The annual fan event in San Diego, with its usual mix of teasers, trailers and talks, gave viewers leads on what to expect from next years hottest projects
Stranger Things season two will ramp up the 80s nostalgia
Poor Will Byers might have been rescued from the dark alternate dimension that is beginning to bleed into the town of Hawkins, Indiana (otherwise known as the Upside Down) in the Netflix smash. But it looks as if his ordeal is not yet over. As our gang of pre-teens take a trip to the local arcade to play Don Bluths Dragons Lair video game, Will suddenly sees the Upside Down flash into reality, with himself once again inside it. Whats more, a new, larger beast 10 times the size of the Demogorgon from season one and with at least six limbs appears to be marauding through the darkened skies.
The fact that this is revealed to the gothic musical strains of Michael Jacksons Thriller complete with Vincent Prices doomy narration from the classic 1983 John Landis video combined with our heroes dressing up as the Ghostbusters to carry out their paranormal investigations, just makes it all the cooler. Is that an actual ghost trap?
Michelle Pfeiffer will join Ant-Man and The Wasp
Pfeiffer was announced as Janet Van Dyne, the original Wasp in the comic books, at Marvels panel on 22 July. She will appear in Peyton Reeds upcoming sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, as the mother of the new Wasp, Evangeline Lilys Hope Van Dyne, and ex-partner of the original Ant-Man, Michael Douglass Hank Pym.
Fans of the comic books will be aware that the character of Janet Van Dyne is a subject of some controversy in the Marvel world, thanks largely to a 1980s episode in which she was assaulted by Pym during a row. Marvels latest version of the size-shifting superhero is, of course, the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang, a role that will be reprised by Paul Rudd in the new film. There has been little hint of Pyms murky past so far in the comic books big-screen transfer, so lets hope it stays that way.
Could there be The Walking Dead without zombies?
Season eight of the zombie apocalypse show looks as if it will be all about the war between Ricks followers, backed up by King Ezekels heavily armoured clan, and the Saviours, led by everybodys favourite nonchalant psychopath, Negan. But after roughly four and a half minutes of bloody warfare, its the final shot of Andrew Lincolns Rick Grimes, apparently a decade older and waking up in a hospital bed, that leaves us with the most questions. Is this some kind of flash-forward to a future without zombies?
Ben Afflecks reign as the dark knight isnt over just yet
It hasnt been the easiest time for Affleck since he signed on to play the dark knight. Pitting the DC Extended Universes two biggest beasts against each other in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice turned out to be a really bad way to launch a superhero cinematic universe. And while Affleck impressed as the caped crusader, he found himself battling against both Zack Snyders wrongheaded interpretation of Gothams shadowy defender and the Watchmen directors convoluted and clumsy attempts at world-building.
Since then, the negative publicity hasnt stopped. First, Affleck revealed he was walking away from plans to direct himself in upcoming solo outing The Batman; then his successor, War for the Planet of the Apes Matt Reeves, disclosed that he had completely abandoned his predecessors script. On 21 July, the Hollywood Reporter suggested studio Warner Bros was primed to go one step further and do its best to usher out Afflecks Batman altogether. But at the panel for DCs upcoming Justice League, the actor and director confirmed he has no plans to give up the cape.
Let me be very clear, said Affleck. I am the luckiest guy in the world. Batman is the coolest part in any universe, DC or Marvel. The actor also said he would be an ape on the ground for Matt Reeves, whose standing in Hollywood could not be higher in the wake of his triumphant shepherding of the second and third instalments of the current Planet of the Apes trilogy.
The Hulk will find his voice in Thor: Ragnarok
The green machine has been a part of the Marvel cinematic universe for the best part of a decade, but weve barely heard him mutter more than the odd word in all that time. Now, following Mark Ruffalos hints that the superheros personality is beginning to merge with that of Bruce Banner, the new Comic-Con trailer for Thor: Ragnarok showcases a Hulk whos suddenly capable of entire sentences, as he is in some comic book iterations. While a Hulk solo movie still looks a long way off, this will be a gratifying development for fans of the moody behemoth, and suggests Ragnaroks cribbing from the classic 2006 graphic novel Planet Hulk isnt just limited to the inclusion of Sakaar and all those monumental gladiator battles.
Star Trek: Discoverys new hero is Spocks sister
You might think Leonard Nimoys pointy-eared alien would have mentioned a human sibling at some point during his near half-century stint in the role, but presumably CBSs new space saga will address the previous absence of Sonequa Martin-Greens Star Fleet first officer Michael Burnham from official canon at some point during the first season. The Comic-Con panel for the show on 22 July revealed that Burnham, who is female but has deliberately been given a male first name, was adopted by Spocks Vulcan father Sarek, here played by Gotham and True Blood alumnus James Frain, as a child.
The new trailer reveals Discovery will focus on a looming conflict between the Federation and a resurgent Klingon empire. Burnham is second in command on the USS Shenzhou, whose captain is Michelle Yeohs Philippa Georgiou. The 15-episode show takes place a decade before the events of the first Star Trek TV show, and is entirely separate from the reset timeline currently being followed in the big-screen instalments. There is no word yet on whether Spock himself is likely to make an appearance.
In Blade Runner 2049, Rick Deckards world has changed beyond recognition
What kind of a movie would the original Blade Runner have been without Rutger Hauers staggering final monologue as the dying Roy Batty? It seems were about to find out, as the weekend panel for Denis Villeneuves Blade Runner 2049 revealed the replicants of mid-21st century LA now have an open-ended lifespan. A new timeline available to read online here fills in the gaps between the events of 2019, seen in Ridley Scotts doom-laden sci-fi classic, and the new episode. We discover that the Tyrell Corporation released a new model of replicant, the Nexus 8, in 2020 to replace the decommissioned Nexus 6s. These were then switched, in 2036, to the supposedly safer Nexus 9s, which also have no limit on their lifespans.
How does this feed into the age-old conundrum over whether Harrison Fords Rick Deckard is himself a replicant? Well, it certainly suggests that both he and Rachel might easily have been age-unlimited prototypes, though that would not explain why Deckard himself appears to have been subject to a very human ageing process. What it does do is remove from the Blade Runner world the wonderful pathos of the replicants short lives, surely a metaphor for the brevity of the human condition. As Edward James Olmoss Gaff tells Deckard, at the end of the original movie: Its too bad she wont live, but then again who does? Such symbolism now seems to have been itself lost in time, like tears in rain.
The robots will continue to wreak revenge in Westworld season two
After mass host-on-guest slaughter broke out during the final episode of Westworlds debut season, you might think the authorities would be called in to shut down the park early in season two. But 22 Julys panel for the show, which doesnt return until 2018, saw the release of a trailer showing Evan Rachel Woods Dolores and James Marsdens Teddy gleefully hunting down their former tormentors suggesting the robots revenge has not yet been fully enacted. Theres also a shot of Jeffrey Wrights revived Bernard Lowe next to a dead tiger, and a brief scene featuring a blood-spattered Man in Black (Ed Harris). Where the Emmy award-winning show travels to in season two remains shrouded in mystery, but it looks like well be staying in Westworld itself, rather than heading out into wider vistas.
The virtual-reality world of Ready Player One is filled with pop-culture phenomena
William Gibsons cult 1984 book Neuromancer, widely considered the original cyberpunk novel, presents a vision of cyberspace so alien to our sensibilities with its heavy use of invented technobabble that its murky virtual-reality world is almost impenetrable. Not so Steven Spielbergs upcoming adaptation of Ernest Clines sci-fi novel Ready Player One, which offers us a Matrix-like technosphere populated by cheerfully familiar pop-culture stalwarts. The weekend panel for the movie saw the release of a debut trailer, in which gamer Wade Watts battles against and alongside The Iron Giant, an orc from The Lord of the Rings and Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, in a dystopian 2044. All of a sudden, Ed Sheeran turning up in Game of Thrones doesnt seem nearly so incongruous.
The Defenders have work to do to reignite Netflixs Marvel shows
The first trailer for The Defenders, which debuted at Marvel TV panel on 21 July, suggests the ensemble superhero show has work to do in order to convince us its worth binge-streaming next month, especially after the disappointment of the second half of Luke Cages debut season not to mention the whitewashed car crash that was Iron Fist.
Sigourney Weaver plays Alexandra, who appears to be a mouthpiece for evil ninja clan The Hand, which to our memory has been set on taking over New York since at least season two of Daredevil but apparently hasnt quite got there yet. The problem with these Netflix shows is the low-level stakes: the baddies never seem to want to hold the entire city in subjugation; they usually just want to profit by controlling local crime rackets, setting them up in opposition to the local superheroes who want to keep the streets clean.
When Marvel began its Netflix experiment, this low-key approach was a welcome relief from the CGI mega-destruction of the big-screen outings, but The Defenders surely needs to up the ante with a more ambitiously evil scheme if its to justify bringing all these street-level heroes together for an epic showdown.
Read more here: http://www.theguardian.com/us
