By Matt Espineli on Mar 09, 2019 08:30 pm
Devil May Cry 5 isn't shy about being a pure celebration of the series' past. While it has plenty of new ideas, this latest sequel is laced with entertaining callbacks that are sure to bring a smile to your face. In addition, there's a surprising amount of extended-universe lore acknowledged in DMC5 that even hardcore fans might not even recognize. We've compiled the most noteworthy Easter eggs and references in DMC5. Below you'll find references pointing as far back as 2001's DMC1, as well as fun nods to Capcom's other franchises. Be wary, there are light spoilers ahead. If you're looking for DMC5 features, check out our secret mission locations guide. You can also read up on how to unlock the secret ending. Check back often as we post more guides in the coming days. In my review, I awarded DMC5 a 9/10 and said,: "DMC5 thrives on the stylistic and mechanical prowess of its predecessors. It sticks to tradition above all else, pursuing a few ambitious new ideas along the way, but mostly maintaining the series' focus on intricate fighting systems and campy bravado. Rarely does the game stumble, consistently leveraging its spectacle and mechanical depth to push aside any small frustrations. All the while, the story exudes a charismatic charm that keeps you constantly intrigued as you're refining your skills. DMC5 proves the series can still be brilliant and imaginative without compromising its longest-held traditions." Did you spot any Easter eggs or references that we didn't mention here? Let us know in the comments below.
Red Grave City
The City of Red Grave is a nod to Tony Redgrave, which is Dante's alias in the anime and early light novels. In a note in the Gallery menu, this element is reintroduced into the canon, explaining that Dante took on the name since Red Grave City is his hometown. The name Tony Redgrave itself is a nod to Capcom's past, as it's Dante's original name back when DMC1 was being developed as Resident Evil 4.
The .45 Caliber Virtuoso
Throughout the story Nico continually brings up Nell Goldstein, her grandmother and legendary gunsmith. Known as the .45 Caliber Virtuoso, Nell originates from a Devil May Cry light novel. She and Dante (known as Tony at the time) are established in the book as close friends. The fledgling demon hunter would often stop by Nell's shop to buy new guns, as well as sell any spares he picked up. But during his jobs, Dante would often break his pistols, so Nell decided to craft for him the indestructible dual pistols, Ebony & Ivory, to solve this persistent annoyance. After Devil May Cry 3's release, details in that game's story ended up contradicting the events of the novel, and as a result, were removed from the canon. However, J.D. Morrison's letters to Nero in DMC5 end up bringing a lot of the novel's elements back into the canon, including Nell Goldstein.
J.D. Morrison and Patty Lowell
Speaking of J.D. Morrison, he originates from Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, a small 12-episode anime that ran back in 2007. Unlike the novel, the anime is canon taking place after Devil May Cry 1, and introducing Morrison as Dante's agent, bringing him job requests; though, the Morrison in the show features a completely different design from the game. Another character introduced in the anime is Patty Lowell a young girl that ends up in Dante's care and lives in the Devil May Cry shop for a time. She makes a voiced appearance in DMC5, calling up Dante to invite him to her 18th birthday party.
One Bad Dad
Nico's father is mentioned a few times throughout DMC5, but it's never explicitly stated who he is. But if you research the Gallery enough, you can find several notes pointing to his identity. The profile that Nico wrote up on Dark Knight Sparda mentions that her father was from Fortuna, which is the primary setting of DMC4. In addition, the Red Queen weapon report states that Nico's father had designed the blade. If there's anyone from previous games who most fits the bill based on these clues, it's Agnus--the smarmy, research-obsessed scientist from DMC4. This lines up with details confirmed about Nico's father early on, who was said to be killed by Dante. And given Nico's general disdain for her father, it makes the most sense that it's Agnus.
Motorcycle Fetish
The Cavaliere likely is a callback to the series' love of inserting motorcycles into action scenes--specifically in DMC1 and DMC3. This crazy chainsaw motorcycle is earned after defeating Cavaliere Angelo, which is the boss that Trish was trapped inside. Getting the Cavaliere after this fight in particular is fitting Trish's association with motorcycles; she crashed into Dante's office with one in DMC1.
Familiar Familiars
If you didn't recognize them already, V's familiars, Shadow, Griffon, and Nightmare, are direct nods to DMC1 bosses of the same names. In fact, many of their attacks and animations are lifted straight from those bosses. For example, Shadow's Bayonet attack is very similar to the attack that its DMC1 counterpart opens up its bossfight with. You'll even notice later on that much of Mission 18 features several callbacks of each familiar's DMC1 counterpart, including the return of boss themes and some dialog referencing events on Mallet Island.
Rocket Board
The Punchline Devil Breaker has an added function that allows you to ride it like a skateboard, which is incredibly satisfying to use. This isn't the first time a DMC protagonist has ridden a rocket, though; the second mission cutscene in DMC3 features Dante doing the same after the Cerberus boss fight. The ability to ride the Punchline in this manner is likely a reference to that over-the-top scene.
Dr. Faust And Dante's Antics
The Devil Arm Dr. Faust is named after the Faust, the shrouded hat-wearing demon from DMC4. When you acquire the weapon from Nico, you witness quite a hilarious fourth-wall breaking scene of Dante dancing like Michael Jackson, as strobe lights flicker and fireworks go off in the background. This scene is likely an ode to DMC4 Dante's ridiculous shenanigans from his post-boss fight cutscenes.
The Mega Buster
If you got your hands on the deluxe edition, you'll notice that Nero gets a Devil Breaker that's legitimately Mega Man's buster arm. While it expectedly shoots buster shots of varying charges, equipping it also changes Nero's animations. When you jump, Nero extends his arms out like Mega Man does when he jumps; though, seeing Nero not have his mouth open while doing this jump is a smidge off-putting. In addition, dodging left or right causes Nero to slide just like Mega Man does. This animation change in particular is incredibly handy, as it increases the speed of Nero's dodges, making it easy to avoid enemy attacks.
A Rose For You
Dante has a taunt that pays homage to the sexual innuendo-laced monologue he delivers after defeating Berial in DMC4. It generally triggers when you achieve an S-rank. You'll know you've done it when he throws a rose and says: "And you are set free."
By Array on Mar 09, 2019 06:25 am
What does Captain Marvel reveal about Avengers: Endgame?
Hey, did you know Captain Marvel was set in the '90s? Because it's set in the '90s. And in case you weren't sure, it's absolutely full of '90s easter eggs and references for you to relive some of that childhood nostalgia--or, if you're too young for that, a bunch of cool retro stuff to laugh about on the sheer weirdness factor alone. Of course, Captain Marvel wasn't all throwbacks--though there were a bunch of them. Peppered amidst the clunky early internet tech and soundtrack full of earworms were some fantastic comic book nods that helped flesh out not only Carol Danvers' own personal story but the world of the Kree and Skrulls within the MCU. Captain Marvel carefully plucks bits of Carol's complicated, retcon-laden history out of the comics and repurposes them for the big screen, but don't panic, we carefully combed through every last detail that may have slipped by unnoticed. And with all these references to the wider MCU, including the present day Avengers Initiative and Nick Fury's backstory, these Easter eggs and references might just reveal something we don't already know about Avengers: Endgame.
1. "Thank You Stan"
The typical MCU introduction has been completely overhauled as a thank you/in memoriam to Stan Lee, who passed away late last year. As a staple cameo in every MCU film to date, there couldn't have been a more fitting tribute. Check out our ranking of Stan's best MCU cameos for more.
2. The Last Blockbuster
Carol crash lands on Earth smack dab in the middle of a Blockbuster, 1990s America's favorite video store--you know, back when you had to actually leave the house to rent a movie, and there was about a 50/50 chance that the VHS you picked up would be damaged beyond repair or recorded over with someone's home movie, if they even had it in stock to begin with. What a time to be alive.
3. Remember True Lies?
The 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger/Jamie Lee Curtis thriller has a nice little shout-out via a cardboard standee Carol blasts to pieces. Sorry, Arnold.
4. What about Hook?
Carol doesn't appreciate the fact that she walks right by a rentable copy of Hook, but we sure do. Honestly, it's high time for someone in the MCU to make a Rufio joke.
5. The Right Stuff
When Carol crash lands in the Blockbuster, the first VHS tape she picks up just so happens to be the 1983 classic The Right Stuff, a movie chronicling the first years of America's space program. Get it? Because Carol's from space? And also was a test pilot for the Air Force?
6. That Soundtrack
Captain Marvel's soundtrack is absolutely bursting with 1990s grunge and pop earworms, including: "Whatta Man" by Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue "Only Happy When it Rains" by Garbage "Waterfalls" by TLC "Come As You Are" by Nirvana "Just A Girl" by No Doubt "Celebrity Skin" by Hole "Man on the Moon" by REM
(Also, there's a Smashing Pumpkins poster in the parking lot where Carol lands.)
7. Remember Mallrats?
Stan Lee's typical cameo as an in-universe character--usually a random old man who gets a single line in each MCU film--gets a nice twist in Captain Marvel, as Lee actually plays himself in this movie. You can tell, because he's reading a script for the 1995 Kevin Smith movie Mallrats, in which Lee also played himself.
8. Kelly Sue DeConnick on the subway
There's another comics creator cameo besides Stan Lee in Captain Marvel. In the subway station, Carol makes brief eye contact with a red-haired woman. If her appearance seems significant, it's because she's comics writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, who helped create the version of Carol Danvers' Captain Marvel we know today.
9. A world before Google
When Carol uses an ancient 1990s computer in her search for answers, she doesn't head to Google, like any sane 2019 person would. She uses AltaVista, an era-appropriate search engine that anyone who used the internet in the '90s probably remembers.
10. Street Fighter II
The dive bar in which Carol and Nick Fury pow-wow features a fun gaming Easter egg in the background: A Street Fighter II arcade cabinet. SF2 hit arcades in 1991, so it makes perfect sense that it would be glimpsed in somewhat dumpy bar in 1995.
11. Getting Grungey
The distinctly '90s look that Carol borrows from a mannequin after crash landing on Earth, including the signature Nine Inch Nails t-shirt, is called "grunge." For you kids out there, grunge was popularized largely by Nirvana. By 1995, the style was already on its was to decline, though its influence can be seen today in ripped jeans and dirty flannels everywhere.
12. Nick Fury's history
Captain Marvel reveals plenty of potentially important details about Nick Fury's origins, including that he spent time as a spy before becoming an agent of SHIELD.
13. Fury's full name
The movie also reveals something that probably won't turn out to be important, but that we never knew before: Fury's middle name. His full name is Nicholas Joseph Fury. Now don't you feel like you know him a little bit better? Which is nice, because he's currently dust. :(
14. The origin of the pager
Avengers: Infinity War famously ended with an excellent Captain Marvel teaser, as Nick Fury sent a message on what looked like a modified relic of 1990s technology. In Captain Marvel, we learned the device's origins--and it turns out we were exactly right. It was a normal pager until Carol modified it and gave it to Fury in the event he should need to contact her across the wide depths of space.
15. Lawson is Mar-Vell
There was plenty of debate leading up to Captain Marvel's release about who would play Mar-Vell, a comics character with a long history. Was Jude Law's character really Mar-Vell? Who was actress Annette Bening playing? As it turned out, Law's character is actually a Kree named Yon-Rogg, and Bening played Dr. Lawson, who turned out to be the Kree Mar-Vell hiding in plain sight on Earth.
16. How I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air
Maria Rambeau's daughter Monica makes a fun reference to one of our favorite '90s TV shows: When trying to persuade her mother to embark on a dangerous mission with their old friend Carol, she mentions that the alternative is to sit on the couch watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. We know what we'd prefer.
17. It wouldn't be an MCU movie without an Infinity Stone
The MCU's favorite MacGuffin plays a surprise huge role in Captain Marvel. We had no idea going into the movie, but the Tesseract--ie the Space Stone--was the subject of Mar-Vell's research on Earth, and is the source of Carol's powers. No doubt this will be important in Avengers: Endgame--check out our full breakdown of the Tesseract's history and role for more.
18. A full view of Project Pegasus
Along with a lost chapter in the Tesseract's history comes a full look into Project Pegasus, the secret SHIELD initiative dedicated to studying the strange blue cube's powers. Previously, Pegasus had been referenced in comics and Easter eggs throughout the MCU, up to its destruction in the first Avengers movie.
19. Even more '90s (and earlier) nods
Captain Marvel's production design is exceptional. Everywhere you look--even on Mar-Vell's Kree ship that was hiding in orbit around Earth--there are relics of the '90s and earlier decades, from Troll dolls and pinball machines to the Space Invaders cabinet and even the Happy Days lunchbox that briefly holds the Tesseract. Fun stuff!
20. The NERF gun
This one was too good for us not to call it out specifically. When Minn-Erva and Carol finally face off, the Kree's opening salvo involves shooting our hero with what she likely believes is simply a garishly colored Earth weapon, with hopefully devastating properties. Instead, it's a beloved NERF gun that every '90s kid distinctly remembers losing every dart for and then letting it gather dust in your closet until your parents finally made you donate it to Goodwill.
21. The Rambeaus
Monica and Maria Rambeau are staples of Carol's comic book history, though normally she's the same age as Monica rather than Maria. As an adult, Monica even took over the mantle of Captain Marvel briefly before Carol did. Similar to Carol, Monica received her powers in a freak accident which exposed her to extra dimensional energy--so maybe with some luck we'll see an adult Monica Rambeau get her very own origin story in the MCU somewhere down the line.
22. "Photon" and "Avenger"
Carol's MCU callsign "Avenger" obviously played a major role in Fury naming the Avengers Initiative, but Maria's callsign "Photon" is actually a pretty deep cut comics reference. Maria's daughter, Monica, used the name Photon as her own superhero identity after she gave up being Captain Marvel in 1996.
23. The Supreme Intelligence
The Kree follow the will of an artificial intelligence known as the Supreme Intelligence which has taken a couple forms in the comics over the years, usually as some sort of giant head in a glass tube--not Annette Bening, so that's a new one. But the Intelligence itself, and all of its megalomaniacal Kree-first directives, are all straight from the source material.
24. Ronan and the Accusers
Guardians of the Galaxy fans will recognize blue Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, the first major villain the Guardians faced off against. Ronan's not quite as unhinged here in 1995 but he's certainly still not a great dude--and he and his Accusers are more than ready to eliminate any threat to the Kree empire they perceive.
25. Carol's origin story
Carol's comic book origin story has been given a number of overhauls in the past, so the MCU's rendition of events doesn't quite follow any one particular plot to the letter, but it does prominently borrow from the first origin Carol received, when she was caught in the explosion of an experimental piece of tech called the "psyche-magnetron" which spliced her DNA with Mar-Vell's.
26. The credits scenes
It wouldn't be an MCU movie without the double post credits scenes. This time around we got a good look at just what Cap, Black Widow, Banner, and Rhodey have been up to since the Snap--and at Carol's arrival on Earth, as well as the rather unfortunate arrival of the Tesseract back on Earth after the Kree almost made off with it.
27. Captain Who?
Throughout the movie, no one ever utters the phrase "Captain Marvel." It isn't printed in a newspaper headline by sensationalistic reporters, and the moniker isn't cooked up by a marketing team hoping to make money off Carol's heroics. Within the world of the MCU, Carol isn't actually called Captain Marvel, despite being a captain in the Air Force and the protege of the Kree Mar-Vell. But toward the end, Nick Fury does make a reference to the movie's title, when he refers to Carol's mentor as "Marvel" (pronouncing it like the title instead of the proper hyphenated Kree name) and likening her to the 1960s singing group the Marvelettes.
By Meg Downey on Mar 09, 2019 02:34 am
The clues are everywhere.
Not only did Captain Marvel provide a retro-origin story for Carol Danvers herself--it also took a deep dive into the history of both Nick Fury and the Avengers Initiative. Sure, there are still plenty of questions left unanswered about the untold stories surrounding the MCU's shadowy past, but at the very least we can start putting some of the pieces together and getting some answers--hell, we've even got some answers to questions we wouldn't have thought to ask in the first place. Do you know what Nick Fury's taste in music is like? How about his middle name? Don't worry, because you're about to. (Beware, there are spoilers ahead.) Sure, it may seem inconsequential written out like that, but we're heading straight for Avengers: Endgame in a matter of weeks, so every little bit counts, no matter how small--and make no mistake, some of it is very, very small. Of course details about Fury and the idea for the Avengers aren't the only things to come out of Captain Marvel--go check out what those major Skrull changes could mean, where the Tesseract has been, what's going on with Goose the cat, and what actually happened in the post-credits scenes. Then, once you've brushed up on all your facts and figures, start working on polishing up your Endgame theories.
1. The Space Pager came from Carol
Infinity War's mysterious post-credits pager has an origin story and it's actually pretty mundane. Throughout Captain Marvel, Carol proves that Kree technology is amazingly adaptable and powerful, able to modify Earth's clunky '90s tech like payphones without much trouble. She modifies Nick Fury's normal, mundane pager to give him the ability to contact her when he needs it, mentioning that it should reach her across extreme cosmic distances. Not bad for something so outdated by today's standards!
2. Fury's got a badass backstory
We got a first real look into Fury's MCU backstory in this movie, and while most of it remains mysterious, there were some significant hints dropped about his time as a spy and government agent before he joined SHIELD. This probably isn't all that surprising, considering just who Nick is and what we've seen him do over the last 10 years of movies, but still, it was nice to hear it straight from the source.
3. His full name is Nicholas Joseph Fury
You can now scold the ex-director of SHIELD with the authority of a disapproving mother by using his full name: Nicholas Joseph Fury.
4. He and Coulson started at SHIELD around the same time
We get to spend some time with both Fury and Coulson in all their digitally de-aged glory, which gives us some idea of their shared history. Fury's obviously Coulson's superior, so he started with SHIELD a bit earlier, but we see enough to realize that they were both relatively junior agents around Captain Marvel's time in the mid 1990s, meaning they probably took up their positions within a few years of one another.
5. Fury loves cats
And who can blame him? Sure, the cat he hangs out with in this particular movie just so happens to be a vicious, cosmically powerful Flerken, but look, sometimes these things just happen. If only Samuel L. Jackson, the actor, felt the same.
6. His eyepatch has an origin
Directly related to his love of cats, Fury's eyepatch finally got an origin story--and it's really weird. Rather than losing his eye in some sort of badass firefight or crazy superhero-adjacent action sequence, Fury now wears an eye patch because he got scratched in the face by a Flerken. No wonder he's kind of secretive about it.
7. Carol helped inspire (and name) the Avengers Initiative
Carol may not be an official member of the Avengers just yet, but she not only helped inspire Fury to start forming the project back in 1995, she also gave it the name. Fury came up with the name "Avengers," after seeing a photo of Carol before the accident that caused her to leave Earth--Carol "Avenger" Danvers was apparently her callsign in the Air Force. Prior to the photo, Fury was going to call the project the "Protector Initiative," which, we have to admit, does not sound as catchy.
8. Project Pegasus had an alien influence
The name "Project Pegasus" might not ring any bells if you haven't gone back and revisited some of the older MCU movies in a while, but it's been whispered about since all the way back in Iron Man 2. We've known from the start that it was a joint effort between SHIELD and the US government to study the Tesseract after it was recovered from the ocean by Howard Stark--but it turns out mankind wasn't alone in their efforts. We can't be sure just how long the Kree had been monitoring the Tesseract before Mar-Vell became directly involved with the project, but she certainly had a hand in some of the project's biggest advancements before her death.
9. Fury has great taste in music
Interestingly enough, Carol is never called Captain Marvel directly through the movie, but the name "Marvel" is dropped more than once--sometimes when talking about Mar-Vell herself, but also while Fury is professing his love for the '60s girl group the Marvelettes. He even does a fantastic rendition of "Please Mr. Postman," one of their major hits.
By Michael Rougeau on Mar 09, 2019 01:56 am
Captain Marvel spoilers below!
Captain Marvel is a fun adventure movie starring Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) as the titular hero as she romps around 1990s Earth on a mission to discover her past against the backdrop of the Kree-Skrull war. It's Marvel's first big screen adventure starring a female superhero front and center, and it's a solid movie in its own right, even if it feels weird to be watching it with little more than a month to go until the MCU as we know it comes to an end in Avengers: Endgame. But! Captain Marvel isn't a standalone work. Despite being a prequel set years before most of the other MCU movies, it ties in with the rest of the series in countless ways. Case in point: the Tesseract, which actually plays a major role in Captain Marvel. There are Captain Marvel spoilers past this point, so tread lightly if you haven't watched the latest MCU movie yet! The Tesseract went on quite a journey in the MCU to get from the original Captain America movie all the way to Thanos's gauntlet in Avengers: Infinity War. Along the way, it turns out, it played a big role in the events of the 1990s, including Air Force pilot Carol Danvers gaining her powers and becoming Captain Marvel. For a full breakdown of how the Infinity War went from Red Skull's grip to Thanos's glove, read on! When you're finished, check out what those major Skrull changes could mean, why everyone's talking about Goose the cat, and our explanations of Captain Marvel's post-credits scenes. Then you can start stressing out over Avengers: Endgame theories (as if you're not already).
1. The Tesseract in Asgard
The earliest known location of the Tesseract in the MCU is in Asgard. Specifically, Hugo Weaving's character Red Skull remarks in Captain America: The First Avenger that the Tesseract was once "the jewel of Odin's treasure room," Odin of course being Thor and Loki's father (Anthony Hopkins' character). It's unclear how the Tesseract wound up in Asgard to begin with, or how it traveled from Asgard to Earth. No doubt there are some crazy stories there, but we don't currently know them.
2. World War II
In the first Captain America movie, the Tesseract provided a MacGuffin for Red Skull and Steve Rogers to fight over. At the time, it was far from clear that it was an Infinity Stone in cube form. The movie ended with Cap crashing his plane into the Arctic ocean--with the Tesseract/Space Stone on board.
3. Red Skull in Infinity War
Although we didn't know it at the time, the Tesseract actually contained the Space Stone, one of the Infinity Stones that Thanos would eventually hunt down. When Red Skull got his fascist hands on it, the Stone zapped him into space. We learned years later, in Avengers: Infinity War, that it had set him the task of guarding the Soul Stone on a planet called Vormir. But that's beside the current point...
4. With SHIELD
The Tesseract made its way to SHIELD when Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark, helped discover the location of the plane Steve went down in. It remained with the organization through the 1990s, when we catch up with it in Captain Marvel, and beyond.
5. Project Pegasus
Project Pegasus plays a big role in Captain Marvel, but before this movie it had only been mentioned or glimpsed in passing, such as in the Avengers movie prequel comics The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week, where Project Pegasus is described as SHIELD's initiative to analyse and study the Tesseract. There were also Easter eggs glimpsed in previous MCU movies like Iron Man 2, and the facility played a big role in the first Avengers movie, though it wasn't clear at that point how important Project Pegasus really was (it ultimately got the Kree's attention, as we're about to describe).
6. In Captain Marvel
SHIELD had possession of the Tesseract from the time of its discovery in Cap's sunken plane through the events of the first Avengers movie. In the middle, during the 1990s, the latest MCU movie has revealed that the Tesseract/Space Stone was being studied by a Kree scientist named Mar-Vell (Annette Bening), who was using it to develop a light speed space travel engine.
7. Captain Marvel's powers
As we saw in Captain Marvel, the Space Stone is actually the ultimate source of Carol Danvers' powers: When she blew up Mar-Vell's engine, Carol became imbued with the Tesseract's power. No doubt that's going to come in handy when it's time for Captain Marvel to (hopefully) help undo Thanos's snap in Avengers: Endgame.
8. A trip through a Flerken
The Tesseract got bandied about quite a bit throughout Captain Marvel, including in a vintage Happy Days lunchbox. Eventually Goose the Flerken/adorable cat swallowed it (Flerkens have pocket dimensions in their stomachs apparently), and then hacked it up again right on Nick Fury's desk during Captain Marvel's end credits scenes.
9. Destruction of Project Pegasus
After the events of Captain Marvel, the Tesseract remained in SHIELD's care. They continued to study it, eventually with the help of Doctor Erik Selvig, until the first Avengers movie, when the entire Project Pegasus facility was destroyed following Loki's arrival on Earth. You may or may not remember--it feels like a long time ago at this point--but Loki wanted to claim the Tesseract for himself so he could use it to open a portal and make way for the invasion of Earth.
10. Bad, bad Loki
At the end of the first Avengers movie, Thor transported Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard. The next time we saw the Space Stone was in Thor: Ragnarok. It had apparently been placed back in Odin's vault in Asgard after the events of the first Avengers movie, where it rested until Asgard's destruction, when Loki nabbed it on the way out. That ultimately turned out to be a very bad decision.
11. Paying the price
Loki paid the price in Avengers: Infinity War, when Thanos attacked the Asgardian refugee ship to claim the Space Stone from Loki. Despite his attempts to thwart Thanos through treachery, Loki wound up dying at the Mad Titan's hands, and the Space Stone went into Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet. The rest, of course, is history. Snap!
12. What's next?
With the Infinity Gauntlet apparently destroyed at the end of Infinity War, you may think that the Stones have lost their power. But given what we know about the Infinity Stones, that seems unlikely. Besides, the remaining Avengers will need a way to bring everyone back after Thanos's Snap disappeared half the universe. That's likely to involve Scott Lang's Quantum Realm adventures and/or Carol's Space Stone-fueled powers, which means the Tesseract itself could still have a role to play in the MCU's future.
By Chris E. Hayner on Mar 09, 2019 01:55 am
The golden age of Saturday morning cartoons is an era that will always live on in our memories. After all, who didn't sit down with a bowl of cereal to follow the newest adventures of GI Joe, Transformers, or any number of other series to kick off their weekend as kids? Here's something you might not have realized, though. As it turns out, way too many of those amazing cartoons were created as nothing more than marketing tools for toys. Some of the shows made perfect sense, as action-based toy lines left plenty of room for stories to be told. Others, however, had to reach pretty far to work a storyline into what was otherwise a pretty basic and story-free line of toys. Take a look at our favorite toy-based cartoons below, then sound off with the ones you loved in the comments. And when you're done, make sure to check out our look at cartoons based movies. You might be surprised at some of the very adult movies that got a kid-friendly adaptation.
1. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
He-Man's cartoon is an interesting one because the toy it's based on was made simply to try to cash in on the Star Wars craze. One part space warrior and another part Conan the Barbarian, He-Man got comics before he became a cartoon, but once the franchise was animated, it became wildly popular and even spawned the She-Ra spin-off and a Christmas special.
2. Hot Wheels
Everyone knows the most exciting thing about the Hot Wheels toy line was the people driving the cars, right? Nope. The animated series, which only managed to squeak out 17 episodes, followed a high school student that started his own racing club. It was bad, but it's also one of the first toy-based cartoons. Hot Wheels premiered in 1969 and had complaints lodged against it with the FCC that it was nothing more than a half-hour commercial, which… it was.
3. Pound Puppies
Pound Puppies were the saving grace of kids who didn't have actual dogs. The toy line was simple, it was a bunch of stuffed dogs that kids would "adopt." The show, which ran for two seasons between 1986 and 1987, gave a bunch of the dogs personalities and somehow makes the dog pound seem like a cool place for animals.
4. Jem
It's rock and roll Barbie, which is kind of a perfect toy idea. It was only a matter of time before it got turned into a cartoon, which is when the Jem franchise caught fire in a truly outrageous way---truly, truly, truly outrageous. The Jem cartoon ran for three seasons in the '80s, and a 2017 live-action movie was even released, though it was met with bad reviews and a short, disastrous box office run.
5. Mighty Max
The Mighty Max line of toys itself was a spin-off of Polly Pocket. Each variation was a tiny pocket-sized playset that would put the titular character in all kinds of danger. The cartoon, however, features the aforementioned Mighty Max as a kid with a magical baseball cap that allows him to teleport through space and time as he fights against the Skullmaster, an ancient evil being. It's a pretty wild concept, even for a cartoon from 1993, and it lasted 40 episodes.
6. Captain N: The Game Masters
The Nintendo Entertainment System counts as a toy, right? Of course it does! Captain N was the coolest and convinced many of us that carrying around a Zapper from the NES in a holster was perfectly normal. The series featured characters from a number of Nintendo games, including Castlevania, Mega Man, Metroid, and The Legend of Zelda. If that's not exciting for you, I'm not sure what to say.
7. Sky Commanders
Sky Commanders was a very cool toy that led to a less-than-cool cartoon. The toy was essentially an action figure that traveled across strings you'd hang up throughout your bedroom. It was messy, but so much fun. The animated series saw ongoing battles between good and evil mountaineers facing off on a new continent. Like many cartoons of the era, it was a lot of gibberish. However, it took a relatively simple and very fun toy idea and made it simply too complex.
8. The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin
What's strange about this particular animated series is that Teddy Ruxpin was essentially an animatronic tape player. There wasn't a lot of playing to be done with this toy. Instead, you watched its mouth move while a cassette played. The cartoon, however, is a lot more intense. Teddy and his friend--an octopede named Grubby--leave their home in search of treasure before coming up against an evil group known as the Monsters and Villains Organization--in case you were wondering if they should be trusted--also searching for a magical treasure they want to use to rule the world. Teddy, sadly, was not powered by cassette tapes in this wildly convoluted show.
9. GI Joe: The Real American Hero
GI Joe is, perhaps, the second most successful cartoon adaptation of a toy. The line of soldier toys have spawned six animated series, two movies, comic books, and continue to be a household name to this day. What's more, all of that is possible due to the original 1985 cartoon, which helped to drive the toy's popularity.
10. Care Bears
If you were a child of the '80s, chances are you spent some time trying to perfect the Care Bear Stare. What's interesting about the Care Bears, though, is that while the cartoon--and movies that followed--were based on the popular plush toys from the early '80s, the entire franchise actually started as a line of greeting cards.
11. Creepy Crawlers
It's a cartoon based on a toy that's sort of like an Easy Bake Oven, but for rubber bugs you should never eat. If you had a Creepy Crawlers toy, chances are you made gross-looking bugs for about a week then lost interest because it does literally nothing else. However, the cartoon actually got 23 episodes and was about a kid who wanted to be a magician that created creepy bug-like mutant creatures. Oddly enough, the animated series got its own line of action figures. Thus, they were toys based on a cartoon based on a toy.
12. Dino-Riders
Dino-Riders is the perfect concept of both an '80s action toy and an exciting Saturday morning cartoon. Two warring alien races crash on Earth during prehistoric times and equip dinosaurs with all manner of weaponry to continue their battle. The possibilities for toy varieties were endless and the animated series--which somehow only lasted 14 episodes--was fantastic.
13. Dungeons & Dragons
Turning an RPG game like Dungeons & Dragons into an animated series seems like an easy choice. Simply adapt one of the games stories for kids. Instead, the D&D cartoon is about a group of kids that get sucked into the world of the game after taking a ride on a magical rollercoaster. They then spend the rest of the series trying to get home, you know, because they're children stuck in a horrifying world. And, of course, the series ended before they actually had the chance to escape. So, in theory, they all probably died stuck in whatever realm they landed in.
14. Challenge of the GoBots
GoBots! They're like Transformers but way less exciting. Honestly, the two toy lines are so alike, down to them being warring factions from a distant fictional planet. However, while GoBots lasted an impressive 65 episodes, it was always seen as the second-rate Transformers knockoff. Of course, that's until Hasbro bought the property and incorporated it into the Transformers canon.
15. My Little Pony
This might come as a surprise but the My Little Pony animated series and theatrical movie didn't debut until 1986, four years after the launch of the toyline. Prior to that, there were two syndicated half-hour specials set in the world of the toy.
16. M.A.S.K.
M.A.S.K.--short for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand--was a weird mix of GI Joe and Transformers. But if you're going to copy two things, copy two of the best! The toys and animated series featured an elite task force drove special vehicles that transformed into battle tanks, fighter jets, and the like to fight against an enemy called V.E.N.O.M., which totally isn't a riff on GI Joe's Cobra at all.
17. Ring Raiders
Do you even remember Ring Raiders? They were essentially the Micro Machines version of airplanes, mounted to plastic rings, and they were awesome. As much fun as the toys were, though, the cartoon is a bit baffling. It was, naturally, about a group of special fighter pilots. To work the rings into the lore, though, each pilot wore one that could call the fellow Ring Raiders. It lasted five episodes.
18. Popples
Honestly, Popples more-or-less looked like neon teddy bears. In the series, several of them were given personalities and a human family they lived with. Unlike many cartoons of the time, the Popples series wasn't about going to mystic lands or searching for treasure. Instead, the kids simply tried to keep their parents from finding out the Popples were real. The series was able to sustain that for 41 episodes--plus three more that never aired.
19. Street Sharks
The '80s and '90s were a strange time where mutant animal warriors reigned supreme. Whether it was the Ninja Turtles, Biker Mice from Mars, or Street Sharks, somewhere there was a normal animal turned into a human-like beast out there defeating evil. Of those three, though, Street Sharks was the only one that was a toy first. It gave the bizarre toys an even more bizarre backstory about an evil scientist genetically modifying four brothers to turn them into humanoid sharks. From there, the brothers attempt to stop him from doing further heinous deeds, while also doing battle against a wide range of even creepier creations he's come up with, like a mutant lobster with the DNA of Genghis Khan for some reason. Street Sharks is super weird.
20. Transformers
It's hard to argue that Transformers is the king of this particular mountain. The vehicles that transform into robot warriors were all the rage in the '80s and the animated series that launched in 1984 spun off into a long list of cartoons, animated movies and, now, six live-action films. Talk about more than meets the eye.
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