San Diego Comic-Con is the mecca for every pop culture nerd and over the five-day festival, movie studios, TV networks and streaming platforms exploit devoted fans’ fervour to reveal a raft of trailers and announcements.
This year was no different. Marvel Studios showed up with a slew of goodies while Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon faced off against Lord of the Rings series The Rings of Power. It was all about the big guns.
But they weren’t the only power players at Comic-Con. Check out what other tantalising reveals there were.
The Sandman
It’s been a long time coming for The Sandman, the highly anticipated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s iconic fantasy comic book. Aborted attempts for a screen version date back as far as 1991.
An involving tale of myth and high stakes, the story revolves around Dream, the being responsible for our dreams and nightmares. When he is captured and held against his will for over 100 years, the consequences are dire.
The timeline is in chaos and humanity could cease to collapse – unless Dream can travel through different worlds and restore cosmic order.
The series stars Tom Sturridge, Gwendoline Christie, Jenna Coleman, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Stephen Fry, Patton Oswalt, David Thewlis and Boyd Holbrook.
The first trailer was revealed at Comic-Con (at the top of the page). The series debuts on Netflix on August 5.
John Wick 4
Just when you think John Wick has kicked, punched and shot every baddie out there, here comes some more. The thing about life – and movie franchises – is that there are always more villains.
As they say in the first teaser trailer, “The devil will never stop, you know this”.
There are elaborately staged shots in front of the Eiffel Tower, a John Woo-style flock of pigeons and loads of weapons, from knives and swords to cars and pure grit. And lots of brooding. It’s not John Wick without the brooding.
And then, one more challenge – “No one, not even you, can kill everyone”. John Wick begs to differ.
The cast includes Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane and Lance Reddick. John Wick: Chapter 4 is due for release in March, 2023.
Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves
Dungeons & Dragons may have a reputation as a role-playing only the nerdiest of the nerds would get into – and the flopped 2000 movie adaptation didn’t inspire confidence otherwise. But this upcoming version looks way more promising.
For one thing, it’s got big names involved, including Chris Pine, Hugh Grant, Michelle Rodriguez and Bridgerton smoulderer-in-chief Rege-Jean Page. And it’s written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who have had their hands in Game Night, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Horrible Bosses – so it should at least be mildly funny.
The action adventure story is about a group of thieves who helped the wrong person steal something which has now unleashed a world-destroying evil – ooops – and now they have to try and fix it.
With dragons, catapults, deadly quests, magic spells and witty banter, it’s looking at least way better than that Jeremy Irons version which everyone promptly forgot about.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves is in cinemas on March 2, 2023.
Black Adam
DC couldn’t let Marvel have all the fun, so it brought out another tease of the upcoming Black Adam, only one month after dropping the first trailer.
Starring The Rock – and he’s not in a jungle this time! – as the antihero Black Adam, the film is an origin story for the indestructible character who, thanks to his godly power, is basically invincible. And he was imprisoned for thousands of years so he has some anger issues.
He has some weird ideas about justice – he is a bit out of touch – which might him a threat as much as a saviour.
The movie will introduce into the DCEU the Justice Society of America, a superhero team.
Black Adam also stars Sarah Shahi, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Marwan Kenzari and Pierce Brosnan. The movie is due for release on October 20.
Shazam: Fury of the Gods
When Shazam came out a few years ago, it was fun, goofy and family friendly – in other words, the opposite to most of DC’s dark and dreary slate.
The sequel promises to be equally beguiling and not just because Zachary Levi is nailing it as a slightly neurotic teenager with an inferiority complex about being given the powers of the gods.
At the end of the first film, all those powers were extended to his foster brothers and sisters and with just one word (“Shazam!”) they transform into superheroes.
But you know who’s maybe not all that pleased about that? The gods. Namely the three played by Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler (yes to all that), who’s looking to stop Billy Batson and his family.
Shazam: Fury of the Gods is releasing in the US on December 21 but won’t be out in Australia until January 5. Hmmm.
Originally published as San Diego Comic-Con 2022: The Sandman, Shazam, Dungeons & Dragons trailers
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