XCOM is a science fiction video game franchise featuring an elite international organization tasked with countering alien invasions of Earth. The series began with the strategy video game X-COM: UFO Defense created by Julian Gollop's Mythos Games and MicroProse in 1994. The original lineup by MicroProse included six published and at least two canceled games, as well as two novels. The X-COM series, in particular its original entry, achieved a sizable cult following and has influenced many other video games; including the creation of a number of clones, spiritual successors, and unofficial remakes.
Freedom Fighters is a 2003 third-person shooter video game for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. It was developed by IO Interactive and published by Electronic Arts.
Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 action-adventure game based on the 2004 film of the same name. The game is the sequel to 2002's Spider-Man, itself based on the 2002 film of the same name. It was released on June 29, 2004 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Microsoft Windows, and Game Boy Advance, followed by N-Gage and Nintendo DS versions later the same year. A PlayStation Portable version was released almost one year later, on March 23, 2005. The Game Boy Advance version, developed by Digital Eclipse, was re-released on a twin pack cartridge and bundled with that system's version of the 2002 Spider-Man game in 2005. A tie-in game, titled Spider-Man 2: Activity Center, was also released in June 2004. Published by Activision, the console versions were developed by Treyarch, while the others had different developers and are drastically different as a result. The Treyarch-developed versions are considered a landmark title in the industry for being the first superhero video game to incorporate a full open world design.
Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action is an action-adventure video game based on the 2005 computer-animated film Chicken Little. It was released for PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Wii and Windows in 2006.
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is a 2007 action-adventure beat 'em up platform game, based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The game borrows characters and designs from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, with a plot that is non-canon to the films and therefore taking place within a divergent timeline where the villains seen in the films managed to survive. It features two player co-op gameplay, where one player controls Spider-Man and another one of his allies. The storyline of the game revolves around P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s, dangerous creatures created by mixing symbiotes with holographic technology, which a mysterious villain plans to use to take over the world. This villain has also captured and brainwashed many of Spider-Man's foes to help him acquire meteor shards that will strengthen his army. After being recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D., Spider-Man journeys across the globe to retrieve these shards himself and recruit more allies to his cause.
Kick-Ass is a 2010 black comedy superhero film directed by Matthew Vaughn from a screenplay by Jane Goldman and Vaughn. It is based on the Marvel Comics' comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.
Hit-Girl is an antihero appearing in the Millarworld shared fictional universe, published by Marvel Comics under the company's imprint Icon Comics and later Image Comics. The character was created by artist John Romita Jr. and writer Mark Millar. She is a young and effective vigilante, trained by her father Damon McCready from an early age to be a costumed superhero and assassin. In Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years, she is introduced as a supporting character. She featured in her own self-titled comic book series, Hit-Girl, which was first published on February 21, 2018 by Image Comics. She is portrayed by Chloë Grace Moretz in the feature film adaptations Kick-Ass and Kick Ass 2.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is a 2010 action-adventure video game based on the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man, developed by Beenox and published by Activision. Players control four different versions of Spider-Man, each originating from a different universe in the Marvel Comics multiverse. Previous Spider-Man voice actors Neil Patrick Harris, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Dan Gilvezan, and Josh Keaton each voice one of the four Spider-Men. The Nintendo DS version of the game was developed by Griptonite Games and features only three Spider-Man variants.
Kick-Ass: The Game is a beat 'em up video game developed and published by Frozen Codebase for iOS and PlayStation 3. It is based on the 2010 film and the comic book Kick-Ass, and later spawned a sequel, Kick-Ass 2: The Game.
Kick-Ass is the name of two fictional characters serving as the title characters and the protagonists of the Kick-Ass series, published by Marvel Comics under the company’s imprint Icon Comics, and by Image Comics. The duo was created by artist John Romita Jr. and writer Mark Millar. Prior to The Dave Lizewski Years series, David "Dave" Lizewski is a high school student and comic book fan whose dreams inspire him to become a real-life superhero dubbed "Kick-Ass", training under Hit-Girl, while prior to The New Girl series, Patience Lee is an Afghanistan war veteran and single mother who dons the Kick-Ass costume and mantle to steal money from various crime bosses for her family before becoming a crime boss/supervillain herself. The Dave Lizewski version of Kick-Ass appeared in the feature film adaptations Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2 portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Terraria is an action-adventure sandbox game developed by Re-Logic. The game was first released for Windows on May 16, 2011, and has since been ported to several other platforms. The game features exploration, crafting, building, painting, and combat with a variety of creatures in a procedurally generated 2D world. Terraria received generally positive reviews and sold over 44 million copies by 2022, making it one of the best-selling video games.
Kick-Ass 2 is a 2013 black comedy superhero film written and directed by Jeff Wadlow, based on the graphic novels Book Two and Book Three of Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., and serving as a sequel to 2010's Kick-Ass. It stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Jim Carrey, with the former trio reprising their roles from the first film. The film follows Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass (Taylor-Johnson), who joins a vigilante team called "Justice Forever", while Mindy Macready / Hit Girl (Moretz) attempts to live a normal life, and Chris D'Amico (Mintz-Plasse) taking up the mantle of The Motherfucker and forming a supervillain team to take revenge on Kick-Ass.
Guacamelee! is a Metroidvania action platforming video game developed and published by DrinkBox Studios, initially launched in April 2013 for platforms PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita and was later ported to Windows in August and to OS X and Linux in February 2014. The enhanced Super Turbo Championship Edition was released for Wii U, Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 in July 2014 and later on the Nintendo Switch in October 2018. The game is inspired by traditional Mexican culture and folklore, like alebrijes and Day of the Dead.
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is a 2013 side-scrolling video game developed by Armature Studio and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is a companion game and sequel to Batman: Arkham Origins, and part of the Batman: Arkham series. Set three months after Arkham Origins, the game follows Batman as he attempts to stop a prison riot at the Blackgate Penitentiary, which has been taken over by three of Gotham City's most notorious crime bosses: the Joker, the Penguin, and Black Mask. The story also depicts Batman's first encounter with Catwoman, who aids Batman throughout the game with ulterior motives.
Batman: Arkham is a series of action-adventure video games based on the DC Comics character Batman, developed by Rocksteady Studios and WB Games Montréal, and published originally by Eidos Interactive and currently by Warner Bros. Games. The franchise consists of four main installments and an upcoming spin-off, along with four smaller titles for mobile devices, a virtual reality game, tie-in comic books, and an animated film. The continuity established by the games is often referred to as the Arkhamverse.
Dark Souls is a series of action role-playing games developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It began with the release of Dark Souls (2011) and has seen two sequels, Dark Souls II (2014) and Dark Souls III (2016). The series was created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and has received critical acclaim, with its high level of difficulty being among its most discussed aspects, while the first Dark Souls is often cited as one of the greatest games of all time. By 2023, the series had shipped over 35 million copies outside of Japan. Other FromSoftware games, including Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, share several related concepts and are commonly grouped together as Soulsbornes.
Kick-Ass: The New Girl is an American comic book limited series created by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.. Published by Image Comics and set in the Millarworld, the series is a stand-alone sequel to the duo's Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years, following Afghanistan war veteran and single mother Patience Lee, who first dons a costume resembling that of Dave Lizewski to rob high-profile criminals and clear her family's debts; in a twist ending at the conclusion of the first volume, Patience is revealed to be a war criminal, assuming control of the New Mexican criminal underworld as its boss, the supervillain Kick-Ass, after assassinating the previous bosses. In the second and third volumes, Patience struggles to keep her criminal lifestyle a secret from her family, while evading assassination at the hands of rival crime syndicates.
Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years is a creator-owned comic book series written by Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita Jr. It was initially published by Marvel Comics under the company's Icon imprint and republished under Image Comics. Set in the Millarworld, the series tells the story of Dave Lizewski, a teenager who sets out to become a real life superhero. His actions are publicized on the Internet and inspire other people. He gets caught up with ruthless vigilantes Big Daddy and Mindy "Hit-Girl" McCready, who are on a mission to take down the Genovese crime family. Two spin-off stand-alone sequel series, Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass: The New Girl, respectively following Mindy and new villain protagonist Patience Lee, began publication in February 2018, before concluding with the crossover miniseries Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl in March 2021, forming the Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass franchise. A further crossover, Big Game, began publication in July 2023, following a now mid-20s Mindy as she teams up with Dave and Kingsman agent Eggsy Unwin against Wesley Gibson.
Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass is a media franchise based on the adventures of superheroes of the same name. It began in 2008 with the Marvel comic Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years, with two stand-alone sequel series, Kick-Ass: The New Girl and Hit-Girl, following in 2018, and a crossover series, Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl, following in 2020. The comic series were created by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Hit-Girl is a young vigilante going around the world stopping crime in violent ways, while Kick-Ass has had several people taking on the mantle trying to save the day.
Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl is an American comic book limited series written by Steve Niles and drawn by Marcelo Frusin. Published by Image Comics and set in the Millarworld, the series is a crossover "series finale" to Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass: The New Girl, following vigilante superhero Mindy McCready / Hit-Girl as she screeches into Albuquerque, New Mexico to avenge the legacy of Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass and stop the criminal operations of supervillain crime boss Patience Lee / Kick-Ass once and for all, as Patience must question whether she's willing to kill a child to save her own life. The series, originally published between November 2020 and March 2021, was published as a graphic novel in May 2021 as the fourth volume of Kick-Ass: The New Girl. It was followed by the crossover comic series Crossover in 2020 and Big Game in 2023, with Mindy now depicted as being in her mid-20s following a major time jump.
