All the Comic Con 2014 news you need to know
Forgot about Comic-Con this year? Couldn’t afford it? Could afford it but couldn’t afford the hotel? We’ve got you covered:
SUNDAY
As the convention came to a close, the juiciest bits of news leaked out.
ARROW: Guess who the new villain is? Oh yeah, Ra’s al Ghul.
ANT-MAN: None of the questions fans wanted answered were answered. For those not in the know, Cornetto Trilogy and “Scott Pilgrim” director Edgar Wright had been developing the film since 2006. In May, it was announced he would be leaving the project, due for July 2015.
The film’s star, Paul Rudd, was joined by new director, Peyton Reed. It was Reed’s 20th anniversary of attending the convention. Evangeline Lilly and “House of Cards’” Corey Stoll were announced as new to the cast, while the panel avoided questions surrounding a chunk of crew and three actors leaving the film in the past week.
GODZILLA: Rodan, Mothra and Ghidorah, oh my! They’ll all be appearing in the sequel.
TRUE BLOOD: The (surviving) cast reunited for a final, emotional Comic-Con appearance as the series finale comes closer and closer to its final night on August 24.
MARVEL: If there’s one thing worth noting first at Hall H’s biggest panel of the weekend, it’s Robert Downey Jr.’s shoes. Seriously, who else can pull those off if not Iron Man himself?
The crowd of 6,100 were not let in on many future Marvel projects, including giving any truth to “Doctor Strange” rumors or talking about known projects such as “Captain America 3.” However, the crowd was treated with footage from “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” They also released two new posters showing Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver and Paul Bettany as The Vision.
MAD MAX: On Saturday, visitors were treated to a full trailer of the upcoming “Mad Max” (2015). The film stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron and is directed by George Miller. You may remember his name from the original “Max.” You can find the trailer below.
SUPERNATURAL: Ready for demon Dean, a maybe-musical in season ten and a few more seasons after chock-full-‘o-Crowley? Showrunner Jeremy Carver also hinted at some post-mortum fan-favorite returns and some upcoming “strong” female characters.
THE HOBBIT: Have you ever wanted a trailer for a teaser trailer to lead up to a full trailer? Well, they have one for the third “Hobbit.” The teaser hits the web on Monday. Oh, and if you were there and saw a shorter, evil looking jester costume — it was probably Peter Jackson.
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SATURDAY
Everyone’s talking Game of Thrones, Marvel on Saturday, spreading yesterday’s headlines and getting excited for Marvel’s afternoon panel. Here’s the latest:
BATMAN: Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman’s outfit was shown in a series of new posters. The poster features a … darker Wonder Woman than most know, to say the least. Exclusive footage of the film was shown to a crowded room. It was shown again once the panel realized the crowd wasn’t going to leave without seeing it twice.
GAME OF THRONES: Along with the release of the season four blooper reel, showrunners revealed some little crumbs of next season. Season five will visit Dorne, homeland of Oberyn Martell, where we’ll meet his older brother, Doran. Casting details can be found at Rolling Stone. News also broke that Gwendoline Christie will be joining the cast of J. J. Abrams’ Star Wars VII.
EVIL DEAD: Hail to the king, baby! Filmmaker Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, 2002’s Spider Man) announced plans to create an Evil Dead television series with star Bruce Campbell. It is unknown at this point how involved Campbell will be.
ARROW: A first look at season three was shown and can be found below.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: Marvel fans must have great organizational skills, because it’s no easy feat keeping up with all of the material they release. In addition to the news they release Saturday afternoon, Marvel Animation announced a Guardians of the Galaxy animated series, with a one-minute trailer heavily featuring characters Rocket Racoon and Star Lord.
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FRIDAY
Day two of the weekend-long convention started off with a “Big Bang” and led into fan ravings of Thursday’s “Firefly” news.
BIG BANG THEORY: Show-runners dispelled rumors of Sheldon’s leaving being the end of his relationship with Amy. There was apparently a second version of the kill that came purely from Sheldon just having a good time. Strange.
STAN LEE: The 91-year-old comic legend was set to make appearances and do signings through Friday and Saturday, but canceled last minute.
“Unfortunately, Stan Lee has lost his voice due to laryngitis and is unable to attend this year’s San Diego Comic-Con and has regrettably had to cancel his appearances,” said his spokesperson, confirming the news. “Stan is otherwise well and in good health, though he is disappointed to miss the event and wishes everyone a great time.”
FIREFLY: On Thursday night’s panel, creators of Firefly Online, the last hope for fans of the killed-too-soon show, announced that all of the original cast will be reprising their roles (even Alan Tudyk, playing multiple roles) for the online MMO.
LEGEND OF KORRA: “Avatar” fans breathed a sigh of relief at this weeks news of the animated series not being totally cancelled. Nickelodeon announced the eighth episode would be the last to be aired on television, but creators confirmed that the five remaining episodes would air online though Nick.com. Amazon, and Hulu. No word on a Netflix agreement.
THE WALKING DEAD: The season five trailer for one of AMC’s most successful shows debuted Friday. See it below.
NEWS CRUMBS AND RUMORS:
– The trailer for “Mockingjay” premiered Friday, and will be available for the public next Saturday via Best Buy.
– Neil Druckmann, author of popular video game “The Last of Us” announced with filmmaker Sam Raimi plans to adapt the game into film.
– “Community” online won’t be very different from the television series, says creator Dan Harmon.
– The Wrap is reporting that Joaquin Phoenix is in early talks to play the title character in Marvel’s “Doctor Stange.” Casting might be confirmed at Marvel’s panel on Saturday. Rumors have circulated claiming actors such as Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Justin Theroux and Jared Leto have been in talks, as well.
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THURSDAY
Day one of 2014’s Comic-Con started off with some of the weekend’s biggest news and the biggest population of fandom girls the convention may see all weekend.
BATMAN: DC Comics released a second photo of Ben Affleck’s Batman. The photo is a close up shot of the brooding crusader in the famous black mask.
Social media has honed-in on the phrase “still sad” to describe the photo. The new Batman will appear in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” 2016’s follow up to 2013’s “Man of Steel.”
(In related Batman news, a trailer has emerged for Nic Cage’s could-have-been Batman. A new documentary is highlighting what would have been a bizarre version of the superhero, made by macabre-familiar Tim Burton in 1998. Kevin Smith even penned the first version of the script.)
24: Panelists including Kiefer Sutherland spoke of the latest installment, “Live Another Day,” and confirmed that a Jack Bauer-central film is still being talked about.
Twitter fans were pleased with the news, saying executive producer Jon Cassar seemed “confident” about it.
HANNIBAL: With stars Mads Mikkelson and Hugh Dancy away, the show-runners definitely played. Season two ended with the big question, “who is actually dying and what is Hannibal going to do now?”
The big reveals at Thursday’s crowded panel included Raul Esparza’s Dr. Chilton’s possible return, Eddie Izzard being set to come return in flashbacks and the news that Abigail Hobbs will apparently also be around in some form or another. Creator and writer Bryan Fuller said the focus of season three will be Hannibal on the run with Gillian Anderson’s Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier.
THE HOBBIT: Comic-Con saw the poster for the novel’s third and final film installation, “The Battle of The Five Armies.” The poster features Smaug hovering over Laketown looking down on Bard, bow in hand. Smaug also made a big appearance, no, not as Benedict Cumberbatch, but with a massive sculpture of the the dragon in the center of the convention.
TEEN WOLF: A fifth season, with 20 episodes instead of 12. Start planning your viewing parties, and more of them.
DREAMWORKS: The panel focused discussion on upcoming film, “Penguins of Madagascar,” with panelists Craig Ferguson, John Malkovich and the Comic-Con debut of Benedict Cumberbatch. The panel was said to be one of the busiest of the day, with Cumberbatch fans shoulder-to-shoulder. They say “get there early” for a reason.
NASA: Astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Mike Finke and Bobak Ferdowski joined NASA’s division director of Planetary Science, Dr. Jim Green, to discuss the future of space missions to honor the 45th anniversary of the moon landing.
This article will be updated throughout the weekend of 2014 Comic-Con as news breaks. Check back for updates.
Contact Kristen DeSilva at kdesilva@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3895. Find her on Twitter: @kristendesilva
