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.
In case you missed it, an animated Babylon 5 film was announced, and we ran an exclusive preview of “Wine Ghost Goes to Hell.”
– In a last-minute addition to Free Comic Book Day, Marvel announced “Spider-Man 2” #1, a prequel to the upcoming video game. Written by Christos Gage with art by Ig Guara, the free comic (releasing this Saturday) will fill in readers on what Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Mary Jane Watson have been up to since the events of the 2018 game, and its 2020 spin-off Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Additionally, Sony revealed the PlayStation 5 version of the first game will receive a standalone release later this month. The current gen version was previously only available with the Ultimate Edition of Miles Morales. Spider-Man 2 itself will be released sometime later this year.
– Marvel also announced “Amazing Spider-Man Annual” (Vol. 5) #1, a new special starring Hallows’ Eve by writer Erica Schultz and artist Julian Shaw, for this August. The comic will see Hallows’ Eve/Janine Godbe try to break her boyfriend Chasm/Ben Reilly out of prison. It will also feature a top secret story following on from the events of July’s “X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023.” Schultz previously wrote the “Hallows’ Eve” miniseries (drawn by Michael Dowling), which will wrap up beforehand in July. Janine Godbe was created by J.M. DeMatteis and John Romita Jr. in 1995, and became the supervillain in last year’s “Amazing Spider-Man” #14.
– Jim Lee has renewed his contract with DC Comics, and will now act as the company’s president, in addition to being its publisher and chief creative officer. The position of president had been vacant since Diane Nelson left DC Entertainment in 2018. Lee has been DC’s publisher since 2010 (originally alongside Dan DiDio), and CCO since 2018. He will continue to report to Pam Lifford, president of global brands, franchises, and experiences at Warner Bros. Discovery.
– Following last week’s major layoffs, IDW Publishing announced several key staff changes. Mark Doyle and Tara McCrillis were promoted to co-publishers, replacing Nachie Marsham, while Amber Huerta was named chief operating officer, and Jamie S. Rich was appointed editor-in-chief. Z2 Comics founder Josh Frankel has joined the company as chief digital officer, while Davidi Jonas, the son of IDW chairman Howard Jonas, was confirmed as its new CEO. Jonas, previously CEO of Straight Path Communications, expressed hope at continuing to earn the “trust and support” of IDW’s licensees “for years and decades to come.”
– Meanwhile, Marvel revealed four AAPI Heritage Month back-up stories appearing in this month’s titles. They consist of an Iron Fist/Lin Lie story in “Daredevil” #11 by writer Jason Loo and artist Lynne Yoshii; a team-up with the Tiger Division’s Taegukgi in “Ghost Rider” #14 by Jon Tsuei and Tadam Gyadu; a new Sister Dagger story by Gene Luen Yang (her co-creator) and Peter Nguyen in “Wolverine” #33; and a flashback to Nico Minoru’s first meeting with the Sorcerer Supreme in “Doctor Strange” #3, by Amy Chu and Tokitokoro. All of these titles will be released on May 10, except “Doctor Strange” #3, which goes on sale May 31.
– In more Iron Fist news, Marvel launched a six-part “Marvel’s Voices” arc on Unlimited, starring Pei (formerly the youngest Iron Fist) and Luke Cage. Created by Jeremy Holt, Guillermo Sanna, and Antonio Fabela, the arc sees the depowered Pei get suspended from school for fighting a group of bullies, who are hellbent on stealing an artifact Danny Rand gave her. The first chapter, “Marvel’s Voices: Iron Fist Pei: Wayward Warrior” #51, is available now.
– Netflix have renewed Sweet Tooth for a third and final season, which they disclosed was shot back-to-back with the second. New cast members will include Cara Gee (The Expanse) as Siana, and child actress Ayazhan Dalabayeva as Nuka, while Rosalind Chao (who plays Zhang) and Amy Seimetz (Birdie) have been upgraded to series regulars. Sweet Tooth season three, which will take place in the Arctic, will be released sometime next year.
– Finally, Bloody Disgusting reports the upcoming animated DC film Justice League: Warworld has been rated R by the MPA for “some bloody violence.” It is the second film in the Tomorrowverse (that began with Superman: Man of Tomorrow) to be rated R, after Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two. Warworld, which will pit Jensen Ackles’s version of Batman, Darren Criss’s Superman, and Stana Katic’s Wonder Woman against Robin Atkin Downes’s Mongul, will be released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment sometime this summer.
