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.
– James Gunn has confirmed a third Guardians of the Galaxy movie, which he will once again write and direct. It’s in very early stages, as Gunn is still in the midst of “trying to figure it out.” If the distance between the first two movies is any indication, we should expect to see the third Guardians of the Galaxy around 2020.
– The road to Ben Affleck’s solo Batman film is a bumpy one. Reports of director Matt Reeves dropping off the project made sense at the time, considering rumors of a poor script, but when Reeves climbed back aboard it left a lot of us puzzled. Did the mother of someone at WB reveal themselves to have the same first name as Matt Reeves’ mother? Or did Reeves just undergo a temporary error of judgement? We may never know, but additional rumors are suggesting that the script is being completely reworked, so this could suggest that Matt Reeves is being given the reigns to overhaul this movie into something greater. One can only hope.
– June 7 will see the release of BOOM! Studios’ new horror series, "The Unsound," from Cullen Bunn of "Harrow County" and "The Sixth Gun" fame. Jack T. Cole is slated as the artist for this story, in which a nurse begins to lose her grip on reality as she uncovers more terrifying secrets about the psychiatric hospital where she’s employed.
– In an attempt to extinguish the PR nightmare set ablaze in Netflix’s controversial Iron Fist, actress Jessica Henwick defends her co-star, Finn Jones, in regards to the "White Savior" controversy, claiming that Jones "smashes it out the park" with his performance. While the executive producer, Scott Buck, was not even aware controversy existed until Finn was cast. Iron Fist debuts March 17 on Netflix.
– Now for your daily reminder that people get old, diamonds aren’t forever, etc.: Chris Evans’ contract with Marvel is ending after the next two Avengers movies. This is not definitive, as he’s adjusted the contract before, but a recent Esquire profile confirms that Chris Evans is indeed not Captain America, and thus rigorously lifting weights to maintain appearances becomes difficult to manage after thirty-five years on Earth-1218.
– With this week’s release of "American Gods: Shadows" #1 from Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell, Starz has unveiled the first official trailer for Bryan Fuller’s American Gods. This is Fuller’s first television series since the visually elegant Hannibal was cancelled at NBC in 2015, and from the looks of it, he’s combining that sophisticated style with the vivid colors and charm of his earlier series, Pushing Daisies, to adapt Gaiman’s novel. American Gods premieres Sunday, April 30th on Starz.
– Hot off that Oscar win, Suicide Squad sets up for a sequel with Adam Cozad as writer. The studio is still in search of a director, with Mel Gibson a rumored option, but for now their focus is on the story. Cozad’s previous work includes The Legend of Tarzan and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, movies that grossed a sizeable box office, but were not exactly praised for their story.
– Over at Newsarama, there’s a brief interview with up and coming artist, Eoin Marron, who was hired for a four-issue arc on BOOM! Studios’ "Sons of Anarchy: Redwood Original," with Ollie Masters writing. Marron talks about his early career, his developing style, and how he was hired after his short apprenticeship with Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire.
– In an unexpected trend of monochrome editions, Logan is the latest movie to get the treatment. The upcoming Blu-ray release may feature an entirely black-and-white cut of the movie, though it’s unclear if that cut will be squeezed onto the same disc, gracefully included on a bonus disc, tied to a digital-only code, or relegated to another release completely. Logan will join the ranks of Mad Max: Fury Road as the second movie – featuring a lot of dirt – to be passed with a custom black-and-white post-processing effect and marketed as an alternative version of the same movie. Remember folks, this isn’t just the saturation turned to zero. The video is finely-adjusted on a per-scene basis to provide the best conversion possible, per the director’s vision.
