D23 Released the Latest, "Avengers: Doomsday," Teaser and a Surreal, "Visionquest," Trailer

Disney kicked off D23 last night and announced a bunch of upcoming projects, showed more of other things in the works, and so forth. As Marvel is a big part of Disney, that had some topics of discussion, including an official reveal (finally) of an X-Men movie coming in 2028 and the public release of a big, "Avengers: Doomsday," trailer that was previously only seen by attendees of CCI//SDCC. I am intrigued by what I've seen. Give it a look:

The part where Reed Richards asks Doom what he's done gives me vibes of when Johnathan Hickman's run on the, "Avengers," and, "New Avengers," comics was leading toward, "Secret Wars," and the Earths in different Universes were being destroyed by heroes as well as villains to try and save other realities. The flicks have hinted at these, "Incursions," being an issue before, so imagine with those X-Men around too, we'll be watching folks from different spots in the Multiverse trying to save their own homes as this all leads into the, "Avengers: Secret Wars," movie a bit after this one (just like the comic event/events)! Robert Downey Junior's take on Doctor Doom seems solid, although I am still unsure why they got the former Iron Man to play this role but imagine, "Avengers: Doomsday," will address this in some fashion. The release date of December 18th will bring many answers and probably raise even more questions!

Oh, plus we've got a trailer for, "Visionquest," which looks to be an absolutely absurd treat. Paul Bettany and James Spader's Ultron (now sporting more of a human-styled form) in a weird virtual World, arguing about concepts of humanity and morality whilst getting into various hijinks? I'm down for it and will check it out this October on Disney+. View that trailer here:

I've been iffy on what Marvel's got going on with their comics and have felt unsure about their movie/television productions, but it at least looks like this Fall and Winter will have some fun stuff. I'm hopeful, "Avengers: Doomsday," is great and its follow-up, "Avengers: Secret Wars," then sticks the landing.

Yeah, Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider and David Jonsson as Black Panther Sounds Cool

Yesterday I was discussing how Marvel's comics are struggling and I don't see much of note with their cinematic slate besides the immense hope that, "Avengers: Doomsday," is a hit. Well, Marvel did hold an event today in the fabled Hall H of Comic-Con International/San Diego Comic-Con and whilst it occurred, Ryan Reynolds appeared in a gray Deadpool suit (like from, "Uncanny X-Force,") and that was fun, but two other announcements really perked my ears up. Ryan Gosling will be the new Ghost Rider in the MCU and David Jonsson is set to be the grown-up son of T'Challa (who was portrayed by the sadly deceased Chadwick Boseman) and become Black Panther. 

Gosling is fantastic in a variety of productions, having excelled as an operator of motor vehicles before in the surrealist, "Drive." Jonsson was spectacular as a synthetic human named Andy in, "Alien: Romulus," where he pretty much played multiple roles due to a computer chip drastically altering his character's personality mid-film. Shawn Levy (who directed, "Deadpool and Wolverine,") will be directing the Ghost Rider flick and Ryan Coogler will return as Director yet again for, "Black Panther 3." Both movies are set to arrive in 2028. So yes, fine, Marvel has me feeling a twinge of excitement for their movies again. Still no update on a new, "X-Men," film, though.

DC Announced a Bunch of Cool Comic-Book Stuff Today! As for Marvel...

DC announced all kinds of things today at Comic-Con International/San Diego Comic-Con, with a lot of it involving their comic-books. The comic line of DC is on fire right now compared to a struggling Marvel, so I was curious what might be coming down the pipeline from the company. We've got a new Static (Shock) series on the way, and Vixen is getting an ongoing solo book as well, with DC challenging, "...the long-standing stigma that 'Black comics don’t sell,'" with two fan-favorites. Plus, Michael Walsh writing and drawing Jonah Hex as a horror-filled Western sounds like it'll be rad. Speaking of horror, James Harren doing a book on Etrigan The Demon, has my attention. One big crowd-pleaser was the announcement of, "Batman of Two Worlds," which will have Matt Fraction's Batman of the standard DC going through a parallel story with the Batman from the Absolute Universe that Scott Snyder will be writing (I have no idea if they'll meet and chat/fight, but we'll see). It'll feature, "Two stories, one crime." It'll come out on Saturday, September 19th, for Batman Day. This all looks quite exciting!

We get a new, "Venom," #1 every few years or so.

As for Marvel and their comic announcements as of today, um, well...let's see here. Eddie Brock is going to be Venom again after other people have been wearing the suit--Mary Jane most recently, because why not? Also, the evil/"Infernal," Hulk is going to have a bunch of one-shot fights with various heroes. Plus, Deadpool and the Punisher are going to have a crossover, as they do every now and again. Uhhhh, plus Mary Jane is getting another ongoing comic with J. Scott Campbell doing a cover for it, as he always seems to enjoy drawing her. Look, I was a huge Marvel fan for years, and some of my favorite stuff came out from them 2000-2015 or so, but this is all pretty uninspiring. I'm sorry; don't shoot the messenger. Let's just hope that, "Avengers: Doomsday," is a hit and injects some form of life into one division of the company because the Marvel Universe of comics is a bit dull. We're getting an, "Indiana Jones," comic in a different continuity than the superheroes and the, "Marvel Midnight," stuff looks a little interesting, but the Main/616 Universe has a handful of writers doing stories I like and little else popping off. Unless you're chomping at the bit for the Punisher to randomly join the Avengers or Iron Man to be in trouble with the law for the umpteenth time, shit's bleak. Again, let's just be cautiously optimistic about, "Avengers: Doomsday," and see how that (in December) and the Spidey movie coming out (in a week or two) go. As it stands, DC is bringing a lot more fire this year to the show while Marvel seems to be mostly hints of a spark and a lot of fumes.

The First Full Trailer for, "Avengers: Doomsday," Appears Nifty

I watched the first (of probably a couple) full trailer for, "Avengers Doomsday." Besides a bit of a teaser here and there, little has been shown/revealed. In the trailer, released yesterday, we hear what sounds like Robert Downey Junior with an accent speaking as Doctor Doom about a major threat. Then, we get a bunch of scenes of much of the MCU gathering together whilst a voice-over from Thor (Chris Hemsworth) discusses how the current threat facing everyone scares him more than anything he'd ever faced--and back then he had other friends by his side too...who died (one would assume this references Iron Man and Captain America, not so much the MCU's Pietro/Quicksilver). Have a look:

The footage gives us a good look at some Multiversal iteration of the Avengers fighting an X-Men team where Channing Tatum's Gambit is present (odd, but I'm not complaining) and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) wears more clothing (which does have some of the internet that favors a nothing-but-blue-paint-style complaining). I mean, we get more James Marsden as Cyclops, and he's in a comic-style suit, so I'm happy about that and am fine with the other tweaks too--Magneto's got some long locks! I would imagine much of the movie is centered on the Avengers taking on this X-Men-verse as we saw with, "Incursions," when Jonathan Hickman wrote, "Avengers," and, "New Avengers." That eventually ended with Doctor Doom kind of saving the day and creating a new Universe in the 2015 version of, "Secret Wars," which also happens to be the second part of this filmic duology with, "Avengers: Secret Wars." 

The trailer got me curious enough about the movie I'd maybe check it out in theaters, even if the Chris Evans' Captain America return had already been spoiled before the trailer's reveal. I haven't really been able to say that about a Marvel production since the horror stylings of the Sam Raimi-directed, "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness," got me to buy a movie ticket. If I'm considering seeing this in theaters, I guess mission accomplished? Plus, it gives Marvel plenty to talk about this week at Comic-Con International/San Diego Comic-Con!

Marvel Has the X-Men Event, "DNX," Coming This Fall, and Maybe Too Many Events Occurring, Honestly

Comic-book companies (particularly Marvel and DC) love a big event every now and then. Some take up a bunch of the comic line, and others are a bit more focused. The X-Men have a new horror-styled event called, "DNX," just announced for this Fall. Featuring the tagline, "Evolution is contagious," it makes me wonder if Marvel is aiming for some kind of boost in the number of mutants as was happening pre, "House of M," before the number of mutants was drastically reduced and slowly started growing again to a level where they again work as, "hated and feared minority," without being outright, "Endangered," as they were for a bit.

At the moment, Marvel has a number of smaller events all planned or popping off at once for better and worse. As Bleedingcool discussed, "So that's DNX for the X-Men, Armageddon for Avengers, Death Spiral for Spider-Man and Venom, and Queen In Black for Venom and Thor… any more for any more?" They're being snarky, but have a point about, "Eventitis," as it is sometimes called. Marvel seems to be stuck either doing a single massive event or a bunch of small ones at a near-constant rate. DC, meanwhile, has been steadily gaining more of the comic market through a slow-and-steady growth of their massively popular, "Absolute," line and an event here and there, such as the recently concluded and generally inoffensively fun, "DC K.O." I'm not the head of either company so I am wholly unqualified to argue who is doing, "Better." I would say a lot more people are excited for DC comics these days than a lot of Marvel's output, however.

The last big X-Men event I gave much attention to was, "House of X/Powers of X," which led into an era of the X-Men and many mutants spending a lot of time living on the island of Krakoa before that all wound down with little of consequence to show for an epic start and whimper of a conclusion. That said, a lot of these events are about the journey, not the destination ("Flashpoint," was a ton of fun years ago and led into the ho-hum New 52). Will the, "Adventure," we have with DNX or any other Marvel event strike enough of a nerve that people will really dig them? We shall see, and in the end, the comics at Marvel almost seem like an afterthought with how much is undoubtedly riding on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and if, "Avengers Doomsday," and, "Secret Wars," will undo the general feeling of disinterest many folks have had towards the MCU since, "Endgame." It is going to be a pivotal 2026 for Marvel, that's for sure.

Marvel to Revisit Their, "Civil War," Event and Seems Low on Ideas in General

I remember when the Marvel event, "Civil War," was a big deal and selling lots of copies back when it kicked off in 2006. Focused on Superhumans being required to register their identity with the government and how that leads to a rift between Tony Stark (in favor of it) and Captain America (opposed), it was somewhat adapted in a popular Marvel flick years later. When it was coming out years ago, it was a hit. Then it got delayed and took forever to finish, with a ton of fill-in one-shots and mini-series. The event had a lot of stuff that tied in and basically got to the point where there were comics saying, "Hey, what is this D-list hero doing about the Superhman Registration Act?" Well, apparently not all the stories were told because in honor of the 20th anniversary of the series (in real-time, not the floating continuity of the comics) we're getting, "Civil War: Unmasked,"  a five-issue series by Christos Gage, Edgar Salazar, and original Civil War colorist Morry Hollowell. Wait, we didn't even get Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch (the original writer and artist) for this cash-grab?

Yes, "The comic will offer a different story in each issue, respectively revealing more of what Tony Stark/Iron Man, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Bill Foster/Goliath, Greer Nelson/Tigra, and Steve Rogers/Captain America did during the 2006 event." Oh, and this is somehow going to tie in the X-Men event, "Days of Future Past," for...reasons. I'm all for revisiting a fun event, but back when, "Civl War," happened, it just took forever and (I thought) covered everything there was to discuss. The, "Civil War II," event, some years later, was a hot mess as well, so I guess going back to a successful event (and working in an even older one) is the best idea Marvel has right now?

Sorry if that's coming across as overly sarcastic, but outside of the Ultimate Universe (which is ending), Marvel's comics have been struggling to get much hype/attention/etc. I love the current, "Moon Knight," comics (despite constant relaunches), but that's more of a cult character, and I struggle to think of any Marvel books getting the kind of buzz DC has been receiving--especially with their Absolute books. Even Marvel's movies were an unstoppable box office juggernaut, and now lots of people seem cautious about, "Avengers: Doomsday," no matter how many characters/actors are being promoted as coming back for more. Marvel just seems low on ideas, overall, and is throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. We're giving the Scarlet Witch a turn as Sorcerer Supreme, and Norman Osborn is Spider-Man. The house of ideas indeed.

"Mortal Kombat II," Delayed...To Set it Up for Success?

Normally, when a movie is delayed, it is for problematic reasons. It is taking a lot longer to complete, for example. That, or the studio doesn't believe it will do well and wants to dump it in a quiet season, and so forth. Many times a flick gets pushed back or shelved for months or years due to how a studio lacks any hope for it. To delay a movie because you think it will do better than you initially thought, though? Well, that's a bit interesting to hear. Hence, we have, "Mortal Kombat II," going from being due this October to getting delayed about seven months to May--blockbuster season.

There were, "Mortal Kombat," movies in the 90s, but during the height of the COVID-era, "Mortal Kombat," reboot landed in theaters and on streaming about the same time and did pretty well. A sequel focused on the character Johnny Cage (played by Karl Urban) has been in the works for some time, and early buzz has been good--really good. The internet trailer has gotten tons of views, early small-scale screenings received a lot of buzz, and with, "Avengers: Doomsday," delayed from May of 2026 due to how much time and money it is taking (the usual reason things get pushed), that slot is wide-open. Hence, Warner Bros. and New Line are moving, "Mortal Kombat II," back due to optimism that it could make even more money as a Summer popcorn flick as opposed to being in the October dumping ground.

It is annoying that a flick--one which is totally done and looks decent--is getting delayed, but if a studio is doing this because it believes in a flick, that is weirdly almost heartwarming--even though at the end of the day any changes are all about maximizing profits. It is a bummer we can't see Karl Urban and friends fighting in, "Mortal Kombat II," for Halloween, but at least we can enjoy the movie closer to Memorial Day of 2026.

The Two Big Upcoming, "Avengers," Flicks are Delayed

The next two Avengers films are, "Avengers: Doomsday," and, "Avengers: Secret Wars." They were due to come out in May 2026 and May 2027, but have been pushed back six months to December 2026 and December 2027. I'm not surprised. I mean, considering it seems like basically everyone from a past Marvel/X-Men/whatever movie is involved in this, I imagine there are a lot of logistics to figure out in regards to actors' schedules, creating special effects, and the like.

I imagine when these two flicks do come out, they will be huge, making a lot of money and getting all the hype Marvel has desired but failed to attain since the one-two punch of, "Infinity War," and, "Endgame." My theory (and one others online have expressed) remains that with, "Secret Wars," we will do a big continuity reset so that all MCU-centric films will from that point forward be in a new Universe that takes pieces of all the movies but is a fresh World for anyone who wants to be able to have a brand-new starting point for Marvel flicks. That way, they can keep old stuff that works, dump stuff that doesn't, and add in new elements (live-action Miles Morales has got to be coming soon). We'll have to wait a little extra to see, I suppose.

Movie Announcement of the Year That Still Has Me Bewildered: Robert Downey Jr. Returning to the MCU as Doctor Doom--2024 in Review

It was Comic-Con International, AKA San Diego Comic-Con. There, in news that astounded and confused, we learned Robert Downey Jr. was returning to the MCU...as Doctor Doom. Not a Tony Stark variant, but Doctor Doom for a new " Doomsday" movie that would replace the now-canceled "Kang Dynasty." It is fun to see how RDJ is coming back to the MCU, but it is a bit odd as well. It feels a bit like Marvel throwing things at the wall to see what could stick, but if it works out then any of us with trepidation will have to eat our words, I suppose. Since that big announcement, Chris Evans has also been announced as coming back in some capacity (besides his recent return as Johnny Storm in the latest Deadpool--and Wolverine--flick).

Will these returns undermine how Iron Man and Captain America's stories wrapped up in, "Avengers: Endgame," or be a cool new twist that helps further reinvigorate the Marvel Cinematic Universe? I guess we'll know more all the way in May 2026 when, "Avengers: Doomsday," comes out. For now, though, it all still feels a bit odd.

Possibly the Wildest News from CCI/SDCC: Robert Downey Jr. is Back in the MCU...as Doctor Doom?

Last night Marvel had a huge panel in the biggest possible room you can book from Comic-Con International/San Diego Comic-Con--Hall H. They talked about a lot of upcoming movies but the biggest news from that panel and possibly all of CCI/SDCC is that we're not getting a Kang movie with the Avengers anymore--we're getting, "Avengers: Doomsday," in 2026 followed by, "Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027. The Russo brothers are returning to direct and Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU...as Doctor Doom. Not Iron Man. I am a bit befuddled.

I honestly would have maybe predicted RDJ would come back to the MCU at some point with a good enough offer and story. I never would have predicted he'd somehow be Victon Von Doom. Is it some kind of multiversal variant? A different kind of reality-warping shenanigans? We don't know and probably will have to wait a bit for the exact details, but Robert's back, and he's gonna be a supervillain. I've seen reactions to this vary from excited optimism that Marvel is going back to talent that previously worked well to a bit of trepidation for the exact same reason--Marvel is going back to playing a bit of a nostalgia card for stuff that's not even two whole decades old yet. 

I guess sometimes we invent a reason to bring old stuff back because it worked the first time. After all, remember in the Star Wars flicks when they did the whole, "Somehow, Palpatine returned," gimmick? I've written extensively about the power of nostalgia/"weaponized nostalgia," and how it can give us great new stories that utilize the power of past tales but can also backfire horribly. I guess we need to let Kevin Feige (the well-known mastermind behind much of the MCU), the Russos, and Marvel cook so we can see just what happens.