At last, we've come to the end of 2020. The past year has been a difficult one for the comic industry, as it has been for so many others. But publishers and creators have still been able to put out some remarkable books this year, and December is no exception.

Below, check out our picks for comics to read this month.

Batman/Catwoman #1 (DC)

Tom King (writer), Clay Mann (artist)

For many years, certain passionate fans have argued that the animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is one of (if not the) greatest Batman movies ever made in any format. Those fans are now validated because celebrated Batman writer Tom King’s return to the character involves the first-ever comic appearance of that film’s central character, Andrea Beaumont. As the title indicates, the core of this 12-issue series is the romance between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, so it makes sense to bring in another legendary Batman love interest for some tension and danger. The fact that the story moves between three timelines (the past, where Batman and Catwoman are rivals; the present, where they are in a committed relationship and Andrea asks for their help; and the future, when an older Selina is tying up loose ends after Bruce’s death) means you might have to read the issue twice before fully getting it. Maybe it won’t fully make sense until we have all 12 issues in hand, but the first issue is plenty tantalizing on its own.

Batman/Catwoman #1 is available now.

Home Sick Pilots #1 (Image)

Dan Watters (writer), Caspar Wijngaard (artist)

Here amidst the 2020 internet, we love genre mash-ups -- and you’ll never see this one coming. Haunted house story plus...mecha manga? With a good dose of punk rock aesthetic, to be sure. The latest comic from prolific writer Dan Watters (Lucifer, Coffin Bound) to the titular punk band, a group of ‘90s misfits outrunning the police and trying to outdo their rivals by putting on the coolest gig possible. Their lead singer, Ami, decides that the best location for an outlaw punk show would be the abandoned haunted house at the top of the hill. But when she enters the house, she finds herself merging with it -- but in a Pacific Rim way, not in a Haunting of Hill House way. Her band name becomes literal as she starts “piloting” the creaky house like a Gundam. Don’t believe us? Well, it’s true that artist Caspar Wijngaard’s depiction of this incredible concept has to be seen to be believed, but even when the house isn’t alive, he uses its layout to build intricate page designs.

Home Sick Pilots #1 is on sale Dec. 9.

M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games #1 (Marvel) 

Jordan Blum & Patton Oswalt (writers), Scott Hepburn (artist)

Usually it goes the other way. Marvel movies start by using the comics as a jumping-off point, but then do their own riffs on the material. If their changes become popular enough, they then get incorporated back into the comics in a feedback loop. But even though Hulu’s stop-motion M.O.D.O.K. series hasn’t premiered yet, the show’s creators (showrunner Jordan Blum and star Patton Oswalt) have teamed up to present their take on the big-headed supervillain ahead of time.

As you may have heard, the show is premised on M.O.D.O.K. (the funniest-looking supervillain in Marvel history, a floating psychic head with tiny little arms and legs) having a family consisting of a human wife and son, plus a daughter who resembles his unique features. These characters have not appeared in the comics before, so M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games is working to reconcile the differing interpretations of this character. In this story, the M.O.D.O.K. we know suddenly finds himself beset by visions of a family he doesn’t remember. How will this turn out and/or tie in to the TV show? The next three issues promise revelation, and based on this fun start it should be a good read.

M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games #1 is available now.

Second Coming: Only Begotten Son #1 (Ahoy)

Mark Russell (writer), Richard Pace (artist)

What if Jesus and Superman were roommates? That was the incendiary premise of Second Coming, perhaps the single most controversial comic from the format’s top modern satirist Mark Russell. But while we all know the story behind Jesus, the backstory of Sunstar (the book’s Man of Steel analogue) is unexplored territory so far. This second miniseries promises to shed more light on Sunstar’s origins and how they differ from Superman’s. Knowing Russell, it should be a head-spinning journey.

Second Coming: Only Begotten Son #1 is available Dec. 16 -- just in time for the holiday celebrating Jesus’ origin.

Wonder Woman: Dead Earth (DC Black Label)

Daniel Warren Johnson (writer/artist)

If you spend any time on Comics Twitter, you’ve surely seen some of Daniel Warren Johnson’s drawings. Pumped out at a prolific pace, Johnson’s commissions take familiar characters and put them in the most jaw-dropping action setpieces imaginable; a “Spider-Man commission” is a view from below of the wall-crawler swinging between New York buildings, and a “John Wick commission” is drawn from the perspective of a mobster who just got shot in the face by Keanu Reeves’ iconic assassin. The pleasures of Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, now available in collected edition, come from seeing Johnson channel his kinetic style through Wonder Woman. Although Diana is an icon of peace, waking up in a post-apocalyptic world gives her plenty of opportunity to fight monsters to protect the last surviving humans, and Johnson depicts these battles with true visual panache. Dystopian futures are everywhere these days, so even beyond the visuals, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth’s depiction of Diana continuing to protect her values of love and peace in the wasteland feels unique and heartwarming. 

Wonder Woman: Dead Earth is available now.

Related content:

• Tom King previews 'ambitious' Batman/Catwoman: 'It's a story without compromise'
• Marvel's M.O.D.O.K. first look reveals supervillain's mundane family on Hulu series
• The best new comics to read in November: Crossing streams, eternal recurrence

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Christian Holub

David Fincher movies feel like events — or maybe it's just that his newest one does, since he's spent the past half-decade producing TV shows like House of Cards and Mindhunter. Mank, which hits Netflix this Friday, is also personal: The screenplay for the biopic of Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz was written by the director's late father, Jack Fincher.

Mank is the latest installment in Fincher's acclaimed but divisive filmography. From the eternally controversial Fight Club to the expectation-subverting Zodiac, Fincher's films have inspired a wide spectrum of reactions over the years. Here, we've ranked his filmography according to the letter grades they received in their EW reviews. You can see that some of them received glowing praise, while others got harsh takedowns. He probably wouldn't have it any other way.

Zodiac (2007): A 

"Zodiac never veers from its stoically gripping, police-blotter tone, yet it begins to take on the quality of a dream. It’s an analogue of the post-9/11 world, where the enemy is specific yet, by virtue of his self-projection, omnipresent, and therefore impossible to pin down. As the ’70s roll forward, the investigators move on to other cases, but Graysmith, the amateur, can’t, and Gyllenhaal, who marinates his boyishness in quivery tension, makes that obsession ours. Slithering into police libraries, interviewing suspects, tearing his family life apart, he’s eaten up by the need to know, and he makes connections no one else does, but does he solve the case? By the time he fastens on to a monster, maybe the monster (and maybe not), Zodiac leaves us haunted by the knowledge that he’s looking for something that can’t be found: a way to make the monsters go away." —Owen Gleiberman (read more)

The Social Network (2010): A

"It’s hard to recall the last serious movie built around a character who was this much of an intellectual scoundrel. Yet the creators of The Social Network — screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), whose dialogue here is so sharp it could slice ribbons, and director David Fincher (Zodiac) — have something tricky and emotionally complex up their sleeves. The story of how Zuckerberg put Facebook together, one Silicon Valley bong bash and venture-capitalist powwow at a time, is intercut with a pair of deposition hearings in which he faces down the two parties he ostensibly screwed over... The sizzling ethical-dramatic question that drives The Social Network is: Why did Zuckerberg betray these people? Or, in fact, did he really?" —O.G. (read more)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): A

"Directed by the high-grunge master David Fincher (Zodiac, Se7en, The Social Network), the new Girl With the Dragon Tattoo sticks close to the spirit and most of the details of Stieg Larsson’s Swedish serial-killer novel, in which an officially disgraced left-wing journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), is hired to investigate a homicide that has haunted an aristocratic family for 40 years. Larsson’s plot is nothing more (or less) than a clever conventional whodunit festooned with glimmers of depravity. Fincher, however, teases out the full mythological grandeur of the material. He’s not just a great director — he’s an artist with the eyes of a voyeur, and he has made The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo into an electrifying movie by turning the audience into addicts of the forbidden, looking for the sick and twisted things we can’t see." —O.G. (read more)

Gone Girl (2014): A 

"Two summers ago, you couldn’t walk through an airport or ride the subway without spotting half-devoured copies of Gillian Flynn’s bruise-black thriller Gone Girl everywhere you looked. And for good reason. It was the rare page-turner that balanced beautiful writing, breathless pacing, and booby-trap plot twists that landed with the brass-knuckle force of a sucker-punch. Not surprisingly, it was quickly optioned and fast-tracked into one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the fall, with David Fincher behind the camera and Flynn (a former EW colleague of mine) adapting her own story for the screen. There were reasons to be wary, of course. Was Ben Affleck too smug — and let’s face it, too on-the-nose — to play the callow Nick Dunne? Was Rosamund Pike too icily ethereal and untested to play his missing wife, Amy? And how would the film handle the novel’s just-short-of-preposterous Big Reveal? Well, the answers are no, no, and…masterfully. Fincher and Flynn’s film gets just about everything right." —Chris Nashawaty (read more)

Alien 3 (1992): A—

"Alien 3 is a grimly seductive end-of-the-world thriller, with pop-tragic overtones that build in resonance as the movie goes on. Directed by David Fincher, a 28-year-old graduate of rock videos, the movie resurrects both the fear-sick mood and squishy-obsidian look — water dripping down dank walls, mysterious dark coils illuminated by shafts of light — that made Alien such a sci-fi mindbender. Alien 3, though, is quieter, more languid." —O.G. (read more)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): A—

"At any moment in this singular Hollywood spectacle, two marvels predominate, one technical and the other…Bradical. The movie has been in the works for years, pored over by Fincher like a favorite fairytale from his childhood. But only now has computer-driven wizardry matured enough to meet the story’s challenges so unobtrusively. Likewise, Pitt, a comely actor, is no longer the golden surprise he was 18 years ago in Thelma & Louise. What he is, though, is a phenomenon of heightened celebrity. And that rarified status, combined with good grooming and exquisite digital effects care, produces the exact force field of fame needed to take our breath away in that first moment on screen when, rid of gray hair, Benjamin is bathed in light that honors the movie-star beauty Pitt is. Was. Is." —Lisa Schwarzbaum (read more)

Mank (2020): B+

"Oldman, who picked up an Oscar nearly three years ago for his turn as Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour, leans gleefully into Mankiewicz's messy joie de vivre; a figure far too clever for his own good, and too self-aware not to know it. Fincher also seems to revel in his telling, faithfully recreating the ring-a-ding speech rhythms and lush scene setting of Hollywood's Golden Age (while also managing to slip in a surprising amount about regional California politics circa the tail end of the Great Depression). What the script — penned by Fincher's late father, Jack, who passed away in 2003 — never quite cracks is the machinery of the creative process." —Leah Greenblatt (read more)

The Game (1997): B+

"The Game has the ingeniously unfolding, Chinese-box structure of something like Deathtrap (as well as a genre-teasing 'postmodernism' that reminded me of Scream), yet it’s also infused with a chic aura of yuppie dread. A fantasy-nightmare of giving up control and plunging through the safety net of your own perceptions, the movie is an elegant piece of pop paranoia — Kafka as roller-coaster ride." —O.G. (read more)

Seven (1995): B

"Seven is a heebie-jeebies thriller, the kind people will go to for a good, cathartic creep-out. The credits sequence, with its jumpy frames and near-subliminal flashes of psycho paraphernalia, is a small masterpiece of dementia — the film itself seems to be breaking down in terror. Fincher has lifted a lot of tricks from Manhunter, but the canniest was to reveal just enough clinical carnage so that we re-create the details of the killings in our heads. Balancing out the sleek horror are Freeman and Pitt, who, within a stock old cop-young cop routine, spark each other." —O.G. (read more)

Panic Room (2002): C+ 

"Soon enough in Panic Room (the title divested, like Fincher’s Fight Club, of ”The”), real trouble does arrive from outside, in the form of three expert trespassers intent on retrieving something that is, to everyone’s misfortune, interred in the very shelter in which mother and daughter secrete themselves. And soon enough a pointed ode to New York City nerve-rack and survival skills dissolves into a far more average, less compelling, and sometimes just slapdash-vicious cat-and-mouse game as the intruded-upon battle intruders whose various personalities are as broad as vaudeville." —L.S. (read more)

Fight Club (1999): D

"Pitt and Norton enthusiastically throw their all into their unattractive roles, yet an inextinguishable flame of self-satisfaction burns in these vibrant young stars even when they’re painted and greased to look their worst. (Vanity be damned, Pitt revels in dental imperfections!) Meanwhile, Fincher, more obsessed than ever with atmospheric ugliness, never settles for the suggestion of pain when a loving, lingering display of it will do. I thought Seven pretty much enumerated all the grotesque torture fantasies on the director’s wish list, but that was before I watched Tyler initiate his new friend into the porno-Zen of pain management by pouring corrosive lye on the poor jerk’s hand and watching the flesh bubble and curl." —L.S. (read more)

Related content:

• Mank director David Fincher breaks down a pivotal scene in the Hollywood drama
• How the Mank cast tackled the behind-the-scenes story of Citizen Kane
• How David Fincher made Zodiac

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Christian Holub

Life is like a hurricane in Duckburg, but all storms come to an end eventually. EW has confirmed that the currently airing third season of DuckTales will be the show's last.

"The talented creative team, led by Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones, have delivered exceptional storytelling with uniquely reimagined characters for three seasons of 75 episodes and more than 15 shorts," Disney representatives said in a statement. "While physical production has wrapped, DuckTales continues to be available daily on Disney Channels and Disney+ around the world and fans will get an epic season finale in 2021."

This modern incarnation of DuckTales premiered on Disney XD in 2017. It began as a reboot of the '80s cartoon of the same name but soon outgrew its predecessor in hilarity, inventiveness, and scope. Season 3, for example, has incorporated other Disney Afternoon shows of different genres through brilliant meta storytelling: In one episode the DuckTales characters got trapped in the sitcom world of Quack Pack via a genie wish, and in another a mad scientist pulled Darkwing Duck characters out of a multiversal portal to pit against the heroes.

"The new DuckTales is better than the original show. Funnier, more ambitious," EW TV critic Darren Franich wrote shortly after the show's 2017 launch. "This new DuckTales has rediscovered the old magic, but also broken new ground."

It's a bittersweet day for Duck fans everywhere. But there are still several season 3 episodes left to air in the new year, and the first two seasons are available for streaming on Disney+ for anyone who hasn't yet watched.

Related content:

• Scrooge finally confronts Santa in first look at DuckTales holiday episode
• DuckTales keeps getting better: season 2 review
• DuckTales exclusive: Meet the new faces of Duckburg!

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Christian Holub

Elliot Page has come out as transgender. The star of movies like Juno and TV shows like The Umbrella Academy, formerly known as Ellen Page, posted about his transition on social media on Tuesday.

"Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they, and my name is Elliot," Page wrote in his note. "I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life."

Page's announcement was greeted with congratulations and support from fans and followers, as well as GLAAD.

"Elliot Page has given us fantastic characters on-screen, and has been an outspoken advocate for all LGBTQ people,” GLAAD’s director of transgender media Nick Adams said in a statement. “He will now be an inspiration to countless trans and non-binary people. All transgender people deserve the chance to be ourselves and to be accepted for who we are. We celebrate the remarkable Elliot Page today.”

Even in his moment of celebration, Page had a note of caution, since transgender people still unfortunately face prejudice and danger. Trans actress Laverne Cox told her own social media followers just days ago that she suffered a transphobic attack over the weekend. But, Page wrote, this just makes them want to fight harder for widespread acceptance.

"I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer. And the more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I dream, the more my heart grows and the more I thrive," Page wrote. "To all the trans people who deal with harassment, self-loathing, abuse, and the threat of violence every day: I see you, I love you, and I will do everything I can to change this world for the better. Thank you for reading this."

Read the full statement above.

Related stories: 

• Laverne Cox 'in shock' after recent transphobic attack: 'It is not safe if you're a trans person'
• Star Trek: Discovery adding saga's first transgender, nonbinary characters
• Lilly Wachowski says 'original intention' of The Matrix was its trans allegory

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Christian Holub

The beginning of a new month signals the latest change-up in the movies and TV shows available for streaming on Netflix, but December isn't just any month. It's the last month of the year, which means a lot of licensing deals are expiring. Below, you'll see a long list of film and TV titles.

A lot of titles that people have gotten used to seeing on Netflix are now departing. The Office, which has perhaps become the default "Netflix watch" referenced in countless dating app profiles, is finally saying goodbye to its time on the platform and heading toward the exclusive domain of NBC's own streaming app, Peacock. Other popular multi-season binge watches like The West Wing and Gossip Girl are also departing. If you still haven't finished any of these series (or big movie franchises like Indiana Jones and Back to the Future), use the holiday time off well!

Check out the full list below.

Leaving Dec. 1

Heartbreakers (2001)

The Lobster (2015)

Leaving Dec. 4

Cabin Fever (2016)

Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (2018)

Leaving Dec. 5

The Rum Diary (2011)

Leaving Dec. 6

The Secret (2006)

Leaving Dec. 7

Berlin, I Love You (2019)

The Art of the Steal (2013)

Leaving Dec. 8

Sin senos sí hay paraíso: Seasons 1-3

Leaving Dec. 10

Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (2018)

Leaving Dec. 14

Hart of Dixie: Seasons 1-4

Leaving Dec. 17

Ip Man 3 (2015)

Leaving Dec. 20

The Little Hours (2017)

Leaving Dec. 24

The West Wing: Seasons 1-7

Leaving Dec. 25

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Leaving Dec. 27

Fifty (2015)

Leaving Dec. 28

Lawless (2012)

Leaving Dec. 29

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

Leaving Dec. 30

Dexter: Seasons 1-8

Hell on Wheels: Seasons 1-5

Ip Man (2008)

Ip Man 2 (2010)

Nurse Jackie: Seasons 1-7

Airplane! (1980)

An Education (2009)

Anna Karenina (2012)

Baby Mama (2008)

Back to the Future (1985)

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

Bad Teacher (2011)

Barbershop (2002)

Being John Malkovich (1999)

Cape Fear (1991)

Casper (1995)

Charlie St. Cloud (2010)

Coneheads (1993)

Definitely, Maybe (2008)

Dennis the Menace (1993)

Drugs, Inc.: Season 6

The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Fargo (1996)

For Love or Money (1993)

Frida (2002)

Gossip Girl: Seasons 1-6

Grand Hotel: Seasons 1-3

Her (2013)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

The Inbetweeners: Seasons 1-3

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

The Interview (2014)

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

Nacho Libre (2006)

Not Another Teen Movie (2001)

The Notebook (2004)

Octonauts: Seasons 1-3

The Office : Seasons 1-9

Poltergeist (1982)

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Session 9 (2001)

Splice (2009)

Starsky & Hutch (2004)

Superman Returns (2006)

The Town (2010)

Troy (2004)

WarGames (1983)

The Witches (1990)

Related content:

• Happy 10th anniversary, Jim and Pam! An oral history of The Office wedding
• See The West Wing administration reunite in EW's exclusive portraits
• The scariest movies to watch on Netflix right now

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Christian Holub

BTS has done it again.

Just 10 days after the beloved K-pop group released their newest album Be, BTS has once again debuted in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums list, having sold 242,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Nov. 26. BE is BTS' fifth Korean language album, and also their fifth time debuting at the top of Billboard's chart. BTS' previous album, Map of the Soul: 7, came out earlier this year and also snagged the top spot in February.

Be's success is surely powered by "Dynamite," the group's first English language and chart-topping single. Not only did "Dynamite" make BTS the first Korean musicians to top the American music charts, but when it was dethroned a few months later by BTS' own remix of Jason Derulo's "Savage Love," BTS became the first Korean group to simultaneously have songs in the No. 1 and No. 2 chart positions. Conversations among the group members — Jungkook, V, Jimin, RM, Jin, J-Hope, and Suga — were recorded and turned into the track "Skit" on Be. "Dynamite" also earned BTS a Grammy nomination last week for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

In addition to "Dynamite," Be features a multitude of genres and sounds, from the pop ballad “Blue & Grey” to the funky “Telepathy."

Related content:

• It's here! BTS release Be, their second album of 2020
• BTS becomes first Korean act to occupy top two spots on Billboard Hot 100 chart
• BTS exclusive: Inside the secretive world of K-Pop

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Christian Holub

How has your 2020 been? There have surely been highs and lows for everyone, but one thing we've all shared is the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, now that it's time for popular dictionaries to choose their annual "word of the year," Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster both chose the same one: "Pandemic."

Both dictionary websites acknowledge that "pandemic" was certainly the most-searched word of the year on their platforms, especially on Feb. 3 (the day the first COVID-19 patient in the U.S. was released from the hospital) and March 11 (when the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a "pandemic"). But those are mere indications of how the word "pandemic" came to define our lives this year.

"As most of us now know painfully well, a pandemic is defined as 'a disease prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the whole world.' And yet, the loss of life and livelihood caused by the COVID-19 pandemic defies definition," the Dictionary.com post reads. "With over 60 million confirmed cases, the pandemic has claimed over one million lives across the globe and is still rising to new peaks. The pandemic has wreaked social and economic disruption on a historic scale and scope, globally impacting every sector of society—not to mention its emotional and psychological toll. All other events for most of 2020, from the protests for racial justice to a heated presidential election, were shaped by the pandemic. Despite its hardships, the pandemic inspired the best of our humanity: resilience and resourcefulness in the face of struggle. And we thought 2019 was an existential year..."

Merriam-Webster's post points out that the pandemic's ability to affect everyone on Earth is reflected right there in the etymology of the word.

"The Greek roots of this word tell a clear story: pan means 'all' or 'every,' and dēmos means 'people'; its literal meaning is 'of all the people,'" the post explains. "The related word epidemic comes from roots that mean 'on or upon the people.' The two words are used in ways that overlap, but in general usage a pandemic is an epidemic that has escalated to affect a large area and population."

But in addition to the many uses of "pandemic" itself, Dictionary.com points out that the word spawned many new linguistic inventions this year as well. Medical lingo terms like "asymptomatic," "contact tracing," and (of course) "quarantine" became commonplace in 2020, while new words and phrases like "anti-masker," "the Before Times," and "Zoom fatigue" were also invented to describe the surreal experience of pandemic life.

"We cannot overstate how rare it is for so many entries, so abruptly, to be added to the dictionary," Dictionary.com wrote. "The resilience and resourcefulness people confronted the pandemic with also manifested itself in tremendous linguistic creativity. Throughout 2020, our team has been tracking a growing body of so-called coronacoinages that have given expression—and have offered some relief from tragedy, some connection in isolation—to the lived experience of a surreal year."

Here's hoping the word of 2021 will be slightly more pleasant to experience.

Related content:

• Dictionary.com names 'existential' as 2019 word of the year
• ‘Misinformation’ named 2018's word of the year by Dictionary.com
• ‘Complicit’ named word of the year for 2017 by Dictionary.com

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Christian Holub

The first X-Men crossover of the new era has reached its climax. This week sees the release of X-Men #15, Excalibur #15, and X of Swords: Destruction #1, which together conclude the 22-part X of Swords saga that has consumed Marvel's X-Men comics for the past several months. Crossovers are a staple of X-Men comics going back decades, but this was the first since House of X and Powers of X relaunched the status quo last year by relocating all Marvel's mutants to an independent nation-state on the living island of Krakoa.

Building off story threads laid out in House of X, Powers of X, and the relaunched Dawn of X comics that followed, X of Swords has explored the history of Krakoa. Millennia ago, Krakoa was but half of a greater island called Okkara, which was split in two by the mutant Apocalypse to save the world from an extradimensional demonic invasion. The other half of Okkara, Arakko, has spent the eternity since in a hell dimension fighting armies of demons. Its residents are understandably bitter about this, and in X of Swords they have come to challenge the X-Men for dominion over both islands — and reality as a whole.

The challenge has taken the form of swordfights… kind of. Each side was assigned 10 magical swords (if you're ever confused by the title of an X-Men comic, try reading the "X" as a Roman numeral), which could only be wielded by specific champions. Those two teams then assembled in the neutral territory of Otherworld to compete against each other — not just in swordfights, either, but in all manner of magical and strength contests. To salute the story's finale, we ranked the swords wielded by the X-Men — by how cool they are and how well they've aided their bearers in the contest.

9. Starlight Sword (Captain Britain)

This one certainly seems cool, since it's one of the newer swords in the X-Men collection. Forged from the material of the Starlight Citadel where the contest between Krakoa and Arakko is taking place, the Starlight Sword was meant to be a new weapon for Captain Britain to defend the Omniverse after the Secret Wars event from several years ago left its defenses depleted (funnily enough, that comic was also written by X of Swords mastermind Jonathan Hickman). But the Starlight Citadel and everything in it answer to the authority of the Omniversal Majestrix, Luna Saturnyne, and Saturnyne does not approve of Betsy Braddock taking the role of Captain Britain from her brother Brian. The sword betrayed its bearer early in the contest, to Brian's horror and Saturnyne's delight.

8. Sword of Might (Captain Avalon)

A weapon traditionally associated with Captain Britain, the Sword of Might has nevertheless been treated as a bad-faith prank by Betsy ever since she assumed the mantle. The traditional method of discovering whether someone is worthy to be Captain Britain is to offer them the Amulet of Right or the Sword of Might; if they choose the sword, they have failed, because right is better than might. Betsy became Captain Britain a different way, and is a little insecure about it. So every time Brian has offered Betsy the Sword of Might to use in this sword contest, she's rejected it as an attack on her legitimacy. Eventually, Brian just took the sword himself and assumed a new identity: Captain Avalon, defender of the Braddock family. Saturnyne is none too pleased about it, of course.

7. The Light of Galador (Cable)

Another new sword, the Light of Galador was only recently discovered by the young Cable in the paw of a giant monster that appeared on Krakoa. Cable embraced his find enthusiastically, choosing a sword as his weapon to further distinguish himself from the older, gun-wielding version of Cable that fans and characters alike are more familiar with. The Light of Galador certainly has unique advantages, since it taps into a well of power that Cable can manipulate, but at this point it seems better suited as a power source (Cable used it to reactivate the X-Men's orbital S.W.O.R.D. station early in the story) than as a weapon.

6. Warlock Sword (Cypher)

Cypher is no swordsman, as he'll be the first to admit. His talents are in language and communication — and thanks to the unexpected and random nature of Saturnyne's contest, those talents have actually helped score a point or two for the X-Men. But even though Cypher's sword hasn't seen much use in battle, it's still an awesome visualization of friendship-as-weapon — since the blade is literally made out of Cypher's shapeshifting best friend.

5. Grasscutter & Godkiller (Gorgon)

There are 10 swords for the X-Men but only nine swordbearers, because one mutant is powerful enough to wield two at once. Gorgon was not a hero until he accepted the Krakoan amnesty for all mutants, and the zenith of his prior villainy came in Hickman's Secret Warriors comics when he fought a duel against Phobos, the young son of the god Ares. In that fight, Gorgon wielded Godkiller and Phobos wielded Grasscutter — two perfect swords forged by gods in a long-ago war between the Japanese and Greek pantheons. After Gorgon won, he claimed both swords for his own, and he has since become one of the deadliest mutants at Krakoa's disposal.

4. Scarab (Apocalypse)

It's always about the number four with Apocalypse. Matching rhetoric from the Book of Revelation, the mutant supervillain has often appeared with four Horsemen in tow, though the lineup always changes. In X of Swords, readers have learned that the original Four Horsemen were Apocalypse's own children, who he sent through the demonic portal to defend Arakko ages ago and who have now returned seeking vengeance. Even Apocalypse's chosen sword relates to the number four: He split Scarab into four pieces after losing his children, and has only now reforged it in order to fight them. But as fans of Apocalypse know, it doesn't especially matter what particular weapon he's wielding in battle; it is the man himself, the so-called first mutant ("En Sabah Nur"), armed with millennia of hard-fought experience and a merciless survival-of-the-fittest philosophy, that is always the most dangerous.

3. Soulsword (Magik)

The first several installments of X of Swords were consumed by the X-Men completing various trials and tasks in order to secure their swords. Not Magik — she was first in line, because what is there for her to prove? She is her sword and her sword is her, which maybe explains why she scored a crucial point for her team through ingenuity and riddle-solving. Magik has been one of the most consistently awesome characters in the Krakoa era, and she has been a rock for readers and other characters throughout X of Swords.

2. Muramasa Blade (Wolverine)

What does it mean to not just overcome your greatest weakness, but turn it into a weapon? Wolverine would know better than most. He's wielded the Muramasa Blade before, and as soon as the rules of the sword contest were uttered, he knew he had to find it again. Muramasa is the name of a blacksmith who forges swords out of souls, and Logan's is no different. It contains a piece of his soul, and is therefore one of the only known weapons that can kill him (talk about a double-edged sword!). But being accustomed to vulnerability has helped Wolverine a great deal in Otherworld, where the ambient magic has disrupted his healing factor. Faced with rare and real danger, Wolverine has wielded his blade to once again prove he's the best there is at what he does, in this or any dimension.

1. Skybreaker (Storm)

Folks, there's a clear winner here. Though she is now a serving member of Krakoa's mutant government, Storm spent a significant amount of time in the past as Queen of Wakanda, back when she was married to T'Challa. That came in handy when the rules of the sword contest became clear, because — as should surprise no one — Wakanda possesses one of the most powerful and scientifically advanced swords in the world. Skybreaker was forged by the Wakandans ages ago, the first weapon made from the vibranium asteroid that crashed in their country. Studying it has been a great boost to Wakandan science over the years, but its power to channel and amplify energy is at its maximum utility in the hands of the lightning-controlling Storm. Even if she had to steal it from Wakanda's vault, Storm has since wielded it to great effect — as befits a true queen.

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Author:Christian Holub - Source: EW

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection — perhaps even more so this year than usual. At the most basic level, the holiday asks participants to think about things in their life that they are grateful for; at another level, Thanksgiving inspires one to think about American history, and how it's all a little darker than you were led to believe when drawing turkeys and pilgrims as a kid. Those inclined to the latter mode of Thanksgiving thought should know that HBO Max is making their Between the World and Me special free to stream from Nov. 25-30.

Adapted from the book of the same name by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me explores a wide swath of the Black experience in America, from police violence and other forms of oppression to the ways in which Black identity celebrates joy. Coates' book was written as an open letter to his young son, and the TV special retains that intimacy by breaking it down into a series of monologues performed by very big names: Oprah Winfrey, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Yara Shahidi, Joe Morton, and Phylicia Rashad, as well as activists such as Angela Davis and Black Lives Matter cofounder Alicia Garza.

HBO Max is also in the midst of releasing a four-part companion podcast about Between the World and Me, featuring conversations both with people who appear in the special and others, such as visual artists and representatives from The Apollo Theater, The Kennedy Center, Howard University, and the Schwarzman Center at Yale University.

For the next few days, Between the World and Me can be streamed via HBO Max's free page, along with episodes of recent TV shows like Lovecraft Country and The Flight Attendant.

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Author:Christian Holub - Source: EW

• Movie

Alec Baldwin's time playing President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live might be drawing to a close, but the actor's other most iconic role from the late 2010s is getting another round. On Tuesday, DreamWorks released the trailer for The Boss Baby: Family Business, a follow-up to the animated 2017 hit that starred Baldwin as a baby with the mind of an adult.

The new Boss Baby movie is set decades after the last one. Now, Ted Templeton (Baldwin) and his brother Tim (Tobey Maguire) have both grown into actual adults; Ted even has two daughters! But now the youngest daughter is a Boss Baby herself, voiced by Amy Sedaris? And she gives her dad and uncle a special formula that turns them back into babies for 48 hours? So that they can stop Jeff Goldblum from leading a "baby revolution"?

If any of that sounds crazy, watch the trailer above and see for yourself. The Boss Baby: Family Business is set to hit theaters on March 26.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly’s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

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The Boss Baby

Author:Christian Holub - Source: EW

Jaws

• Movie

• Thriller

Jaws may be the most famous shark story ever told, but the iconic Steven Spielberg-directed blockbuster didn't film an actual animal for its villain. Mechanized shark models were used — though they were so difficult to work that Spielberg often decided to merely suggest the shark's presence, leading to some iconic film moments. Anyone interested in the working of the model shark (nicknamed "Bruce" by the film's crew) will soon be able to view it at their leisure, because on Monday the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced that they had officially added the last surviving Jaws shark model to their growing collection. (Watch the installation above.)

The 25-foot model was acquired in 2016, back when 2017 was being targeted as the museum's opening date, but now has finally been installed.

“It’s been a long journey for Bruce since he was acquired in 2016, and we couldn’t be happier to welcome him to his new home,” Academy Museum President Bill Kramer said in a statement. “We look forward to our opening when museum visitors can engage with our exhibitions, experience our beautiful Renzo Piano-designed building, and come face to face with one of the most iconic characters in film history.”

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is set to open its doors on April 30, 2021. Bruce will then be available for viewing, free to the public. There's no word yet on whether John Williams' score will be playing in the background of the exhibit — you might just have to imagine it.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly’s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

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Jaws

Author:Christian Holub - Source: EW

• TV Show

• Animated
• Adventure

Streaming Options

Bah, humbug! The Scrooge McDuck of DuckTales doesn't just share a name with the protagonist of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol; they're also both confirmed Christmas haters. But even more than Christmas itself, this Scrooge (David Tennant) hates Santa Claus with a passion.

In the season 2 episode "Last Christmas!", Scrooge revealed that he spends the annual holiday hanging out with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future ever since a prior mix-up where they mistakenly identified him as the other Scrooge — but he still gets shaking mad anytime Santa's name is mentioned. This season's Christmas episode, airing next week on Disney XD, is set to finally reveal the nature of Scrooge's beef with Santa. As you can see in the exclusive first look image below, Santa finally makes his appearance on DuckTales, voiced by Hugh Bonneville.

This is DuckTales after all, where humans only appear in very special circumstances, so this version of Santa is...a mustachioed polar bear! Why not? More importantly, the show is trying to treat Santa as a fully-fledged character.

"I’m a huge fan of those old Rankin/Bass stop-motion specials, like The Year Without a Santa Claus and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, the stuff that treats Santa as a character, not an icon," co-executive producer and story editor Frank Angones tells EW. "That’s what we’re trying to do with DuckTales: Treat Scrooge and the family as characters, not icons. So not only did Scrooge know Santa, not only do they have beef, they were business partners and he invented Christmas!" 

Santa and Scrooge have more in common than it might appear. During the upcoming episode, Scrooge's faithful protegee Webby Vanderquack (Kate Micucci) even describes them both (accurately!) as "two red-coated immortals traveling the world." So what happened? You'll have to watch the episode for the full story.  

"It gets to the legacy of Scrooge. He’s let his family back into his life, he’s let adventure back into his life, but there’s still this one guy who crossed him!" Angones says. "It’s the only time he’s ever been double-crossed over a business deal. But then I think, it being Christmas, it was important to portray him as a friend, which is not something Scrooge has many of. Who’s his best friend? Oh, the maid who is also a spy who he used to adventure with? This was a partnership and a friendship, the last time he considered someone an equal. We thought this was an important story to tell since Christmas is a time of reconciliation."

Check out the first look photo and video above. New episodes of DuckTales air Mondays on Disney XD.

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DuckTales (2017 TV series)

Streaming Options

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Author:Christian Holub - Source: EW

After all these years, there's still more to learn about Middle-earth. On Thursday, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced they will be publishing what they describe as a "previously unseen" collection of writings by The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien. This new volume will be titled The Nature of Middle-earth.

HMH VP and publisher Deb Brody describes The Nature of Middle-earth as "a veritable treasure-trove offering readers a chance to peer over Professor Tolkien’s shoulder at the very moment of discovery."

“For him, Middle-earth was part of an entire world to be explored, and the writings in The Nature of Middle-earth reveal the journeys that he took as he sought to better understand his unique creation," Brody said in a statement. "From sweeping themes as profound as Elvish immortality and reincarnation, and the Powers of the Valar, to the more earth-bound subjects of the lands and beasts of Númenor, the geography of the Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor, and even who had beards!"

The Nature of Middle-earth is edited by Tolkien language expert Carl F. Hostetter, which makes it the first Middle-earth volume not to be primarily edited by Christopher Tolkien, who edited The Silmarillion together after his father's death and oversaw the literary estate until his own death earlier this year.

The Nature of Middle-earth is set to be published in the U.S. on June 24, 2021. Check out the cover art above.

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Author:Christian Holub - Source: EW

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has aired on TV every single year since 1964, making it the longest-running TV special in American history. Given the rise of home media in the decades since, it's safe to say the stop-motion movie about a plucky reindeer with a shiny nose has been seen by countless Americans.

The secret to Rudolph’s success was upstart production company Videocraft International, which would later evolve into Rankin/Bass Productions and create dozens more beloved holiday specials. EW caught up with Rankin/Bass historian Rick Goldschmidt to find out how they set the stage for a red-nosed phenomenon.

Step One: The Animation

Japanese animation gained international fame in the 1970s and ’80s, but the industry was advanced enough even in the ’60s that Japanese animators, led by supervisor Tad Mochinaga, brought their skills to the stop-motion puppetry of Rudolph and subsequent Rankin/Bass specials. The production company’s founder Arthur Rankin Jr. “was brought to Japan as part of a delegation, and he knew talent,” says Goldschmidt. “When he saw what they were doing in Japan, he was like, ‘This has got to be used for TV in the U.S., and I’ll do it.’”

Although their names are forever entwined, Rankin and Bass performed different duties; Rankin was the only one who traveled to Japan and worked with the animators there. Goldschmidt wants to make a point about credit for Rudolph while we're at it. Larry Roemer is listed as the director of Rudolph, but Goldschmidt believes the credit rightly belongs to the Japanese team. 

“Larry Roemer did not direct Rudolph. He was a business partner who had an in at NBC, and he got the special on TV, so Arthur [Rankin] gave him the director’s credit,” Goldschmidt says. “But really the director of Rudolph was Tad Mochinaga. They gave a bigwig the credit instead.”

Step Two: The Writing

The original “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” song was written by Johnny Marks, who contributed several more songs to the TV special. But it was Rankin/Bass mainstay Romeo Muller Jr. who wrote out the story and crafted the show’s most memorable characters, like wannabe-dentist elf Hermey.

“Romeo [wrote]for Jack Benny and famous radio shows,” says Goldschmidt. “That’s why Rudolph has lasted 56 years: They hired people with experience.”

Muller’s experience on Return to Oz, the previous Rankin/Bass TV special, helped inform the most memorable setpiece in Rudolph: The Island of Misfit Toys, where our hero finds understanding alongside other oddities. The only one whose disfigurement is unclear is the female doll. 

“A lot of people ask about the doll, it’s probably the biggest question from all of my time doing this,” Goldschmidt says. “Arthur just made a joke out of it, and would say she was cast away by her mistress and they didn’t have Prozac at the time.”

Step Three: The Casting

Can you imagine a Rudolph without Burl Ives’ Sam the Snowman? The actor was a late addition to the production, and prior to his entrance, iconic songs like “Silver and Gold” were to be sung by Yukon Cornelius actor Larry D. Mann. Ives added star power, and the songs became hits.

“Burl was an important part of Rudolph because he was so perfect for that storytelling and singing,” Goldschmidt says. Indeed, there’s a reason you won’t go a year without hearing “A Holly Jolly Christmas” a few times (at least).

To read more on holiday film favorites, order the December issue of Entertainment Weekly or find it on newsstands now. Don't forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.

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Author:Christian Holub - Source: EW