We are heading into this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and we aren’t going to lie it can be bit overwhelming and while it’s not unfair for us fans of genre films to feel a bit like Charlie preparing to visit the Chocolate Factory: What will we see? What will we learn? We will try to list the things we are hoping to see and report to you.
Marvel Studios won’t be present — in it’s movie form, at least; the TV department will be there, promoting Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter — there are three panels being held in the cavernous Hall H that are likely to offer all manner of thrills for fans and casual audiences alike. Here’s a (somewhat realistic and hopeful) wish list of what we might see.
Lucasfilm
The Friday evening panel promises appearances by Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams, producer and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and “special guests.” Could that be code for “the cast of The Force Awakens“? We can only hope — although, given the overwhelming cast turn-out at April’s Star Wars Celebration convention, you have to wonder if even a cast appearance would feel like an anti-climax of sorts. However we for one, would love to see anything they have to offer!
Warner Bros.
What we want to see is Pan and The Man From UNCLE, but I can’t see Warner Bros.’ Saturday morning presentation being about anything other than its DC Entertainment movies. Yes, I said movies; although it’s the cast and director of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that are officially announced to appear, the fact that Suicide Squad is currently in production — and a few years’ worth of getting used to Marvel Studios’ “surprise” appearances at Comic-Con — it seems entirely within the realm of possibility that at least some of the cast of the movie might show up, perhaps accompanying some early footage from the movie (yes please comic-con gods) .
(For those who think that I’m way off with these guesses considering that the movie isn’t out until Aug. 2016, remember that at last year’s Comic-Con, fans got a preview of Batman v Superman, almost two years ahead of its release.)
Independent of that, Batman v Superman has to impress. Will the in-person appearances of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor (Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams andJesse Eisenberg, who’ll show up alongside Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter and director Zack Snyder) be enough to do that? Perhaps, but it’s more likely that new footage from the movie — hoping some of which has already been seen at CineEurope — will do more to get fans pumped up. And, if Warner Bros.’ really wants to get fans excited, it might be time to introduce them to the rest of the cinematic Justice League…
20th Century Fox
Director Bryan Singer has already teased the possibility of showing fans footage from next year’s X-Men: Apocalypse during the Saturday afternoon Fox panel, but the studio has the opportunity to show off its entire 2016 X-Men franchise — which also includes Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool movie and Gambit, starring Channing Tatum — should it want to. (Deadpool, at least, has completed initial shooting, and should have some footage ready; Gambit hasn’t even started production yet) With Marvel Studios absent from the show, Fox has the chance to show temporary dominance over the Marvel faithful by showing off its plans.
That could also be helped by Fantastic Four, which is released in little over a month. Promotion for this movie has been kinda understated, and met with a mixture of excitement and apathy from the hardcore comic book fanbase. With so little time left before release — and relatively little buzz surrounding the movie — this would be the perfect time to try something big to win over what should be the core audience.
San Diego Comic-Con runs July 8 through 12 at the San Diego Convention Center.
