SDCC 2019 – Recap

San Diego Comic-Con. The Superbowl for Nerdds. Unfortunately, like the actual Superbowl, most fans aren’t able to go. So let’s take a look at some of the most interesting announcements from this weekend, so you aren’t caught so off guard!

Marvel

Obviously Marvel is on a hot streak right now, having just come off of Endgame, everyone is wondering what their Phase Four is going to look like. So below we have the upcoming movies, TV shows for their Disney+ streaming service, as well as some updates on X-Men comics.

Movies

Spider-Man: Far From Home was the final film of Phase Three, and we have had no official announcement of the upcoming movies until now, and we get six! Three of them are characters we are familiar with (Black Widow, Doctor Strange, Thor), and three are characters we haven’t seen in the MCU, and two we haven’t seen on screen at all!

Black Widow – May 1, 2020 (November 6)

This was pretty widely known, as it is already in production, but one thing that was previously unknown was the villain of the movie, which we now know is going to be Taskmaster. For those of you unfamiliar, Taskmaster has a power called Photographic Reflexes, which means if he watches how someone does something once, he can recreate that action perfectly from now on. Thus, he can be just as good of an archer as Hawkeye, martial artist as Black Panther, etc. How will Black Widow fight someone who can copy her moves exactly?

Eternals – November 6, 2020 (February 21, 2021)

This is going to be huge. Starring Richard Madden (Game of Thrones), Angelina Jolie, and Kumail Nanjiani, the Eternals is the story of the first heroes of Earth, created by the Celestials. We have seen the Celestials in the MCU already, with Ego the Living Planet, as well as the giant dead skull of Knowhere, both seen in Guardians of the Galaxy films. So why did they send these original heroes to Earth, thus creating such a strong trend of super-humans throughout human history?

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – February 12, 2021 (May 7)

We have our first Asian led Superhero movie! Shang-Chi in the comics is known as Master of Kung-Fu, and helped Peter Parker create Spider-Fu after he lost his Spider-Sense. Previous on screen Kung-Fu hero Iron Fist meet a lot of disappointment from fans of the Marvel Netflix shows, so hopefully they can use those lessons to make Shang-Chi better.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – May 7, 2021 (March 25, 2022)

So now we know that the Multiverse exists, because that’s how the Avengers were able to get the Infinity Stones to stop Thanos, as well as the “revival” of Gamora and Loki. We thought that Spider-Man: Far From Home [No Spoiler] would help explain more about how the Multiverse worked, but that wasn’t a major plot point of the movie like we thought it would be. Doctor Strange was a little bit paint-by-numbers as far as Marvel films go, but the character was a lot more interesting in the other films since (Thor: Ragnarok, Infinity War, and Endgame). So hopefully they used that to see how the character works, and make a great movie.

Thor Love and Thunder – November 5, 2021(February 11, 2022)

We know two things about this movie so far, one is that it will be directed by Taika Waititi, who directed Thor: Ragnarok. If you’ve read my MCU Best-to-Worst, you’ll know I’m not a big fan of that movie, but I’m willing to see what Taika does this time. The other major aspect of this film, is that we will see “Lady Thor,” which is when Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) takes up Mjolnir, and receives the powers of Thor. This is what I’m far more excited for.

Blade – TBD

The last movie announced, which has no release date set, is for Blade the Vampire Hunter, played by Mahershala Ali. Blade (1998) is seen as one of the best pre-MCU Marvel movies, so it will be exciting to see him again, and played by one of the best young African-American actors today.

TV

While the movies can be explained without spoilers, almost all of the upcoming Disney+ shows are direct results of the Infinity Saga, so if you aren’t caught up, skip this section.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – Fall 2020 (August)

Steve Rogers was able to go home, and live his life with Peggy Carter, so he gave up his shield to Sam Wilson. Bucky was there as Steve became the hero we know as Captain America, and most of Cap’s adventures (they spent years in WWII), so he surely has some wisdom on what the Shield stands for, and can help Sam find his place as the next Captain America.

WandaVision – Spring 2021(December 2020)

Vision died at the end of Infinity War, but the film started showing that Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch) and Vision had become romantically involved, as they do in the comics. However, not only is this film supposed to take place after Endgame, but will also have a grown up Monica Rambeau (Captain Marvel), as well as have ties to Doctor Strange 2.

Loki – Spring 2021

Infinity War, Thanos kills Loki. Endgame, Cap and Iron Man go back to the Chitauri Invasion from Avengers in an alternate universe, and accidentally free Loki. This means that Loki is not in Asgardian jail when the events of Thor: The Dark World occur, and Loki doesn’t get his redemption arc. This series is going to show how that changes Loki’s story going forward.

What If – Summer 2021

Animated show! As we’ve covered the concept of “What If…” comics (the first being “What If Spider-Man Joined the Fantastic Four”), we are going to get an entire animated series showing all the alternate universes of slight variations of the Marvel Universe we know. The familiar characters will be voiced by their live-action counterparts, and we will also see Uatu the Watcher, voiced by Jeffery Wright (Westworld), who will be the host of the show.

Hawkeye – Fall 2021

The last show announced is Hawkeye, where we are going to see Clint Barton training Kate Bishop, who becomes the next Hawkeye in the comics. Because this show is more than two years away, we don’t have any further information on the show.

Comics

As far as comics at Comic-Con, there usually isn’t a whole lot. However, as the current X-Men run is starting to come to a close, they have announced that six titles will be beginning shortly after.

• X-Men
• Marauders
• Excaliber
• New Mutants
• Fallen Angels
• X-Force

DC

While Phase Four was the biggest news from Comic-Con this year, The Nerdd loves both teams, so let’s take a look at some of the exciting DC news!

Movies

While there were no Worlds of DC films announced, we did get wind of some animated movies, which have been far and away better products from DC. While Marvel is winning in Live Action, DC has had amazing animated movies for over two decades.

First we see Red Son, the story of if Superman had landed in Russia, not Kansas, and become a Soviet weapon. The other movie coming out is arguably one of the greatest Batman comics ever, Hush. No doubt both of these will be worth your time to watch.

TV

Between their streaming service, HBO, the Arrowverse and more, there is lots of DCTV coming out.

DC Universe

Doom Patrol will be streamable from HBOMax with it’s second season coming out! This, along with Watchmen being an HBO show soon, shows that the two networks are growing a relationship. Maybe if DC splits it’s shows into HBO style, and CW style, they can get a wide range of demographics. CW has definitely been better received than Marvel’s ABC shows Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter, so an HBO level of entertainment would be a good competition with the Marvel Netflix shows.

Watchmen

“Who Watches the Watchmen?” The story of the Watchmen has always followed the idea of “Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.” In today’s day and age, police brutality is at the forefront of a lot of minds and political discussions, and the new HBO Watchmen series is ready to be part of that conversation.

Batwoman

Attendees were treated to the first episode of Batwoman, and the reactions seem fairly positive! The show is set in the Arrowverse, and explains that Batman has been gone from Gotham for roughly three years, which is why he hasn’t made an appearance in any of the shows thus far. It also implies that Batman won’t always be just off screen, like Superman is in Supergirl.

Batwoman is played by Ruby Rose, and is a tattooed lesbian who has previous military experience, and is here to be a badass. If you don’t like that characterization, you just don’t like the character, because she is exactly the same in the comics.

Pennyworth

The audience was also shown the first episode of Pennyworth, which is to come out next week. This is more clearly a prequel to Gotham, which of course is a prequel to the Batman mythos in general. The show is set in 1960s London, and while no one really asked for this show to be made, it looks like it has potential.

Harley Quinn

We also got word of a new animated Harley Quinn show, and Harley herself is voiced by Kaley Cuoco from The Big Bang Theory. While the show is very much R-Rated, it still feels like it should be on Cartoon Network, with the animation and pacing from this trailer. Interesting. Very interesting.

Movies

Let’s talk some movies that aren’t comic book based! Yes, I know the event is called Comic-Con, but it’s becoming more and more Hollywood-Con, so let’s just take a look anyway.

It Chapter Two

Personally, I hated It, but not because it was a bad movie. In fact, it was wonderfully made, I just am not good with scary movies. I got tricked into watching the first one, and chances are I’ll be tricked into watching this one.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

Jay and Silent Bob. The string tying together a series of films that aren’t really related. This was the closest we had to a cinematic universe before The Avengers. In Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, they were upset that Hollywood was making a movie based on them without their permission. Now, Hollywood is trying to reboot the franchise, and Jay and Silent Bob are not happy. Just watch in this reboot about Jay and Silent Bob.

Fun fact, Kevin Smith says that he and Ben Affleck haven’t been good at keeping in touch the last few years, but with this movie, Smith decided to reach back out to see if Affleck wanted to reboot his cameo, and they have been able to reboot their friendship.

Top Gun: Maverick

Speaking of reboots, even though this is technically just a sequel, lets get Top Gun back into theaters!

Walking Dead

Wait, Walking Dead is supposed to go in the next section of this article, under TV, right? Wrong! We are going to be getting a Walking Dead movie, in theaters! It will even have Rick! Walking Dead has been slowly fading out of the conversation since season seven, and we are about to see season 10. So roughly three years of declining importance, even with their sister show Fear the Walking Dead, let’s see if this movie can kick them back into the spotlight.

TV

Walking Dead

I thought we just talked about The Walking Dead? We did! But that doesn’t mean the show is over. However, Rick isn’t going to be in the show anymore, he is only in the movie now. Michonne’s Danai Gurira has said she is only doing one more season, then she is out. It seems Darryl is still in the show, which is the only reason I might go back.

Picard

It is a great time to be a Trekkie! First, we have The Orville, Seth McFarlane’s fan service comedy to Next Generation, then Star Trek: Discovery, and now we are bringing back Jean-Luc Picard!

The Witcher

Do you want to see Superman throw on a white wig, grab two swords, and go monster hunting? I kinda do!

Westworld

Now, Westworld season one was amazing, and kept me happy in between seasons of Game of Thrones. Season two got a little confusing, but showed more of how everything works outside the park, which got really cool. Season three apparently has Aaron Paul and a robot sidekick, and they live in a city, seemingly not in the park at all. Even though that sounds even more confusing, the shows creators stated that the show will in fact be less confusing than season two. They admitted that season two got a little, weird, so I’m willing to keep my HBO up, and see what they have in store.

Magic: The Gathering

Now, while I obviously love D&D, I have been completely lost when it comes to the world of Ravnica. However, the Russo Brothers (Infinity War) are creating an animated Magic: The Gathering series for Netflix, which seems like the perfect jumping on point for me. If the names Jace and Chandra mean anything to you, then you have an idea of what this show is going to be about.

Rick and Morty

Rick and Morty season four has arrived, with guest star Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok). Creator of the show Dan Harmon says that there won’t be such a big gap between future seasons in the future. For those not keeping count, it was more than 18 months, a year and a half, between seasons. The Szechuan Sauce fiasco happened in October, of 2017!

Snowpiercer

If you liked the South Korean film about a train in a frozen wasteland, starring Chris Evans, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, and Ed Harris, be excited! The movie is getting a spinoff series, and while having not the original cast, has cast members from Hamilton, the new Top Gun, and Narcos.

Veronica Mars

Kristen Bell is on a bit of an upswing lately, between The Good Place being a hit, Frozen 2 coming out, and a reboot of her early 2000s private investigator show.

Etc

Lastly, some awards were given out this year at SDCC. The most notable being…

• Comic-Con Icon Award – Mark Hamill
• Will Eisner Awards (The Oscars, but for comics)
  • Best Single Issue – Spectacular Spider-Man #310
  • Best Writer – Tom King (Batman)
  • Best Colorist – Matt Wilson (Paper Girls)

What did you want to see at SDCC? Let us know in the comments below!