I've been obsessively following Comic-Con International: San Diego coverage, because I knew I was going to write something about it, but didn't know what that something was. So I wrote it all down -- and learned a lot! And as a lifelong journalist, I can't help but share what I learn. Here, in no particular order, are 105 things I learned from Comic-Con:
- Netflix’s The Witcher, starring Henry Cavill, will be aimed at adults.
- Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. to end after Season 7 on ABC.
- New Westworld cast member Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) has a robot buddy who looks like robot.
- Terminator: Dark Fate will ignore every movie after Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- Edward Furlong will return as John Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate, joining other returning stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton.
- Terminator: Dark Fate is directed by Tim Miller (Deadpool).
- The cast of Terminator: Dark Fate includes Mackenzie Davis, Diego Bonetta, Gabriel Luna and Natalia Reyes.
- Terminator: Dark Fate is rated R. Terminator: Genisys and Terminator: Salvation were PG-13.
- Sarah Connor (Hamilton) gets to say, "I'll be back."
- Good cyborg Schwarzenegger is living in a cabin and calling himself Carl.
- Star Trek: Picard will feature Patrick Stewart returning as Jean-Luc Picard, and include Brent Spiner as Data, Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, Jen Ryan as Seven of Nine, Jonathan Del Arco as the Borg Hugh, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troy and more Borg.
- CBS ALL Access has confirmed that Picard's dog is named "No. 1." (The dog's real name is De Niro.)
- David Ajala will play a character named Book on Star Trek: Discovery, one who "breaks the urles a little bit."
- Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery will take place 1,000 years in the future.
- There will be six new "Star Treks: Short Treks," including one that connects to Star Trek: Picard.
- Actor Jerry O'Connell pulled back the curtain on the upcoming animated series Lower Decks, a ten-episode series debuting in 2020 that will focus on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships.
- Lower Decks takes place in 2380, right after the final Next Generation movie Nemesis and after Voyager returned from the delta quadrant.
- CBS All Access is also launching an official Trek podcast, to be hosted by Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome.
- The Orville is moving from Fox to Hulu for Season 3, which won’t arrive until late 2020.
- The early episodes of Batwoman will backtrack to the character’s origin, just before the events in 2018’s “Elseworlds” crossover.
- Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes) will play the villain Dr. Ramsey “Bloodwork” Rosso on The Flash Season 6.
- The Maid of Steel will have a new, skirtless Super-suit on Supergirl Season 5.
- Supergirl Season 5 will introduce two new characters: DC’s Andrea “Acrata” Rojas will be portrayed by Julie Gonzalo (Veronica Mars) and renowned reporter William Dey, played by Staz Nair (Game of Thrones).
- Mechad Brooks, who plays James Olsen, will be leaving Supergirl early in Season 5.
- Jeremy Jordan, who plays Winn Schott, will return to Supergirl in the second half of Season 5.
- Lex Luthor, played by Jon Cryer, will return (from death) in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover.
- Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman, currently living in Argo City with Lois Lane, will return for the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover.
- Andrea Brooks, who plays Eve Tessmacher, has been promoted to series regular on Supergirl Season 6.
- Brandon Routh, who played Superman in Superman Returns and currently plays The Atom on Legends of Tomorrow, will play the Kingdom Come Superman in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover.
- An array of fan-favorite characters will appear in upcoming seasons of DuckTales, including Daisy Duck and Goofy; Gadget, Chip, Dale, and Monterey Jack from Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, a grown-up Kit and Molly from TaleSpin, Gosalyn Mallard from Darkwing Duck, and more.
- Arrow will introduce John Diggle Jr., played by Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), in Season 8.
- The Russo Brothers, fresh off directing Avengers: Endgame, will tackle a Grimjack movie next.
- The Russo Brothers will also,for some reason, adapt Battle of the Planets.
- Titan Comics will publish Snowpiercer: Extinction, a new prequel graphic novel addressing events before the world became a frozen wasteland, just as the property becomes an ongoing TV series.
- Amazon announces a second season of The Boys, even though the first season hasn’t aired yet.
- Despite the announcement that Archer would end with Season 10, a Season 11 was announced.
- Archer will wake from his coma at the end of Season 10, where he has spent the last three seasons imagining alternate realities involving the regular cast in new roles.
- The first The Walking Dead movie will be released theatrically.
- Michonne and Ezekiel suck face in the The Walking Dead Season 10 trailer.
- The award-winning team of Tom King and Mitch Gerads, of Mister Miracle fame, will be joined by Evan "Doc" Shaner for a new Adam Strange series.
- HBO's Watchmen will star Regina King, Jeremy Irons (as Adrian "Ozymandias" Veidt), Don Johnson, Jean Smart, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Tim Blake Nelson..
- The trailer reveals the return of Dr. Manhattan.
- DC Universe's Doom Patrol has been renewed for a second season.
- 44. Doom Patrol Season 2 will stream simultaneously on both DC Universe and the new HBO Max.
- The first Season 1 of Doom Patrol will be available on HBO Max on launch.
- HBO Max plans to have 10,000 hours of content available on launch.
- DCU's Young Justice was renewed for Season 4.
- Titans, already renewed for a second season, was given a launch dateof Sept. 6.
- Titans Season 2 will introduce Deathstroke (played by Esai Morales), Aqualad (Drew Van Acker) and Joseph "Jericho" Wilson (Chella Man).
- Black Widow will premiere May 1, 2020.
- Black Widow will revisit Budapest and introduce Taskmaster
- The Black Widow cast includes David Harbour (Stranger Things), Florence Pugh (Midsommar), Rachel Weisz (The Mummy) and O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid's Tale).
- Black Widow is directed by Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome).
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will premiere in fall 2020 on Disney+.
- Daniel Bruhl will reprise his role as Baron Zemo in FAWS, wearing the iconic mask from the comics.
- 66. The Eternals will premiere Nov. 6, 2020.
- The Eternals is about a race of immortal aliens sent to earth by the Celestials to protect mankind from the Deviants.
- The Eternals cast includes Angelina Jolie as Thena, Salma Hayek as Eternals leader Ajack, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Lia McHugh, Don Leeas Gilgamesh and Lauren Ridloff, who will portray the first deaf MCU hero.
- The Eternals is directed by Chloe Zhao (The Rider).
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will premier Feb. 12, 2021.
- Shang-Chi will be played by relative newcomer Simu Liu.
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will introduce the real Mandarin, played by Tony Leung (Infernal Affairs, In the Mood for Love).
- The Ten Rings of the title is the same organization introduced in the first Iron Man.
- Awkwafina will also star in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (The Glass Castle).
- Jim Starlin thinks Shang-Chi could fill the Captain America-shaped hole in the Avengers.
- WandaVision will premiere in spring 2021 on Disney+.
- WandaVision will star Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff and Paul Bettany as The Vision, despite the latter's demise in Avengers: Infinity War.
- An adult Monica Rambeau from Captain Marvel will appear in WandaVision, played by Teyonah Parris (Dear White People).
- WandaVision will lead directly into the movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will premiere May 7, 2021.
- Kevin Feige says "just because Quentin Beck makes up lies about the multiverse, doesn’t mean it isn’t real."
- DSitMoM is directed by Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange).
- DSitMoM will go for a "gothic horror" tone, according to Derrickson.
- Elizabeth Olsen will appear in DSitMOM as the Scarlet Witch.
- Loki will premiere Spring 2021 on Disney+.
- Kevin Feige says the series will follow the Loki who escaped the Avengers with the Space Stone in 2012, as seen in Avengers: Endgame.
- Tom Hiddleston says he will be playing that Loki, not the one who grew more heroic afterward.
- The animated What If...? will premiere summer 2021on Disney+.
- Westworld star Jeffrey Wright will act as the narrator, by voicing celestial observer Uatu the Watcher on What If... ?
- Marvel also announced that "many actors from across the MCU" will reprise their roles as voice talent in What If...?
- The announced cast for What If... ? includes Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Josh Brolin as Thanos, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter, Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Taika Waititi as Korg, Toby Jones as Arnim Zola, Djimon Hounsou as Korath, Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster, and Michael Rooker as Yondu. Now try to guess what the episodes are about.
- Hawkeye will premiere fall 2021 on Disney+.
- Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) will be training Kate Bishop how to be a superhero archer.
- Hawkeye will also explore some of Barton's time as Ronin.
- Thor: Love and Thunder will premiere Nov. 5, 2021 on Disney+.
- 38..Inspired by the Jason Aaron Thor comics, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) will become a female Thor.
- The movie will confirm Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) as an LGTBQ character.
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is confirmed.
- Black Panther 2 is confirmed.
- Captain Marvel 2 is confirmed.
- A Blade movie was announced.
- Mahershala Ali (Luke Cage) will play Blade.
- Avengers: Endgame has passed Avatar to become the No. 1 Grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation).
- Avengers: Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and directors Joe and Anthony Russo say the time-displaced Gamora survived Stark's snap.
- NOS4A2 was renewed for Season 2.
- In Season 4 of Riverdale, Jughead will be sent to prep school.
- In Season 4 of Riverdale, Archie will start a band called The Archies.
- In Season 4 of Riverdale, Veronica and Cheryl Blossom will embark on a new commercial venture that may not be entirely legal, involving "maple syrup rum."
- The first episode of Riverdale Season 4 will be a tribute to the late Luke Perry, who portrayed Archie's father.
- Shannon Doherty, a friend of Perry's who co-starred with him on Beverly Hills, 90210, will guest star on the Riverdale tribute.
- Kerr Smith will play Riverdale High School's new principal, Mr. Honey.
- Fear the Walking Dead was renewed for Season 6.
- Marvel rolls out six new X-books as Jonathan Hickman reboots franchise: X-Men, Excalibur, Marauders, New Mutant, Fallen Angels and X-Force.Charles Soule’s next Star Wars comic book will tell the story behind the Knights of Ren.
- Amazon announces the fourth season of The Expanse will arrive on Dec. 13.
That's the end of my notes. What'd I miss, Legionnaires?
"
Replies
“The Russo Brothers, fresh off directing Avengers: Endgame, will tackle a Grimjack movie next.”
"What'd I miss, Legionnaires?"
Uh... something about comic books...?
Based upon experience, item 104 probably covers everything they had to say about comic books. San Diego Con has morphed into MovieCon, not ComicCon.
Here's one: After hosting voting for the three features in this summer's Steel Cage sampler, AHOY has decided to publish all three series -- Bright Boy, True Identity, and Noah Zark -- as series in 2020. (Almost as if they planned it that way all along!)
I'm happy to hear about Hickman's X-Men project. I haven't been paying much attention to Marvel lately but I will definitely be on board for that.
Captain Comics wrote:
So ... these What If--? tales are to take their cues from the movies?
Yeah, it's "What If" for the movies. That makes more sense for the great unwashed, doesn't it?
And Jeff, the only references to comics in the national media I was following I included. That was the X-books, the Kylo Ren series and the Snowpiercer GN. I would be glad to hear about more, such as what Rob reported.
Oh, ignore me. I was just being a smart@$$.
I'm shocked! Shocked! That smart@$$ery is going on around here!
Captain Comics said:
This sounds pretty awesome as well!