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06/17/16 @ 1:02 am EST
A Writer’s Commentary: David Avallone talks Twilight Zone: The Shadow #3, on sale now from Dynamite. Cover by Francesco Francavilla, interiors by Dave Acosta.  I knew this would be the hard one: nothing is less visual than watching a guy write a novel… but I wanted to see if I could meet that challenge. The cover.I’m relatively new to comics, and this was the first time I asked if I could suggest a cover idea. I would never want to intrude on the artistry of the great Francavilla, but the concept for this one popped into my head and I really wanted to see what Francesco would do with it. Giant hands and giant props feel like a classic pulp cover trope from the thirties, and I love the way it came out. Page one.Narration. One of my very favorite things about this book is the opportunity to write in Rod Serling’s “voice”. Like most geeks my age, I grew up hearing those Twilight Zone narrations again and again, and loving that vivid style. I hope I captured it here. Page two.Eagle-eyed Twilight Zone fans might recognize Art’s boss from a classic episode. Hint: he’s the actor who appeared in the most TZ episodes. Pages two and three.Dave Acosta is the best, as I will say to anyone, whether they ask me or not. In this sequence, the secretary bringing the martini is all him. I love touches like that: they bring the world to life.  Pages four and five.I knew “Art” would have to spend a lot of this issue talking to himself, so why not his “Shadow?” When I was developing this series, I was caught between two very different styles of storytelling. The Shadow has a lot of action and intrigue. Lots of gunplay and fistfights and cars racing down streets. On the other hand, there are a lot of Twilight Zone episodes mostly made up of two guys stuck in a room talking to one another. Serling (and Matheson and Beaumont) were able to make that kind of thing crackle with tension. I make no such claims for my own talent but I wanted to have some of that Twilight-Zone-claustrophobic-one-act-play feeling in this series as well. Page six.One of the touchstones for this issue was David Cronenberg’s hallucinatory film version of NAKED LUNCH. Like Cronenberg, I have always found manual typewriters to be kind of fascinating things… Page seven.…and maybe a little creepy. Pages eight.Another touchstone for this issue is Chuck Jones’ classic “Duck Amuck” cartoon. Daffy runs around on a blank sheet of paper and has some serious issues with his creator. Hopefully this sequence is a little more chilling than hilarious. I think the rest of the book beautifully demonstrates Dave Acosta’s ability to draw anything I throw at him. Page nine.My colorist, Omi Remalante, did a beautiful job creating a look here that could pass for a blank sheet of paper without just being a wash of white. Everyone rose to the challenge on this issue.  Page ten and eleven.Psychodrama! I’m a big fan of silent panels. I love Kent Allard watching his Id and Superego duke it out in front of him. Page twelve.I’ve been doling out my own take on the Shadow’s origins in this series, and here I go against a lot of the prevailing trope previous versions of the Shadow. It’s such a cliché these days to have your white hero go to Tibet and learn mystic arts. Yawn. I have it on a good authority (Walter Gibson) that the Shadow spent a lot of time among an incredibly obscure Guatemalan culture called the Xinca (or Xinka.) Why not learn the mystic arts from them? Far less is known about the Xinca than is known about Tibetan Buddhism. Page thirteen.The Xinca appear in four panels in this comic book. I don’t want to think about the hours I spent researching them to make sure these four panels had some kind of reality to them. Shout out to my Facebook friend Agathe Rigault whose education in pre-Columbian civilizations came to the rescue when I hit a wall. The illustrations here are based on the few photos I could find on the web of the Xinca. I like the poetic names of their gods, and I like that they laugh in Kent Allard’s face for his cornball pitch. Page fourteen.I wasn’t thinking about it when I wrote this page, but Kent Allard here reminds me a little bit of blissed-out Don Draper in the last episode of Mad Men. Page fifteen-eighteen.I was trying to think of a creepy action bit to end this sequence: something that would metaphorically dramatize the whole struggle. Since Kent is stuck on a piece of paper, the giant typewriter bars smacking down at him was a natural thought. As for the word they’re spelling out… and Kent getting tied down for the final blow… that came courtesy of Franz Kafka’s short story “In The Penal Colony”. It seemed apt to echo that here.  Page seventeen/eighteen.I didn’t want to do a story about the Shadow’s first novel without a cameo by Harry Vincent. Good old Harry. Page nineteen.The first draft is often the story you tell your significant other, when they make the mistake of asking “what are you doing?” Note that there’s a one new word on Art’s sheet of paper. Page twenty.And we’re back to the beginning, now. Dave found the propaganda poster in his research, and added the rat. And we end as we began, with my most sincere attempt to channel the voice of a true genius, a great and moral artist, now lost to us but forever remembered… in the Twilight Zone. 11/16/25 @ 12:48 pm EST
While most of the focus over at Marvel Studios is currently on the pair of upcoming Avengers films, Ryan Coogler is ready to return to Wakanda for a third Black Panther film. We’d heard of the possibility of the film originally from Denzel Washington who, while speaking of his potential retirement, mentioned the film as one of his future projects and then when Nate Moore left Marvel last year, he said he would be back producing the third Black Panther film. Now, Coogler himself said while on stage talking about his film Sinners, that Black Panther 3 would be his next movie. The series kicked off with Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, king of the African Nation of Wakanda and while he reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, he sadly passed away shortly after. The sequel dealt with the characters death and passed the mantle on to his sister Shuri played by Letitia Wright who is expected to reprise the role in the upcoming Avenger films, but with talks of a potential soft reboot of the MCU, it’s unclear who will be wearing the mask for the third film.  11/16/25 @ 12:31 pm EST
The most recent news on the DCU has to do with Jimmy Olsen. Variety is reporting that Skyler Gisondo will reprise his role from Superman in a true-crime docuseries style show that focuses on villains in the universe starting with the Flash rogue, Gorilla Grodd. Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault are set to write and showrun with James Gunn and Peter Safran joining them as executive producers. The show is planned for HBO Max and will be a mockumentary style similar to Yacenda and Perrault’s previous series like American Vandal and Players. In the original report, Variety claimed the series would be called DC Crime, something Gunn took to social media to debunk, saying there had never been any project in production called DC Crime, he then added that his saying that doesn’t mean that the rest of the report is false. This sounds like a pretty good confirmation to me.  11/15/25 @ 12:49 pm EST
A new Star Trek film is in the works and Paramount is tapping the team of Jonathan Goldstein and John Frances Daley to write, produce and direct. This news comes shortly after David Ellison, founder of Skydance who recently purchased the studio, told investors that the next Star Trek film would not be a sequel to the Chris Pine/ Zachary Quinto lead series of films. While this hasn’t been 100% confirmed, word is that the new film will be focused on new characters and not directly tied to any previous film or television series. Goldstein and Daley have a good track record when it comes to revitalizing franchises having written Spider-Man: Homecoming for Marvel Studios and wrote and directed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves which was very well received by fans and critics.  11/15/25 @ 12:32 pm EST
With The Fantastic Four: First Steps having moved to Disney+, the Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby lead team is now first in fans minds. But one person still thinks about the First Family of Marvel presented a decade ago and what went wrong. Miles Teller, who played Reed Richards in Josh Trank’s 2015 version of the property, still thinks about the project and how he believes the problems all came down to one person. Teller was on Sirius XM’s Radio Andy show said, “You saw the movie, right? Your eyes were working during that time? I think it’s unfortunate because so many people worked so hard on that movie. And, honestly, maybe there was one really important person who kind of f***ed it all up.” While Teller didn’t say who that was, he was referring to the person who made the final cut on the film, which was not director Trank. Teller said that he wanted a superhero film on his resume to help show him as a serious leading man, but after seeing the final cut recalled, “I remember talking to one of the studio heads, and I was like, ‘I think we’re in trouble.'” The 2015 version made $167 million worldwide compared to this year’s version which made $521 million. He stopped short of calling for a director’s cut of the film.  11/09/25 @ 2:03 pm EST
The Creeper is a unique character from DC Comics, first introduced in "Showcase #73" in 1968. Created by Steve Ditko, The Creeper’s real name is Jack Ryder, a former television talk show host and investigative journalist in Gotham City. After being attacked during an undercover operation at a costume party, Ryder is injected with a serum by Dr. Yatz and gains superhuman abilities, including enhanced strength, agility, rapid healing, and a pain tolerance bordering on the supernatural. The serum, combined with a bizarre costume, transforms him into The Creeper, a vigilante known for his wild laughter, erratic behavior, and flamboyant appearance—a shock of green hair, yellow skin, and a red mane-like cape. The Creeper remains largely untouched by mainstream media, providing an opportunity to introduce audiences to a fresh face and break away from more established archetypes. His blend of horror, humor, and psychological complexity could create a film that stands out from traditional superhero fare. The Creeper’s unsettling persona and visual style lend themselves well to a film that could blend genres—horror, black comedy, and superhero action. His maniacal laugh and unpredictable methods could inject dark humor and psychological thrills, appealing to fans of films like "Joker" and "Deadpool" while carving out a distinctive identity in the DCU. Jack Ryder’s journey from cynical journalist to bizarre vigilante offers rich storytelling potential. Exploring themes of identity, sanity, and the nature of heroism, a Creeper film could delve into Ryder’s internal struggles and the impact of his dual life, making for a character-driven narrative that resonates with audiences seeking depth and complexity. And with being set in Gotham City, The Creeper’s adventures naturally intersect with the city’s gritty underworld, providing opportunities for noir-style detective storytelling. His background in journalism and investigation can be leveraged to create suspenseful plots involving corruption, criminal conspiracies, and moral ambiguity—making him an ideal protagonist for a film that explores the darker aspects of the DC Universe. The Creeper stands as one of DC Comics’ most unconventional and intriguing characters. His untapped potential, distinctive personality, and ability to straddle multiple genres make him a perfect candidate to lead a film in the new DCU.  ... 11/09/25 @ 1:37 pm EST
Predator: Badlands is doing very well, thanks for asking. The latest film in the long-running franchise set a few high franchise marks including domestic opening with $40M, best worldwide opening with $80M and best Cinemascore with an A-. The film also sits a the top of this week’s box office beating out the 2nd place film, Regretting You, by $32.9M… though that film is in its 3rd week. Other new films opening this week, Sarah’s Oil and Nuremberg, opened in 4th and 5th with just over $4M each. Badlands is the third Predator project for director Dan Trachtenberg, the first Prey showed how he could handle the franchise but then he wanted to follow it up with an animated film, Killer of Killers and then for the first time Badlands make the Predator the protagonist. 
11/08/25 @ 4:21 pm EST
Recent reports about problems on the set of Stranger Things may not have been what they seemed. There were stories being published that Millie Bobby Brown had filed a report against co-star David Habour, accusing the older actor of bullying. But the validity of those reports are now in question as both Brown and Harbour joined their Stranger Things cast members at the red=carpet premiere of the show’s fifth and final season. Brown and Harbour were seen joking together and even hugging. Brown has also spoke of Habour to Extra, saying: “It’s been amazing. We’re so lucky to have each other. The show means so much to the both of us, and to everyone here. This has been the last 10 years of our lives.” Brown stars as the psych-powered Eleven and Harbour plays Sherriff Jim Hopper who ends up adopting her. The fifth and final season will release on Netflix in three sets with Volume 1 on November 26 (four episodes), Volume 2 on Christmas (three episodes), and The Finale on New Year’s Eve.  11/01/25 @ 2:53 pm EST
There is a major movie franchise out there that is not going by its original name and it’s thanks to the star. When screenwriter Derek Kolstad finished what would become is most popular film, he was inspired by revenge-thrillers with one-word titles like Payback and Shooter. He dubbed his film, Scorn. The problem came when the star of the film went out and talked about it, he always referred to it by the lead character’s name rather than the title. After a while, the studio realized that their star, Keanu Reeves, had done millions of dollars worth of brand recognition for the name John Wick… they decided to go with it and renamed the film. Why Reeves did this is unknown, but Kolstad has since admitted that John Wick is a better franchise name, saying, “I can’t imagine it being Scorn now.” Was this an intentional thing on Reeves’ part or just a happy coincidence? We may never know.  11/01/25 @ 2:38 pm EST
If you check the major Hollywood sites like Deadline and Variety, they’ll tell you that October 2025 has been the lowest box office take in almost 30 years. It sits currently at $440 million with a few days left to add. In 1998 the box office did $455 million, which this month should just creep past. By comparison October 2018 did $832 million with just three films: Venom, A Star is Born and Halloween, taking in $481 million. But last year, October only took in $478 million showing the decreasing trend. Adding to the decline is the fact that no major releases were scheduled for this weekend because of the Halloween holiday. And what was put into theaters the whole month really didn’t get people’s attention. Tron: Ares was the highest profile film and that hasn’t even broken $70 million in its four weeks in theaters. When you look at numbers like that, it’s hard not to think about what might have been. There was a big budget film slated for release this month, a film that got delayed and delayed and hasn’t even started filming. A film that finally has a finished script and is set to release in October of 2027… that of course is Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part 2. One of the most anticipated films currently in production, the sequel to the 2022 hit, bolstered also by the fan favorite HBO series The Penguin, would easily match and likely succeed the success of the first film. The Batman opened on March 4, 2022 and ended that month with $338 million domestically. It was originally scheduled to be released October 3rd, looking at that release date, this year there really wasn’t any big film put in its place. The film would’ve done better than the first and that amount would’ve driven 2025 towards the top of the list, maybe even surpassing 2018. Ah, what could’ve been.  ... 10/26/25 @ 12:25 pm EST
DC Studios has potentially taken a significant step by filing for a trademark for a film titled "Salvation Run." A move that isn’t too surprising since the Salvation planet and the idea of using it as a prison for meta humans was introduced in the season finale of Peacemaker season 2. But the filing does indicate just how big this idea could be for the DCU. "Salvation Run" is a storyline from DC Comics that originally ran in the late 2000s. The story centers on the mass exile of some of DC's most notorious villains to a hostile alien world, forcing them to band together for survival. It was a concept originally pitched to DC by Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin. The trademark filing by DC Studios suggests that the company is considering developing "Salvation Run" into a feature film. While trademark filings do not guarantee that a film will be produced, they often indicate serious intent or early-stage development. The filing protects the title and concept, ensuring that DC Studios retains exclusive rights as plans evolve. Should "Salvation Run" move forward, it could introduce a fresh dynamic to DC's film slate. Instead of focusing on heroes, this story would shine a spotlight on villains, possibly expanding character development and offering audiences new perspectives on well-known antagonists. It also opens opportunities for ensemble casting, complex storytelling, and connections to other DC properties.  |
