FX’s upcoming sci-fi drama Legion arrives with Marvel Comics baggage, since its titular protagonist is a powerful mutant straight out of the X-Men comic book lore, specifically a troubled young man whose existence wasn’t known to his father, Professor Charles Xavier. However, don’t expect too much name-dropping on the television series, since there will be a measure of ambiguity about its X-Men connections. Yet, especially in light of the recent report of an X-Men-related series at Fox, creator Noah Hawley thinks that could one day change.   

Speaking with Variety, creator and executive producer of Legion Noah Hawley sheds some light on the much-discussed subject of the series’ alleged connection to the live-action cinematic canon of the X-Men film series; a subject that has been muddled by several contradictory statements from studio personnel over the past year. The series won’t be coming out the gate waxing ecstatic about Xavier, Magneto, the X-Men, etc. However, unlike in Marvel Studios’ successfully sprawling live-action continuity, the franchise-indicative “m-word” of mutant is very much on the table. Thus, a fine line is being walked. According to Hawley:

“I think it’s important for us to establish this as a fully realized world with fully realized characters. It does connect and it can connect, but I’m not relying on that. I have to prove myself. I have to prove that the show is good enough to incorporate those elements from the movie world, if that were ever possible.”

Legion is young mutant David Haller, who, in the X-Men comic book lore is the son the powerful psychic Charles Xavier who has his own unique abilities, classifying him as an omega level mutant, a taxonomy for mutants potent enough to bend time itself. David’s psychic powers result in him absorbing the personalities of those he scans, resulting in the manifestation of those personalities; a condition that is mistaken for schizophrenia. Likewise, put through the continuity filter, the FX Legion series stars Dan Stevens as David, troubled, institutionalized and questioning the very foundation of his reality. Indeed, as Hawley describes of its divorce from familiar X-Men concepts:

“They decided not to tell the story. There were a lot of people who were disappointed by that, because the story is so good, and they didn’t tell it.”

However, referencing his other job as showrunner for FX’s small screen adaptation of the Coen Brothers’ Fargo, Hawley explains that, in the very least, Legion needs to get itself off the ground before extravagant comic book-adherent ideas like Magneto’s Brotherhood, Apocalypse or the Hellfire Club can even evoke a reference, much less direct involvement. According to Hawley:

“With Fargo, I’m going to tell you a story, and it’s going to feel like you’re watching a Coen brothers movie. And here I’m going to tell you a story and it’s going to feel like that world that you love and those comics that you love, yet because it’s not based on material that you know, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Legion will launch focusing on the tortured subconscious state of Dan Stevens’s David Haller, who traditionally adopted the moniker "Legion" as a reference to his multiple personalities, based on the Biblical quote, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” However, Hawley’s teases of the series’ prospective codification in the proper X-Men lore are far from empty, especially with the revelation of Fox's new television pilot that is very much rooted in the X-Men canon, directed by the franchise’s repertory visionary, Bryan Singer. Consequently, fans should consider Season 1 of Legion to be an audition for its place in the greater continuity.

Legion looks to put a pathological Mr. Robot-type spin on the mutant mythology when it arrives on FX on February 8.

Much hoopla has been made in the media thus far about how the CW's Riverdale series is dark and foreboding. "Archie meets Twin Peaks" is the general spin on the series, and while that is definitely accurate it overlooks a very crucial fact: Riverdale has actually been a strange place for decades.

While the setting for idyllic tales of love triangles and endless milkshakes is still primarily a place of carefree innocence, there have been plenty of times when the rustic little hamlet of hamburgers has been home to knife fights, parallel universes, and, naturally, demonic teddy bears.

While Archie has you covered on the stories that inspired the new TV series in their Road to Riverdale trade, we thought we'd take a look back at some darker influences on the show taken directly from the company's 75-year history.

Riverdale: A Haven of Sin?

The most notorious of all Archie publications were the bizarre off-brand religious-themed titles published by Spire Christian Comics (later released by Barbour Christian Comics) in which the Riverdale gang suddenly and without any explanation were all about God and Jesus and their groovy scene, man. With titles like Archie and Big Ethel, Archie's Circus, Archie's One Way, and Archie's Festival, 19 of these evangelical comics were published between 1977 and 1982.

How did such a thing happen? It all comes down to Al Hartley, easily the most divisive writer/illustrator in Archie history due to his overtly cartoony style...and his personal beliefs invading his work. A long-time industry veteran, Hartley became a born again Christian in 1967...and eventually he began placing his religious views in Archie books. (Ahem).

Eventually he was instructed to keep his stories secular, but then after he was contacted by Christian publisher the Fleming H. Revell Company he struck upon the idea of outsourcing the Archie characters to star in comics that would be sold exclusively in religious bookstores. Archie founder John Goldwater agreed, and the weirdest period in the characters' history was off and running.

Not to disparage anyone's religious beliefs, but using these characters to try to preach was an iffy proposition at best. First and foremost is the fact that the infamously intolerant Chick Tracts already have the market cornered on trying to get people cool on Christ (with questionable results to say the least). But there's also the strangeness that comes from the fact that a comic that is at its very core about fun and romance is suddenly tossing that all aside to denouce the core tenets of Archiedom in favor of a purer, more faith-based message. When these factors are taking into account that in the late-70s Archie wasn't considered the cool comic it is now, the Spire/Barbour books actually damaged their brand by making the characters seem lame and preachy -- an unholy stench that took years for the company to fully shake.

From a 2017 perspective however, these books are AMAZING. Take for example, Archie's Sonshine, in which this miracle occurs:

Yes friends, in this story, Jesus is just a jean-shorted Son of God hanging on the beach (yes, he has a van) telling the youth of Riverdale how cool loving the Lord is -- taking time out only to occasionally make prominent musicians whose alternative lifestyle was deeply offensive to the book's core audience suddenly appear.

So yeah.

And let's not forget the deeply offensive cultural appropriation. Yikes.

So what does any of this have to do with Riverdale? The answer can be found in the most popular (i.e. most unbelievable) of the Hartley Christian comics, Archie's Date Book, which brings sex and violence into the lives of our wholesome heroes like never before.

Which of course leads to this conclusion:

Hopefully Betty won't be watching Riverdale as it's probably not in line with her belief system.

Little Archie's Malevolent World of Wonder

You may not realize it, but there's a bad part of Riverdale inhabited by a gang of bikers known as the Southside Serpents. This may seem like something 100% created for TV, but its origins can be traced back to the 1950s, when the group of ruffians made their debut in the pages of Bob Bolling's fantastic Little Archie comic.

Fractured innocence making its way in Archie pre-Riverdale? Yes, and it's something that this book excelled at.

Little Archie is a true contradiction. On one hand it is an exploration of childhood wonder, a landscape that is populated by outer space Santa Clauses and clubhouse adventures where no whimiscal journey -- be it with talking frogs or just school friends -- is always within reach. But then there is the flipside to the book that conjures up primordial adolescent fears -- violence, robberies, car crashes, home invasions. (When subsuequent artist/writer Dexter Taylor took over the title, its darker elements were toned down, and the book was never the same).

These crimes are all regular features in Bob Bolling's run on Little Archie, making readers wonder how real-life events from Bolling's own childhood like the abduction and murder of the Lindbergh baby flavored his work in the same way it did his contemporaries like Maurice Sendak. It was also a place of random meanness, something Little Archie was both the victim and perpetrator of.

What remains the most compelling feature about Bolling's work here is how it showed that adventure stories could co-exist alongside of the typical Archie characterizations, a weirdly schizophrenic tone that Riverdale is quickly making its trademark.

1970s Archie: A Reflection of the Times

The 1970s were an era of uncertainty and tumult when the headlines shouted one bad story after another. (Anyone else experiencing deja vu right now?) Given the state of the country and how Archie comics have mirrored society at large since the very beginning, it was just a matter of time before real-life started impacting Riverdale. Thus stories about environmentalism, corruption and all manner of societal ills began appearing in the pages of the more issue-based comics like Life with Archie and Archie at Riverdale High.

Then something really interesting happened. Seeing the response that these gritty, more dramatic stories were getting, Archie decided to double down by having more melodramatic subject matter take center stage.

Soon, all bets were off, and Archie found themselves dipping their toes in creating everything from horror comics...

...to a multi-issue run on the company's Betty and Me title that worked as a spoof of the era's TV series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman as well as soap operas and adventure comics in general.

Elsewhere in the Archieverse, even Josie and the Pussycats were getting a piece of the adventure action.

Sci-fi stories were not off limits either...

The legacy of these books is that that are examples of a time in which Archie was willing to shake up its established formula in an attempt to try something new. The ramifications of this experimental period are still being felt, and given Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's deep knowledge of Archie lore, it will be a surprise if some elements from these books don't turn up on TV at some point.

The First High-Profile Crossover

In 1994, Archie comics had a bit of fun at their own expense when Archie Meets the Punisher hit stores. Writer Batton Lash crafted a tale that respects both iconic characters while still finding time to point out some of their ridiculous qualities (a nice touch was pairing up Marvel artist John Buscema and Archie's Stan Goldberg to handle illustration work for their respective characters).

This one-shot showed that Archie can be every bit as relevant as the buzz-worthy books Marvel and DC were coming out with. And while subsequent works like the introduction of openly gay character Kevin Keller, the oddball Life with Archie: The Married Life book (which covered everything from parallel universes to the highly publicized death of Archie), and the Afterlife with Archie comic get all the credit, the DNA for Archie's current renaissance can be found right within the pages of this book.

It seems that while Riverdale the show is getting all the credit for making Archie weird, Riverdale the town has long been an incredibly strange place. And Archie fans wouldn't have it any other way.

Warning: Some spoilers about The Walking Dead comic book series.

The Walking Dead’s Sonequa Martin-Green landed the prospective role of a lifetime when it was announced in December that she will star in the CBS serial streaming revival of a sci-fi icon in Star Trek: Discovery. However, the luster of being the first African-American woman to headline a Trek series does manage to cover bittersweet afterthoughts when it comes to implications for Sasha Williams, her current character on the undead juggernaut cable series. Now, the actress chimes in on this potentially revelatory situation.

Speaking to EW about the apparent dilemma in which her starring role as a still-unnamed lieutenant commander on Star Trek: Discovery has placed Sasha on The Walking Dead, Sonequa Martin-Green is vague, due to the obvious necessity of keeping national security-like secrets for two of television’s highest profile shows. However, she didn’t exactly shy away from acknowledging the situation. As she laughingly answers about her character-juggling quandary:

“Well, I can’t say anything. I can say that the story [on The Walking Dead] is as impactful and powerful and dynamic as it always has been, and there’s nothing to worry about where that’s concerned.”

Martin-Green’s Sasha – a player on The Walking Dead since Season 3 – was introduced as the sister and supporting character of debuting main character Tyreese (Chad Coleman). Four seasons later, Tyreese is dead and Sasha – who doesn’t exist in the comic book source material – has become a main player, manifesting as an amalgam of several comic-character-inspired tropes; notably as the “other woman” in the romantic life of the late Abraham. After becoming an eagle-eyed sharpshooter, enduring a borderline-suicidal crisis and surviving the series’ infamous “Lucille” lineup, Sasha’s personal arc could arguably be at an end. However, showrunner Scott Gimple is casting doubts about that, stating:

“Sonequa Martin-Green can do anything. I’ve seen her battle a horde of walkers this year while simultaneously battling a stomach flu that would have had most people crying in the dirt. She can fulfill the duties of a Lieutenant Commander on a Constitution-class starship whilst battling walkers, Saviors, and whatever gets in Sasha’s way.  We’ve had to juggle before. I will certainly juggle for Star Trek any day of the week. Okay, maybe not on Sunday.”

Yet, with Gimple having to publicly play part of a man whose words must be taken with a grain of salt, his comments aren’t exactly substantive. Moreover, Sasha’s role as Abraham’s “other woman” could also prove ominous, since, in the comics, an Alexandria resident named Holly fulfilled this part. Later taken hostage by the Saviors, Holly was dealt (another) famous death from Negan, delivered back to Alexandria with a bag over her head that hid her zombified status, resulting in the comic book death of Dr. Denise – who’s already dead on the series. While it could be argued that spinoff Fear the Walking Dead fulfilled the “bag head walker” ruse in Season 2, Sasha is, nevertheless expendable to the broader storyline. – Do with that what you will.

The Walking Dead returns from its midseason hiatus, purportedly reenergized in tone on AMC on February 12. Star Trek: Discovery, on the other hand, just received another major delay, with its debut date on CBS All Access now up in the air, though presumably still set for 2017.

Arrival producer Shawn Levy is adapting another science fiction short story into a major motion picture. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox 2000 has picked up an untitled pitch based on Larry Niven's Hugo-winning short story Inconstant Moon. (Niven also wrote Ringworld.) That's a lot of faith in an as-of-yet undeveloped project.

James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now), who has Emma Watson's The Circle coming out soon, is attached to direct, with Daniel Casey is on a board to write the script. Casey did script work on 10 Cloverfield Lane and is the writer behind upcoming comic book adaptation Incognito. He also wrote Kin, a science fiction thriller starring James Franco and Jack Reynor, also with Levy as a producer.

Inconstant Moon is a short story set in Los Angeles on the potential eve of the end of the world, asking the questions: what would you do if it were your last night on Earth (a la Seeking a Friend at the End of the World). It follows a couple on the edge of breaking up amidst the global crisis. It was written as part of Niven's 1971 short story collection All the Myriad Ways and won the 1972 Hugo Award for best short story.

Between the announcement of this and the announcement of Michael Bay's Little America, I'm beginning to think Hollywood is just going to spend the next four years making dystopian and/or apocalyptic movies. I would say no to a little light-hearted escapism that has nothing to do with the end of life as we know it. Just so you know, Hollywood.

Information about Mavel's next big event is slowly trickling out, and this one looks like it's going to hit a little close to home.

Marvel released a series of teaser images giving us hints to the next big crossover. The first image, seen in the header, says "Secret Empire" and has Steve Rogers' new shield centered. So it looks like Marvel's next big thing is going to be the Marvel Universe vs. Nazi Captain America, to which I say "fine."

The original Secret Empire was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the pages of Tales to Astonish in 1966. Their composition and makeup seem to be drawn at random, as if Stan and Jack said "you know, Hydra and A.I.M. are cool, but their org charts make too much sense. What can we do with the number 9 that is gibberish by the second word of the explaination?"

Seriously: they're a bunch of numbered people, ruled by a Council of Nine, who hire mercenaries and run false-flag UFO missions. They were started with Hydra funding, they occasionally kidnap mutants, and their secret headquarters was in Cincinnatti. The Secret Empire had their most famous moment in the 1970s during the Nixon administration when Steve Englehart, Mike Friedrich, and Sal Buscema strongly implied that Richard Nixon was actually a Secret Empire operative/plant. The timing of their re-emergence now is, we're sure, purely coincidental.

Reemerging in the pages of Captain America: Steve Rogers,the new Secret Empire's guiding design principle is "What would Twitter look like if Captain America were really a Nazi," making them the most terrifying villains ever created in comics. I bet they've even got their own publishing house, like Simonov and Sapojnik or something.

Marvel followed this initial image up with a series of modifications seeming to indicate additional tie-ins to the crossover - "The Secret Empire will amaze you;""The Secret Empire will guard you;""The Secret Empire will avenge you," and so on. That was followed by a new image:

The teaser images taken as a whole seem to indicate two things: that we'll be getting Secret Empire versions of all of Marvel's teams (the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Champions, the Defenders, the Avengers, the Extraordinary X-Men); and that by pairing Captain Marvel with Nazi Captain America hot on her Civil War 2 heel turn that was so egregious it ruined her solo book, Marvel isn't quite done with Carol yet.

And speaking of hot on the heel turns of Civil War 2, we have Civil War 2: The Oath, which laid out the whole plan. Steve gets sworn in as head of SHIELD with new "emergency powers" that the galactic senate is sure he'll give back once the crisis is over. Meanwhile, Steve's been baiting the Chitauri into invading since pretty much when his solo series kicked off, and they're about to come to Earth in force. 

Remember that vision Ulysses had in the pages of Civil War 2 where Miles Morales was standing over the dead body of Captain America on the steps of the capital? Of course you don't, why would you have read that dreck. I assure you it happened, though, because Captain America has been having similar visions, only instead of him lying dead in an alternate universe Spider Man's hands, it's of him leading a Hydra army as they represent the United States thanks to his fancy emergency powers. So there you go: Hydra is out in the open as an American military force, turning the entire country into some facist hellhole in many on-the-nose ways. 

This new crossover will be out later this Spring.

This article contains a Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice spoiler. You've been warned.

The Flash movie was supposed to go into production soon, but after losing its director last month, that is now in doubt. Rick Famuyiwa, who replaced previous director Seth Grahame-Smith back in June left the project, apparently over the old, reliable "creative differences." Famuyiwa did a revision of the script that Grahame-Smith had written after work by Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

But with Famuyiwa gone, it's time for another pass on that script, and The Wrap reports that Joby Harold, who worked on the upcoming King Arthur: Legend Of The Swordfor Warner Bros., is taking a shot at the draft. At this point, I think we can safely kiss that March 2018 release date goodbye.

At least Ezra Miller isn't going anywhere. “These processes are complicated, and I think it can—from afar—appear to be, as you say, something interpersonal or dramatic,” Mr. Miller told Collider. “That is rarely the case. These are groups of people taking the development of projects extremely seriously, and the teams are changing all the time. There’s often a lot of flux in who the team of the production of a film is before that production starts, and in this case, you hear about it, because it’s a critical figure—the directors that have been coming on and leaving."

"For me, it’s sort of a tragic relay race," he continued, "and we’ve had a couple really incredible people carry this baton, and their marks are left on that baton, and the work that they’ve given to the project will certainly be represented in whatever the final product comes to be.”

"When I was approached by Warner Bros and DC about the possibility of directing The Flash, I was excited about the opportunity to enter this amazing world of characters that I loved growing up, and still do to this day," Mr. Famuyiwa said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter)."I was also excited to work with Ezra Miller, who is a phenomenal young actor. I pitched a version of the film in line with my voice, humor, and heart. While it’s disappointing that we couldn’t come together creatively on the project, I remain grateful for the opportunity. I will continue to look for opportunities to tell stories that speak to a fresh generational, topical, and multicultural point of view. I wish Warner Brothers, DC, Jon Berg, Geoff Johns, and Ezra Miller all the best as they continue their journey into the speed force."

With casting underway and a script complete, it might be more of a challenge for Warner Bros. to find a quick and suitable replacement. That THRstory indicates that Famuyiwa wanted to make a movie "with more edge" that wasn't quite in line with what WB had in mind. That could mean just about anything, but, you know, "creative differences" and all that.

How will this affect some of the casting moves that were made while Famuyiwa was involved? "Rick was one of the main reasons I wanted to do the movie," Kiersey Clemons, who will play Iris West in the movie, told The Hollywood Reporter. "So him not being a part of it is obviously very upsetting to me."

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The Flash Movie Release Date

The Flash is currently scheduled to open on March 16, 2018. Expect that to move.

The Flash Movie Cast

Ezra Miller will play Barry Allen in The Flash movie, and he made his first appearance as the character in two brief sequences in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and another in an equally brief scene in Suicide Squad. Kiersey Clemons (Dope) will play Iris West. 

 Billy Crudup (you may know him as Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen if you're looking for more comic book-centric roles) is in talks to play Barry Allen's father, Dr. Henry Allen. If that is indeed his role, then The Flash movie will likely turn out to be an origin story.

Ray Fisher will also have a role in the film as Vic Stone/Cyborg. It's not clear yet whether this is a major role, or if it will be more like the appearance Batman made in Suicide Squad. Although, this tweet from former director Rick Famuyiwa seems to indicate Cyborg is more than just a cameo:

DC Extended Universe executive producer Deborah Snyder may have revealed a little about that during an interview with Forbes. 

"As you can imagine, when we get to the Flash movie, Ezra Miller and Ray Fisher — who plays Cyborg — are kind of our youngest characters, and they have a really nice comradery with each other," Ms. Snyder said. "Ezra is super funny, so the tone of that film will be very different than the rest of them."

It's not clear if she's talking specifically about The Flash movie or if she's just referring to the room for different tones and points of view within the DC superhero movies. Teaming Flash and Cyborg would not only help set up Cyborg's solo movie, but might help set the film apart from some other superhero movies, too.

Watch The Flash on Amazon

The Flash Movie Story

As for what form the movie might take, there are no real details available yet, but Ezra Miller seems to have given it some thought. "Barry Allen is the hero of the Silver Age, who follows a lot of really interesting discoveries in physics", he said. "It's like, where he comes from, we've figured out the event horizon was there, and then he was the character that was created through our mythos machine of comic books to break that event horizon so we could explore in fantasy. I think that's an interesting idea - and also what the fuck does that do to someone?"

One thing we know for sure, it won't have anything to do with The Flash TV series, so you can set that out of your mind. Miller commented on that a little a while back, saying "I think it's awesome! Come on, we're The Flash! It's parallel universes! Grant Gustin is The Flash and I'm The Flash - don't you see? It's the Event Horizon, we crossed it baby!"

There was a hint of the parallel universe angle (or certainly time travel) in the character's brief appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The Flash Movie Costume

As you can see from the above image from the Justice League teaser, this is a more technologically-based costume than the one we see on the television series. There are indications he'll have a more low-tech version when we meet him in Justice League, before Bruce Wayne helps him get the new one together.

We'll update this with more official info as we get it.

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has an impressive cavalcade of players in its ever-expanding multimedia territory, one such member in megastar Vin Diesel, manifests purely as a voice lent to digital character Groot in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. However, the gig is just as high-profile as the onscreen talent, especially since Groot, alongside fellow voicer in Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Raccoon, created a digital duo that arguably stole the film. Now, months away from the sequel’s release, Diesel muses on the idea of a solo spinoff.

In an interview with MTV International, Vin Diesel fielded some Marvel-related questions. While his anthropomorphic arboreal alien Groot is back (albeit in “baby” form,) in May’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, he did jokingly describe a notably intriguing hypothetical encounter between (a presumably fully-grown) Groot and the Hulk, since Groot is booked to join several others from the MCU cavalcade in the 2018 megamovie Avengers: Infinity War. However, a question about a Groot spinoff film yielded promising answers. According to Diesel:

“It’s something that [Guardians writer/director] James Gunn has talked about and it’s something that I know he would love to do. Sure, I think it could be very interesting. I think it’s inevitable.” Adding, “I think what Marvel has done, primarily what James Gunn has done, to realize that character has exceeded beyond any expectations.”

Predating most of Marvel’s lineup, Groot was introduced in Tales to Astonish #13, dated November 1960. However, the towering Flora colossus hailing from Planet X spent half a century in relative obscurity until joining the primary lineup of the 2008 relaunch of Guardians of the Galaxy on which the films are mostly based. Since then, Groot has become a beloved Marvel staple, especially with his heartfelt, yet hilarious partnership with Rocket Raccoon; something that increased exponentially after the 2014 Guardians film had even non-comic fans spouting his lone phrase, “I am Groot.” As Diesel adds:

“He’s just such an interesting character and there’s so much to learn about him.” Adding, “I’d love to go back to his planet and learn more about him and the world would. He’s really a genius in a lot of levels, it’s just that we can only hear him say ‘I am Groot’ because of our sophistication level, not his.”

Of course, Diesel's auspicious answer is far from substantive confirmation of plans for a Groot-centric solo effort. The fact remains that Marvel are meticulous curators of their properties, notably with the timing of their cinematic offerings. This July’s Spider-Man: Homecoming will be the very first MCU solo hero film to spin-off a character introduced in another movie (with Tom Holland's new Spidey debuting in 2016's Captain America: Civil War), with 2018’s Black Panther soon to follow suit. Marvel Studios currently has 9 films booked for the box-office, reaching to the preemptively-planned sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2019. Thus, even if the Groot spinoff were to be realized, we can safely assume that it won’t arrive any time before 2020.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. is set to pop “Awesome Mix Vol 2” into the cassette deck of the Milano when it arrives at theaters on May 5. Check out the interview below!

Shadowhunters season two has cast its Sebastic Verlac. Will Tudor (Game of Thrones, Humans) will play the "charming, brilliant, and highly educated" Shadowhunter with "unrivaled fighting abilities." Sebastian comes from a foreign institute, finding his way to the Shadowhunters' New York Institute after becoming friends with one of the main characters.

Sebastian's first appearance won't come until Season 2B, the second half of the season, and will be a recurring character.

Shadowhunters showrunner Todd Slavkin told TVLine: 

He's so good in this part ... When he taped, he had an American accent, which was really interesting. But when we saw his reel, saw him on Game of Thrones and Humans, then looked at our take on the character, we were like, 'Oh, you’re from London. You’re from the London Institute. Use your British accent.' And it works so well.

Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode Guide

Shadowhunters Season 2, Episode 1 This Guilty Blood

Jace is missing and everyone is looking for him, albeit with different motives. Clave representative Victor Aldertree is instated as the new head of operations at the Institute and puts it on lockdown. Aldertree soon decides that Jace is a criminal and declares to the Institute that Jace is wanted dead or alive. Clary, Alec, Isabelle, and Simon try to thwart Aldertree and save Jace's life. A newly awakened, Jocelyn catches up on all she missed while in her unconscious state. Meanwhile, Jace is held captive on Valentine's ship, and is being tortured by Valentine with mind games and physical beatings.

Original airdate: January 2, 2017

Shadowhunters Season 2, Episode 2 A Door Into the Dark

Clary is having a difficult time assimilating to life as a Shadowhunter, so she goes back to the Brooklyn Academy of Art for a day. She is then kidnapped by Dot and taken to Valentine, but later manages to flee from his ship along with Jace. Jocelyn reveals some dark secrets about her first born and later offers her assistance to Isabelle and Alec in order to find Jace. Meanwhile, Simon and Magnus search for Camille, and Valentine decides to recruit new Shadowhunters from boxing clubs in the hopes that they will survive the transformation.

Original airdate: January 9, 2017

Shadowhunters Season 2, Episode 3 Parabatai Lost

Alec's life hangs in the balance after a Parabatai tracking spell goes awry, and Magnus works to stabilize him with magic. But only Jace can save him. After jumping from Valentine's ship, Clary loses Jace and returns to the Institute. Meanwhile, Jace is hunted by werewolves who claim he has killed one of their own. Isabelle makes a deal with Aldertree in order to find Jace and save Alec's life. Magnus transports Alec to his loft, where Jace arrives to save him. Afterward, Clave representatives arrive and arrest Jace for high treason against the Shadowhunters.

Original airdate: January 16, 2017

Shadowhunters Season 2, Episode 4 Day of Wrath

Jace is imprisoned in the City of Bones, where he encounters Hodge. After Jace is unable to pledge allegiance to the Clave during his trial, Valentine arrives to break him out, but Jace fights back and Valentine kills Hodge. Clary helps Alec and Isabelle hunt down a powerful demon, but it infiltrates the Institute and two Shadowhunters, including Jocelyn, are killed. The demon later inhabits Isabelle and fights with Clary and Alec; in grief and rage, Clary breaks Isabelle free from its hold and kills the demon. Meanwhile, Raphael is threatened by Aldertree about Camille and goes to Magnus for help. With Camille's grave dirt, an emotionally conflicted Magnus summons his ex-girlfriend and sends her to the Clave.

Original airdate: January 23, 2017

Shadowhunters Season 2, Episode 5 Dust and Shadows

Original airdate: January 30, 2017

Shadowhunters Season 2, Episode 6 Iron Sisters

Original airdate: February 6, 2017

Shadowhunters Season 2, Episode 7 How Are Thou Fallen

Original airdate:  February 13, 2017

Shadowhunters Season 2, Episode 8 Love is the Devil

Original airdate:  February 20, 2017

Shadowhunters Season 2, Episode 9 Bound by Blood

Original airdate:  February 27, 2017

Shadowhunters Season 2, Episode 10 By the Light of Dawn

Shadowhunters Season 2 Cast

Shadowhunters stars Katherine McNamara as Clary Fray, Dominic Sherwood as Jace Wayland, Alberto Rosende as Simon Lewis, Emeraude Toubia as Isabelle Lightwood, Matthew Daddario as Alec Lightwood, Isaiah Mustafa as Luke Garroway and Harry Shum Jr. as Magnus Bane.

Shadowhunters Season 2 Release Date

Shadowhunters air on Mondays at 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. ET.

The Riverdale premiere is filled with great moments that both reinforce and subvert some of the most iconic characters, settings, and tropes from the Archie comics series. But where does the kiss between Betty and Veronica that happens in the Riverdale series premiere fit into comic book canon? And where does it fit into the show?

It's an odd moment in the context of the episode because it's unclear what the kiss means to either of the girls, and feels a little queerbait-y, especially when used in the marketing. It also prompted us to ask some questions about where Riverdale will fall in its depiction of sexuality moving forward...

Are Veronica and/or Betty queer in Riverdale?

We chatted with Camila Mendes (Veronica) about the moment during a set visit back in October. Here's what Mendes had to say about the possibility of Veronica being queer:

I mean, that moment, I don't think it was supposed to be a romantic one ... I think that was a way to kind of get Cheryl's attention, you know? Veronica is a manipulative person. She just kind of wanted to take hold of the situation. But, that being said, I do think it would be out of the question for her to be bisexual and maybe she is? Maybe that's something that could be explored one day. It's not something we've really decided on. But, if it were the case, why not?

Speaking to HollywoodLife specifically about the possibility of Veronica and Betty as love interests, Lili Reinhart (Betty) more or less shot the idea down, saying:

There's a group that very, very much wants it. It's just in our show, they're not romantically involved… They're soulmates in a friends' way. Our show is not meant to be fan fiction. We give them a taste of it when they kiss, but that's all it is. People love Beronica and they want to see them together, but that's just not our show.

Though Betty and Veronica have never had a love story within Archie comics canon, The CW show is obviously looking to do its own thing and purposefully subvert many of the comics' tropes. However, it doesn't seem like having a romance between Betty and Veronica will be part of that subversion, which could be a missed opportunity. 

Reinhart's comments are unfortunate in the way that they subjugate queer characters and relationships to the province of fanfiction when they deserve to be represented in mainstream, canon stories, as well. (And, increasingly, are. Betty and Veronica would be in good company on The CW as queer protagonists, as The 100's Clarke is also bisexual.)

Will Riverdale's Jughead be asexual?

Perhaps Riverdale will diversify its depiction of sexuality in other ways. It does have a canon queer character in Kevin, who is one of the highlights of the show so far, but doesn't get much to do in the series premiere. However, Cole Sprouse (Jughead) recently spoke to HollywoodLife about the show's decision to change Jughead's character. Although he is asexual in the comics, he won't be in the TV adaptation. (At least so far...)

I come from an educational environment that really praises, as do I, the forms of representation that are otherwise lacking in our public media. But at the end of the day, I still had to do my job. Jughead will have romances with women . . . and burgers.

Sprouse said he will keep "fighting for [Jughead's canon asexual identity] pretty heavily" moving foward, adding:

I think there’s still a lot of room in Riverdale for that. Asexuality is not one of those things in my research that is so understood at face value, and I think maybe the development of that narrative could also be something very interesting and very unique and still resonate with people, and not step on anyone’s toes. I think sexuality, especially, is one of those fluid things where often times we find who we are through certain things that happen in our lives ...

If season one is one of those events or something like that needs to happen in season one for Jughead to eventually realize that kind of narrative, I’d love to play with that, too.

Jughead comics writer Chip Zdarksy addressed the subject of Jughead's asexuality at last year's New York Comic Con (via io9), saying:

My view of Jughead is, over the 75 years [of his existence] there have been sporadic moments where he has dabbled in the ladies, but historically he has been portrayed as asexual. They just didn’t have a label for it, so they just called him a woman-hater.

But he’s not a misogynist — he just watches his cohorts lose their minds with hormones. People have asked me if there is going to be a romance if I’m writing Jughead, because I’m very romantic, and the answer is no, because there is enough of that in Archie. I think something like asexuality is underrepresented, and since we have a character who was asexual before people had the word for it, I'm continuing to write him that way.

During our visit to the Riverdale set last year, Sprouse said that the show is "definitely going to be exploring that [romantic/sexual] angle between Jughead and Ethel." 

Explorations of sexuality in Riverdale.

This might seem like a lot of space to spend discussing the depictions of sexuality in a TV show that has barely started airing, but I don't think it is. Archie has canonically been a story about desire. As our social framing of sex and sexuality has evolved over the years, these characters have (in some ways) evolved with it, but there is still much more room to tell new, different kinds of stories with this beloved world.

There's no point in adapting, rebooting, or remaking a classic story if you aren't trying to say something new with it. One of the most exciting things about Riverdale could be the ways it uses these iconic characters to do that, specifically in regards to sexuality.

Speaking to MTV News about the subject of Jughead's asexuality (or not) in Riverdale, Aguirre-Sacasa said:

Cole and I have talked about it a ton. The way we're treating Riverdale, especially Season 1, is it's an origin story. So I think all of the kids are discovering themselves, and a big part of that is discovering their sexuality, their sexual selves.

Rather than have everything fully formed — for instance, we're not going to start with Archie's band or Jughead's asexuality or any of the things that have become canon — those are all stops on the way to the journey until the show catches up to 75 years of Archie history.

We're excited to see Riverdale explore 75 years of Archie history, but we'd be even more exciting if the show uses that history to say something new about these characters, this world, and perhaps to challenge our current social framing of sex and sexual identity. In other words, we'd like to see Riverdale earn its place in Archie history.

This article contains nothing but Riverdale Episode 1 spoilers!

Now that you've seen the first episode of Riverdale, we thought we'd take some time to break down all the Archie Comics-related shout outs that appeared in the premiere. Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is not only the mind behind this series, but the creator of Afterlife with Archie and a longtime fan of these characters as well (even earning the distinction of getting a cease and desist for a stage play he wrote years ago in which Archie was gay). 

Due to his love and admiration for all things Archie, it was inevitable that some Easter eggs from the Archieverse would make their way into the premiere. Let's take a look at the most memorable from the first episode.

"The Town with Pep!"

In the opening scene we learn that Riverdale's motto is "The Town with Pep!" This is a quite obvious and deliberate homage to Pep, the comic Archie made his first appearance in book's 22nd issue back in December of 1941.

Pep was published by MLJ Comics, an independently owned company that was best known for chronicling the adventures of characters like The Shield, The Fox, The Hangman, and The Black Hood. These characters have a rich and complicated history of their own, having been around in most cases for even longer than Archie and the gang (and several still live on in books currently being published by Archie's Dark Circle imprint).

Archie's appearance in the 22nd issue was a filler story that was printed at a time when fear about World War II gripped the nation. The wholesome fun and nostalgia immediately caught on with readers, and so a red-headed empire was forged. By 1946 MLJ was renamed Archie Comics, and life in Riverdale hasn't slowed down since.

Chapter One: The River's Edge

Each episode of Riverdale derives its title from a classic film, usually of the noir or drama genre. Fittingly, the show's first chapter (after all, the story is revealed as Jughead narrates from the book he is writing) is named after the 1986 Keanu Reeves/Crispin Glover/Dennis Hopper drama River's Edge. The movie is, to put it simply, about teens who get wrapped up in a murder involving one of their peers -- something the characters on Riverdale can most definitely relate to.

Mildest of spoiler alerts: Future episodes will show that Jughead is a movie buff, so naturally he would name chapters in his book after films that share thematic links with the story unfolding in his own life.

Pop Tate's Chok'lit Shoppe

For as long as we can remember, Pop Tate's Chok'lit Shoppe has been the hangout of choice for Archie and his pals and gals. This is equally true on Riverdale, only on TV it exists at the edge of town unlike it's comic counterpart, which is in the heart of the community.

The TV version of Pops' is a neon-smothered nostalgic dream whose throwback American Grafitti feel is a subtle reinforcement of how the show utilizes American mainstays (like, say, 24/7 diners and/or Archie comics) but subverts them in a way that makes them contemporary. The fact that Veronica asks her mother what a Chok'lit Shoppe is reinforces how such a pure teen hangout is a mystery to the youth of 2017.

Vegas, baby

Archie's beloved dog Vegas may have only made his comics debut a few years back (whither his former pooch Spotty?), but he already made a lasting impact on readers thanks his selfless sacrifice back in the fourth issue of Afterlife with Archie. If the rumors that story elements from Afterlifewill eventually make their way to TV come true, then Vegas will have a crucial, if heartbreaking, role to play in episodes to come.

As for Jughead's pet Hot Dog and Reggie's devoted dog Vader, we wouldn't rule out seeing them at some point either.

Polly Cooper

The spectre of Betty Cooper's sister Polly hangs heavily over this first episode. Her relationship with Jason Blossom and subsequent breakdown are a large part of the reason that the hilariously named Alice Cooper (Mädchen Amick) is so high strung...though we're willing to bet that there's more going on with that character than her frantic performance suggests.

As for Polly, we'll be seeing her later this season. She made her debut in the pages of Bob Bolling's Little Archie as Betty's adventurous older sister who, in mainstream Archie lore, works as a reporter in San Francisco. We're not sure exactly what role she'll play in the series, but we're frankly just thrilled that such an obscure secondary Archie character will be featured on the show.

Riverdale High

While giving Veronica her tour of Riverdale High, Betty mentions that the school opened in 1941. Which is a nice touch seeing how that was the year that Archie and the gang were created.

Big Moose

In what is arguably the biggest divergence from the comics that the premiere episode of Riverdale has to offer, it is revealed that resident jock Moose Mason (Cody Kearsley) comes on to Kevin Keller (the two discover Jason's body while fooling around on the bank of the Sweetwater River). In the comics, Moose's love for Midge -- who is namechecked as Moose's girlfriend in one of the four episodes provided to Den of Geek for review but has yet to appear -- often causes trouble for him due to his brutal temper and hair trigger...and that's not even getting into how it impacts Reggie's frequent attempts to date Midge.

For decades Moose's speech was punctuated with "Duh" sounds, both in comics and on the various Archie cartoons, making the character somewhat one-note. In the 1980s, it was revealed that Moose's learning disabilities were a result of his undiagnosed dyslexia, and in the recent Life with Archie: The Married Lifecomic his scary temper forced Midge to leave him.

It will be interesting to see where the Moose storyline goes, as it really serves no purpose in the pilot other than to get him and Kevin to the water's edge to move the story along.

Archiekins

Veronica's nickname of choice makes a crowd-pleasing appearance in the debut when she coaxes him into attending the school dance with her and Betty.

Mr. Lodge's legal woes

For longtime Archie readers, Mr. Lodge's legal troubles in Riverdale(which include fraud, embezzlement, and the apparent ability to send massive purses full of money from New York despite being possibly incarcerated) are no big surprise. He long has been a thorn in Archie's side, and has been portrayed in varying degrees of sinister in the 1990 TV movie To Riverdale and Back Again and in Life with Archie: The Married Life.

We fully expect that when he makes his inevitable CW debut that he will 1) be played by a former 1980s heartthrob and 2) will open up a world of pain for Archie. Delightful.

Hubert Smithers

The Lodge's long-suffering butler Hubert Smithers was given some much-needed character development in a crucial issue of Afterlife with Archie, and we suspect that his inclusion in Riverdale is more than just mere service. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is a writer who loves shining a light on seemingly unimportant characters, and we can't wait to see what he has in store for old Smithers here.

Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments. And be sure to come back next week for our review of the second episode of Riverdale and a look at even more Easter eggs!

Warning: Spoilers for The Walking Dead midseason finale, “Hearts Still Beating.”

The Walking Dead went into Season 7 with both unprecedented levels of momentum and controversy over a cliffhanger that left fans in the lurch for six months over the mystery of who debuting big bad Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) killed. However, the resolution of said mystery was followed by a half-season crucible of misfortune for Andrew Lincoln’s main character Rick Grimes and his group, rendering it hard to watch by many. Now, the star chimes in on that reaction and explains the reasoning behind the controversial choices.

In an interview with EW, Andrew Lincoln addresses the latest elephant in the room regarding The Walking Dead, with the overtly one-sided sadism that Rick and the Alexandria survivors endured from Negan and his heavily-armed zombie apocalypse extortionists the Saviors, notably the multi-episode torture-fest of fan-favorite Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus). While he understands the difficulty of digesting those episodes, he explains that – at least as showrunner Scott M. Gimple told him – it’s designed the contextualize the eventual payoff with their (now-burgeoning) rebellion. According to Lincoln:

“[Scott] explained it to me in one way, which I found very helpful, which was that rather than just have a very cool exciting buildup to war between Negan and Rick, he wanted people to want more than that — to really feel that they wanted justice, and then to also acknowledge the cost of what had happened and why they were willing to risk it all again while realizing that they were putting many, many, many lives back in the firing line. I think he really wanted it to feel like the audience, rather than just baying for blood, wanted justice for what had happened. And that, for me, was quite a helpful way of understanding why it had to be so immersive and so painful — certainly for all of us on set and acting in it, but also, I think, for the audience.”

The buildup to last October’s brutal Season 7 premiere saw many of the cast members discuss the difficulty of filming not only the cliffhanger-resolution scene (in which beloved characters Abraham and Glenn met shockingly violent deaths). Lincoln himself was notably quoted in early 2016 saying that, after the reading scripts for the 7A episodes, “I felt sick to my stomach.” However, after the midseason finale, “Hearts Still Beating,” it was also abundantly clear that Negan’s days of abuse with impunity have ended, with the culminating moment of a reunion of his primary group at Hilltop Colony, a renewed plan to fight back and the metaphor-laced image of the recently-liberated Daryl handing Rick back his Saviors-confiscated signature Colt Python.

Indeed, the buildup to The Walking Dead’s 7B midseason premiere is rife with promises from the likes of people like Norman Reedus, who teased an improved tone and a ratcheting of action-imbued vengeance. The latest such claim comes from Michonne actress Danai Gurira, who recently stated that 7B will be “really riveting,” showcasing a reprisal to the Saviors threat that uses new tactics. Lincoln also echoes this sentiment when, again, addressing the reasoning behind the rough 7A tone and the payoff it will ultimately yield, describing the process as “very brave, bold, and also challenging.” Attributing the negative reaction to the insatiable nature of the binge-watching culture, Lincoln muses:

“[I] know people want to watch more than one episode a week at a time just because it’s kind of compulsive, the storytelling, and they want to know what happens next. And I think sometimes having to wait is a good thing because you get to recap on other things and view it in a different way. Although I would say that this season made a lot more sense once we got the last role of film in the can for [April’s Season 7 finale] episode 716. The brilliant writers that we have take some risks, and I admire them for it. I admire anybody taking risks."

The Walking Dead will have the no-nonsense, Colt-Python-packing Rick Grimes reunited with his proverbial Excalibur, his mojo and his sense of purpose in organizing an “All Out War” against Negan and the Saviors. The show makes a consequential, stage-setting midseason return on AMC on February 12.

Wildstorm is back this February! Jim Lee's studio, formed back in the Image Revolution before it eventually migrated to DC at the turn of the millenium, is being resurrected by one of its most important creators and a talented art partner.

Warren Ellis, who followed a great run on Stormwatch with the revolutionary The Authority, and followed that with equally incredible runs on Planetary and Global Frequency, has been given the keys to the line with a mandate to bring it back following the characters' fall into disuse. After DC's New 52 relaunch, the Wildstorm characters were integrated into the main DC Universe creating continuity logjams the likes of which hadn't been seen since the Time Trapper was sent on his merry way by the Legion of Super Heroes. Grifter and Voodoo had solo series, while Stormwatch was a secret Justice League before there was a Justice League, and some Gen 13 members periodically bounced around Teen Titans and Superboy. 

Eventually all of these characters (except for Midnighter, and regular Denizens know that has turned out exceptionallywell) just kind of were put on the shelf. Meanwhile, Young Animal, a DC sub-imprint connected to but set apart from the main DC Universe, helmed by Gerard Way and in practice turning into a hip reinvention of early Vertigo, has done exceptionally well, likely clearing a path for Ellis to head up a similar arrangement.

The Wild Storm is the first book in the new line. Here's what DC's solicits have to say about it.

THE WILD STORM #1Written by WARREN ELLIS
Art and cover by JON DAVIS-HUNT A
troubled woman, barred by her employer from continuing her research, walks miserably through New York City. It takes her a moment to notice that everybody else is looking up. A man has been thrown from the upper floor of the Halo skyscraper.And that woman—Angela Spica, sick from the transhuman implants she’s buried in her own body—is the only person who can save him.What she doesn’t know is that the act of saving that one man will tip over a vast and secret house of cards that encloses the entire world, if not the inner solar system. This is how the Wild Storm begins, and it may destroy covert power structures, secret space programs and even all of human history.

New York Times best-selling writer Warren Ellis (TRANSMETROPOLITAN, RED, THE AUTHORITY) returns to DC to curate Jim Lee’s WildStorm world, with this debut issue resetting the WildStorm universe with new iterations of Grifter, Voodoo, the Engineer, Jenny Sparks and others.“I couldn’t be more excited to see these characters that are so near and dear to me reintroduced under the guiding hand of Warren Ellis. WildStorm represents an incredibly fun and exciting period in my career, and I can’t wait to see what Warren and Jon have in store for fans in February.”—Jim Lee, DC Comics Co-PublisherOn sale FEBRUARY 15 • 32 pg, FC

The preview images are below. They include variant covers from Lee and Tula Lotay, who last partnered with Ellis on Supreme: Blue Rose, as well as unlettered interior pages that look like they include Zealot (think Deathstroke but a lady and an alien) and what looks like an Engineer.

Are you excited for the return of Wildstorm? Let us know in the comments!

When I got my hands on a copy of Deathstroke#11, I let out a joyful squeal and ran to my comic nerd friend chat room. “FYI, Priest, Cowan & Sienkiewicz on this week’s issue of Deathstroke.” That was enough to bring our entire crew on board. I went in with pretty high expectations. The book was, after all, on our list of best comics last year. Little did I realize at the time that the content and craft of the issue would mark it as one of my favorite single issues of all time, and an early frontrunner for the Eisners.

Denys Cowan has been drawing comics for longer than I’ve been alive, and he’s been one of the greats for nearly that long, picking up Eisner nominations in 1988 and 89 for his work on The Question (and let’s take a moment to praise DC’s trade program, which had this back in print recently, because it too is excellent). He’s also a co-founder of Milestone, and co-creator of Hardware and Henri Ducard, so he gets undying loyalty for those. He’s also just plain good. His art style is scratchy but clear, angular and stylistic, and he does normal, non-superpowered human action really, really well. He’s so good that I willingly bought two aggressively mediocre issues of a Convergence tie-in just because I liked the pictures.

Bill Sienkiewicz is someone we’ve talked about here before (for his art on Elektra: Assassin) and will talk about again (when we get around to talking about the Demon Bear Saga, which looks like it will be adapted in the New Mutants movie), so I don’t want to get too in the weeds on him beyond saying his inking is perfectly suited for Cowan’s pencils - heavy, thick blacks with a lot of lines, but moody as hell.

In this issue, the team drops him in the middle of Chicago’s ongoing gun violence crisis - a group of mothers of children killed by gun violence hire him to take out the people who shot their kids, and Jack Ryder (the aforementioned Creeper) is investigating Slade’s reported appearance in the windy city. No one is above criticism except for Ryder - Detective Gill is incompetent, Slade is a bastard, and the mothers and the Reverend are perpetuating a cycle that no one is willing to truly break. This comic is challenging because it uses superhero trappings to be sharply critical of the very real problem of gun violence.

But here’s the thing: it might sound like a Very Special Issue, but it’s certainly not treated that way in the pages. There’s no sap to it, no emotional hook. Everybody is part of the problem, and no solution is offered at all. It just is. People are pissed about it, and it’s almost like Priest is saying “you are barking up the absolute wrong tree looking for answers to this problem here, friends. This comic is about an asshole.”

Priest doesn’t really do anything new this issue that he hasn’t been doing for the previous 10, except for grounding his story in real world problems. Deathstroke had been hard superhero stuff prior to this issue - a mix of an origin story, high political thriller and dysfunctional family drama weaved together to form a distinctly Priest-ly (:wiggles eyebrows: AAH? GET IT?) comic. None of that exists in this issue. In fact, Slade appears on fewer than 3 pages (any more info would spoil the hook) and one of them is the comic equivalent of the freeze frames that ended Cowboy Bebopepisodes. Which was also incredible.

The comic as a whole has been challenging because Priest hasn’t made any effort to make Slade anything other than a bastard. Deathstroke has been pushed as an anti-hero for years now, and prior to this the only time his character ever worked for me was as the main antagonist of the Teen Titanscartoon, where he was unambiguously awful. He’s a piece of garbage here too, but a compelling, unapologetic one who finally seems as smart and as badass as we’ve been told he is for a long time.

Cowan and Sienkiewicz are exceptional here. They have a lot to draw - only 2 pages have fewer than 5 panels, and both of those are vibrant action splashes. They keep the talking heads panels (of which there are several) interesting and use facial expressions to tell a lot of the story - check out the dead eyes on the girl who explains to Ryder how to find Deathstroke on the darknet. Matched with Priest’s sharp dialogue and everyone’s immaculate pacing, and you have something truly special.

It’s still early in the year, and it is, of course, hyperbole to start predicting Eisner nominations thif ar out. But with the skill that Priest, Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz brought to Deathstroke#11, I’m certain I’ll be hard pressed to find a better single issue in 2017.

It Movie Release Date

It will arrive on on September 8, 2017.

It Movie Synopsis

Here's the official synopsis from WB:

When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids is faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.

It Movie Cast

Bill Skarsgard (Hemlock Grove) will take over killer clown duties on the new IT movie from Will Poulter (We're the Millers), who departed the project shortly after director Cary Fukunaga. THR reports that Skarsgard is in final negotiations to play the evil entity that terrorizes a group of kids (and later, adults) known as the Losers Club in a small town in Maine. 

Pennywise the Clown is one of the most terrifying and evil characters King has ever created. Taking the shape of a clown named Pennywise, it eats little children and manipulates them into doing his bidding. It's been around for centuries, returning every three decades to terrorize the town of Derry, Maine—one of King's favorite places to have everyone murdered. Let's hope Mr. Skarsgard can live up to Curry, King's original novel, and fan expectation. 

Skarsgard joins Jaeden Lieberher (Bill Denbrough), Jack Dylan Grazer (Eddie Kaspbrak), Wyatt Oleff (Stanley Uris), Chosen Jacobs (Mike Hanlon), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben Hanscom), Nicholas Hamilton (Henry Bowers), Owen Teague (Patrick Hockstetter), Sophia Lillis (Beverly Marsh), Steven Williams (Leroy Hanlon), Stephen Bogaert (Al Marsh), Jackson Robert Scott (Georgie), Pip Dwyer (Sharon Denbrough), Logan Thompson (Victor Criss), and Jake Sim (Belch Huggins).

Richard "Richie" Tozier will be played by Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard. The funny member of Losers' Club with the scotch-taped glasses apparently got lost on July 4th. Young Tozier was played by Seth Green on the 1990 TV adaptation of It. Harry Anderson played him as an adult.  

Owen Teague has been added to the cast of Andrés Muschietti’s (Mama) two-part remake of Stephen King’s It, which is being produced by New Line Cinema. Teague, who plays the son of Ben Mendelsohn on Bloodline at Netflix, will play Patrick Hocksetter, one of the bullies who torment the Losers Club. Hocketter is a psycho who falls under the sway of the evil clown without even looking at the deadlights. His fridge is filled with animals he’s killed.

It Movie Filming

Andres Muschietti (Mama) is directing. He took over the struggling pre-production from True Detective season one's Cary Fukunaga. Gary Dauberman (Annabelle) has written the current screenplay adaptation of Stephen King's novel. We'll see if this actually happens this time. The September 8th release date actually refers to the first of two Itmovies, as the massive book is being split into two films. 

It Movie Photos

Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise the Clown is preparing to terrorize the children of Derry in 2017. His version of Stephen King's infamous monster looks a bit less party-friendly than Tim Curry's version, in fact. Check out Pennywise hanging out in the sewers in this new photo from EW:

The first part of the It remake has officially finished filming. A new picture to commemorate the end of filming appeard on producer Barbara Muschietti's Instagram. Check it out below:

EW has revealed the first full look at Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise the Clown for the upcoming It remake. As you might expect, the costume is quite terrifying, guarranteed to terrify a whole new generation of children. Check it out if you dare:

The costume was created by award-winning costume designer Janie Bryant (Mad Men). Says Bryant of the costume, "The costume definitely incorporates all these otherworldly past lives, if you will. He is definitely a clown from a different time," revealing that the costume takes inspiration from the Medieval, Renaissance, Elizabethan, and Victorian eras.

"There is almost a doll-like quality to the costume," Bryant says. "The pants being short, the high waistline of the jacket, and the fit of the costume is a very important element. It gives the character a child-like quality."

Child-like is not the word I would use...

Here's the first picture of the actors who will make up the Losers Club:

Here's the very first picture of Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise the Clown:

An upcoming film that has to be high on the list of Stephen King and horror fans is Netflix’s Gerald’s Game, based on the King novel in which a woman is left handcuffed to a bed in an isolated cabin after her husband dies abruptly during sex play. As she struggles to find a way to escape, ghosts -- from her past, from her imagination and possibly real -- begin to prey on her and threaten both her life and her sanity.

The novel is one that has fallen into the “unfilmable” category because so much of it takes place inside the mind of the trapped Jessie Burlingame. But director Mike Flanagan -- of Oculus, Hush and Ouija: Origin of Evil fame -- has apparently wanted to adapt the book to the screen since he was 19, and now he’s done it. And to star in the crucial role of Jessie, he cast Carla Gugino, a favorite around these parts who has done a variety of striking roles in and out of genre films and TV, including Watchmen, Sin City, San Andreas and Wayward Pines.

“It was one of the hardest, most challenging shoots I've ever done, which is saying a lot,” said Gugino about the project when we spoke recently in Los Angeles for her new film, The Space Between Us. “I've definitely chosen some material that's been really challenging. We shot six weeks in Alabama. I think Mike is absolutely the man for the job.

“It's one of the most fulfilling things I've done,” she continued. “I love this woman…you're dealing with something that has elements of horror, but also is really more of a thriller, in the vain of a Misery. And she is also dealing with this childhood sexual trauma with her father, and those are all tricky tones to find together.”

Gugino said she was “really impressed” with the script (by Flanagan and his regular co-writer, Jeff Howard), explaining, “(Flanagan) has also reworked things to where her personality does split, but it's in a different way than that is in the novel. I think it might end up being more clear for a film.”

The actress added that the movie was shot chronologically, which helped guide her through Jessie’s mental disintegration, and she also noted, “Every step of the way, one of the things (Flanagan) said to me, which directors very rarely say, was, ‘I want you to take ownership over this, this is as much yours as it is mine’…I'm really excited about it.”

Netflix has not yet set a premiere date for the film, which also stars Bruce Greenwood as Jessie’s husband Gerald, along with Carel Struycken and Henry Thomas. But the combination of Gugino, Flanagan and King is one we’re anxiously awaiting. In the meantime, Gugino’s new sci-fi romance The Space Between Us opens this Friday (February 3), and we'll have more from her about that later this week.

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Outlander season 3 is officially happening! Starz picked up Outlander with showrunner Ronald D. Moore for seasons 3 and 4, which will adapt Gabaldon's Voyager and Drums of Autumn novels, respectively.

We've got some Outlander season 3 casting updates! Gary Young (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny) has joined the Outlander cast as Mr. Willoughby, while Charlie Hiett (The Suspicions of Mr Whincher) will assume the role of Captain Thomas Leonard.

Willoughby, "a Chinese man with a deep knowledge of Eastern medicine," Willoughby will pop up in Jaime's timeline as a confidante of the Scotsman, as well as an outsider in 18th century Scotland.

Leonard, on the other hand, is the British, "by-the-book" captain of the Artemis who earns the post when his commanding officers die untimely deaths. Starz teases of the character: " Above all, he wants to do what is right by the British Navy — whether or not it is right by his own personal morals." Yikes.

Here's everything else we know so far about Outlander season three...

Outlander Season 3 Premiere

Caitriona Balfe, who is up for a Golden Globe for her work in Outlander season three, spoke to The Wrap about what to expect in the upcoming season, saying:

The great thing about this show is that every new season, everything sort of gets turned on its head. In the beginning, when we come back this season, I think everyone knows at this point the stories are quite separate. We see a lot of Jamie’s story, and what he has gone through in 20 years. We see a bit of Claire and Frank, Claire and Brianna, and you see a bit of Claire as a professional doctor, surgeon. It’s just so different.

Perhaps even more interestingly, Balfe teased the eventual Jamie/Claire reunion.

Of course, there will be a reunion. Which I think is really beautiful and it’s been filmed really beautifully. It’s very interesting, it’s like, how do two people come together after not seeing each other for 20 years, after both believing each other have died, and how do you build something real again?

We also have a first look at Claire, a just-born Brianna, and Frank in Outlander season three, and it's actually pretty adorable. Check it out, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly...

Speaking to EW, star Caitriona Balfe puts this scene in context for us:

This is right after Claire gives birth to Brianna. Those scenes are wonderful because it's a new beginning, but it's so fraught with so many other things. Obviously, this is Jamie's child, but Claire's in a new time and believes that Jamie is dead. So she's really trying to look forward and give her daughter a new life, a stable family.

I think it's difficult for both of them. Frank is coming to terms with his wife. He didn't quite know what had happened. She disappeared and she's back. They're tentatively trying to see if they can patch things up and allow themselves to embrace a future together. They really do try, but it's not quite that easy.

Guys, season three is going to be so angsty.

Speaking to Bustle earlier this week, Balfe teased a different kind of Claire when we meet back up with her in Outlander season 3, saying:

I think, not always, but people generally — the harsher edges of their personality, they learn how to maybe smooth them out a little bit. So maybe Claire isn’t so stubborn, or she isn’t so quick-tempered. She’s learned how to control those urges a little bit.

Outlander Season 3 Release Date

The Outlander Season 3 premiere date hasn't been announced yet, but the show usually shows up in the spring. We do know that it will air sometime in 2017.  In the mean time, if you want to catch up on Outlander season 2, be sure to check out our complete episode guide.

Outlander Season 3 Cast

Outlander has cast two new characters for season three. Hannah James and Tanya Reynolds will play Dunsany sisters Geneva and Isobel, respectively.

Starz describes eldest daughter Geneva as "as beautiful as she is headstrong," while also "petulant, spoiled, and demanding of the servants at their home — Helwater." While Geneva is used to getting what she wants, that petulance masks a "vulnerability" and "naivete" because of her sheltered upbringing.

Isobel is Geneva's younger, plainer sister is "warm, friendly, and genuine" and "inherently more likeable and compassionate towards others."

Outlander has also cast Lauren Lyle as Marsali, the 18-year-old "high-spirited" daughter of Laoghaire. Starz officialy description of the character states:

Blond and lovely, like her mother who we first met in season one when her youthful crush on Jamie Fraser was halted by his marriage to Claire, but Marsali has a rebellious and romantic mind of her own. She knows what she wants and she goes after it – reputation and propriety be damned.

Also per Entertainment Weekly, Outlander has cast its adult Fergus (we're really going to miss Little Fergus, played wonderfully by Romann Berrux). César Domboy (The Walk, The Borgias) has been cast to play Fergus, the French boy Jamie and Claire were raising as their own, in the upcoming season. 

Here's Fergus' official character description:

Born into a brothel, Fergus has grown up into a charming, devilishly handsome man with a strong sense of loyalty and decorum, despite his unconventional upbringing. He is the ultimate romantic, wearing his heart on his sleeve and falling in and out of love easily. However, Fergus’ devotion to Jamie has never wavered, making the Frenchman an integral part of the Fraser clan. Still, his debonair demeanor masks a longing for a lasting love and a permanent sense of belonging.

Outlander has cast Australian actor David Berry (A Place to Call Home) in the important season three role of Lord John William Grey, the former British soldier turned governor of Ardsmuir Prison who will become friends with Jamie while the latter is imprisoned under Lord John's care. Here's the full character description from Starz...

Lord John William Grey is a steadfast and honorable British subject, torn between a finely-honed sense of familial duty and a strong moral compass of right and wrong. He is boyishly handsome with an upper class rearing — the consummate gentleman. However, a scandal from his past has relegated Lord John to an undesirable position as governor of a desolate prison in Northern Scotland.

Outlander season three has also added two new members to its massive, ever-growing cast. According to Deadline, John Bell (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) has joined the cast as Young Ian Murray, who will be joining Jamie in the 18th century. Young Ian is "a tall, gangly Scottish lad with a heart of gold, a stubborn streak and a penchant for getting into trouble." He is more like his uncle Jamie than he is his father, and constantly trying to prove himself a man.

In the 20th century Boston timeline, Wil Johnson (Waking the Dead) joins the cast as Joe Abernathy, Claire's friend and medical colleague. Joe is "intelligent, charismatic, with a wry and irreverent sense of humor [and] is a loyal confidant with great affection for Claire." As a black man in the mid-20th century, things are tough for Joe. He and Claire bond over their status as outsiders in the mostly white, male medical profession and form a lifelong friendship. 

It was revealed during the Warner Bros. SDCC 2015 panel that the Green Lantern reboot will be called Green Lantern Corps. Warner Bros. flashed a logo for the film on a jumbo wraparound screen in Hall H. Further, Deadline recently reported that David Goyer (of Batman Begins and Man of Steel fame) is working on a script alongside Justin Rhodes. Geoff Johns and Jon Berg are executive producing. So a sea of interstellar green is definitely coming, but who will be donning the cosmic jewelry this time?

Well, the focus of the movie is apparently on John Stewart's origin, in what is being described as "Lethal Weapon in space." Expect Stewart to be the neophyte Green Lantern alongside an older, battle-hardened Hal Jordan. 

And on that note, a rumored casting shortlist for Hal Jordan has surfaced via The Wrap, and amid sensible studio favorites like Tom Cruise, Bradley Cooper, Armie Hammer, Joel McHale, and Jake Gyllenhaal, there's one surprise: Ryan Reynolds. Really, having Reynolds' name on there throws that whole thing under suspicion. The 2011 Reynolds movie is radioactive, and the whole point of going the team movie route is to put as much distance between that and the new project as possible, and GL is notable by his absence in the Justice League movie. Furthermore, Reynolds himself doesn't sound terribly interested in returning.

Now we can add Armie Hammer to the list of actors who'd cast doubt on the report by saying he's never heard a word about the project to, of all outlets, TheWrap itself.

While promoting his new film Call Me by Your Name at Sundance, Hammer said, "I saw the reporting too, and that's the first I've heard of it."

Hence while this film is still definitely happening, folks might not want to jump to too many casting decisions when the project doesn't even have a director yet attached.

Nonetheless, going the team/buddy cop route instead of another solo film isn't all that surprising when you consider that Warner Bros. wants to put as much distance as possible between this and the disappointing 2011 movie that starred Ryan Reynolds. Turning this into a team movie not only takes the origin story out of the equation, it probably means this one will spend most of its time in space. More sci-fi, less earthbound superheroics should help everyone involved.

Other rumors indicate that another Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, may also make an appearance. 

Tyrese Gibson has been campaigning heavily for the role of John Stewart, but that hasn't come to anything yet, either.

Green Lantern Corps Release Date

Green Lantern Corps was originally scheduled for release on June 19, 2020, but now it has been moved to July 24th, 2020. The complete DC superhero movie release calendar is here.

Read some good Green Lantern stories on Amazon 

A version of this article first ran in July of 2015. It has been updated with new information.

While the 1990’s are widely seen as a dubious period in the comic book industry, rife with overpriced gimmicks and exploitative aesthetics fixated on scantily-clad, proportionally-questionable female characters posed in positions that would give chiropractors nightmares, the era did set its handprint in the cement of history. Consequently, one of the most noteworthy characters to emerge from that era in Image Comics’ Witchblade is about to make a return to the mainstream limelight.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Big Three network NBC is developing a new live-action television rendition of Witchblade. With the production set over at Sony Pictures Television, NBC has appointed an experienced show-running team in producers Carol Mendelsohn (CSI franchise, Melrose Place) and Caroline Dries (The Vampire Diaries, Melrose Place). Dries, who also spent years writing for the Superman prequel series Smallville, will also serve as scriptwriter alongside co-executive producer and fellow Vampire Diaries scribe alum Brian Young.

Witchblade debuted in 1995 at Image Comics, published under Top Cow Productions, the studio of former X-Men artist Marc Silvestri (who co-created the character with Michael Turner, Brian Haberlin and David Wohl). The traditional story centers on NYPD homicide detective Sara Pezzini, who learns she is the latest in a bloodline of women connected to a sentient symbiotic bracelet called the Witchblade. Fate intervenes when a smuggler brings the artifact – a frightening-looking right-arm gauntlet – to New York, eventually landing it in Sara’s possession, endowing her with supernatural powers. Yet, said powers also risk the possibility of unleashing an uncontrollable darkness within herself as she continues her crime-fighting endeavors. Intriguingly, NBC's Witchblade series will reportedly shift the setting to San Francisco’s Mission District, kicking off Sara’s story with a hunt for an elusive serial killer.

Thus, with an impending vacancy on NBC’s primetime lineup after supernatural horror/crime/suspense series Grimm wraps up its final abbreviated season, Witchblade will presumably fill that same genre formula. Interestingly, this isn't the first time that Witchblade landed in live-action form on the small screen, since cable network TNT served as a showcase for a Witchblade series in which Yancy Butler starred as Sara Pezzini/Witchblade. The short-lived series (trailer below,) ran from 2001-2002 across two brief seasons.

With NBC’s previous attempt to adapt a horror-themed comic-book with Constantine in 2014 yielding a fan-beloved, but unceremonious-cancelled series (set to be revived in animated form on CW Seed voiced by star Matt Ryan), it will be interesting to see NBC’s approach to Witchblade. Since the long-running Grimm stayed alive in a notoriously perilous Friday night slot with its adherence to crime procedural conventions, it’s reasonable to assume that Witchblade will do the same, also staying far away from the very-1990’s look of the original comics.

As the onscreen Marvel Universe grows more diverse and unwieldy by the day, it looks as though a particular fan favorite is moving closer to the camera over at cable’s Freeform network. Indeed, Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger announced its lead actors via Deadline on Monday.

Performers Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph have been cast in the respective roles of Dagger/Tandy Bowen and Cloak/Tyrone Johnson. The news comes after five years of development for Cloak & Dagger as a television property at Freeform, dating back to when it was still called ABC Family. Both stars are relative unknowns with Holt being best known to date for starring in Disney XD’s Kickin’ It and the series I Didn’t Do It; Joseph, meanwhile, appeared in HBO’s The Night Of and the film Run All Night.

In Cloak & Dagger, the two will play a pair of young superheroes who, in addition to having to deal with supervillains, will see their romance face pushback due to its interracial component. The characters of Tandy and Tyrone are also defined by their unique and complementing powers, as Dagger will have the ability to emit lightning daggers while Cloak can literally cloud those around him in darkness. They were created in 1982 by Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan in the pages of Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man.

About the casting, Joe Pokaski, executive producer and showrunner of Cloak & Dagger, told Deadline, “The characters of Tandy and Tyrone have always stood out to me ever since I first met them in the pages of Marvel Comics when I was a boy. When Olivia and Aubrey read for the roles, the characters leapt off the page. We’re so excited to see what these talented young actors bring to the Marvel Universe.”

Marvel Television also released the official character descriptions for both parts:

Tandy­ (Oliva Holt – “Dagger”) Once a privileged little girl, Tandy Bowen watched as her family was destroyed by a disastrous storm that uprooted her life. Now in her late teens, an unexpected encounter with a boy named Tyrone sparks a life changing event.

Tyrone (Aubrey Joesph – “Cloak”) ­ Young Tyrone Johnson wanted nothing more than to prove he was fearless.  But when everything he held close was taken away, life taught Tyrone to be afraid. Now older and more sheltered, Tyrone closes himself off.  But when he meets a girl named Tandy, his life changes Forever. 

Cloak & Dagger will be produced by the Marvel Television arm of Marvel Studios, as well as ABC Signature Series. It also marks the fourth Marvel series produced by ABC, with other works including Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter, and the upcoming Inhumans series. Cloak & Dagger is expected to arrive in 2018.

Well, this is refreshing. Greater Creators is a new web series from Machinima and Comic Book Girl 19. The first season launches today on go90, and will focus on creative icons of the 20th century (and beyond) like Stephen King, Alan Moore, Stanley Kubrick, Hayao Miyazaki, Frank Herbert, and others. While these are all essential talents for any Den of Geek reader, the first episode is about someone particularly near and dear to my heart: Jack Kirby.

It's tough to find an easy "Jack Kirby 101" for people not familiar with him, especially when Stan Lee's name tends to dominate the conversation. This Greater Creators video, however, is an evenhanded, easily digestible look at Kirby's significant role in the creation of the Marvel Universe and why he isn't as prominent in pop culture as Stan Lee.

Check it out:

You can learn more about the life and legacy of Jack Kirby via The Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center (kirbymuseum.org). New episodes of Greater Creators will appear every Tuesday on go90.