It’s that time of year again. Thousands of fans come to San Deigo to get a little closer to their onscreen heroes and release their inner-nerd. With billions in box office at stake, the entertainment industry is happy to meet them. It’s time for Comic-Con San Diego 2018.
As most know, the big news out of Comic-Con is almost always the trailers that give a glimpse into the movies we’ve been craving. And despite some noticeable absences, this year’s Comic-Con is not a disappointment,.
Despite the recent huge news regarding the Disney/Fox acquisition, Comic-Con 2018 is very much about D.C. and Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers, who has been having a rough go of it with their DCEU plan, is trying to get back some excitement into their franchises. It should be noted even with regrettable missteps in films like Justice League, the D.C. universe is doing well on television through Gotham, and their CW based “Arrowverse”, bringing Supergirl, Arrow, Flash, Black Lightening, and Legends of Tomorrow shows together. It’s just been announced CW will be bringing a new character into the fold, Batwoman (aka Kate Kane), as a new protector of Gotham.
But CW is not the only game in town for D.C.. In preparation for D.C.’s own streaming service, D.C. Universe, they have released a relatively dark trailer for Titans featuring a grown Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing (Pirate’s of the Caribbean’s Brenton Thwaites) and a young Raven (new comer Teagan Croft), in a live action version of the Teen Titan comic. In it’s blatant attempt to separate itself from the other D.C. franchises, the trailer is shot dark with horror movie style effects, and the line “Fuck Batman” after we see Robin gun down several baddies. Although this comes of more teen angsty than dark. Check out the trailer below.
Moving on from TV, D.C. is also involved in the movie business, although not very profitably. And of course they’d like that to change. To that end, D.C. gave attendees a quick glimpse into the sequel of the most successful film in the DCEU, Wonder Woman. The sequel, set in the 80’s, brings back Gal Gadot and Chris Pine (presumingly playing a descendent of his original character). Warner Brothers hasn’t posted anything online, but attendees were treated to a quick non-spoiler scene of Wonder Woman taking down bad guys in the mall, which about as 80’s as you can ask for except this shot of Chris Pine rocking a Member’s Only jacket
The bigger news was the riskier venture, Aquaman. From audience reactions, and the look of the trailer, the risk might pay off. Which an interesting plot giving some origin story details into Aquaman, and some pretty amazing visuals, Aquaman looks to be what D.C needs. What Jason Momoa lacks in acting chops, he makes up for in charisma.
Another big chance, and in a very different direction, D.C. also screened the first trailer for Shazam starring Zachery Levis. The story of a young orphan who is granted the powers of a god and becomes a superhero is one that should click with a wide audience, but likely be a bigger hit with actual kids. There are the expected fun scenes of a young boy suddenly granted superhero powers (and adulthood) with his best friend. And we see there’s no shortage of DCEU tie-ins with several mentions of Batman and Superman.
Warner Brothers also released a new trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Bringing us back to Harry Potter world, J.K. Rowlings even brings us back to Hogwarts to reacquaint audiences with an old (buy younger) face, Albus Dumbledore (played by Jude Law). The trailer is about what you’d expect; reuniting us with the heroes of the first film, as well as the menacing villains. Johnny Depp is allowed to embrace his love for theatrical makeup, as usual.
And yet another potential box office from Warner Brothers was previewed; Godzilla: King of Monsters, staring Kyle Chandler (Date Night, Wold of Wall Street), Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel, The Conjuring), and Millie Brown (Stranger Things).
Godzilla: The King of Monsters brings with it a new twist to the whole Godzilla franchise, making Godzilla a bit of a necessary evil. I’m not sure how it will play out, but considering this will be followed up with Godzilla vs. King Kong in 2020, I assume we grow tired of the radioactive lizard pretty quick.
Taking a break from Warner Brothers, who is looking to do their best to compete with Disney’s Marvel/Star Wars hit parade, we get a look at Glass, the long awaited M. Night Shyamalan follow up to Unbreakable and Split from Universal Pictures.
It’s been 18 years since we met David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and Mr. Glass (Samuel Jackson). And the fact Split took place in the same universe was a well-kept secret until the end. This makes Glass a third act in itself, and potentially one hell of a trilogy cap. We are getting Willis, Jackson, and McAvoy back as our main players, along with the return of Anya Taylor-Joy as The Beasts would be victim, Casey Cooke. Joining the cast is American Horror Story veteran, Sarah Paulson, who play a psychiatrist specializing in people who think they’re superheroes. I know we’ve been burned by Shyamalan before, but this one looks promising.
Netflix was let lose a couple items. First, a teaser for Iron Fist season 2, which one would hope is better than season 1. Thanks to Marvel TV boss, Jesph Loeb, we now know Alice Eve (Star Trek) will be playing Typhoid Mary, a character from the comics with multiple personalities and telekinetic powers.
Adding to that, we know from online clues we will see Steel Serpent, Danny Rand’s former best friend, Davos (Sacha Dhawan). How the first seasons of Iron Fist was underwhelming, there’s always hopes it picks up.
Also from Netflix, Michael Peña, who just helped Ant-Man save the world has his own world saving job in Extinction. Peña plays a working guy with a wife (Lizzy Caplan of Masters of Sex) and kid, having visions of an alien invasion. When the invasion comes true he has to rely on his visions to force the solution. The star of Netflix’s Luke Cage, Mike Colter also stars.
Other than a few panels, and the teasers for the second seasons of Iron Fist, and Cloak and Dagger, Marvel was low key this year. It’s not overly surprising considering the timing; Ant-Man was just released, but we’re holding out hope we may seem some Captain Marvel footage soon.
There were also trailers for the mid-season return of Fear the Walking Dead, and Fox gave us a great little sampling of what to expect this season on Family Guy, which will include digs on Kanye, Stanger Things, and Seth McFarlane’s own The Orville.
Speaking of The Orville, we get a first look at Season 2 of the show many Star Trek fans felt was more in spirit with the original Star Trek than Star Trek:Discovery.
We also got our first look at Anson Mount as Captain Pike in Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery, the show that kicked off CBS’s streaming service and was surprisingly good.
Conspicuously absent was HBO for shows like Westworld. But, looking forward to more Comic-Con to come.
