If I am being honest, I should have wrote this post yesterday as Comic-Con is already underway. I have no excuse for it, so let's just move on shall we? Yet another Con and another year I am not in attendance.
This year however is different as I am closer to San Diego than I have ever been before, now that I am a resident of Las Vegas. I think it would be 4-5 hour drive if I am correct in that. Either way it is close and now it becomes feasible for me to make it there. Next year....next year.
So since I am not there, I am going to go ahead and write posts all this weekend that cover what was announced at Comic-Con and offer my opinions on much of it. It is a bit like a game of telephone in that I am relating a story second hand. However, unlike that great game from childhood, the information will not change in the second telling. With that said, let's go ahead and dive in.
For this first post, I am going to list the five burning questions I have going into this year's Comic-Con. They may not be the same five you have or any number of film websites decide to highlight, but they are mine.
1) What films is Marvel going to announce for their Phase 3 slate and beyond?
Marvel Studios is going to be the last presenter in Hall H on Saturday night. Their panel is listed as 1 hour in length and based on the activity they have been engaged in and what is rumored to be discussed, an hour may not be enough.
First we know there will be some coverage for Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. Both are films the studio is releasing in 2015. I think with AOU you will not see the entire cast together on stage like you did for the first Avengers movie. Instead you might have one or two stars from it and some concept art or posters and a sizzle reel of early footage. For Ant-Man, I think Marvel has some work to do in order to win back fans after what went down with Edgar Wright. I think the hiring of Peyton Reed for director and Adam Mckay to punch up the script were both good, solid decisions by Marvel. But I do think you will see some sort of goodwill gesture to fans regarding Ant-Man during a portion of the panel.
But now that leaves the question as to what else will they announce. As of this writing, here is the schedule Marvel laid out for Phase III and beyond:
May 1, 2015 – The Avengers: Age of Ultron
July 17, 2015 – Ant-Man
May 6, 2016 – Captain America 3 (Untitled)
July 8, 2016 – Unannounced
May 5, 2017 – Unannounced
July 28, 2017 - Unannounced
November 3, 2017 - Unannounced
May 4, 2018 – Unannounced
July 6, 2018 - Unannounced
November 2, 2018 - Unannounced
May 3, 2019 – Unannounced
Now when you look at that schedule, there are alot of blank spots to fill. However, when you look closer at the rumors that have been circulating for some time, as well as chatter leading up to the Con, you can make some pretty safe assumptions about what films will be announced. First, I think you will definitely see Doctor Strange being announced and Marvel will most likely introduce the actor playing him to the folks in Hall H as well. I also feel strongly that Black Panther will get his own film and it will be announced. John Boyega, who is currently the lead in Episode VII, made several posts to Twitter regarding actively pursuing a lead role in a Marvel film. Black Panther would be a great fit for him and I think is a strong enough character with an interesting enough story to warrant a stand alone film.
You will definitely see an announcement on the date for a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel. All involved have made it clear they want to make another one and the end card on the first film, to be released wide in two weeks, states that the Guardians of the Galaxy will return. Speaking of sequels, you will also see a third Thor film announced during the panel.
That is four films, which leaves four slots still open. One of those will the third Avengers film for sure. So now we are left with 3 spots. Now we get into real speculation time (puts on highly accurate prognostication goggles). Robert Downey Jr. made a statement to a reporter earlier this week that he would be interested in making an Iron Man 4 if Disney and Marvel came up with the right offer. Then a scant two days after that Marvel added a date to their schedule. That date being May 4th, 2018. Now these two items could not even remotely be related. But it does seem to be an awful coincidence that these two things happened so close to one another. So I will say that I think a 4th Iron Man film is coming and it will be announced in Hall H on Saturday.
2 slots left you say? Ok, I also feel strongly that Marvel will finally pull the trigger and make a female led film with Captain Marvel. It is their best character to transition to the big screen and by making a female led superhero film it puts Marvel in the Hunger Games business and also moves them into the forefront over DC/WB as well, with the latter seemingly unable to get a solo Wonder Woman film off the ground. In addition, it demonstrates their commitment to diversity in their cinematic universe.
1 to go. I am going to go with another sequel for this last spot. I think the November slot in 2018 could go to a sequel to Doctor Strange. I think if Marvel announces the actor for the part that I think they will, that series could be one to watch and certainly one that could warrant sequels.
So with that all said, here is my revised schedule for Marvel's slate of films:
May 1, 2015 – The Avengers: Age of Ultron
July 17, 2015 – Ant-Man
May 6, 2016 – Captain America 3 (Untitled)
July 8, 2016 –Doctor Strange
May 5, 2017 – Thor 3
July 28, 2017 - Guardians of the Galaxy 2
November 3, 2017 - Black Panther
May 4, 2018 –Iron Man 4
July 6, 2018 - Captain/Ms. Marvel
November 2, 2018 - Doctor Strange 2
May 3, 2019 – The Avengers: The Infinity Gauntlet
I think Black Panther and Ms. Marvel could switch spots, but otherwise I think that is the schedule we will be looking at here and what will, mostly, be announced in Hall H.
2) Will Benedict Cumberbatch be playing The Sorcerer Supreme?
Kind of dovetailing into my previous burning question is one related to just who Marvel will announce as their Doctor Strange to those assembled in Hall H. The early shortlist for the role included actors such as Jared Leto, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Jon Hamm. Now out of that list, only Cumberbatch has been spotted already at Comic-Con. However, before we jump to conclusions we should look to what other films Cumberbatch could be promoting. First, there is the last Hobbit movie which will be a part of Warner Brothers panel on Saturday night. In addition, he was there to promote the work he is doing for Dreamworks animation.
Does that mean definitely that Cumberbatch will not be Strange? No, not at all. It just makes it clear that he could be there for other panels and not for Marvel's.
With that said, my gut feeling is that Cumberbatch will be announced as Strange. He embodies alot of the traits of the character and he is a big enough star to attract an audience to this film. A film that will be Marvel's first foray into the more mystical side of their vast universe. I think by casting Cumberbatch Marvel will be able to really generate strong interest in the film very early on and attract people who may not be interested in a film of that nature normally.
It is a good decision and I think Hall H will go absolutely nuts when Cumberbatch takes the stage after being announced. I know I am excited for that news and think he will be fantastic in the role.
3) Just what is Warner Brothers going to show during their panel in Hall H?
If you happen to look at the schedule for the two hours that Warner Brothers is occupying Hall H you will see no mention of a Batman, Superman, or Dawns of any sort. Does this mean Warner Brothers will squander their chance to generate hype for their DC Mega-film? No way. Warner Brothers is going to make a big splash this year in Hall H and it will be entirely to do with Batman v Superman.
Frankly I do not think they have any choice in the matter. Marvel has been killing them when it comes to Hall H and the Con crowd for years. Each year it is the Marvel panel that is the most anticipated and the biggest draw and each year Marvel delivers. There was the year they had Tom Hiddleston come out in full Loki gear and address the crowd in character. Or there was the time that Marvel had the full cast of the Avengers announced and present on stage. The point being that Marvel is the old pro at working the crowd in Hall H and the fans online who later get the news secondhand.
Now Warner Brothers is learning and are finally ready to step into the shared universe game. They are very late to the game and are pretty far behind when it comes to the score. But I am just glad they finally embraced a shared DC universe and I will finally get to see something on screen I never thought I would, which is Superman and Batman in the same film. That is something I have dreamed about since I was a little kid reading comic books in the basement of my parents house. I am excited for what Warner Brothers is doing and have high hopes for the film.
But the rapid geeks in Hall H are a tougher sell than I and have been raised to expect alot because of Marvel. Can WB bring it to Hall H? Yes, I do think they can. I think by not even putting Batman v Superman on the schedule they leave it open as to whether they will include anything from it. Now everyone can safely assume they will include it into their presentation, but not outright announcing it it does give them some element of surprise.
I also think they have a major ace in the hole when it comes to the big three. If they can have Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, and Gal Gadot all in attendance, that would be huge. Then if they were to debut an image of all three in costume and then a sizzle reel from the film, that could cause some major eruptions in Hall H.
I think Warner Brothers and DC have the advantage this year at Comic-Con over Marvel if I am being honest. They can showcase a film that features three of the most popular comic book characters of all time.
They are the new kid on the block and I think naturally will draw more attention over the more senior class in Marvel. Plus, they have more to prove.
But it ultimately is up to Warner Brothers and I think they will kill it and leave many DC fans happy.
4) Will Chris Nolan actually show up in person this year?
So yeah this was on my original list I wrote up two days ago. Now, obviously it has been answered and indeed Nolan did show up today to promote Interstellar. But it still was a good question and one worth asking. Nolan famously has chosen not to attend Comic-Con every year, even when he was directing geek friendly properties like Batman and Inception. He just didn't go and really had no interest to. No one knows quite why, perhaps it has to do with how much Nolan dislikes these sort of things. He is a filmmaker who dislikes the promotion side of the job and tries to minimize that aspect of it as much as possible.
With that said, I am glad to see him show up today and break the pattern. I think Interstellar is going to be a tremendous film in its own right and certainly does not need promotion at this point to be a success among the mainstream movie going public.
As a funny side note, it was widely reported that he kind of took the air out of the room in Hall H due to how serious and subdued he was. But that is to be expected from him as that is who he is. I certainly don't hold it against him and feel those in Hall H should not as well. Maybe, just maybe, this is the start of Nolan becoming a regular presence at Comic-Con. Only time will tell.
5) Why did Disney/Pixar sit this one out?
Many online journalists, as well as fans, were surprised to see Disney deciding not to bring anything to Comic-Con this year. This is especially surprising when you consider they are releasing a new film in the big daddy of all Comic-Con properties: Star Wars. The geeks in Hall H are tried and true, blue blooded, Star Wars fans and many would chew their own arm off to see footage from the film or get a chance to hear and see any updates on the production.
But see that is where the key to Disney's decision lies I think. They know the geeks will see the film, they know the 30 and 40-somethings that grew up on Star Wars will come out in droves with their kids, and they know even the most casual of movie-goers will pay to see a new Star Wars movie. In short, Disney does not need to promote the film at Comic-Con period. The film will promote itself. It is virtually guaranteed to make a billion dollars in Box Office between domestic and international takes, even if Disney does the bare minimum of promotion for it.
The other thing to consider is Disney's own convention, which is it's D23 Expo. The D23 Expo is held every year in Anaheim, CA and it is where Disney showcases all of their new films, television shows, books, etc that they are involved with or releasing in the near future. Many years ago it used to be a very niche convention and dwarfed in size to SDCC. But over the last several years it has grown to be a real competitor to San Diego when it comes to fan interest and attendance.
D23 is where Disney is going to promote Episode VII, their future Pixar films, and any additional films they have scheduled for release in the next few years, including the next Brad Bird film Tomorrowland. Their move this year to sit Comic-Con out makes it clear that Disney is likely going to no longer promote their films and products at Comic-Con in the future and will rather promote them exclusively through their own D23 Expo.
This change saddens me a great deal if I am being honest. Star Wars has had a long history at Comic-Con and it is really a shame that will likely not continue. Disney feels it is making a good business decision, which may be true. But are they making the right decision when it comes to history of Star Wars and Comic-Con? Are they making the right decision when it comes to the fans and their loyalty to the brand? I don't think so.
We are long past the time when large corporations do what is right by the people who support them.
Now everything comes down to shareholders and profits. It is sad in many ways. But perhaps with Disney stepping aside it can open a spot for someone new to come into Comic-Con and promote their own films and properties.
For now it is unexpected, but certainly not surprising, what Disney chose to do by sitting it out. I just hope it does not indicate a trend among the major studios, who might decide to start their own expos like Disney did.
There are seriously so many panels this year at Comic-Con, all promoting so many different things. My questions really stayed in the realm of films, as that is what I write about on here. But in the end Comic-Con is about comic books, it is a opportunity for so many comic book artists and writers to step into the light and be recognized for their work and meet those people whom their work has touched. I think the media, both online and otherwise, often loses sight of this fact.
Hopefully Comic-Con will be great this year. For now I will look forward to attending next year.
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