What the--
Oh my god.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi, I'm John.
Watch Marvel make me a hero.
Hi, my name is John Hoche, and I am a Broadway actor.
I had a lot of energy as a kid.
And I was always like putting on skits,
and just kind of had a big imagination.
So that kind of just parlayed into my parents being like,
well, why don't you try doing this, you know, on stage,
and let's try to focus you a little bit.
So then in high school, as they say, the acting bug bit.
And I've been doing it ever since.
My primary focus in acting is theater.
It's like, what I really love, and I'm very passionate about.
I love that human interaction every night
with a live audience.
I kind of fell into puppetry because I was cast in the show.
And then, the first day of rehearsal
they're like, oh, by the way, the first act,
you're going to be a puppet.
So I was like, oh, great.
OK, cool.
And I kind of just took to it like a fish to water.
It's interesting, puppetry is kind of like a relationship
that you have to kind of develop with the tool
that you're using to act.
My cousin really got me into comics, particularly in the 90s
got me into the X-Men.
I remember stumbling upon this cartoon
called "Pride of the X-Men" and be like, oh my gosh.
There's more to this, you know?
I remember watching it, and being blown away.
And then especially, I really latched onto Nightcrawler.
Because I'm from mixed descent, my father's German
and my mother is Asian.
She's from the Philippines.
Being someone who's from mixed background
in suburban New Jersey, you didn't
see a lot of folks like me.
So then there was this character who
is German, and has a German accent,
but also doesn't look like anyone else.
So there's a a kinship that I felt with him.
So from that point on, I just like, loved the X-Men,
and like, anything I could see with Nightcrawler
on it I just tried to absorb.
And everything that's happening for representation in Marvel
is just like really heartwarming, and something
that I longed for as a kid.
And I kind of found a little piece of it, but now it's--
you know, the doors are wide open.
I've been thinking about what my Super
Hero would be for a while.
Being first generation American, I'm very patriotic.
So I really latched on to Captain America.
But also I do have these ties to other countries.
So I kind of thought, you know, what
would like, a Filipino-American Captain America be?
So I think the costume would be a lot like what Agent Steve
Rogers was-- a little bit of armored,
but you can do some kicks and some punches.
And then, instead of you know a nice white star,
it would be like the sun and moon of the Filipino flag.
One of the best haircuts is high and tight
and kind of long on the top.
He would fight with escrima sticks, because, you know,
that's a martial art that started in the Philippines.
They would be kind of like your classic batons,
but take them to the next level, you know?
He could hit a button, and maybe sickles could come out.
Really great fighting skills.
You know, he can fight with the best of them.
What I would love for this characters for him
to be a representative of a bridge
between the US and the Philippines here in America.
And I think it would be really great
for him to do diplomatic work, standing
up for immigrant rights.
That's what he's doing when he's not fighting
a super huge arch villain.
All right.
What the-- oh my god!
This is absolutely incredible.
These escrima sticks are exactly what I was thinking.
They look like they're made out of like, a vibranium,
or an adamantium, right there.
And then the blades come out, and then things
are getting really serious.
And then it's like, oh, that's not enough.
I'm going to hit another button, then put them together,
and then cost of major damage.
The suit is really great because he's incorporated the sun
and stars of the flag of the Philippines,
and the red, white, and blue from the Filipino flag,
but also the American flag.
You can tell that this is someone who can move his body,
and can be a martial artist, but also
can like run up a mountain.
This is a man that treats leg day with utter respect.
Super Hero gams, right there, sir.
And yes, that is exactly the hairstyle
that I was thinking of.
Seeing a character like this, who
is Filipino-American like me, you know, is really special.
And that's something that I'm going to take with me
for the rest of my life.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Thanks Marvel, for making me a hero.