Comics: Wonder Woman 1984 cast talks nostalgia; Dark Nights: Death Metal debuts first look; more

Wonder Woman 1984 is seemingly right around the corner now that Harley Quinn and her Birds of Prey have gotten the first superheroic film of 2020 out of the way. So it only seems appropriate that the star-studded cast would chat with their director about all the fun they had shooting the movie in order to get fans extra hyped for its neon-tinged premiere. So that's what they did: Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) and Chris Pine (Steve Trevor, back from the dead) and newcomers Kristen Wiig (Cheetah) and Pedro Pascal (Maxwell Lord) joined director Patty Jenkins to talk all things Wonder Woman 1984.

The cast joked around for a while, showing off their continued rapport, eventually chatting about their shared nostalgia for the decade — and where (or when) the franchise might go next.

Check it out:

Snap bracelets, working at Burger King, pleated pants, and name-brand shorts — the '80s! As fun as the cast looks to be having, they also touched on a few pertinent pieces of information. First is the scamming identity of Pascal's Lord, who "is some charlatan who sells gold." Though the cast clarifies that the gold is really "black gold" AKA oil, the duplicitous baddie is finally revealing a bit of his mysterious nature.

Then the talk of sequels came up. When would the third Wonder Woman film take place? Gadot offered up the idea of the present, while Pascal posited that it could go even beyond 2020. Jenkins shot most of this down, considering that she'll really be in charge of picking the next temporal stage for her superhero to play upon. Until then, fans can only speculate.

Wonder Woman 1984 hits theaters June 5...of this year, remember?

Next, one of DC Comics' biggest hits is letting fans get a first look into its follow-up. Dark Nights: Death Metal is coming in hot and fast, continuing the tale of the grim and gritty Dark Nights: Metal.

DC recently revealed some covers for the new book ahead of its debut, giving readers a taste of what they can expect from the original team of writer Scott Snyder, artist Greg Capullo, inker Jonathan Glapion, and colorist FCO Plascencia.

The six-issue monthly series kicks off in May, telling a new tale where the Batman Who Laughs rules over an imprisoned Earth, Superman languishes in a sun-powering jail, and Dark Multiverse energy swamps the planet. It's up to Wonder Woman and the mysterious figure that gives her an edge to mount a resistance and save the world.

And just take a look at these covers:

The main storyline isn't all though: a few “Metalverse” one-shots will blow out the world of Death Metal during its first three issues. But as for the main story? It's going completely off the rails. “I’ve been waiting to do this story since we finished Dark Nights: Metal,” Snyder said. “As much as it was a complete event, we left some threads hanging there for sure. I’d hoped that if people liked the first series enough, we’d have a chance to set up something bigger, and that’s our plan for Death Metal.” Bigger is cool. But Capullo has some even better descriptions for the follow-up series.

“For all of us, Dark Nights: Death Metal is about the fun factor,” adds Capullo. “Comics should be fun, bombastic, and over-the-top. This series is going to be exciting and jam-packed with great ‘metal-esque’ moments that will make fans lose their minds when they see them.”

Issue #1 of Dark Knights: Death Metal arrives on May 13, with issues following in June, July, September, October, and November.

Finally, AWA Studios (the newcomer comics outfit named for Artists, Writers & Artisans) has released some more information about their first offerings to the industry as well as a release date for its first batch of comics.

The company is starting its launch with four books: The Resistance from writer J. Michael Straczynski, artist Mike Deodato Jr., and colorist Frank Martin; Red Border from writer Jason Starr, artist Will Conrad, and colorist Ivan Nunes; Archangel 8 from writer Michael Moreci, artist C.P. Smith, and colorist Snakebite Cortez; and Hotell from writer John Lees, artist Dalibor Talajic, and colorist Lee Loughridge. Introducing them all, and the studio itself, is the following video.

Take a look:

If fans didn't perk up at the mention of a Punisher-meets-Constantine character, then hell truly has come to Earth. Chief Creative Officer Axel Alonso and editors Dulce Montoya and Jaime Coyne give their creators a boost to pitch their upcoming comics to readers that really have no idea what to expect from the company and its books (including a shared superhero universe). With plenty of violence, death, and spiritual darkness permeating its comics, AWA looks to start off gritty and only get messier as its stories progress.

The video also showcased comics coming later in 2020: Year Zero, Bad Mother, American Ronin, Grendel, Kentucky, Devil's Highway, YT Savior, Moths, Old Haunts, E-Ratic, Fight Girls, and Marjorie Finnegan, Temporal Criminal

AWA's first comics launch on March 18.