Welcome back to Airy Monday, our weekly foray into pop culture as it relates to religion and magic. Join us as we take note of the upcoming Xena: Warrior Princess remake, an adaptation of the Norse apocalyptic myth of Ragnarok, and Marvel's plans for Hercules in their new comic universe. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

We talked earlier last week about plans to revisit the popular 1990s television show Xena: Warrior Princess and despite some initial questions about its viability it looks like it's really going to happen. Over at Patheos, Peg Aloi discusses the continuing relevance of the original TV show and what other projects of interest may be on the horizon.

Superheroes and transgender identity are both hot topics nowadays, but what happens when you mix the two? Comics Alliance takes a look at a few examples of trans or gender-fluid superheroes, as depicted in their traditional format: the comic book.

In a couple of years, Marvel Studios plans to adapt the end-of-the-world myth known as Ragnarok to live-action, featuring their popular incarnation of the Heathen god of thunder, Thor. Before then though you can get a different take on the myth, as depicted in Fall of Gods, an illustrated book by Rasmus Berggreen. Learn more about the book and get a look at some of its illustrations here.

Have you had a chance to check out the BBC's adaptation of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell? If so you might be interested in reading this review and analysis of the series by The Cultural Gutter, which discusses the way it plays with common tropes of both Gothic and "Regency period" historical fiction.

As far as popular culture is concerned there's no better known classical hero than Hercules, the half-immortal son of Zeus. Alongside other mythic characters like Thor and Loki, Hercules has been a mainstay in Marvel's library for some time. When Marvel recently reworked their continuity it was expected that Marvel's new "diversity lineup" might shine a light on Hercules' bisexuality, as depicted in earlier comics. But according to a recent discussion with editor-in-chief Alex Alonso, it seems the new Hercules might be straight instead.

Top image by Stephen Segovia, Dennis Crisostomo, Jessica Kholinne, and Ifansyah Noor.