Marvel

Debuting in New Zealand cinemas today, Wednesday, Avengers: Endgame arrives buoyed by a fantastic reception from film reviewers around the globe.

The 22nd tale in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) currently has a score of 79 (based on 30 assessments so far) on reviews aggregate site Metacritic. That places it second-equal in terms of the long-running franchise, on a par with the first installment Iron Man and behind only 2018's Black Panther (87).  

AMC Entertainment Holdings, the biggest US theatre chain, couldn't handle the traffic when tickets went on sale on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ time).

Fandango, a top ticket supplier, also struggled to meet demand. It put customers in queues, and then told them, "The line is paused".

Disney's Marvel Studios also released a new trailer for the film, helping stoke excitement.

AMC likened the crash to the moment in the previous Avengers movie when villain Thanos kills half the people in the universe.

The result is a fun, unexpectedly lighter-than-air film, one that plays up its comedic aspects more than almost any of its brethren while benefiting from Tom Holland's believable boyishness in the title role.

Ardian Syaf, currently the artist for X-Men Gold, has been criticised for including the images.

Marvel fans pointed out that Colossus's shirt contained the words "QS 5:51" and, in another scene with new X-Men leader Kitty Pryde, a building had 212 written on it.

The references go against the company's inclusiveness policies, Marvel said.

It is also removing some artwork from the online edition of the comic.

QS 5:51 is a reference to a verse in the Koran, while 212 marks a protest on 2 December in Jakarta.

The graphic novel is called Masters of the Sun - The Zombie Chronicles and will be released in the summer.

It's all about aliens, zombies and hip-hop in Los Angeles.

Peas frontman will.i.am wrote the story and said: "We've been working on this original story for years and partnering with Marvel to bring this book to life is more than a dream come true."

The graphic novel centres around the character Zulu-X, a hip-hop lover in LA.

The city is under attack from an ancient alien god sent to earth to turn its inhabitants into zombies.

Marvel-DC comparisons aren't always fair. But as the two major comic-book brands engage in an arms race migrating characters to the screen -- backed by their movie studio owners, Disney and Warner Bros. -- they're unavoidable. While their divergent strategies each possess certain strengths, they also have their own forms of Kryptonite.

He's even been exiled into deep space, but Marvel this week did what Bruce Banner could never manage to do to the Hulk -- kill off the long-running character.

In the latest issue of "Civil War II," in which the superhero alliance the Avengers -- popularized by Marvel's staggeringly successful movies -- are divided into two opposing teams, Banner's comrade Hawkeye shoots the Hulk's human alter ego in the eye, killing him.

It's a mercy killing, it turns out -- Banner had given the marksman a special arrow and instructions to kill him if he looked certain to go on a rampage.

A black female character is taking over the suit from Tony Stark, Time is reporting. 

Riri Williams "is a science genius who enrolls in MIT at the age of 15" and "comes to the attention of Tony when she builds her own Iron Man suit in her dorm," according to the magazine.