Well, it’s all over, even the shouting at the Talk Back panel. [Same crap, different year.]

I took Sunday off… had to be an adult in the morning, and then spent the rest of the day relaxing, happy that everything went well. I can act like an adult…but prefer not to.

So, what’s up?  Marvel’s not releasing their trailers, because they say they need some polishing. Which means that they showed second-rate teasers to fans at D23 and San Diego? Well, the fans were pleased, as was the cast of Black Panther. At least the Thor trailer was released, and it looks like fun. Where will it rank among the other “part three” MCU flicks?

Anywho…  read on for the final briefing from Comic-Con!


James Gunn Explains Marvel/Fox Movie Rights: How Skrulls Can Be In The MCU

Through a series of tweets, Gunn explained that the Skrulls were an official part of the MCU now and retweeted an explanation he had given before about the rights issues. According to Gunn, there are some specific Skrulls (such as the FF antagonist the Super Skrull) that are strictly Fox properties, but the race itself is available to both Fox and Marvel:

[…]

He went on to explain that this is also the case with the Watchers, the race of beings that we saw Stan Lee reporting to in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Sadly, this means that Uatu the Watcher was not present among the group that Lee was talking to; this makes sense as Uatu has interacted significantly with the Fantastic Four, but some fans were likely hoping to see him come into his own as a character in the MCU as well.

‘Captain Marvel’ will receive a $20-million tax credit to shoot in California

The exact amount that each project receives can vary depending on how much it ultimately spends. The tax credits apply only to below-the-line expenditures, such as equipment and crew. They don’t include the salaries of major stars and directors.

Past installments in the Marvel movie universe to film in California include “Thor” in 2011 and “Iron Man” in 2008. But most Marvel films now shoot in Georgia and Great Britain.

“Our headquarters and postproduction facilities are in California, so it’s very exciting to be able to film ‘Captain Marvel’ here in our home state,” Marvel Studios Co-President Louis D’Esposito said in a statement. Marvel Studios is a division of the Walt Disney Co.

For Warner Bros., a ‘Cinematic Universe’ Built of Lego Bricks

“There is an affinity for the property,” said Michael McNally, the senior director of brand relations for Lego.

Still, some industry watchers say the ambitious movie slate, combined with an equally elaborate merchandising push, could end up hurting.

Jim Silver, the chief executive and editor in chief of TTPM, a toy industry website, said the overall market was oversaturated with movie-related toys this year, and children were not making an emotional attachment to the brands and the characters.

“There is less attention span on their property,” Mr. Silver said. “Kids are bouncing from one to another.”

Comic-Con 2017: Step aside grown-ups, it’s Kids’ Day

“It’s fun because I can draw monsters,” said Arianna Silvoso, 6, of Los Angeles, who turned Sather’s strawberry illustration into a strawberry monster with ram-like horns and spiky hands.

Her mother, Christina Silvoso, said the drawing session and other kids activities on Comic-Con’s closing day were a nice break from the madness of the convention.

“It’s great because the regular adult activities aren’t as fun for them,” she said. “They get tired of walking around after a while and the panels get boring for them. They want to have interactive activities.”

Watch the Full DC Comic-Con 2017 Panel Online

No trailers, of course.

‘Justice League’ Extensive Reshoots Causing Headaches for Star Schedules (EXCLUSIVE)

t’s standard for big Hollywood movies to schedule a few weeks of pick-up work, but the cost and time allotted to the work on “Justice League” is raising some eyebrows. Reshoots, or additional photography to use the preferred studio nomenclature, traditionally cost between $6 million to $10 million, and rarely have to juggle so many competing schedules. They typically last a week or two.

Though stars like Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot, who play Batman and Wonder Woman, aren’t working on any other projects at the moment, enabling them to be on call for the filming, other cast members such as Ezra Miller and Henry Cavill have been scrambling to accommodate the additional photography.

Cavill is following in the footsteps of Cesar Romero and Chris Evans.

Charlize Theron addresses Hollywood’s gender pay gap during passionate panel discussion

The Mad Max: Fury Road actress was at the convention in San Diego, California to promote new movie Atomic Blonde, in which she plays a strong female character, a ruthless British spy on a mission in Berlin near the end of the Cold War.

So the 41-year-old star was an obvious choice to take part in Entertainment Weekly’s Women Who Kick A*s: Icon edition panel on Saturday, which she used as an opportunity to stand up for women in the film industry.

Gal Gadot comforting a young ‘Wonder Woman’ fan will melt your heart

The little girl looked pretty overwhelmed meeting Gal Gadot in the flesh and started to cry while handing the actress her poster to be autographed. And like the true superhero she is, Gal comforted her while Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller and Ben Affleck looked on. (Truth: We’d sob harder if Aquaman was anywhere near us.)

It sounds like Gal said “Well now we’re friends so there’s no reason to cry anymore, right? We’re here together.”

Liev Schreiber took his son to Comic-Con dressed as Harley Quinn

The San Diego Comic-Con (which, believe it or not, used to actually feature comic books) is an annual celebrity fest these days. One such notable, Liev Schreiber, was in attendance this year, partly to promote, but also to parent.

Schreiber took his young sons to the entertainment spectacle this year, both in costume. His oldest son, 9-year-old Sasha, went dressed as a Jedi, and his youngest, 8-year-old Kai, decided to channel the unfettered persona of Harley Quinn.

As one would quickly assume, the child’s costume choice and the parent’s willingness to let him go as he pleased inspired a fair amount of commentary in some circles online.

. Geoff Johns and Kevin Feige got their start working for director Richard Donner. Here, they recall driving to .


Lots of great videos on AMPAS’ Twitter feed!

‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Poster Attempts to Contain the Entire Marvel Cinematic Universe

Thanos 3:16?

Laurence Fishburne cast in Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp”

At San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, Marvel announced Fishburne is joining the cast of Ant-Man and the Wasp as Dr. Bill Foster. Foster, also known as Black Goliath, is a brilliant scientist who has the ability to grow in size.

Incidentally, Fishburne is one of the rare actors to jump from the DC cinematic universe to Marvel’s — he starred as Daily Planet boss Perry White in Man of Steel, and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The actor will work alongside Michael Douglas’ character of Dr. Henry “Hank” Pym, the originator of the size-shifting tech that Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang steals/inherits in 2015’s Ant-Man.

Also announced for the film was Michelle Pfeiffer, who will play Janet van Dyne, the superhero wife of Hank and the mother of Hope, played by Evangeline Lilly. In the comics version, Janet was noted as the original Wasp and the first wife of the original Ant-Man. She was also said to be the chairman of The Avengers.

25 Best Things We Saw at 2017 San Diego Comic-Con

It’s said that lion tamers use wooden chairs in their acts because big, angry cats get confused by multiple points of focus and retreat. For San Diego Comic-Con’s 130,000 attendees, however, information overload has the opposite effect. Look, there’s a samurai made of R2D2 parts! And there’s Tara Reid smoking a cigarette! And there’s a Viking ship on fire in the harbor! Suddenly, the adrenaline is rushing, the spidey senses are tingling, and folks are off on a feeding frenzy for every swag bag, autograph and sneak peek within downtown San Diego.

And this year at the SDCC, the themes of diversity and inclusivity resonated more than ever, in panel after panel: The CW brought DC Comics stalwart Black Lightning; Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther was a centerpiece of Marvel’s movie presentation; and CBS’s new Star Trek: Discovery expands on its predecessors’ multicultural legacy. The rise of women’s wrestling manifested itself at the show with Mattel’s unveiling of a doll line featuring WWE’s female superstars. And at one point over the weekend two former Doctor Who stars – Colin Baker and Peter Davison – clashed over the decision to make Jodie Whittakerthe series’ first female lead. All in all, the crowds cheered loudest whenever the issue was addressed positively.

Comic-Con scanning scamming

Paulina has heard it all from people trying to bypass the Intellitix scanners located at almost every entrance to the Comic-Con International: San Diego. Although many are innocent people that truly don’t know that they have to have a badge provided by Comic-Con with their name on it— or they are “trying to be sneaky [and illegally access the venue].”

On July 20, at approximately 3:00 p.m., Paulina, a Comic-Con employee wearing a lime green shirt, said that she witnessed “10 red lights” in the last five hours during her watch. She is one of the first employees at the convention who will greet you upon entering the glass doors and the scanners (where a badge must be scanned along one of the four-foot pillars).

To access the venue, after scanning the badge with a RFID (radio-frequency identification) chip embedded inside, the light must turn green. If it beeps and turns red “the first thing that we do is ask for an ID if it does not scan; if they do not have an ID, we [then] ask them to return to their hotel or wherever they are staying to get their ID and they can come back.”

TSA says it doesn’t know why United thought comics were banned from checked Comic-Con luggage

People flying home from San Diego Comic-Con yesterday got a rude surprise when they spotted signs at the United check-in warning them not to put comics in their checked bags — and most assumed it was the TSA’s doing, a reasonable assumption given that the agency has been repeatedly trialing programs to search passengers’ literature for exploding words for some months.

United blamed the TSA. But now the TSA denies any involvement.

Okay…  I’m going to write a bit here…  This first hit the Internet in late June, during the American Library Association annual conference, where lots of books are acquired. (Seriously… librarians put Comic-Con attendees to shame, lugging two, three, four tote bags jampacked with books. (I figure at least 20 pounds per bag.)) The TSA was testing new procedures. Turns out, a thick stack of paper, like that of a book, can block security scanners. Of course, this creates a HUGE privacy issue, and the TSA quickly posted an explanation on their blog on June 28th and ended the testing. I thought that was the end of it, but apparently United didn’t get the memo. 

…and finally, a big thank you to the many overlooked heroes at Comic-Con:

EMS At ComicCon International, San Diego

EMTs from AMR San Diego collaborate with SDFD and 2 The Rescue Events to provide emergency medical services at Comic-Con International: San Diego. Attracting more than 130,000 attendees from all over the world, medical responders at this annual comic and pop culture festival work around-the- clock to ensure attendees are safe and taken care of during their stay.

Also:

Comic-Con blood drive breaks record

At the blood drive, donors received a “Guardians of the Galaxy” T- shirt and goody bag, and were entered into daily drawings for prizes. Leftover shirts will be given to donors through the end of this month at San Diego Blood Bank facilities while supplies last.

1800 units of blood!  Approximately 950 liters! Imagine how much they could collect if they gave an exclusive Funko Pop!


That’s if for this year’s edition! Reading vicariously via my friends on Facebook, everyone seemed to have a good time, especially those exhibiting. I’m certain Heidi will marshal her thoughts together soon, as will our intrepid staff who were on the scene!

Me? I’ll be at the Iowa State Fair next month to see the butter cow, and it’s just Three. Short. Months. until New York Comic Con. Thursday tickets are still available…

Thanks for reading!