So D23 wrapped up over the weekend, and Disney rolled out their very own Hall H-worthy line-up of announcements. In fact they could probably have filled Halls I, J, K and L as well.
In case you didn’t get the memo, D23 is Disney’s very own Comic-Con, held once every two years in Disneyland, attended by thousands of fans and offering big previews of upcoming projets. The Verge has a rundown of everything from the new A Wrinkle in Time trailer, updates on Frozen 2, Incredibles 2, and more from the Pixar and Disney animated line-ups, the live action Lion King, and Aladdin casting, along with the continued faith in the idea that Guy Ritchie is just the guy to direct a lightheated musical.
But even with Star Wars: The Last Jedi getting major time, it was Marvel that stole the show, with a sausage fest presentation on Avengers: Infinity War PART ONE, due in 2018, that saw more than a dozen cast members come out. There was also some footage shown. And as it hasn’t leaked to the internet yet, we can only rely on breathless eye witness accounts, such as the EW headline: Avengers: Infinity War footage shows Thanos throwing a planet
The Guardians of the Galaxy are flying around. “Put on your mean faces,” Star-Lord says, because he expects something nasty. There has been crazy destruction, and then a body smashes up against their ship. “Get it away,” Rocket says. They bring the body in and it’s Thor. (Spoilers for Ragnarok, we guess?) Mantis wakes him up and Thor jumps up and exclaims “Who the hell are you guys?”
and
Peter Parker is on the ground very hurt. “I’m sorry Tony,” he says behind tears with Iron Man holding his head. Thanos grabs Thor’s head and squeezes. Then Thanos, in the heat of battle with the Infinity Gauntlet on his hand, uses the power of the two stones he has (Purple and Blue, I think) to grab a moon. He starts to drag it toward whatever planet everyone is standing on. The debris starts to fly and… cut to title card.
Now I know we’re a jaded bunch and there have been more than a dozen MCU movies, but when you read a sentence like the below, it’s a real pants-pee-er where excitement is concerned:
Star-Lord and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) leap into action, harnessing magic and airborne stepping stones
Mantis and Thor! -L and Doctor Strange Thanos with a planet OH MY GOD WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING!!!??!?!??!?
Not releasing the footage is kind of a dick move and yet a brilliant one. Just reading about this fires your imagination even more than seeing footage of YET ANOTHER MARVEL MOVIE THAT HAS MORE THAN 20 MAIN CHARACTERS. Now we can just dream and ponder how amazing it must be and fill the time before we run out to see the film opening weekend so it has another 70% downturn in the second week because we’ll all be over it by then.
Oh wait there’s a little bit that will probably be down by the time you read this, captured by one brave Bothan. Sounds like the crowd had an epiphany.
A few “Candid” photos from the event were released including this one.
And I had to stop and think “Who is that taking on RDJ? And then I was like “It’s Thanos! You know, Josh Brolin, that guy who was Jonah Hex and who will also be Cable.” Dude gets around but he will always be Eddie Mannix to me.
You can read salient news from the fest at headlines at sites that like to break things up, but one little tiddlebit was Mark Ruffalo’s “There will be no Stand alone Hulk Movie!” headlines. What? Mark, say it ain’t so. But it turns out he’s not the reason!
“I want to just make one thing perfectly clear today: A standalone ‘Hulk’ movie will never happen,” confirmed Ruffalo. “Universal has the rights, and for some reason, they don’t know how to play well with Marvel. And, they don’t want to make money.”
Mean old UnIversal. Let the Hulk be standalone!
As for Star Wars, the main news was immersive real world environments. Some stills of the upcoming Star Wars Land theme park were revealed, and you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Even more astonishing is a planned resort where you will be immersed in the world of Star Wars 100%:
A Star Wars-inspired Walt Disney World resort hotel is in development, according to Disney Parks & Resorts chairman Bob Chapek. While speaking at today’s Parks panel at the D23 Expo, Chapek unveiled the ‘ambitious’ project, as well as some pretty impeccable concept art. Guests of the Star Wars resort will be able to partake in a ‘living adventure’, with the help of fully immersive storytelling and production design. Attendees will reportedly be able to participate in a hotel-specific attraction, and even be able to dress in Star Wars-inspired clothing.
“It’s unlike anything that exists today.” Chapek revealed. “From the second you arrive, you will become a part of a Star Wars story! You’ll immediately become a citizen of the galaxy and experience all that entails, including dressing up in the proper attire. Once you leave Earth, you will discover a starship alive with characters, stories, and adventures that unfold all around you. It is 100% immersive, and the story will touch every single minute of your day, and it will culminate in a unique journey for every person who visits.”
Listen, once they said Captain Eo was like nothing you had experienced before and we know how that turned out.
Finally, no new Last Jedi footage but a behind the scenes was released, and Disney DID put that online:
Reading all this you wonder if anything is left for MArvel at Comic-Con? While this breathtaking line-up of male superheroes might be hard to top, there’s still Phase 4 and maybe some titles. I’m sure Kevin Feige has more up his sleeve.
That clip is a fake. It’s actually the big end sequence of X-Men: Apocalypse
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