Let’s get this back on track, shall we? Between the Comic Con Africa preparations and then the end-of-year ramp up, we’ve let things slide a bit, so here’s us filling in the last month of standout pop culture stories.

Starting with deaths: Maggie Smith, a literal grande dame of British cinema and theatre passed on 27 September at the age of 89. If you need some indication of Smith’s talents, her accolade wins include two Academy Awards, five BAFTAs, four Emmys, three Golden Globes and a Tony, putting her in an elite group that has achieved all the major awards over a 70 year career. In recent times, Smith is probably best known for her scene-stealing role as the Dowager Countess in beloved Downton Abbey, and Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series.

Also passing in this period was country singer and actor Kris Kristofferson, aged 88. With three Grammy Awards under his belt, Kristofferson’s standout on-screen appearances include the Barbra Streisand version of A Star Is Born, and the Blade movies. Kristofferson “passed peacefully” at home with family on hand.

Finally, closer to home, comic fans were shocked to hear of the passing of creator Karl Mostert on Monday, 30 September, just one day after he made an appearance at Comic Con Africa 2024. The Cape Town-based artist was in his early 40s, and had made a name on the international stage for his work on Batman, and creator-driven projects like The Man Who F#&%ed Up Time with John Layman. Mostert leaves behind a wife and three young daughters. He apparently died in his sleep.

Film

It’s October, which means horror movies are top of mind. That brings us immediately to the genre’s all-star pairing of Stephen King, James Wan, and Osgood Perkins. With Saw and The Conjuring’s Wan producing, Longlegs’ Perkins adapts and directs this feature based on King’s short story. Meanwhile, Theo James stars in this tale of brothers who find an antique wind-up monkey toy that makes gruesome deaths happen. The Monkey is out on 21 February next year.

Then there’s Companion. It’s not yet clear what this one is about, but it’s being described as “a new kind of love story,” bearing in mind that it counts the makers of unpredictable Barbarian among its producers. Yellowjackets’ Sophie Thatcher and The Boys’ Jack Quaid star. The film is out on 10 January, and is surprisingly even coming to IMAX.

From teaser to official trailer, we now have a better look at Robert (The VVitch, The Northman) Eggers’ gothic horror romance Nosferatu. That said, we’re still in the dark as to how Bill Skarsgård will look as Count Orlok, the vampire infatuated with Lily-Rose Depp’s Ellen Hutter, a pious young woman who falls under Orlok’s thrall. This second remake of the 1922 German classic is out on Christmas Day in the US.

We pay attention to anything that brings together filmmaker Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan, so we’re keeping an eye on Sinners. Apparently also a vampire film, which sparked an intense bidding war earlier this year, Sinners is a period horror tale that sees twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown in the hope of leaving behind their dark past. Except an even greater evil is waiting there. Sinners enjoys a cinema release (including on IMAX) starting 7 March 2025.

Away from horror, we got our first trailer for the Russo Brothers and Netflix’s next blockbuster collaboration: sci-fi road-trip adventure The Electric State (premiering 14 March) starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt.

Meanwhile, comic book fans no longer need to squint at a poor quality bootleg trailer for Thunderbolts*. Here’s the official release. The MCU’s answer to The Suicide Squad releases in May next year, assembling Marvel’s deadliest assassins and antiheroes, starting with Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes.

Finally, hey, James Gunn had a big surprise for Superman fans recently: Turns out The Man of Steel’s canine buddy Krypto is going to be in next year’s Superman film franchise reboot.

Series

The new trailer for HBO Original Series Dune: Prophesy drives home the point that this prequel series to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies (based, of course, on the seminal sci-fi work of Frank Herbert and his son) has been taking notes from Game of Thrones. So expect a large ensemble cast and loads of intrigue as sisters Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams) establish the mysterious women-only sect known as the Bene Gesserit, seek to advance humanity across the stars, and face deadly threats to their ambitions.

Dune: Prophesy premieres on 17 November.

Also serving up the sci-fi goods on the small screen next month is Silo Season 2. Season 1 was arguably our favourite new live-action show of 2023, and the dystopian mystery looks to only deepen in Part 2, with Rebecca Ferguson’s engineer Juliette discovering new truths about the mile-deep silos that house the last remaining humans on Earth. Also starring are the likes of Tim Robbins, Common, Chinaza Uche and Iain Glen, with Steve Zahn joining the cast this time around.

Silo Season 2 premieres on 15 November on Apple TV+.

When we chatted to Sean Gunn at Comic Con Cape Town, he insisted that fans get excited for animated series Creature Commandos, one of the first projects to kick off the new DCU. Here’s the official trailer for the R-rated cartoon, which sees Amanda Waller (voiced by Viola Davis) forced to use monsters instead of the Suicide Squad for deadly missions. This mismatched collective is voiced by the likes of Gunn, Alan Tudyk, Indira Varma and David Harbour. Creature Commandos starts streaming on Max from 5 December.

Two more TV news tidbits:

Marvel Studios held a surprise Daredevil: Born Again panel at New York Comic Con where they announced 4 March 2025 as the day the continuation of Netflix’s acclaimed series comes to Disney+. Also revealed was the new suit for blind vigilante and attorney Matt Murdock, played by Charlie Cox.

Finally, the Green Lanterns TV series is coming together. Promising to channel True Detective, blended with superhero sensibilities, Lanterns will see human Green Lanterns Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Rebel Ridge’s Aaron Pierre) fulfilling their role as space cops and investigating a murder on Earth.

Gaming

Xbox streamed one of its thirty-minute semi-regular Partner Preview last week. You can watch the show in its entirety here, or you can skim over Eurogamer’s handy summary.

Highlights included the trailer for the next bit of Alan Wake II DLC, titled The Lake House (out on 22 October); and the reveal of brand-new fantasy adventure Eternal Strands, where you harness magic and the world around you to defeat monstrous foes. The game is out in Q1 for Xbox, PlayStation and PC.

If you were setting aside time in November to play the next Assassin’s Creed game, the Japan-set Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, your calendar just opened up. Ubisoft has pushed the game’s release back to 14 February next year from 15 November this year to “polish” up the open-world action adventure and address “historical accuracy concerns.”

In happier news, we’re getting an Alien: Isolation sequel ten years after the pants-wetting stealth thriller released.

And as of 9 October, you can play cosy tidy-up puzzle game A Little to the Left on mobile. Right now it’s iOS only, but Android release is coming later this year.