Upcoming Releases: May 2024

The Certified Collectibles Group (CGC) is looking forward to summer, and it's almost here, along with a ton of new pop culture releases. Here's what we have to look forward to this May!

Upcoming Comic Releases

Free Comic Book Day — May 4

Free Comic Book Day is on May 4, and this time it's being presented by CGC!

Free Comic Book Day emerged as part of the collaborative efforts of comic book retailers, publishers and distributors. Conceived by Joe Field — a California comic book retailer — the event was first proposed during a meeting between retailers in 2001 as a way to attract new readers to the medium. With the support of Diamond Comic Distributors and other major publishers, such as Marvel and DC Comics, the inaugural Free Comic Book Day took place on May 4, 2002.

The first Free Comic Book Day offered four titles and coincided with the release of the first major Spider-Man film in theaters. Since then, Free Comic Book Day has remained an annual event. This year’s titles include fan-favorite franchises such as Ultimate Universe Spider-Man, TMNT, Pokémon, Star Wars and more.

Other notable comics releasing in May 2024 include:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White and Green #1 (IDW) – May 8
• Venom: Separation Anxiety #1 (Marvel) – May 15
• Superman #14 (DC) – May 22
• DC Pride 2024 #1 (DC) – May 29
• Marvel Voices: Pride #1 (Marvel) – May 29

Upcoming TCG Releases

UniVersus: My Hero Academia – Girl Power! — May 17

Girls run the world in the latest My Hero Academia UniVersus set!

Celebrate your favorite female students, heroes and villains in UniVersus: My Hero Academia – Girl Power! Fan-favorites like Ochako, Toga and Kendo make reappearances with stunning new artwork and abilities. Meanwhile, Mirko, the Rabbit Hero, finally makes a leap back into the fray in her first TCG appearance since her promo card in Plus Ultra Pack 6. Every character card will also have an exclusive, never-before-seen alternate art version, so collect them all.

In addition to the alternate arts, keep an eye out for reprints from earlier MHA sets, such as Uwabami. Chrome rare cards also make their return on several character cards. Altogether, fans can look forward to over 180 cards featuring the best girls from across the series!

UniVersus: My Hero Academia – Girl Power! marches onto store shelves on May 17, 2024!

Other notable TCGs releasing in May 2024 include:

• One Piece Card Game: Memorial Collection Extra Booster – May 3
• Disney Lorcana: Ursula’s Return – May 17
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 25th Anniversary Rarity Collection II – May 22
• Digimon Card Game: Adventure Box 3 – May 24
• Cardfight!! Vanguard: Touken Ranbu Online 2023 – May 24

Upcoming Sports Card Releases

2023-24 Donruss Optic Basketball — May 24

As the NBA Playoffs continue, Donruss is releasing their extremely popular premium counterpart to the brand's earlier flagship release: the 2023-24 Donruss Optic Basketball set. Once again, the Optic series contains a broad mix of NBA stars and rookies, all on chrome card stock. The 250-card base set features 200 veterans and 50 first-year players who make up this season's coveted Rated Rookie issues.

Each of the base cards come in various colored parallels, including Holo, Jazz, Photon, Aqua (/249), Orange (/199), Lime Green (/149), Red (/99), Pink Velocity (/79), Blue (/49), Black Velocity (/39), Gold (/10), Green (/5) and Gold Vinyl (/1). Meanwhile, several inserts return, such as Elite Dominators, Lights Out, Raining 3s, Red Hot Rookies and the fan-favorite caricature-inspired Slammy inserts. Plus, collectors will chase rare autographed inserts, including Rated Rookies Signatures, Rookie Dual Signatures and more!

2023-24 Donruss Optic Basketball checks into the game on May 24!

Other notable sports cards releasing in May 2024 include:

• 2023-24 Panini Recon Basketball – May 1
• 2024 Bowman Baseball – May 8
• 2023-24 Donruss Soccer – May 10
• 2023-24 Panini Select Basketball – May 10
• 2023 Panini Chronicles WWE – May 24

Upcoming Video Game Releases

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (Remaster) — May 23

Return to Rogueport in this enhanced version of this Nintendo classic!

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door was originally released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2004. The game followed Mario (in his 2D paper form) on another journey to save Princess Peach, who is kidnapped by an alien society called the X-Nauts. In the meantime, Mario becomes involved in the search for a mystic treasure. The game received excellent reviews and fans have eagerly awaited a modern release. They won’t have to wait much longer!

The Paper Mario series, unlike other Mario games, is a roleplaying game (RPG) with platformer elements and puzzles. The Nintendo Switch release offers revamped graphics, an updated soundtrack and quality of life improvements, such as the Partner Ring, which allows players to quickly switch between partner characters.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door releases on Nintendo Switch on May 23!

Other notable video games releasing in May 2024 include:

• Homeworld 3 – May 13
• Braid: Anniversary Edition – May 14
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 – May 21
• System Shock – May 21
• MultiVersus – May 28

Upcoming Film Releases

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes — May 10

Follow a young ape on his quest to preserve peace in the newest Planet of the Apes movie!

Nearly 300 years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), apes have emerged as the dominant species on Earth, and humans have regressed to a primitive state. While Caesar — the original leader of the Ape civilization — promoted peace between the apes and humans, a new ruler by the name of Proximus Caesar would rather enslave the human race. It’s up to Noa, a chimpanzee hunter, to determine the future for apes and humans alike.

The long-awaited continuation of the Planet of the Apes reboot series, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes promises just as much action as its predecessors, if not more. Fan-favorite actors such as Owen Teague, Freya Allan and Kevin Durand bring the film to life as the three main characters.

The fight for apes and humankind continues in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, releasing in theaters on May 10!

Other upcoming film releases in May 2024 include:

• The Fall Guy – May 3
• IF – May 17
• The Strangers: Chapter 1 – May 17
• Back to Black – May 17
• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – May 24