Comic-Con 2013: Marvel Studios Panel Highlights

Saturday in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con ended as good as (or possibly better than) it started with Marvel Studios. The panel includes news and footage for Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and even The Avengers sequel. We were there for all of it, so check out our highlights after the break.

You can watch the entire panel below (minus film footage), so I’ll just give you some of the key things I noticed for each film and talk about the footage shown.

Thor: The Dark World

I knew Marvel would do something theatrical, since Robert Downey Jr. made a great appearance from the back of the room last year. We were treated to a spectacular entrance from Tom Hiddleston as Loki. He commanded the crowd, turning some of his great lines to fit Comic-Con and Hall H. We then saw the Thor: The Dark World footage. It starts with a clip from a battle. Thor comes in to save the day and quickly takes down a giant made of rocks. It then turns to a sizzle reel, and after the title card, we see Loki betray Thor and even cut off his hand (or so it seems). The tone of the battle clip was similar to the first movie, but the rest of it seems to be more serious. I’m glad to see Thor get a bit more serious, as long as it doesn’t become too dark.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The panelists here were directors Anthony & Joe Russo and actors Emily VanCamp, Frank Grillo, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson. As you can see above, Chris talks about how the film depicts Steve Rogers getting used to the modern world on a deeper level and Jackson talks about how he sees his employees. The footage we saw was similar to Thor’s in that it’s a scene, then a sizzle reel. The clip starts with Captain America in an elevator at SHIELD headquarters. As the elevator reaches different floors, more people get on, but Cap realizes something is wrong. They have him surrounded. He says something like “Before we begin, does anyone want to get off?” Then Brock Rumlow (Grillo) takes out an electric stick and the fun begins. Captain wipes the floor with all eight or so men. The sizzle reel gives off the idea that Jackson and SHIELD might be at odds (as the first clip does as well), so this could be a action film with a lot of twists.

Guardians of the Galaxy

The panel included director James Gunn, and actors Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Benicio Del Toro, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, and Chris Pratt. The film is only 13 days into production, but we got already have a trailer/sizzle reel. It starts with an Indiana Jones kind of heist attempt by Pratt’s Star Lord/Peter Quinn, and he’s arrested by what looks like the Nova Corp. He’s thrown in a line up with the rest of the Guardians, and we get a rundown of the characters. Then there’s a montage of space clips that look exciting. There’s a lot of humor overall. Quinn listens to “Hooked on a Feeling” with headphones, and when a guard/officer decides to listen to it himself, he gets pissed. He also gives one of the best middle fingers in cinematic history. The effects are still rough, but Rocket Raccoon looks like a mean little sucker. Overall, everyone seemed to love the footage, and I personally cannot wait for it to come out. Watch the panel above to hear Bautista talk about how emotional he was about getting his role, as well as Gillan’s surprise reveal.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Just when we thought it was over, Joss Whedon came out and said he had one more thing to add. The screen had the Iron Man helmet rotating around in close ups, being beaten. It then turns into the face of Ultron, and we get the title reveal of Avengers: Age of Ultron. The crowd went nuts. Check out MTV for more details on the project from Joss Whedon himself.