The Sandman Cometh, The Vertigo Goeth Away

In this comics edition of Multiverse Tonight, DC wants children to read a book, DC shutters three of its imprints, Neil Gaiman's Sandman finds a home at Netflix, Zendaya discusses The Snap, JJ Abrams and son write some Spider-man, Hello Kitty movie finds a writer, Remember Myst? Someone does., The Dark Crystal series adds to it's cast and we remember ALF star Max Wright and much much more.

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Tonight, the Sandman's coming. JJ Abrams and Sun make a comic book, and we remember Alf's best friend on this comic edition of Multiverse. Tonight, comic books, 20 sci-fi, 2010 fantasy, and more. If you're looking for around us, in the right place. And here's our host, Thomas Townley. Welcome to Multiverse Tonight, episode 31. I'm your host, Thomas Townley. So, Avengers Hunt Game is still trying to beat Avatar's hold on the number one slot of all time. So they had a special re-release this past weekend. And while it did uh improve, shot it back into the top 10, uh they made 200% more than the previous week, and they didn't make it. Still about $27 million shy of Ephatar's record. Yeah, it was a good shot. Maybe they should have aimed for the head. Now, as I said in the sci-fi edition, Smallville was a good con. And right now I'm working on putting the interviews together to be put up. If you'd like to see some pictures I took, head on over to our Instagram page. Now, let's get on with the news. Now, starting the DC Comics News, at the American Library Association Annual Convention in Washington, DC, DC Comics announced plans to expand their Young Readers program geared towards young adults and middle schoolers with new titles coming in spring 2020 and 2021. Young adult titles coming in the spring of 2020 include Wonder Woman Warburger, Gotham High, The Oracle Code, Shadow of the Batgirl, and Lost Carnival, a Dick Grayson graphic novel. Middle school titles include Diana, Princess of the Amazons, Green Lantern Legacy, Batman Tales, Once Upon a Time, Zatana and the House of Secrets, Batman Overdrive, DC Superhero Girls Powerless, Anti Hero, Arc Arca Maniacs, and My Video Game Ate My Homework. Later titles will feature such characters as Catwoman, Starfire, Mr. Miracle, Swamp Thing, Mr. Freeze, Green Arrow, Los Lane, and a young version of Constantine called Johnny Constantine. Well, if it introduces these characters to a new audience, all the better. Yeah. Take a look, see the book, a reading rainbow. Okay, that's just goofy. DC has announced that January 2020 will see the end of DC's vertigo, Zoom, and Inc. imprints in favor of a new publishing strategy to release all published content under one DC brand with an age specif specific labeling system. The new labels will be called DC Kids, aimed at 8 to 12 year olds. The traditional DC label will be aimed at 13 year olds and up, and DC Black Label will be aged like a fine wine in a barrel in a barn. No, wait, that's Johnny Walker whiskey. A DC black label is for 17 years old and older. DC label is will be where the former vertigo content will go. Dan DeDio, in a statement about the change, spoke about Vertigo saying, quote, We're returning to a singular presentation of the DC brand that was present throughout most of our history until 1993 when we launched Vertigo to provide an outlet for edger material. That kind of material is now mainstream across all genres, so we thought it was right to bring greater clarity to the DC brand and reinforce our commitment to storytelling for all of our fans in every age group. This new system will replace the age ratings we currently use on our material. Vertigo was the home to such titles as Sad Man, Preacher, Why the Last Man, and was home to such visionaries as Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, and Neil Gaiman. So let's pour one out for Vertigo. You were enjoyed. And while we're on the subject of things that are getting cancelled, DC has cancelled its Road to Watchmen book. The Road to Watchmen would have repackaged old Steve Gidko books featuring the question and Blue Beetle as they were the inspirations behind Rorschach and Night Owl. It would have been a 400-page hardcover. Clark Kent is going to boot camp. Superman Year 1 by Frank Miller will be released via DC's Black Label, and will be a three-volume tale, which will feature an alternate universe tale that will see Clark Kent going into the Navy before becoming Superman. So how will the military life change Clark? According to former US Special Operations Commando, Honcho, Admiral William H. McRaven, retired, a Navy SEAL veteran, in an email to Military Times, quote, I don't know how you can be mild-mannered Clark Kent if you're a Navy SEAL. Now there is a lengthy article on this on the Military Times website, and we'll have a link to it in our show notes. The first issue is out right now, and volume 2 will be out in August. San Diego ComCon is fast approaching, and as I reported in the previous episode, Warner Brothers is skipping the Venerable Hall H panelists here, and but they still have product they want uh Warner Brothers still ha TV has product they want to show off. So on July 17th, from 6 to 10 p.m. Uh that's Western, of course, they will sp or Pacific time, excuse me, they will showcase the Harley Quinn Anime series in Ballroom 20 as part of the WB TV's preview night screening event. Also being shown are the pilots for Batwoman, Pennyworth, and Prodigal Sun, as well as a new episode of Teen Titans Go. Now it's not known at this time what will be shown from the Harley Quinn series. Now this series stars the voice of Kaylee Kuoko as Harley Quinn and Alan Tudek as the Joker. It's expected to be on the DC Universe streaming service in the fall. DC has announced the creation of a new pop-up horror imprint called Hill House Comics. Hill House will be curated by horror writer Joe Hill and be released under DC Black Lapel Banner. The line consists of five original miniseries. The Lolo Woods by Carmen Maria Machado with art by Danny, The Dollhouse Family by Mike Carey and Peter Gross, Daphne Byrne by Laura Max and Kelly Jones, and Plunge by Joe Hill and an artist to be announced. Miracles do happen. A few years ago, Neil Gaiman's Sandman was in the works to be a motion picture, and that just all collapsed. It looks like it might never see the light of day again. What's this? Q Netflix Who has who has, according to the Hollywood Reporters, signed a huge deal to adapt Mr. Gaiman's work into an eleven episode series? Sources close to the project say that this will be the most expensive TV series DC Entertainment has ever done. Alan Heinberg is set to write and service showrunner with Gaiman, exec for producing alongside David Goyer. Gaiman, Goyer, and Heinberg will co-write the premiere. Channing Dungey, VP of Originals at Netflix, said about the news, quote, We're thrilled to partner with the brilliant team that is Neil Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Alan Heinberg to finally bring Neil's iconic comic book series, The Sandman, to life on screen. From its rich characters and storylines to its intricately built-out worlds, we're excited to create an epic original series that dives deep into this multi-layered universe, beloved by fans around the world. Now the Sandman comic ran for 75 issues of DC's Vertigo imprint, following the adventures of Morpheus, Lord of Dreams, and a group of mortal beings called The Endless, including Death, Desire, Destiny, Delirium, Despair, and Destruction. Now let's go to the Marvel News. The next movie in the MCU is set to debut in a few days, Spider-Man, Far From Home. In fact, it just debuted today. And we have some good news. You can get that large soda if you want. The movie, according to the British Board of Film Classification, comes in with a runtime of 129 minutes or two hours nine minutes. Uh wh or two hours of movie, nine minutes of credits. Slice it up however it is. Of course, if you need to pee, I do recommend using the Run Pee app to tell you the best times to go. They're not a sponsor, it's just a useful app. So, how did the snap affect those that had vanished and then restored? In an interview with Fandango, Zendea, who plays Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man Far From Home, revealed that quote, the snap kind of puts our characters in a special place, because now we come back and the world's kind of changed, and we all have to kind of depend on each other a little bit more because we're like the oddballs now. We kinda we kind of have to confide in each other with that experience, and that's cool, unquote. She also revealed that her character will be a bit more involved in the story than home than Homecoming, saying, quote, In the first movie obviously you didn't get to see much of her, but she was like a very guarded, sarcastic character, and I think you get to see why she has that guard and slowly watch her melt a little bit. I so want to see this movie. I'll see if I have time. Again, I'm very busy. Well, from the capstone of phase three to the beginning of phase four, the cut casting for Marvel's The Eternals continues, and according to theRap.com, somehayak is in negotiations to join the cast that includes Richard Madden and Kamel Nangiani, and maybe Angeline Jolie. Exact details have been hard to come by, but several sources say that Chloe Zhao has been tapped as director. An official announcement about the film is expected at San Diego Comic-Con this month. Stay tuned. JJ Abrams is working for Marvel, but he's not making a movie. JJ is currently working on a new Spider-Man miniseries with his son Henry. The miniseries will debut in September and will feature the art talent of Sarah Picelli and will introduce a brand new villain named Cadaverus. This project is a actual long time in the making, having been pitched to Marvel editor Nick Lowe a decade ago. According to JJ, quote, Nick had been pressing me to do a book with him. A year or so ago, I started talking with it with about it with Henry, and it sort of happened organically. And that has been the joy of this. Even though I've been talking to Nick for a long time, weirdly, this feels like it just sort of evolved from the conversations of Henry and I, having ideas that got us excited, and Nick began open being open to the collaboration. Well, I have just one question. Will this have lens flare in the comic? Whe So, is your high school tired of putting on your good man Charlie Brown for the hundredth time? Marvel has some plays for you. Move over, Samuel Beckett. Three one act plays make up the Marvel spotlight group of plays from theatrical publisher Samuel French. There's Hammered, a Thor and Loki play by Christian Borrell. Squirrel Girl Goes to College, a Squirrel Girl play by Karen Zicarius, and Mirror of Most Value, a Ms. Marvel play by Masy Asari. According to the Hollywood Reporter, they will focus less on visual effects and more on the emotional journey of the characters. The plays will be offered for a licensing fee of $75 per performance for one play or $125 per performance for two or more. So would you think this would you would you think your highlight your high school would be interested in putting this on? We'll have a link to this in our show notes. Now, let's go to the geek news. Fans of The Office are a bunch of sad pandas. Netflix has announced that the series will be leaving the s service after December 2020 and moving to NBC Universal's streaming service beginning in 2021. So of course, fans have started petition to keep the series on Netflix. So far, a little over forty th 49,000 have signed the change.org petition. You know, I admire their spirit, but I have to point out that this will probably not work. NBC Universal wants their stuff on their platform. So, you know, maybe you'll come back to Netflix someday if NBC Universal's platform fails. You never know. The Hello Kitty movie has a writer, according to Deadline.com. New Line Pictures has hired Lindsay Beer to write the adaptation based on the Sanrio pop icon. The movie will mark the first time Hello Kitty has been a major studio motion picture. Beer's other credits include her include Sony's Masters of the Universe, Lion Gates, The King Killer Chronicles, and Paramount's Transformers to Last Night. She has also worked on the Godzilla vs. Kong and Star Trek franchises, and is showrunner, writer, and exec producer on Mark Millar's The Magic Order for Netflix. Let's just hope it's better than Transformers to Last Night. Anyway, uh have you missed Mist? I know some of you just said, What? Let me explain. Uh Mist was uh Mist, M Y S T was an adventure r uh puzzle puzzle game that was first released back in 1993. Ah, 1993. I remember that year fondly. In the game, players are told that a special book has caused them to travel to Mist Island. There, p players solve puzzles and by doing so travel to four other worlds, known as Ages, which re known as Ages, which reveal the backstory of the game's characters. So, why talk about it now? Well, the Hollywood Reporter has news that Mist is being developed into shows and movies by Village Road Show. While not much is known about what or how this Mistverse is being developed, original creators of Mist, Ryan Rand and Ryan Miller, will be joining Village Roadshow to help develop the universe. Netflix's The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance prequel series has added some more talent to the show. The streaming service revealed that Sigourney Weaver, Lena Hadley, Lena Hetty, uh Ben Benedict Wong, Aquafina, Hannah, John Kamen, and Dave Goles will all be joining the voice cast. They also released a series of 32 photos of the characters with Who Voices Them. The only exception being Sigourney Weaver, whose character is just a disembodied voice called the Mythspeaker. Finally, tonight, we say goodbye to Max Wright, who passed away from lymphoma on June 26th. Max is best known for the role of Willie Tanner on the NBC's NPC series sitcom ELF. Mr. Wright had a lot of roles, appearing on Cheers, Quantum Leap, Murphy Brown, The Drew Carey Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, Aftermash, Aftermash, the television movie version of Stephen King's The Stand, Friends, the HBO mini-series from the Earth From the Earth to the Moon, Misfits of Science, and a ton more. He has a a good, solid IMDB page. Max is survived by his two children and preceded in death by his wife Linda, who passed away from breast cancer in 2017. He was 75 years old. And uh that brings us to the end of this week's comic book news. Now be sure to visit our social media. We're at Twitter at multi-universe tom. We're on Facebook and Instagram as well, as MultiUniverse Tonight. And uh be sure to, you know, if you like what I do, contribute some money. You know, just a buck or two. Uh maybe you'll win some fantastic prizes. Uh you can get a raw feed of the show. Or uh, you know, if you have any other ideas, please be sure to share those too. Just uh go over to mtpodcast.com and there I have the links to my uh coffee or patreon uh pages as well. Be sure to visit multi multiverse night.com to check out our uh affiliate marketplace links, the link to our tea public store, our show notes, and so much more. And if you're a subscriber, please be sure to share us with your friends, and if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to subscribe and leave us some feedback and let us know how we're doing. Special thanks to uh Shane Ivers for our intro music and Lobo Loco for our outro music. Thanks for watching the comic book edition of Multi Universe Tonight. We will be back in two weeks with a brand new sci-fi edition. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Multiverse tonight is a production of Half Big Genre Productions, Copyright 2019, all rights reserved.