Avengers

Now that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 has kicked off the Inhuman invasion with a bang, and Jessica Jones busts up enough bars to cross Daredevil’s radar, Marvel TV has never stood taller against its cinematic brethren. Crossovers haven’t exactly been a two-way street however, even as Kevin Feige calls it “inevitable,” with a kingly big bad in mind for our new Spider-Man.

Last year, Good Smile released a trio of Avengers figures based on the 2012 film, The Avengers. While Iron Man, Captain America and Thor made some impressive (and expensive) Figmas, it seemed as if the line would end with just those three holding down the fort. Now, more than a year after those figures were announced, Good Smile is back with what could be the largest Figma ever produced to date. The Avengers Movie Hulk Figma isn't exactly a timely release. The character's look has changed ever so slightly in the years since that film debuted, and there are plenty of Avengers: Age of Ultron versions currently still available. However, this Hulk is part of the Figma brand, which brings its own fanbase along with it. Additionally, even though the other Avenger Figmas also arrived a few years after the film, they were still rather popular. That's what happens when you have a history of strong sculpts, great articulation and a decent amount of accessories (when applicable).

It may seem hard to believe, but Marvel has now completed two phases of films, ending Phase Two with Ant-Man before entering Phase Three next summer with Captain America: Civil War. The new MCU kicked off back in 2008 with Iron Man and ended with the first Avengers in 2012 — which already seems so, so long ago. As we prepare for Avengers: Age of Ultron to hit Blu-ray and DVD, one fan has put together this 10-minute retrospective looking back on the films of Phase One.

One of the key sequences of Marvel's blockbuster Avengers: Age of Ultron was the knock-down, drag-em-out fight between the Hulk and Iron Man. For months, Marvel had teased the big throwdown in commercials and trailers, and the final fight in the film definitely delivered on the carnage and chaos one would expect of such a massive slugfest. While the version we got to see in theaters featured a slightly hazy-eyed, green Hulk doing all that damage, that wasn't always the plan. In fact, Hulk was supposed to turn a bit grayer when under the influence of Scarlet Witch. Though that version never made it into the film due to the creative team finding it too jarring for audiences to see the Hulk drastically change color like that, the spirit of that change lives on through Kotobukiya's Avengers: Age of Ultron statue set. Already, Koto has released the normal versions of the Hulkbuster and Hulk set it produced, but a variant version of the Hulk is being offered as an exclusive through Entertainment Earth. Courtesy of the online retailer, we have an exclusive version of the Kotobukiya Avengers: Age of Ultron Rampaging Hulk ArtFX statue to give away.

Today is the birthday of Kurt Busiek, one of comics' most storied and influential creators, born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1960. A thoughtful approach to continuity has long been Busiek's stock-in-trade as. One of his first major contributions to comics was to solve the problem of bringing Jean Grey back to life. As controversial as the resurrection was --- arguably as controversial as her death in the first place --- Busiek's solution was considered and weighted with potential, recasting Jean as a stranger to her own friends and family and carefully making use of established story details with a new spin.

It’s been kind of a big week for Marvel — we haven’t really covered it here, but the company had a bit of a shakeup, as Marvel Studios disengaged from Marvel Entertainment, with Kevin Feige taking the movie end of things over to Disney and gaining more control over the MCU. On the heels of that major news, Chris Evans has revealed that he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Clearly things are pretty good over at Marvel right now.

So why is Marvel releasing a clip from Ant-Man a month after its release? With the film preparing to hit theaters in China, the studio has put a new clip from the film online — chances are you’ve probably already seen it. In one of the highlights of the film, Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang suits up as Ant-Man and takes on Anthony Mackie’s Falcon. And now you can watch it all over again.

With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Avengers: Infinity War – Part I hitting theaters within a year of one another, it seemed likely that we might see at least some of the Guardians gang appear alongside the Avengers team. According to Jeremy Renner, you shouldn't hold your breath for that crossover — in fact, it may never happen.

There are few things in life as certain as death and taxes, but in all my time on this planet, perhaps no single thing has been as consistently proven as the law of the instrument. Depending on where you're from, you may have heard the quote, "Give a boy a hammer, and he'll find everything he encounters needs pounding." There have been variations on that theme over the years, but the idea still holds true today. I'd forgotten all about that adage until I went to Lowe's this past weekend to participate in one of the final sessions for the Avengers Build and Grow program. Lowe's Build and Grow has been around for a while, and offers families with children the opportunity to get crafty on a Saturday morning. Kids get little aprons and goggles to take home, which can then be customized with patches the same way Boy or Girl Scouts would customize a sash with their progress. While there have been sessions in the past to build bird houses and little trucks based on icons like Grave Digger, this summer was all about the Avengers. The program kicked off back in June, but I'd only heard about it a few weeks ago. As such, I missed out on opportunities to build Captain America's motorcycle, Black Widow's sky cycle and Iron Man's Avenjet. Fortunately, I was able to tag along with some friends to help out with the Hulk's tank session.

Somehow over the past two years, Quicksilver became a hot commodity in the Marvel movie landscape. With the character's rights in a bit of ownership limbo, both Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox released films in their flagship franchises that showed off the silver-haired speedster and his one-note abilities. Both X-Men: Days of Future Past and Avengers: Age of Ultron showed Quicksilver's powers and personalities in different ways, with each version of the character having his fans. Regardless of which iteration of Pietro Maximoff you liked better, only one got an action figure. Ipso facto, Avengers Quicksilver is clearly superior. Teased during ACGHK 2015, Hot Toys officially announced its Avengers: Age of Ultron Quicksilver sixth-scale figure today. While we already knew what to expect from the sculpt based on the prototype shown off at the toy and collectible convention, these production shots do give us a better idea of the articulation and detail. Though Quicksilver's outfit is a bit plainclothes compared to the actual members of the Avengers, Hot Toys' tailors manage to bring all the subtlety they can do the outfit. It's a good thing too, otherwise this figure would run this risk of being just a tiny bit on the boring side.