The Rundown: The Avengers Casting Controversy Grows, Grantland Analyzes TV Superheroes, and more

Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown on news stories we missed from the previous day. Have a link to share? Email me at david@multiversitycomics.com.

– I’m not sure if you heard this, but the whole Avengers cast thing? Getting weird. You’d think it wouldn’t be rocket science and Disney/Marvel Films would want to pay Robert Downey, Jr. and the rest of the cast who are not signed for further films, but from the sounds of it – namely, in an article Nikki Finke from Deadline put together – that’s the opposite of what they’re interested in. In fact, Isaac Perlmutter seems like he’s going to make a stance about the whole thing, and this could lead to who knows what. Recasting? Characters getting cut out? Strange things going on, and it will be a weird story to see develop.

– Andy Greenwald of Grantland analyzes why comic books work so well as movies but rarely succeed as TV shows, looking at the recent Arrow series and a bevy of failed starters and non-starters. Greenwald isn’t just a damn fine writer about TV, he’s also a comic fan (I believe he referenced Casanova in an article not that long ago) to some degree, and his viewpoint is an interesting one on a topic I hadn’t really thought of before. Definitely worth a read.

– Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire to provide art on a Deadpool arc that teams the Merc with a Mouth up with Wolverine and Captain America? Yes please.

– Hey look! Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have a new Kickstarter project, called Weapon of God! Check it out, people.

– In the biggest bullshit story of the day, John Layman revealed that he and Rob Guillory have yet to be paid the Chew option money for Showtime picking up (and then putting down) their comic to be turned into a TV show. Bleeding Cool has the coverage, which stemmed from Layman tweeting about it. Personally, people rage about Siegel and Shuster getting mistreated, or even Alan Moore in the Watchmen saga, but to me this is even more egregious. The fact that Showtime started to develop the show but didn’t pay the guys who created the idea is completely and utter crap, and it makes me even more thankful that I’m not currently paying for their programming.

– Chris Ware’s Mother’s Day cover to the New Yorker is, as per usual, splendid.

– Finally, a woman in York, England is wanted in regards to an assault outside of a McDonald’s. She’d be hard to miss, because she looked like She Hulk.