Greetings all you Marvel geeks and comic fans! The weekend of San Diego Comic-Con 2016 has officially come to a close and the Marvel fans, like myself, were blessed with HUGE news and much to look forward to in this continued cinematic saga! So, lets get to it!
Starting with the TV Shows…
- The cast of Agents of SHIELD were present including executive producer Jeff Loeb to deliver secrets on the next season. I wasn’t present at Comic Con but the biggest news of all was that Ghost Rider will be officially coming this season! Actor Gabriel Luna will be cast as Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider in this season. After its failed movie attempt in 2007, I’m sure the big boys in Marvel will make this character right. After the fallout from season 3, I wonder how Ghost Rider will place in the storyline next season. We’ll have to wait and see!
- On the Netflix side of things, Marvel presented trailers for Iron Fist, Luke Cage and mini trailers for Daredevil season 3 and The Defenders, which is confirmed for release in 2017. Iron Fist is currently filming now. I’m sure Iron Fist will premiere sometime in 2017, followed by The Defenders, and then Daredevil season 3. The trailers for Luke Cage and Iron Fist was simply awesome. I’m definitely binge watching Luke Cage when it comes out later this year.
Now, the movies. Kevin Feige generously brought along directors and cast for the upcoming films in Phase 3. Let’s take a look.
- Currently, Thor: Ragnarok is filming right now so none of the cast made an appearance. However, Hulk’s gladiator armor was revealed at the SDCC event! This confirms that there will be a Planet Hulk theme to this movie. I’m not too familiar with the Planet Hulk storyline and how he will fit with Thor’s 3rd movie, but I’m uber excited that Hulk will get some added equipment rather than smashing everything in his path.
- Also showcased at SDCC was the unveiling of the 13 foot tall Captain America statue, commemorating his 75th Being the huge captain America fan I am, the statue looks incredible and it’s my dream to see this up close! This statue will now travel to Brooklyn, NY in Prospect Park. Fitting, considering this is where Captain America was born.
- The cast of Spiderman: Homecoming was present at SDCC along with director Jon Watts. Spiderman himself, Tom Holland, was present along with his high school classmates. They showed an exclusive sneak peek of the film to the fans at SDCC but it is not released to the public. It’s described that this movie will be a straight up high school movie. It’s going to be more grounded than any other MCU film. They’ve also confirmed that Vulture will be the main villain of the film portrayed by Michael Keaton. I’m really excited for this movie because looking at the cast, they all look like they could be in high school. So, seeing this movie through the eyes of high school students will be very different from the other movies we’ve seen
- Director Ryan Coogler and cast of Black Panther was also present. They’ve also announced that Michael B. Jordan will play Erik Killmonger and Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o will play Nakia. It just continues to amaze me that Marvel is bringing in quality actors/actresses to play these characters. The script is almost finished and filming is set for January 2017. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for this movie!
- The cast of Doctor Strange was, of course, present and they brought along the 2nd trailer for the movie, premiering in November of this year! This trailer revealed more of this new direction Marvel is going with this movie. It shows Doctor Strange learning the mystic arts and bending reality. The last half of the trailer messed with my mind, with all the buildings collapsing and reforming. No doubt, that this movie will be Inception on steroids.
- The exciting part was probably the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 segment. The director, James Gunn showed up along with Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and a few others. One, in particular, that showed was Kurt Russell, who is confirmed to play Star-Lord’s father, Ego the Living Planet. I have no knowledge of the comics and the characters in Guardians of the Galaxy. So, I’m not sure how a planet can be someone’s father. I’m sure this will be explored in the 2nd They also had a handful of people dressed up as ravagers and Michael Rooker dressed up as Yondu! That was so awesome to see! Guardians wrapped up filming a few months ago so they did bring along a clip for everyone to see, and not released to the public. Not cool, Marvel.
- The most exciting news of all was that Marvel officially announced Academy Award winner Brie Larson will be playing Captain Marvel, which will release in 2019. I absolutely LOVE Brie Larson. Marvel picked the right choice for the first female hero that will get her own movie. Like I said before, they’ve done a tremendous in picking quality actors. From the Robert Downey Jr. to Chris Evans, now to Brie Larson. I’m sure Larson will be reading a lot of Captain Marvel comics to study up and bring this character to life on the bring screen!
Thank you, Marvel for bringing so many presents! It’s the waiting game I hate the most because there is just so much to look forward to. What are you guys looking forward to the most? Thanks for reading!
-Josh