Latest news with #MarvelComics


Mint
4 hours ago
- Mint
Elon Musk to launch child-friendly 'Baby Grok' after his ‘social media is bad' warning to kids; netizens ask is it free?
Elon Musk on Sunday, July 20, announced that his artificial intelligence startup (xAI) will develop a child-focussed app called 'Baby Grok'. This comes after his earlier warning to kids stating that the social media is bad for them. 'We're going to make Baby Grok @xAI, an app dedicated to kid-friendly content,' he posted on X. He said it's 'inspired by Baby Groot', a character found in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He didn't disclose other details though regarding this. Musk on May 23 last year said, 'A lot of social media is bad for kids, as there is extreme competition between social media AIs to maximize dopamine!' He had urged 'parents to limit the amount of social media that children can see because they're being programmed by a dopamine-maximizing AI'. Internet users are divided on his new move as some say it's a great idea, whereas others state that children should stay away from screens. One of the users said, 'That's a really good idea.' Another remarked, 'Maybe you should focus on getting the kids away from screens' 'Awesome idea. Would be great for educational purposes,' remarked a third. One of them asked Musk, 'Can you make an educational version and make it for people who want to homeschool their children?' A user reacted, 'Why do you want children on the internet?' Some told him, 'We love you Elon but 'kid-friendly content' is not on the internet. It's reading books and playing outside.' One asked, 'Free for children?' Prior to his announcement, Google had stated that it was developing a dedicated Gemini app for children, aimed at assisting them with homework, answering questions, and helping them create stories. Additionally, parents will have control over their children's access to Gemini through the Family Link app, which allows them to disable the feature if desired. Meanwhile, xAI introduced its latest chatbot, Grok 4, earlier this month, just a few months after the previous version, emphasising the breakneck pace of AI innovation. The launch came shortly after the bot made several antisemitic statements on X, which were met with widespread backlash.

ABC News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Will it be fifth time lucky for the Fantastic Four?
No movie franchise has repeatedly crashed and burned quite like Marvel's Fantastic Four. Over the past 30 or so years, four movies have been made starring the iconic superhero team, with a fifth dropping on July 24. The first of these five films, depending on who you ask, was so bad it wasn't even released. The rebooted second film was mildly successful, but its follow-up less so, effectively ending the series in a blaze of less-than-satisfactory reviews. A fourth film — yet another reboot — shared the Razzie Award for worst film of 2015 with 50 Shades of Grey. Wikipedia puts it bluntly: And yet here we are, on the eve of a fourth reboot and fifth Fantastic Four film. So why is Marvel so keen to see these comic book heroes succeed on the big screen, and why has it failed so often in the past? Before Iron Man, the Hulk, and Spider-Man, there was the Fantastic Four. A "family" of sorts, given superpowers by cosmic space rays, the comic book heroes were created by Stan Lee and Jim Kirby and launched in 1961. Unlike other superheroes, this team was flawed. They bickered and argued, and seemed more like regular people, albeit with remarkable powers. The Fantastic Four comic was a great success from the start, saving a then-struggling Marvel and helping usher in the so-called Silver Age of Comics. In the '80s, the team helped save Marvel a second time when the rights to a Fantastic Four movie were among those sold off to give the comic company a financial boost. This landed the superheroes' cinematic future in the hands of German producer Bernd Eichinger, who paid a rumoured US$250,000 in 1986 for the privilege. Eichinger had enjoyed success producing films such as The Neverending Story and The Name Of The Rose, and would spend his later career producing a mix of high-brow literary adaptations (The Baader Meinhof Complex, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Smilla's Sense of Snow) and schlocky video game adaptations (DOA: Dead or Alive, the Resident Evil series). The German producer spent years shopping around the idea of a Fantastic Four film, but couldn't get the financial backing to get it off the ground. Eichinger had until December 31, 1992 to use the rights or lose them, so he hatched a plan in September that year. He approached legendary B-grade moviemaker Roger Corman to put together a cheap version of a Fantastic Four movie. Corman and director Oley Sassone did just that for the princely sum of $1 million. For comparison, 1992's Batman Returns cost $80 million to make. The film was promoted in magazines, trailers were screened and a premiere date was set. But then it mysteriously disappeared, never making it to multiplexes around the world. According to some, Eichinger never intended to release the film — he only had to make the movie and not release it to retain the rights, and releasing such a low-budget product would potentially sully the Fantastic Four name for future movies. According to others, Marvel executive Avi Arad got wind of the low-budget product, feared it would sully the Fantastic Four name for future movies, and so bought up the prints of the film and destroyed them. Bootlegs of the film exist — it's as cheap-looking and telemovie-quality as you'd expect, but it has a certain B-grade charm to it. Alex Hyde-White's performance as Mr Fantastic is surprisingly good, and the costume for The Thing is impressive, but it's far from fantastic. The unreleased film of the Fantastic Four has entered into legend as a Hollywood anomaly, sparking a documentary in 2015, endless Comic-Con questions, and even becoming a plot arc in season four of Arrested Development. Having retained the rights, Eichinger moved on quickly, continuing to shop around the idea of a big-budget Fantastic Four movie to directors such as Chris Columbus (Home Alone), Peyton Reed (Bring It On), and Peter Segal (50 First Dates). In 2005, Eichinger finally got his wish, with director Tim Story helming a $100 million FF film for 20th Century Fox starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, and the late Julian McMahon as Doctor Doom. The film made $333 million at the worldwide box office and was the 11th biggest film of the year, despite garnering largely negative reviews — as critic aggregator Rotten Tomatoes' summation puts it, the movie is "marred by goofy attempts at wit, sub-par acting, and bland storytelling". A sequel followed in 2007, costing more money while making less, and attracted the same level of reviews. Rolling Stone's critic Peter Travers described it as being "not egregiously awful like the first film — just plain awful in that formula way that kills your spirit and all hope for summer movies". Despite the cast all being on three-film deals, a second sequel was ditched, and the comic book family went back on the shelf. But not for long. By 2009, 20th Century Fox was eyeing another reboot, after 2008's The Dark Knight and Iron Man helped usher in a new era of superhero movies that boasted A-list stars, strong themes and a more serious approach. But 2015's Fantastic Four, directed by Josh Trank, was an absolute disaster. Trank feuded with Fox, with the studio forcing a re-edit and re-shoots, eventually taking the project out of Trank's hands amid accusations of "erratic behaviour" on set. The film bombed hard, ending up costing Fox somewhere between $80 million and $100 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Critics savaged it. Vox critic Alex Abad-Santos called it "a new depth of terribleness" that "absolutely murdered what was left of the franchise". "Fox's 2015 Fantastic Four reboot is the greatest superhero movie disaster ever foisted on fans, suffering from weird wigs, bad action, and a script that feels like it was constructed by a kindergartener," wrote Abad-Santos. "It's also the biggest argument for letting Marvel take control of the Fantastic Four on screen." Naturally, 20th Century Fox began working on another reboot. In 2019, Disney purchased 20th Century Fox. Having already bought Marvel in 2009, Disney's Fox deal meant the Fantastic Four could finally be incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Along with the Avengers and the X-Men (who also returned to the Marvel fold as part of the Fox deal), the Fantastic Four represented one of Marvel Comics' most beloved and best-known superhero teams. Marvel began working on a Fantastic Four film right away, even slipping a cameo of Mr Fantastic into 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The imminent launch of The Fantastic Four: First Steps is just the beginning of Marvel's plan for its blue-and-white clad heroes — the title hints at further "steps" and, unsurprisingly, a sequel is already in development. But more importantly, the cast is also appearing in 2026's Avengers: Doomsday, which will feature their archenemy Dr Doom as the film's Big Bad, and are likely to be in the sequel Avengers: Secret Wars. Marvel is no doubt excited to have the iconic characters that helped build a comic book empire back in its cinematic stable. As MCU overlord Kevin Feige told Comic-Con in 2019, he aimed to bring "Marvel's first family up to the sort of platform and level they deserve"; that is, to release a film that doesn't get canned by the critics like the four previous films did. The question of whether First Steps can do that will be answered in the coming weeks.


Time of India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Marvel Rivals leak reveals exclusive Human Torch Summer Event skin
Image via NetEase Games. With the recent announcement of the Marvel Rivals Season 3 'Abyss Awakens' roadmap, fans have already become aware of what lies ahead of them. Season 3 kicked off on July 11, 2025 with lots of new skins, features, and events. Among all the Season 3 events, the Summer Swimsuit special event has to be one of the most highly anticipated ones. This event will see Marvel Rivals launching exclusive swimsuit skins for the characters in the game, and now another popular character's swimsuit gets revealed as well. Human Torch Summer Event skin gets leaked in Marvel Rivals Marvel Rivals has recently launched the Summer Special event on July 17, 2025, at 2 AM PT which will run until August 15, 2025 at 2 AM PT. This event is actually tied to the recent summersuit special edition of Marvel Comics. In this event, fans will get to relish a number of swimsuit skins of many characters in Marvel Rivals, like Psylocke, Loki, Thor, and many more. As of now, a total of five swimsuit skins have been officially announced so far. Now an unannounced character's swimsuit also gets leaked. This leak comes from credible Marvell Rivals insider Miller Ross, who recently shared a screenshot of Human Torch's swimsuit skin. This screenshot is actually taken from the promotional gallery card of the Summer Event, which showcases Human Torch in a beach vibe, donning a pink swimsuit and blue shorts, with pink flames on it. However, fans are not getting their hands on this skin immediately. According to Ross, this skin is expected to be launched in the game as part of the Wave 2 of the Summer Event Skins, which will probably arrive in the game after the upcoming mid-season refresh, aka Season 3.5. Still, fans don't need to get upset because the swimsuit skins of Psylocke and Loki, Breezy Butterfly and Robe of Relaxation respectively, are already available in the in-game store. The Cool Summer outfit of Luna Show and Sunshine Thing outfit of The Thing come as a premium Battle Pass reward. Those who don't want to spend money on the summer swimsuit skin can also get their hands on one, as the Worthy Waves outfit of Thor is a free Battle Pass reward. Read More: Marvel Rivals Season 3 roadmap explored Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!


Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Assemble for the Classic Age of ‘Avengers' Comics in This Retro-Tinged Marvel Preview
After bringing Alex Ross back to the realm of the Fantastic Four with the release of his graphic novel Full Circle a few years ago, Abrams is returning to the world of original Marvel Comics with a new tale, with a new creative team, and some very classic Avengers. io9 can give you a sneaky look inside Chip Kidd and Michael Cho teaming up for The Avengers in The Veracity Trap, the second entry in Abrams' line of MarvelArts releases. Built around the classic early era of the Avengers—with a team including Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Giant-Man, and Hulk—The Veracity Trap sees Earth's Mightiest Heroes go toe-to-toe with Loki as he summons a veritable monster mash of creatures from across the multiverse. But once the dust settles, the Avengers will find themselves realizing that Loki's plans went beyond desires for a superheroic scrap… and confront a dire threat and hidden truths that threaten to destroy the Avengers once and for all. 'I've always held a special spot in my super-hero loving heart for the Avengers, especially the early Marvel age comics they appeared in. is a tribute to the wonder, the delight, and the zany 'anything could happen!' spirit of those stories,' Cho said in a press release about The Veracity Trap. 'Chip wrote a fantastic and heartfelt story and, in drawing this book, I tried my best to channel some of the energy and, especially, the joy that crackled from the pages of those classic comics.' And check out just what that zany spirit looks like in action as the Avengers assemble to battle Loki's hordes in our exclusive preview of The Veracity Trap below! The Avengers in The Veracity Trap hits shelves on August 5. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.


USA Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'Fantastic Four' first look: Meet the 'complicated' foes for Marvel's heroes
In Marvel Comics lore, Galactus is one of the biggest – literally – supervillains in the galaxy, a being that devours entire worlds. Now, Ralph Ineson will be the first to allow that his ginormous character in 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' (in theaters July 25) seems like a pretty bad guy, especially to the residents of Earth, where he's feasting next. 'But I would say he is not evil because he's just pursuing what he does,' says the British actor. 'There's no kind of actual human malice.' Set in the retrofuturistic 1960s, 'Fantastic Four' introduces four Marvel heroes: stretchy Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), invisible woman Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), human torch Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and rock monster Ben Grimm, aka the Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). The movie also debuts new foes including Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser) and Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner), the Silver Surfer and herald of Galactus. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox This 'complicated' trio exemplifies 'the best kind of villains,' says 'First Steps' director Matt Shakman, 'the ones that you can understand and you can relate to.' Here's an exclusive peek at the Fantastic Four antagonists of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in order of increasing existential threat: Paul Walter Hauser digs Mole Man, the Fantastic Four's first foe The Mole Man was the first bad guy faced by the Fantastic Four in the debut issue of their 1961 comic book, a nuclear engineer who led a race of subterranean creatures and monsters. The MCU version of Harvey Elder is 'really more of a union boss than a supervillain,' Shakman says. Hauser notes the comic version is 'vicious and heinous and unrelenting,' while his character is aligned with humanity. 'He is living sort of in the shadows like a villain would, but he's also taking care of an entire race of people and trying to live his life without being bothered.' And his opposition to the Fantastic Four is political in nature, Hauser teases. 'It's a power struggle, but within that, there are compromises and alliances made.' Adds Shakman: 'He's all about community, and that's why Sue and Harvey have a good relationship and they get along. They understand each other.' Julia Garner's Silver Surfer brings doom to Earth The Silver Surfer arrives on her super-cool surfboard with a bleak message for the Fantastic Four and the rest of Earth: She heralds the coming of Galactus after finding the planets that make up his next meal. Yet while the delivery seems chilly, there's some serious emotion going on under her shiny facade. 'This is someone who's sacrificed a lot in order to save something in their past, and that is noble. So it's kind of a classic anti-hero character,' Shakman says, adding that her backstory connects with the movie's themes of family. 'She carries a lot of guilt for what she's done,' Shakman says. "There's part of her speech that she's been told to deliver, which is 'Your planet is marked for death.' And then there's her own addition to it, where she says, 'Hold your loved ones close. Speak the words you've been afraid to speak.' Part of it is what she chooses to share because of her empathy, and part of it is what she has to do for her job.' Ralph Ineson's Galactus has a gigantic appetite for destruction There's good reason why we haven't seen Galactus in his full glory yet. Trailers have shown his boots or the back of his helmeted head, and even here folks can just see his massive chest. 'It's a big moment when the Fantastic Four get to see him for the first time,' Shakman says, 'and I'd love for that to be the same for the audience.' Ineson agrees the buildup is exciting, but 'slightly terrifying from my end.' While Garner played the Surfer via motion capture, Ineson wore a helmet and full suit of armor to play the kaiju-sized Galactus, even needing his own pit crew to keep him cool between takes. Ineson would venture to the top of tall buildings and try to capture the day-to-day perspective of 'a 14 billion-year-old cosmic vampire.' Galactus is 'an essential force of the universe,' who helps keep the balance of the cosmos, Ineson says. 'Whatever is crawling around on the planet that he's going to devour, it's of no real consequence to him unless there is something he wants.' And therein lies the rub in the new movie: Galactus wants Reed and Sue's newborn baby. 'He's willing to bargain,' Shakman says. 'He did it with Shalla-Bal and he's going to attempt to do it with the Fantastic Four.'