Welcome back to The Beat Digest, a twice-weekly round-up of the biggest comics-related news stories we’ve missed every Tuesday and Friday. Is there a story out there you think we should cover? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
§ After earning Marvel Studios its best film reviews since Spider-Man: No Way Home, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier is reportedly in talks to helm the company’s X-Men reboot. The movie, which is currently undated, has Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) attached as writer, as well as Kevin Feige as producer, and will mark the first proper X-Men film since 2019’s Dark Phoenix. In the meantime, the original film incarnation of the X-Men are set to enter the MCU in next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, while an Deadpool/X-Men movie has been reportedly pitched by Ryan Reynolds.
§ Meanwhile, in an Empire exclusive, The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman revealed adorable android H.E.R.B.I.E. is being voiced by sound editor Matthew Wood, aka the man best known for voicing General Grievous across the Star Wars franchise. “He’s charming, he’s funny — but he also will break your heart,” Shakman says. “Which I hope is emblematic of the movie.” First Steps releases July 25.
§ Via Variety, IDW Publishing unveiled Event Horizon: Dark Descent, a prequel to the classic 1997 sci-fi horror film, written by Christian Ward with art by Tristan Jones. The five-part series, which hails from the new IDW Dark imprint, will reveal what really happened to the crew of the starship Event Horizon, whose disappearance was at the center of the original movie’s plot. It marks the first time a spin-off for the cult film has ever materialized. Issue #1 goes on sale August 20.
§ AHOY unveiled Ancestral Recall, a surreal comedy by Milestone Initiative graduates Jordan Clark (Aquaman) and Atagun İlhan (Poison Ivy). Described as a cross between Everything Everywhere All At Once and Don Quixote, the book follows an abstract painter in the ’80s, who teams up with his preteen neighbor to investigate a series of disappearances, and in the process discovers he can summon the abilities of Black people from throughout history. Issue #1 releases this fall.
§ Dark Horse announced The Witcher: The Witcher (not a typo), a graphic novel based on the very first short story by Andrzej Sapkowski from 1986. Scripted by Aleksandra Zielinska, with art by Michael Dowling, it will retell Geralt of Rivia’s mission to lift the curse on King Foltest of Temeria’s daughter. Due out on December 16, 2025, it will mark the fifth Dark Horse adaptation of Sapkowski’s source material. In the meantime, the fourth Witcher OGN, A Question of Price, will be published on July 29.
In further Dark Horse news this week, the publisher will release The Art of Marvel Rivals, a 208-page artbook for the video game, on September 3; and Iyanu: Child of Wonder Volume 5 on October 8, 2025. They also revealed the latter will be accompanied by The YouNeek YouNiverse Reader, a 152-page collection of various YouNeek Studios comics to mark the imprint’s tenth anniversary, including Iyanu, Malika: Warrior Queen, E.X.O., and Windmaker; it will also be released on October 8.
§ The National Cartoonists Society revealed the nominees for the majority of this year’s Reuben Awards. Chuck Dillon racked up the most nominations with two in the Book Illustration and Variety Entertainment categories, while the Art for Animated Media trophy was suspended over an apparent lack of qualified entries. For the full list, head to the official website. The winners will be announced at the NCS Conference in Boston on August 15.
§ Despite the dour (inter)national mood nowadays, Marvel Comics will still celebrate the United States’s 250th anniversary with a series of variant covers homaging 1976’s Mighty Marvel Bicentennial Calendar. The first variant, by Luciano Vecchio, will appear (appropriately enough) on July 2’s relaunch of Captain America. A different comic will feature one of the covers every month in the run-up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 2026.
§ Finally, a head’s up that the following discusses miscarriages: Uncanny magazine published a poignant essay by Kelly Sue DeConnick on the subject, reflecting on several miscarriages she had circa 2005. “We don’t talk about our miscarriages much — we as a culture or we as a me,” she says. “They exist at the intersection of grief and the female body, and both are mysterious and moist and messy and as such not appropriate for public discourse. So, it’s funny.” Suffice to say, thank you for sharing Ms. DeConnick.
