Everything Marvel Fans Need to Know About SDCC 2018

Now that the calendar has turned pages and we’re well on our way into the month of July, the crème de la crème of comic conventions. That’s right, it’s about time for convention goers from across the world to converge on San Diego to attend the world’s premiere comic book convention — San Diego Comic-Con.

And as the world leader on all things comics, we figured it our duty to inform SDCC attendees of the convention’s happenings so they can try planning ahead. In this particular post, we’ll look at everything you need to know about the House of Ideas and the bigger events the crew at Marvel happens to be holding.

No Marvel Studios Hall H Panel

Sorry, MCU fans. We figured it best to get this out of the way right out of the gates — Marvel Studios won’t be hosting a mega-panel in the iconic Hall H. After assembling many cast members of the various Marvel Cinematic Universe properties at last year’s SDCC — including the introduction of Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel — Kevin Feige and company decided to take this year off.

Rightfully so, Marvel Studios has had their best year at the box office yet. Black Panther clawed its way to $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office while Avengers: Infinity War crossed the $2 billion threshold, becoming the fourth highest grossing movie to ever hit the box office.

But just because Marvel Studios is resting up to hit 2019 head-on — they have Captain Marvel, Avengers 4, and Spider-Man: Far From Home next year — that doesn’t mean that SDCC will be completely without the presence of movies studios making movies with Marvel’s intellectual property…

A Very Spidey Comic-Con

Surprise! Amy Pascal and company will be back at San Diego Comic-Con after a five-year hiatus — yes, their last meaningful presence was in 2013 — to showcase the two movies they have coming out this year.

Taking over Hall H in the Friday night timeslot — which kicks off at 6:15pm PT for those who will be in attendance — Sony is set to feature extended looks at the Tom Hardy-led Venom in addition to the much-anticipated animated feature film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Although no cast attendees have been confirmed as of yet, Deadline — the outlet that originally broke the panel news — claimed that it would “come as no surprise should Spider-Man star Tom Holland make a surprise appearance.”

That’s a lot of miles for the MCU’s Peter Parker. After all, he recently got to London to begin filming Spider-Man: Far From Home, the second Spider-Man-centric film set in the MCU.

Iron Fist Anchoring the Marvel Television Presence

Hold on to your butts, you read that right. Danny Rand, Colleen Wing, and the rest of the Iron Fist crew will be at the forefront of Marvel Television’s public relations push at SDCC 2018. The show, which recently wrapped filming it’s second season, has released little to no information so look forward to this panel releasing plenty of good details.

Because it’s wrapped several weeks ago, it’s more than likely we’ll receive a trailer for the upcoming season, much like they released the trailer for season one at New York Comic Con a few years back. Not only that, it wouldn’t be completely out of line to anticipate them announcing a release date for Iron Fist Season Two — and don’t be surprised if it’s announced to drop sometime this year, even ahead of Daredevil Season Three.

Cast-wise, the panel’s lineup hasn’t been confirmed outside of Marvel TV and panel chant leader extraordinaire Jeph Loeb. At this point, it’s probably safe to say the likes of Finn Jones, Jessica Henwick, and newcomer Alice Eve will be in attendance. Speaking of Eve, it’s possible we could finally find out the mysterious role she’s playing this season.

The Iron Fist panel is scheduled to start at 6:00pm on Thursday, July 19th in Ballroom 20. If you’re looking to meet the cast and crew, the Marvel booth (#2329) will be hosting an Iron Fist autograph signing at 2:30pm on Thursday, July 19th.

Cloak & Dagger Capitalizing on a Great First Season

Cloak & Dagger is well into its first season on ABC’s Freeform and the marketing team behind the show clearly wants to capitalize on its quick cult-like following. Not only will the stars of the show — including Olivia Holt, Aubrey Joseph, Emma Lahana, and Ally Maki — be in attendance, the panel will also include showrunner and executive produce Joe Pokaski.

The panel, which kicks off at 5:45pm PT on Friday in Ballroom 20, will be accompanied by a fan activation event earlier in the day at Petco Park. As per the official panel press release, the event will “recreate the iconic moment between the two leads Tyrone and Tandy when their powers interact.” The presser went on to explain that fans will be able to participate in a bungee-like environment that flings them all over the place.  Kind of.

Which such a great response to the first season, and the fact that Cloak & Dagger will nearly be over by the time the panel rolls around, be on the lookout for confirmation that the show has been renewed for a second season.

Holt, Joseph, and company are likely to take part in the Cloak & Dagger signing event at the Marvel booth (#2329) on Saturday. That signing kicks off at 10:00am.

 

Fox Marvel TV Properties Getting Some Love

The second season of The Gifted premieres later this Fall and in anticipation of the Fox show’s sophomore season, 20th Century Fox Television and Marvel Television are hosting a Ballroom 20 (2:30pm on Saturday, July 21st) panel to give fans of the show an extended sneak peek at Season Two. We’re not sure how far “extended” goes in this case, but Marvel hasn’t shied away from showing full first episodes at panels like these. Confirmed to be in attendance are produces Matt Nix and Jeph Loeb alongside series stars Stephen Moyer, Sean Teale, Jamie Chung, Emma Dumont, Blair Reford, Natalie Alyn Lind, and Skyler Samuels.

And the lone Hall H panel for Marvel properties this year? FX’s Legion. Although one the last panels in the iconic convention hall, Noah Hawley and company will wrap SDCC 2018 by helping promote the upcoming third season of Legion. While specific cast members have yet to be confirmed, the press release says that fans can join “executive producers John Cameron and Jeph Loeb, along with co-EP Nathaniel Halpern” for a conversation on what to look forward to from Season Three. The panel starts at 2:15pm on Sunday.

Both shows will have signing events at Marvel Booth #2329 — The Gifted at 3:30pm on Saturday and Legion at 11:45am on Sunday.

Marvel’s Next Big Thing

Several times throughout the year, Marvel Comics will host a panel at conventions to reveal some of the biggest upcoming story arcs of the year. It’s in these panels — that go by the name of Marvel’s Next Big Thing — where events such as Marvel Legacy are announced.

Starting at 1:45pm on Saturday in Room 6A, fans can join new Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski, executive editor Nick Lowe, and writers Donny Cates (Cosmic Ghost Rider, Death of Inhumans) and Margaret Stohl (Life of Captain Marvel) to “discuss the startling stories and initiatives that are truly the next big things in the Marvel Universe!”

The panel description released by Marvel also hints at a discussion over Gerry Duggan’s upcoming Infinity Wars series, although Duggan himself hasn’t been confirmed to be in attendance.

Focusing on Animation

Outside of Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Marvel Television is bringing out the big guns to help pump up the animated arm of the entertainment outfit. To kick the convention off, Marvel Animation is hosting a panel (3:15pm on Thursday, Room 6DE) to showcase their upcoming Marvel Rising animated series.

Not only will fans get a sneak peek at the upcoming animated shorts, they’ll get to sit in on a panel with the likes of Chloe Bennet (Agents of SHIELD), Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us), Kathreen Khavari (Big Little Lies), and Kamil McFadden (Grown Ups 2). Cort Lane (SVP, Animation and Family Entertainment), Marsha Griffin (VP, Animation Current Series and Development), and Sana Amanat (VP, Content and Character Development) will also be in attendance.

Marvel Animation will then host a second panel on Sunday (1:30pm, Room 6A) to showcase other upcoming projects.

Those Toys Though

San Diego Comic-Con has grown to such a big event that toy companies across the world come up with exclusive products available only at the event. Because of the initial limited release, they toys are always nearly available for much more on the secondary market.

Needless to say, there will be plenty of Marvel-based exclusives to whet your appetite.

At the LEGO Booth (#2829), fans will see two exclusives including a brick set to build the bust of Giant-Man. That set also includes a Wasp minifig and will be available for $40, if you’re lucky enough to be one of the winners of the online lottery. The second offering from LEGO includes a FREE Sheriff Deadpool minifig, also subject to lottery winners. 

Next up are the fine folks at Hasbro. They’ve been busy releasing various sets throughout the years to celebrate Marvel Studios’ first ten years and they’re expanding on that line be including an SDCC 2018-exclusive Red Skull, which comes with an electronic Tesseract. This figure will be available for $59.99 at Booth #3329. Also from Hasbro comes a gnarly five-piece Legends set featuring the Netflix version of The Defenders. The set is likely to retail in the $120 and includes an unmasked Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Colleen Wing, and Danny Rand.

Last but not least, Funko is pulling out all of the stops for their summer convention exclusives. Kicking things off with a Taika Waititi pop — seriously, who won’t want one?! — Funko will also be releasing an Iron Man Mark 1 POP! alongside a new Thor, with his eyes glowing with the Odin force, from Thor Ragnarok. Also from Ragnarok is a new POP! featuring Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie. Kraglin’s finally getting some toy love as he’ll now be in POP! form complete with a fin and Yondu’s yaka arrow. Funko will round out their POP! offerings with Deadpool dressed as a cheerleader and classic Ant-man (Hank Pym) costume.