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.
-Marvel Editor-In-Chief Alex Alonso tweeted yesterday a tightly cropped drawing of what appears to be The Thing in the familiar blue and white costume of The Fantastic Four, sparking hopes for the long-awaited return of Marvels First Family. The photo was accompanied by the tag “It takes 2” and rather than the typical number 4 affixed to Ben Grimm’s belt buckle, he can be seen sporting the number 2. This could signal that Marvel will instead be reviving the “Marvel Two-In-One” title which frequently featured The Thing in the past.
-Speaking of the Fantastic Four, news broke yesterday that a Fantastic Four movie reboot is currently in the works at Fox Studios. The new film is reportedly going to be a much more kid-friendly take on the group than 2015’s Fant4stic. the film will reportedly center on Reed and Sue Richards children Franklin and Valeria Richards. Not much is known about the film other than the fact that novelist Seth Grahme-Smith (“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter”) is penning the script, he also had a hand in rewriting portions of Josh Trank’s 2015 script for Fant4stic.
-In an interview with Entertainment Weekly Riverdale executive producer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa laid out some important details concerning Hiram Lodge, Veronica Lodge’s incarcerated father who will be played by Mark Consuelos in the shows second season. In his description of the real estate mogul, Aguirre-Sacasa said Lodge is “someone who has had very dark dealings and who has a criminal past. He’s operating at a much higher level than everyone else and has tentacles everywhere.” This plays to the long-standing role of Hiram Lodge has played in the “Archie” comics as a villain to the all-American hero Archie Andrews. Riverdale season 2 debuts on the CW October 8 at 8 p.m. EST.
-Writer Seth M. Peck (“X-Men,” “Sorrow”) and artist Jeremy Haun (“Wolf Moon,” “The Beauty”) will be teaming up for a new post-apocalyptic sword and sorcery comic called “The Realm.” The comic explores a world where orcs, dragons, and countless other mythical beings have overrun our world creating a chaotic post-apocalyptic nightmare. The remaining croppings of civilization must battle to defend themselves in a world ruled by violence and tyranny. The first issue of “The Realm” will be available in comic book stores September 13.
-The previously announced Titan Comics revival of the Jack Kirby and Joe Simon series “Fighting American” has been scheduled to be released on October 11, what would have been Joe Simon’s 104th birthday. The series, which is being written by Gordon Rennie (“Aquila,” “2000 AD”) and illustrated by Duke Mighten (“Satanika,” “Wild Thing”), was originally published by Kirby and Simon as tried and true superhero comic, but quickly evolved into a satire of the genre. The original series poked fun at the McCarthy hearings going on at the time and who knows perhaps Rennie and Mighten can find a few modern American political foibles to wag lampoon in their series this fall.
-Mayor Stephanie A. Minor of Syracuse, New York declared yesterday via an official proclamation that Saturday, June 24 will be “Neal Adams Day.”. This will be in conjunction with a visit by Neal Adams (“Superman vs. Muhammad Ali,” “Green Arrow/Green Lantern”) at Salt City Comic-Con which takes place that weekend. Adams is a lifelong comic, advertising and graphic artist whose pioneering work on Batman with Dennis O’Neil (“The Question,”Green Arrow/Green Lantern”) transformed the campy Bruce Wayne of the 60’s into the suave globe-trotting detective we all know and love today.
-Ahead of the July 6 release of Spider-Man: Homecoming Sony took the opportunity to let some details go about the web-slingers second film and other Spidey projects in development. Sources at Sony confirmed that although Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark does appear in this first installment he will likely not be returning for the film’s sequel; however, the companies confirmed that another unnamed MCU hero will be joining Tom Holland’s Spidey in the second film. In the same article Marvel and Sony announced that the villainous symbiote Carnage would be joining Tom Hardy in the Venom film slated for October 5, 2018. The studios also said that an appearance from Spider-Man himself could not be ruled out in any of the spin-off films.
