It’s online fan event DC FanDome this Saturday, so you can expect a glut of superhero news in the coming days. Until then, it’s appropriate that the biggest headline-making story of the week in pop culture comes from the world of comics. Read on for what it is, and the controversy it sparked.
Comics
Monday was National Coming Out Day, which just-so-coincidentally was the same day DC Comics announced that Superman is bisexual. Or, rather, the new Superman is bi.
Jon Kent, the aged up son of Clark Kent (AKA Kal-El) and Lois Lane, who has taken over the Superman mantle from his dad, has acted on romantic feelings for reporter Jay Nakamura. This all happens in Superman: Son of Kal-El #5 from writer Tom Taylor and artist John Timms, which is part of the main DC Multiverse continuity. More here.
Jumping to the Marvel side, in a first for Penguin Classics, the publisher will be releasing the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection. The books will anthologize “the original stories and seminal tales of key Marvel characters,” starting with Spider-Man, Black Panther and Captain America. Elda Rotor, Vice President and Publisher of Penguin Classics, says, “To have this opportunity to place the work of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby and many other historic Marvel creators on shelves alongside the world’s classics marks a very special chapter in Penguin’s publishing history.” More here.
Meanwhile, you can learn more about the collection here, which is available from June 2022.
Streaming television
On matters of triggering representation, the divisive Masters of the Universe: Revelation returns on November 23 to Netflix, according to an announcement Kevin Smith made on Twitter. Part 2 of the He-Man sequel will consist of 5 episodes. Smith also unveiled a poster for the series continuation, by Nathan Baertsch. Read our review of He-Man: Revelation Part 1 here.
One of our favourite series, Dickinson on Apple+, has just revealed the trailer for its third and final season. If you’ve missed this idiosyncratic comedy – combining real-life history and modern sensibilities – Hailee Steinfeld plays passionate and eccentric 19th Century poet Emily Dickinson. Dickinson S3 looks a little darker than earlier seasons, and it premieres on November 5.
The relationship between Netflix and The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass’s Mike Flanagan continues. The filmmaker is working on an adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher, based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, who is regarded as the father of Gothic Horror literature (if you need a reminder). Filming begins in January 2022. More here.
Film
Turns out there’s still blood in the stabby Scream franchise yet. This week saw the reveal of a trailer for the fifth big screen entry in the 90s slasher series. A new generation of Woodsboro teens is being targeted by a Ghostface killer, drawing back survivors Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette). Scream is in cinemas from January 14, 2022.
Back in May a convincing argument was made online that iconic horror villain Pinhead, from the Hellraiser series, should be a woman in the series reboot. In author Clive Barker’s source material, the extra-dimensional torturers, the Cenobites, are described as androgynous beings, and Pinhead has a notably high voice. Well, this week it was announced that Sense8’s Jamie Clayton is playing Pinhead. The Hellraiser reboot has, in fact, already finished filming, and will be coming to Hulu sometime in 2022. More here.
Another bit of casting news is that Will Poulter will be playing perfect artificial being Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The character’s creation was first teased in a post-credit scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, as a revenge tool of the golden Sovereign race. More on the casting here. And more on the character of Adam Warlock here.
Finally, if you want to end the work week a little creeped out, here’s actor Jamie Costa giving an uncanny impersonation of a young Robin Williams in a test footage clip – made by Costa himself. More here.