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.
§ The planned HBO Max Booster Gold series has hit a snag, with David Jenkins (Our Flag Means Death) announcing (in a tongue-in-cheek response to a post about Mahershala Ali‘s recent Blade comments) that his script for the pilot was rejected. The Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap both say the project will move forward with a new creative team. The comedy series, starring Dan Jurgens‘s fame-hungry hero from the future, was announced by DC Studios in 2023, along with Creature Commandos, Superman, Supergirl, and Lanterns (premiering on HBO Sunday, August 16).
In more DC news, Deadline reports Mary Holland (CBS’s Ghosts, Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie) is in talks to join the Jimmy Olsen series being developed for HBO Max. She will play the female lead, who is named Sandra. The show, starring Skyler Gisondo as Olsen and Jimmy Tatro as Gorilla Grodd, will see Superman’s best friend investigate the various villains of the DCU. The show, created by Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault (American Vandal), is set to begin filming this year.
§ Tabletop game Unmatched: Hellboy has gone up for pre-order ahead of its release sometime later this year. The game is available for $50 in a standard edition, and in a $99 bundle containing an exclusive Anung Un Rama miniature, playmat, and more. The Unmatched games, which are all compatible, launched from Restoration in 2019. This’ll mark the fourth Hellboy tabletop game, following the Hellboy Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game (2002), Hellboy: The Board Game (2019), and Hellboy: The Roleplaying Game (2020).
§ Image revealed a new edition of Scott Snyder and Jock‘s horror series Wytches, Wytches, Vol. 1: Pledged Edition. The new edition, which collects every issue to date, from the original series, to the Image! anthology story, will “feature a significant portion recolored to match” the upcoming animated series on Prime Video. Created in 2014, Wytches revolves around a family who uncover the truth behind the superstition of witches. While the show doesn’t currently have an ETA, the Pledged Edition will be released in comics shops on October 21, and bookstores on November 17.
§ Lucasfilm dropped the second trailer for Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi. The non-canon anime series, which is a continuation of Production I.G.’s short films from volumes one and three of Visions, will be released in its entirety on Disney+ and Hulu tomorrow, August 5. You can also watch the subtitled version here.
§ Following Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s huge opening weekend, the movie is now set to expand into IMAX theaters from Thursday, August 6. The movie’s belated arrival in the format was a result of Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey having an exclusive engagement since its release on July 17. Brand New Day has grossed $927 million worldwide (including $355 mil domestically), making it already the fourth highest-grossing film of 2026, and the 13th highest-grossing MCU film.
§ What’s on Netflix shares Revival is being added to the streaming service on Monday, August 24. The Syfy horror series, based on the comic by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton, premiered in 2025, but hasn’t been renewed for a second season. Showrunners Aaron B. Koontz and Luke Boyce expressed hope in a statement that the show will do well enough on Netflix to get a revival of its own. The show, which stars Melanie Scrofano, revolves around a town where the recently deceased all inexplicably return to life.
§ Via The Daily Cartoonist, the Society of Illustrators announced its 2026 Hall of Fame inductees. They include Jackie Ormes, the first female African American cartoonist (b. 1911, d. 1985) to achieve national syndication. The SOI says, “Her work stood apart for its fashionable characters, bold storytelling, and unapologetic voice during a time of significant social constraint. Ormes’ legacy continues to resonate as a trailblazer who expanded both the possibilities and the audience for comics and illustration.” You can read the other entries here.
§ Finally, Mary Rivera, who played Ned Leeds’s grandmother in Spider-Man: No Way Home, died earlier this year, aged 82. Variety shares she passed away following a stroke in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 15. Rivera was born in the Philippines on June 2, 1943, and was a retired Christian missionary, who was encouraged to audition for No Way Home (her sole screen credit) by her family. Her humorous scene in the film, which saw the arrival of both Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire‘s Spider-Men, had her chastise them for causing a mess in her home. She is survived by her husband, four children, 11 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
