Marvel and WEBTOON Launch New Digital Comics App This Fall
- Marvel Comics is joining with WEBTOON to create a new app for digital comics, effectively replacing Marvel Unlimited, which has existed since 2007. It launches in November.
- The new Marvel Comics app will showcase more than 35,000 digital comics, Pull List features, and more new features. It will also include Star Wars comics and comics based on Twentieth Century Films IP.
- There will be a Base Tier for $9.99/month (plus tax) or $69.99/year (plus tax). The Ultimate Tier will be $12.49/month (plus tax) or $99.99/year (plus tax), and feature comics as early as 30 days after print release.
- Nerdist’s take: Whether or not this new app is better than Marvel Unlimited remains to be seen, but it will feature comics not previously on the old app, which is a plus.
How fans will access their favorite Marvel Comics titles digitally is about to change. Ahead of this week’s New York Comic Con, Marvel and WEBTOON have announced that they are joining forces to create a new Marvel Comics app. Revealed via Marvel’s official site, we’ve learned that this new app will launch on November 16. The new Marvel app will showcase more than 35,000 digital comics, Pull List features, and new issues as early as 30 days after print release. This replaces the Marvel Unlimited app, which shutters in December. Here’s what Marvel’s David Abdo had to say about their new digital home:
We know that there is a large audience of readers who are looking to experience comics digitally, and there is no richer library than Marvel Comics. We’re excited to partner with WEBTOON, industry leaders in the space, to create a new app that can continue to grow and evolve with the way readers discover and experience comics.
Marvel/WEBTOON
The new pricing adds a Base Tier at three months after print, for $9.99/month (plus tax) or $69.99/year (plus tax). The Ultimate Tier will be $12.49/month (plus tax) or $99.99/year (plus tax) with comics just 30 days after print. However, folks who already have the Marvel Unlimited app might want to act fast. That’s because subscribers must create a WEBTOON account, then repurchase a membership, and import their existing libraries before Marvel Unlimited ends. Discovery tools include a cover-scroll browser, personalised recommendations, and character and creator pages as well.
Nerdist’s Take: Many Will Miss Marvel Unlimited, But This New App Will Seemingly Have More Options than the Old OneThe catalogue on the new app covers Marvel Universe, Star Wars, and 20th Century Studios titles like Alien and Predator. Other comics from the Disney portfolio will arrive at a later date. For those who prefer to read their comics digitally, this will be an adjustment. But the addition of other titles previously unavailable through the older app will likely make this worth it. Marvel fans can pre-register now at Marvel/WEBTOON and claim a limited-time founding member price of $59.99 (plus tax) for their first year of Ultimate Annual.
Eric Diaz is a staff writer at Nerdist and a Swiss Army knife of fandoms. Eric loves DC, Marvel, horror movies, and even Star Wars and Star Trek equally.The post Marvel and WEBTOON Launch New Digital Comics App This Fall appeared first on Nerdist.
TRICK ‘R TREAT’s Sam Returns in Several New Halloween Shorts
- Sam, the spirit of Halloween from the cult horror classic Trick ‘r Treat, returns in a new animated short, thirty years after he first appeared in a cartoon short film called Season’s Greetings.
- Sam’s creator Mike Dougherty directs his creation from his university days in the first of many new animated shorts called Hello October: from Sam.
- Hello October: from Sam is the first of many new Sam-centric shorts, artwork, and merchandise that is part of the new Sam: The Soul of Halloween website.
- Nerdist’s take: While we all wait for Trick ‘r Treat 2, we now know Sam will have a new home for lots of new projects for the character.
Ever since the horror-comedy Trick ‘r Treat arrived in 2007, the character Sam, the Spirit of Halloween, has become the mascot of spooky season. With some competition from Jack Skellington and Michael Myers, of course. But despite multiple announcements for Trick ‘r Treat 2 over the years, we still haven’t seen the return of Sam. But that’s all about to change. We’ve learned via Dread Central, that Sam’s creator, Michael Dougherty, has released the first short film in his month-long Sam: The Soul of Halloween celebration. This has inaugurated the brand-new Sam website. You can watch Dougherty’s new Sam animated short, Hello October: from Sam, below:
The Sam: The Soul of Halloween website showcases new shorts, artwork, and merchandise, beginning at the start of October. And this goes all the way through October 31. Dougherty first invented Sam for his animated short Season’s Greetings back in 1996. It’s long been available on the Trick ‘r Treat DVD and Blu-ray releases, and can be found online. Now, he has invited different creatives to interpret that version of Sam in their own unique way. All while sticking to Sam’s original incarnation in Dougherty’s animated short, which he made as a student at NYU.
Mike Dougherty
All of this suggests that Mike Dougherty now has regained the rights to the character of Sam independent of the Trick ‘r Treat franchise. Although we must point out that we can’t confirm this for sure. So while we all wait for another Trick ‘r Treat film, we’ll see Sam appear in other short-form projects. As the site says, “Sam is a celebration of everything we love about Halloween: glowing jack-o’-lanterns, crisp autumn air, costumes and candy, superstitions and ghost stories, and all the things that go bump in the night.” That all sure sounds delightful to us, because we love the little guy. Long live Sam.
Eric Diaz is a staff writer at Nerdist and a Swiss Army knife of fandoms. Eric loves DC, Marvel, horror movies, and even Star Wars and Star Trek equally.The post TRICK ‘R TREAT’s Sam Returns in Several New Halloween Shorts appeared first on Nerdist.
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New STAR TREK Film Won’t Use Legacy Characters or Kelvin Universe
- The directors of the new Star Trek film, John Francis Daley and Johnathan Goldstein, revealed two important decisions they’ve made regarding their upcoming movie.
- The upcoming Star Trek won’t have any legacy characters from any previous incarnation of the franchise. In addition, they’ve confirmed it won’t take place in the alternate “Kelvin” timeline from the previous three J.J. Abrams-produced films.
- The two directors also confirmed that their Star Trek will take further along in the future than where we left off. We assume they mean further along in time than the last Star Trek feature film, and not Starfleet Academy, which takes place in the 32nd Century.
- Nerdist’s take: We’re thrilled Star Trek isn’t leaning into nostalgia or legacy casting for its big screen reboot, although we hope the one legacy that continues is a starship named Enterprise.
The Star Trek franchise, at least on TV, is pretty much over. Paramount+ will release the remaining episodes of Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy next year. But after that, there are no more Trek shows in production. However, Paramount does have a new Trek movie in development, directed by the Dungeons & Dragons duo of John Francis Daley and Johnathan Goldstein. But we’ve almost no details about what the movie will cover, or when in the Trek timeline it takes place. But in an interview with Empire Magazine (via Comic Book Movie), the directors did drop two major elements their movie won’t include.
Paramount Pictures
When asked about their concept for the film, Daley said, “No legacy characters, nobody that you’ve met before.” Goldstein then added that their Star Trek film will take place in “A different time, not a different timeline per se, but it’s a little further in the future. Sort of a different timeline.” Daley quickly corrected his directing and writing partner and said, “Well, not the Kelvin timeline. It’s not the J.J. [Abrams] timeline.” These are both big revelations about what Paramount has planned for their iconic sixty-year-old franchise.
Paramount Pictures
Most of the existing thirteen Star Trek films have some tie to the overall legacy of the franchise. Even the J.J. Abrams 2009 reboot brought back Leonard Nimoy as the elder Spock. Thus, tying the film to what Star Trek fans knew and loved. But this would be the first Star Trek movie without ties to any previous cast we already know. However, not having this take place in the Kelvin timeline indicates this takes place in the “classic” universe we’ve followed for six decades.
Nerdist’s Take: We Hope the Only Legacy the New Star Trek Movie Has Is a Starship Named EnterprisePushing things into the future means we’ll likely pass by the era of the Enterprise-G, seen at the end of Picard season three. That’s the Enterprise commanded by Captain Seven of Nine. It could be several decades, or even several hundred years after her era. And we think this is pretty exciting. We actually hope the only legacy aspect we see in the new Star Trek is that the starship the events take place on is called Enterprise. Everything else being new and different is what we hope to see.
Eric Diaz is a staff writer at Nerdist and a Swiss Army knife of fandoms. Eric loves DC, Marvel, horror movies, and even Star Wars and Star Trek equally.The post New STAR TREK Film Won’t Use Legacy Characters or Kelvin Universe appeared first on Nerdist.
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LEGO Reveals 3 New Batman Sets: Creepy Joker Wall Art & Batmobiles
- LEGO has announced three new Batman sets ahead of this year’s New York Comic Con.
- The new LEGO Joker Wall Art is a challenging 3D recreation of 2011’s Detective Comics #880.
- LEGO’s new 217-piece Arkham Batman Batmobile and the 672-piece Batman Returns Batmobile & Duck sets are designed for youngsters to celebrate the iconic superhero car.
Like the Caped Crusader keeps an eye on Gotham, our sacred duty is to keep an eye out for ever more ways to celebrate the iconic superhero. And ahead of this year’s New York Comic Con LEGO is giving fans three new ways to continue building a personal shrine to all things Batman. The company has announced three new sets from the world of the Dark Knight. These LEGO sets honor two of the best things about Batman: his legendary car and his greatest villain, Joker.
LEGO
The LEGO Group doesn’t just want to let you build a new Batman collectible for your home. They want to add some style to your manor. The first of the company’s three new DC Batman LEGO sets is The Joker Wall Art. It’s a recreation of 2011’s Detective Comics #880. This challenging 1,849-piece 3D set ($169.99) is bulging with hidden details. With an 18+ recommendation, it’s also geared for older collectors who will appreciate the secrets waiting to be unlocked in this intense visage of the Joker.
LEGO
With the Clown Prince of Crime on hand, you’ll need ways to catch him, and LEGO’s two new Batmobiles will help you do that. The 217-piece LEGO Arkham Batman Batmobile ($29.99) and the 672-piece Batman Returns Batmobile & Duck ($59.99) will let younger fans get in on the little plastic brick superhero fun.
Both LEGO Batmobile sets also unlock the Golden Red Brick in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. That will let you add a gold theme for both your characters and vehicles in the game. The Batman Returns Batmobile & Duck set also gets you the game’s Batman Returns Batmobile Batcave Prop. Suck on that, Oswald.
LEGO
All three DC Batman LEGO sets will go on sale when the calendar turns. They’ll be available at LEGO.com, LEGO Stores, and major retailers starting January 1, 2027. You don’t have to wait that long to pay for yours, though. You can already pre-order all three sets now. While you wait for yours to arrive we’ll keep an eye out for ever more ways to celebrate the superhero who keeps a Bat-eye on Gotham.
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Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow Mikey on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.The post LEGO Reveals 3 New Batman Sets: Creepy Joker Wall Art & Batmobiles appeared first on Nerdist.
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Disney to License Several High-Profile Titles to Netflix
- Two of the fiercest competitors in the streaming world have found a way to work together. Disney+ will soon start licensing several well-known titles to Netflix.
- Among the titles licensed will be all five Ice Age movies, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and several classic TV shows like Arrested Development.
- Nerdist’s take: Despite being each other’s biggest competition in the streaming world, this news proves that anyone in entertainment can call a truce if it means making more money.
Two of the biggest competitors, if not the biggest competitors, in the world of streaming are Netflix and Disney+. But competitors or not, they can bury a hatchet if they can make some coin. Variety is reporting that Disney has made a deal with Netflix to license a metric ton of its titles to them, and some of these are very well-known properties associated with the House of Mouse. This includes all five Ice Age movies, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Pixar titles like Elio and Soul, and catalog series from the Disney vaults like Felicity, Arrested Development, and Scandal.
Disney+/Netflix
As the original report states, Netflix has an unrivaled subscriber base of 325 million households. That is almost the equivalent of every person in the United States. Disney sees this as a chance to get its films and television series in front of a lot more eyeballs. And as a strategy, it makes sense. If people fall in love with the Pixar films they watch on Netflix, for example, they might want even more Pixar in their diet and get a Disney+ subscription. Disney makes money from Netflix, and Netflix gets to add to its already massive catalog of titles. At least, temporarily. Most of these Disney titles have a shelf life on the streaming giant.
Nerdist’s Take: Even Between the Fiercest Competitors, Money Talks, and Always Trumps Anything ElseThe availability of these titles will vary from region to region. We imagine North America won’t get some of the bigger titles, which will remain as Disney+ exclusives. Especially titles from some of their bigger IP, like Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar. From what we can tell, there are no Marvel Studios or Star Wars titles in this batch, but that could always change in the future. After all, in Hollywood, money talks very loudly. And if they can turn a profit from those films finding a home on Netflix, it’ll happen. We expect the rollout for Disney titles on Netflix to start happening over the next few months.
Eric Diaz is a staff writer at Nerdist and a Swiss Army knife of fandoms. Eric loves DC, Marvel, horror movies, and even Star Wars and Star Trek equally.The post Disney to License Several High-Profile Titles to Netflix appeared first on Nerdist.