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.
– A lot of problems are arising from the extensive re-shoots Justice League is undergoing. Several cast members are starting to have scheduling conflicts, most comically of which is Henry Cavill’s. Cavill is also starring in the latest Mission: Impossible film and is contractually obligated to keep the mustache he grew for the part; it will have to be removed digitally in post production. (Editorial: After seeing Cavill’s glorious ‘stache, I think it instead needs to be digitally added to the rest of the film.) There’s also an issue with the crediting. Even though Joss Whedon will be overseeing an ever-increasing chunk of the production, he will not receive a co-directing credit. Instead, he may receive a producing or screenplay credit. Whedon took over for Zack Snyder, after the DCEU architect left the project because of his daughter’s suicide. Sources say that Whedon is using the re-shoots to “punch up” the dialogue and create more “connective tissue” between sequences.
– The trial for cartoonist Musa Kart, who created political cartoons for the Turkish opposition newspaper, Cumhuriyet, is underway. Kart was arrested last November in the wake of a failed coup, along with several other journalists from the paper, for criticizing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, or “asymmetrical war tactics,” according to the Turkish government. Kart could face several decades in prison if convicted. This is a stark reminder of what we here in the States enjoy from the First Amendment, even with Trump (who has supported Erdogan) continuously attacking journalists and other critics.
– Star Trek: Discovery will introduce the franchise’s first openly gay television character. It was announced at San-Diego Comic Con that Anthony Cruz has been cast as Dr. High Culber, medical officer on the USS Discovery, and love interest to Lt. Paul Stamets, played by Anthony Rapp. John Cho’s Sulu became the first canon gay character for the franchise in Star Trek Beyond. Sulu’s sexual orientation was never addressed in the original TV series, while played by George Takei, who has become a prominent member of the LGBTQ community.
– The state of Texas now officially does not have a single staff editorial cartoonist. Nick Anderson, the Houston Chronicle‘s Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, was notified that his position was eliminated last week. Anderson cited social media, and its relationship to the subscriber/paywall model, as a major factor in the decision. Anderson will continue to release several cartoons a week for his syndicate, the Washington Post Writers Group.
– Legendary Entertainment is teasing another monster that will be in the upcoming Godzilla: King of Monsters. The Twitter account for Monarch, the in-universe company that monitors all kaiju activity, posted an image depicting a relief of Mothra from the “Temple of the Moth” in the Yucca Province. This is the third monster known so far, after Rodan and King Ghidora were teased earlier this month. All three were included in the Kong: Skull Island post-credits sequence.
– Not content to dominate comic sales and TV ratings, “The Walking Dead” publisher Skybound Entertainment has announced it is launching a new imprint to release prose novels. This is in partnership with Atria Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Shuster. In addition to adaptations of existing Skybound properties, the imprint will also be releasing new fiction and non-fiction concepts. The plan is to publish four to six titles per year.
– Some San Diego Comic Con travelers may have been alarmed heading home this weekend, when airlines like United started saying that comics could not be in checked baggage. The TSA stepped in to tell everyone that, in fact, comics can be checked. So hopefully everyone managed to get their hauls home safely.
– The upcoming Captain Marvel film from Marvel Studios will be filming primarily in California, thanks to getting approved for tax credits from the state. It was one of eight films approved for state tax credits, making it the first MCU film since 2014’s Captain America: Winter Soldier to return production to California.
