Now that San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) is over, movie, TV and comic fans everywhere are trying to digest the crazy amount of knowledge dropped on us over the weekend. Wonder Woman and the Justice League actually look good! Mystery Science Theater 3000 is coming to Netflix! Trailers for Kong: Skull Island, Walking Dead, and Sherlock were dropped. And American Gods (one of my favorite books ever) is coming to Starz!
Here’s list of the new Marvel-related information available to us, along with my unsolicited opinion:
- Marvel gets SDCC. Seriously. I don’t know whether MCU stars are contractually obligated to show up or not, but the “House of Ideas” came correct with appearances by all of the major actors from Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange, a display of props from upcoming films and, of course, new trailers. They know where their bread is buttered, and they brought it.
- Is it fair to say that even Marvel was surprised by the success of Guardians of the Galaxy? The movie was a smash hit, and the production company is really rolling out the star treatment for this next installment. It’s gone from underdog to a franchise that I think Marvel is really counting on to be a tentpole. While that’s great (the film was wonderful and I’m happy for director James Gunn and Star-Lord actor Chris Pratt), I worry that it could have a negative impact on the sequel. Will Marvel meddle too much? Will there be a greater tendency to play it safe? I hope not! This is the movie I’m most excited for in 2017. The first look was supposedly excellent, and we finally find out who Kurt Russell (Star Lord’s Daddy) is playing and it’s crazy. I won’t spoil it for you, but I can. not. wait. to see how they do this character!
- Doctor Strange is a really interesting development for the MCU. I’m a big fan of Benedict Cumberbatch (if you haven’t seen BBC’s Sherlock, you really should check it out on Netflix) and the crazy, Inception-esque new trailer indicates that the universe is about to get much bigger and weirder than ever before. What intrigues me most is how gradually Marvel has gone from grounded to “out there.” The shift in tone from Iron Man to the Sorcerer Supreme is huge. I’m not 100% sold on the film yet, but my interest is definitely piqued. I’m not going in with Avengers-level expectations, but I’m cautiously optimistic. I want to be clear: the trailer is incredible. I’m just not sure how they’re going to hold something so “off-the-wall” together for 120 minutes.
- Speaking of “off the wall,” we got more information about the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. I’m very excited about Michael Keaton as the Vulture. Marvel doesn’t have a great track record with villains, but Keaton is a rockstar. LOVE that guy.Also I like the concept of the movie being more teen-centric and smaller scale (people who saw the footage described it as “John Hughes-esque’). We’ve seen a lot of world-level crisis’ in the MCU; a more personal story is a good change of pace.Other Ant-man, Spider-man is the only Marvel hero with a secret identity. I’m hoping that the film explores the alter-ego thing. It’s something I’ve missed in the MCU and perhaps the best part of the original Superman movies.
- I have mixed feelings about Thor: Ragnarok. Knowing that it will contain elements of the Planet Hulk storyline makes me more excited to see it. But knowing that we’ll never get a solo film about the great, green giant conquering a planet makes me kinda blue. I was really hoping to see that. Marvel showed a “Mocumentary” about what Thor and Hulk have been up to while the other Avengers were duking it out in Civil War and apparently it killed! Spoiler alert: Thor has a harassed roommate and is bewildered that Tony Stark doesn’t communicate by raven. LOL I haven’t been the biggest fan of the Norse God’s solo outings—his movies have tended to feel a little too “un-grounded.”
- Part of what made Guardians of the Galaxy so entertaining was, even though it was set against a brand new canvas, the characters (and the music) were so instantly relatable that it still made you feel at home. Thor films have struggled to find that—gods, odd speech patterns, weird vocabulary and planets—you spend so much effort trying to figure out what the characters are talking about, that you don’t really feel into the story. Adding Hulk to Ragnarock is a good move. An earthling in the mix might help ground things better…but then again, maybe not, if Thor 2: The Dark World was any indication.
- The Netflix/Marvel partnership has absolutely killed it so far. The strength of Daredevil and Jessica Jones are enough to get me to check out Luke Cage. The trailer visuals left me a bit flat and I have questions about how interesting an invincible man can be over 12 episodes, but I loved the ODB song.
- Our first look at Iron Fist has come and gone. I’m not sure if the trailer was actually forgettable or is just suffering from all the other gifts we unwrapped this week, but I was underwhelmed. I thought Finn Jones was fine in Game of Thrones, but I don’t know. I get the feeling that this film is going to center a lot around the ninja organization the Hand, but I’m not sure I really care. Every time Daredevil tangles with them, I lose interest. Similarly, the Defenders teaser was a whole lot of nothing. I’m definitely going to tune in when these series’ drop, but if you really wanted to generate excitement, they should have either spaced these out more and/or released a Punisher trailer. Just saying.
- I’ll admit: I’m not too familiar with Brie Larson, the newly-announced Captain Marvel. I have vague memories of her in Community, the League, and Trainwreck, but she was mostly a bit player. That said, she’s a prototypical Marvel pick: young, not too big to make a long-term deal prohibitive, and maybe about to blow up (in a good way). She just won an Oscar for the Room and she’s starring in the upcoming King Kong reboot. Marvel probably looks at her the same way they looked at Chris Pratt when they signed him. I’m excited for Captain Marvel; she’s going to bring a new element to the Avengers. Black Widow and Scarlet Witch are strong, but Captain Marvel is imposing—strong enough to go toe-to-toe with anyone on the team, and quick-witted enough to match Tony Stark quip-for-quip. It’s too bad that it took this long to bring Carol Danvers to the MCU—I would have loved to see her introduced via her friendship with Jessica Jones (they replaced her in the Netflix show with Trish Walker).
Phew! I think that’s all for the news!