Before he could look to the future, Kevin Feige, boss of Marvel Studios, took a moment to look back, launching the panel with a sizzle reel of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's characters and then introducing the brand new studio logo, complete with a fanfare from one Michael Giacchino (we can only imagine the pun name the music carries: Marvel-ous News? Fanfare For The Uncommon Man And Woman?)
From there, things jumped around in terms of which movies were presented and how far they are away from reaching cinemas. First up? A certain Wakandan warrior king we met in Captain America: Civil War who is set to get his own movie in 2018...
Black Panther
Ryan Coogler, the man who made Creed, admitted it was not his first Comic-Con, but that he "sat way, way, way, way back there!" before. So it was crazy for him to be on stage at Hall H. He and Joe Robert Cole are hard at work on the script, and he seemed truly excited to start making the movie. He's already been busy in pre-production and casting, gearing up to start the cameras rolling in January, but he did bring up the Panther himself, AKA T'Challa, AKA Chadwick Boseman. Boseman himself said he thrilled to be exploring more of T'Challa's character.
But he was not the only person brought up, as Coogler also introduced Lupita Nyong'o, who plays warrior woman Nakia (who in the comics has been both a love interest and a danger to T'Challa), Creed's Michael B. Jordan as Eric Killmonger, who has his name might suggest, does not have noble intentions towards our hero and Wakanda, and, in a new piece of casting, The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira, who we reported on right here.
After some chitchat from the Panther people (including the revelation that, like Boseman, this was Nyong'o's first trip to Comic-Con, whereas Gurira is an old hand), it was time to head to a distant other world. Where a god awaited...
Thor: Ragnarok
After Feige rattled off the damned impressive list of new cast members joining the established Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba and Anthony Hopkins (the newcomers include Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban and Cate Blanchett, not forgetting Mark Ruffalo, who we already knew would show up as Bruce Banner/The Hulk),
he confirmed that the film will explain to some degree why Thor and Banner sat Civil War out.
What We Do In The Shadows' Taika Waititi recently started shooting the third Thor in Australia, so there wasn't a cut footage reel to show just yet. But he had sent some treats, including a hilarious spoof short in the Shadows' mockumentary style that purports to show what Thor has been up to. Hemsworth, displaying a similar comedy knack to his work in Ghostbusters, managed to keep the Thunder God's character consistent while turning him into the roommate from hell in Australia for a poor schlub named Daryl. In addition to a little bed in a drawer for Mjolnir (complete with pillow), he took us through a conspiracy thriller-style board for his investigation into the Infinity Stones and his thoughts on "the weird purple guy" (Thanos) who "likes to sit down a lot." There was Daryl roped into writing email correspondence to Tony Stark and Steve Rogers and an awkward coffee meeting with Banner, who was in communication with the rest of the gang, much to Thor's chagrin. We devoutly hope that this will end up as an extra on the home entertainment release, but as a Comic-Con exclusive, it was beyond special.
And then there was a blend of behind-the-scenes footage and concept art for the movie, which showed up some impressive action plans and costumes. Including a gladiator-style armour for the Hulk which has raised some fans' hopes that it means the story will draw elements from the Planet Hulk plot lines. One particularly striking concept shot saw the Hulk leaping to battle a giant creature. Marvel's team brought the armour to the Con's exhibition floor for display at their booth and you can see it below.
The movie itself arrives next year. With that part complete, the screens in Hall H darkened, then expanded, filled with mysterious energy as mist began to pour into the room. It could only mean one thing: either the Fantastic Beasts panel was still going on, or it was time for...
Doctor Strange
As the lights came back up and the mist cleared, there was Benedict Cumberbatch, Dr. Stephen Strange himself, bracing himself for the cheers and screams that habitually greet him at events such as this. After the usual talk of characters, arcs and the like, director Scott Derrickson arrived to explain the comic book's history and how the film will be channeling the weird, trippy energy.
He wondered what he'd done in a former life to deserve the cast, but he still introduced Cumberbatch's co-stars, including Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen and Benedict Wong.
Given that the movie arrives in a few months, Derrickson had a couple of actual, near-finished clips to show. One was Stephen Strange's first meeting with Swinton's Ancient One as part of his quest to heal his injured hands. It shows a light touch in terms of Strange's skepticism and his future mentor's unflappable belief in the mystical arts. She soon starts to change his mind by sending him on a brain-melting trip around the astral plane that include some very 2001-style visuals.
The other scene didn't have anything strange (no pun intended), but did feature a similar vein of humour as the snarky Doctor confronts Wong (played by Benedict Wong), who is some sort of guardian of magical books. "Just Wong?" asks Strange. "Like Adele... Or Aristotle? Drake? Bono? Eminem..." Wong is not impressed, and warns him that if a volume is stolen from the library, it means death. There's some fun interplay about how a late fee might be a maiming and then we get another montage of spectacular action. Doctor Strange makes its presence felt in October here in the UK and November 4 in the States. You can see the new Strange trailer here.
Before Feige could get properly get to talking about the next section of the panel, he was interrupted by a clip montage featuring a character who has just joined the larger MCU and made his debut in Captain America: Civil War. Yup, that famous wall-crawler we'll meet again in...
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Tom Holland (not Tom Holland, Tom Holland or even Tom Hollander) arrived on stage alongside director Jon Watts. Feige announced that they had just started filming the movie in Atlanta and gave a shout-out to Sony and producer Amy Pascal who had helped make the studio alliance possible and opened the door to bringing Spidey into the Marvel universe.
Watts talked up the "ground-level" nature of Spider-Man, as opposed to the gods, monsters and astral plane-walkers we've already met or are about to. "He's just finished puberty," Watts said, much to Holland's comical embarrassment. Did they bring some stuff? "We should really be working now," Watts admitted, before saying they'd shot some of the high school scenes and launched a wonderful, Freaks & Geeks-meets-John Hughes-flavoured look at Peter Parker's school life. He's everything you'd expect from the character: a little awkward, a little obsessed with finding love, a science nerd who secretly works on his web tech during other classes and a good friend. On stage, we got to meet some of his co-stars, including Zendaya, as character named Michelle, Tony Revolori, who will play Flash Thompson (here, as he often is in the comics, an ally for Peter), Jacob Batalon as Ned and Laura Harrier, who is Liz.
The footage briefly also included a look at Spider-Man in action (Peter at one point is watching a YouTube video of his exploits during the Civil War airport fight) and we were treated to a concept art and animatic-boosted set of scenes that included confirmation that the Vulture is definitely one of the big bads in the film, a concept further added to via new art from the film that has since appeared officially online.
With that portion complete, it was back into space again, this time to renew our acquaintance with those brawling, criminal, heroic reprobates whose adventures we continue to follow in...
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
The exuberant James Gunn bounded on stage to than the fans' commitment to both the movie and those who stayed up for hours in line. After asking Feige what should be happening next, he was interrupted by Come And Get Your Love (from the first film's Awesome Mix soundtrack) piping in through the hall's speakers and the arrival of the Ravagers, including a few new ugly faces. Loosely led by Sean Gunn's Kraglin, they mocked the audience, bantered, bickered and generally set a rude comic tone that worked well.
When the lads were finally corralled (not before tipping over the cast's chairs), Gunn brought out the Guardians' leads, or at least the ones who can actually appear on stage without CGI: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista plus Karen Gillan (back as Nebula), Pom Klementieff (as new character Mantis), Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, the golden High Priestess of a genetically-perfect people called the Sovereign), and finally, Kurt Russell, whose character was still a mystery... at least for some of the panel.
Vol. 2 apparently picks up just a couple of months after the first, and finds the Guardians further forming into a squabbling family of sorts. They agree to help Ayesha's people with a big problem, but the deal goes sour quickly. As for Star-Lord this time around? "He’s famous now in the galaxy for having saved so many people, and for what the Guardians did in the first movie,” Pratt said. "He feels like he’s part of this group, a leader of this group. He’s a little more responsible and trying to stay out of trouble, but not necessarily doing the best job."
But his Peter Quill was not the star (lord) of the first clip from the film; that honour went to Michael Rooker's Yondu (who also showed up on stage, in costume), Rocket Raccoon and Baby Groot, who is now able to walk and is clad in the most adorable mini-uniform you can imagine. Yondu and Rocket are in a jail cell for some reason, with the ravagers causing chaos. Baby (Toddler?) Groot needs to get Yondu's experimental new weapon fan (his telepathic head gear that controls an arrow), but the little guy keeps bringing the wrong thing - a cybernetic eye, a gasket, a severed toe... Eventually, he hits the jackpot and Yondu and Rocket break loose, taking out Ravagers as they go.
The second clip saw the Guardians together meeting Russell's character, revealed to be the human-shaped incarnation of Ego, the living planet){href='http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Ego_(Earth-616)' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'} who is indeed (spoiler alert), Quill's father. There is much side-splitting talk of penises between Drax, Ego and Quill that has to be seen to be enjoyed in full. Other goodies included a glimpse of Sylvester Stallone on set in character. Tango And Cash reunion!
In addition to the new footage (Gunn has only recently wrapped in Atlanta), there was the announcement that the Guardians will also appear in a new theme park attraction in Disney's California Adventure. There were some grumbles about the fact that Guardians Of The Galaxy: Mission Breakout is replacing the Tower Of Terror, but it could be something fun. It features the main cast plus Benicio Del Toro as The Collector, and the live-action footage was directed by James Gunn. See more about it below, and prepare for the movie's arrival next April.
Before the panel finally ended, Feige gathered all the various actors and directors back on stage for a big selfie, which just so happened to include one final extra person...
Captain Marvel
Yes, after months of speculation and recent word of her being in talks, Brie Larson showed up to confirm that she's playing Carol Danvers. We wrote about Larson being added to the MCU right here, and there wasn't anything more said about it aside from an Instagram picture by Larson captioned, "Just call me Captain Marvel"...
