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.
– The film adaptation of Valiant’s “Shadowman” has found a director in Reginald Hudlin, who will also re-write the screenplay with Salem showrunner Adam Simon. “Shadowman” follows an African-American musician from New Orleans, who becomes infected with a spirit that gives him supernatural abilities. Before the upcoming film Marshall, Hudlin hadn’t directed a feature in a long time. He’s most known for directing House Party and Boomerang, but has had steady TV work since then. Hudlin also has a decent body of work in the comic industry, including a four-year run on “Black Panther,” along with helping to revive Milestone for DC.
– IDW has revealed more details about the upcoming “Star Wars Adventures.” According to IDW President and COO Greg Goldstein, the series will be an anthology that covers all eras of the Star Wars universe. The first couple issues will be written by Cavan Scott, with art by Derek Charm, and will tell stories from Rey’s early days on Jakku. “Star Wars Adventures” #1 debuts on September 6, with #2 following two weeks later. The Marvel series have been consistently good, and this new entry from IDW looks like it will continue the trend.
– Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson has released a statement in support of last week’s controversial “The Divided States of Hysteria” #1. The comic features a scene where a trans sex worker is violently attacked. Part of his statement reads, “…it’s intended to provoke thought about how and why things have reached a state where the tools for progress… are shunned in favor of treating anyone with an opposing viewpoint as an enemy combatant.” Creator Howard Chaykin has yet to comment on the matter.
– The trailer for Marvel’s Inhumans has leaked, probably thanks to showrunner Scott Buck, based on the huge watermark plastered over the video. There’s nothing substantial in the trailer besides a quick display of Lockjaw’s teleportation powers. And still no word on how they are going to handle Medusa’s prehensile hair, but her horrendous wig does make a brief appearance.
– Sony has released a 9-minute long trailer for their new PS4 Spider-Man video game. The gameplay style looks a lot like like the Batman Arkham games, plus web-slinging, so that’s encouraging. Just try not to let the terrible custom design be too distracting. Maybe he needs that huge white spider logo for video game reasons.
– Tucked away at the end of an interview with Jonah Ray about his new show, Hidden America, Ray reveals that he’s acquired the rights to The Li’l Depressed Boy and is co-writing the screenplay. They will hopefully be shooting it in the next “year or so.” “The Li’l Depressed Boy” is a webcomic turned Image series by S. Steven Struble and Sina Grace, described as “a romance with style points, told with the same lovelorn charm of (500) Days of Summer.”
– Jhonen Vasquez is making a surprise return to comics by taking over writing duties for this week’s “Invader Zim” #20. Vasquez is the creator of the original Nickelodeon cartoon, and also wrote the first couple issues of the Oni Press comic adaptation, before handing it off to Eric Truehart.
– Marvel has registered a trademark for “Marvel HQ” for “education and entertainment services.” Is this a clue to where Marvel will branch out next? Maybe they’re taking a page from DC, and starting a creator workshop of their own.
