he can do is punch really hard?'," Buck recalls. "But that's sort of what appealed to me about it â€" he has this one gift, and he can use it some ways, but in the rest of [his] life, it's just not all that significant."

"[Danny's] greatest gift is just his martial arts skills, and that's not a super power â€" that's something he struggled for and earned by training day and night throughout his whole childhood," he continues. "So from that perspective, we do try to keep it very real and grounded."

From Goss' perspective, the human side of the characters is what's been most important about the Marvel shows Netflix has produced so far.

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"What we've strived to do together, both on this show and prior, is just to tell a great character driven story first, and a superhero story second," Goss says. "We don't want to downplay powers or abilities, or the fact these characters are derived out of comics and graphic novels â€" that's what's so special about them. But we want to expose them in a way where you really get to see the character's story, that's a little more aimed towards adults and explores these people in a way beyond just the 'superhero'. That feels a little generic, given how deep these characters have the ability to be."

The capacity of the comics to tell compelling, character-driven stories first and super-powered fables second was what originally impressed Goss about the source material. Discovering there was such depth to them initially came as a surprise.

"I remember when I first started reading comics years ago, I literally called a friend who was into them and I was like 'oh my gosh, these are just good stories!'," she says. "I didn't realise that, but once you get into it, they're rich full characters with so much to explore."

Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing is a long-time ally of Iron Fist in the comics - a skilled swordswoman and renowned martial artist in her own right

Netflix

Long-time comics fans are well aware of that depth, and the decades of continuity that some characters have. It's a trick the Netflix Marvel shows have been employing since the first season of Daredevil, where packets of drugs being distributed by crime lord Wilson Fisk â€" the Kingpin â€" bear the insignia of the Steel Serpent, one of Danny's major foes from the printed page.

"Sometimes things are done because they're fun, just drop them in and go 'Eh, the next series will figure them out!'," Buck says of the continuity between the series. "There's a bit of that, but I do speak to the other showrunners, and because we are leading into The Defenders, we have to leave our show in a very specific place [but] we do plant seeds and stories that will then come to fruition."

Ultimately, each series also needs to stand on its own merits though. Buck continues, "there does have to be a lot of co-operation between the different groups but other than that, we work distinctly by ourselves."

Beyond 4K: Netflix lets us in on plans to push the HDR revolution - starting with Iron Fist

The production of Iron Fist hasn't been without controversy, though. Aside from ill-founded rumours it had been cancelled due to its challenging mythological aspects, supposedly being replaced by The Punisher in the pre-Defenders billing (instead, Punisher is getting his own show, spinning out of the events of Daredevil season two), there has been debate around the character's ethnicity.

Iron Fist was created in 1974 by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane, inspired by the popularity of kung-fu cinema at the time. While badly dubbed Shaw Brothers films filled American grindhouse theatres, the comic book industry reacted with colourful variants on the genre, including the likes of Bronze Tiger at DC and Shang-Chi, another Marvel character.

Iron Fist, proving books are more powerful than violence

Netflix

In translating Iron Fist to another medium â€" especially one already dominated by Caucasian characters â€" many fans suggested Marvel should reimagine Danny Rand as an Asian American hero, even giving rise to the trending hashtag #AsianAmericanIronFist. It was a complicated issue â€" ignoring fidelity to the comics, you're left with broadly two options; either you end up with an Asian character whose 'superpower' is kung-fu, hitting the all Asians know martial arts trope, or stick with a white character who somehow becomes magically better at kung-fu and saves the day â€" the Mighty Whitey clichÃ© at best, the problematic white saviour syndrome at worst.

The character and his background was originally unknown to Buck before getting involved with the series.

"When Marvel came to me with this idea, I had never heard of Iron Fist or Danny Rand," Buck says. "I had never read the comics. What [executive producer] Jeph Loeb pitched to me specifically was this character, and that's what pulled me in, what intrigued me."

"The other aspects are things I've only learned about afterwards," Buck continues. "I can say definitively that Danny Rand is no 'white saviour'. He's trying to save himself, if anything."

Ultimately, Buck and Marvel decided to stay true to the comics, while hoping to avoid the clichÃ©s. While the version of Danny Rand that viewers will meet when the series debuts in March will still be Caucasian, he may be different to the comics in other ways.

"One of the things that appealed to me about Danny was that even though there have been several comic books written about him, there wasn't this great big backlog of information or stories about him," Buck says. "It allowed us to be a little bit more creative and take a slightly different direction with this character."

"Also, if you do go back and read the Iron Fist comics, some of them show a completely different origin story from one series to another, and Danny is very different character in different comics. That gave us the freedom to create the character we specifically wanted to."

Iron Fist season one will premiere on Netflix on March 17, 2017.

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Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Wants to Be Approachable Yet Complex

16.00 Bilal Chamdy No comments

How the fighter is trying to appeal to newcomers and the hardcore through elegant design choices.

By Daniel Krupa

Back in 2011, I bought a copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, with the aspiration of mastering its systems. Unfortunately as someone who has no real fighting game experience and is inherently lazy, I found it a pretty intimidating experience. In fact, I can still see it on my shelf now as I write this, quietly judging me. So when Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite says it wants to be accessible, I appreciate the olive branch.

I also realise that, for some, a word like â€˜accessibilityâ€™ has other strong connotations when applied to a genre like fighting games. To the hardcore it might imply a lack of depth, but as Bill Rosemann â€" Creative Director at Marvel Games â€" tells me, thatâ€™s necessarily true and itâ€™s something Marvel has a lot of experience with.

â€œA very key thing to Marvel in everything we create is accessible,â€ says Rosemann. â€œWhether you start reading the comics, or you start watching a TV show, or youâ€™re seeing a film â€" we always say this may be their first comic, TV show, or film. It may be Doctor Strange or it may be Captain America: Civil War.

"So we start all of our stories very accessible, but we reward long term fans â€" so the more you read, the more you watch, you begin to make all of these connections. You watch a film, and you see Nick Fury approach another one of these characters and make these connections. The more you read, the more you watch, the more you see that it is very complex and interesting, and we reward you with your time. The game is the same way: very accessible, the more you play, the more you experiment... weâ€™re going to reward all that time youâ€™re putting into it.â€

What weâ€™re trying to do is make the game more elegant and simplified but still as complex and hardcore as itâ€™s ever been.

Marvel has the mindset that any issue could be a personâ€™s first, and that approach is informing Infinite. But as with previous games, it can still lead to a feeling, especially among die-hard fans, that their game is being taken away or diluted. I remember a similar conversation hovering around Dark Souls 2, yet that game turned out to be just as demanding as its predecessor. It does, however, make some of its systems easier to understand, which is no bad thing. Dark Souls doesnâ€™t suffer noobs gladly.

â€œWhat weâ€™re trying to do is make the game more elegant and simplified but still as complex and hardcore as itâ€™s ever been,â€ says Mike Jones, Executive Producer at Marvel Games. â€œBut we do want it to be approachable.â€ Jones stressed this was a new phase in the series â€" hence no â€˜4â€™ in the title â€" and part of that goal is to attract a wider audience but not at the expense of alienating long-time fans.

â€œSay if you just love these characters and you want to hear a great story and see some great actions â€" itâ€™s completely approachable in terms of how the systems work and in terms of how the controls work, but that depth is there if you want to find.â€

Infinity Stones: Elegant Complexity

Even though the team wouldnâ€™t be drawn into specifics, Peter Rosas - aka Combofiend - a former pro-player and an associate producer on the project teased where that complexity is to be found.

â€œThereâ€™s a very heavy technical aspect required to play the old ones,â€ says Rosas. â€œMvC2 is very unforgiving if youâ€™re not very technical. But with this one [...] because itâ€™s 2 vs. 2. Itâ€™s instantly that much more accessible. What you have is players who can just jump in, pick two of their favourite heroes; they donâ€™t have to worry about assists. Theyâ€™re not bogged down with all these decisions. Character, character, and your stone.â€

Ryu activates the Power Stone.

The Infinity Stones â€" a recurring plot device in the Marvel Universe and soon to be a huge element in the MCU â€" unlock Infiniteâ€™s complexity and depth.

â€œWe understand that three characters has been a staple for the last 16 years or so,â€ says Rosas. â€œTo that effect we looking at the stones, and we were looking at a third character, and when you think about how teams were in the older games: what you had were two characters and then a third character who was a function, whether it be some type of pick-up or just for their assist â€" they werenâ€™t picked because they were necessarily liked. They were picked for their functionality.

â€œSo then taking that into account we thought what if we used the stones as functionality. What if we applied the stones to the team and then you modify the team entirely. So now you have the stone acting as a third character but also more than as the third character. The stone modifies the team in a way that really lets a player to create their own identity.

â€œSay I play a team of Ryu and Captain Marvel, and he plays the same, and he plays the same. But I play the time stone, and he plays with the power stone, and he plays with the mind stone. Suddenly, our tactics are very different. Our strategies are very different, and now weâ€™re having a discussion which team is the best? What is the best way to customise the team? Whatâ€™s the best strategy? It begins this discussion now. Thereâ€™s much more customisation. Thereâ€™s much more depth.â€

While the specifics werenâ€™t forthcoming, each stones seemingly applies a team-wide buff, which can be used to either compensate for a fighterâ€™s weakness, amplify one of their strengths, or add an element they lack entirely.

â€œSo you see with Ryu [in the trailer] he uses the power stone to knock Captain Marvel against the wall,â€ explains Rosas. â€œSo suddenly characters who didnâ€™t have that ability have a way to extend combos or knock the opponent back. There are multiple uses for them. In addition to that, thereâ€™s a final effect weâ€™re looking into.â€

The Infinity Stones unlock thousands of different permutations to play around with. Or as Rosas describes it: itâ€™s â€œfor guys who want to sit in the lab and discover things through endless possibilities.â€

Captain Marvel uses the Time Stone.

In the Marvel Universe, the Infinity Stones are among the most powerful objects, and in a neat move Infinite is applying that story logic to the fighting genre.

â€œThey allow you to break the rules of the universe,â€ says Jones. â€œSo thinking about it through a fighting game lens: what rules of fighting games would the Infinity stones allow you to break? So weâ€™re looking at attack, mobility, vitality, space control â€" all those things where weâ€™re adding tool to a characterâ€™s toolset that they might not have otherwise.â€

â€œSo with Captain Marvel [in the trailer],â€ says Rosas. â€œYou saw she activated the time stone. All her attacks were extremely fast. She broke the law of time.â€

And Jones expects this Infinity Stone system to drive the gameâ€™s meta in the long-run:

â€œYou look at the history of fighting games [...] people have their favourites, but ultimately what happens is only five or six [characters] who have the tools surface to the top and are worth playing if you want to be competitive. What the [Infinity stones] allow you to augment the entire roster, and make up for weaknesses or double-down on strengths to create strategies and, hopefully, the metagame discussion we end up hearing is Ryu with the mind stone is OP, or Captain with the time zone is the best thing you could possibly do, but if you do X and use this set-up itâ€™s way better to use the reality stone... or whatever it is. Thatâ€™s sort of the lab experimentation, hardcore fighting game that we hope emerge.â€

Read on for how Infinite is taking cues from Civil War and who we can expect to appear in the character roster.

Continues

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Marvel's X-Men ResurrXion: Everything You Need to Know

13.30 Bilal Chamdy No comments

The X-Men have had a hard couple of years in the comics, having had to continuously fight for mutantkindâ€™s survival.

However all of thatâ€™s going to change come spring, when, following the conclusion of its big event series Inhumans Vs. X-Men, Marvel will be launching a whole slew of new titles under the banner of ResurrXion. Instead, the focus will be on what the X-Men are going to do with future theyâ€™d spent all this time fighting for.

â€œResurrXion is all about embracing the [X-Menâ€™s] original dream of coexisting with humans and fighting together to make a better world. All the books in some way, shape, or form, embrace that idea,â€ explains Daniel Ketchum, one of the editors overseeing the entire X-Men line up. â€œWeâ€™re going to get back to flights, and tights, and capes, and all the classic X-Men tropes. We very much want to harken back to that era where itâ€™s the most classic iteration of the X-Men.â€

One way in which the launch will do this is by leaning into the nostalgia of older series, with titles like X-Men Gold, X-Men Blue, and Generation X.

The other is by featuring new costumes. For Blue, artist Jamie McKelvie is in charge of the designs. For Gold, series artist Ardian Syaf will take the helm. And to welcome the new change, EW has an exclusive first look below at Syafâ€™s rough sketches as he worked out the final looks of each characterâ€™s costume.

â€œ[Syaf] designed all of the costumes to specifically harken back to that classic golden age flavor,â€ says Ketchum. â€œThey should in some way, feel familiar.

With Marvel launching so many series, EW asked Ketchum andÂ X-Men line editorÂ Mark Paniccia to break down what readers can expect from the rest of the series, as well as X-Men: Prime, a special standalone comic thatâ€™s meant to serve as a primer for the X-Men universe going forward. You can look at the exclusive cover reveal below.Â

X-Men: PRIME

Ketchum says that this will be a perfect jumping in point for fans looking to get into the X-Men when ResurreXion starts since the single, standalone issue is meant to serve as a primer. With that in mind, Ketchum and Paniccia called on most of the writers whoâ€™ll be helming one of the new X-Men series to contribute. â€œItâ€™s a book that represents the X-Men line going forward, as everyone plants their seeds,â€ explains Ketchum, of the comic, which will pickup directly after Inhumans Vs. X-Men ends. â€œWeâ€™re just at the tail end of the war. Theyâ€™re literally picking up the pieces.â€

Ken Lashley will be the artist drawing a bulk of the art for the issue. â€œHeâ€™s currently involved in the X-Men, and will be involved moving forward as well, so he was the right guy to pivot us from Inhumans Vs. X-Men to ResurrXion,â€ says Ketchum.Â

Image Credit: Marvel

X-Men Gold

Writer: Marc Guggenheim Artist: Ardian Syaf

Fan favorite and long time X-Man Kitty Pryde will finally be leading her own team of X-Men, consisting of Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Old Man Logan and Rachel Grey. With the X-Men line focusing on more hopeful storylinesâ€"and tapping into some of the nostalgia of older titlesâ€"Ketchum says it makes sense to see Kitty in a leadership position. â€œShe really was the Xavier student,â€ says Ketchum. â€œSo in a lot of ways, the dream has come full circle. Kitty is now the person picking up the mantle and leading the team forward in the name of Xavierâ€™s dream.â€Â

X-Men Blue

Writer: Cullen Bunn Artist: Jorge Molina

With their mentor Charles Xavier gone, the original five X-Menâ€"Jean Grey, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, and Angelâ€"will not only be dealing with being stranded in the present day, but theyâ€™ll also be aligning themselves with Magneto, one of their greatest former foes. A large part of this has to do with humankind not considering mutants to be as much of a threat anymore. â€œMagneto sees that as an opportunity he wants to seize,â€ explains Paniccia of the unexpected partnership. â€œHe makes a deal with them to take down anyone whoâ€™s going to pose a threat and disrupt the chance to have a peaceful, if not, neutral relationship with humanity.â€

And this is just one of the big changes in the series. Another one is that Jean Grey will lead the team instead of Scott. â€œ[Writer Cullen Bunn] and I just really felt that this is the perfect place for us to see her rise to the occasion and take control of the team. Thereâ€™s no reason she couldnâ€™t lead the team.â€ Whatâ€™s more, Paniccia says that there will be new members joining the team, with the first one being hinted at in the seriesâ€™ first issue. â€œAs far as Jean goes, sheâ€™s the only woman on the team right now. This is a reflection of the fact that these are the original five. But the membershipâ€™s not going to stay at five.â€

Image Credit: Marvel

Jean Grey

Writer: Dennis Hopeless Artist: Victor Ibanez

Not only will Jean Grey be leading a team of X-Men this spring, but sheâ€™ll also be helming her first ever solo series, which sees her taking her future into her own hands in an even more direct way. â€œJeanâ€™ll get a premonition that the future she feared is actually a lot closer than she thought. The Phoenix is a very real threat,â€ says Ketchum of the premise for the series. â€œShe realizes she is not where she needs to be to fight that thing.â€

Ketchum says that writer Dennis Hopelessâ€™ pitch for the series was that in between her adventures with the team Jean Grey will also be traveling the Marvel Universe in preparation for this encounter. â€œSheâ€™s going to study with Doctor Strange and maybe have an adventure alongside Ghost Rider,â€ says Ketchum. â€œAnyone who knows something about other forces or being possessed, or speaks to the mission sheâ€™s undergoing sheâ€™s going to have an adventure with.â€Â

Iceman

Writer: Sina Grace Artist: Alessandro Vitti

â€œThe book is primarily focused on older Iceman, because itâ€™s really his journey, informed by the younger Icemanâ€™s journey,â€ explains Ketchum of the aim of Bobby Drakeâ€™s first solo series. â€œYounger Iceman is a hero who knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be as a hero. Heâ€™s completely well adjusted in many ways that adult Bobby is not.â€ Itâ€™s recognizing this that inspires the older (and now, openly gay) X-Man to reconsider his legacy beyond being known as â€œThe X-Man who tells jokesâ€ while also fully exploring his Omega-level powers. Ketchum says that the series will see the character â€œfocus on him getting his act together both in his superhero life and also as a human being.â€Â

Cable

Writer: James Robinson Artist: Carlos Pacheco

The third and final character getting his own solo book as part of ResurrXion is none other than Cable. â€œWith Xavier, Scott Summers, and Logan fallen, Cable is now the patriarchal figure of the X-Men line,â€ explains Paniccia. â€œThe big man gets the big solo series.â€ The seriesâ€"which Paniccia says is one of the darker of the ResurrXion line upâ€"will see the X-Man traveling back and forth through different time periods in order to fix time itself. â€œItâ€™s one of the best things about Cable in one book,â€ says Ketchum. â€œCable jumping through time, and kicking ass, with preposterously huge guns and even bigger shoulder pads.â€Â

Image Credit: Marvel

Image Credit: Marvel

Generation X

Writer: Christina Strain Artist: Amilcar Pinna

â€œNot all mutants are created equal,â€ says Ketchum of series writer Christina Strainâ€™s pitch for the series. â€œWhen you look at the line of X-Men, not every mutant is destined to be a world-saving X-Man. Some are just kids with a bunch of extra eyeballs.â€ And itâ€™s exactly these young mutants that the series will focus onâ€"a group of â€œlovable losersâ€ led by none other than Jubilee, and includes Nature Girl, Eye Boy, Bling, and Quentin Quire just to name a few.

â€œYouâ€™re going to see these kids go through all the growing pains of finding their way, finding out who you love, trust, or donâ€™t,â€ says Ketchm of what you can expect from the series â€œ[Theyâ€™ll be] learning those hard lessons and fighting for their lives all along.â€ Ketchum adds that part of the fun of the book is watching these inexperienced teens encounter villains theyâ€™re not really equipped to go up against. â€œWhat does a girl who talks to squirrels do against a sentinel?â€

And just like Blue and Gold, the series will pay homage to the series from which its name comesâ€"and not just be continuing to be a book about Xavierâ€™s School for Gifted Youngsters. Teases Ketchum, â€œOne of the villains is actually from the original series because we wanted to make sure we paid homage to the predecessors.â€Â

Weapon X

Writer: Greg Pak Artist: Greg Land

â€œWeapon X is back as a reaction to [mutantsâ€™] resilience to extinction. Itâ€™s like bringing out a can of industrial Raid,â€ explains Paniccia of the titular program. â€œTheyâ€™re going to wipe [mutants] out for good this time.â€ And as part of the programâ€™s bid to extinguish mutants forever, theyâ€™ll primarily be going after the mutants they know are going to â€œfight dirty,â€ including Old Man Logan, Sabretooth, Warpath, Lady Deathstrike, and Domino.

And with the seriesâ€™ core group being a mix of heroes and villains, the teamâ€™s dynamic is going to definitely be interesting. â€œLogan and Sabretooth have no love for each other, so it speaks volumes for how effective and dangerous the Weapon X program is for him to end up seeking out Sabretooth and forming an alliance with him,â€ says Paniccia. â€œItâ€™s going to be a dark book. Itâ€™s arguably our darkest book out of the line, and is going to have some really shocking moments in it.â€Â

X-Men: PRIMEÂ will be releasedÂ Spring 2017. You can look at the rest of the seriesâ€™ covers below.