New York Comic-Con

These days it seems like every recognizable actor above the age of 50 is getting their own spin on the Taken franchise. As a result, not a lot of people batted an eye when it was announced that Keanu Reeves would be playing a retired contract killer in some mid-range action movie called John Wick. Imagine our collective surprise, then, when John Wick was not only not another Taken clone, but one of the best action movies of the decade. Fans were quick to clamor for another glimpse at the violent action and posh criminal underworld of the first film.

Listen, we’re all only human. Even the most ardent fans of the Hollywood rumor mill can still hit their limit for television spots and blurry set photos. When it seems like every other post at a news site is of some upcoming comic book movie you don’t care about, take a moment and remember that there are films out there that play the marketing game better than anyone else. For me, movies like John Wick Chapter 2 are what make the rumor beat all worthwhile.

This weekend, New York City Comic-Con has come bearing gifts for Power Rangers fans. As if the brand new character posters released on Friday weren’t enough, LionsGate has also given us our first theatrical trailer for the movie, giving us some background on the assembly of the current Power Rangers team  —  and one quick look at Elizabeth Banks’ Rita Repulsa as well.

He is thinking he’s back. And this time it’s for a social affair! You can assassinate many bad guys on a social affair, right? You can? Okay then. Social affair.

Few franchises have had a more successful or impressive reinvention in recent years as Planet of the Apes. The original series, beloved in its day, petered out by the middle of the 1970s, and the first attempt to revive it, in a 2001 film from director Tim Burton, proved disastrous. But the new prequel series, charting the descent of our human world into a planet full of those damn, dirty apes, has breathed new life into the old property. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a late-summer hit in August 2011, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes outgrossed it three years later. (It made about $30 million more in the U.S. and a whopping $220 million more worldwide.)

Doctor Who won’t officially debut any new episodes until Christmas, but the Doctor himself will be back a few months earlier. Young-adult spinoff Class has officially set an October premiere, Peter Capaldi included, while New York Comic-Con will also host both Doctor Who and its new series.

Considering how wide the gulf between Marvel’s TV and movie branches has become, it’s surprising that neither Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. nor Netflix’s Defenders have attempted TV solidarity with an earnest crossover. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but there’s mounting evidence that could point toward Jon Bernthal punishing ABC’s Agents sometime in the near future.

Marvel TV brought a heavy bag of goodies to Comic-Con 2016, including first looks at Netflix’s Iron Fist and FX X-Men series Legion, but will New York do one better? We’ll find out, as both series are due for panel treatment at New York Comic-Con 2016, along with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, and some new goodies from Marvel Animation.

If you’ve been to enough Comic-Cons (or at least browsed enough Comic-Con photo galleries), it becomes harder and harder to be impressed by the cosplay. But, then you see something like this 10-foot tall Hulkbuster from New York Comic-Con, and it’s hard for even the most jaded comic book fan to not be really, really impressed.

Many expecting the first Jessica Jones trailer to emerge from New York Comic-Con 2015 were in for a bit of disappointment, but we at least learned one major tidbit that could light the way toward our eventual Iron Fist. Just who will Carrie-Anne Moss really play when Marvel’s Jessica Jones hits on November 20?