Charles Bramesco

Yesterday, we learned that 20th Century Fox had worked out a new accord with Marvel permitting the studio to ferry one of its hottest properties into the lucrative land of milk and honey that is television. Fox has announced plans to develop two shows spun off from their X-Men franchise, one about an elite organization of mega-rich mutants called Hellfire and another about David Haller, a.k.a. the son of Charles Xavier, a.k.a. Legion. A new report from Den of Geek (still awaiting confirmation from Marvel) suggests that there may be an unknown flip side to this deal that would place The Fantastic Four, one of Marvel’s most iconic properties, back in their portfolio with another big-screen project to follow.

In the Norse mythological tradition, the term Ragnarök refers to a great series of cataclysmic events through which the slate of Earth may be struck completely, wiped clean, and started anew. It’s like a slightly more optimistic version of the apocalypse, wherein two survivors will begin again in a purer, kinder world. So when Marvel revealed that the third installment in Thor’s solo series of films would be titled Thor: Ragnarok, everyone knew what was up. This is not Thor: Day at the Beach or Thor: Light Picnic. In the parlance of “the streets,” it’s going down.

Back in April, we reported that in-demand screenwriter John Ridley had been caught in Marvel’s web of cross-promotion, inking a deal to develop a TV show that would spin off a key property from the already-popular Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. program. The specifics of that project still have yet to take shape (though we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that the M.O.D.O.K. solo show America so richly deserves will soon come to pass), but today brings news of a new endeavor for Ridley with no less social import. The Academy Award-winning scribe of 12 Years a Slave has announced that he will take the director’s chair once again to helm a feature about the notorious 1992 Los Angeles riots catalyzed by Rodney King’s savage beating at the hands of the LAPD.