Last week, the Hollywood industry ushered in a major event: the San Diego International Comic-Con, which had been separated for two years due to the epidemic, was finally able to return to the offline world. Although it is called "Comic Show", it is not only aimed at comic book fans, it is also the largest annual gathering of movie fans in North America. In addition to various self-entertaining cosplays, major Hollywood film companies will take the opportunity to launch various new film preview activities, and actors will also attend the meeting in person to interact with fans and accumulate popularity for their upcoming new films.
This year's conference was unveiled on the evening of July 20 and closed on July 24. Hollywood production companies such as Marvel Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, and major streaming media platforms such as Disney+ took turns to participate. Fans enthusiastically promoted blockbuster new works such as "Avengers 5 & 6", "Black Adam", "Lord of the Rings" prequel series, "Game of Thrones" spin-off series, which can be called a rare carnival for movie fans since the epidemic.

Fans of cos wolverine at the comic exhibition

Phases 5 and 6 of the Marvel Universe revealed
During the San Diego Comic-Con, Kevin Feige, chairman of Marvel Studios, came to the scene to introduce the next project planning. First up is Phase 4 of the Marvel Universe currently underway, with Feige announcing that She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be the finale of the phase Two works.

Marvel Studios chairman Kevin Feige announced the upcoming fifth and sixth phase of new film and television works.

"The Hulk" is a brand new series, refreshingly opening up the two types of legal and superheroes. The protagonist is the Hulk's lawyer cousin Jennifer Waters. She received a blood transfusion from Banner because of an accident. Become a female version of the Hulk, Daredevil and other characters will also appear in the play. "She-Hulk" starred by Tatiana Maslani, Mark Ruffalo, Tim Roth, Benedict Wang, etc. The first season is set for 9 episodes and will be launched on August 18 Disney+ platform, the latest trailer was released during Comic-Con.

New poster for Marvel's new drama "The Hulk"

Black Panther 2, which will be released on November 11, also released its first trailer at the San Diego Comic-Con. It can be seen that the first Black Panther T'Challa passed away with the death of actor Chadwick Boseman, and Wakanda is waiting for the birth of a new Black Panther. Hearts of Steel and Namor, Lord of Atlantis are also featured in the trailer.

Black Panther 2 poster

The fifth phase of the Marvel Universe will kick off with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which will be released on February 17, 2023, and will be released on July 26, 2024. Thunderbolts is over. New films released during the period also include "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" set for May 5, 2023. Director James Gunn, together with "Star-Lord" Chris Pratt and other main creators, made an appearance at the comic exhibition, making it clear that this will be the end of the series and there will be no sequels. Somewhat comforting for "Guardians of the Galaxy" fans is that the heart-warming spin-off "I Am Groot" will launch on Disney+ on August 10, with a total of five episodes.

"Ant-Man 3" crew

"Guardians of the Galaxy" cast

In addition, on the film side, the reboot of "Blade" starring Mahershala Ali will be released on November 3, 2023. The next "Captain America" was officially announced as "Captain America: New World Order" (Captain America: New World Order), "Falcon" Sam Wilson took over as a new generation of Captain America. The film is slated for release on May 3, 2024.
In terms of drama series, "Secret Invasion" will be launched in the spring of 2023, "Rocky 2" will be launched in the summer of 2023, and "WandaVision" spin-off series "Agatha: Chaos Assembly" ( Agatha: Coven of Chaos) will be released in winter 2023, and the new 18-episode series "Daredevil: Born Again" (Daredevil: Born Again) will be released in spring 2024.
Kevin Feige also revealed that the sixth phase of the Marvel Universe will kick off with the reboot of the Fantastic Four on November 8, 2024. What's even more exciting for Marvel fans is that Phase 6 also includes two Avengers franchise films, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which will be released on May 2, 2025. ) and Avengers: Secret Wars, which will also be the finale of Phase 6 of the Marvel Universe, in theaters on November 7, 2025.

Fantastic Four poster

Avengers 5 poster

Avengers 6 poster

Compared with Marvel's full firepower at the San Diego Comic-Con this time, DC, another major comic-adapted superhero IP giant, has arranged far fewer activities, mainly for the two new films "Black Adam" released this year. Adam) and Thunder Shazam! Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Dwayne Johnson, who played Black Adam, deliberately appeared in San Diego as a character to interact with fans cordially. Scheduled for release on October 21, the film also includes Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, and Aldis Hodge as Hawkman.

Dwayne Johnson in Black Adam look

Thunder Shazam! Wrath of the Gods released its first trailer at San Diego Comic-Con. It is not difficult to find from it that the film still continues the funny Tucao route of the previous film. Shazam not only cued Batman and Aquaman, but also revealed that he is a fan of "Fast and Furious". The film is slated for release on December 21.
"Lord of the Rings" and other blockbuster new dramas unveiled
In addition to superheroes, several highly anticipated new films and series have also released new trailers at the San Diego Comic-Con.
In the first trailer of "John Wick: Chapter 4", it can be seen that the series continues to follow the intense action line, the newly joined Donnie Yen and Keanu Reeves' firearms and cold weapons are combined The battle is quite exciting. The film is slated for release on March 24, 2023. In addition to promoting "Fast Pursuit 4", star Keanu Reeves also revealed at the Comic-Con that the comic book "BRZRKR" conceived by him will be adapted by Netflix into a live-action movie and a two-season cartoon. The former Produced and starred by him.

"Chase 4" officially released its first stills

And Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, based on the famous game, has also released its first trailer. Actors Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Reggie-Jean Pegg, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant and other main creators all came to the exhibition site for the film, which will be released in March 2023 The new movie released on the 3rd.

The cast of Dungeons and Dragons. People's Vision

Dungeons and Dragons poster

The Lord of the Rings prequel series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power also released a new trailer at San Diego Comic-Con featuring the Dark Lord Sauron's name. The show was cast by Amazon, and the production cost of the first season reached $465 million, known as "the most expensive drama in history". The story focuses on the second era of Middle-earth, that is, three thousand years ago in the movie version, the Dark Lord Sauron forged the Lord of the Rings, and then triggered a long-term war. The show is scheduled to launch on the Amazon platform on September 2, with 8 episodes in the first season.
And in the extended trailer for "Game of Thrones"'s first spin-off series "House of the Dragon", it can be seen that the Targaryen family's tense atmosphere caused by the ownership of the throne. The creator, Ryan Condor, also revealed at Comic-Con that there will be 17 dragons in the show. The series will begin airing on the HBO network and HBO Max on August 21, with a total of 10 episodes in the first season.

"Game of Thrones" spin-off "Dragon Family" poster

In addition to the above series, the new series "Interview with the Vampire", "Strange New Worlds", "Lower Decks" and "Picard" Picard), the final season of "The Walking Dead", and the "Teen Wolf" movie have also released new trailers and news at Comic-Con.

'The Walking Dead' actors Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira at Comic-Con.

Impact of the epidemic
Of course, in times of pandemic, everything changes. Compared with past San Diego Comic-Cons, there are some notable absentees this year, such as Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures and Lionsgate, which basically did not show up much. Even Warner Bros is promoting Black Adam and Thunder Shazam! When "Wrath of the Gods", it only temporarily borrowed the main venue that can accommodate 5,800 people, instead of directly paying for the exclusive venue as in the past, which is obviously also affected by Warner's recent overall budget control strategy.
In addition, this year's conference has a total of about 100,000 participants. According to regulations, everyone - including but not limited to exhibitors, guests, employees, media, volunteers and role players - must wear compliance Masks, and also require proof of at least two vaccine injections; otherwise, a negative nucleic acid or rapid antigen test report within 72 hours must be given. In order to facilitate the operation, the organizers of the conference tried their best to require all participants to download the "health code" in advance, obtain a wristband valid for the day with the green code, and then use the orange wristband to enter the venue.
This situation obviously reminds people that the epidemic has not passed, and the so-called return to normal is probably not as easy as everyone thinks. Life is like that, and so is the film industry.