Comic-Con 2018 has come and gone, and while we got some good trailers out of it, the convention is probably more remarkable for who wasn’t there. For a San Diego Comic-Con, this is the lightest news and trailer weekend of any in recent memory. Warner Brothers and DC Comics pretty much had the weekend to themselves, though the biggest news of the weekend, arguably, came out of Marvel & Disney as Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn was fired right before his scheduled appearance in light of offensive tweets from the filmmaker’s past. The DCEU was rebranded “The Worlds of DC” and the first trailers for Shazam and Aquaman debuted as well as new trailers for DC’s six live-action TV series. I thought the best trailers of the weekend were Glass and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. I was really excited to hear that Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be returning for a proper send-off (finally!). I think my favorite story out of SDCC 2018 though was Marvel running a grief counseling booth for people still traumatized by the end of Avengers: Infinity War (you can read more here). The convention was also lighter on posters and promo art than years past, but I’ve put together a gallery of the best below. See you next year, San Diego!
It’s a shame that DC is a bit shy with their movies now. With Marvel not doing much at this year’s SDCC, it was the perfect time to really showcase another Batman or Superman film. Perhaps a missed opportunity.
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It’s a shame they couldn’t get a teaser for WW 1984 ready. I don’t think WB is ever going to have Comic-Con just to themselves like they did this year. With Marvel kind of hamstrung by the secrecy of Avengers 4, they had the stage. I thought Shazam looked a lot better than I thought it would and Aquaman a lot worse. Aquaman visually looks great, but Mamoa seems to be really struggling with the lead. I know a lot of people who loved it so it may be just me. After the JL debacle, I can understand why DC is a bit shy of showing their wares, but if you can’t floor SDCC you have little chance of flooring the public in a superhero glutted landscape.
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I don’t know why this wasn’t the perfect venue for announcing a Man of Steel sequel or who’s the next Batman. Or anything. I saw the WW84 footage and you could tell that was unfinished and unpolished. But something was better than nothing.
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I think they’re unsure as to what they want to do with Superman. I think Matt Reeves has as much carte blanche as WB will give anyone with Batman and he’s not ready from what I read. The WW stuff sounded unpolished from what I’d read. This is really where failing to get out a quality GL or Flash really hurts them because the DC roster goes from top tier to D-Level awfully quick. Until they prove to everyone they can elevate characters like Aquaman and Shazam, we’re all justifiably going to want to keep seeing Superman and Batman.
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Incredible posters, Halloween and Predator the standouts. Clone Wars announcement comes at the exact right time, though I’m still waiting for them to cancel Johnson’s trilogy and announce one about the jedi purge instead. And I hope Good Omens doesn’t get carried away with the subject matter, and remains as lighthearted as the book.
Worlds of DC? That just saved all of THIER problems. But the Glass and FB trailers gave me chills. They’re magical. I believe that Unbreakable is M. Night’s best film by far. Sixth Sense is great, I’m not trying to denigrate it, but it does rely on a gimmick. Unbreakable would be really, really good even without its final moments. The twist just puts it way over the top. M. Night took the subject matter from one genre, and used it to make a film in a totally different genre. That takes some kind of special talent. Glass looks darker, more sinister, more intense. It will be better than Split, no question. (I’m jinxing it now, aren’t I?)
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I think Glass looks fantastic. Unbreakable may well be Night’s best film, and if he can pull this off and create a trilogy with Split and Glass, he’s going to have bought himself another couple years of goodwill to get back on track. I hope he can do it.
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If he really is back, it’s an occasion for rejoicing. He knows how to make a blockbuster film by focusing on actors, and a script.
Struggling is too kind a word for what Mamoa is doing in that Aquaman trailer. I keep trying to picture those underwater visuals in a dark, serious epic, and it’s breaking my heart. I really hope that audiences start getting tired of eye candy, and start demanding that substance back up glitz.
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Amen, but as long as studios are logging record profits with crap like this summer’s I don’t see where there is any hope. That being said, I cannot wait for Fallout this weekend. I badly need something to be good.
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