News From Comic-Con 2020

This year's Geek Mecca- a.k.a. San Diego Comic-Con- was (unsurprisingly) cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, they decided to move it online for Comic-Con@Home which ran from July 22-26. Over 350 panels, covering TV, film, and comic-books, took place over the five-day convention, with many still available to watch online.

Some highlights of the event included a panel on how the seventh season finale of The Blacklist was partially animated due to filming being shut down; an interesting discussion on why horror is (and always has been) a Queer space; An Evening with Kevin Smith; and a panel celebrating fifteen years since the release of Constantine (starring Keanu Reeves as the titular Hellblazer), which saw Reeves joining director Francis Lawrence and produer Akiva Goldsman to discuss the film and an intended sequel that was, sadly, never made.

With a lot of major film franchises not present at the event, the news coming out of Comic-Con this year might seem a little sparse, but there was still a lot of interesting stuff to whet our appetites for the rest of the year and into 2021.

The New Mutants

Given the utter saga it's taken to get this film finished, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it would just limply drop on a streaming service, especially given the coronavirus situation. Not so. As of time of writing, the film is still set for a cinema release on August 28th and director Josh Boone has pretty much said he doesn't care how the film gets released, just that it does. During the panel, the opening scene of the film was shown and it's...  interesting.

What's even more interesting is that, prior to Disney's acquisition of Fox's film assets (which includes X-Men), this was going to be the first in a trilogy of films. Had the sequels come to fruition, the characters of Warlock and Karma would have been introduced, and the "Inferno" storyline- which sees a demonic invasion of Earth- would have been adapted.

Jurassic World: Dominion

Having recently started filming again at Pinewood Studios, director Colin Trevorrow announced in the "Directors on Directing" panel that Jurassic World: Dominion would go back to using animatronic dinosaurs (used extensively in the original Jurassic Park trilogy) rather than relying on CGI and visual effects.

Trevorrow stated that “We’ve actually gone more practical with every Jurassic movie we’ve made since the first one, and we’ve made more animatronics in this one than we have in the previous two".

Bill & Ted Face The Music

Not only was a new trailer shown for the third Bill & Ted movie, it was announced that- due to the current state of things- the film would open simultaneously in cinemas (where possible) but also on demand on September 1st. 

Killroy Was Here

During the previously-mentioned Evening with Kevin Smith, the filmmaker dropped a trailer and discussed his upcoming low-budget horror anthology Killroy Was Here. 

Based on the iconic but mysterious graffiti of a cartoon man with a large nose peering over a wall (first originating during the Second World War among GIs), it offers a fictionalised account of its origins whilst showing several shorts featurng the character. Smith previously discussed the project by saying "This is a monster movie in the sense of a classic morality tale. No one wants to see you spill the blood of innocents, but when someone crosses the line and goes bad, you get to make them pay in horrible ways, and the audience cheers. We wanted to make an anthology film in the vein of ‘Creepshow.’ Killroy is like the Golem, the Boogeyman and the Grim Reaper combined."

Students from Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida participated in the project, which stars regular Smith collaborator Jason Mewes. There's no official release date but Smith says it will "probably" be released by early 2021.  

TV trailers and news

- A trailer for the second series of His Dark Materials, the fantasy adventure based on Philip Pullman's books, was shown, with Terence Stamp, Simone Kirby, Jade Anoukam and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (as the voice of Andrew Scott's daemon) announced as joining the cast. 

- Amazon's The Boys has been renewed for Season 3 (before Season 2 has even aired), with an aftershow (hosted by Aisha Tyler) also planned.

- Hulu's new Marvel show Helstrom (based on a character who, initially, was the Son of Satan) got a trailer, and a release date; the 10-episode series will air on October 16th

- Season 11 of FXX spy spoof comedy Archer got a trailer, and a release date: it will premiere on Wednesday 16th September

Release schedule delays

This news wasn't officially announced at Comic-Con but came out at the end of last week. 

- Mulan: perhaps the biggest surprise is the removal of Niki Caro's live-action adaptation of Mulan from the release schedule; originally due on August 21st, it was hoped that this could at least salvage something of the 2020 summer blockbuster season. But with Christopher Nolan's Tenet also removed from the schedule (before yesterday's news that it will open internationally before the US), it seems that studios and distributors have finally accepted that this summer is going to be a bit of a write-off. No new date has been given. 

- The French Dispatch: Wes Anderson's whimsical paean to the press has also disappeared from Disney release schedules as well. 

- Star Wars movies: Disney have announced that the three planned Star Wars movies (presumably one being directed by Taika Waititi) will now be released in December 2023, 2025, and 2027.

- Avatar sequels: the Avatar sequels (2-5) will now be released in December 2022, 2024, 2026, and 2028, meaning Disney gets Christmas sewn up for most of the 2020s.

- Death On The Nile - whilst still planned for release this year, this "sequel" to Murder On The Orient Express which will see Kenneth Branagh reprise the role of Hercule Poirot has been pushed back to October 23rd

- A Quiet Place Part 2: John Krasinski's horror sequel will now be released on April 23rd 2021 (instead of September 4th this year)

- Top Gun: Maverick - for those who feel the need, the need for speed, you'll have to wait a little bit longer to see Tom Cruise back in one of his most iconic roles; instead of a Christmas 2020 release, it will not hit screens on July 2nd 2021. 

News From Comic-Con 2019

San Diego Comic-Con celebrated its 50th birthday this year, running from July 18-21 for four days of geeky goodness. Here's some highlights of this year's event.

MARVEL PHASE 4 - AND BEYOND?

Having missed out last year's Comic-Con, Marvel Studios made a triumphant return to Hall H on Saturday evening, as studio head Kevin Feige (along with some guest stars) detailed the forthcoming MCU movies and TV shows (for Disney+) which will be released over the next couple of years.

Some things that had been rumoured were confirmed, a few things were announced that sent fans into a frenzy, and a couple of things were teased which could be interesting down the line. They also shared the rather stunning news that Avengers: Endgame has become the top-grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office, not adjusted for inflation, ending Avatar's decade-long reign.

So buckle up, here's the scoop on Phase 4 (or whatever the hell we're meant to be calling it now).

BLACK WIDOW
Directed by Cate Shortland
Release date: May 1, 2020

Scarlett Johansson was on hand to show the first footage from Black Widow (which is currently in production and has shot for 30 days so far). The teaser shows Johansson and Florence Pugh (who's playing Yelena Belova, a 'sister' to Natasha) knocking the hell out of each other, before ending with a shot of one of the film's major antagonists: Taskmaster. No word on who is under the mask, though.

It could potentially be David Harbour. The Hellboy and Stranger Things star is playing Alexi, part of the Soviet Union's Red Guardian project (think a Russian Captain America). Oscar winner Rachel Weisz will be playing Melina Vostokoff (aka Iron Maiden), a veteran of the Red Room training, whilst O.T. Fagbenle (The Handmaid's Tale) will be playing Natasha's fixer, Mason.

One thing that has been clarified is exactly WHEN this film takes place. Many thought that it might be a prequel/origin story, but it's since been announced that the action of the film takes place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. This'll fill in some of the gaps in Natasha's story as she went on the run after helping Captain America and Bucky escape. Plus part of the film takes place in Budapest. Wonder if we'll end up remembering Budapest very differently afterwards?

ETERNALS
Directed by Chloé Zhao
Release date: November 6, 2020

After months of speculation, leaks, rumours, and theories, the panel confirmed that Angelina Jolie would indeed be joining the MCU as part of the cast of Eternals. She'll be playing Thena, one of the immortal aliens sent to Earth by the Celestials to protect humankind from the Deviants. Sounds epic. And with a timeline set to span eons, epic might be the right word.

Joining Jolie- who was making her Comic-Con debut at the panel- are Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari (who'll be playing the first Deaf hero in the MCU), Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak (the leader of the group), Lia McHugh as Sprite, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh. A very diverse cast for a very epic movie. As someone who knows absolutely nothing about the Eternals, I'm very excited to see this come to life

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
Release date: February 12, 2021

This project had been previously announced (well, that there would be a Shang-Chi movie coming) but we had the announcement of the full title and some major casting, including the leading man. Chinese-Canadian actor and stunt performer Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience, Taken) will be taking the lead role as Shang-Chi. Apparently, the ink may still be a little wet on Liu's contract as he was only signed last week!

Shang-Chi (created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin) first hit the comicbooks in 1973 and is the son of Fu Manchu, trained in martial arts by his father then sent into the world to do his bidding. There'll be some updating of the character to avoid any of those pesky 1970s Asian stereotypes. 

Comicbook aficionados may also have had their interest piqued by the 'Legend of the Ten Rings' part of the title. The villainous Mandarin is known to use the Ten Rings in his nefarious plots. But, hang on, we've already seen the Mandarin in Iron Man 3. Well, no. Ben Kingsley's character was an actor hired as a front. But Shang-Chi will introduce the real Mandarin- and he'll be played by veteran Hong Kong actor Tony Leung (Infernal Affairs, Lust, Caution and Chungking Express). They'll also be joined by Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians, Ocean's Eight) in an as-yet-unannounced role. Interesting times ahead.

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Release date: May 7, 2021

Scott Derrickson (who directed the first Doctor Strange movie) started his film career in horror movies: The Exorcism Of Emily Rose, Sinister, and Deliver Us From Evil were all directed by him. And it sounds like he's going back to his roots- and Strange's roots- for the next film, using 'the gothic and the horror and the horrific' of the original comicbooks to make 'the first scary MCU film'.

Sounds as if Benedict Cumberbatch might need a helping hand as the Sorceror Supreme goes to places unknown... luckily, Scarlet Witch will be there for him (as Elizabeth Olsen has confirmed she'll be appearing as Wanda, and that the Disney+ show WandaVision links to the film). No other details were given, but there's still plenty of time as it's nearly two years away.

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
Directed by Taika Waititi
Release date: November 5, 2021

Natalie Portman is back in the MCU. I repeat: NATALIE PORTMAN IS BACK IN THE MCU. For me, this was one of the biggest surprises of the panel (if not Comic-Con as a whole). Earlier last week, it had been rumoured that Taika Waititi had signed on to direct a fourth Thor film (after his success with Thor: Ragnarok). So, to have it confirmed was no surprise. But to have Portman back is major, given her less-than-enthusiastic response in the past. But maybe the idea of playing Thor was enough to get her back?

No, I've not gone mad. Natalie Portman will play the Mighty Thor. This is based on a 2014 comicbook storyline where Thor loses his powers and Jane Foster is deemed worthy to wield Mjolnir, so takes on the mantle of the God(dess?) of Thunder. Alongside Portman and Chris Hemsworth (naturally), Tessa Thompson will also be back, reprising her role as Valkyrie (who, at the end of Avengers: Endgame, became the ruler of New Asgard). No word on whether Tom Hiddleston will pop up, but you never know...


ONE MORE THING...

As if all of this wasn't enough, Feige couldn't help but tease a few more ongoing projects: sequels to Black Panther and Captain Marvel are in development (no surprise to either of those), as is James Gunn's Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3. But there's also going to be a Fantastic Four movie and a movie about... mutants (read: X-Men). Then to REALLY end things on a high, they announced this....

BLADE!

Well, not only did they announce the project - they also announced the new leading man. Double Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Green Book) will be playing the vampire hunter (previously played on screen by the utter legend that is Wesley Snipes). No confirmed release date but a very exciting announcement.

So there we have it! As if this wasn't enough, there's still this year's Disney expo (D23) in August - so there might be more news then!

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OTHER FILM NEWS

IT: CHAPTER TWO

One of the first trailers to hit from SDCC this year was the frankly nerve-jangling one for It: Chapter Two:

Set 27 years after the events of the first film, the now adult Losers Club (played by Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader amongst others) return to Derry to face off with the evil Pennywise for the last time. Bill Skarsgård still looks absolutely terrifying as the demonic clown, and you can even see a glimpse of the scene which apparently uses the most amount of fake blood ever in the movies. Poor Jessica Chastain...

HALLOWEEN

Sticking with horror for the moment, it was announced that- due to the success of last year's Halloween reboot- two more films are on their way. Entitled Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, they'll be released in 2020 and 2021 respectively.  

TOP GUN MAVERICK

A trailer dropped for next year's Top Gun: Maverick. 34 years since the first film, Maverick still has that need for speed:

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE

At the Terminator: Dark Fate panel, it was revealed that Edward Furlong would be returning to his iconic role as John Connor for the first time since Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which was 28 years ago. What's interesting is that Dark Fate is essentially a direct sequel to Judgment Day (thus disregarding Rise Of The Machines, Salvation, and Genisys). Considering the critical drubbing Genisys got, a reboot of it mightn't be too bad an idea.  

JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOT

I didn't know this was in the works, so it tickled me immensely to see that Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes were reuniting for another Jay and Silent Bob movie. Taking a satirical look at reboots, remakes, and sequels, the film will see Jay and Silent Bob return to Hollywood to stop a reboot of the Bluntman And Chronic movie from getting made. Trailer is here (it's Not exactly Suitable For Work, but would you expect anything less?)

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TV NEWS

It's rare that Comic-Con will give me more TV stuff to be excited about than movies, but that was definitely the case this year. There's a lot of really good TV stuff on its way. 

STAR TREK: PICARD

Sir Patrick Stewart got an absolutely storming reception when he appeared to talk about Star Trek: Picard. Since the project was announced, fans have been foaming at the mouth for more information, and we were not left disappointed. The fact that several familiar old faces popped up in the trailer was the icing on the cake.

HIS DARK MATERIALS

A rather lavish trailer for the new HBO/BBC co-production of His Dark Materials, based on the best-selling and award-winning novels by Philip Pullman. It's got a fantastic cast, headed by James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Logan's Dafne Keen as Lyra. With the scope and range of a TV show, hopefully it'll do the source material justice.

WATCHMEN

It's rare that you'll hear me say this, but I admire Zack Snyder for his work on Watchmen. Famously thought unfilmable, he made a decent fist of it back in 2009 and- whilst it was never going to please everyone- it was as faithful as it could be (up to a point, of course). 

Ten years on, HBO have greenlit a new Watchmen series. However, this is a continuation of the acclaimed graphic novel (rather than a remake). Set in contemporary America, costumed heroes are outlawed and the doomsday clock continues to tick. With a cast including Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Frances Fisher, Louis Gossett Jr, and Tim Blake Nelson, it definitely looks worth a watch!  

THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE

I was chuffed when this project was announced. With a star-studded voice cast (Helena Bonham Carter, Mark Hamill, Taron Egerton, and Alicia Vikander to name but a few) and the same attention to detail and craftsmanship that made the original film such a beloved classic, August 30th can't come quickly enough for me.

THE WITCHER

For those looking for their next sword-and-sorcery fix, The Witcher looks to deliver that in spades. Henry Cavill stars as Geralt of Rivia, and he's supported by Freya Allan, MyAnna Buring, Lars Mikkelsen, and Jodhi May. 

This show will be based on the novels and short stories by Andrzej Sapkowski, rather than the video games (in fact, showrunner Lauren Schmidt has said the show will not be adapting the video games). Henry Cavill was on hand during the panel to talk about the project: 

Sorry... where was I? 

OTHER TV NEWS 

Other bits of interesting TV news: 

• It's been confirmed (to nobody's great surprise) that Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. will conclude its run after Season 7.

• FX's spy cartoon series Archer has been renewed for an eleventh season! For the past few years, they've played with genre as the main character has been in a coma but, for Season 11, we're back to the real world- and Archer will be waking up! 

• Rick Grimes' spin-off movie (from The Walking Dead) will be released in cinemas only. Maybe that should have come under movie news instead?

So, there we go. Lots to look forward to in the coming year!

News From Comic-Con 2017

It wouldn't be July without a round-up of some of the big and interesting news coming out of this year's San Diego Comic-Con. Running from July 20th-23rd, it showcased some of the big upcoming events in the world of TV, film and entertainment.

At the DC Panel, the first order of business was an absolutely kickass new poster for Justice League, followed by an equally kickass new trailer:

It was announced that the upcoming Flash movie will now be called Flashpoint and will be based on Geoff Johns' 2011 comic book series which sees major repercussions in the DC universe due to Barry Allen saving his mother from being killed. This is a very interesting and quite ballsy move which will allow them to essentially press the reset button on DCEU so far (if they want to).  

Both Suicide Squad 2 and Shazam (without Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam) are due to start filming next year, whilst Joss Whedon will also start working on his Batgirl project in 2018 as well. Wonder Woman 2 is confirmed, with Geoff Johns already working on the script. Justice League Dark, Green Lantern Corps and The Batman (which WILL feature Ben Affleck as Batman, despite rumours to the contrary) make up the roster of DCEU films so far. 

There was no mention of the standalone Cyborg movie, Man Of Steel 2, Nightwing or Gotham City Sirens (the Harley Quinn/female villain spinoff) but there was new footage shown from Aquaman.

Marvel released several new posters, trailers, and pieces of concept art. The official poster and trailer for Thor: Ragnarok was dropped and looking absolutely epic:

New footage was also shown from Black Panther, featuring T'Challa and two of the Dora Milaje spying on someone in a casino. The footage also showed villains Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) and Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) in action. There was also a new teaser poster:

As well as a new teaser poster, several new cast members for Ant-Man And The Wasp were revealed. Joining Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, and Michael Douglas in the Ant-Man sequel will be Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster/Giant-Man and erstwhile Catwoman Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne (Hank Pym's wife and the original Wasp). 

It's also been revealed that Captain Marvel will be set in the early 1990s (before the events of Iron Man). Samuel L. Jackson will be returning to the MCU as Nick Fury- but will be without the iconic eyepatch, as Fury still has both eyes at this point. It's also been revealed that Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) will be facing off against the Skrulls- an evil galactic race of shapeshifters.

There was no new footage from Avengers: Infinity War but the footage shown at the recent Disney D23 event was given another airing- to a rapturous reception. The footage has yet to be released officially (and we'll probably need to wait until Thor: Ragnarok for that). Although there is an interesting new three-part poster to advertise Infinity War which shows most of the heroes:

Away from the comic book franchises, there were new trailers for the upcoming Blade Runner 2049 (with Harrison Ford reprising his role as Rick Deckard, alongside Ryan Gosling and Jared Leto), Steven Spielberg's hotly-anticipated adaptation of Ernest Cline's cult novel Ready Player One, the remake of The Watcher In The Woods, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, Jigsaw (previously titled Saw: Legacy) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle:

In TV news, there were panels for The Walking Dead, Marvel's The Defenders (which featured a surprise appearance by Sigourney Weaver), Twin Peaks, Game Of Thrones, Westworld, Stranger Things, and Battlestar Galactica among others. At the Doctor Who panel, it was announced that Mark Gatiss will appear in the upcoming Christmas special (which will be both Steven Moffat and Peter Capaldi's final episode) with a superb trailer dropping shortly after which confirms the episode title as the rather magical Twice Upon A Time. 

There was also a special panel to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Yep. 20 years. Makes you feel old, doesn't it? OK, maybe just me.

So, as usual, a lot of exciting stuff coming our way in the next year or so!