Shakespeare is often regarded as high-brow, prestige literature. However, in his own time the Bard was at the forefront of edgy, exciting pop culture. Shakespeare’s plays are filled to the brim with mayhem and murder, lust, betrayal, even cannibalism. This class will explore how Shakespeare’s works continue to be modernized and adapted for today’s audiences. What happens when Romeo and Juliet is reimagined as a rom-com set in a zombie apocalypse? How does a magic show ask us to rethink misdirection, illusion, and (self-)deceit in Macbeth? What if Ophelia is a character in a video game who is tasked with disrupting the tragic conclusion of Hamlet? How do sci-fi comics help us understand what it means to explore new worlds and colonize them, as in The Tempest? Buckle up and find out.