Posted in: Comics | Tagged: c2e2, C2E2 2020, hasbro, ken lashley, Sketch Duel

Hasbro Gave Ken Lashley Major Spoilers for Infinity War and Endgame

Published Sat, 29 Feb 2020 11:30:17 -0600

On Febuary 28^th, 2020, at C2E2 2020, there was a sketch dual between the comic book artists Ken Lashley and Andy Price. During this panel, both artists took suggestions from the audience about what characters to draw and what zany situations to put them in. During the sketch duel, they both drew the Marvel Comics villain Mysterio bowling. They drew the DC Comics villain Deadshot in the Ghostbusters universe. Before walking into this panel, every audience member was given a ticket. And at the end of the panel, the sketches produced were raffled off to audience members. While they drew, the moderator asked Ken Lashley and Andy Price questions about their career and the comic book industry.

This Friday afternoon panel was originally scheduled as a sketch duel between Ken Lashley and Tim Seeley. However, the organizers made a mistake when doing this. They didn't realize Tim Seeley was had to teach a class at Columbia College in Chicago at the time. He couldn't make it to the panel, so Don Newton filled in.

While drawing a sketch of Mysterio bowling, Lashley told the audience that Hasbro gave him major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. When giving him a heads up on what characters to focus on when designing toys, Hasbro told Lashley who died in Infinity War and who came back in Endgame. This was before either movie was released.

When asked to elaborate on the story, Lashley said, "[Hasbro] brought me in and they were saying, 'oh, Ken, we want you to be in house and it's fun'. And I get there and I'm just looking around and say, 'okay, so I work with you guys all the time. Why do I need to come in on this kind of thing?' And he said, 'well, we want you in for Infinity War.' And I say 'oh, cool,' And he clicks a button on the projector and says, 'these are the characters that die in the movie'. And I was like, 'What? What is he talking about?' I mean, I read the books. I know what happens. But it was like, 'oh my goodness.' And then he pushes a button and says 'these are the characters that stay dead. And we brought you in for this.' And I was like, 'you could have just given me a list of all the characters you wanted me to drop'."

Lashely said Hasbro did this to "give him a fun time". He said he views the people he works with at Hasbro as not just colleagues but his friends. "They've always been super respectful, putting artists' names on the packaging. […] And they've been nothing but kind and gracious to me and my family," he said.

"They live with [this insider information] every day, right? They work with it. For them making toys, they're so far ahead. So, for them it's just a Tuesday, but for me, it's 'Dude!'" Lashley said.