It’s no secret to anyone that 2016 has not exactly been one of the best years in United States history. Mass murders are every other day, lunatics are leading the polls and our favorite celebrities are dying left and right.
But have no fear. Comic-Con is here to remind us all of the true meaning of Christmas in July. And damn, did it deliver this year.
Never has there been so many spectacular announcements, sneak-peaks and trailers shown at one convention in the history of the entire festival.
At the heart of all these surprises are the new trailers for the much-anticipated “Justice League” and “Wonder Woman” movies.
Regardless whether or not you’re a DC Comics fan, it’s pretty much universally acknowledged that the DC Extended Universe didn’t start off nearly as strong as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Marvel took its time to introduce each and every one of the Avengers, minus Black Widow and Hawkeye for whatever reason, before putting them all in an Avengers film together.
DC, on the other hand, decided to be impatient and just jumbled them all together in the massive clusterfuck that was “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
But no matter. It appears DC is finally redeeming themselves by adding the one thing that makes comic books so lovable to begin with – they’re fun.
Sure, mopey and brooding superheroes can be fine every now and then, but there’s a time and place. But not every DC comic book movie should have to look and feel like “Watchmen” or “The Dark Knight.”
After two incredibly divisive films, neither of which I liked, DC finally got the memo. So instead of Superman and Batman crying over their dead parents, we got supervillains forming teams, Wonder Woman kicking some Nazi ass and Ezra Miller playing a spot-on Barry Allen.
Seriously, what more could you ask for?
Marvel had some happy announcements for us too. Teasers for the upcoming Netflix shows “Iron Fist,” “Luke Cage” and “The Defenders” were all released.
Even if you don’t like Marvel, you have to respect them for using Netflix as a means of promoting obscure and underrated comic book characters. All of the aforementioned shows look more than promising.
Speaking of shows, trailers for upcoming seasons of “Sherlock,” “The Flash,” and “Arrow” were also screened at Comic-Con.
What trumps all of these announcements television-wise is the announcement for a brand new “Star Trek” television series called “Star Trek: Discovery.”
That’s right. After 11 years, a new “Star Trek” series is finally underway, and this one is said to be set in the same timeline of the original series, known to Star Trek fans as the “prime timeline.”
Horror fans also got their own surprises this weekend at Comic-Con, and I must say they’re quite terrifying – and not in the way we want them to be.
“The Woods,” a generic-looking found footage film announced a couple of months back, turned out to actually be a totally unneeded second sequel to “The Blair Witch Project,” simply called “Blair Witch.”
In the digital age, how do we continue to keep getting fooled like this? First “10 Cloverfield Lane” and now this? So much for unlimited knowledge.
There’s also apparently going to be a TV series of “The Exorcist” coming out soon.
You know, because who cares about originality and making good movies and TV shows when studios can make quick bucks?
I guess there will also be a “King Kong” reboot, titled “Kong: Skull Island,” coming out next year too. But with a cast featuring John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson and Tom Hiddleston, as well as the same producers who made the new “Godzilla,” this might actually be really good.
As always, Comic-Con hit harder with the superhero fandoms than it did with all the other communities, but nothing this year was truly a disappointment. That’s certainly not something I could say for past years’ conventions.
So whether it be on the couch at home or in a chair in the theater, you’re sure to find me enjoying all these lovely gems discovered in the cavern of nerdy wonders that is Comic-Con.
afauls@indiana.edu | @a_fauls15
