Explore The Star Wars Expanded Universe With These New Manga Releases
Star Wars has been all over the map since Disney acquired Lucasfilm more than a decade ago. Besides new films and TV shows, we’ve also seen a bunch of Star Wars manga hit the market–and now, on May 7, you’ll get to dive into two new adventures. Star Wars Visions: The Manga Anthology and Star Wars: The Mandalorian Volume 2 arrive next month, but preorders are now open at Amazon.
If you’re a newcomer to Star Wars manga, then the Visions: Manga Anthology is the better choice of the two. This anthology sees the Disney+ series brought to life in a new way, and there’s no need to have read any previous manga to pick up all the story threads. If you’ve watched Star Wars: Visions, you’ll find adaptations of The Elder, Lop & Ocho, The Ninth Jedi, and The Twins in this manga anthology. Clocking in at 232 pages, the paperback volume costs $15.
Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Mandalorian Volume 2 picks up after Star Wars: The Mandalorian Volume 1–which is currently on sale for just $10. You’ll get to follow The Mandalorian as he ventures out to secure the Child, a being who holds mysterious powers and could have serious implications in the fate of the galaxy. Consider both picking up Volume 1 and preordering Volume 2, as you’ll have plenty of time to read through the first manga ahead of the second’s arrival on May 7. Like Visions, this one is also listed for $15.
A third Star Wars book is arriving in May, though it’s quite different from the two above. The Star Wars Manga Coloring Book features 96 pages of designs for you to fill in, all of which are pulled from the first half of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. It arrives on May 14 and costs $17.
Not interested in anything above? Be sure to take a look at all the other Star Wars manga available at Amazon right now.
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The 1,000-Page X-Men Animated Series Comics Omnibus Is Nearly 50% Off At Amazon
The excellent X-Men ’97 on Disney+ has revitalized interest in the beloved X-Men: The Animated Series, which served as many fans’ introduction to Marvel’s superhero team some 30 years ago. While the waiting game for more X-Men ’97 has begun now that the first season is over, you can still tap into the Animated Series’ stories with X-Men: The Animated Series – The Adaptations Omnibus. The collection brings the animated series full-circle by adapting the show back into comics.
The 1,008-page hardcover omnibus released last year, and Amazon has a pretty awesome deal on the book right now. You can grab a copy for $68.50 (list price is $125), which happens to be the lowest price yet for this X-Men omnibus.
If you’re not familiar, X-Men: The Animated Series ran from 1992 to 1997 and covered a bunch of X-Men stories inspired by the Marvel comics. The recent revival with X-Men ’97 continues the story where the Animated Series left off.
The Adaptations Omnibus includes a bunch of X-Men stories that made it to the small screen in the series that precedes X-Men ’97, including the series’ take on “Days of Future Past” and “The Dark Phoenix Saga.” It includes X-Men Adventures (1992) issues 1-15, X-Men Adventures (1994) issues 1-13, and X-Men Adventures (1995) issues 1-13.
The Adaptations Omnibus isn’t all Amazon has on-offer for fans of X-Men: The Animated Series or X-Men ’97. There are also comics telling additional stories that never made it on-screen in the original cartoon, an art book created by the showrunners of the original animated series, and the ongoing X-Men ’97 comic arc that fills the gap between the two shows. The first two issues are out now, with the third arriving later this week and the conclusion hitting shelves next month. If you want all four issues in one collection, Great X-Pectations collects the arc in trade paperback format.
additional stories that fill in the gap between the two shows. Check out the best deals below.
X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ’97 Comic Deals
Bandai Namco’s Next Mecha Figure Is A Transforming Rubiks Cube
The Rubik’s Cube toy is a classic, but if it does have one major design flaw, it’s that you can’t transform it into a giant robot. Fortunately, this upcoming official Rubik’s Cube robot collectible from Bandai Namco addresses that glaring issue as you’ll be able to unleash the machine lying within this unassuming multicolor cube. It’ll probably be much easier than figuring out how to solve a Rubik’s Cube as well. It won’t be out for quite a while–it launches January 30, 2025–but you can secure a preorder at Amazon and get the cute robot in disguise for $90.
The figure will be a new addition to Bandai Namco’s Soul of Chogokin and Tamashii Nations lines. Soul of Chogokin figures are almost exclusively famous anime, manga, and tokusatsu robots from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. The line aims to be a high-end reproduction of nostalgic mecha and robot designs like Voltron, Mecha Godzilla, Mazinger Z, and more. You can check out many of the other figures in the Soul of Chogokin collection at Amazon. For this transforming Rubik’s Cube robot, you can expect high-quality parts, vibrant colors, and a display stand to pose the little fella on.
If you’d prefer a regular Rubik’s Cube, these are readily available. An officially licensed Rubik’s Cube with its signature 3 x 3 designs is $10 at Amazon, and if you’d like some tips on solving one, you can pick up a Rubik’s Cube guide for just $8.
Or if you want to solve one of these puzzles in mere seconds, Rust-Oleum spray paint is easy to come by. There’s nothing in the Rubik’s rulebook that says you can’t solve one with a little bit of lateral thinking.
Preorder This Slick New 4K Steelbook For One of Tom Cruise’s Best Movies
Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood’s choosier stars–you’re not going to discover a huge pile of crappy direct-to-TV movies hidden in the middle of his filmography like some other well-known actors. The guy has made a lot of really quality flicks, so it’s no small praise to say that Michael Mann’s Collateral is one of the best movies in Cruise’s filmography–and it may also be Mann’s best movie, for that matter. So it’s only fitting that a film of this quality would be getting a new 4K steelbook edition later this year, which you can preorder now.
This new Collateral steelbook release will land in stores on August 6, exactly 20 years to the day since its original theatrical release–a lot of movies get anniversary re-releases on home video, but most of them aren’t this exact about it. The studio hasn’t yet detailed what special features will be included, so it’s likely safe to assume that some of the extra features from past Collateral releases will be re-used here. Beyond that, you’ll get a 4K Blu-ray, a standard Blu-ray, and a Movies Anywhere digital copy with this set.
Right now you can order at Amazon for $31, or Walmart for $25. With months before this set actually comes out, you can expect the prices will come down a bit.
If you don’t want to wait and don’t need that steelbook packaging, there’s a current 4K edition of Collateral that had previously been released that you can buy right now and have in your home in no time.
Collateral, for those who haven’t seen it, tells the story of a random LA cab driver (Jamie Foxx) who is unwittingly pulled into a complicated assassination plan by a mysterious hitman (Cruise), who wants to use the driver as a scapegoat. The film was shot with a digital handicam that gives the flick a very gritty and real-ish look–this was the movie that established Mann’s glorious modern aesthetic. And now you can appreciate the visuals even more thanks to this new 4K steelbook release.
If you’re looking for more 4K Blu-ray steelbook editions to add to your collection, Amazon’s massive 4K Blu-ray sale includes a deal that gets you three 4K Blu-rays for just $33 total. You can also preorder the 4K Blu-ray steelbook edition of the latest Studio Ghibli film, The Boy and the Heron, for just $35 (down from $45) at multiple online retailers.
Bad Boys: Ride Or Die’s Final Trailer Puts A Bounty On Mike and Marcus
When Captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano) was killed off in Bad Boys for Life in 2020, few could have predicted that his death would be pivotal in the next sequel, Bad Boys: Ride or Die. But when Howard is posthumously accused of being a dirty cop, neither Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) nor Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are going to stop before proving his innocence. But as seen in the final trailer for Bad Boys: Ride or Die, pursuing this case is only going to put targets on the backs of Mike and Marcus, as well as everyone that they love.
Poking around for answers has apparently gotten Mike and Marcus too close to the truth. So the man behind the conspiracy, Banker (Eric Dane), orders an ambush on the two before framing them for the same crimes that tarnished the legacy of their captain. On top of that, Banker has put a large bounty on Mike and Marcus’ heads that’s going to draw too much attention from the drug cartels, gangs, and even other cops. To turn up the heat even higher, the bad guys are going after Marcus and Mike’s families as well.
Fortunately, Mike and Marcus still have some friends inside the department, including Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens) and Dorn (Alexander Ludwig). However, the real wild card in their favor may be Mike’s son, Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio), who was briefly glimpsed in the trailer. Armando was the man who pulled the trigger on Captain Howard in the last film, and it’s possible that he may have information that could lead Mike and Marcus back to Banker. Mike and Armando are also overdue for some father-and-son bonding, especially after Armando expressed his desire to redeem himself in the previous movie.
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah directed the film from a script by Chris Bremner and Will Beall. Bad Boys: Ride or Die will hit theaters on June 7.
New Silent Hill Movie’s Pyramid Head Revealed At Cannes Film Festival
Silent Hill 2‘s legendary antagonist, Pyramid Head, is finally headed back to the big screen, and audiences caught their first glimpse of the geometric monstrosity this week when the film previewed at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Directed by Christophe Gans (who also directed the first Silent Hill film back in 2006), Return To Silent Hill is the third film in the Silent Hill franchise, and is also considered to be a reboot of sorts. The first two films drew inspiration from various Silent Hill games and included some of the series’ most well-known characters. However, neither 2006’s Silent Hill nor 2012’s Silent Hill: Revelation were true adaptations of one specific Silent Hill game, but rather amalgamations of them. Return To Silent Hill, on the other hand, is aiming to be a faithful adaptation of Konami’s 2001 horror masterpiece, Silent Hill 2.
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“There is a clear idea from Christophe to make it modern, but also very true to the video game… Christophe is really somebody that respects the work that has been done, but that also has his own vision,” said Victor Hadida, who served as a producer on the first two Silent Hill films.
Jeremy Irvine stars as protagonist James Sunderland, a tortured man who returns to Silent Hill–the site of his honeymoon–after receiving a letter from his wife, Mary, requesting he meet her there. There’s just one problem: Mary has been dead for three years. In the 2001 game, Pyramid Head appears as a monstrous representation of James’ guilty conscience, and based on a still from the upcoming film (via Variety), Gans’ interpretation of the enigmatic horror stays true to its source material. Pyramid Head can be seen standing behind the rusted, bent bars of a metal door, lugging a sword so enormous, even Cloud Strife would blush.
The “Silent Hill” film franchise continues with “Return to Silent Hill,” the latest adaptation of the hit horror anthology video game series. Variety has the first look at the famed monster Pyramid Head in the Christophe Gans-directed film. https://t.co/emiQJVtj8q
— Variety (@Variety) May 16, 2024
This is exactly how players first meet Pyramid Head in the original Silent Hill 2 game–during his first appearance, the metal barricade mercifully keeps him at a safe distance from James, but the encounter is a harrowing one nonetheless, and the metal bars certainly don’t keep the menacing creature at bay after the initial encounter.
Fans will likely be pleased to know that Gans is aiming for accuracy with the new film, but the real litmus test for the film’s authenticity may be the opinion of Masahiro Ito, the original art director for Team Silent and creator of Pyramid Head’s frightening design. While promoting the 2006 film, Gans claimed that Pyramid Head is “one of the executioners in the original history of the town,” adding that “There is not one particular or exclusive manifestation of him as an entity.”
Ito, however, strongly disagreed, taking issue with the first two films’ use of Pyramid Head as an all-purpose boogeyman who can terrorize any character he pleases.
“[The filmmakers] really misunderstood Pyramid Head,” Ito said of the film. “I designed that only for James.”
Ito later added that Pyramid Head’s background as an executioner was inspired by a background character from 1995’s Braveheart, and has been quite vocal about his distaste for Pyramid Head’s appearances in plotlines that do not include James Sunderland as a character. Ito has even gone as far as claiming that he regrets creating the character.
Return To Silent Hill does not yet have an official release date, but the film is set to release sometime in 2024. Similarly, a remake of the original Silent Hill 2 game is currently being developed by Bloober Team, and is also set to launch sometime this year, meaning Pyramid Head fans have plenty to look forward to.
Lego’s New Milky Way Galaxy Wall Art Set Looks Incredibly Cool
While most of us will never get to experience the majesty of space–unless you’ve got an absurd amount of cash gathering dust in your bank account–you can bring some of that magic to your home. Magic that you can spend an afternoon building with these lovely Lego sets. Lego Insiders can now purchase a wall art building kit of The Milky Way Galaxy and NASA’s Artemis Space Launch System, both of which feature over 3,000 pieces. Lego’s Insiders program is free to join, but if you’d rather wait, everyone else can start placing their orders on May 18.
Just keep in mind these two sets are exclusive to the Lego Store, so you won’t find them at major retailers. If you buy either of these sets before May 26, you’ll get a rather fitting freebie: the Alien Space Diner Lego set, which is a rather fitting bonus.
Lego The Milky Way Galaxy – 3,091 pieces
First up is this $200 artistic recreation of the Milky Way galaxy. We’re not talking about the chocolate here, but rather the collection of stars and planets orbiting a supermassive black hole that we call home in the universe. With over 3,000 pieces, you can bring the beauty of the universe to life with this stunning art project. Lego is aiming to make this a relaxing project to take part in, and you can scan a QR code to get a cool soundtrack to listen to while you build this piece. Lego’s wall art builds can feel more complicated than your average Lego set of this size, and the swirling design of the Milky Way looks like it could make this one particularly complex.
That said, it looks quite pretty and includes some neat flourishes: a tiny Gaia space telescope hidden in the portrait, the Crab Nebula floating amongst the interstellar remains of a star that went supernova, and a tiny plaque to show you where you are in the Milky Way galaxy. This will occupy a decently sized chunk of your wall once complete, as it has a width of 26 inches and a height of 16 inches.
Lego NASA Artemis Space Launch System – 3,601 pieces
Next on the list is the $260 NASA Artemis Space Launch System from the Lego Ideas line. There’s a certain magic to rocket launches, and this set is a replica of NASA’s ongoing Artemis campaign that serves as the next stage in human space exploration. A highly detailed set, there are 3,601 pieces here that come together to create a multi-stage rocket with two solid-fuel boosters, an Orion capsule, and a detailed mobile launch tower. You can also build the launch system, and this model will stand 28 inches tall once it has been fully assembled. The real-life rocket will generate a staggering 4 million KGs of thrust when it takes off.
If that’s not enough space-based fun for you, there are some other cool builds to check out, including Tales of the Space Age, which is on sale for over 30% off at Amazon.