San Diego Comic-Con 2022 highlights

The first proper San Diego Comic-Con in three years brought a tonne of interesting trailers, plenty of new announcements, and a handful of complete surprises – so here are some of the main highlights from this year’s SDCC…

Marvel unveil new trailers for She-Hulk and Black Panther 2:

Marvel confirmed that the current Phase 4 will conclude this year with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (starting on Disney+ on 17 August) and then Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (hitting cinemas in November), and they brought new trailers for both.

• The tone of the two could not be more different; the She-Hulk trailer emphasises the comedic elements of the upcoming show, even including a meta moment of fourth wall breaking from the She-Hulk comics. The trailer focuses on Jennifer Walters (played by Tatiana Maslany) and her relationship with her cousin, Bruce Banner (played by returning MCU veteran Mark Ruffalo), but also features appearances by Tim Roth as Abomination, Benedict Wong as Wong, and a surprise cameo in the final shot.

• Meanwhile, the Wakanda Forever trailer packs a real emotional punch, confirming for the first time that the Black Panther sequel will deal with the aftermath of T’Challa’s fictional death, after the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman. This first teaser trailer is more about tone than plot, but Ryan Coogler’s direction looks amazing, and the pain over T’Challa’s/Boseman’s death is palpable.

Marvel announce their full Phase 5 line up:

Phase 5 of the MCU will officially start in 2023, with the following shows and movies now confirmed:

• Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania will kick things off in February 2023, and as well as featuring the return of Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily, Jonathan Majors will make his first “proper” appearance as Multiversal threat, Kang the Conqueror.

• Secret Invasion will follow on Disney+ in Spring 2023, and sees Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) taking on a renegade faction of shapeshifting Skrulls who infiltrated Earth years ago.

• Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 hits cinemas in May 2023, and sees the return of the ensemble cast, plus new additions Will Poulter, Maria Bakalova and Chukwudi Iwuji (from James Gunn’s Peacemaker TV show).

• Echo, the spinoff show from last’s year’s (really good) Disney+ show Hawkeye, will itself hit Disney+ in Summer 2023, followed by season two of Loki later in the Summer.

• The Marvels (previously known as Captain Marvel 2) will hit cinemas in July 2023, and will see Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel meet Iman Vellani’s Ms Marvel, as well as Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau/Photon from WandaVision.

• Original show Ironheart will then follow on Disney+ in Autumn 2023, followed by the WandaVision spinoff Agatha: Coven Of Chaos which is expected to hit Disney plus at the end of 2023/start of 2024.

• Mahershala Ali’s much anticipated debut as Blade will hit cinemas in November 2023, rounding off the first year of Phase 5.

• 2024 kicks off with the eagerly awaited Daredevil: Born Again, which hits Disney+ in Spring 2024, and sees Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio return as Matt Murdock and the Kingpin for an 18 episode series.

• Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) big screen debut as the new Captain America will hit cinemas in May 2024 under the title Captain America: New World Order.

• The long-rumoured Thunderbolts movie will then probably round off Phase 5 in July 2024.

• While it’s unclear if Marvel’s animated shows will tie into Phase 5, there were also more details released about 2024’s Spider-Man: Freshman Year (and its already greenlit sequel, Spider-Man: Sophomore Year), and X-Men '97, the continuation of the classic 90s cartoon, which is expected in Autumn 2023. Meanwhile, What If…? season two is due in early 2023, although there’s not yet any release date for its spinoff, Marvel Zombies.

Marvel announce two new Avengers films to conclude Phase 6:

• It was also confirmed that Phase 6 of the MCU will kick off in November 2024 with the previously announced Fantastic Four reboot (although still no official casting announcements on that front).

• Then, just as Phases 1-3 of the MCU formed The Infinity Saga, it was announced that Phases 4-6 will officially form The Multiverse Saga.

• Perhaps the biggest surprise was the announcement of the next two Avengers films – Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is planned for May 2025, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars in November 2025.

DC:

While Marvel arguably made the biggest noise, DC was flying its flag at SDCC too.

• DC brought the latest trailer for Black Adam, due out this October and featuring Dwayne Johnson’s first appearance as the titular antihero.

• Perhaps more exciting was the first proper look at Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which is due in cinemas this December. The first trailer looks a lot of fun, recapturing the comedic tone that made the first film unexpectedly enjoyable.

Other movie news:

• John Wick 4 – If you’re as big a fan of the John Wick series as I am, you’ll definitely want to check out the surprise first trailer that was unveiled at SDCC, which includes the foreboding line “No one, not even you, can kill everyone…”. The film is currently due in cinemas in March 2023.

• Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves – Before this first trailer was released, I think it was fair to say that no one was particularly excited about this latest attempt to adapt the classic game, but now I’m already planning my trip to see this when it hits cinemas in March 2023. Starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Sophia Lillis, Justice Smith and Hugh Grant, this comedy adventure is from the co-writers and directors of the hugely underrated Game Night, and it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Other TV news:

• Game Of Thrones: House Of The Dragon – This prequel series launches next month, and this final trailer is the most epic glimpse yet of the House Targaryen civil war set roughly two hundred years before the original Game of Thrones story.

• The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power – Launching just a month later in September is this LOTR prequel. Set a millennia before the movie trilogy, this final trailer showcases the epic scale of the show that has already secured a five-season commitment.

• The Wheel of Time – Amazon’s other big fantasy TV show also announced it had been greenlit for the third season. A release date for the second season is still to be announced, but it seems they’ll be more adventures to come from the classic book series.

• The Sandman – Netflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman's classic fantasy epic released its first trailer at SDCC, ahead of its release next month.