BLACK PANTHER, THOR: RAGNAROK, SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, DOCTOR STRANGE, & GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2! MARVEL BROUGHT IT IN A BIG WAY!
Article by Adam Mast
Photos and Video by John Pugh, Christian Navarrete, and Jeff Sanders
I don’t think that anyone who attended Comic-Con in San Diego this year would dare suggest that Marvel Studios didn’t win a jam packed weekend. Here’s a glimpse at what we were treated to. No footage from the movies, unfortunately, but we do have plenty of panel footage. Enjoy, and kindly share your thoughts in the comment section below.
MARVEL STUDIOS PRESENTATION
BLACK PANTHER
One of the highlights of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR was the introduction of Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman.) This character left such an impression in that film that fans were all but immediately clamoring for a standalone movie. A BLACK PANTHER movie has always been a part of Marvel’s game plan. They just wanted to get all their ducks in a row first. Mainly, a script, a director, and a cast. I was already excited for this movie but when CREED and FRUITVALE STATION director Ryan Coogler came on board, my expectations went from high to astronomically high! Boseman will star in the title role with Michael B. Jordan, Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o filling out a stellar supporting cast. BLACK PANTHER hasn’t started filming yet, but Coogler and his cast were on hand to talk the project up. Coogler’s energy is infectious and I suspect that unlimited energy will translate to the big screen when BLACK PANTHER opens in 2018.
THOR: RAGNAROK
Taika Waititi (EAGLE VS SHARK, WHAT WE DO IN SHADOWS and the soon to be released gem, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE) has joined the Marvel family and I couldn’t be anymore excited. Waititi is sure to bring gobs of energy to THOR: RAGNAROK but he’ll bring his own brand of humor as well, and that’s reason enough for Marvel fans to rejoice. THOR: RAGNAROK has only been shooting for a short while but that didn’t keep Marvel from bringing the goods. Included; A hilarious, Waititi-directed mockumentary that answers once and for all; “Where the hell was Thor during CIVIL WAR.” According to said mockumentary, he was chilling in his apartment with his nebbish, soft spoken roommate, Darryl and sharing with him various conspiracy theories about the Marvel universe. I can only hope this mockumentary drops online because it was hilarious! Beyond that, Marvel shared a brief THOR sizzle reel. It featured a few behind the scenes clips, stunning conceptual art, and a new (and supremely badass) THOR: RAGNAROK logo.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
As is the case with RAGNAROK, SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING has only been shooting for a matter of days but star Tom Holland and director Jon Watts (CLOWN and COP CAR) still found the time to make the trip to San Diego much to the delight of a very enthusiastic crowd. What’s more, they brought footage! Granted, it was raw and very little of it touched on the action side of things. Instead, the majority of the footage in question featured Parker in his high school surroundings. The reel actually opened up with yearbook shots of all our favorite Marvel super hero performers. The HOMECOMING footage was light, breezy, and charming. The footage had a real John Hughes vibe to it and I dug that about it. It’s nice that our first glimpse at SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING was the human side. With Marvel in charge, Spidey is clearly in good hands again.
DOCTOR STRANGE
With Marvel giving fans a look at their slate a year in advance and beyond, they did take time to talk up a movie that’s coming out in a couple of months. Like GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, DOCTOR STRANGE looks to be a pleasant departure from most Marvel properties in that it isn’t a superhero movie in the conventional sense. This is more of a mind bending fantasy with the Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. Cumberbatch and director Scott Derrickson were on hand alongside Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, and Rachel McAdams. We were treated to an entire sequence from the November 4th release. The scene featured Stephen Strange’s first meeting with The Ancient One (played by Swinton.) Trippy to say the least, but in a good way. The scene was followed by a brand new trailer. I have to say, I’m really looking forward to DOCTOR STRANGE. It has a INCEPTION thing going and given that I’m a fan of that movie, it stands to reason that there’s a good chance this one is going to be right up my alley.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
James Gunn is awesome! That’s all there is to it. Marvel hiring him to direct GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was a stroke of genius and that stroke of genius is leading into GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2. This highly anticipated follow-up to 2014’s blockbuster just finished shooting and due to a rigorous post-production schedule, we wont even be seeing this bad boy in theaters until May, 2017.
Gunn was on hand and he brought several cast members including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff and Dave Bautista. Also along for the ride…the great Michael Rooker…IN BLUE FACE! That’s right! Rooker attended the Con as Yondu, and he was an energetic force to be reckoned with! Cooler still, Gunn brought along a brand new cast member. Mr. Snake Plissken himself, the legendary Kurt Russell! There’s been a lot of speculation in terms of who Russell is actually playing in this movie, and as expected, the actor was tight lipped.
Not one to come to the Con empty handed, Gunn brought a shit ton of footage to share with the crowd and it was glorious! First up; An entire sequence in which Yondu (Rooker) engages in a prison break of sorts and he does so through the aid Rocket and Baby Groot.
A stunning sequence, visually speaking, with lively work by Rooker and Bradley Cooper but make no mistakes… It’s Baby Groot who left the biggest impression! With his childlike innocence and puppy dog eyes, there is very little doubt that Baby Groot will be the most talked about movie character in 2017. He’s positively adorable but don’t let those looks fool you. Baby Groot still knows how to kick ass!
Following the prison break sequence, we were treated to montage of numerous clips from the movie. These moments gave a sense of the overall tone of the film and its clear that the cast camaraderie and character rapport has only strengthened in the few years since the first picture graced the silver screen. What’s more, the footage offered up a couple of hefty spoilers! Stop reading now if you want to go into this movie with fresh eyes.
Last chance…
Moving onward…
On the minor end of spoiler territory, there was brief moment in which we see Kurt Russell face to face with one, Sylvester Stallone, making GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 and official TANGO & CASH reunion. Again, the moment was brief and gave no indication as to whether or not Sly is playing a pivotal role or just appearing in a cameo.
The larger spoiler at play was a major Kurt Russell reveal. No wonder Russell was being coy during the Q & A. Clearly, he was well aware that everything we wanted to know about his character would be unveiled by way of James Gunn’s epic sizzle reel!
Russell is playing Ego. Ego is essentially a planet in human form. If you’ve read the comics, that probably makes sense to you and for the rest of us, I’m sure it’s weirder than it sounds. In addition to this nugget of information, a priceless bit of footage featuring Star-Lord, Drax, and Ego informed us that this planet in human form does, in fact, have a penis. What’s more, there was an even bigger reveal regarding Ego, but I’m not going to spoil that one here. Having said that, it is spoiled in the video below. You have been warned!
If there was any sort of blowback during the GUARDIANS portion of the Marvel presentation, it was during an announcement in which the studio revealed that a GUARDIANS attraction would be opening at Disneyland next year. Why would such an announcement cause such an uproar? Apparently, the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ride will be replacing “Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” and a healthy portion of the Hall H crowd that didn’t take kindly to this news.
The boos quickly subsided, however, when Marvel made one final announcement during a truly epic panel:
BRIE LARSON HAS BEEN CAST AS CAPTAIN MARVEL!!
With that surprise bit of info, out walked Brie Larson! If the cheering in the room was any indication, it’s clear that Marvel has made a solid choice in casting CAPTAIN MARVEL.
All in all, Marvel brought the house down! The entire presentation went over like gangbusters but it was the “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” portion of the panel that truly obliterated everything in its wake. Long live Baby Groot!!
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