Let’s be frank; the Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con is the reason nearly everyone is there. It’s the big kahuna, the Super Bowl of the ultimate pop culture event of the year, and after being absent for a couple of years, Marvel did not mess around with fans this time. They brought the heat, and if you’ve been following our social media you’ve already been singed.
The panel kicked off with a wild gospel rendition of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”, for the movie Deadpool & Wolverine, of course.The panel was actually hosted by Rob Delaney aka Peter from the Deadpool films. Things got going with Captain America: Brave New World the first movie on the list. Stars Anthony Mackie, Giancarlo Esposito, Danny Ramirez, Tim Blake Nelson, and ultimately Harrison Ford were introduced. Ford came out to wild applause fitting for someone of his pop culture stature.
But more than that, the footage shown finally gave us our first look at Ford’s General Thunderbolt Ross as he transforms into…the Red Hulk! Marvel Comics fans already knew Ross had a gamma-powered alter ego, and he finally roared to life in the trailer shown. Esposito also revealed his mystery role to be Seth Voelker aka Sidewinder, leader of the Serpent Society.
One thing we learned is that Captain America: Brave New World will introduce adamantium into the MCU. The famous metal is what coats Wolverine’s bones. In this universe, it comes from the fallen Celestial, Tiamat, left in the ocean after events in The Eternals. The world wants adamantium, and that is apparently a key plot point in the story.
Director Julius Onah wasn’t on hand, reportedly due to a bout of COVID-19. But the film is expected to be ready for release on February 14th 2025.
After that panel concluded, it was time for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Yes, that is the official title of the film, confirmed by Kevin Feige and director Matt Shakman who was on hand. He said that shooting had only been going on for a couple of days, but he still managed to piece something together for the fans. While he said it was mostly pre-production stuff, what he showed was an impressive short film, set in a weird, retro-future version of the 1960s where Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) is a celebrity scientist and inventor, something like Mr. Wizard. The footage is shot in a completely different aspect ratio and in technicolor to look like shows of the era.
We also see Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing. Oh, and at the end a glimpse of Galactus, gleeming ominously into a building I presume to be the Baxter Building?
This section of the panel concluded with the news that the Fantastic Four cast will be appearing in both upcoming Avengers movies in 2026 and 2027. A rather cheap-looking Fantasti-Car escorted the cast away as they are being rushed back to the set to continue filming.
