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She-Hulk hype gets stronger as details leak on new streaming series

Fans of superhero cinema are re-emerging from a year of post-Avengers hibernation, as excitement grows for the next wave of projects from Marvel and DC. For Marvel, the biggest challenge will be to make lightning strike twice, as it establishes new heroes to replace outgoing headliners like Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. One of their best bets is Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk.

Now details are finally starting to drop on the She-Hulk TV series, which was announced as coming to Disney+ back in August. Filming schedules released this week for the next Tom Holland Spider-Man film have it shooting alongside She-Hulk in Atlanta this July. Logistically, this would be the perfect opportunity to film She-Hulk’s silver screen debut. As Jennifer Walters is a high-powered lawyer in her day job, there is definite potential for the MCU to introduce her as Spider-Man’s legal counsel, which he would need after the ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home. 

Mark Ruffalo’s Vanity Fair interview revealed more details about the new She-Hulk show, including his own involvement as The Hulk. Casting leaks subsequently emerged with Alison Brie rumored as the first choice for the leading role, to which the GLOW star responded coyly. 

An even juicier rumor has implied that the show will potentially focus on “multiple different hulks”. This implies Marvel is introducing more plot ideas from the acclaimed and creative Hulk comics, some of which were used for the colorful Thor: Ragnarok. We’ll have plenty of time to confirm these rumors though, as any planned filming faces delays due to social distancing restrictions. 

Comics industry ready for revolution after distributor forces pandemic shutdown 

Our last issue of Mythic Messenger touched on the decision to shut down the American comic book industry. Due to the health risks posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic, warehouses closed their doors, printing presses stopped rolling, and writers and artists across minor and major publishing groups were ordered to put new issues on hold, bringing the medium to a halt for the first time in a century.

The mastermind behind this unprecedented break? Distribution company Diamond Comics. While little-known outside of comics fandom, this company came to hold a monopoly over the supply chain for the industry in the mid-90’s; a stranglehold which continues to this day.

That meant that when Diamond CEO Steve Geppi announced a pause on distribution, there was simply no way to get new comics to stores, even for pop culture juggernauts DC and Marvel. The latter was hit especially hard by this news - Marvel employees were furloughed, and 20-30% of their releases for May and June were put on pause. Many independent publishers were even worse off.

But while this crisis hurts many who've pour their lives into making comics, it might also mark a turning point toward more modern and stable business practices. DC Comics rocked the still-reeling industry again when it announced it would break its decades-old partnership with Diamond and resume distribution ASAP through a joint effort with two prominent comics stores. Smaller publishers followed suit, with indie Alterna Comics making no bones about their motive in leaving Diamond behind. 

“At Alterna, taking care of our readers has always been our main priority,” wrote Alterna founder Peter Simeti. “Getting them books in a fun, easy, and accessible way; making sure we’re putting out great content at an affordable price; reaching the widest possible audience — these things are important to us, but unfortunately, have been very difficult to do effectively while working within the current distribution system.”

“Fortunately, we’ve spent over two years at Alterna building up our direct sales infrastructure and as a result — our direct sales have been greater than our distribution sales, month over month, for the past 18 months. We sell directly to both readers AND retailers and are fully equipped to continue to do so.”

The confidence of a minor publisher in breaking away from Diamond underscores how these dramatic events may have accelerated the fracturing of the existing distribution model. Between the adoption of e-commerce practices and the growing shift to digital consumption, even small publishers have the potential to be truly independent in reaching their audiences. Diamond’s response? They quickly revised their schedule for returning to business, moving that date up to mid-May.

It remains to be seen whether the new distribution companies established to serve DC will pick up more business to compete with Diamond in the long term, as well as what Marvel will do in light of these new developments. But it seems that whenever the American comics industry does re-emerge from the pandemic shutdown, it will do so with a new balance of power. 

Fast fandom!

As always, there is a ton going on in the interconnected world of pop culture and fan media. Here are a few of the stories that caught our eye:

Valorant launch explodes across Twitch & esports channels

The world of esports has been buzzing non-stop after the biggest game release in a decade. Publisher Riot Games created the blueprint for modern esports with League of Legends, the world’s most prominent competitive game for most of the 2010s. Now they've unleashed their next AAA title, Valorant.

The gameplay combines elements from popular shooters Counter-Strike, Overwatch, Call of Duty & Fortnite - and Valorant has pulled in top players and audiences from all of those games. The result? Valorant has already shattered Twitch records, with 34 million hours of stream watched in one day and 165 million in its first week. With Riot’s clout and marketing budget, Valorant has a great chance of capturing the growing esports audience.

Villains, scholars take issue with Superman birthday celebration

The internet welcomed a chance for light-hearted appreciation this week, as April 18 marked the 82nd anniversary of Superman. Created by Jewish immigrants Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, The Man of Steel debuted in 1938’s Action Comics #1, which has become the most valuable comic of all time.

While millions of fans and comics professionals joined publisher DC in wishing Superman a “happy birthday”, the celebration wasn’t quite universal. Various incarnations of his nemesis Lex Luthor (or at least, actors who have portrayed the villain) popped up on Twitter to snark at the Kryptonian hero in an inspired bit of celebrity trolling. Slightly more serious was the argument from comics scholars that the April 18 date is fabricated; evidence from the time suggests that the first copies of Action Comics #1 probably sold on the 3rd of May instead!

Groundbreaking NFL deal doesn't faze top gaming influencers

Huge esports developments have been coming thick and fast, as leading brands in the space moved to capitalize on the surge of mainstream interest. Hybrid esports team/influencer collective FaZe Clan led the pack in partnerships, thanks to their impressive grasp of the teen gaming demographic.

First, they announced a cool $40 million in new funding from celebrity investors. They followed that up with the first-ever merch collaboration with the NFL - yeah, that NFL - as part of their deal to promote the league’s 2020 draft, which will be conducted online. While FaZe has collaborated with major league franchises before - their Atlanta-based COD League team often makes appearances with Falcons players - this is still an impressive feather in their (branded, designer snapback) cap.

IT'S TRIVIA TIME

The world-famous cover of Action Comics #1 depicts the debuting Superman in a rare moment of anger, smashing a car against a rock with superhuman strength. But who are the passengers?

Would you have guessed one is Lois Lane?!

Gangsters kidnapped the reporter after she ditched a date with Clark Kent, which may explain why Superman is mad enough to smash first and rescue later. Be more careful with your future wife there, Supes!