San Diego Comic-Con is like Christmas for loves of pop culture.
While not everything new is announced or premiered there, it pretty much feels that’s exactly what happens, making it the most wonderful time of the year if you crave trailers and clips and panels of the stars and producers of your favourite, or soon-to-be-favourite shows and movies dishing everything you want and need to know.
While I have yet to make it there, one day I will; until that hallowed day arrives, I can bask in the tidal wave of news that emerge from the event, live and in-person for the first time in three years thanks to a certain pandemic we all know and revile, and fill my already crowded schedule with shows and film yet to come …
(This is, by the way, just a sample of the announcements and reveals made; for all the trailers, go to Gizmodo and for highlights, go to EW‘s Best of Comic-Con 2022.
Shazam takes on Hespera & Kalypso, daughters of the Greek god Atlas. This is a sequel to Shazam! (2019) and it will be the 14th movie in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). No other plot details are revealed. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is directed by Swedish filmmaker David F. Sandberg, of the films Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation, Shazam!, as well as the experimental I Flip You Off for Four Hours, plus tons of other shorts previously. The screenplay is written by Henry Gayden (Earth to Echo, Shazam!, There’s Someone Inside Your House) and Chris Morgan, based on characters from DC Comics. Shazam! was created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck. It’s produced by Geoff Johns and Peter Safran. (synopsis courtesy First Showing)
Shazam!Fury of the Gods releases 21 December 2022 in UK and USA and in Australia on 5 January 2023.
Described as a 10-episode legal comedy, the She-Hulk series will be led by Emmy and Golden Globe winner Tatiana Maslany who will take on the titular role as Jennifer Walters. She will be joined by Avengers: Endgame star Mark Ruffalo, Doctor Strange vet Benedict Wong, and Tim Roth (The Incredible Hulk) as they reprise their respective roles as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Wong, and Abomination. Additional cast includes Jameela Jamil, Ginger Gonzaga, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Josh Segarra, with Megan Thee Stallion rumored to also appear in the series. (synopsis courtesy First Showing)
She-Hulk premieres on 17 August on Disney+ and runs for nine episodes until 12 October.
Patrick Stewart stars as Picard, reprising his role from the series Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as other Star Trek media. Also returning from The Next Generation are LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner, with Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd also starring. (courtesy Wikipedia)
Access the full suite of Star Trek: Picard season 3 character posters.
Star Trek: Picard premieres on Paramount+ in early 2023.
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Following the cliffhanger ending of the second season, [creator and showrunner Mike] McMahan said the third would follow Captain Freeman’s trial for allegedly destroying the Pakled homeworld. This continues the series’ ongoing storyline about the Pakleds. The third season also explores the new relationship between Beckett Mariner and Jennifer Sh’reyan, but McMahan said Mariner’s romantic relationship would not become the focus of the series as her character arc was still based on her friendships and her relationship with her mother, Captain Freeman. He noted that Mariner and Freeman had grown closer throughout the second season and the latter’s arrest would lead to a new dynamic, with Mariner not “directing her energy in the most applicable way” in the third season. (synopsis courtesy Wikipedia)
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3 on Paramount+ on 25 August.
- Excitingly, there’s going to be a crossover between Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks which “will include a crossover episode featuring both live-action and animation, as Lower Decks‘ Ensign Beckett Mariner (voiced by Tawny Newsome) and Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) drop by the U.S.S. Enterprise.” (TVLine)
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER
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Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone. (synopsis courtesy Bleeding Cool)
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres on Prime Video on 2 September.
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Each short follows Baby Groot (Guardians of the Galaxy) as he grows up in the galaxy, going on adventures with new and unusual characters that get him into trouble. (courtesy Wikipedia)
The five original shorts of I Am Groot commence streaming on Disney+ on 10 August.
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
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Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje, fight to protect their nation of Wakanda from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is once again directed by talented American filmmaker Ryan Coogler, director of the films Fruitvale Station, Creed, and the first Black Panther movie, as well as a producer on Judas and the Black Messiah. The screenplay is written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole. Based on the characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. (synopsis courtesy First Showing)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in Australia on 10 November 2022 and 11 November US & UK.
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Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, or simply Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, is an upcoming American animated television series based on the characters of the same name by Marvel Comics. The series will be produced by Disney Television Animation, Marvel Animation, and Cinema Gypsy Productions, with animation services being provided by Flying Bark Productions. (synopsis courtesy Wikipedia)
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur launches 2023 on Disney+
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John Wick: Chapter 4 is an American neo-noir action thriller film which is the direct sequel to 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, as well as the fourth installment in the John Wick film series, about the unkillable assassin. John Wick: Chapter 4, also known as simple John Wick 4, is once again directed by American stuntman turned filmmaker Chad Stahelski, co-director of the first John Wick film with David Leitch, and director of all of the sequels: John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum previously. The screenplay is written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, based on characters created by Derek Kolstad. Produced by Chad Stahelski, Basil Iwanyk, and Erica Lee. (synopsis courtesy First Showing)
John Wick: Chapter 4 aka John Wick 4 premieres 23 March 2023 in Australia and 24 March in US & UK.
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Tales of the Walking Dead consists of six original one-hour standalone episodes focused on both new and established characters within the walker apocalypse. Each episode has its own distinct tone and point of view — but the stakes are high in each story, pushing new, indelible characters with relentless, life-threatening choices and situations. We get to see the apocalypse through different eyes, discovering more worlds, mythos, and mysteries of the Walking Dead.AMC Networks’ Tales of the Walking Dead stars Olivia Munn (The Newsroom, X-Men: Apocalypse, Six), Samantha Morton (The Walking Dead, Harlots), Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Parker Posey (Lost In Space), Anthony Edwards (Inventing Anna, WeCrashed), Poppy Liu (Dead Ringers), Jillian Bell (Rough Night), Loan Chabanol (Fading Gigolo), Embeth Davidtz (Old, Ray Donovan) Jessie T. Usher (Shaft, The Boys), Daniella Pineda (Cowboy Bebop), Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick), and more. (synopsis courtesy Bleeding Cool)
Tales of the Walking Dead premieres on 14 August on AMC.