Our readers will know that we normally post the weekly round-up of pop culture news highlights on a Friday. However, seeing as we had a Shazam! Fury of the Gods review to get out for release day, we ended up bumping the recap to today. Below you can find all the stand-out stories from the worlds of film, series, gaming and comics of the past seven days or so.

Before that though, last week ended with the shocking news that actor Lance Reddick had passed away suddenly, aged 60, from apparent natural causes. Reddick was in the middle of a press tour for John Wick: Chapter 4, and is also known for his work in The Wire, Fringe and Netflix’s short-lived Resident Evil series. Outside of film and TV, Reddick provided key performances for video game series Destiny (playing Commander Zavala) and Horizon (as duplicitous Sylens).

Still on matters of obituaries, this year’s Academy Awards caused a controversy with its much shortened In Memorium segment, which did not include such notable deaths as Paul Sorvino, Anne Heche, rising star Charlbi Dean and just-passed Tom Sizemore. Instead, movie fans were directed to a webpage to browse a full gallery of film industry figures who died over the past year.

Film

Speaking of the Academy Awards, the “Anti-Oscars”, AKA the Golden Raspberries, AKA The Razzies, were announced last Friday, 10 March. Blonde, Morbius and Elvis all picked up two awards, with Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde “winning” Worst Picture. Find the full list of nominees and Razzie recipients here.

As promised, the full trailer for Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid was revealed during last week’s Oscar broadcast. followed swiftly by a new poster, which provides a much clearer look at Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula the Sea Witch. Directed by Oscar-winning musical veteran Rob Marshall, The Little Mermaid surfaces in cinemas on 26 May.

Now for some other movie-related film snippets:

  • While no actors have been locked down for Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, being made for Netflix, the rumoured cast has expanded. Joining Andrew Garfield and Oscar Isaac in talks is the horror genre’s current favourite leading lady, Mia Goth.
  • We know that James Gunn is writing the script for the DCU’s upcoming Superman reboot, titled Superman: Legacy. Now it turns out, rather unsurprisingly, that Gunn will be directing the superhero tale as well. Centred on a younger version of the Man of Steel, the plot synopsis for Superman: Legacy “tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.”
  • Zack Snyder keeps sharing cryptic “full circle” teasers on social media (another one here) that reference his DC work. With the dates 28 – 30 April highlighted, it would look like a cinema re-release event is likely, with Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Zack Snyder’s Justice League coming to IMAX for one day only on those respective dates.
  • Oh, and Denzel Washington will be in Gladiator 2, which sees Ridley Scott returning to the director’s chair for the tale of Lucius (Paul Mescal), the young boy from the original film who was inspired by Russell Crowe’s Maximus in the arena.

Series

First, something completely different. Coming to Peacock on 20 April is offbeat sci-fi tale Mrs. Davis. In the series, Betty Gilpin’s nun takes on the world’s most powerful Artificial Intelligence, named Mrs. Davis. That means seeking out the Holy Grail, and joining forces with her ex (Jake McDorman), who is part of the anti-tech resistance. This one looks absolutely WILD.

On the series cancellations and renewals front:

  • While the project isn’t officially dead (despite initial news reports), there is no movement on a Season 2 for Disney+ fantasy series Willow. Rather, if it does happen, there will be “significant delays” due to downsizing investment in streaming series, and the cast have been released from their contracts to find work elsewhere.
  • Prime Video’s historical baseball drama A League of Their Own will be back, with a caveat. Amazon has renewed the series, but only for a four-episode second season to conclude the storyline, which centres on the women’s professional baseball league that sprang up on the American homefront during WWII.
  • One happy surprise: Netflix’s loveable post-apocalyptic fairytale Sweet Tooth has an out-the-blue release date for its second season: 27 April.

Comics & Books

In recent years, LGBTQ+ comics nerds have started to look forward to DC Comics’ offerings every June when Pride Month rolls around. 2023 is no different. In addition to the release of DC Pride 2023 #1, a 104-page special edition with several stories starring DC’s LGBTQ characters and coming from queer creators, there will be special Pride Month variant covers for several monthly series (like Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent and Wonder Woman), and the release of at least two reference books that spotlight LGBTQ+ representation throughout DC’s publishing history. Find out more about DC’s plans here.

Over at Marvel, meanwhile, their Pride Month plans have yet to be unveiled apart from variant covers for several Star Wars comics.

Gaming

We’ve been keeping an eye on this one for a while because… Tintin. Publisher Microids and developers Pendulo Studios have just debuted a Reveal Trailer for action adventure Tintin Reporter – Cigars of the Pharaoh. Based on one of the most famous of Hergé’s classic comic books, reporter Tintin and his trusty canine sidekick Snowy investigate a giant drug trafficking network that takes them from Egypt through India and the Orient. Expect puzzles, investigation and loads of dialogue choices.

Although there is no set release date yet, Tintin Reporter – Cigars of the Pharaoh is coming in 2023 to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One | Series, PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), and, probably, Nintendo Switch.