Time to catch up on the past week of pop culture news. Starting with yet another global cosplay achievement for South Africa.
Lifestyle
At the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, Japan this weekend, Team South Africa, comprising jessie_jestar and @speed.yy, won the gathering’s prestigious Matsuri Award (watch the announcement here) – which is given to the competing national team with the greatest performance flair.
The World Cosplay Summit is an invitation-only three-day cosplay festival, where cosplayers gather from 40+ countries around the world. Along with parades and other celebratory activities, the competitive side of the summit sees participants judged on a combination of crafting and skit performance as they bring to life a piece of Japanese pop culture. Team South Africa chose From Software’s acclaimed game Elden Ring, and with their accolade they become the first locals to win an award at the WCS following three other competitive appearances by SA teams.
Jessica and James were selected as South Africa’s representatives at Comic Con Cape Town 2025’s WCS qualifier, managed by WeCosplaySA. Their prize is an invitation to attend Holiday Matsuri (Orlando, Florida) in December 2027.
Speaking of Comic Con, Comic Con Africa unveiled another guest for next month’s Joburg show: Cape Town-based actress Jazzara Jaslyn, who played retro-styled assassin Ms. Valentine in Season 2 of Netflix’s live-action One Piece, will be present at the con on its first three days, 24 – 26 September. Even better? More One Piece guests, yet to be announced, are on the way too. This is your reminder to lock down tickets before they sell out.
Film
Now for some movie news, in the form of a trio of new trailers, and one exciting piece of casting news.
First up we have The Thomas Crown Affair. Michael B. Jordan directs and stars in this second remake of the sexy 1968 art heist thriller with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. For the record, the 1999 remake starred Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Here, Jordan plays the title character, a thrill-seeking billionaire, and art thief, who begins a sexually-charged cat-and-mouse game with Adria Arjona’s insurance investigator.
The new Thomas Crown Affair comes to cinemas on 5 March 2027.
Black excellence of a different type features in Children of Blood and Bone. Based on the bestselling YA novel by Tomi Adeyemi, this epic fantasy actioner is helmed by The Old Guard and The Woman King’s Gina Prince-Bythewood, and takes place in the fictional country of Orïsha, where diviners have had their magical powers stolen by the despotic king.
South Africa’s Thuso Mbedu stars as Zélie, a young diviner out to reclaim her people’s magic, and, with her brother (Tosin Cole), finds unlikely allies in the form of the prince (Damson Idris) and princess (Amandla Stenberg). The rest of the all-star cast includes Cynthia Erivo, Lashana Lynch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Regina King, Idris Elba and Viola Davis.
Children of Blood and Bone comes to cinemas on 15 January 2027.
The internet has been in full thirst mode ever since the first trailer dropped for quirky romantic fantasy Wicker, based on the short story The Wicker Husband by Ursula Wills-Jones. Olivia Colman’s long-ridiculed and lonely Fisherwoman commissions herself a husband from the village Basket Weaver (Peter Dinklage). The result is Alexander Skarsgård’s sentient Wicker Husband, which immediately plunges the conservative community into chaos. Also with Elizabeth Debicki, Marli Siu, Nabhaan Rizwan and Richard E. Grant.
Wicker releases on 30 October.
Now for that bit of exciting casting news. The first cast member of the MCU’s new X-Men has been revealed, and it’s Ready or Not’s Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, AKA the White Queen. A powerful telepath, with a secondary mutation that turn her skin into indestructible diamond, Frost has over the years made the transition from villain to hero, even leading the X-Men.
Series
We were pleasantly surprised when the MCU’s delightful and unpredictable Wonder Man was greenlit for a second season, given that most of the superhero shows on Disney+ are one and done. Well, this week, the news dropped that Wonder Man has been cancelled after all. Cue disappointment!
With various rumours circulating about future plans for the character, showrunner Andrew Guest took to TikTok to set the record straight on what has actually happened at a decision-making level.
Not only is Prime Video’s God of War series in need of a new Kratos (after lead Ryan Hurst tore his bicep), but now it turns out they will be recasting Kratos’s son Atreus (currently played by Callum Vinson) as well. That second switch isn’t a matter of emergency though; rather that the time jump between Season 1 and 2 of the series, much like the duo of PlayStation games on which it is based, is large enough to warrant an older performer in the role for S2.
