The Lark - A geek blog

The Wizarding World  (previously known as J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World) is a fantasy media franchise and shared fictional universe centred on a series of films , based on the Harry Potter novel series by J. K. Rowling . The films have been in production since 2000, and in that time ten films have been produced—eight are adaptations of the Harry Potter novels and two are part of the Fantastic Beasts series, with more films already slated to come out in the coming years. The films are owned and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures , and three more are in various stages of production. The series has collectively grossed over $9.2 billion at the global box office, making it the third-highest-grossing film franchise of all time (behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars ). David Heyman and his company Heyday Films have produced every film in the Wizarding World series. Chris Columbus and Mark Radcliffe served as producers on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Az...

Groot is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by Stan Lee , Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby , the character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #13 (November 1960). An extraterrestrial , sentient tree -like creature, the original Groot first appeared as an invader that intended to capture humans for experimentation. The character was reintroduced as a heroic, noble being in 2006, and appeared in the crossover comic book storyline " Annihilation: Conquest ". Groot went on to star in its spin-off series, Guardians of the Galaxy , joining the team of the same name. Groot has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise, including animated television series , toys and trading cards . Vin Diesel voices Groot, "child" Groot, and "teen" Groot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), an...

The Batmobile is the fictional car driven by the superhero Batman . Housed in the Batcave , which it accesses through a hidden entrance, the Batmobile is both a heavily armored tactical assault vehicle and a personalized custom-built pursuit and capture vehicle that is used by Batman in his fight against crime. Using the latest civilian performance technology, coupled with prototype military-grade hardware—most of which was developed by Wayne Enterprises —Batman creates an imposing hybrid monster to prowl the streets of Gotham City . The Batmobile first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939), where it was depicted as an ordinary-looking red car. Its appearance has varied but, since its earliest appearances, the Batmobile has had a prominent bat motif , typically including wing-shaped tailfins . Armored in the early stages of Batman's career, it has been customized over time and is the most technologically advanced crime-fighting asset in Batman's arsenal. Depictions of...

Mushroom power-ups appear in almost every Super Mario game. The most iconic of these is the Super Mushroom . The Super Mushroom increases Mario's size, turning him into "Super Mario", and allows him to break certain blocks. When hit by an enemy, Mario reverts to his smaller size instead of losing a life. When Mario is in his "Super" form, most blocks that would contain a Super Mushroom instead offer a more powerful power-up such as the Fire Flower. The Super Mushroom is similar in appearance to the Amanita muscaria , with an ivory stalk below a most commonly red and white (originally red and orange) spotted cap. Created by chance, Shigeru Miyamoto stated in an interview that beta tests of Super Mario Bros. proved Mario too tall, so the development team implemented mushrooms to grow and shrink Mario. The Poison Mushroom, first introduced in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 , is a mushroom that causes damage when touched. The Mini Mushroom is a small blue mushr...

Pac-Man , stylized as PAC-MAN, is an  arcade game  developed by  Namco  and first released in  Japan  in May 1980. It was created by Japanese video game designer  Toru Iwatani . It was licensed for distribution in the United States by  Midway  and released in October 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, and an icon of 1980s  popular culture . Upon its release, the game—and, subsequently,  Pac-Man derivatives —became a social phenomenon that yielded high sales of merchandise and inspired a legacy in other media, such as the  Pac-Man animated television series  and the top-ten hit single  "Pac-Man Fever" . Pac-Man was popular in the 1980s and 1990s and is still played in the 2010s. When Pac-Man was released, the most popular arcade video games were  space shooters , in particular,  Space Invaders ...

Charizard , known in Japan as Lizardon, is a Pokémon in Nintendo and Game Freak 's Pokémon franchise. Created by Atsuko Nishida , Charizard first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue ( Pokémon Red and Green in Japan) and subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. It is known as the Flame Pokémon. Shin-ichiro Miki , the actor who voices James in the original Japanese version of the Pokémon anime, voices Charizard in both the Japanese and English-language versions of the anime. An orange, draconic Pokémon, Charizard is the evolved form of Charmeleon and the final evolution of Charmander . It also has two Mega Evolved forms, Mega Charizard X and Y, that were likely both designed by Tomohiro Kitakaze, the designer of Mega Charizard X, and are not permanent and always revert to the normal Charizard form once a battle is complete. It also has a Gigantamax form in Pokémo...