The First X-Men #2 Review

If Grant Morrison and Joss Whedon proved anything in their respective X-Men runs, it's that a little bit of Wolverine goes a long way. Unfortunately, the character's enduring popularity ensures that Marvel is rarely content to deliver just a little Wolverine. The First X-Men represents Wolverine mania at its most damaging. Its attempts to make Wolverine a more integral part of the formation of the X-Men is misguided. The First X-Men becomes just one more poorly executed X-book that mucks about with an increasingly convoluted franchise continuity.

Where issue #1 busied itself downplaying the role of Xavier in the conception and formation of the X-Men, issue #2 does the same for Magneto. I can't help but resent the implication that Xavier and Magneto only became interested in human/mutant relations because Wolverine scolded them. The same for the notion that a fear of Wolverine was the impetus for both the creation of Weapon X and the Sentinel program. It damages long-standing characters in order to build up another that really needs no more time in the spotlight.

But even ignoring the continuity quagmires this book creates, the characterization in the book is extremely spotty. Sabretooth's presence is downright perplexing, as I can't ever recall a time when the character was so pleasant and accommodating to his fellow mutants. He reads like an entirely different character. If not quite as pronounced, Magneto suffers from the same effect. The new additions to the X-Men franchise, from Holo to Yeti to Adam, are extremely bland and generic, doing little more than filling archetypal X-Men roles. The dialogue is also frequently grating and over-written. I'm not sure how large a role Christos Gage is playing in the scripting process, but the series offers none of the charm of his Avengers Academy and X-Men Legacy work.

Nor does the artwork do anything to help the story. The First X-Men is further proof that Neal Adam's style hasn't aged very well. His once phenomenal sense of perspective is diminished. Characters are extremely stiff and robotic, and most are stuck sporting the same open-mouthed expression of surprise throughout the issue. The inking is also problematic, lending every surface a harsh, jagged edge that is a far cry from Adams' refined line-work of old.

The best that can be said for The First X-Men is that it doesn't simply dump a handful of X-Men: First Class movie elements into the franchise, as many were expecting. Its problems are uniquely its own.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

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Gambit #2 Review

An ongoing Gambit series is a tough sell. Though the character is fairly popular even by X-Men standards, much of that is due to residual nostalgia from the early '90s and X-Men: The Animated Series rather than any recent, memorable comic storylines. Gambit is one of the few characters whom even Marvel writers will admit to not liking very much. James Asmus had his work cut out for him coming into this series. And while there's fun to be had in Gambit's new series, the book still hasn't done much to justify its own existence after two issues.

Fresh off robbing a collector's secret stash of supervillain artifacts, Gambit now finds himself involuntarily bonded to a mystery device and in need of some answers. What ensues is another heist, this time in a museum setting. The focus on thievery and heists provides the book with a slight touch of excitement. And unlike issue #1, Gambit doesn't rely on a series of extremely convenient and contrived occurrences to succeed in his goals here.

Asmus still relies overly much on Gambit's narration, not as a means of exploring his character or motivations, but merely providing exposition and pushing the plot forward. And with the relative lack of supporting characters in this issue, Gambit really has no one to talk to but himself. Worse, it's still difficult to say what exactly is driving Gambit in this series. There's the vague notion that he wants to return to his thieving roots, but why? What is he really trying to accomplish beyond removing the pesky artifact from his body? That deeper emotional core needs to become apparent if this series is going to have any sort of lasting appeal.

Clay Mann's art helps keep the heist sequences engaging, at least. Mann has a real talent for rendering powerful, fluid figures that Asmus puts to good use. I do wish that the coloring meshed better with the pencils and inks, however. The colors are too shimmery and ethereal for what would otherwise be a realistically rendered issue.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

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Guild Wars 2: The End Game

Right after creating a character and taking your first steps into Guild Wars 2 you’ll be able to participate in what’s essentially end game content. Player versus player arenas can be accessed at any time to hop into short-duration battles between two teams. Or you could drop into the World versus World system, a large, persistent battlefield where armies from three different servers compete for supremacy. You’ll fight for control of numerous types of structures, from lowly supply camps to heavily defended forts, build siege equipment and take part in battles with huge groups of players.

To solve the problem of power imbalance between low level and high level players all in the same combat space, ArenaNet bumps your character to 80 as soon as you enter into WvW. “If you come in at level two we basically adjust you up to what a level eighty would be like stat-wise,” said Mike Ferguson, systems designer at ArenaNet. “It’s not like most games that have PvP is across wide levels where it’s like ‘Oh, I’m five levels above you, I’m just going to smash you and kill you in one hit.’ We’ve tried to make it so that everyone can feel competitive at the same time but still have that kind of on-going progression. We don’t want is for people to feel like you have to be in level eighty for the real game to start.”

Making this experience comprehensible to a new player has also been a challenge for ArenaNet. “We’ve added some things like instructors right when you get into the World versus World maps,” said Ferguson. “As you load in there’s a guy there with a little chalkboard over his head that you can talk to and he explains how the game works. What we’ve seen is people will just hop in and someone will notice they have a commander mark over their head and everyone will go to it like a moth to a flame. Then they’ll start running around with a group there and people will start learning the tactics. And after a couple of hours, people just kind of understand how to play naturally.”

Though there’s a lot of complexity to the skill system, its intricacies might be drowned out by the chaos of huge groups swarming into each other and using superior numbers overwhelm all else. ArenaNet hopes to curb the effectiveness of this ‘zerging’ tactic through a variety of objectives and methods to alter the tide of battle.  “We have so many objectives on every map,” said Ferguson. “Starting out with the supply camps, they can get flipped with one or two people if they’re really good. Or two or three people if you need a little extra help at lower levels. So sure, you can take sixty people and just run across the map like a mindless horde, but you’re only going to be able to take one point at a time. A team that actually coordinates is going to be able to set up siege weapons at choke points and be like ‘Okay, they’re at that keep, let’s just go take everything around that keep’. So zerging is effective but what we’ve seen is zerging is generally the first step of acceptance into the game. It’s the easiest thing for people to understand. You’re just in a big group, you’re running around, don’t really know what’s going on but [you’re] doing stuff. And then you start picking it up.”

According to ArenaNet, setting up things like siege weapons can have a huge effect on battles, so paying attention to the details of WvW play can really pay off. “One of the things we saw coming out of the [beta weekend events] is we were watching all the videos pop up on YouTube and you would see these guys, they would set up two ballistas on top of a wall or on top of like a ledge looking over a big fight and nobody on the ground was actually paying any attention,” said Ferguson. “These guys were up there just cackling and destroying people. A ballista will two-shot somebody in most cases. So within four or five seconds you’re taking down people and if they don’t come after you, you’re just going to sit there and tear them apart. Siege weapons are our equalizer.”

These weapons can also be effective while trying to break into enemy-controlled structures. “You’ve got flame rams, which set up right on the doors. You can stack a couple of those to bring the doors down really quickly, and they also have a secondary skill of a flame burst. The flame burst applies burning to anyone that hits it and it also gives you fear. So if you set the flame ram up, you can hit that flame burst so the fear chases them away and gives you a better chance to kill them and keep them from reinforcing the location. Trebuchets are kind of the opposite. They’re way far away but they can do a lot of damage to walls and gates so you can set two or three up on a ledge and just keep pounding away at a keep. And eventually [the enemy team is] going to run out of supply to keep repairing stuff so you’re going to knock the wall down.”

On the WvW map you won’t fight only players, but also computer-controlled enemies, which ArenaNet feels could be a good way for newcomers terrified by the idea of purchasing and operating siege equipment to get accustomed to the map and flow of gameplay. “The PvE events act as a little bit of a bridge between the normal PvE game and PvP,” said Ferguson. “There are some ambient creatures running around that you can use to level up or gain loot. And there are also mercenary camps. There’s, say, a camp of ogres and you need to help protect them against the harpies, which involves killing the harpies, destroying their nests and things like that. Once you actually befriend them then they’ll send out NPCs, like ogres, to go to the nearby locations so that they can help attack like supply camps or towers and give you extra reinforcement. So if you’re a single player you can go in there and kind of take that camp over and all of a sudden you’ve got like four or five ogre buddies running with and you can go in and take that camp that’s right next to the ogre camp.”

In case the concept of wide open battles bristling with ballista fire and mobs of kill-crazy players is still too intimidating, Guild Wars 2 also offers dungeons throughout the leveling experience in the level 1 – 80 world. Dungeons are playable in either Story or Explorable modes, and picking one adjusts the degree of challenge and the path from beginning to end. When you first find a dungeon, Story is the best mode to play, because with a somewhat organized you should be able to knock out the end boss and reap the rewards. Explorable mode is meant for more advanced players in more coordinated group.

“The vast majority of our fan base can go through Story if they wish to,” said ArenaNet’s Kevin Millard. “It’s easier, not trivial, but it is easier than the Explorable mode. Explorable mode is designed to be extremely difficult. We expect that a small percentage of our fan base will jump into Explorable dungeons.”

Millard explained how that difference in challenge level was designed, in terms of boss encounters in particular. “In story mode, what we’re going for is making the players think and discover a neat strategy. So for example, it might be as simple as when [the boss is] holding his sword above his head, you need to be far away from him. When he’s not holding his sword above his head you need to be close to him. That’d be a very simple boss mechanic that we would use in an early dungeon, or possible for a lesser boss. Another example is there’s the Story dungeon boss that has little wolves all around that you can’t normally fight, and the boss occasionally turns one of the characters into a cat. And you’re stuck as a cat until you hunt down one of the wolves and kill it, and when you do you transform back. So there’s strategy there, being a cat means the boss isn’t hitting you, right? So maybe this is an opportunity to heal up. So we want you to think and have strategy but we don’t want it to be overwhelmingly difficult.”

“When we move onto Explorable, we want to keep that same strategy but we want it to sort of be razor thin. If you don’t do everything in exactly the right order at exactly the right time, you’re going to die. So you need to develop a much tighter group. We expect that if you’re in Explorable you’re communicating with voice communication, you’re probably in a guild together and that you know each other, and this isn’t the first time you’ve gone through this. It is theoretically possible to pick up group through an Explorable. In fact, I assume lots of people will. But you probably need to wait until other groups have pioneered through it, you know, written strategy guides and such.”

“Our goal is when you approach especially the major boss fights in the dungeon, we want you to stop and we want you to think.”

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The Huntress is Coming to Arrow

Arrow is gaining yet another DC Comics character. EW.com reveals that the new CW series, based on Green Arrow, will be introducing Helena Bertinelli, AKA The Huntress, for a multi-episode story arc. Australian actress Jessica De Gouw will play the character, who will be introduced as a vigilante and a potential love interest for Oliver Queen.

The official character description says Helena is “set on destroying her father’s organized crime empire. But Helena’s blind pursuit of revenge will put her on a collision course with the Arrow.”

Jessica De Gouw will play The Huntress in Arrow

EW says Huntress will likely first be seen in the sixth episode of Arrow, on the heels of the introductions of China White, Deadshot and the mysterious character played by Torchwood’s John Barrowman.

The Huntress was previously played by Ashley Scott in the TV series Birds of Prey.

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The Walking Dead: Who is Milton?

A new character will be added to the mix on The Walking Dead this fall, as EW.com has the scoop on a fellow named Milton, played by Dallas Roberts (Rubicon, The Good Wife). A brand new creation (as in not pulled from the comic books), Milton is one of the residents of Woodbury, the community ruled over by The Governor (David Morrissey).

Dallas Roberts in The Walking Dead

Walking Dead comic book creator and TV series executive producer Robert Kirkman tells EW, “Milton is the details guy. He’s the guy that works with the Governor, who is monitoring all situations and is trying to help the Governor make sense of this world that they’re living in. He’s not exactly a scientist, but he’s a smart guy that is trying to find out how zombies behave. Watching him do his little experiments is going to be a lot of fun.”

Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazzara notes to EW that not every person would turn into a badass, zombie-killer in this world and with Milton, “We wanted to show how other people survive, and Dallas has come in and helped us establish that character. He just adds a lot of heart and humanity to Woodbury, which further complicates what that is. That is a real town with real people and real survivors. It’s not necessarily a group of bad guys.”

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Does Vin Diesel Want to Play Vision in Avengers 2?

What happens when a movie star updates their profile pic with a Marvel character? Fanboy speculation kicks into overdrive!

Bleeding Cool points out that Vin Diesel recently changed his Facebook profile pic to an image of the Marvel character Vision, the android Avenger. Since Diesel uses his Facebook page primarily to pimp out his many projects (such as the forthcoming threequel Riddick) tongues are now a-wagging that maybe the xXx and Fast and the Furious star is dropping some hints that he is either A) Up for the role or has been cast as Vision in The Avengers 2, B) Wants to play the character in the movie and is essentially baiting fans into creating a buzz campaign to get Marvel to consider him for it, or C) is just pranking his fans.

It should be noted that Diesel's already switched his profile pic from Vision to something far less fanboy-baiting. Let's just say for the sake of discussion that Diesel might be up for the role: What would you think of Vin Diesel playing Vision in Avengers 2? Sound off in the Comments below!

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Hunger Games' Josh Hutcherson on Peeta's Progress

It's never a simple matter bringing a beloved literary character to life on screen. And when that character happens to have legions of passionate fans, each with their own specific idea about who he is and how he should be played, it's even more challenging. Josh Hutcherson understands that pressure all too well. Since he was cast in the role of Peeta Mellark in last year's highly anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' bestseller The Hunger Games, life has been a whirlwind. Even now that the film has successfully opened, he still can't relax.

First, there's tonight's midnight DVD and Blu-ray release and all the buzz surrounding it, with retailers staying open late to host Hunger Games-themed events for eager fans. Then, of course, he'll soon be back to work on the next film in the series, Catching Fire, which brings with it a whole new set of acting challenges. And in November he'll be on the big screen once again, starring alongside Chris Hemsworth (the brother of his Hunger Games co-star Liam Hemsworth) and Isabel Lucas in the remake of Red Dawn. It's a lot to handle, but not unlike his Hunger Games alter ego, the modest and well-spoken Hutcherson manages to keep his cool and take it all in stride.

We had a chance to speak with Hutcherson on the phone as he prepared to get back to the role of Peeta.

IGN: Now that the film has come out, how would you describe the reaction from the fans after seeing it?

Hutcherson: It's been incredible. I'm still blown away by it. I think that when we started to make the movie we had an idea that there were a lot of fans of the books and whatnot, but I don't think that anybody really expected it to be this well received. So for me it's just a dream come true to make something that you love, that you're really proud of, that people also really loved.

IGN: Did you get satisfaction after?

Hutcherson: It does feel good. Especially when you have so many people who have so many different opinions of what the character should be like. It's good to know that all in all, they're pretty satisfied with it. It's definitely a little nerve wracking when you're making it because you're like, "Wow, a lot of people like this character so I hope I'm doing it the right way." So I'm very happy and the response has been really great.

IGN: Now that the movie is coming out on DVD and Blu-ray, do you feel that anticipation ramping up all over again?

Hutcherson: I'd say so, yeah. It's very similar to when the movie opened, because there are a lot of people who maybe didn't get a chance to see it in the theater and now they're going to see it for the first time. So I hope we get it right by them as well. So there's definitely some of that same nervousness I'd say, of just hoping that people respond well to it, even though it came out and people mostly did respond well to it. But yeah, there's definitely a bit of that, "Oh, god. I hope people like it" again.

IGN: Do you think the movie holds up on DVD?

Hutcherson: Definitely. I love watching movies on DVD. I love the moviegoing experience because of the popcorn and the big screen and the sound and everything with the audience is awesome. But there's also something nice about being able to sit and enjoy a movie in the privacy of your own home. It's really nice and calm. I feel like when I see it in the theater I'm there for the experience, and when I see it at home I'm there for the actual movie, seeing the movie itself.

IGN: There are a lot of special features on this disc, including that three-hour behind the scenes feature. Were you aware of the documentary crew hanging around while you were making the film? Was the future home video release even something you thought about back then?

Hutcherson: Yeah, Lionsgate was really proactive about making sure they got a lot of really good footage of the making of the movie. But it was never invasive, which is nice. You were aware that they were there kind of doing their thing, but it never really affected you, which is nice. I'm really excited for the fans to see what it's like from the beginning, just being a book, through the whole process that it went through to become a movie. Because as a moviegoer, for me that's always interesting. Especially with a book that's very popular. I think that's a cool process to see.

IGN: It's always a bit of a trick appealing to the fans of the books as well as people who have only seen the movies. Do you feel like there's something here for everyone?

Hutcherson: I actually haven't seen it yet, so I'm not sure, but I definitely feel like it would. I know that Lionsgate put a lot of work into it and took their time with it and wanted to make something really special, not just half ass it. So they wanted to give the fans and people who really loved the book a very real, up close experience of what it was like making the movie so they can feel like they were part of the making. And based on what I've heard about it and all the filming they did, I'm pretty sure they accomplished that.

IGN: Since The Hunger Games is a trilogy, did you keep the direction of Peeta as a character in your mind when you were making the first movie?

Hutcherson: I really tried not to, because in reality these characters don't know where they're going. So I thought it would be weird if I was too focused on what's happening in the future, because it would take the characters out of that moment and they would be knowing things they weren't supposed to know. I mean, obviously we all knew where it was going but I tried not to think about it too much while we were shooting. But now that it's actually coming and we're going to start shooting the second one, I can't wait. I can't stop thinking about it. And I'm really excited.

IGN: Peeta has one of the most interesting arcs of all the characters in the trilogy. Without spoiling anything for anybody who hasn't read the books, are you looking forward to what's coming for him?

Hutcherson: That's one of the things I've been most excited about with the whole series, the fact that Peeta does have such a really great arc, and he really goes through a big transformation. I mean, in the second book, he's caught in a situation where he's in love with this girl and she pretends to love him back, but only as a show. And that's like, I can't even imagine how deep that cut has to be, to be with this girl and be parading around and kissing and holding hands and pretending like you're in love, when you really are in love and you know that she really isn't. That's just a cool mind screw and I can't wait to play that out because it will be really fun.

IGN: Yeah, you've just got to feel sorry for the guy.

Hutcherson: I know! He's such a genuinely nice guy. He just wants love.

IGN: Separately from playing the role, just as a person watching the story, do you find yourself rooting for that relationship versus the Katniss and Gale relationship?

Hutcherson: Honestly, it's so hard to say. Because both have things that really make sense. Gale has been in Katniss' life forever, and they've been super close and now that they're older it's like, wait, what is this? And they're trying to define what their relationship is. [Peeta] is so in love with Katniss and has known it since the first time he saw her, but then never really acted on it. He's just kind of admired her from afar. And so to see that come to fruition as well, that's really intriguing. So it's really hard to say which one is the sole winner. I feel like just because Peeta has been in love with her for such a long time and it's this kind of undying love that he'd do anything for her, that's the one I'm rooting for. But at the same time, who's to say that Gale doesn't feel that same way? Gale's totally in love with her too. So it's really hard to say.

IGN: Did you learn anything on the first film that you're taking with you into the second?

Hutcherson: I think probably just how I learned how to work with our cast. There's a very cool, very dynamic cast and our relationship was so strong that we really built that up in the first movie. That's been something that will continue on in the second film with all the cast. And with the new people coming in I'm excited to get them into our group too. So I'm really excited to get back into it with these guys. I think in the first one I learned a lot about our dynamic. And to know that we have a couple of movies to do with that, it's nice to know that it's a good dynamic.

IGN: I read that you were in the gym bulking up to get ready for the next film. Is that what's going on for you right now?

Hutcherson: That is what's going on. I've been working on that for the last four weeks or so and it's going great. I'm very excited about it. I'm very proud of it. It's been a year since we filmed Hunger Games so I'm excited to be getting back into it. My hair's dyed blond now. So everything's coming back to life. It's really exciting.

IGN: Before I let you go, I have to ask you about the Red Dawn remake. For some of us of a certain age, the original movie was a touchstone growing up. I imagine there's a certain amount of anticipation for this movie as well, though probably not on the level of The Hunger Games.

Hutcherson: Yeah, it's cool. My parents grew up during that time, so it was more a part of their childhood, but I had seen it before the part came around to me. But yeah, it's a cool concept. Weirdly enough, it actually is similar to The Hunger Games in a sense, because these people are banning together to rise up against something that's much bigger than them. It's very kind of empowering movie as well. So I guess that's my new kind of role. I'm going to take on all these movies that empower the people [laughs].

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Mad Men Star Joins Arrested Development

Mad Men's John Slattery will soon be joining the upcoming fourth season of Arrested Development.

While TVLine, who broke the story, notes that Slattery's character has yet to be revealed, they also add that the actor will be appearing in multiple episodes. Slattery will play one of several new characters to appear alongside the original cast.

Said executive producer Ron Howard of the show's return, "[Series creator] Mitch [Hurwitz] isn't trying to recreate something. It's been away for a while, and part of the fun that Mitch has been mining and exploiting is, what's new to discover about these people? What’s delightfully unchanged? He and the writing staff and the actors have a fantastic sense of that. They're pretty brazen, pretty bold and fearless. That's what made the show into something that fans really kept alive."

As announced back in November, Arrested Development will be returning with 10 new episodes to premiere all at once on Netflix sometime next year.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

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The Making of Thomas Jane's Punisher Short

Actor Thomas Jane, star of 2004's The Punisher, recently made a short film called Dirty Laundry that features his Frank Castle character. Now his company Raw Studios has posted a video chronicling the making of their badass short film. Check it out:

And for those who haven't seen the original RED BAND short film Dirty Laundry, check it out here:

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