User blog:LoveWaffle/All the Marvel News from San Diego Comic-Con 2016

A whole bunch of Marvel news came out at this past weekend at Comic-Con, so in case you missed it:

Movies
Marvel Studios came back to Hall H after skipping Comic Con altogether in 2015. Moderator Chris Hardwick asked Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige why they didn't show up last year, to which Feige said they only come to Comic Con if they didn't have a lot to share. This year, they absolutely did. Before anything began, they showed off a new Marvel Studios logo. The studio's graphic that comes before their movies now includes clips from the (now) 13 films in the MCU in addition to comics panels.

As a side note, FOX got really upset their X-Men: Apocalypse trailer leaked after their showing at SDCC 2015, so they decided to skip this year. If you were hoping for information about Hugh Jackman's last Wolverine movie (like an official name) that comes out next March, or an update on a Deadpool sequel, or a new release date for that Gambit movie with Channing Tatum, or even some word about those X-Force or New Mutants movies in development, or what the next main X-Men movie would be, you're out of luck.

Black Panther
Black Panther was out first with star Chadwick Boseman and director Ryan Coogler. This was Boseman's first Comic Con, while Coogler shared a story with the Hall H audience about how he was used to be one of the fans sitting in the crowd. They confirmed the movie will start production in January 2017 before introducing the rest of the additional cast - Michael B. Jordan is Erik Killmonger, Lupita Nyong'o is Nakia, and Danai Gurira is Okoye. Jordan, who was the star of Coogler's previous movies Fruitvale Station and Creed, we knew was in the movie and had some idea he was portraying a villain, but now we know which villain. Nyong'o was rumored as a frontrunner for a love interest role. The reveal of Danai Gurira was unexpected.

Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange comes out in only a few months, so Marvel didn't have much new to say. Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Mordo), Rachel McAdams (Christine Palmer), Mads Mikkelsen (Kaecilius), Tilda Swinton (the Ancient One), Benedict Wong (Wong), and director Scott Derrickson were there to introduce a new trailer. Something we didn't know until now is that apparently Benjamin Bratt is in this movie. He doesn't make an appearance in the trailer, but he's listed as a cast member at the very end of it. I'm impressed Marvel could keep his involvement with the movie a secret for so long. Is it just a voice-over role for Dormammu or Shuma-Gorath or something?

Thor: Ragnarok
Thor: Ragnarok has the opposite problem - they just started shooting, so there's not much for them to show. Director Taika Waititi took the stage to introduce a few sketches he's filmed of Thor interacting with a new roommate "Darryl." They showed some concept art for the movie that confirms an appearance from Surtur and the Fenris Wolf, and a showdown between Thor and Hulk in the Grandmaster's arena. The animated, straight-to-DVD Planet Hulk movie replaced the Silver Surfer as Hulk's final opponent with Beta Ray Bill, and it seems the MCU is doing something similar to that. Hulk's gladiator armor appeared on the show floor. I'm surprised it's an actual prop and not just CGI. Maybe there's a funny scene where Mark Ruffalo's trapped under all that?

Spider-Man: Homecoming
Tom Holland and director Jon Watts took the stage to introduce a teaser from Spider-Man: Homecoming. The footage started with a montage of High School yearbook photos of various MCU characters before cutting to Peter Parker going through a regular school day. He's frequently distracted by (what I'll just call) "Spider-Man stuff" - watching a video of his fight at the airport in Civil War instead of paying attention in science class, secretly making web fluid in his desk, overhearing a group of girls in gym playing F-Marry-Kill with the Avengers and wondering why none of them mention Spider-Man, having to leave Martin Starr's class, and getting made fun of by Zendaya's character. Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Jacob Batalon, and Zendaya came out on the stage after the teaser. Although their characters' names were not revealed at the panel, Jon Watts clarified a few of them later on in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Harrier, Revolori and Batalon respectively portray Liz Allan, Flash Thompson, and Ned Leeds, while Zendaya's character is still just known as "Michelle." Concept art was shown depicting Spider-Man fighting the Vulture, while the con's toy fair may have revealed the Shocker as another of the film's villains.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
This is easily the most exciting presentation out of Comic-Con this year. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 started by director James Gunn coming out on stage while several members of the Ravagers, seated in the crowd in full costume, heckled him and the movie's stars. "She doesn't look green to me! Hastag #NotMyMantis!" one of them yelled at Pom Klementieff. We knew Mantis, but a number of other characters were finally confirmed. The big reveal was Kurt Russell's character - Star-Lord's father, Ego the Living Planet. Elizabeth Debicki portrays Ayesha, a high priestess who enlists the Guardians' help. Chris Sullivan, Steve Agee, Stephen Blackehart, Evan Jones, Jimmy Urine, Joe Fria, and Terence Rosemore all portray Ravagers. Sullivan and Blackehart are Taserface and Brahl, while the others are portraying characters original to the film or too obscure for me to recognize. They also showed off a lot of footage: the Ravagers turning Yondu, Rocket and baby Groot over to the Kree, Star-Lord and Gamora hunting some large alien, Star-Lord calling Rocket a "Trash Panda," and Drax asking Ego's human construct (Russell) if he made himself a penis. The songs "Come a Little Bit Closer" and "The Chain" are in the Awesome Mix Vol 2. They also announced a Guardians-themed attraction replacing the Tower of Terror at Disneyland. It has something to do with breaking out of the Collector's museum, and a number of cast members (including Benicio del Toro) shot footage for it.

Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel didn't get its own thing because that movie is a little less than three years away, but it did have a big moment. Actress Brie Larson joined the multitude of cast and crew members there in a group photo at the end of Marvel's conference. A while ago, Larson was rumored to be the front-runner to portray Carol Danvers, so her appearance at the end of the conference effectively confirmed she had been cast. When we'll first see Carol Danvers is to be seen.

Netflix Stuff
I'm going to combine these all into one because Luke Cage was the only one that brought all that much. The panel was supposed to be only for that series, but when it opened with a fully-bearded Jon Bernthal talking about his upcoming Punisher series, you realized this was tackling all of them. Luke Cage came with a trailer while Iron Fist and The Defenders each had smaller teasers. Those teasers also confirmed both series would arrive some time in 2017. They also confirmed Daredevil had been renewed for a third season. Luke Cage]] showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker talked about the hip-hop influences in his series, and revealed that each episode would be named after a well-known song. He also said in an interview that he really came to Marvel wanting to do a Heroes for Hire series, so - especially given Marvel's difficulties getting an Iron Fist series off the ground, one has to wonder if they'll want Coker to head up Marvel's Luke Cage & Iron Fist: Heroes for Hire in a couple years?

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
This panel was kind of... how do I put this nicely... empty. Jeph Loeb, showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, and remaining cast members Clark Gregg (Coulson), Ming-Na Wen (May), Chloe Bennet (Quake), Iain De Caestecker (Fitz), Elizabeth Henstridge (Simmons) and Henry Simmons (Mack) were all there, but they didn't have much with them. To an extent, I kind of get that; Season 4 only started shooting a short while ago. They didn't have any new footage to show, but why did they have nothing to say? Why did they say nothing about the LMDs? Most of the panel was reminiscing about the early days of the show (which is a bad idea because Season 1 was terrible) and showed off the cast's audition footage and a gag reel, and then they opened the floor to a Q&A session. There was an awkward moment where a young kid asked the panel why Lincoln and Ward were killed off, and everyone immediately looked to Jed Whedon for an answer. Every question about the upcoming season was met with "Keep watching". The only worthwhile moment from the conference came at the very end, when they finally revealed that Ghost Rider would be a character in S4. But they just had a brief teaser for that. They didn't say which Ghost Rider, nor did they reveal an actor. They did, however, unveil his car, suggesting it would be the Robbie Reyes version. Then Marvel's website uploaded a story reporting that Gabriel Luna had been cast as Robbie Reyes. Why couldn't they announce that at the panel? Did they forget? Could Gabriel Luna not be there? Was this casting incredibly recent and they found out when we did?

Ghost Rider is the biggest name character to come to Agents of SHIELD to date, even if it is the Robbie Reyes version. This seems like a missed opportunity to get people excited about the next season of this show.

Legion
Oh, yeah, Legion was there, too. Maybe. I have no idea what panel they were at, if any, but FX released a trailer for the show over the weekend. Legion stars Dan Stevens as David Haller, a schizophrenic who is confronted with the possibility that his visions and the voices in his head might be real. The series is in a unique place right now in that it's a joint production between Marvel Entertainment and FOX, but both sides have been rather coy about how it's connected to the X-Men movies. In the comics, David Haller is a powerful mutant with multiple personalities and the son of Professor X. It's doubtful his paternity would remain the same for this series - showrunner Noah Hawley said no X-Men characters would appear in it - but then the trailer comes along and David's psychiatrist calls him a mutant. That's the most evidence we've seen so far that this series has any connection to the X movies at all. Legion is currently filming and is scheduled for an early 2017 premiere.

Actual Comics
Believe it or not, Comic Con still has comics! Who knew!?

Kidding aside, Marvel held a panel to discuss Death of X and other mutant-related comics with Axel Alonso, Cullen Bunn, Tom Taylor and Scott Koblish; one for Civil War II with Axel Alonso (again), Sana Amanat, Matthew Rosenberg, David Walker, G. Willow Wilson and Marc Guggenheim; and one for Marvel NOW! comics with Sana Amanat (again), Axel Alonso (again again), Jason Aaron, Reilly Brown, Ryan North, David Walker (also again), and Jim Zub.

Death of X
Fans of the X-Men have had their concerns about Marvel's recent treatment of their mutants, especially as they give the Inhumans more exposure than ever. Axel Alonso says "Death of X" is written to address some of them, as the series focuses on Cyclops' whereabouts between the end of "Secret Wars" and where Marvel is now in their continuity. Cullen Bunn also teased a return from Alex Summers and a showdown between Magneto and Black Bolt. The panel also discussed Uncanny X-Men, focusing on the introduction of a new Hellfire Club in issue #11 and a team-up with them and Magneto's X-Men in #13. They also revealed that, following her "Civil War II" tie-ins, All-New Wolverine's next storyline will be "Enemy of the State II." Tom Taylor said he pitched a story early on about Laura murdering a bunch of people and realized it was a spiritual successor to "Enemy of the State." "Deadpool #19" will continue the Deadpool 2099 arc, and the upcoming Deadpool Annual will be "Deadpool and his Insufferable Pals" and done in the style of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Uncanny Inhumans will have the Inhumans get their revenge on Iron Man following the events of Civil War II, and the cover to issue #15 shows Medusa shaving her head. Alonso briefly discussed the upcoming "Mosaic" series, but had little of anything new to say.

Civil War II
Rosenberg discussed Kingpin, and how Civil War is the backdrop for Fisk's plan to reclaim his title of "Kingpin" and - so topically - "make New York great again". G. Willow Wilson says Ms. Marvel is torn over her loyalties to Carol Danvers and Tony Stark in a situation that feels like "divorced parents fighting over a kid." The Fallen will look at Amadeus Cho and Skaar dealing with Bruce Banner's death, while The Accused deals with Daredevil as the lead prosecutor in Hawkeye's murder trial. Axel Alonso said Ta-Nehisi Coates did not opt in to tie his Black Panther series in to Civil War II while answering a fan's question.

Marvel also announced an epilogue called The Oath, but held back on any details. Nick Spencer later stated in an interview with Comic Book Resources that the one-shot will have a major effect on the Marvel Universe.

Divided We Stand
Not to be confused with that other Divided We Stand. There was another panel to discuss other

The Unworthy Thor will follow up on the Odinson's activities while the upcoming run on The Mighty Thor is described as "Asgard vs. Star Trek" due to its huge cast of characters. Slapstick is getting his own comic again, and won't be as "high-brow" as Deadpool. Make of that what you will. Occupy Avengers #1 comes out this fall with David Walker writing. The comic puts Clint Barton front-and-center as he reconciles with the world and leads an Avengers team made up of heroes without powers. Richard Rider will return to headline a relaunched Nova title. They also talked about Invincible and Infamous Iron Man, Untoppable Wasp, and upcoming Thunderbolts issues, but I don't think they told us anything we didn't already know.

...I think that's everything.