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Keep Your Eyes Peeled for a Madballs Easter Egg in ‘Ready Player One’!
Freddy, Christine and the Madballs, all in one movie?!
When the trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One hit out of Comic-Con last month, I was pleasantly shocked to discover that Freddy Krueger makes a cameo appearance in the film. Yes, Freddy in a freakin’ Spielberg movie! It was later pointed out to me that Christine, the titular car from Stephen King’s novel and John Carpenter’s film, is also in there.
Like the novel, Ready Player One is going to be loaded with Easter eggs and nostalgic references to the past, and we’ve just learned that awesome ’80s toy line Madballs is even going to be represented in the movie!
The official Madballs Facebook page noted the other day that “we even make a grossed-out appearance in the film,” sharing the Ready Player One trailer along with the caption. A fan of the page subsequently commented with a photo from the set, showing original Madballs character Screamin’ Meemie depicted as wall graffiti on the set!
So keep your eyes peeled when you see Ready Player One on March 30, 2018.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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