Welcome all to the first big parts of news in our coverage of the 2014 San Diego Comic Con. You can check out yesterday’s various teaser poster reveals in the last post but it’s here that we begin the huge confirmations and castings that make this event so special. First off we ask you to recall an announcement made several months back about Spider-Man/Evil Dead director Sam Raimi announcing his intentions to produce a film adaptation of zombie action drama The Last of Us, widely regarded as one of the greatest games of all time and certainly the most cinematic.
As soon as this story came out, fan speculation rose as to who would be portraying the two lead roles. There were a host of great suggestions for the grizzled Joel, ranging from Josh Brolin to Hugh Jackman, but casting the young icon Ellie was proving more difficult. Ellen Page was a popular option due to her uncanny resemblance to the character but was probably around ten years above the ideal casting net. From Comic Con, it has now emerged that seventeen year old Brit Maisie Williams, best known as Game of Thrones’ Ayra Stark, has entered early negotiations for the lead of Ellie. Tell us in the comments of what you think of Williams taking on the role as well as who should/could be playing Joel or if a Last of Us movie is a good idea at all. 2017?
Legendary Pictures have released some fantastic films since their first back in 2005 with Batman Begins and have gone onto produce Man of Steel, 300, Godzilla, Watchmen, The Hangover and The Dark Knight trilogy. Their upcoming movies are gaining huge hype and the herds of fans were delighted by their presence at the panel were their various projects were introduced.
Earlier this month we named Christopher Nolan’s new space epic Interstellar as our most hyped movie of this year’s second half. So then you can imagine the immense reaction received when Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception) lead a surprise panel for the film, accompanied by his leading man Matthew MacConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club, True Detective, Mud, The Wolf of Wall Street).
MacConaughey arrived first and described his first meeting with the modern legend. “I met with Christopher Nolan for three hours,” McConaughey said of joining the project, “and he didn’t say one word about the film, and I remember leaving thinking: ‘What the hell was that about?’ Anyway, he liked me and a week later the script arrived and I liked it and said, ‘I’m in.’
Nolan himself then graced the stage an shared some remarkable ambition for his project. “The single biggest influence for me was Kubrick’s 2001. I was able to go with my dad and see it in London on the big screen. We have the opportunity to tell a similarly ambitious story. That’s my ambition for the film, and I’m striving towards it.” Interstellar will star MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Casey Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon and Michael Caine. November 7th
Warcraft, the third directorial feature from Duncan Jones (Source Code, Moon) and adaptation of the legendary online game, is up next and Jones was offering a teaser. In order to respect the fans attending, we can’t show you the footage but we can report what Jones had to say.
“It’ll be an origin story that addresses how war breaks out between orcs and humans on the world of Azeroth.” He also mentions that “The film will be accessible to a wider audience thus, opening the property up to moviegoers unfamiliar with the brand, similar to the approach on past fantasy series such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings.” Warcraft will star Ben Foster, Toby Kebbell, Paula Patton and Dominic Cooper and is out March 11th 2016.
Following this, our first two mega announcements have been made. The first is an all new confirmation of a project Legendary have done a fantastic job of keeping under wraps. According to MTV, the events transpired something like this:
“The short clip raced over a restless ocean, then through the foliage and rocks on a deserted island, before the giant gorilla was finally revealed from the shadows. “Being alone in the wilderness, it had gone mad,” a voiceover intoned. “It looked at you with a vengeful aspect.” The film will explore the fictional island that is the mythical home of King Kong. The title card for the film simply read “Skull Island.””
There’s still no word on directors, stars or plots but we can confirm a November 4th 2016 release.
Following the phenomenal success of both Monsters and Godzilla, Gareth Edwards is proving to be a greatly busy man having been recruited by Star Wars for the first of three spin offs from the franchise. However, fans are desperate for two more Godzilla 2 to become the second act of a monstrous trilogy. Edwards arrived at Legendary’s panel to confirm that he was directing the sequel as well as showing off an awesome teaser containing a trio of huge confirmations that may contain tiny spoilers for those who want the reveal to be saved for the film. According to MTV:
An old-school Monarch film clip was then shown — that’s the group that studies and keeps tabs on the monsters in the rebooted series — that confirmed the existence of…
Rodan!
Mothra!
King Ghidorah!
The Monarch analysis concluded that a battle is inevitable: “Let them fight.” Godzilla 2 – 2017?
Our second preview of a video game adaptation is the action thriller Agent 47, based on the gaming sensation Hitman. Rupert Friend, Zachary Quinto and Ciaran Hinds serve under debut director Aleksander Bach while Total Film has the scoop on how the very first trailer went down.
The trailer opens with a remixed version of ‘Voodoo Child’, with Friend’s antihero handcuffed to the table in an interrogation room. The back of his head (which is stubbly, as opposed to clean-shaven) bears the trademark barcode tattoo, albeit in a slightly redesigned form. Asked for his name, he answers, “47.” His interrogator retorts, “That’s not a name!” “No, but it is mine…”
The action kicks off when 47 shows off his Bourne-esque skills. Jumping up from his seat, he pulls his handcuff-chain into the line of fire of a rifle that’s been mounted on the table and pointed at him. All in slow-motion, naturally.
Also spotted in the trailer is 47 walking through a security gate metal detector, and drawing back his coat to reveal that he’s armed to the hilt with various guns, Matrix-style. A line of dialogue acts as the voiceover, intoning: “He’s an engineered human being: stronger, faster, more intelligent than normal people.”
There’s plenty of slo-mo gunplay, plus a helicopters blades smashing into the side of a skyscraper, as well as the impressive sight of 47’s car being pinned by several grappling wires, which the SWAT team then slide down. It all looked very slick and glossy, with the film’s Berlin and Budapest locations also shown off. March 20th 2015
We don’t usually dip into the world of television unless it’s for something truly huge and Game of Thrones truly fits that bill. We won’t explain the character’s role in the plot in fear of spoiling. Joining the stellar ensemble on the fifth season of the fantasy show are Alexander Siddig (Da Vinci’s Demons) as Doran Martell, Toby Sebastian (After the Dark) as Trystane Martell, Nell Tiger Free (Broken) as Myrcella Baratheon, Deobia Oparei (Dredd) as Areo Hotah, Enzo Cilenti (The Rum Diary) as Yezzan, Jessica Henwick (Silk) as Nymeria Sand, Keisha Castle Hughes (The Nativity Story) as Obara Sand and Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean) as the High Sparrow. We’d expect season 5 to also star Emilia Clarke (Terminator: Genesis), Kit Harington (Pompeii), Maisie Williams (The Last of Us), Peter Dinklage (X-Men: Days of Future Past) and Lena Headey (300, Dredd). April 2015
The panel for Dreamworks Animation was one of the first to take place this weekend and, while they’ve got plenty of projects going for them, they put their main focus on Madagascar spin off Penguins. John Malkovich (RED, Being John Malkovich, Burn After Reading, Dangerous Liaisons) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness, Sherlock, War Horse, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) both featured in the panel and so, due to the latter’s presence, fans were requested to avoid all questions related to a certain detective although the Hall H attendees weren’t in a hurry to forget a Marvel rumour from earlier this year.
Clearly referring to Doctor Strange, Cumberbatch and co were asked which comic book character they’d like to play and they both had some fun with it. Malkovich confided “Lois Lane” while Cumberbatch teased “Nurse Normal. I’ll let the penny drop that’s a joke about Doctor Strange!” Returning to subject, the voice of Smaug had this to say about his new role, a smooth talking wolf spy named Classified. He claims he prepared for the role by “Working in Yellowstone park as a wolf for awhile. I was accepted by the pack quite quickly. It got a bit hairy, no pun intended, when I became the alpha male. Eventually I realized that two of the other wolves were Christian Bale and Daniel Day-Lewis.” December 5th
Most of the footage shown at Comic Con remains unseen to those who did not attend for several months in order to preserve the exclusives but we are rarely treated to the teasers immediately afterwards. Thankfully that’s exactly what happened with Mockingjay, the third instalment of The Hunger Games. The chilling first trailer is at last online and it’s given us plenty to discuss.
There’s no sign of a lot of key characters here (Peeta, Johanna, Haymitch, Finnick, Caesar, Effie, Prim, Beetee) but we do get glimpses of Julianne Moore as Alma Coin, Liam Hemsworth’s more militaristic Gale and Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final roles. I am Legend’s Francis Lawrence directs the cast of Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Natalie Dormer, Jeffrey Wright, Willow Shields, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Donald Sutherland. November 21st
Proving that the young adult fantasy adaptations are no fad, action mystery The Maze Runner races into cinemas this autumn while it’s Comic Con panel unveiled the all new poster (above) and debut director Wes Ball hinted at the series’ future. “If the first film is a success, shooting on a sequel will begin in the northern fall this year.” The Maze Runner’s sequels are titled The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure and we might be able to expect them in time for 2016. The Maze Runner will star Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf), Kaya Scodelario (Moon) and Will Poulter (Wild Bill). October 10th
Another project we’re massively excited for is the comic book adaptation Kingsman: The Secret Service. It has long been known that Mark Hamill (Star Wars, Arkham City) has been set to make a cameo in the film, similarly to Mark Millar’s comic book, but at the panel he confirmed that his appearance may differ to the original one. In printed form, Hamill himself turns up but in the film he’ll play a character called James Arnold. He’ll have the same effect on the plot. The Secret Service is directed by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, X-Men: First Class, Layer Cake, Kick-Ass) and will star Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Samuel L Jackson and Michael Caine. October 17th
The long awaited sequel to crime classic Sin City, titled A Dame to Kill For, is mere weeks away from release and, while the main attention was on this second instalment, one or two minds were beginning to consider a third. When asked, director Frank Miller explained “Robert (Rodriguez) and I are already talking about Sin City 3. So you’d better show up for number two or they won’t pay for it.” Sin City 2 will star Joseph Gordon Levitt, Eva Green, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson and Josh Brolin and is released August 25th.
Warner Bros was of the biggest studios to host a panel, in which they introduced four new projects. The first of which was new from the continuation of the DC universe kickstarted last year with Man of Steel. Director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) returns for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice which has at last given its very first look at the all new Wonder Woman, played by Fast and Furious’ Gal Gadot.
In other news for the franchise, Dawn of Justice writer Chris Terrio (Argo) is set to return for 2017’s Justice League however we are yet to receive the Shazam announcement that Dwayne Johnson had teased. A short clip of footage, reportedly of Superman spying a glowing-eyed Batman dusting off the Bat-signal, was briefly leaked but torn down by Warner Bros although this much finished work is a promising sign. Dawn of Justice will star Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Holly Hunter, Scoot McNairy, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane and Jeremy Irons. April 29th 2016
It’s fair to say that we’ve had our doubts about whether director George Miller and star Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) could pull off Mad Max sequel Fury Road but the awesome first trailer could quench any worries. It seems to be promising one long action set piece, similarly to Dredd, which may be greatly difficult to pull off but we’d love to see what they make of it. Fury Road will star Tom Hardy, Nicholas Hoult and Charlize Theron. May 15th 2015
For the finale to Warner’s presentation, the ensemble cast of The Hobbit’s concluding chapter The Battle of the Five Armies descended upon Comic Con and were granted the chance to share their incredible experiences of bringing Middle Earth to life one final time. “It was a very, very strange experience, ten years on, going back into, to Miramar, to the studios. And it was like nothing had changed,” said Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), who plays Elven queen Galadriel.
“Peter and Fran and Philippa and all of the guys at WETA had made these extraordinarily successful – financially and creatively successful films – but their filmmaking practice hadn’t changed at all. You still felt like you were making an independent film that was ridiculously well-resourced.” Next up was the infamous archer Legolas, portrayed on screen by Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean). “I feel weird. We were just talking today. Peter’s youngest has just turned 18. She was 3 when I arrived in New Zealand, you know. Which is nuts, right? I was 21,
“It’s sad to say goodbye in many, many ways. I felt very lucky to do it actually. I felt like I got a chance to create a backstory for a character that goes into ‘Lord of the Rings.’ And I think this movie will tie up beautifully all of the characters’ stories into a nice little bow so that you’ll be able to go straight in and watch ‘Lord of the Rings.’ You’ll be able to do the whole thing at some point.”
Peter Jackson directs the cast of Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Benedict Cumberbatch, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Lawrence Makoare, Manu Bennett, Sylvester McCoy, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving.
Finally we get to the big one that we’ve all been waiting for. The Marvel panel stole the show last year with a guest appearance by Loki himself and so they were always going to struggle topping that this year. Our calender of confirmed Marvel projects doesn’t stretch beyond 2016’s Doctor Strange and so we’re hoping that Kevin Feige and co would at last fill in the seven dates with empty spaces for titles. Sadly, we only got one of these seven but I think the simple answer as to why would be that Marvel themselves don’t quite know yet. Also, there’s no official title so far for Captain America 3 there’s still plenty of excitement in store.
It’ll have been almost four years since her on screen debut but Agent Carter (played by Hayley Atwell) at last has her own TV show, set after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger. We sincerely want Dominic Cooper and Toby Jones to reprise their roles of Howard Stark and Arnim Zola respectively for the series but Marvel are going ahead with appointing directors. We knew that Lou D’Esposito, mastermind of many a One Shot short film, would direct the pilot however the MCU’s feature film directors are being recruited. The Winter Soldier’s Anthony and Joe Russo are set for episodes two and three while The First Avenger’s Joe Johnston will tackle ep 4, adding a flavour of the cinematic universe to the show. January 2015
Marvel’s first crack at a huge live action TV series tied into their films was unveiled almost a year ago in the form of Agents of SHIELD. Some found it greatly disappointed but, while there are undeniable issues, MAOS has picked up a strong following – thanks to the shocking twists, betrayals and bumping offs the second half of the series – and season two has got the go ahead. In a panel introduced via video by Patton Oswalt (Eric Koenig), a host of new characters and stars were introduced to pose intriguing predicaments for our Agents.
Lucy Lawless, best known as Xena: Warrior Princess, will play the original character of Isabelle Hartley, a veteran SHIELD agent. Lance Hunter, head of SHIELD’s British counterpart STRIKE (Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies) will be portrayed by Nick Blood (The Bletchley Circle). The uber villainous HYDRA recruiter Daniel Whitehall/The Kraken is under the acting expertise of Whedonite Reed Diamond (Much Ado About Nothing, Moneyball) and finally superhero Bobbi Morse (aka Mockingbird) has been confirmed to be a part of the show but there’s yet to be any word on a star. We’d expect Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, Chloe Bennett, BJ Britt and Patton Oswalt while we may expect surprise returns for Ron Glass, Cobie Smulders, Adrian Pasdar, Ruth Negga, David Conrad and J August Richards. This Autumn
Until the shocking departure of Edgar Wright, three main stars and composer Steven Price, Ant-Man was shaping out to be a hugely awesome prospect and the last minute appointment of Peyton Reed may not save an unrecoverable set back for Marvel but the greatly positive reaction to the footage shown is an exciting sign. The main commotion was the announcement of supporting roles. The Hobbit’s Evangeline Lilly will not play Janet Van Dyne as expected but will in fact be Hank Pym’s daughter Hope who we can assume will soon inherit the role of Wasp. House of Cards star Corey Stoll has revealed that he plays Pym’s protoge Darren Cross who attempts to succeed Pym’s company and becomes the villain Yellowjacket. Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd, Corey Stoll, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena and Michael Douglas. July 17th 2015
Now we get back to those seven unannounced projects landing from 2017 to 2019. Marvel will take to space this weekend with the stellar release of Guardians of the Galaxy and it was boldly announced that a sequel would arrive in July 2017. James Gunn (Slither) is already confirmed to be returning while we can expect writer Nicole Perlman and stars Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and Josh Brolin to reprise their roles as Star Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Drax and Thanos. Supporting stars such as John C Reilly, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Rooker and Glenn Close may also return depending on where Guardians leaves us. July 28th 2017
Director Scott Derickson’s (Deliver Us From Evil, Sinister) extensive search for a casting for Marvel’s Doctor Strange has conjured greatly varied suggestions for who should play the Sorcerer Supreme. Wild accusations of Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen and Adrien Brody came up, Jared Leto, Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch were the focus of a shortlist rumour, fans begged for the likes of Jon Hamm and Joel Edgerton while there was a persistent claim that it would be Andy Serkis. However, the search may have ended with the report that Joaquin Phoenix has entered negotiations.
Phoenix is of coarse the three time Oscar nominated star of The Master, Her and Gladiator although the experience of a lead blockbuster action role may be new to him. We’re gonna go ahead and say that we reckon he can pull it off but we want to here what you think of the casting in the comments. July 8th 2016
Finally today we’ve got the biggest possible poster imaginable for mega-sequel The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Marvel are keeping their cards close to their chests this time around but it’s reported that the footage shown unveiled a non-motion capture Andy Serkis.
Joss Whedon (Serenity, Firefly, Toy Story, Buffy) directs the cast of Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, James Spader, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Thomas Kretschmann, Hayley Atwell, Don Cheadle, Cobie Smulders and Samuel L Jackson.
That’s all for our Comic Con coverage this year and thanks for seeing it out, we know it took a while to publish. Please tell us in the comments who your’re most impressed by: Mad Max, Avengers 2, Dawn of Justice, Godzilla 2, Skull Island, Warcraft, Interstellar or Hobbit 3? Here’s to Comic Con 2015. Bye for now!
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