Marvel Studios bring out their big guns to Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, holding panels for their 2015 films: Ant-Man and Avengers: Age Of Ultron. As usual, Kevin Feige is there to lead A-listers in the panel with Chris Hardwick conducting.
During the Ant-Man panel, Peyton Reed shows up “to polite applause”. I guess people are still not to keen on him being the director of Ant-Man after Edgar Wright left. He establishes his own Ant-Man geek cred though; apparently “he’s a huge fan and drew himself as Ant-Man on a flyer for his punk band, Johnny Quest.” He’s still not Edgar Wright but I think I’m ready to move on now.
A few announcements are made for Ant-Man. Casting-wise, Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas are called “Ant-Men”, playing Scott Lang and Hank Pym respectively. Corey Stoll is cast as Darren Cross/Yellowjacket. Evangeline Lilly is cast as Hope Van Dyne, Janet’s daughter. Filming of Ant-Man begins on 18 August 2014.
Despite not having filmed yet, there’s a footage show. As usual, the description was live-bloged by Comingsoon.net‘s Silas Lesnick earlier:
The footage begins as a shot moves through a lab.
We see beakers filled with colored liquids.
A glass cage with an anthill inside
We hear Rudd and Douglas talking
Pym tells Lang that he wants him to be Ant-Man because he’s a regular guy
It sounds like he has no love lost for The Avengers
Rudd is terrified
“Geez Lang,” says Pym, “You’d think someone only shrunk your balls.”
It cuts to a rooftop. Ant-Man is there, tiny
It looks like he’s being pursued by full-size people
An Ant lands and Lang climbs on his back, still terrified
Pym talks to Lang through the helmet, guiding him
It looks like the helmet is damaged and Lang is having some trouble
It looks like he’s inside a computer maybe
Pym tells him to run and he jumps off a huge ledge
A flying Ant catches him as he falls and the logo comes up!
Next up is Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Which is a riot. Because the cast is huge (I think there were more people on this panel than in The Hobbit panel) although Joss Whedon and Scarlett Johansson are not there. Whedon is laid up in London due to knee injury, meanwhile Johansson is due to give birth anytime now. So there were ‘only’ Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Cobie Smulders, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Bettany, James Spader, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen.
There were reportedly a lot of shenanigans during the panel but I’d rather not focus on that. The video is bound to show up soon and I believe we can all watch it for ourselves. More importantly, there’s a footage from Age Of Ultron that is described by so many people.
Here’s Silas Lesnick’s version:
It’s the Avengers, hanging out together.
They’re out of costumes and all trying to lift Thor’s hammer
Tony can’t do it
He tries again with an Iron Man hand
He still can’t
Even with War Machine’s help, he can’t
Neither can Banner
Cap moves it a little!
Silas Lesnick: A big noise distracts them
It’s an old suit, moving like a zombie, entering the room… It’s Ultron!
“There’s only one path to peace,” he says, “Your extinction!”
A montage of scenes. Black Widow in her new suit with blue lining
Banner in a straightjacket?
Tanks fighting in the snow
“It’s the end,” says Stark. “The end of the path I started us on.”
“Nothing lasts forever,” says Widow
Hulkbuster armor!
Going toe-to-toe with the Hulk!
“Look,” says Ultron, seemingly in his finished form, “No string on me”
Tony in what looks like a wasteland. All the Avengers are lying, bruised and beaten before him
And Empire Magazine has this description on Twitter:
Five highlights of the Avengers footage…
5. The gang all trying to lift Mjolnir at a party. Thor laughs until Cap manages to wobble it.
4. Ultron, having just built himself, crashes that party and declares war on mankind. Spader’s voice is menacing – perfect.
3. Hulk vs Iron Man in his Hulkbuster armour. Hulk throws a car at Stark. What could have happened to make the Science Bros so angry?
2. The final shot: Stark staring at Cap’s shield, which has been broken in half. Pull back to reveal: the Avengers, destroyed? Maybe…
1. And the final reveal of Ultron, declaring there “are no strings on me”. He’s going to be a formidable opponent, a robot with personality.
Full story here.)
After the footage, Thanos himself came on stage… Josh Brolin came with the Infinity Gauntlet (and ate a purple flower).
The panel was closed by a video greeting from James Gunn and Chris Pratt in London. Gunn announces that Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 is happening. The release date is 28 July 2017.
Excitement all around thanks to these announcements. It makes being sleep-deprived worth it.
I have some more photos for you…