Nerd News: From the Promised Land

So I'm back from vacation and not a moment too soon, because every year in the late summer days of July, an annual gathering occurs in the City of San Diego that sets the world of geeks and nerds on fire. San Diego Comic Con has come and gone. Once again, I did not have the privilege of being able to haul my ass across the country to personally partake in the nerdy goodness, but I have been staying abreast of all the amazing updates and news thanks to services like Nerdist and Machima, and it is my solemn duty to boil down some of the more exciting announcements for everyone out there. So if you want to hear about my vacation to Asia, tune in next week, because right now it's time to dive into the world of SDCC14.

Game of Thrones Cast Announcements

As far as Con news goes this is probably pretty low on the geek totem pole, but it is one that has me personally excited. With Game of Thrones Season 5 getting ready to shoot the GoT panel announced what actors would be joining the show this year, with most of the new faces centering around the, so far unexplored, kingdom of Dorne. The cast member announcement that really gets my nerd sense tingling is Alexander Siddig, who played Doctor Julian Bashir on one of my fave Treks, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He will be playing Prince Doran Martell, the ruler of Dorne, and the guy who is going to be a little bit peeved that the Lannisters killed his brother, Oberyn. Also the panel revealed a blooper reel of Season 4, which was cute.

Movies

In movie news, this looks like it is the year of the kaiju and post-apocalypses. Legendary films announced a slew of giant monster flicks including Godzilla 2, a King Kong prequel called, Skull Island, and Pacific Rim 2, (which I am personally excited for.) It has also led to some speculation that this could be the beginning of a shared movie monster universe, though that seems like nothing more than wistful thinking on the part of some of the more optimistic nerds out there. The real truth is that with the success of Godzilla, it is more likely that Legendary will try and milk this 85 foot city-destroying cow for all its worth. 

On the flip side, Con goers were treated to news that Sam "Let's all Forget Spider-Man 3 Existed" Rami is in talks to make a Last of Us movie starring Maise Williams (Arya Stark) as Ellie, with Naughty Dog on board and intent on keeping full creative power over the film. (Can anyone say Bruce Campbell cameo?) Eager fans were also treated to a full trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road, which was written and directed by original Mad Max creator, George Miller, and is not starring Mel "Crazy Pants" Gibson. However, the movie looks to be done with mostly practical effects and of course takes place in the wild red center of death that is the Australian Outback, so that alone is enough to get me excited. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For got a full trailer preview and it looks Frank Millerish enough to please. Also the Hobbit, and Hunger Games.

Lastly, again from Legendary, comes the movie Warcraft... yes, that Warcraft, which will be in theaters in March of 2016. The movie will tell the story of the origins of the war between the Humans and the Orcs. The small trailer that was shown to Con goers is of no or little help. It is mostly just scenes of Azeroth with narration. Apparently the movie has completed shooting, but there is so much CGI that is required, (because you know this is originally a video game with thirty years of CGI lore built in to it,) that no actual footage was ready for revealing at SDCC14. Personally, I am going to hold my opinions on this one, (which means I am immediately going to pass judgement.) I have doubts if whether the already mythos-heavy world of Azeroth is going to translate well to the screen in a way that will satisfy both casual movie watchers and every single gods-be-damned level 85 dungeon raider out there. Also the game of Warcraft was always more about impersonal armies, or very personal human-created avatars. Yes there are heroes and villains in the lore, but I think it's going to be hard to find a human aspect that is going to grab people enough to get them truly invested. Yet, with any luck maybe this will be more than just another money-making scheme by Blizzard to capitalize on their most popular franchise.

Television

In comparison, news from the television side of things is smaller but chock full of a lot of exciting things that will soon be coming to your small screen. First a full five minute preview of the upcoming Family Guy/Simpsons crossover episode was previewed and despite the fact that I haven't watched either show in about five years, I have to admit it looks pretty funny. The Walking Dead panel promised that Season 5 is going to be the best season yet, even promising to showcase more iconic moments and characters from the comic books. Season 4 had kind of a lull, so we will see if Season 5 can regain the show's momentum. On the Marvel front, Agents of SHIELD will be returning this September and they have announced that they will be adding Xena to the cast. Lucy "Don't Tell Sam Rami I'm Here" Lawless will be playing an unspecified role, (fingers crossed for Madam Hydra.) Marvel also let slip that their newest TV show, Daredevil, will be appearing on Netflix next May. Charlie Cox will star as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, and the show will air thirteen episodes. We will just have to wait and see if the Man Without Fear also makes any cameo appearances on the big screen as well.

Marvel

Every year since 2008 it seems like SDCC is dominated by whatever Marvel sees fit to to tease us with. This year has been no exception, with the exception that not all the news we got this year has been encouraging. Let's start with the good. Josh Brolin has been confirmed to be playing Thanos. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 already has a release date for July 28, 2017 (which is surprising because the first movie doesn't come out till this Friday,) and Con goers who were lucky enough to get through the vaunted gates of Hall H, were treated to the first look of footage from Age of Ultron, (complete with Hulkbuster Armor.) All of this seems to show that Marvel has no intention of slowing down anytime soon as they begin the launch of their Phase 3 in the next year or so.

With that said, let's talk about the signs that might mark Marvel's undoing. Ant-Man which hasn't even begun shooting yet, is having production nightmares. After the departure of director, Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Shaun of the Dead) there are even more harrowing signs that this newest Marvel leap of faith could be a bridge too far. Peyton Reed has taken over the helm, a director best none for films like Bring it On. Now three more actors: Patrick Wilson, Matt Gerald, and Kevin Weisman have dropped out of the project for reasons yet unknown. Worst of all, filming is scheduled to begin next month, and by all accounts the movie still does not have a solid script. Edgar Wright seemed the perfect fit for this kind of project, dealing with a superhero whose main powers are shrinking and talking to ants would definitely seem to fit better with a more tongue-in-cheek type of tone, as opposed to that of Captain America or Thor. Perhaps, equally as telling Benedict Cumberbatch took himself out of the running for the titular role of Doctor Strange, leaving rumors of the Sorcerer Supreme to be played by either Jared Leto or Joaquin Phoenix. Most people expected a final casting announcement during the Marvel panel that never came, possibly because of Cumberbatch's withdrawal. On the surface these small things seem like small problems, but my biggest fear is that we are just seeing the beginning cracks in the armor that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (How fitting that Ant-Man might forever be remembered as the hero that brought down the MCU.) Could this be a telling sign of what may come? I hope not?

DC

The other titan on the SDCC floor is DC Comics, who, unlike Marvel, seem to always have mixed messages when it comes to their announcements. Despite the fact that DC failed to announce anything about their supposed Shazam, Sandman, (Stand-alone) Wonder Woman, or their Flash/Green Lantern projects, DC apparently blew Con goers away with footage of Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and though the footage is not yet available for the YouTube public, I can't help but feel (at least a little) hopeful. Maybe all the crap that I hated about Man of Steel (and I hated a lot of it) was for a reason. Maybe, all of that will just help lead the DC Cinematic Universe down some great path I have yet to foresee. Maybe, this will all be part of the journey of this new Superman, and because of it I will come to love him even more. (Or maybe DC has no idea what they are doing, and are really just grasping at straws to keep their head above water.) I suppose only time will tell. However, if the new Wonder Woman costume is any indication, than maybe (just maybe) DC is starting to right their ship and find their heading. Either way, with a costume this beautiful it would be a crime is Wonder Woman failed to get her own stand-alone movie... Well, let's face it, it's a crime anyway that that never happened.

This year's Comic Con news may not be as big or as flashy as some of the news we got last year, but there is a quality to it that promises hope for our combined culture. So stay tuned, True Believers, because with any luck, it just gets better from here.