Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown on comic news stories we missed from the previous day. Have a link to share? Email our team at rundown@multiversitycomics.com.
and Brad Anderson
– Yesterday we got our first look at the covers for Geoff John (“Justice Society of America,” “The Flash”)’s and Garry Frank (“Batman Earth One,” “Shazam!”)’s forthcoming “Doomsday Clock” which promises to bring Superman face to face with Dr. Manhattan of “Watchmen” fame. The series, which will last 12 issues in keeping with the “Watchmen” tradition, will begin to answer some of the questions Johns posed in “DC Rebirth #1” like where is the Justice Society, who is the mysterious Mr. Oz and is he related to the smiley face button that has crisscrossed the plots of both “Batman” and “The Flash,” and where oh where have the Legion of Superheroes disappeared off to? The first issue of the series will be available this November.
– The CW has cast Susie Abromiet (The Defenders, Battle Los Angles) and Katie Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica, Longmire) on two of their Arrowverse shows. Abromiet will be playing Susan Palmer, mother of Ray Palmer aka The Atom, in an episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow in which the team of heroes will be investigating The Atom’s childhood. Sackhoff, on the other hand, will be playing Amunett Black aka the supervillain Blacksmith in several episodes of The Flash including the mini-crossover this season between The Flash and Arrow. Both shows will be returning to the CW in October.
– As for the one lonely DC show on FOX, Gotham has added Marina Benedict (Prison Break, Torchwood) and Benjamin Stockham (About a Boy, 1600 Penn) for their fourth season this fall. The two new characters Cherry, a tough fight club owner (a tough fight club owner I know what are the odds?), and Alex Winthrop, a bookish son of a museum curator whom Bruce Wayne befriends, will be played by Benedict and Stockham respectively. Gotham returns for their fourth season September 21 on FOX.
– Writer Ed Brisson (“Captain Canuck,” “Iron Fist”) has been signed to an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics. Brisson is currently working on “Old Man Logan” with Mike Deodato (“Mighty Thor,” “Elektra”), “Iron Fist” with Mike Perkins (“Captain America,” “Astonishing X-Men”) and will be writing “Cable” for Marvel Legacy this fall with Jon Malin (“Thunderbolts,” “Youngblood”) starting with issue #150.
– British actor Ed Skrein (Deadpool, The Transporter Refueled) has been cast in the forthcoming Hellboy reboot as Major Ben Daimo of the B.P.R.D. or the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Major Daimo is notable in the comics for being a rough and tumble military man with the ability to turn into a jaguar whenever provoked to anger or caused pain. The character is also notably Japanese and if you have not noticed already Skrein is very much a white guy.
– After binging The Defenders this weekend I’m sure we could all use a little break from great Marvel Netflix TV, well too bad because Marvel is already teasing us with first looks at Jon Bernthal (Walking Dead, Baby Driver) in The Punisher. New photos show off Bernthal dressed in Frank Castle’s classic all black skull vest looking meaner than a sack of angry wasps, and if you stick around at the end of The Defenders you can even catch a glimpse at the trailer for the first season of The Punisher which may debut as early as this winter.
– Speaking of trailers, we got our very first look at the new web-series Ninjak vs. The Valiant Universe in a new teaser trailer which debuted yesterday. The web-series, which stars Michael Rowe (Arrow, Suck It Up) as the titular MI-6 operative Colin King, promises “Netflix level action” and a host of Valiant characters played by familiar faces like Jason David Frank (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers DinoThunder) as Bloodshot. The offical trailer for Ninjak v.s. The Valiant Universe drop August 28.
– Capcom has released the full list of playable characters for their upcoming Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite game which will be launching September 19. The newest installment in the popular fighting game series will feature a roster of 30 playable characters including Marvel’s Dormammu, Doctor Strange, Thor and others, while on the Capcom side you have characters like Chun-Li, Dante, Firebrand and quite a few many others. The announcement also included the names of the two DLC characters who will be Marvel’s Black Panther and Capcom’s Sigma.
– And if that game isn’t infinite enough for you then you can look forward to Avenger: Infinity War which has just cast Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Love/Hate, The Secret Agent). No one has quite confirmed it yet but after images surfaced of Vaughan-Lawlor sitting atop Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Warhorse)’s Doctor Strange it would appear that he will be playing Ebony Maw the conniving puppet master of Thanos’s evil cabal The Black Order who at one point uses Doctor Stephen Stange as a spy in the comics. Avengers: Infinity War will be in theatres everywhere May 4, 2018.
– In keeping with tradition the new Archie Comics series “The Archies” will see Archie Andrews and the Riverdale gang meeting real life musicians on the comic pages. Writers Mathew Rosenberg (“Secret Warriors,” “Kingpin”) and Alex Segua (“Archie,” “Archie meets The Ramones”) and artist Joe Eisama (“Morning Glories,” “Faith”) will be introducing Archies new band to the indie rock band Chvrches in the first issue of “The Archies” in keeping with books like “Archie meets Kiss,” “Archie meets The Ramones,” in addition to having an actual chart-topper in 1969 called “Sugar Sugar,” which is no doubt already stuck in your head. “The Archies” #1 debuts October 4 with the two issues featuring Chvrches debuting in November and December.
