Comic-Con 2019: Winners and losers of film, television and comics groups

As San Diego's 50th Annual Comic-Con approaches, most of the conversation is focused on its limited film offerings, the lack of movie stars and the abundance (more than 60 people) of television panels. What emerged during the five-day pop culture conference was a more intimate affair, with a surprise appearance or three.

Limited number of film panels? No fear, the television has everything covered. Box office star Henry Cavill has taken over Hall H for the drama fantasy series of Netflix The witcher, while AMC The dead who walk The grand leader announced, Andrew Lincoln, would not return on the basic cable network, but exclusively in theaters. Tom Cruise made a surprise appearance to drop Top Gun: Maverick trailer. And any discussion of a faint cinematic presence disappeared when Marvel Studios gave a rock-style presentation, powered by stars and driven by current events, that showed its vast later success.Avengers: End of the game Phase 4 slate.

Below, The Hollywood ReporterWriters and editors spend their time in San Diego with a round of offerings that have left the buzz confab and that others, well, have not done so.

Winner: Marvel Studios
Marvel threw so many new stars and new ones so quickly on the Hall H crowd that it caused a badlash. Or at the very least, it has induced Marvel-mania in its own right. Each part of the presentation has been designed to reveal, tease and impress. The studio unveiled its Phase 4, dating back many movies for 2020 and 2021 and showcasing its "series of events," the shows that will debut on the Disney + streaming service that are also – hello – related to cinema, while projecting the public. logos and star power. Angelina Jolie, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch were among those who appeared on the scene non-stop. Then there were waves of casting announcements, ranging from newcomers Simu Lui as Marvel's first major actor in Asia, Shang-Chi, to the panel's fade-in hairdresser, the winner of the show. an Oscar Mahershala Ali as Blade. If, on the occasion of the annual convention, the Con felt like a movie starvation that starved fans, the Marvel panel offered a feast of movies that allowed the gluttonous geeks to fall asleep endlessly.

Losing: Veronica Mars (Hulu)
Surprise! All episodes of the much-anticipated recovery are available for a week in advance! In what was conceived as a reward for hardcore fans of the Kristen Bell-led series by designer Rob Thomas, those packed in the Ballroom 20 were delighted with this early arrival before probably realizing that they would could not listen to it because they already had a weekend plans – at Comic-Con – and would probably be spoiled by this heartbreaking finale. The morning's fall was a regular topic on Friday but on Saturday, she had already been drowned among hundreds of other movie, TV, video game and comic strips and trailers.

Winner: Paramount
Yes, Disney / Marvel made a triumphant return to Comic-Con with a panel that revealed a lot of news. But in a year in which all other major studios decided not to participate in the convention, Paramount still presented and presented a good show. Tim Miller brought Paramount and Skydance & # 39; s Terminator: Dark Fate Images from the gallery filled with enough Sarah Connor and fun liners to delight the most capricious fanboys. The actors, including Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger, clearly had a good time, which was worth the trouble of their discussion filled with f-bombs (which can too often serve as a link between clips and content). The surprise appearance of the cruise and Top Gun: Maverick The trailer at the end of the session added a particularly nice touch, especially considering the significance of the film for San Diego.

Winner: The witcher (Netflix)
The beginners' show debuted in Comic-Con's largest space – the 7,200-seat hall H typically reserved for larger presentations – and faced great expectations: this is from Netflix Game of thrones? The answer: maybe. With impressive production qualities and a true movie star (Cavill) at the top of the call list, the first sequence of the fantastic drama of the streamer was San Diego and beyond, as the global trend was on Twitter for a few hours after his debut Friday. afternoon. Lauren S. Hissrich, host, promises "more monsters and more magic" than the fanciful competitive rates currently available on the small screen THR Anya Cholatra (as a witch Yennefer) and Freya Allan (as a naïve young princess Ciri) promise "deeper, fuller" versions of the characters than their novel or video game. counterparties. "Everyone continues to ask if it's about Netflix's response to Game of thronesbut I do not stop saying The witcher is his own thing, "says Hissrich.

Winner: The dead who walk (CMA)
A few weeks after creator Robert Kirkman stunned the world of comics with the latest zombie drama surprise number inspiring a multi-billion dollar franchise, AMC used its back-to-back panels Fear the undead and the flagship series to solidify its future. Fear got a renewal for the sixth season (it's always a good thing to announce in front of a room of 7,200 fans) and the showrunner become content leader, Scott M. Gimple watched the third series of the AMC franchise (with the full distribution announced at the end of the two-hour block). The flagship panel was filled with news: the Danai Gurira escape received a standing ovation when she confirmed THR In February, this season 10 would be the last. After the premiere of his season 10 trailer, AMC wrapped up the panel with a teaser for his Andrew Lincoln TV drama that, in a drastic change, will no longer air on AMC. Instead, they will be released exclusively in theaters via a pact with Universal TV. The staggering announcement came one year after Lincoln had used the Comic-Con platform to confirm his departure from the series.

Loser: The Eisner Awards
The problem is not the winners of this year's Will Eisner Comic Awards (ie comic Oscars); that is, the day after the awards, the participants spoke more about what was wrong with the ceremony than winners of all categories. The complaints included an inconsiderate joke about ICE agents coming MAD Magazine The draftsman Sergio Aragones, several presenters complaining of the difficulty with the name of the nominees and the comment on the ease with which the convention must be for bady girls. Maybe it's time to rethink prices before next year?

Winner: This chapter two (New Line / Warner Bros.)
While Warner Bros. did not bring his DC heroes to the con, his New Line cinema unofficially launched the Comic-Con with ScareDiego on Wednesday night, an off-campus event that becomes a must-attend event. Conan O-Brien hosted a panel of stars with Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader and the rest of the losers' club of filmmaker Andy Muschietti. They showed an early look at the Chapter two trailer, as well as three extended scenes that show that there are new inventive threats. For those who wondered if Chapter twoThe distribution of adult films could match the chemistry of their younger counterparts in the 2017 hit, the answer seems to be yes. There was a lot of teasing in a good mood (and even a duet between Muschietti and Chastain).

Losing: Game of thrones (HBO)
In the run up to the annual event, the fantastic drama series was easily the most anticipated panel of the conference. That changed a few days before the Convention Center doors opened when creators and directors David Benioff and Dan Weiss gave up their planned appearance, which was to make their first comments about the last division season and the series. Instead, the remaining cast members were left to defend the series after a representative of Comic-Con opened the session with a PSA weird and moved about acceptance in the middle of the threats of panels-crashers. Co-starring Conleth Hill did not help, she literally blamed a "media-driven campaign" for reacting strongly last season.

Winner: Westworld (HBO)
Showrunners Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan drew the curtain for the third season with an explosive trailer for the much-anticipated third season (coming in 2020). The married duo, usually with tight lips, was also a little more open than usual and engaged in a lively discussion that has only been tempered by divorce jokes between the two when the conversation is a little bit as well spoilery. A request: Please name the new Nazi-themed world featured in the Season Three trailer, as the thought of the "Nazi World" is downright horrible.

Winner: guardians (HBO)
It's almost impossible to cut at Comic-Con, but it's not a problem for Damon Lindelof, who was eagerly awaiting Alan's much-awaited attitude. Moore. Guardians. Powered by a social media campaign, the trailer debuted with overwhelming buzz and was a topic of conversation at Saturday's panels and nightly industry mixers. The drama, scheduled to begin in October, bypbaded a standard panel discussion and used dull activation instead to help create word-of-mouth. (The actors and Lindelof should, however, participate in a panel at TCA in the coming weeks.)

Loser: Ruby Rose
The most San Diego would see the star of the revolutionary CW Batwoman was on the hotel's key cards and other promotional fares as the actress – the first openly cheerful TV's main character played by an actress from a superhero show – was a no show in San Diego for the Saturday panel. (Producers and Rose, in a social media article, blamed his absence on production.) The CW drama, however, sparked a lot of interest from Wednesday night's screening and public unveiling. Bonus points at Berlanti Productions ahead of Sarah Schechter for her wardrobe choice during the Saturday panel.

Winner: Tom Hooper
Not only cats The trailer completely paralyzes Twitter and monopolizes all conversations at Comic-Con on Thursday, but a few hours later, the HBO trailer Its dark materials – of which Hooper directed a few episodes – debuted in Hall H.

Winner: Tom King
the Batman and Mr. Miracle the writer is at the top right now. Not only did he have a near-miss failure at the Eisner Awards on Friday night, but his Comic-Con must be followed from time to time in Los Angeles, where he writes the screenplay for Ava DuVernay. New gods movie. With a big Batman story starting last wednesday and a mystery collaboration coming up with his Mr. Miracle partner Mitch Gerads on the cards, King is … well, the current king of comics, it seems.

Winner: The X-Men (Marvel)
At a Comic-Con with few comic book ads, Marvel will unveil on Saturday the first six series of his X-Men revival (subtitled Dawn of X) felt like a big problem – even more so in the panel room where X Men, X-Force and the other new titles were introduced, and the excitement was palpable. If this is the sign of the reception pending the opinion of the writer Jonathan Hickman on the beloved franchise, Marvel must be very excited about what lies ahead.

Winner: Undiscovered country (Image comics)
The end of The dead who walk left Image Comics untitled flagship anchored by favorite creators of fans featuring a high-end hook … until Scott Snyder, Charles Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli Undiscovered country was unveiled Friday. Described by its creators as "Land of the lost meets Lewis and Clark "is a story of adventure that takes place in an America three decades after being isolated from the rest of the world behind a wall.A limited edition preview given on the show revealed that There was much more to do than digging into the political reality of today: expect literal monsters to accompany metaphorical ones when the series launches in November.

Winner: Riverdale (The CW)
The drama inspired by Archie Comics fulfills the wishes of the late star Luke Perry by bringing her long-time friend and former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Shannen Doherty for a tribute. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa revealed that Perry, who died in March at the age of 52 following a stroke, had pleaded for Doherty to appear Riverdale from the beginning: "They were such good friends, and when we put together this tribute episode, we wanted to make it as special as possible, so we asked Shannen to play a central and overrated role." She read the script and immediately said yes, it's very punchy. "

Losing: SHIELD agents (ABC)
Marvel's upcoming Disney + TV series – the ones with the same stars in multi-billion dollar feature film franchises – were part of Titan's Hall H feature film show on Saturday night, which generated enough money for the show. major announcements to let you turn your head. But the ABC drama, which has long been overwhelmed by the direct link with the MCU, is headed to Con with the announcement of the end of next season. Rather than ask the cast to make a final call alongside the stars of the film (and television!), Marvel has banned his first dramatic series prime-time screenplay at a low energy session Thursday, in the last sign of the previous dissociation between his film and TV Bras. Imagine what could have been if SHIELD from the beginning, was regularly linked to the MCU in a similar way to that of Disney +. Instead, the network remains at the bottom of the four major broadcast networks and is rebuilding.

Winner: Star Trek (CBS All Access)

hiking Boss Alex Kurtzman came into Hall H to sell his expanding universe, and was largely successful in convincing the crowd that there was enough variety in his plans to maintain the franchise. Discovery pulled the curtain on his surprise 1000 times jumps teased at the end of season two; Rick and Morty producer Mike McMahan laid out his vision for Lower bridges, a The next generationinspired animated who is sold as having the zaniness McMahan is known for with the heart of hiking; and Patrick Stewart – the royalty of Hall H, in addition to being a true knight – commanded the room with the clbad and calm for which he was known. The actor choked on his last day at the cinema. Next generation together, and he revealed more details about Picard, including the fact that a large number of Next generation the stars will appear and the series will involve the Borg in a certain way. Manage.

Josh Wigler, Graeme McMillan, Jean Bentley, Marisa Roffman and Liz Shannon Miller contributed to this report.