Nicolas Cage Is Superman
After twenty or so years after the canceled Tim Burton film, Superman Lives, Nicolas Cage is getting his chance to play the Blue Boy Scout… or at least his voice. He’ll be appearing as Superman in this summer’s Teen Titans Go to the Movies. He’s one of a few celebrity cameos appearing, including singer/songwriter Halsey as Wonder Woman, and rapper Lil Yachty as Green Lantern Jon Stewart.

In January 2000, Nic Cage reported his copy of Action Comics #1 had been stolen from his home in LA. In 2011, it showed up in a storage lock in San Fernando Valley. That’s a story for some other time, though. As for his appearance in Teen Titans, I think this is pretty fun news, myself. He’s had a storied history with the character, so it’s nice to see it finally pay off. (Figuratively and literally.)
DC Black Label
This past week, DC Comics announced their new imprint, DC Black Label.The stories coming from Black Label will be out-of-continuity, which will enable their writers and creators to edgier books than the main line. It seems that DC is realizing the power the creatives have when they’re allowed to tell stories that aren’t obligated to the main storyline.

Since publishing my Why Do I Hate DC Comics episode a few weeks back, I’m finding myself more and more interested in what DC is doing with their books. Granted, I’ve only dug into The Flash so far - starting in the New 52-era. From the outside, it looks like this might be similar to Marvel Knights, but I think DC is going to do something more with the creative teams they’ve announced.

* Frank Miller & John Romita, Jr on “Superman: Year One”
* John Ridley (12 Years A Slave) on “The Other History of the DC Universe”
* Kelly Sue DeConnick on “Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons”
* Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo on “Batman: Last Knight on Earth”
* Greg Rucka on “Wonder Woman: Diana’s Daughter”
* Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo on “Batman: Damned”

I really think these sound interesting. In some ways I’m sad to see two Batman books, even though I love the work Snyder & Capullo have done, and even enjoyed Azzarello & Bermejo’s “Joker” book. I want to see what they’ll do with The Flash and Green Lantern. We’ll see!
Wolverine: The Long Night
I’ve talked a lot about DC in this episode, but Marvel brought together two of my favorite things recently, so I couldn’t bail on them completely! They have released Wolverine: The Long Night, a scripted podcast available (for the time being) on Stitcher Premium. There are 10 episodes total, each to be released weekly and will eventually hit other podcast platforms this fall.

Special Agents investigate a series of mysterious deaths in Burns, Alaska, following the arrival of a strange newcomer - a loner by the name of Logan.

When I first heard about this, I was pretty bummed that I wasn’t going to be able to listen. I’m a fan of good audio dramas and really wanted to check it out. Luckily, there is a free trial available for Stitcher Premium if you want to start listening now. (And no, this isn’t an ad.)More than likely I’ll be reviewing this sometime soon, probably after my trial expires, so be on the lookout for that.
Black Panther Keeps Winning
As of recording this, Black Panther is now the 20th-highest grossing movie of all time. It has beat out The Dark Knight and is grossing a total of $1.09B in less than a month of it’s release! I think this is showing how important of a film it is.