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Avengers: Endgame was, well, a masterpiece, but there’s one thing fans are desperate to see: Captain America’s trip back through time. There obviously wasn’t time (no pun intended) to delve into that in the already three-hour movie, but many fans have been holding out hope that the Russo Brothers might return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to tell that story. 

When we spoke to Joe and Anthony about Pizza Film Stories and horror movie Relic, we had a couple of big questions about the “Infinity Saga” finale, including whether they feel that’s a tale that needs telling and if anyone other than Captain America was given that iconic “Avengers Assemble!” line.

Like a lot of fans, I would love to see Captain America’s trip back through time, but is that a story you think needs to be told and would you like to be the ones to tell it? 

Joe: It would be a great story to tell, no question. I don’t know whether it needs to be told, but it would be a great story to tell, and we’d love to tell it, but I think there are other stories to move on to now. 
 

Avengers: Endgame‘s “Avengers Assemble” moment is iconic and, well, perfect, but did you ever consider giving that line to another character like Iron Man or Thor?

Anthony: No!

Joe: We really didn’t. We always felt like it needed to be Cap’s moment, and I’m not sure why, but for us, we always thought it was going to be Cap’s moment. 

Anthony: I don’t ever remember a moment where we ever talked about it being anything other than Cap’s moment. Cap was always a special guide for us through the storytelling because he was the access point to the MCU for us. So, we do certainly look to and rely upon that character for a lot of the important parts of the narrative for sure. 

The fact Joe says that he would Anthony would “love to tell” that story of Captain America travelling back through time with the Infinity Stones is hard not to get excited about, but it definitely sounds like if they do ever return to the MCU, the filmmakers will have an eye towards the future, not the past.

In the latest edition of Pizza Film Stories, the Russo Brothers talked to Josh Brolin about his work in No Country For Old Men, and their in-depth, fascinating discussion can be found below:
 

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For eighteen years, Academy Award-nominee Hugh Jackman captivated audiences with his instantly iconic portrayal of X-Men fan-favorite Wolverine, starting his career – and effectively the entire superhero movie boom as a whole – as a relative unknown with 2000’s X-Men and bringing his career and his character full circle in 2018’s Logan.

In the James Mangold-directed masterstroke, Jackman bid farewell to his legendary part in epic fashion, holding his heart in his hand, and while he’s certainly spoken on it in the past, he revisited that memorable final day on set during a recent conversation with former Les Misérables co-star Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises) as part of Variety‘s Actors on Actors issue. 

After touching how he always knew it was going to be the end of the line for him, saying, “There were so many crossovers by the end, because I’d played it for so long… I knew it was going to be my last one way before we wrote it. I made that decision. There was a weight of expectation that I’d been carrying. I was super invested.”

Jackman continues on to explain how filming his death scene was moved up unexpectedly due to bad weather, which didn’t allow him to think about it much before shooting. He also further elaborates on how Mangold allowed him to fully embrace the moment during filming, even allowing him multiple takes to just fully grasp the magnitude of a scene nearly two decades in the making. 

“I was so invested. I felt so in it. I was working with a director that I worked with three times before, who I trust implicitly, Jim Mangold. I remember when we shot that scene, we were shooting very high altitude, and there were thunderstorms going off everywhere, and we had to shut down. He just said, ‘We can’t do this big stunt scene. But we’re just going to do the death scene.’ I’m like, ‘Like, now?’ He goes, ‘I’m just going to have you and Dafne, and if you could just do that.’ I’m like, ‘All right.’ He knew that’s best for me.”

“We got there and we’re shooting the scene. Dafne was 11. She was fantastic. We shot Dafne, and she turned around in two takes and he goes, ‘Let’s just kick out. Let’s do another.’ I said, ‘You sure? I feel like–‘ and he goes, ‘Man, let’s just stop the clocks. Let’s not worry about everything. This is the end of 19 years. Sit it in for half an hour’”

“He rolled the cameras. Him allowing me — not just as an actor, but as Hugh — to remember that moment. It was a luxury that I’ll never forget.”

It’s an unprecedented accomplishment, the likes of which we may never see again as the overwhelming majority of superhero movie actors tend to bow out long before they even reach the decade mark. Just last year, both Marvel Cinematic Universe stars Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans said goodbye to their roles as Iron Man and Captain America in Avengers: Endgame after putting in eleven and eight years, respectively, although the latter could always be enticed to come back at some point in the future. 

In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border.

But Logan’s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.

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Earlier this year, the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign finally paid off when Zack Snyder confirmed that his cut of Justice League will be released on HBO Max in 2021. Since then, we’ve seen a lot of filmmakers and actors share their thoughts on the news, but how do Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo feel about the news?

When we caught up with the filmmakers to discuss their new series Pizza Film Stories and Relic (a must-see horror movie they produced through AGBO), we asked for their thoughts, and Joe commented briefly on Zack Snyder’s Justice League seeing the light of day, while also reflecting on how fortunate he and Anthony were to never run into similar issues while working with Marvel Studios. 

“I think it’s always great when a director’s original vision can find its way to the screen,” Joe responded when asked for his thoughts on the “Snyder Cut” as the helmer of similar superhero ensembles.

“We have been very, very fortunate in our careers that everything we did for Marvel, we would call our director’s cuts. They were very gracious and deferential, and very supportive of our vision for those movies, and there’s nothing sitting on the editing room floor that we suddenly want back into those films. We worked very hard at what the current cut of those movies are, so we’re very fortunate to have released our director’s cut on all four of those films.”

It’s definitely interesting to hear that there’s nothing from their Marvel movies that Joe and Anthony were unable to include in the final cut, and that might just tell us all we need to know about the differences between the creative process at Marvel Studios compared to Warner Bros. 

We’ll have our full interview with the filmmakers tomorrow, but in the meantime, make sure to check out the trailer for Relic below ahead of its release this Friday (trust us, it’s well worth watching). 
 

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Following an extended conversation between United Kingdom culture secretary Oliver Dowden and 3x Academy Award-nominated megastar Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible – Fallout; Edge of Tomorrow) last weekend about restarting filming on his highly anticipated Mission: Impossible 7, the U.K. government has announced plans to issue travel exemptions to him and several other leading U.S. actors and crew in an effort to speed up the restart on major film and television productions. 

The exemption will allow actors and crew members to skip the required 14-day travel quarantine that is required for any travelers from the United States, granted, however, that those who receive the exemption will have to live and work within a protected bubble environment for two weeks and will have to follow strict guidelines on managing the risk of COVID-19, as set by the British Film Commission. 

The move will now allow Cruise, director Chris McQuarrie, and the entire Mission team to restart at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden on schedule in September, possibly even sooner depending on how the situation develops between now and then.

It’s currently unknown how many other films may be immediately affected by the ruling. The biggest film outside of Mission that is filming in the U.K. is Universal’s Jurassic World: Dominion, which already had its stars go through quarantine and is expected to resume filming tomorrow. Warner Bros.’ The Matrix 4 has also reportedly resumed work in Germany, but The Batman, as far as we know, is still on an indefinite pause. These exemptions could help speed it back into production. 

Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 are headlined by Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick) as IMF ace Ethan Hunt, as well as fellow returning stars Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Fallout) as Ilsa Faust, Simon Pegg (Mission: Impossible – Fallout) as Benji Dunn, Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible – Fallout) as Luther Stickell, and Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible – Fallout) as the White Widow. Newcomers to the storied action franchise include Hayley Atwell (Avengers: Endgame), Pom Klementieff (Avengers: Endgame), Shea Whigham (Joker) and Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: Dark Phoenix), who is rumored to be playing the villain. Henry Czerny (Sharp Objects) has also been confirmed to reprise his role as Eugene Kittridge from the first film.

There is also likely still more information to come regarding who will make up Ethan Hunt’s team for his seventh and eighth adventures, with fans holding out hope that some combination of Jeremy Renner (William Brandt), Angela Bassett (Erica Sloane), Paula Patton (Jane Carter) and/or Maggie Q (Zhen Lei) will also return. 

Both sequels are expected to film back-to-back, with Mission: Impossible 7 set to light the fuse in theaters on November 19, 2021, while its sequel, Mission: Impossible 8, will open the following fall on November 4, 2022. 

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With a premiere date set and a sixth season secured, Entertainment Weekly has shared first look black-and-white stills at a very special noir episode of Lucifer, which returns with the first eight episodes of season five on August 21.

The hour is titled “It Never Ends Well for the Chicken” and, barring any unforeseen changes, will be season’s fourth installment. Also, in addition to paying homage to noir films, the episode will also feature a pretty significant homage to The Princess Bride with Lucifer and Trixie (Scarlett Estevez) assuming the storytelling roles.

There’s no official synopsis currently available, but the plot is said to follow Lucifer Morningstar’s (Tom Ellis) first “unofficial” case in 1940s Los Angeles and will delve deep into fan-favorite Maze’s (Lesley Ann-Brandt) mysterious past, which should be welcome news. 

Along with series lead Tom Ellis (Lucifer Morningstar), the principal cast also features Lauren German (Det. Chloe Decker), Kevin Alejandro (Det. Dan Espinoza), D.B. Woodside (Amenadiel), Lesley-Ann Brandt (Mazikeen), Scarlett Estevez (Trixie Espinoza), Rachael Harris (Dr. Linda Martin), and Aimee Garcia (Ella Lopez).

 

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With New Zealand having effectively curbed the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the country has recently granted border exemptions to seven overseas productions to allow them to get back into the nearly shut down country to resume or begin filming. 

The crew of James Cameron’s Avatar sequel were among the first let back into the country last month to resume work, with 31 crew members already there and ten more soon set to join them. Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog has also already resumed production.

While those were previously known, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has now revealed five additional productions that have been granted exemptions. They are as follows: Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings prequel series, Hasbro’s Power Rangers Dino Fury, Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop, Sweet Tooth, and Greatest Beer Run Ever.

The crews of the aforementioned series will arrive within the next six months. 

The Lord of the Rings had already been filming prior to the shutdown, so it will likely be able to pick up where it left off relatively quicker than the others. The new season of Power Rangers and Cowboy Bebop had not yet begun shooting, so they are expected to begin a little further out. 

It’s currently being forecasted that the production restarts could bring up to 3,000 new jobs to the country and possibly over $400 million in revenue as major studios look for alternatives with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic showing no signs of slowing down in the U.S.

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ABC has released the official synopsis and thirteen new promotional stills from this Wednesday’s installment of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., an hour that’s shaping up to be one of the most fun of this seventh and final season as Mack (Henry Simmons) and Deke (Jeff Ward) find themselves stuck in 1982.

While the pair, especially Deke, will undoubtedly embrace their new ’80s environment they won’t have much time to dilly dally as they’ll have to lead a new team against an army of killer robots – without knowing whether their own team is coming back for them. 
 

DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT DEKE ON AN ALL-NEW EPISODE OF ABC’S ‘MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D,’ WEDNESDAY, JULY 8

“The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and The D” – After being unexpectedly stranded in 1982, Mack retreats to his childhood home to process the death of his parents, while Deke gets to work scouting a chart-topping group of new agents. With no idea if or when the team is coming back for them, time seems to finally be on their side … at least until the killer robots show up, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” WEDNESDAY, JULY 8 (10:00–11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (TV-14, DLV) Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu.

From ABC Studios and Marvel Television, MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.” returns for its seventh and final season on WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 (10:00 – 11:00 p.m. EDT). Coulson and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are thrust backward in time and stranded in 1931 New York City. With the all-new Zephyr set to time-jump at any moment, the team must hurry to find out exactly what happened. If they fail, it would mean disaster for the past, present and future of the world. “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leopold Fitz, Henry Simmons as Director Alphonso “Mack” MacKenzie, Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez and Jeff Ward as Deke Shaw. “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” was co-created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, who also serve as executive producers along with Jeffrey Bell and Jeph Loeb.

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Avengers: Endgame was one hell of a movie, but no matter what you made of the time-travel or big character deaths, we’re sure you’ll agree that the final battle was nothing short of epic. 

During that, Chris Evans’ Captain America really got the chance to shine, taking the fight to Thanos and his army with Mjolnir in hand. Now, his stunt double – and the director of Netflix’s Extraction – Sam Hargrave has shared some behind the scenes footage of him prepping the actor for some of the final act’s big action sequences. 

It’s fascinating to get this glimpse at how things were put together, and this comes just days after Hargrave shared an equally memorable video from his time working on Avengers: Infinity War. 

As for Evans, his time as Captain America has reached its end, but speculation continues running rampant that he could return. Whether he will is another matter, though, especially with Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson likely to take over the mantle in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

Check out the video in the Instagram post below:
 

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There are many facets of filmmaking that we as an audience don’t often recognize. To create a big-budget film like Godzilla: King of the Monsters, you not only need a team of talented actors, directors, writers, and whatnot but it is imperative to have a creature actor that can bring the monsters to life.

This goes not only for the famous Godzilla himself but also for all of the fearsome Titans the Kaiju has to face-off against. These include the upcoming King Kong, Mothra, and the towering King Ghidorah who made his presence known in Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Alan Maxson is one of the three creature actors under those scales, and we were lucky enough to chat with him about what it was like to bring the monster to life. While chatting the talented actor up about his latest turn as Blade in the newest Puppet Master flick we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to understand a little more about what goes on behind the scenes with a Godzilla film.

Maxson was a thrill to speak with and was happy to share with us about his experience playing in the movie as well as some other general tidbits about creature acting. Take a look at the exciting things we learned below!

Literary Joe: What was it like to perform as King Ghidorah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters?

Alan Maxson: Ghidorah was an absolute blast to perform! That was one of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had. As you know, there are three heads to Ghidorah, so the director (Michael Dougherty) hired three separate actors (Jason Liles, Richard Dorton & Alan Maxson) to bring him to life. He gave us different personalities, tied us together, and had us fight Godzilla (TJ Storm)! It couldn’t have been more fun!

Literary Joe: How does your approach differ when creature acting versus a regular role?

Alan Maxson: The way I approach acting for creature roles vs “human” roles are almost the same. My character still has intentions and backstory that motivate my actions, but there is one major difference.

Usually, creature roles involve a large amount of movement while under heavy prosthetics, makeup, or a full bodysuit, which is something I have to take into consideration when performing. Will my movement look the same through my prosthetic? Do I need to over or under exaggerate my movement based on how thick my suit is?

A lot of times, a director will ask me to practice and study a particular type of movement, but once I’m in the suit, it all goes out the window based on the limitations of that specific costume. Improv and quick thinking are crucial for the many unknowns of creature acting. Sometimes it goes 100% according to plan, other times, I have to get creative on how to portray a character.

Literary Joe: Would you return as Ghidorah or another titan in a future Godzilla movie such as Godzilla vs Kong?

Alan Maxson: I’d absolutely love to return as Ghidorah and I know Jason & Richard would too!

Literary Joe: Can you share any trivia from your time working on Godzilla: King of the Monsters?

Alan Maxson: We filmed all of our scenes in only three days. That was pretty impressive! There’s some great behind the scenes videos online somewhere if anyone wants to see how we did it.

Literary Joe: Is there a creature or monster that would be a dream come true for you to act as?

Alan Maxson: I have two! I want to be an ape in a Planet of the Apes film, and an alien in a Star Wars film! Those would be dreams come true.

What do you guys think of these comments from creature actor Alan Maxson? Sound off in the comments and be sure to check out his latest performance as Blade in the newest Puppet Master feature, Blade: The Iron Cross!

For decades the fans have been clamoring for it, and now Full Moon delivers with the first standalone feature debut of one of its most beloved (and most frightful) characters; the hook-handed maniac puppet, BLADE!

Charles Band’s Puppet Master series continues as an unspeakable evil from Blade’s past emerges in the form of a murderous Nazi scientist named Dr. Hauser. As Hauser’s heinous crimes are discovered, the psychic war journalist Elisa Ivanov awakens Blade, and together the bloody journey of revenge begins. It’s Herr Hauser’s reanimated undead army versus a possessed doll and a beautiful vengeance-seeking clairvoyant!

Who will win, and how will it affect the Full Moon Universe? Find out in Blade: The Iron Cross!

Blade: The Iron Cross is now available with a subscription to https://www.fullmoonfeatures.com/Full Moon Features.

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Although the first Puppet Master feature launched decades ago the franchise is still going strong with Full Moon Features’ recent release of Blade: The Iron Cross. To support the film, we’ve been chatting with many of the cast and crew members and we’ve learned a lot about the new film as well as a number of their other projects!

Yesterday we shared our chat with Tom Devlin, a prolific special make-up effects artist who is known for his work on such films as Terminator 3 and Daredevil. While yesterday’s article was all about his early career on the beloved decade-spanning series The X-Files, this time we shift the focus to Puppet Master with Blade: The Iron Cross.

In addition to learning about his work on the Puppet Master franchise, we also took the chance to ask about his unique locations Tom Devlin’s Monster Museum and Tom Devlin’s Academy for Make-Up and Monsters. Take a look at what the former (Face-Off) contestant had to say below!

Literary Joe: How did you initially become involved with the Puppet Master franchise?

Tom Devlin: As a kid who wanted to work in films, I was obsessed with Full Moon Features. I have always loved the Puppet Master franchise and collected all the toys as well as comic books. I got involved with the franchise thanks to director John Lechago, who brought me into Full Moon Features on KillJoy 3. Somewhere around 2010, we shot the film in China, then after KillJoy 3, I moved on to do Evil Bong 3, which led to several other features until I finally got the opportunity to create the original puppets in Puppet Master X.

Literary Joe: Did you pull any inspiration from any of your previous monstrous creations and make-up work when working on Blade: The Iron Cross?

Tom Devlin: When working on Blade, I pulled from the arsenal that I have developed over the years of working with very little time and very few materials to make something as awesome as possible. There were several zombie-ghoul type characters in this film that may or may not have been reused from other projects I’ve done in the past… that being said, we put an original spin on everything that was created for this film, as there was so much pride involved with Blade the Iron Cross.

Literary Joe: Can you share any trivia or interesting tidbits about your work on Blade: The Iron Cross?

Tom Devlin: I have handled three Puppet Master based films so far with Full Moon Features, including Puppet Master X, Puppet Master Axis Termination, and now Blade: The Iron Cross. In each one, Blade looks very different.

In Puppet Master X we used an existing mold of a David Allen style head, and then in Axis Termination, I took it upon myself to give Blade my own spin as the Tom Devlin version. For Blade: The Iron Cross, I changed him again to represent a character worthy of his own film – slightly larger to make him easier to operate as well as relate to as a character. These changes were all part of a long conversation I had with director John Lechago, who told me to go for it. I’m very proud of what we created.

Literary Joe: Can you walk me through the process of creating a creature from scratch?

Tom Devlin: Now that is a loaded question considering most creatures are completely different. When creating a creature, like the zombies in Blade: The Iron Cross, you start with a design, a sketch or model representing what you’re going to get approved by directors/producers. We don’t always have enough time for this, so they trust me to bring my A-game at all times. On those characters we sculpted in clay, we made Ultracal molds and ran them in silicone or gelatin, then, of course, we have to apply them to the actors, finishing with body paint.

If your creature is a puppet character like Blade, we had several different versions: we had Stunt puppets – made to take abuse, rod animated puppets with Armature’s, and animatronic servo base puppets that could be controlled with radio control. There is too much that goes into creating these puppets to list here, the entire process took about two months of my time to create the three main puppets we used for Blade. There was also a fourth Puppet that was used for certain shots that was much smaller in scale.

The most challenging aspect of creating monsters is getting them done and on set in time to film. We work with very little time and pull a lot of all-nighters to get everything done.

Literary Joe: What can you tell me about your Monster Museum and the Academy for Make-Up and Monsters in Nevada?

Tom Devlin: The Monster Museum has become a Mecca for horror fans and monster kids alike. We are there to preserve the art and history of practical special makeup Fx. It is truly a museum where education, preservation, and celebration are our key goals. Every item in that museum is a handcrafted, one-of-a-kind piece of art; a lot of my screen-used props live there as well.

The ‘Academy of Makeup And Monsters’ is a branch of the Monster Museum. We are a full-blown special makeup and practical effects school. We teach several courses in the art of makeup, puppets, animatronics, blood gags, and rigging. You can go here for more info on classes and schedules.

There are not a whole lot of challenges in running either the monster museum or the academy; we have so much passion for this art so it is very easy to share with the public. People absolutely love what they see when they come in, and it’s always changing. We joke and call it the Winchester Mystery House because we constantly re-route and re-design the museum, so almost every time you come back it will not be the same.

As for the school, I have been teaching special makeup fx on and off for the majority of my career in Los Angeles, Chicago, and here in Las Vegas, so it is a natural extension of my career to continue to teach.

Literary Joe: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers regarding Blade: The Iron Cross or any of your other projects?

Tom Devlin: Blade: The Iron Cross was a dream job; not only was it part of the Full Moon Features franchise, which set me on my path to chase my dreams, but it was also directed by one of my best friends, John Lechago.

It also stars a relatively unknown Vince Cusimano, who is a great actor; he was my roommate for a long time and we dreamed of the day that we could high-five over a killer horror flick with an awesome fan base. Now, here we are. Vince is definitely proof that if you stick with it, anything can happen; I think everybody will be super pleased with his performance.

Getting to bring Blade to life in a solo film was a memorable moment; there will be people who bash it, but there will also be fans that totally embrace what we did with the very little time we were given. John is an expert at making micro-budget films and I think that this film will showcase that we all had a lot of passion for this movie. My crew was great; I couldn’t have asked for a better team. This truly was a childhood dream.

What do you guys think of Devlin’s comments regarding his work on Puppet Master and Blade: The Iron Cross? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and be sure to check out the trailer for his latest work on Blade: The Iron Cross!

For decades the fans have been clamoring for it, and now Full Moon delivers with the first standalone feature debut of one of its most beloved (and most frightful) characters; the hook-handed maniac puppet, BLADE!

Charles Band’s Puppet Master series continues as an unspeakable evil from Blade’s past emerges in the form of a murderous Nazi scientist named Dr. Hauser. As Hauser’s heinous crimes are discovered, the psychic war journalist, Elisa Ivanov, awakens Blade, and together the bloody journey of revenge begins. It’s Herr Hauser’s reanimated undead army versus a possessed doll and a beautiful vengeance-seeking clairvoyant!

Who will win, and how will it affect the Full Moon Universe? Find out in Blade: The Iron Cross!

Blade: The Iron Cross is now available with a subscription to https://www.fullmoonfeatures.com/Full Moon Features.

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