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https://nerdist.com/article/life-size-x-wing-fighter-available-for-sale-star-wars/
What would you do with your very own X-wing fighter? Let all the Star Wars fans in your life take joy rides? Buzz the tower while blasting “Danger Zone?” Join the Resistance and fight the Empire? This isn’t just a fun thought experiment, there is actually one up for sale in Atlanta, Georgia. A doctor spent eight years building it and takes the ship to events like Star Wars Night at baseball games and the DragonCon parade. But now it’s up for sale, as shown off in the amusing music video below.
The builder shares other videos of the X-wing making the rounds, including training videos on how to use the controls, on the XWingHerself YouTube channel. While it doesn’t actually fly, it can drive on the small wheels hidden inside the legs. The S-foils also open and close to give that real X-wing fighter look. And there’s room for R2-D2 to sit behind the cockpit and help navigate, or just provide sassy backseat driver comments.
There’s no price listed for this X-wing so it’s anyone’s guess how much it will go for. The builder plans to donate all proceeds from the sale to support Ukraine. Another X-wing recently sold at auction for over $2 million, but it was an original screen-used prop miniature of Red Leader. If you don’t want to drop all your credits, Poe Dameron’s ship is on loan to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Or perhaps you will see this one while out and about in Atlanta.
We learned about the X-wing up for sale thanks to Boing Boing. It’s not the only amazing fan-built X-wing we’ve come across over the years. Apparently it’s many people’s passion project to have own of their own, even if it just takes up space in their garage. And who can blame them, it’s the coolest ship in the galaxy after all.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.
The post Count Your Credits, This Life-Size X-wing Is Up for Sale appeared first on Nerdist.
What would you do with your very own X-wing fighter? Let all the Star Wars fans in your life take joy rides? Buzz the tower while blasting “Danger Zone?” Join the Resistance and fight the Empire? This isn’t just a fun thought experiment, there is actually one up for sale in Atlanta, Georgia. A doctor spent eight years building it and takes the ship to events like Star Wars Night at baseball games and the DragonCon parade. But now it’s up for sale, as shown off in the amusing music video below.
The builder shares other videos of the X-wing making the rounds, including training videos on how to use the controls, on the XWingHerself YouTube channel. While it doesn’t actually fly, it can drive on the small wheels hidden inside the legs. The S-foils also open and close to give that real X-wing fighter look. And there’s room for R2-D2 to sit behind the cockpit and help navigate, or just provide sassy backseat driver comments.
There’s no price listed for this X-wing so it’s anyone’s guess how much it will go for. The builder plans to donate all proceeds from the sale to support Ukraine. Another X-wing recently sold at auction for over $2 million, but it was an original screen-used prop miniature of Red Leader. If you don’t want to drop all your credits, Poe Dameron’s ship is on loan to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Or perhaps you will see this one while out and about in Atlanta.
We learned about the X-wing up for sale thanks to Boing Boing. It’s not the only amazing fan-built X-wing we’ve come across over the years. Apparently it’s many people’s passion project to have own of their own, even if it just takes up space in their garage. And who can blame them, it’s the coolest ship in the galaxy after all.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.
The post Count Your Credits, This Life-Size X-wing Is Up for Sale appeared first on Nerdist.
The first Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 trailer finally dropped, giving fans their first real look at Peacemaker’s Chukwudi Iwuji as the film’s main villain, the High Evolutionary. So who is Marvel’s maddest scientist? What are his powers? And how will he play into the future of the MCU? Get ready to get cosmic as we’re here to answer all your burning High Evolutionary questions.
Who Is the High Evolutionary in Marvel Comics?
1966’s Thor #133 marks the first reference to the High Evolutionary. He would make his debut on the page in the very next issue, which also included a cameo of the mutant twins who would become such a key part of his comic book lore. With Galactus planning deep space destruction as always, Thor is looking for Jane Foster. It’s on his search that he comes across Mount Wundagore, the High Evolutionary, and his New Men. Pietro and Wanda are going to Mount Wundagore to seek answers about their waning mutant powers.
It wouldn’t be until years later that readers learned who the High Evolutionary truly was thanks to backup stories in The Evolutionary War event. His human name was Herbert Edgar Wyndham and he had once been a successful academic scientist. As a child Herbert became obsessed with genetics and the possibility of “evolving” creatures. But it wasn’t until an encounter with a strange man—later revealed to be a rogue Inhuman—who enlightened him on how to “crack the genetic code” that Herbert made his dreams a reality. His experiments made him an outcast in the scientific field and he moved to Mount Wundagore with his research partner, Jonathan Drew, father of Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew. There he built his futuristic home. He began to evolve animals, creating a series of humanoid beasts known as the New Men.
How Is the High Evolutionary Connected to the Scarlet Witch?
Herbert’s first appearance alluded to a connection to the Maximoffs. A flashback in 1974’s Giant-Size Avengers #1 teased a vital Mount Wundagore backstory around the twins’ birth. Finally, in 1979’s Avengers #185-187, Herbert’s full impact on the twins’ lives came to light. It was during this iconic arc that readers learned their “true history.” Their mother sought refuge on Mount Wundagore after their father gained powers and went mad “raving with a desire to rule the world.” The High Evolutionary’s cow creature known as Bova delivered the twins and soon their mother left the children with the bovine midwife. While Bova tried to give the twins to the hero known as the Whizzer, he chose to run away. Eventually, the Maximoffs came and adopted the twins.
What does all this have to do with Wanda’s powers? Chthon “marked” her at her birth. We learn this as Chthon possesses Wanda. Speaking through Wanda, Chthon tells the Avengers that Mount Wundagore was created to imprison him and the Darkhold. Inevitably, someone used the Darkhold and Chthon was freed when this knowledge fell into the hands of the wrong person. Eventually, the demon is defeated. But in that moment Chthon decides to imbue baby Wanda with his magic, creating arguably the most famous origin of the Scarlet Witch.
How Is the High Evolutionary Connected to Adam Warlock?
In the comics, Adam Warlock and the High Evolutionary are deeply connected in a way that would make sense if translated to the big screen in the upcoming Guardians movie. Remember how we first met Adam Warlock in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 stinger? Adam was in a giant cocoon, looked after by the High Priestess of the Sovereign, Ayesha. Ayesha calls her creation “Him” (as in Adam’s first appearance in the Fantastic Four) before deciding to name him Adam.
The reason why this all plays into the High Evolutionary joining the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 cast goes back to 1972’s Marvel Premiere #1. Bringing the story of Adam Warlock to life, the issue digs deep into his past. Created by scientists on Earth, the High Evolutionary later found Adam’s body floating in a cocoon in space. In the comics Herbert adopts Adam, names him Warlock and places an emerald upon his forehead. The comics would later reveal the emerald as the Soul Gem. It feels highly likely that we could see some version of this come to the screen.
How Will the High Evolutionary Fit Into the MCU?
The trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 gave us our first real glimpse of the Evolutionary in action, showing what appears to be his part in Rocket’s origin story. Like the comics, he “evolved” Rocket from an ordinary animal into something akin to the beings he created in the comics. We also saw a world that looked just like Counter-Earth, the artificial world he created populated by his animal/human hybrids. Given his long history with the character Adam Warlock, who is also in the film in a major role, it makes sense that Counter-Earth plays a part in the story. The trailer also shows him running people on giant hamster wheels, further blurring the lines between humans and animals.
We’re guessing that the High Evolutionary’s most important role right now will be a cosmic one. Playing the villain in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would be a smart way to introduce him to the MCU. It would follow the comics’ path of presenting him first as a powerful and Machiavellian scientist and then later introducing the human truth of his path. Now that Ms. Marvel established the mutant gene in the MCU it feels very intentional to introduce a famed geneticist. As to whether the High Evolutionary ever visits Mount Wundagore or create Bova… well, we can dream.
Additional reporting by Eric Diaz.
Originally published July 27, 2022.
The post Who Is GUARDIAN OF THE GALAXY’s High Evolutionary? His Marvel Comics Origins and Powers, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.
Typically, American Black folks don’t fool around with the dead. We may respect, revere, and reference them, but talking with them and solving their problems is usually considered taboo. However, as of late, we’re being included in stories that allow us to explore what some would consider the mystical. That’s what makes Riele Downs’ title role in Darby of the Dead intriguing.
BGN met with Downs via video chat to discuss her new film, how she connected with the character, and her passion for fashion.
Tell us about your upcoming film Darby and the Dead.
It’s a supernatural take on a high school film, which is interesting because I haven’t seen a lot of those. It’s like Mean Girls with a supernatural twist. It centers around a girl named Darby Harper who went through something traumatic as a kid and develops the ability to see dead people. She creates this side business where she helps them move on to the next realm. When a freak accident happens at school with one of her frenemies, they’re forced to team up to take care of a similar goal.
How did you connect with your character?
I talked to the director and my castmates, and we basically discovered that there was just so much context that comes with this script. We wanted it to feel deep. We didn’t want it to just feel like a very surface-level high school film, so we did a lot of workshopping into the past. What was my relationship with this frenemy character? What was the day like when my mother passed away? I didn’t have my own experiences to necessarily pull from for those things.
In terms of the ghost stuff, for that I just really put myself mentally in the [character’s] shoes because I’m not about to do anything physical with that. I’d like to keep my distance.
What is the one thing you will always remember about making this film?
Probably that it took place in South Africa. The film doesn’t [take place there], but we shot it there. Obviously, that’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go. It really is the Motherland. It has so much history, and luckily, I got to see some of that after the shoot. I was so busy during the shoot, I never got to really go do much, but afterwards, I stayed for a week. I went to Robben Island. I went to some museums. I took in the arts and culture. Also, I can say firsthand that South Africa is not just some desert land like people think. It’s a country. There are people there, buildings and culture, and great food. That was extremely memorable.
How do you think your role as Charlotte in Henry Danger prepared you for this role?
I would say it’s more in the work that I had to do. I never before this film had to do a role where I had this much of a demand and as an adult. Those hours are totally different, but luckily Henry Danger did definitely work us a lot. I had to go over lines and learn them very quickly. We did an episode per week. We would be at work basically all day having to learn lines very fast, having to act on our feet, improv a little bit. I definitely think what Henry Danger required from me workwise helped prepare me for the work that I had to do for this film.
Tell us about your hobby that you’re passionate about and how you got started.
I just love the visual arts in general so much. I always have, ever since I was a baby. I’d be painting on my mom’s walls — which sorry, Mom — because she didn’t love that. But in terms of fashion designing, literally in kindergarten me and my best friend would design entire lines. I guess it always came naturally, but where it connected in this industry is I realized, “Hey, I have events to go to. There’s actually a platform for me to wear these on now.” I know how to sew, but not to the level I would need to yet, so I found people that could make these outfits and I have somewhere I could showcase them. I have somewhere that will actually impact people if they see this. Why not just marry the two passions together and do something?
Now, I’m working on releasing a line because I just love fashion. I think that it’s definitely a medium where you’re able to express yourself freely, and everyone has their own style. Wearing the right outfit can really just make your day in terms of comfort and just if you feel like you’re expressing yourself.
If you’d like to check out Riele Downs and her supernatural abilities, tune in to watch Darby and the Dead on Hulu December 2, 2022.