This weekend was one of the biggest fandom events of the year, San Diego Comic Con International! With all the announcements coming out of Hall H here are six of the biggest reveals: Wonder Woman 2 It’s no surprise that the summer’s biggest superhero film is garnishing a sequel and that Patty Jenkins, the director of Wonder Woman is signed on to direct the follow up. We just couldn’t have expected an announcement this soon. The sequel was announced at comic con and will be hitting theaters December 13, 2019. Once Upon a Time Shakeups After six seasons OUAT had a major finale that jumped forward decades in time introducing a new curse and Henry’s daughter. Now season seven is shaping up to be just as fresh as the first season with all new cast members, new identities, and a new setting. We find out what happened to Hook, Emma and the rest of the gang when Once Upon A Time premieres on ABC Friday, October 6. American Horror Story: Cult Season six played quiet on any promotion for the hit tv show, American Horror Story, right up until its confusing first episode. Fans have wondered if the same would be happening for season seven but now we know the seventh installment of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series will be premiering on September 5 with the tagline “Cult.” Murphy released a frightening new poster along with the announcement that is sure to “bee” one of the most “frightening” announcements at comic con. Justice League Trailer Is it fair to say I already feel like I’ve seen this entire movie and still have no clue what is going to happen? A new extended look at November’s Justice League from Warner Bros and D.C. comics shows that the new team is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Watch the explosive trailer above. Marvel Announcements It’s no surprise that the crowning pride of comic con is once again Marvel Studios who unleashed a astonishing amount of announcements considering the studio just had a big event the week before with D23. First up was Thor: Ragnarok which released a jam packed new trailer to get fans excited for its November release. Afterwards came a jam-packed Black Panther trailer and more Avenger’s Infinity War footage. The studio wasn’t done there, but then announced two big shockers. First, that the upcoming Captain Marvel film would be a prequel to the other movies in the cinematic universe. It was announced that Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) would be teaming up with Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) in the 90’s before he lost an eye and that the plot of the movie would deal with a skrull invasion. (I know, wild, right?) To follow up that news it was announced that Michelle Pfiefer would be playing Janet Van Dyne in the upcoming Antman and The Wasp film. Both films are currently in pre-production. Stranger Things Season Two Possibly one of the most anticipated tv shows to air this fall is going to be Stranger Things 2. A new trailer reintroduced Eleven and the gang to our screens and promised an exciting next chapter. If you agree with this list, let me know! What was the most exciting announcement to come out of San Diego Comic Con for you? Hit us up on Facebook and Twitter.
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As a Disney fan, it is imperative to understand a few things: First, Disney is a corporation bent on making money and does it well. Despite what one might think of the “house of mouse” and how they pride themselves on making “magical family content” and entertaining all the children at Disney World, the company is still one of the largest conglomerates of the media and they know how to self-promote their products. Second, Robert “Bob” Iger is the last person to hold the title of “president” of The Walt Disney Company and has held a title in almost every other office in the management of the company including Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, which is his current titles. This means Iger is making all the big calls when it comes to Disney. He knows what to buy, promote, sell, greenlight and chop from the corporation’s multiple companies. It is also important to note that Disney is the umbrella “parent company” to many other mediums such as ABC, ABC news, Freeform, ESPN, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm Studios, Touchstone, Pixar and more. Lastly, to understand the content of this blog post one needs to know the history of D23. 1923 is the year Walt Disney founded the Walt Disney Company and D23 (Disney + 1923) is the official fan club of all things Disney and in 2009 they began a biennial convention that has exploded into a three-day PR dream where the content creators come out to speak about their new projects for years to come. The event that is held in Anaheim, California, is a stomping ground for fans and celebrities alike and the announcements are often accompanied with sneak peeks and trailers shown only to the fans in attendance. It is also worth mentioning that while this event is a fun chance to see what is upcoming from the company, there is also an understandable “caution” when taking any of the announcements as set in stone. Many release dates, directors, and movies get changed and sometimes never see the light of day, such as the “yellow submarine” movie announced in 2009 that was scratched before it could be released. So, if you didn’t know, now you do. Let’s begin our complete look at everything that happened at this year’s D23 event: (All Images are courtesy of D23.com.) FRIDAY JULY 14, 2017 Notably, the biggest panel to come out of D23 is the “Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios” panel. This year John Lasseter, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer, kicked off the presentation in Hall D23 clad in his signature Pixar themed Hawaiian shirt promising to show “things that no one has seen outside the walls of our studio.” In the coming years Disney (as we will call them rather than stating each individual animation studio) will be releasing eight new animated feature films and each one got its chance to shine during the presentation on Friday. (Note: This list is an order of how they were presented, not when they will be released.) Untitled Disneytoon studios film First up was an untitled Disneytoon Studios film that will explore the “future of aviation” as directors Bobs Gannaway and Klay Hall said. Not much else is known about the film other than it will open in theaters on April 12, 2019, tentatively. Olaf’s Frozen Adventure and Frozen 2 Next was the team behind Olaf’s Frozen Adventure and Frozen 2, the continuing stories of Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Elsa in 2013’s Frozen. Kristen Bell, who plays Anna in the movie, presented a clip from the 21-minute short film Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, which will be opening in front of Coco on November 22, 2017. Josh Gad soon joined her on stage to perform a new song called “That Time of Year” which his character, Olaf, sings in the new short. The release date for Frozen 2 was then announced (November 27, 2019) and fans were able to see a behind-the-scenes video of the director’s recent research trip to Norway, Iceland, and Finland. Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 The sequel is going “somewhere big” according to director Rich Moore. He introduced the returning cast, John C. Reilly as Ralph and Jack McBrayer as Felix, then Sarah Silverman, the voice of Vanellope von Schweets helped to introduce a new character named Yesss, who is voiced by Tarajj P. Henson. Next the fans were treated with a scene from the film that pays homage to all of the original Disney Princesses with their voice actors portraying their princess once again. The scene showed all the princesses as well as had Marvel and Star Wars cameos too. Wreck-It Ralph 2 opens in theaters on November 21, 2018. Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4 Some fan art and a short clip of the sequel was shown but not much more than that, excluding a fake Edna Mode teaser that has various fashionistas praising the animated icon. Incredibles 2 is slated for June 15, 2018 while Toy Story 4 is opening a year later, June 21, 2019. Only the director, Josh Cooley, was announced for that project. Untitled Urban Fairy tale and Coco Dan Scanlon announced that he will be directing a fantasy film to pay homage to his father. The presentation then ended with a performance of a song from Coco the next Pixar film opening November 22, 2017. Marvel TV Animation A Marvel TV animation panel was also held on Friday and it announced the release date of the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man on August 19, and announced season three of Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. Disney Legends Awards Ceremony The second biggest Panel at D23 on Friday was an Awards ceremony of the highest honor. The traditional Disney Legends Awards Ceremony had Disney CEO Bob Iger honoring 11 talented individuals for all their contributions to the company. Both Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame were awarded the status as well as Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey for their work on ABC programming. Jack Kirby and Stan Lee received the award for their work at Marvel comics. Other recipients include Clyde Geronimi, Manuel Gonzales, Wayne Jackson, Gary Marshall and Julie Taymor. SATURDAY JULY 15, 2017 The second day of D23 was just as big as the first with cosplayers panels galore and more big announcements. For more detailed looks at the panels I neglected to mention such as The Ducktales, Big Hero 6 TV series, and Once Upon a Time Q&A’s head over to d23.com for a look at everything that happened. Disney Parks and Resorts The first big panel of the day has to do with the theme park side of The Walt Disney Company. One of the biggest announcements was the name of the upcoming Star Wars theme park, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The new theme park will be an all-immersive Star Wars experience with cantina’s blue milk, bounty hunters, and more. The attraction opens in 2019 at Disneyland and Disneyworld parks. New Epcot experiences, a Tron rollercoaster, Toy Story land, a Star Wars hotel, new “Mini-vans”, and big plans for the 50th anniversary of Disney World in 2021 were announced. Live action at the Walt Disney Studios This is the second and possibly biggest presentation to happen in Hall D23 during the weekend. It’s split into three portions of a two-hour presentation. First Disney, then Lucasfilm and finally Marvel. Walt Disney Studios: First up was Disney Legend Oprah Winfrey to promote her new film A Wrinkle in Time which stars Winfrey beside Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, and Chris Pine. The film is an adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic novel and the first official trailer for the film dropped as well. The film opens March 9, 2019. Next were two movies that didn’t get a ton of attention but were quickly glossed over. That didn’t stop the hype though. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a live action spin on the classic story which opens on November 2, 2018. A first look at Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns delighted fans. The film opens on December 25, 2018 and is helmed by new Disney Legend Rob Marshall. Director Tim Burton sent a message from the set of a new live-action version of Dumbo starring Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, and Eva Green. Dumbo is slated for release on March 29, 2019. John Favereau was on hand to give a small glimpse at The Lion King opening in 2019 with Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, James Earl Jones, Billy Eichner and John Oliver in starring roles. Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, was notably absent as she was on set of the still untitled Han Solo movie which recently lost its directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Ron Howard was announced to become the replacement director and Kennedy is overseeing the reshoots in London. No new info was released on that film or any other rumored Star Wars movies. Director Rian Johnson did bring out the cast to the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi and released a behind the scenes look at the new film which opens December 15, 2017. Marvel In honor of the 10th anniversary of Marvel Studios, president Kevin Feige took the stage to promote what he calls “the biggest production in the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” Avengers: Infinity War. A trailer was shown to the audience however fans not in attendance will have to wait a little longer. The new marvel film opens May 4, 2018 following this year’s Thor Ragnarok and February’s Black Panther. SUNDAY JULY 16, 2017 D23 winded down with a few smaller panels on Sunday including a Q&A with Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore about their show Tangled: The Series. For more updates and all news Disney be sure to check out D23.com. With every great story, the hero should start somewhere, usually creating something wonderful out of nothing or conquering their demons so that they may propel forward into greatness. This has been a long-standing tradition in American myths and the stories that we share. For example, take Superman who became the hero of Earth after his planet was obliterated. Then there’s Steve Rogers who got ultra-pumped up on steroids to punch Nazis in World War 2 and Uncle Ben who had to die in three different universes to motivate three different Spider-men to live responsibly. Not to forget Kim Kardashian’s little-known sex tape which gave her incredible untold riches for years to come. Each had to give up something, a part of themselves, to become the icons that they are today. Clearly, it’s not always about the big, grand things one does that makes them important. Sometimes they don’t realize what they are doing is laying the foundation for something bigger until it’s already happening. This blog is a lot more self-aware than that, though. At Grahamwood media I understand the things that I write about today, tomorrow and a week from today are setting up events for the future. I understand that every Star Wars story I cover, every new movie I review and all the commentary in this blog represents more than just my opinion. It represents who I am as a journalist, as a writer, and as a fan. So, I vow to keep every word I write as informative, truthful, and entertaining as I possibly can. There’s no “fake news” here, only exciting breaking news and commentary on the geeky things we all care about over a big “Cup of Joe,” in respect to the Joe Quesada panels that came before me. So, what is ComiCoffee 2.0? It’s a place for looking to the future. We gather around stories that help us grow and learn new things about our world and we like the characters who are relatable to ourselves. Each week I strive to bring new content that is fresh and feels like it’s a next level version of what the rest is doing. You may ask, “what about ComiCoffee 1.0” and the answer is it doesn’t exist! Or not yet, anyways. The ComiCoffee brand is something I am building so that I may one day own a Comic Book shop slash music store slash coffee chop that invites everyone of all fandoms, orientations, genders and races to talk geeky over a latte. I dream of a world where Klingons and Ewoks can drink spiced chai side by side. In this world, there will be room for people who love the prequel trilogy, sequel trilogy, and the original Star Wars movies alike! We will escape from the horrors of the real world into a land of Hobbits and little ponies and pirates and more. For now, that’s what I want this blog to be; an escape from all the news that bombards us on a regular basis. Here, we spend a minimum of 500 words talking about exciting stories in far-away places in a hope that someday people will understand what it means to be geeky. Then maybe, just maybe, the world will come to understand differences, to accept others, to be kind and to show love for all things. I know this isn’t like the average comic book blog, but why not aspire to be something more than the norm? Your origin story is what you make it. |
Erick L. Graham Wood
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