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.
– The 51st annual Angoulême International Comics Festival took place this past weekend, with plenty of English books taking home prizes. Daniel Clowes’s autobiographical “Monica” took home the award for Best Book of the Year. The book follows the titular character after she is abandoned by her parents, and works hard to garner some success, only to lose it all to spend the rest of her days searching for her parents and piece together their story. Other books highlighted over the weekend include “Contrition” by Carlos Portela and Keko, as well as “The Nice House on the Lake” Vol. 2, by James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martinez Bueno. You can see the entire list of winners here.
– Via The Beat, Abrams Children’s Books imprint Amulet Books have announced Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess, the 19th installment of the series by author Jeff Kinney. It follows protagonist Greg Heffley during an awkward summer when both sides of his extended family visit, putting him in the middle of everything. Abrams editor-in-chief Charles Kochman will edit. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess will be available October 22, 2024.
– Variety reports that Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk), Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter) and Jack Lowden (Slow Horses) have been cast as the leads in the animated science fiction movie Rogue Trooper, written and directed by Duncan Jones. The movie is based on the comic book published by 2000 AD, and follows 19, a Genetic Infantryman (played by Barnard), and sole survivor of his unit, who stores the personalities of his fallen comrades in his gun, helmet and rucksack. Principal photography on the film has wrapped, and it is set to be complete by 2025.
– Variety also reports that Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon) has been tapped to play Supergirl in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DCU. She will headline Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, based on the comic of the same name by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. The film has no director attached yet, while Ana Nogueira has been hired to pen the screenplay. The casting may hint that Alcock will be in Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, which begins filming in March.
– Via Deadline, Geraldine Viswanathan (Miracle Workers) has been cast in an unnamed role in Marvel Studios’s Thunderbolts. Viswanathan is stepping in for Ayo Edebiri, who has left the project due to scheduling conflicts that arose after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes concluded. Edebriri is the second actor to depart the film under similar circumstances: Steven Yeun was set to play the Sentry, but was replaced by Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick) for scheduling reasons.
– Deadline also reports that Universal Pictures have announced Dog Man, an animated feature adaptation of the book series of the same name by Captain Underpants writer Dav Pilkey. The film is being directed by Peter Hastings (the Captain Underpants TV series), and will explore the titular hero’s origins, when a dog and police officer are injured on the job, resulting in a life-saving surgery that creates Dog Man. Now Dog Man must face his archnemesis, Petey the Cat, and deal with his feline clone, Lil Petey. Dog Man is set to hit theaters on January 31, 2025.
– Finally, via Anime News Network, the next movie in the My Hero Academia franchise is called My Hero Academia: You’re Next. The film’s official Twitter page also unveiled a poster as well as a new trailer. My Hero Academia: You’re Next features an all new original story that takes place around the same time as the current TV anime, that depicts the collapse of society. The film was directed by Tensai Okamura from a script by Yōsuke Kuroda. Original manga creator Kōhei Horikoshi will serve as the general supervisor and original character designer. My Hero Academia: You’re Next will be released in theaters in Japan on August 2, 2024. You can view the trailer here.
