By Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency
Do you want to know the top five reveals from the San Diego Comic-Con? How about the top 10? How about AS MANY AS I CAN FIT IN THIS COLUMN? That’s what I thought. (Note: Release dates subject to change.)
ANT-MAN AND WASP
Michelle Pfeiffer, who played Catwoman in Batman Returns, will play Janet van Dyne, the original Wasp (and the current one’s mother). Meow, indeed. Also, Laurence Fishburne will play Bill Foster, who was a scientist associate of Henry Pym (Michael Douglas) in the comics since the mid-1960s, where he eventually used the size-changing tech to become Black Goliath. (That’s in past tense, because he’s currently dead.) According to the imdb.com cast list, he’ll become Goliath in the movie, too.
Ant-Man and Wasp premieres July 6, 2018.
CAPTAIN MARVEL
Surprise! This origin story for Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) as an immensely powerful Kree-human hybrid will be set in the 1990s. That raises the question of where she’s been for 20 years. But more importantly, the film will delve into the “Kree-Skrull War,” one of the most popular stories in Marvel history. We haven’t seen the Skrulls in Marvel movies to date, which doesn’t bode well for their fate in the war. Unless, of course, the shapeshifting aliens have been living here in disguise, which could set up another famous Marvel story, “Secret Invasion,” for the so-far-untitled fourth Avengers movie. Hmm. One other treat in this movie: Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) with both eyes!
Captain Marvel premieres March 8, 2019.
DC COMICS
The DC panel officially revealed that the person who stole years and relationships from the DC Universe, resulting in the 2011 linewide reboot called “New 52,” is Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen, as most fans unofficially knew already. They also announced two projects that drew swoons: Frank Miller, who wrote Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, will write Superman: Year One. And Grant Morrison promises a sequel to his acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum graphic novel.
That was our nod to actual comic books. Now, back to movies and TV …
DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW
Damian Darhk (Neal McDonough) will become a regular, and Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) will continue to appear occasionally – but not the ones we know. The Multiverse is full of Cold and Darhk variations, so why not try another flavor?
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow returns for Season 3 Oct. 10, 2017, on The CW.
Dan Steinberg.
The Defenders panel at Comic-Con International: San Diego included, from right, Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones), Finn Jones (Danny Rand), Executive Producer Jeph Loeb, Jessica Henwick (Colleen Wing), Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock), Executive Producer Marco Ramirez, Mike Colter (Luke Cage), Elodie Yung (Elektra) and Sigourney Weaver (Alexandra). The first season of The Defenders drops from Netflix on Aug. 18.
DOCTOR DOOM
All Noah Hawley, the legendary showrunner for both Fargo and Legion, had to say to send con-goers into a frenzy was this: “I’ll just say two words. The first one is Doctor and the next one is Doom.” Victor von Doom is Marvel’s premier villain, but he is unfortunately bound to Twentieth Century Fox, and even more unfortunately, been badly served in that studio’s disastrous Fantastic Four movies. If anyone can do the monarch of Latveria right, it’s Hawley. It’s just a shame he can’t do it at Marvel Films, where Doom belongs.
Doctor Doom has no release date.
FLASHPOINT
The standalone Flash movie has been re-named, and will now address the popular comics story “Flashpoint,” whose potential was only barely tapped in the Flash TV show. This would give the movie an excuse, should they choose to execute it, of including Gal Gadot (as a warlike Wonder Woman), Jason Momoa (as Aquaman in a murderous rage), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (as Thomas Wayne, who becomes The Batman when his son Bruce is killed in an alley) and Lauren Cohan (as Martha Wayne, who becomes The Joker when her son Bruce is killed in an alley).
Flashpoint does not have a release date, but is expected in 2020.
GOTHAM
The Scarecrow and Professor Pyg are scheduled to join Gotham’s burgeoning array of bizarre villains. This is going to be one creepy season.
Gotham returns for Season 4 Sept. 28, 2017, on Fox.
GREEN LANTERN CORPS
It won’t have Ryan Reynolds, but the next Green Lantern movie will have Hal Jordan, as well as John Stewart, two of Earth’s Emerald Gladiators (there are currently six). But will any show up in Justice League?
Green Lantern Corps does not have a release date, but is expected in 2020.
HAPPY!
Patton Oswalt will voice the tiny, flying, blue, possibly imaginary, titular winged horse that chirps constant optimistic advice to Nick Sax (Christopher Meloni), an alcoholic ex-cop and current hit man who suffers from chronic eczema. I love typing sentences like that.
Happy! is expected to premiere in the fall on Syfy.
JUSTICE LEAGUE
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/ TM & (c) DC Comics
The new trailer for Justice League at San Diego Comic-Con showed a lot of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot, right) and the Amazons, as you’d expect after the success of her movie. Justice League also stars (from left) Ezra Miller (The Flash) and Ben Affleck (Batman). Justice League premieres Nov. 17, 2017.
IRON FIST 2
Despite a critical drubbing, Marvel’s Iron Fist got good ratings and, as of an announcement at Comic-Con, a second season. Joining Danny Rand (Finn Jones) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) is Misty Knight (Simone Missick), a detective introduced in Luke Cage. That sent fans into a tizzy, because in the comics Knight and Wing form a P.I. firm called Knightwing Restorations, and are informally known as “The Daughters of the Dragon.”
Netflix hasn’t assigned a release date for the second season of Iron Fist.
KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
Kingsmen Eggsy (Taron Egerton), Harry Hart (Colin Firth) and Merlin (Mark Strong) will be joined in this sequel by their American equivalents The Statesmen, represented by Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges, Pedro Pascal and Channing Tatum. Wait … how is Harry Hart alive?
Kingsman: The Golden Circle premieres Sept. 22, 2017.
KRYPTON
The comics have given us multiple depictions of pre-explosion life on Superman’s home planet over the decades, and this TV show will add yet another. Krypton, which will hew closely to the movies as far as sets and costumes go, will give us Kal-El’s grandfather, Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe), trying to restore the honor of the House of El after some sort of precipitous fall. Complicating matters will be the space villain Brainiac, who – comics lore teaches us – will shrink the city of Kandor and put it in a bottle. Complicating matters further are a time-traveling duo: Adam Strange, an Earthman who is the hero of planet Rann; and a Hawkwoman from planet Thanagar (not the same one as on Legends).Complicating matters still further: Rann and Thanagar loathe each other with the fiery heat of a thousand suns.
Krypton will premiere in 2018 on Syfy.
LEGION
Saïd Taghmaoui (Sameer in Wonder Woman) has been cast as The Shadow King. The character’s true form wasn’t seen in the first season, where he appeared as Lenny Busker (Aubrey Plaza) and possessed both David Haller (Dan Stevens) and Oliver Bird (Jermaine Clement). Unless you count that thing with the yellow eyes. Brrr!
Legion returns for Season 2 in 2018 on FX.
LUCIFER
According to a press release, former Smallville star Tom Welling will join the cast as “Marcus Pierce, an accomplished police lieutenant who is everything Lucifer (Tom Ellis) is not – strategic, reserved and well-respected. But perhaps even more annoying are all the things they have in common. Both men are charming, charismatic and handsome as hell. So when Pierce starts developing a connection with Decker (Lauren German), Lucifer's devilish traits are inflamed.” It’s Satan vs. Superman!
Lucifer returns for Season 3 Oct. 2, 2017, on Fox.
RIVERDALE
Joining the Riverdale gang is Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan), who is bisexual. That was only hinted at in the comics, but will likely be pretty straightforward on TV.
Riverdale returns for Season 2 Oct. 11, 2017, on The CW.
SUPERGIRL
Bettina Strauss/The CW © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Despite leaving Earth last season, Mon-El (Chris Wood, right) remains a series regular with Melissa Benoist on Supergirl and attended the San Diego Comic-Con panel. Supergirl returns for Season 3 Oct. 9, 2017, on The CW.
THE WALKING DEAD
Fans of the comics aren’t usually surprised by the TV show, because it follows the same general outline. But fans of the comics were surprised to hear in San Diego that the comic book is coming to an end soon.
The Walking Dead returns for Season 8 Oct. 22, 2017, on AMC.
THOR: RAGNAROK
A new trailer dropped, showing Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) battling Fenrir Wolf (Fenris in the comics) and Surtur, two of the monsters that in Norse mythology bring about the end of Asgard. Cate Blanchett plays Hela, the Goddess of Death, battling Valkyries with over-the-top relish (“I’ve missed this!”). We see Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Hulk teaming with the last Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson of Westworld), a long-running character in Marvel Comics. Classic Thor villain Skurge the Executioner (Karl Urban) makes his debut at Hela’s side. By the bristling beard of Odin, what have these mortals wrought?
Thor: Ragnarok premieres Nov. 2, 2017.
Find Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), on his website (captaincomics.ning.com), on Facebook (Captain Comics Round Table) or on Twitter (@CaptainComics).
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