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.
§ Disney released a first look at The Beauty, while revealing the series will premiere with three (of 11) episodes on FX and Hulu (Disney+ internationally) on Wednesday, January 21, at 9pm ET/PT. The thriller, created by Ryan Murphy and based on the comic by Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley, follows a pair of FBI agents (Evan Peters and Rebecca Hall) investigating the gruesome deaths of multiple supermodels across the globe.
The series, also starring Ashton Kutcher, Anthony Ramos, and Jeremy Pope, was additionally announced as featuring guest appearances by Amelia Gray Hamlin, Ari Graynor, Bella Hadid, Ben Platt, Billy Eichner, Isabella Rossellini, Jaquel Spivey, Jessica Alexander, Jon Jon Briones, John Carroll Lynch, Julie Halston, Lux Pascal, Meghan Trainor, Nicola Peltz Beckham, Peter Gallagher, and Vincent D’Onofrio.
§ Deadline reports Will Smith is in talks to return to the Men in Black franchise, for a new film written by Chris Bremner (Bad Boys for Life). It would mark the first movie in the series (based on the comic by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers) since 2019’s unsuccessful spin-off Men in Black International, and the first starring Smith since 2012’s Men in Black 3. Assuming it goes forward soon, the movie should land in theaters in 2027, just in time for the 30th anniversary of the original movie.
§ Dark Horse announced The Witcher: The Last Wish, a graphic novelization of the short story by Andrzej Sapkowski, scripted by Marcin Zwierzchowski with art by Guillermo Fajardo (Grimm Fairy Tales). A retelling of Geralt of Rivia’s first encounter with his beloved Yennefer of Vengerberg, the book will be released in bookstores on August 11, 2026, and comics shops the following day. It marks the sixth and final adaptation of the original Witcher short story collection (also titled The Last Wish) from Dark Horse, whose version of the first tale, The Witcher itself, will arrive on December 16.
§ Via IGN, Oni Press revealed Spirit of the Shadows, a horror series by Pink Lemonade creator Nick Cagnetti, co-written by filmmaker (and comics newcomer) Daniel Ziegler. Based on the pair’s 2016 short film Lost in the Shadows, the Phantom of the Opera-inspired comic follows Erik Leroux, a deceased musician struggling to recover his memories, while he “avenge[s] the dark sins that transformed him” into the title character. Issue #1 will be released on January 28. You can also read an earlier, more retro version of the comic, from 2018, here.
§ Via People magazine, The Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot unveiled a graphic novelization of the original book, illustrated by Bethany Crandall (Whatever After). The comic, retelling the story of how Mia Thermopolis discovers she’s the princess of a small European principality, will be released by HarperCollins on April 7, 2026. The original series, which inspired the pair of films starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews from 2001 and 2004, totaled ten young adult novels from 2000 to 2009, as well as several follow-ups, spin-offs, and side-novellas.
§ Mad Cave’s children’s imprint Papercutz announced Speed Racer Adventures Vol. 1, a graphic novel by Franco Aureliani and Derek Charm releasing April 28, 2026. The younger-skewing book will see Speed compete against the world’s most advanced AI car, owned by the world’s richest man, which Racer X gets invited to drive. In the meantime, issue #5 of Mad Cave’s main series is available now, while issue #2 of the quarterly anthology Speed Racer: Tales from the Road will be released on January 21.
§ DC Universe Infinite is now available in several more countries, namely Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. The app will cost 15 percent less to subscribers in those countries (except Denmark, for some reason) until January 17, and “anyone who subscribes at the introductory pricing can keep this discounted price for as long as they maintain their paid Annual Ultra subscription.” Additionally, the platform is now available to read on web browsers in the UK, nearly four years after it launched there on April 28, 2022.
§ Finally, Japanese-born actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa died on Thursday, December 4, following complications from a stroke. He was 75 years old. Best known for playing Shang Tsung in 1995’s Mortal Kombat movie, Tagawa’s numerous credits also included The Phantom, Elektra, Superboy, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars Rebels and Visions, DuckTales, and the title villain of Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu. He is survived by his wife, their three children, and two grandchildren.
