Popverse's top stories of the day

• COVID left fans wanting the personal touch from their local comic stores
• Think Spy x Family is just a cute slice-of-life anime? You aren't ready for what is coming in season 3 and beyond
• Dan Mora, Scott Snyder, and Frank Miller lead an all-star line-up in Artist Alley for New York Comic Con 2024

When you’re creating a show about the Greek gods, casting is everything. Few people could embody the vain and paranoid version of Zeus we saw in Kaos on Netflix quite like Jeff Goldblum, but there was another character that needed serious consideration when casting. For Misia Butler, who portrayed Caeneus in the show, bringing his lived experience as a trans man to the character was particularly emotional.

Those who are up on their Greek myths will know that Caeneus was born a woman but, after being raped by Poseidon, was transformed into a man because Greek mythology is not a family-friendly place. For Butler, the character was one that has been on his mind since he was young and he had an immediate emotional response to playing Caeneus in KAOS. “I think it was my first day of filming, we were doing this scene – my audition scene – where me and another character are just on a bench just chatting for a long time, and I was so moved. And afterward, I saw [show creator Charlie Covell] was really moved too. We both were crying and hugging.”

Butler had plenty of great things to say about the character’s writing, but simply seeing the positive representation of a trans character clearly spoke to him. “I just know that if I was watching this scene as a child – as the child that I was, I would… feel immeasurably seen and just have had a much stronger experience because I would have been represented in such a strong way.”

That positive representation along with the inspired performances of the cast that includes Jeff Goldblum, Cliff Curtis, and David Thewlis has seen KAOS become one of the most popular new shows on Netflix.

Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out our guides to upcoming movies, upcoming TV shows, upcoming comics, and upcoming comic conventions. If you're looking for specific franchises or genres, we have all the upcoming MCU, upcoming Star Wars, upcoming Star Trek, and upcoming DC movies & TV for you. If you're a fan of superheroes and not specific to just Marvel or DC, we have overall guides to all the upcoming superhero movies and upcoming superhero TV shows (and new seasons) as well.