Comic-Con 2013 Preview: What’s On Our Must-See List For San Diego?

ScreenCrush’s Comic Strip is a weekly roundup of the hottest superhero movie news items. From Marvel to D.C. and points in between, if it pertains to costumed comic-book heroes, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, Team ScreenCrush keeps carving out our Comic-Con 2013 schedule (hello, Hall H!), so Comic Strip is digging deep into the panels and presentations tied to the biggest superhero movies on our horizon. Let’s go over what we think we’re going to see in San Diego.

Marvel

Let’s start with Marvel, who has been the top dog at Comic-Con and should still command the Hall H stage on Saturday evening, even though they have only confirmed two pictures for their anticipated panel.

The studio says it is bringing ‘Thor: The Dark World’ and ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier,’ which each will feed into Joss Whedon’s ‘The Avengers 2’ in 2015.

Alan Taylor’s ‘Thor 2' likely is close to done, given its Nov. 8 release date, meaning Marvel can show large chunks of the sequel. As for ‘Captain America 2,' it has been filming for weeks in Cleveland and Washington, D.C., so co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo should have a meaty teaser clip in store for the Hall H crowd. We’ll probably get our best look yet at Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), aka The Winter Soldier.

But that can’t be all, can it?

Marvel loves to pull out splashy surprises at Comic-Con, and there are plenty of announced titles in Phase Two and Three that can be teased at Comic-Con. If I had to guess, I’d say that Marvel will roll out the cast members who already have been revealed for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ And it’s possible – though not probable – that Marvel will use its Hall H panel to reveal casting decisions for Edgar Wright’s ‘Ant-Man’ (the director will be in San Diego for his own ‘The World’s End’) or the rumored ‘Doctor Strange’ movie the studio might have on tap for Phase Three.

20th Century Fox

Right before Marvel takes the stage on Saturday, 20th Century Fox reserved space to tease James Mangold’s ‘The Wolverine,’ with Hugh Jackman in tow.

Because the Wolverine, himself, will be in Hall H, I’m willing to bet that one of the “surprises” Fox has teased will be a Bryan Singer-led panel for ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past.’ The director has been filming since April, and Hall H would explode if Jackman were to introduce a slew of mutant heroes and villains – both old (Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Halle Berry) and new (James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender). Also, 'X-Force' news is a possibility, given the headlines that broke earlier last week.

Fox has said that in addition to ‘Wolverine,’ it will bring material from its ‘Planet of the Apes’ sequel. But comic-book movie fans like myself are also holding out hope that Fox might have a surprise announcement up its sleeve regarding Josh Trank’s ‘The Fantastic Four’ reboot, which has a March 6, 2015 release date. Could the studio roll out the new Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm? That would set Hall H (and the Internet) on fire!

DC Comics / Warner Bros.

Here’s where things get interesting. Warner Bros. hasn’t announced many geek-friendly titles for its shared Hall H panel with Legendary. In place of ‘The Hobbit,’ for instance, “Big” Warner will dazzle audiences with ‘Gravity,’ ‘Seventh Son,’ ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ and ‘The LEGO Movie.’

But where is ‘Man of Steel 2?’ Where is ‘The Justice League of America’ movie? Why aren’t we hearing about a new Batman? A new Wonder Woman? An Aquaman??

Will Warner use any of its time Saturday morning to map out the next in the DC Cinematic Universe? I’m guessing not. In addition to all of the above titles, Legendary has massive plans for next year’s ‘Godzilla’ reboot. But given the success of this summer’s ‘Man of Steel,’ a Hall H presentation WITHOUT any new DC Comics news will feel like a missed opportunity.

‘Kick-Ass 2’

Hall H, on Friday, is a mix of massive TV projects (‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘The Walking Dead’) and the sure-to-be-hilarious reunion of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for a ‘The World’s End’ panel. But when Universal takes the stage at 12:30 p.m., the studio will turn the mic over to Jeff Wadlow for an anticipated look at ‘Kick-Ass 2.’

The studio plans to screen footage from the upcoming sequel (which opens in theaters on August 16), followed by a Q&A with select cast members. Due to the recent controversies, it’s doubtful Jim Carrey will join Chloe Moretz and Christopher MIntz-Plasse on stage … which is a damn shame.

But we’ll at least be able to see if Wadlow can tap into the magic Matthew Vaughn brought to the first ‘Kick-Ass’ film – and possibly set up a conclusion to a ‘Kick-Ass’ trilogy.

‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’

Sony returns to Comic-Con this year with new footage from Marc Webb’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ tucked under its arm. Webb is expected to be joined on stage by Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx (Electro) and Dane DeHaan (Harry Osborn).

There have been rumored descriptions of an ‘ASM 2’ trailer floating around the Web. Take them with a grain of salt, though Webb could – and likely will – show plenty of footage of Electro and Paul Giamatti’s Rhino.

If Sony really wants to grab headlines, though, it will allow Webb to tease The Green Goblin (Chris Cooper), who is expected to show up at some point in ‘ASM 2.’ A quick shot of the villain – or even the cackle of a Goblin laugh – could rival this Spider-Man Comic-Con memory, which you can watch below. Will anything that happens in San Diego this year be as authentically geeky? We can only hope.