Guardians 2 title revealed and Comic Con lineup announced

Marvel’s third phase has titled its new properties fairly simply – Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Inhumans – while their sequels have received subtitles – Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok and The Avengers: Infinity War. The new Spider-Man’s title is yet to have been revealed but the latest news from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is that the sequel has been titled: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

Gunn directs the cast of Chris Pratt (Jurassic World) as Star Lord, Bradley Cooper (Limitless) as Rocket, Zoe Saldana (Avatar) as Gamora, Vin Diesel (Pitch Black) as Groot, Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) as Thanos, Karen Gillan (Oculus) as Nebula, Dave Bautista (Riddick) as Drax, Seth Green (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Howard the Duck and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) as The Collector

The schedule for the famed San Diego Comic Con 2015 has been revealed.

Thursday:

• Lionsgate: ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2′: 12:00 PM-1:15 PM, Hall H
  Lionsgate presents an exclusive first look at one of the studio’s highly anticipated films coming to theaters this fall. Get a sneak peek into the powerful final chapter of the epic The Hunger Games film franchise. Attendees will be shown exclusive, never-before-seen footage from Mockingjay: Part 2 and treated to a cast and filmmaker Q&A session revealing details on the big-screen finale. Featuring stars Jennifer Lawrence and Julianne Moore and director Francis Lawrence.
• CBS TV Studios Comic-Con Lineup: 12:00 PM-3:30 PM, Ballroom 20
  Exclusive Sneak Previews and Panels for the CBS series ‘Extant’, ‘Zoo’, ‘Under the Dome’, ‘Limitless’, and ‘Scorpion’.
• ‘Doctor Who’: BBC America’s Official Panel: 2:15 PM-3:15PM, Hall H
  Following his record-breaking first season as the Doctor, Peter Capaldi will make his first ever appearance at Comic-Con with stars Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) and Michelle Gomez (Missy), and lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat. Doctor Who follows the adventures of the Doctor, the time traveler who will continue to journey through all of space and time in epic adventures in the new season premiering this fall. Capaldi’s first season delivered BBC America its highest rated season ever and is available now on all digital platforms.
• ‘Sherlock’: 3:45 PM-5:15PM, Ballroom 20
  Steven Moffat (co-creator, executive producer, and writer), Sue Vertue (executive producer) and Rupert Graves (actor, DI Greg Lestrade) discuss the latest adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his long-suffering faithful friend, Dr. John Watson. Sherlock will return to BBC in a forthcoming special.
• MTV’s ‘Teen Wolf’: 5:00 PM-6:00PM, Ballroom 20
  Teen Wolf cast members and executive producer are taking Comic-Con by storm for the sixth consecutive year. The pack of MTV’s hit series Teen Wolf will dish secrets, share a sneak peek of the upcoming season, and answer fan questions.
• ‘Damien’: 6:45 PM-7:45 PM, Room 6A
  From executive producer Glen Mazaara (The Walking Dead, The Shield), Damien follows the adult life of Damien Thorn, the mysterious child from the 1976 motion picture who has grown up seemingly unaware of the satanic forces around him. Haunted by his past, Damien must now come to terms with his true destiny: that he is the Antichrist. Starring Bradley James (Merlin), Barbara Hershey, Megalyn Echikunwoke and Omid Abtahi. Get an exclusive first look at the show followed by a Q&A with cast and producers, plus a special guest appearance.

Friday:

• ‘Lucifer’ Pilot Screening and Q&A: 11:30 AM-12:30PM, Room 6BCF
  Lucifer is the story of the original fallen angel. Bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar has resigned his throne and retired to the City of Angels, where he owns an upscale piano bar called Lux. When a beautiful pop star is murdered, for the first time in roughly 10 billion years, he feels something awaken deep within him. Is he actually capable of feelings for a human being? The very thought disturbs him. The murder attracts the attention of LAPD homicide detective Chloe Dancer, who finds herself both repulsed and fascinated by Lucifer. At the same time, God’s emissary, the angel Amenadiel, has been sent to Los Angeles to convince Lucifer to return to Hell. But with the City of Angels at his feet and a newfound purpose, Lucifer’s having too much fun to go back now. Sexy, dark and irreverent, Lucifer makes its Comic-Con debut with a screening of the complete pilot episode, followed by a Q&A with series stars and producers. From Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Aggressive Mediocrity in association with Warner Bros. Television, and based on characters created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg for DC Entertainment’s Vertigo imprint, Lucifer premieres Midseason on FOX.
• AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’: 12:00 PM-2:00 PM, Hall H
  Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Chandler Riggs, Sonequa Martin-Green, Michael Cudlitz and Lennie Jamesjoin executive producer and showrunner Scott M. Gimple, executive producer Robert Kirkman, executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, executive producer Dave Alpert, and special effects makeup supervisor and executive producer Greg Nicotero in a panel moderated by Chris Hardwick (The Nerdist, Talking Dead). The panelists will discuss the shocking finale of Season 5 and what to look forward to in Season 6, debuting this fall on AMC. Join the panelists for a Q&A session and an official sneak preview of Season 6.
• ‘Minority Report’: 1:45 PM-2:45 PM, Ballroom 20
  Be one of the first to take a look at FOX’s new fall sci-fi action thriller. Based on the hit futuristic Steven Spielberg feature, Minority Report follows the unlikely partnership between a man haunted by the future and a cop haunted by her past, as they race to stop the worst crimes of the year 2065 before they happen. Join Stark Sands (Inside Llewyn Davis), Meagan Good (Think Like a Man franchise, Californication) along with other cast and producers for a special screening followed by a Q&A.
• ‘Game of Thrones’ Panel and Q&A: 2:30PM-3:30PM, Hall H
  Based on the bestselling fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, HBO’s Game of Thrones concluded its 10-episode fifth season in June and will begin filming its sixth season this summer. The series, executive produced and written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, is an epic story of treachery and nobility, set on the continent of Westeros, where summers and winters can last years. Panelists include (in alphabetical order) Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy/Reek, John Bradley as Samwell Tarly, Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth, Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell, Conleth Hill as Varys, David Nutter (director), Hannah Murray as Gilly, Carolyn Strauss (executive producer), Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark, Carice van Houten as Melisandre, and Maisie Williams as Arya Stark.
• Marvel Television Presents: 3:00 PM-4:15 PM, Ballroom 20
  Jeph Loeb (Marvel’s head of television) brings you exclusive news and surprises about your favorite action-packed Marvel series on ABC. Join Jeph, showrunners, and the casts of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter for this can’t-miss panel that’ll have everyone talking! Featuring Clark Gregg and Hayley Atwell.
• ‘iZombie’ Special Video Presentation and Q&A: 5:45 PM-6:45PM, Ballroom 20
  After the shocking events in the season finale of brainy hit iZombie, be among the first to get the scoop on what’s in store for Season 2. Now that Liv (Rose McIver) gave the cure for zombie-ism to Blaine and Major (one that she desperately wanted to take herself!) will Ravi find a way to develop another cure? Will Clive remain in the dark about the existence of zombies? A special video presentation will be followed by a Q&A with series stars as well as executive producers Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) and Diane Ruggiero-Wright (Veronica Mars). From Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Spondoolie Productions and Warner Bros. Television and based on characters created by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, published by DC Entertainment’s Vertigo imprint, iZombie returns this fall with all-new episodes on Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW. iZombie: The Complete First Season will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 29.
• Lucasfilm: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’: 5:30 PM-6:30 PM, Hall H
  Lucasfilm president and producer Kathleen Kennedy, director J.J. Abrams, writer Lawrence Kasdan, and special guests provide a special look at Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Featuring Harrison Ford, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o and Andy Serkis.
• ‘Orphan Black’: BBC America Official Panel: 5:45 PM-6:45 PM, Room 6BCF
  Stars Tatiana Maslany (Sarah and the Leda clones), Jordan Gavaris (Felix), Maria Doyle Kennedy (Mrs. S), Dylan Bruce (Paul), Kristian Bruun (Donnie), and Ari Millen (Mark and the Castor clones) and co-creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson look back at last season before filming begins on Season 4. Orphan Black Season 3 is currently on VOD. For those new to the Clone Club, you can also start watching the BBC America series by streaming the first two seasons on Amazon Prime or download the entire series from any of the major digital platforms.
• Star: ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’: 6:00 PM-7:00PM, Room 6A
  Original filmmakers Sam Raimi (executive producer, director, writer), Rob Tapert (executive producer), Bruce Campbell (executive producer and star of the series, Ash), Ivan Raimi (co-exeuctive producer), and Craig DiGregorio (executive producer), along with Lucy Lawless (Ruby), discuss the highly anticipated new series and what fans can expect in the premiere season.
• ‘Yoga Hosers’: 7:15 PM-9:00 PM, Hall H
  An evening with Kevin Smith. After all the interesting and exciting movie panels are over, Hall H belongs to a middle-aged loser who dresses like a 12-year-old! Ask Kev questions about AMC’s Comic Book Men and his forthcoming Mallrats sequel Mallbrats, and see the world premiere of the trailer to his new movie, Yoga Hosers. Wrap up a busy Friday with the Clown Prince of Comic-Con! With special guests from the Yoga Hosers cast. Featuring Johnny Depp and Haley Joel Osment.

Saturday:

• Warner Bros.: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Hall H
  A “sneak peek” at a few upcoming releases from Warner Bros. Likely including The Man From UNCLE (Armie Hammer, Guy Ritchie), Pan (Hugh Jackman, Joe Wright), In the Heart of the Sea (Chris Hemsworth, Ron Howard), Point Break (Edgar Ramirez), Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ben Affleck, Zack Snyder), Central Intelligence (Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart), Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie), Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur (Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law), Suicide Squad (Jared Leto, David Ayer) and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Eddie Redmayne, David Yates).
• The Weinstein Company: ‘The Hateful Eight’: 1:30 PM-2:15 PM, Hall H
  Academy Award-winning writer/director Quentin Tarantino brings fans an exclusive look at his highly anticipated 8th film, The Hateful Eight. Followed by a Q&A session with the cast: Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bruce Dern.
• Legendary Pictures: 2:30 PM-3:30 PM, Hall H
  Filmmakers and talent from Legendary’s upcoming Warcraft (Duncan Jones, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell) and Crimson Peak (Guillermo Del Toro, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain), distributed by Universal Pictures, will discuss the innovative slate and present never-before-seen material. Chris Hardwick (AMC’s Talking Dead) hosts the panel that will also include surprises from highly anticipated legendary movies, including Great Wall, Krampus, and more.
• 20th Century Fox: 5:45 PM-7:30 PM, Hall H
  20th Century Fox Presentation including Fantastic Four (Miles Teller), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (Dylan O’Brien), The Martian (Matt Damon), Bridge of Spies (Tom Hanks), Kung Fu Panda 3 (Jack Black), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), X-Men: Apocalypse (Jennifer Lawrence), Independence Day: Resurgence (Jeff Goldblum), Gambit (Channing Tatum), and Assassin’s Creed (Michael Fassbender).
• Warner Bros. Television and DC Entertainment Screening Block: 8:00 PM-11:00 PM, Hall H
  Includes Supergirl season 1 (Melissa Benoist), Gotham season 2 (Ben McKenzie), Arrow season 4 (Steven Amell), The Flash season 2 (Grant Gustin) and Legends of Tomorrow season 1 (Brandon Routh).

Sunday:

• TV premieres including Heroes Reborn, American Horror Story, Scream Queens, Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries.

Peter Dinklage and more cast as Angry Birds voice cast is revealed, Whedon regular teases SHIELD role

Its UK debut is yet to have been aired but the second series of Marvel’s action thriller show Agents of SHIELD has already kicked off in America. The original cast (Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennett, Iain De Caestecker, Brett Dalton and Elizabeth Henstridge) expanded drastically in the second half of the show, introducing regular spots for Bill Paxton, BJ Britt, Saffron Burrows, Ruth Negga, J August Richards and Patton Oswalt with cameos from Amy Acker, Cobie Smulders, Adrian Pasdar, Ron Glass and Samuel L Jackson. Reed Diamond, Lucy Lawless, Nick Blood, Adrianne Palicki and Kyle Machlachan have already boarded season 2 as newcomers but they don’t seemed to have stopped there.

Fran Kranz has posted a fairly cryptic tweet featuring the words “Robbie Baldwin, SHIELD, soon!” Baldwin would be referring to the Marvel hero Speedball. Kranz is a Joss Whedon regular following a lead role on Dollhouse, the Whedon-written horror Cabin in the Woods and played Claudio in Whedon’s Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing. He’s the fourth Much Ado star to join the show after Clark Gregg, Amy Acker and Reed Diamond, who played Leonato, Beatrice and Don Pedro respectively. Should this theme continue, we may see Nathan Fillion make his MCU debut on the small screen. Alexis Denisof may be after more of the action after his abrupt exit in Guardians of the Galaxy.

In a plethora of Appstore installations, ornithology anthology Angry Birds is likely the most iconic. Across numerous sequels, the game has tied into the Fast and Furious, Rio and Star Wars franchises but is now ready for a film of its own. The film’s incredible, and largely comedic, voice cast has now been unveiled: Jason Sudeikis (We’re the Millers, Horrible Bosses), Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids, Away We Go), Bill Hader (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Paul), Josh Gad (21, Frozen), Danny McBride (This is the End, Tropic Thunder) and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones, X-Men: Days of Future Past).

Angry Birds – July 15th 2016

Agents of SHIELD – continues this year on ABC and Channel 4

Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool reportedly greenlit, Toby Kebbell joins Ben-Hur, new Agents of SHIELD teaser and (another) Interstellar poster

The marketing team for Christopher Nolan’s secrecy soaked sci-fi Interstellar will be having the time of their lives: across this week, a whole series of posters for the film have been revealed one by one. Today is no exception. This one sheet sees a spacecraft downed in either domestic or alien waters. Nolan, British writer/director behind The Dark Knight trilogy, Memento, The Prestige and Inception, directs the cast of Matthew MacConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck, Anne Hathaway, David Oyelowo, Matt Damon, Ellen Burstyn and John Lithgow.

A planned spin off for Ryan Reynolds’ (Safe House, Buried) crazed superhero Deadpool, who made his only, mediocre appearance in the vastly disappointing X-Men Origins: Wolverine, has been in development hell for the past six years. Most of that time the project has only been kept alive by the comic book character’s ongoing popularity. It has now been reported that Fox have greenlit the film for an early 2016 release. Tim Miller, who for an excruciatingly long time has been attached to the film, is now confirmed as director. My key hope for the film is that it can settle for a 15 rating: any lower and it wouldn’t have the same tone as the often adult comics but higher and the gore would unfairly become the focus.

I was one of many distraught by Toby Kebbell’s casting in the prestigious role of Doctor Doom in next year’s Fantastic Four but the star proved himself greatly going up against Andy Serkis’ Ceasar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He’s now setting himself up for another villainous role as Messala in the new remake of Ben-Hur. The historical epic already has Morgan Freeman (Batman Begins, The Shawkshank Redemption, Seven) signed on to play mentor Ildarin while Jack Huston (American Hustle, Broadwalk Empire) is negotiating to play the titular hero. 12 Years a Slave’s John Ridley writes while Wanted’s Timur Bekmambetov directs.

Finally today we’ve got an awesome new poster for season 2 of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. The expansion of the multi billion superhero universe got off to a fairly rough start but pulled itself together with an excellent second half to the series. Deduce what you like from the teaser. Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennett, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, BJ Britt, Adrianne Palicki, Patton Oswalt, Nick Blood, Reed Diamond, Adrian Pasdar, Kyle MacLachlan and Lucy Lawless will all feature in some way in the new season.

Agents of SHIELD season 2 – this autumn on ABC and Channel 4

Deadpool – February 12th 2016

Interstellar – November 7th

Ben-Hur – February 19th 2016

Hawkeye’s removed Captain America appearance revealed and first teaser for SHIELD’s second series

With two Oscar nominations to his name, Jeremy Renner (The Town, American Hustle, The Assassination of Jesse James, The Hurt Locker) is one of the Marvel Universe’s most decorated stars although his character was deprived of some crucial character development time in his only lead role, 2012’s The Avengers. We know Renner will reprise his role next year in Age of Ultron while he’s rumoured to be starring in Captain America 3 and the latter’s directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, have revealed that the archer did have a role in Cap’ 2. Be warned that the next passage does contain major spoilers for The Winter Soldier.

Joe Russo explained “What it was going to be, we were trying to complicate the relationship between Cap and his S.H.I.E.L.D agent friends. If Hawkeye got a call from S.H.I.E.L.D saying Captain America is a fugitive, would he listen to that call or not listen to that call? That sequence actually was heartbreaking for us to cut it. I think it ultimately might have been a conflict with Renner’s schedule. But there was a great sequence where Hawkeye was chasing Cap through Washington D.C. there was an awesome sequence where they confronted each other in a ravine on the outskirts of D.C. and Hawkeye was shooting a series of arrows closing in on Cap, Cap closing in on him. And then Cap took him down and he realized for the first time that Hawkeye was trying to trick S.H.I.E.L.D, where he whispered something into Cap’s ear that Cap had a tracker on his suit and to punch Hawkeye to make it look real, because there was a Quinjet hovering above where they were watching the feedback back at S.H.I.E.L.D.

“So it was a cool sequence. But look, there’s a million iterations of films, and especially when dealing with Marvel movies where characters can come in or come out during the creative process. And you keep working and working like a Rubik’s Cube till you find the right configuration where everything lines up. So even though we lost that sequence, I think we may have streamlined the movie and made it a little bit more propulsive.”

Also from the world of Marvel, the very first trailer for the second season of Agents of SHIELD have emerged. Many were quick to criticise the show but it transformed into something spectacular in its last sequence of episodes. Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennett, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge but the trailer made no such mention of J August Richards, Ron Glass, David Conrad, BJ Britt, Ruth Negga or Patton Oswalt. Lucy Lawless, Reed Diamond, Kyle MacLachlan and Adrianne Palicki also join the cast.

Agents of SHIELD season 2 – September 23rd on ABC/Channel 4

Captain America 3 – May 6th 2016

Comic-Con 2014 – Round-Up – Avengers, Wonder Woman, Thrones, Godzilla and more!

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!