We're Reacting to All of Marvel Studios' Reveals From SDCC 2016


With Hall H packed with over 6,000 people the Saturday evening at San Diego Comic-Con 2016, Marvel Studios were set to steal the show. Now all credit in the world to Warner Bros. and DC Films for their frankly brilliant WONDER WOMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE trailers, especially for the decision to immediately release them online, but Marvel had something special planned just for the people in the room which I commend them for.

It's been no secret Marvel has had a corporate restructuring so Marvel Studios head Kevin Fiege no longer has to report to the CEO of Marvel, but rather the head of Disney Studios, Alan Horn. This may be why Marvel started their presentation with the unveiling of their new logo and fanfare, which I have to say, I'm a complete sucker for. I remember during CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, where their logo essentially acted as the film's title card, receiving a cheer from the opening night crowd, I thought to myself, “You've earned this Marvel.”


They had visits from the casts of BLACK PANTHER and SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, finally confirming who the cast beyond the main character were playing, meaning we can finally stop guessing. SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING even showed some footage, mostly high school stuff, but ending with a shot of the Vulture. 

Am I disappointed they didn't release that footage to the public? Yes. But the concept art they released (click here to see that concept art) was awesome and will keep me going until they've actually shot most of the film and can show us a real trailer. Huge Spider-Man mark here. Might even do a reaction video to it. 

Benedict Cumberbatch receiving a standing ovation warms my heart, especially after he took the time to meet fans queuing to get into Hall H the night before. The second DOCTOR STRANGE trailer they showed, which was released online (click here to watch it), was trippy as all hell and I love it. DOCTOR STRANGE has possibly the best cast Marvel has ever assembled. Just over three months here in the UK, as it's released a week earlier than the U.S. here. I've already made sure I have the weekend free as I will be seeing it IMAX, no question. 


THOR: RAGNAROK is only a week into shooting, but director Taika Waititi's decision to make a mockumentary on “Where was Thor during Civil War?” was inspired. I hope, nay pray, we get to see that some day, even if just as a Blu-Ray special feature. I'm really loving Waititi, who's not only a talented director (his latest film HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE currently sits at 99-percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with only one rotten review out of 115) but his sense of humour just speaks to me. The dude's crazy and I love it. They rounded this out by showing a sizzle reel of behind the scenes shots from set and concept art, which I also pray ends up online sooner rather than later, as THOR: RAGNAROK looks to be an amazing conceptual space adventure, combing elements of Thor's mythical world and the John Carpenter vibe in comic book story arc 'Planet Hulk.' The Gladiator Hulk armour they revealed as well at Marvel's SDCC 2016 booth (images above)? Too sweet.


Marvel rounded out their presentation with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, with a bunch of Ravagers in full costume and make up storming the stage. This is why, in my opinion, Marvel won SDCC because they put on a show! With footage shown, once again not for us mere online followers, which I'm totally fine with, we got the revelation of Kurt Russell's character's identity. As I followed online, I saw reports he was Star-Lord's father and Ego the Living Planet. I thought to myself, “Well, which is it?” Well, both. (See Russell's Ego costume above.) I love Ego the Living Planet, as one of the weirdest conceptual characters in all of comics, but all I could think was, “Star-Lord's mum made it with a planet?” Well of course she didn't, Ego had made a humanoid form for that job, something they make a joke about in the footage shown, which I hope makes it into a trailer. Spoiler-ish as it may be, I hope they keep Ego's true form a secret until the film comes out, it should blow casual audiences' minds.


They wrapped the panel with a huge group photo of the entire MCU family in attendance, baring in mind none of the original Avengers were there (AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is going to be huge) but studios head Kevin Fiege said if they were going to do it, they needed to bring in the latest member of the Marvel family — their newest addition Captain Marvel, who will be played by Brie Larson. We all kind of knew this news, it's been rumored for months now, but it was so good to get confirmation. Larson seems to be loving the reaction to her casting and I've been a fan of her's since SHORT TERM 12 (seriously, watch it people). 

A last thing of note, Marvel finished their panel by giving out Fiege-style hats with the new Marvel Studios logo on. I would kill to get one of these. Here's hoping they have a box at NYCC.

[Editor Notes: This post's author, Nick Whitney, will in fact be representing DailySuperHero.com at New York Comic Con 2016 this October! All images courtesy of Marvel Studios.]

PS. No Fantastic Four. Maybe next year.

Written by Nick Whitney, MCU Correspondent -- Click to read Nick's posts