Marc Thompson, who voiced the Man of Steel in DC Comics’ fully-cast audiobook retelling of All-Star Superman, is returning to the role for an adaptation of another of the best Superman comics of all time. Penguin Random House Audio and DC Comics announced Thursday that an audio production of the apocalyptic 1996 limited series Kingdom Come, by Mark Waid and Alex Ross will be releasing on Nov. 18, and gave Polygon an exclusive clip where the end of the world is nigh.
Kingdom Come is set in a dark future after DC Comics’ most iconic superheroes have retreated from public life, leaving behind an overzealous new generation that constantly fights among themselves and doesn’t care who gets hurt in the crossfire. When the highly violent “hero” Magog (Tom Alexander) causes a nuclear disaster in Kansas, Superman comes out of retirement to reform the Justice League and bring hope back to the world.
This second collaboration between DC and Penguin Random House Audio is adapted by BBC Radio veteran Dirk Maggs, who has worked on audio adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman comic book series, the ‘90s Batman: Knightfall arc, and the 1993 YA novel Superman: Doomsday & Beyond. The adaptation of Kingdom Come features sound effects and a cast of more than 30 actors, including Edoardo Ballerini as the preacher Norman McCay, who serves as the story’s narrator, and Lorelei King as Wonder Woman.
“I’ve been adapting and directing multicast, award-winning audiobooks of iconic DC Comics Superman and Batman stories for more than three decades, but among them all, Kingdom Come was always the one that got away,” Maggs said in a statement. “At last, thanks to Penguin Random House Audio, I can tell Mark Waid’s epic story, with Alex Ross’s beautiful artwork brought alive through cinematic sound design combined with James Hannigan’s stirring orchestral score.”