Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige (please note the brand new logo) packed a lot of comic book movie goodness into its two-hour time slot at Comic-Con like a tasty burrito. We were treated to an exclusive first look at their John Hughes-inspired Spider-Man: Homecoming and how Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 upped its game with action, characters, comedy, of course, its mixtape of classic jams. The big announcements and screening of exclusive footage did not stop there. Here are other bits of news we learned while strapped to our seat in confines of Hall H.
Doctor Strange gets magical and subtlety addresses whitewashing controversy
Benedict Cumberbatch is a cool guy. The night before the Marvel panel, there were hoards of Comic-Con attendees were waiting in the mile-long line to enter Hall H for the Saturday panels, he mingled with the attendees, snapping pics with them and witnessing the line-waiting culture that is both fun and a plague (more the latter than the former) for Comic-Con goers…but the wait was worth it when Cumberbatch stepped out onto the stage amidst a dazzling light show that made us feel we were in the world of the Sorcerer Supreme.
The actor and director Scott Derrickson presented more brand new trailer for Doctor Strange as well as more footage which gave us more details about Strange and this world of magic, which is an ambitious new undertaking that is unlike any other Marvel movie.
The two were joined on the stage by Strange stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton, who plays Strange’s mentor “The Ancient One.”
The casting of Swinton in the role of “The Ancient One” raised a lot of eyebrows and sparked a whitewashing controversy considering the character is portrayed as Asian in the comics. This was discreetly addressed during the panel, but no one ever said “we didn’t whitewash this role.” Instead, it was handled delicately. “The truth is, anyone of us could be the Ancient One,” said Swinton. “The Ancient One is a title.”
On the flipside of things, Benedict Wong said that his character, Wong, will not be the tea-getting manservant of Strange that people were assuming he was going to be. Despite all of that, the Doctor Strange panel and footage gave an astral plane-worthy amount of magic and mysticism to make us excited.
Thor: Ragnarok gets funny
Production for the next installment of Thor is well underway and director Taika Waititi will certainly give a new refreshing take on the franchise first directed by Kenneth Branagh. Known mostly for his work in comedies and charming indies like Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok is a new venture for Waititi, but that doesn’t mean he can’t inject some humor into Thor’s world.
The audience in Hall H was treated to a Waititi-directed short mockumentary in the vein of his vampire satire, What We Do in the Shadows which answered the question: “What was Thor doing during Captain America: Civil War?” We learn that the demi-God has been taking a holiday and is living in Australia with his normal roommate Daryl.
He doesn’t do much with his days besides making diagrams of the Infinity Stones and making funny doodles of Mjolnir, who sleeps in a tiny bed next to his. That said, he is wondering why Tony Stark or Steve Rogers haven’t called on him to choose a side for the Civil War. He later meets up Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) for a cup of coffee to ask if he’s heard from Iron Man or Captain America and why he’s been left out of all the superhero fun — which leads to hilarious results.
The mockumentary, which was ridiculously funny, furthers Chris Hemsworth’s comedy chops that we saw in Ghostbusters. But Ragnarok won’t be a comedy romp, obviously. Unfortunately, Waititi, Hemsworth and the other stars from the upcoming sequel weren’t able to make their way to San Diego, but there was some behind-the-scenes footage from the current production.
Some shots included lots of storyboards, concept art and Hemsworth as a short-haired Thor in front of a green screen doing green screen stuff. We also saw glimpses of Hulk in what could possibly be Planet Hulk dressed in gladiator attire, a motion shot of Cate Blanchett’s Hera, a glimpse of Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, renderings of Idris Elba’s Heimdall, and our first look at the villainous demon Surtur. The movie will also see the return of Jaimie Alexander and Anthony Hopkins and will welcome Asgard rookies Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, and Jeff Goldblum.
There was tons to see in the short supercut of footage for Ragnarok, which is being described as a “road trip movie” but in an alternate universe, of course.
Ladies and gentlemen: Captain Marvel
Before the Marvel panel came to close, moderator Chris Hardwick suggested that all the panelists come back out to take a ridiculously massive Marvel class photo, but not before Kevin Feige officially announced the newest member of the MCU: Brie Larson as Captain Marvel.
And here’s that aforementioned ridiculously massive Marvel class photo:
Dino-Ray Ramos | Staff Writer
