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.
– Injustice 2 has revealed its second DLC pack, which adds Black Manta, another Mortal Kombat character with Raiden, and most surprisingly, Hellboy. He shows up at the end of the DLC’s trailer with a heavily Mignola-influenced design (complete with glowing yellow eyes), proclaiming, “This just got a whole lot more interesting.” The DLC goes on sale September 12, though it is unknown when Hellboy will be available individually.
– British Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is the subject of an upcoming anthology comic, titled “The Corbyn Comic Book.” Made up of numerous comic strips submitted to indie publisher SelfMadeHero, including some from Guardian cartoonists Steve Bell and Martin Rowson, the book contains scenes like the Labour Party leader defeating a robotic Prime Minister Theresa May, or trying to stop the Conservative Party from resurrecting Margaret Thatcher. The comic will be launched at Labour’s conference in Brighton next month, and the Guardian have a preview of some of the cartoons inside. Sales manager Dave Kelly hopes the book can “appeal to Old Lefties, Corbynites and maybe even some Brexiteers too.”
– Film producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers) has overseen the creation of a graphic novel, “Guntown,” with an eye to adapting it for film, television and video games. Written by Bob Quinn and Andy Shapiro (Bite Me), “Guntown” is set in the not-too-distant future, when the American government passes a law where anyone who wishes to possess or is caught with a firearm gets exiled to the titular walled city in New Mexico. Deadline has the cover art and a brief discussion with the creators on the book’s social commentary.
– Anna Diop (24: Legacy) has been cast as Starfire in the forthcoming DC webseries Titans. She is just the second announced cast member, after 13-year old Australian actress Teagan Croft was cast as Raven earlier this month. It will be interesting to see how the 29-year old Diop interacts with Croft on screen. The series will be released next year.
– Writer/director Christopher MacBride is attached to a film adaptation of Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel “A.D. After Death” for Sony Pictures. This is the latest comic book movie project MacBride has been involved in, as he is also planning to direct a film of the Arcana series “Amnesia,” and has written a screeenplay based on Timothy Truman’s “Scout.” Sony is also reputedly considering a film based on Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s “Descender.”
– Following yesterday’s announcement about a standalone Joker origin film directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover), The Batman director Matt Reeves has also, confusingly, stated his film is not part of the DC Extended Universe. He precisely said, “I have a vision for a way to do something with that character [Batman] that feels like it resonates with me personally, and a perspective that can grow out into other things. When they [Warner Bros.] approached me, what they said was ‘look, it’s a standalone, it’s not part of the extended universe.'”
– In more DCEU news, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are in talks to write and direct a film about Harley Quinn and the Joker. The film will see Margot Robbie and Jared Leto reprise their roles and is expected to go into production after Suicide Squad 2. Ficarra and Requa previously directed Margot Robbie in Focus and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
– Iron Fist star Finn Jones spoke to Inverse about the second season of his character’s show, revealing, “We’re at least four or five months away from shooting, so this time around, I’m being given a lot more preparation leading up to Season 2, which I think is really gonna have a huge improvement on the quality of the fight scenes.” That should please anyone disappointed by the quality of the fight scenes for the character so far. Meanwhile, Jones’s Defenders co-star Charlie Cox talked to The Hollywood Reporter about whether Daredevil season three (due out next year) will adapt Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s ‘Born Again.’
Continued below– James Gunn has been talking more about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and /Film has been gathering what he’s told various outlets, such as; how the film will set up the next 10-20 years of Cosmic Marvel movies; whether Nova will be part of that; and how the soundtrack will reflect Yondu’s personality instead of Meredith Quill.
– Bleeding Cool reports many retailers, including Dublin’s Big Bang Comics, are boycotting the lenticular variant covers for ‘Marvel Legacy,’ as they feel unable to afford the large amount of copies to qualify for receiving them.
– More light has been shed on the death of stuntwoman SJ Harris during filming of Deadpool 2, with sources claiming producers were insistent about hiring the 40-year old professional racer to work on her first film due to a lack of black doubles for Domino actress Zazie Beetz, despite concerns from crewmembers about her age and inexperience. The Hollywood Reporter has more information.
