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.
– “X-Men Gold” #1 came out this past week accompanied by claims by fans that the issue’s art included Anti-Christian and Jewish messages, which was later ran by Bleeding Cool. It was asserted that the inclusions of “QS 5:51,” a reference to a verse in the Quran that states “O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and Christians as allies. They are allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you – then indeed he is one of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing peoples,” and the number 212 which references the date of a mass protest in Jakarta. It was said that that verse is being used by Islamists too prevent the reelection of a Christian governor of Jakarta. This prompted Marvel to release an official statement and Adrian Syaf, the artist for “X-Men Gold,” to defend himself on social media. Syaf defended himself by stating that the protest on December 2nd was against a Christian governor that did blasphemy to the Quran. He stated that the verse in question was a verse the governor had mocked and that it was special to him. G. Willow Wilson has posted a response to the situation on her tumblr.
– In happier X-Men news, Fox’s New Mutants has officially begun pre-production. Director Josh Boone made the announcement by posting on Instagram.
– DC Comics has announced a new bi-weekly, digital-first series entitled “DC Super Hero Girls: Out of the Bottle.” The story follows Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, Katana, and their pals as they have to create a comic book for their art class.
– Rumor has it that DC is aiming to release four Batman related DCEU films in the year 2019 to celebrate the character’s 80th anniversary. This schedule would see Gotham City Sirens released around Valentine’s Day, Nightwing on Memorial Day weekend, Batgirl in August, and The Batman in November. Along with this came rumors that Jonathan Levine was in talks to direct The Flash and that if Matthew Vaughn is going to direct the Man of Steel sequel, he will most likely write the script.
– “Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View” is being released in celebration of Star Wars’ 40th anniversary. The book, with over 40 contributing authors, is an anthology told from the perspective of background characters in Star Wars: A New Hope. It’s set to be released October 2017.
– Zack Snyder, director of the Man of Steel and the upcoming Justice League, released a picture from Henry Cavill’s audition to play the role of Superman. At the time the Man of Steel suit had not been finished, and Cavill had to wear the Christopher Reeves costume.
