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, “The Oatmeal” creator Matthew Inman is stepping back from the comic after this summer, and Humanoids announced a Rod Serling biography titled “The Twilight Man.”
– “Black Hammer” writer Jeff Lemire was quoted as telling Comicbook.com that “three, maybe four other series in various stages of production. Some of them pretty far along and being drawn and will be out soon, and then a couple of those that are just in the outlining, writing stages.” The next issue of the current series, “Black Hammer: Age of Doom” #11, is set for release on June 26, while the next spin-off, “Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice,” starts July 10.
– DC Universe sent out a statement to assuage fears the comics app/streaming service was being shut down after the cancellation of Swamp Thing. Furthermore, Deadline ran a report debunking last week’s allegations regarding the role tax breaks played in the show’s cancellation – it appeared DC was never entitled to the alleged $40 million tax break, which exceeds the North Carolina Film Office’s entire annual budget ($31 million).
– In further DC news, Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, The Shallows) signed on to direct the Black Adam movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Collet-Serra and Johnson previously collaborated on the upcoming Disney film Jungle Cruise, which is set for release on July 24, 2020. The Rock commented, “Jaume and I have worked together for the last two years making Disney’s Jungle Cruise – and I’ve been very impressed with his passion, work ethic, style, vision, tone and quality. He’s hungry to break new ground with Black Adam and give the fans something very cool and special.”
– At E3’s Xbox press conference, new LEGO Star Wars and Dragon Ball Z video games were announced. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will cover the events of all nine films in the main series, while Dragon Ball Z Kakarot will adapt the manga/anime’s ‘Saiyan’ and ‘Frieza’ Sagas. It is unknown when the games will come out, though LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will be released in 2020 after The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters. You can watch the trailers for both here and here.
– Speaking of video games, Paste reports Telltale Games’ titles will no longer be available for purchase and download following the developer’s bankruptcy last year. Phyiscal copies of games like the Sam & Max series, The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and more will still be available for purchase though.
– Dark Horse announced a partnership with Studio71 to create a card game based on Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s “The Umbrella Academy.” The game will begin crowdfunding its way to a release sometime next year.
– Letterer Dustin Harbin is also crowdfunding to cover the costs of surgery to repair his upper jaw, following a bike injury. At the time of writing, Harbin has raised $49,554 of his $75,000 goal. You can donate here.
– Paramount has pushed back the release date of the Micronauts movie from October 16, 2020, to June 4, 2021, and moved the next G.I. Joe film to Micronauts‘ original release date. It is unknown if the rescheduled G.I. Joe film is the Snake Eyes origin story, set to be directed by Robert Schwentke (Red, R.I.P.D.), or the third main entry being written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec.
– Actress/writer Mindy Kaling confirmed to MTV News she has talked to Marvel Studios about writing a Ms. Marvel project. Kaling previously expressed interest online in co-writing a film starring the character with actor/rapper Riz Ahmed.
– Finally, before the weekend, we asked you to name your favorite Spider-Man love interest. Mary Jane won with 63.6 percent of your votes, followed by Black Cat with 17 percent, and Gwen Stacy with 12.5 percent. Thanks again for voting, and stay tuned for our next Reader Poll this Friday.
