Marvel Comic-Con 2014 News Wrap Up

Today is the last day of the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel has wrapped up all of its major panels so far. They have 4 small panels going on later today but those should not give us any new and surprising news.

Marvel was expected to announce a few things about Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter, Ant-Man, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. We have already written a post breaking down what they announced for Agents of SHIELD (you can read that here). They did not make any big announcements of Agent Carter unfortunately. The biggest thing announced was that the Russo brothers, who directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, will direct episodes 2 and 3.

Marvel did make some noise with Ant-Man. They brought Paul Rudd (Scott Lang) and Michael Douglas (Hank Pym) out to talk about their roles. Both are very excited with the new script and what the future holds. Marvel also brought out and confirmed that Corey Stoll and Evangeline Lilly will be in the movie and announced their roles. Corey Stoll will be playing Darren Cross. He will be the main villain in the movie and become Yellowjacket. In the comics Yellowjacket was another hero Hank Pym became. In the movie, Cross is the next in line for Hank Pym's business and when he tries to take it down a different (evil?) path, he gets some Pym particles and a suit.

Evangeline Lilly will play Hope Van Dyne, the daughter of Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne. It seems likely she will be the love interest of Scott Lang and hopefully (possibly) become the Wasp. In the comics she becomes a member of the Revengers under the name Red Queen. It is unknown what path Hope will go down as the new script has just recently been finished.

Robert Downey Jr was the first to come to the stage when the panel turned to Avengers: Age of Ultron. As the poster boy of Marvel he was obviously received with a huge applause. He also served as a sort of hype man during the panel, helping introduce the likes of Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Thanos. No real news came from this panel except for a teaser trailer of sorts that won't be made to public for what seems like some time. I'm still hopeful we get a glimpse after Guardians of the Galaxy or even the full clip when Captain America: The Winter Soldier comes out on DVD. Many other sites have listed the description of the footage so I won't delve into that here.

Marvel ended their panel with a short video featuring James Gunn and Chris Pratt. The announcement? Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will hit theaters July 28th, 2017! That's right. Even before Guardians of the Galaxy makes its US debut, Marvel has green lit a sequel for this space adventure franchise. What storyline it will take and who will be in it will become more clear later this week after everyone gets a chance to see Guardians of the Galaxy.

This year's Comic-Con would be deemed as a slight disappointment by most Marvel fans. We didn't get any announcements about Captain America 3 or a possible Doctor Strange movie. It seems Marvel is going to be releasing their info slowly for Phase 3 to keep fans on the edge. Instead of announcing all their titles till 2019, they are holding their cards close to their chests to get fans even more excited and for the speculation and buzz to continue to grow. We will hopefully get a steady flow of announcements on titles and casting in a few weeks.

Share your thoughts on the announcements in the comments below!

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3 Newcomers Coming to Season 2 of Agents of SHIELD

Marvel has just finished their TV panel at Comic-Con. While we didn't get much news surrounding Agent Carter, we did get some confirmation on some stuff that will happen in season 2 of Agents of SHIELD.

We found out last week that Lucy Lawless would be joining the cast but to what extent and who she would be playing remained a mystery. It was revealed today that she will playing a longtime SHIELD agent named Isabelle Hartly. She is a character created specifically for the show and is said to always have a knife by her side. 

Marvel also announced that they have cast British actor Nick Blood. He will be playing the role of Lance Hunter. In the comics Hunter is the director of STRIKE, a secret intelligence organization in Britain. He has helped the likes of Captain America, Captain Britain, and SHIELD. How much of Lance Hunter we will see is unknown but we do know one thing, the team is going to be doing some major traveling.

The third casting news of the panel was Reed Diamond being announced as Daniel Whitehall, aka Kraken. Reed Diamond is familiar with Marvel as he was in Spider-Man 2. As far as Daniel Whitehall goes, he is one of the worst HYRDA agents out there. He will be one of the main villains the team goes up against this season.

Think that's all? Well so did we until Marvel gave us a little name drop in a video featuring Patton Oswalt as a bunch of different Agent Koenigs, you can watch the video here. What was the name? Bobbi Morse. That's right everyone, Mockingbird will be making her way to season 2 of Agents of SHIELD. While we do not yet know who will be playing her, it is still an exciting announcement. In the comics she starts out as a SHIELD agent and eventually has ties to Cross Technological Enterprises. CTE is connected to William Cross who has reportedly been a possibility to be in Ant-Man. She also marries Hawkeye in the comics and joins the West Coast Avengers.

Share your thoughts on the new additions in the comments below!

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Comic-Con 2014 - What Should We Expect from Marvel?

The San Diego Comic-Con is the biggest weekend for people of the "geek" community. With the latest news about Star Wars, DC, Marvel, Walking Dead, and more, Comic-Con presents a unique venue for these brands to bring out the big guns. Luckily for us, it officially kicks off tomorrow!

Marvel has not been shy on not announcing things leading up to Comic-Con or making huge announcements during their panels. This year we will learn about season 2 of Agents of SHIELD, season 1 of Agent Carter, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and hopefully more. So what exactly should we expect to learn about each of these properties? Let's discuss below:

Agents of SHIELD

So far we know that Coulson (Clark Gregg), Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), Skye (Chloe Bennet), Fitz (Ian de Caestecker), and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) will be there. Marvel's Head of Television, Jeph Loeb, and producers Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell will also be in attendance. Hopefully we will learn what kinds of problems the team will face throughout season 2 during this panel. I would also like to learn a little more about the fates of Ward and Fitz in the show. Seeing BJ Britt, who plays Triplett, up there with the rest of the cast would be great. Marvel also just announced that Lucy Lawless will join the show for season 2 so getting some word on just who she might be playing would be a pleasant surprise.

Agent Carter

Not much is known about Agent Carter. We know Hayley Atwell will reprise her role as Agent Carter and be the lead. Reports recently surfaced of a rumored character list with descriptions for each character but Marvel has not confirmed that. I would hope we get some official casting news on the supporting cast.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Mark Ruffalo confirmed a while back that the cast will make an appearance during Marvel's panel in Hall H. We got a glimpse of Ultron this past week thanks to Entertainment Weekly's Comic-Con preview magazine cover. I believe they will show some sort of sizzle real to get this movie even more hyped. They are over halfway through shooting so some sort of footage is not out of the question. The only reason they wouldn't show it is if there is footage at the end of Guardians, like I expect.

Ant-Man

We know the Ant-Man cast will make an appearance thanks to Hank Pym himself, Michael Douglas. Besides who Douglas is playing, the only other confirmed role is Paul Rudd as Scott Lang. They haven't started production yet so footage is out of the question, but casting should be a major focus. The likes of Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, Patrick Wilson, Kevin Weisman, Matt Gerald, and David Dastmalchian have been attached to some degree to this movie and finally learning who they will play will be a step in the right direction.

Other Bullet Points

Last week Marvel announced they have movies planned out to 2019 and just a few minutes ago announced another date in 2018. That means they have 8 dates with unconfirmed movies. July 8th, 2016 will in all likelihood be Doctor Strange and from there on is a mystery. Laying the groundwork for what we will see till 2019 would be nice. Titles that could be announced include Black Panther, Guardians 2, Thor 3, Avengers 3, Ms Marvel, and a Nova solo movie.

Speaking of Doctor Strange, it has a writer and a director. So what does it need now? Stephen Strange himself. Jared Leto, Tom Hardy, and Benedict Cumberbatch have all been in the mix reportedly. Cumberbatch seems like the favorite and will be at Comic-Con even though he is not (officially) involved with anything happening there. Getting an announcement of Cumberbatch taking the lead in a Doctor Strange film would be super exciting.

Marvel has already confirmed Captain America 3 will be hitting theaters on May 6th, 2016. I'm hopeful they reveal a subtitle that shows what kind of adventure we can expect when Steve Rogers and company take the big screen again.

In case you forgot, Marvel is also starting to release original Netlfix series starting next year. Daredevil is the first hero to get his own show and has already starting filming. Getting a look at the official Daredevil costume would be great as well as getting official word on just who Rosario Dawson could be playing.

Share your thoughts on what you want to see from Marvel this year at

Comic-Con in the comments below or tweet us @Marvel_CMU!

Marvel Sets Future Movie Dates

Comic-Con is less than a week away, and while some may think that's when Marvel would spend time announcing various items, they have decided to do otherwise. This week has been filled with various promotions for Guardians of the Galaxy. We have gotten solo posters for Ronan, Nebula, Korath, Nova Prime, Yondu, the Collector, and Rhomann Dey. With all the hype surrounding the release of Guardians of the Galaxy in two weeks, Marvel decided to switch it up a bit and announce something about their future plans.

Marvel just announced they have 5 set dates for future movies. In 2017, they will debut new movies on July 28th and November 3rd. In 2018, they have dates set for July 6th and November 2nd. Finally in 2019, they have one date set for May 3rd. They did not announce which titles will be in each slot, which will only give this news more of a buzz among fans as they debate which movies should take the slots. And as a fan myself, I will provide you with what I believe we will see from Marvel from 2017 to 2019.

First off, Marvel has made it clear that the first movie of every year will be a recurring property and then the second movie starting a new franchise. We are going to assume that the layout after Avengers: Age of Ultron will look like this, Ant-Man on July 17, 2015, Captain America 3 on May 6th, 2016, Doctor Strange on July 8th, 2016, and Thor 3 on May 5th. Now what do I think Marvel will do?

July 28th

This spot is a weird one to project. Why? Marvel has made it clear they want to stick to a 2 movie per year standard. But after today's announcement they have 3 dates set in 2017. So it is possible that the May 5th slot that we assume will be Thor 3 could be pushed back to this date. If that is not the case, Marvel gives themselves the opportunity to give two sequels in one year or two new properties. I think it would be two new properties. So what film would make the most sense to come after Thor 3? The Inhumans. Fans have wanted to see this superhuman team on the big screen for some time now and this seems like a good fit for Marvel to show them off.

November 3rd

Assuming Thor 3 stays in May, then Black Panther is the likely movie that gets made. If Thor 3 takes the July 28th spot, then Marvel could easily slide Inhumans back a few months to take this spot. Black Panther is without question in Marvel's plans and should come sooner rather than later. 

July 6th

This spot all but screams a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel. As long as Guardians of the Galaxy does well in the box office like many people are expecting, waiting 4 years for a sequel could seem like an eternity. This movie could set up the inevitable battle with Thanos in Avengers 3, which will be discussed very soon, and also give some screen time to some fan favorites. A Guardians of the Galaxy and Hulk team up movie would make a lot of fans, myself included, happy.

November 2nd

The final movie of Phase 3 before Avengers 3 could go in about 1,000 different directions. Giving the world a movie with a female lead like a Ms Marvel or Black Widow movie would be a great choice. Ms Marvel could connect with Thanos if they changed her back story just a bit, but I'm not sure if this is the direction they will ultimately go. Marvel seems to be heading into the direction of exploring just how vast the galaxy is and what better way to do that than introducing Nova. It could easily connect to Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and show Nova protecting the galaxy as Thanos' power grows.

May 3rd

This is the easiest movie to project. Just like its predecessors, the third Avengers movie will launch in early May. With a cast projected to be very large, Thanos is a worthy opponent. We should see the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Iron Patriot, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, and possibly a combination of the Inhumans, Black Panther, Nova, Ms Marvel, and more. Avengers 3  will be a movie like something we have never seen in terms of action sequences and fight scenes.

Share your thoughts on the new dates in the comments below!

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on Marvel's growing cinematic universe!