Comic Con: What we learned

It's that perennial gathering of all things geek. San Diego Comic-Con has just wrapped up another year at the town's expansive convention centre, and amidst the gathering of fans, creators, actors and retailers, were a slew of announcements so massive they'd make the Avengers tremble in fear. These were the biggest...

Marvel Madness

Marvel Studios didn't have much of a presence at last year's Comic-Con, and many speculated that the company's acquisition by Disney would mean all its future announcements would be saved for Disney's similar D23 convention. But they were back in force this year, setting dates and announcing titles. “Iron Man 3” hits on 3rd May 2013, then a “Thor” sequel, “Thor: The Dark World” arrives on 8th November 2013 with “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” coming on 4th April 2014. They also announced a new film franchise in “Guardians of the Galaxy”, setting a release date for 1st August 2014. Edgar Wright surprised con-goers by confirming his long-gestating “Ant-Man” movie was to go ahead.

[Related story: Justice League film for 2015?]

Man of Steel

Superman returned to Comic-Con with footage shown for his new adventure, the Zack Snyder-helmed “Man of Steel”. Fans got a glimpse of an extended trailer, the first footage released for the film, showing a young Clark Kent playing about with a cape at his country home, and plenty of footage of him discovering his otherworldly power. Snyder considers this an altogether more personal Supes movie. "A lot of the time, Superman is always this kind of big blue Boy Scout up on a throne," he said. "We tried to make him within reach." New Superman Henry Cavill was in attendance, and referred to the giant “S” on the poster, saying, “I get to wear that on my chest. I just really hope I've done everything I need to do to please you guys, because this is entirely 100 percent for you.”

Three Hobbits?

Peter Jackson came to the Con to show off a little of his forthcoming “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again”. They're both adaptations of Tolkien's beloved book “The Hobbit” – incidentally shorter than any of the three “Lord of the Rings” books – with material mined from the author's extensive appendices to add to the story. But Jackson said he'd love to shoot more footage, speculating that this could form part of DVD extended editions, as with “Lord of the Rings”, or even a third feature film.

[Related story: Giant new 'Hobbit' poster unveiled]

The Legendary Monster Movies

Guillermo del Toro arrived with footage from his upcoming monster movie “Pacific Rim”, his first since 2008's “Hellboy 2”. But there was more in store at Legendary Pictures's panel, as head Thomas Tull brought director Gareth Edwards (“Monsters”) out to premiere a teaser reel for his upcoming adaptation of “Godzilla”. Production hasn't officially started on the project, but Edwards, who did his own CG for “Monsters”, made sure the crowd left with something to talk about. The footage saw a decimated city tremble to the sound of a familiar roar, before Edwards' vision of the monster Godzilla walked past. Edwards promised he was taking the project seriously, saying, “There’s nothing sci-fi, it’s very grounded and realistic.”

A Third “Hellboy”?

Guillermo del Toro has wanted to make a trilogy of Mike Mignola's “Hellboy” series for as long as we've known him. But it's been a struggle – the first movie was released by Sony, but del Toro had to take the property to Universal to get a sequel, which didn't set the box office alight. As del Toro's slate grows longer and longer, it looked as though we might never see “Hellboy 3”, but star Ron Perlman recently donned the red make-up once again for a Make-A-Wish appearance, and was quoted as hinting that the third may yet be a possibility. “Everything that was done in both movies was leading up to this destiny, written in stone, of what Hellboy has been summoned to Earth to do,” Perman said. “To not do it, particularly in light of the scope that Guillermo is thinking of for the resolve, would be in my mind a little bit of a shame.”

[Related story: Boy gets turned into Hellboy]

The Twilight of “Twilight”

Comic-Con wouldn't be Comic-Con without a “Twilight” panel, although the thought that this may be the last (until the inevitable reunion event, no doubt) - with the release of the final movie - “Breaking Dawn: Part 2” was in the air. Star Jackson Rathbone even joked that a reboot was in order, suggesting the new franchise would be called “The Amazing Twilight”. The cast were on fine, comic form, with Robert Pattinson jokingly suggesting the series could be continued with a sequel following the plot of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”. Asked what her impression of Pattinson was when they first met, Kristen Stewart remembered thinking, “I like his pants.”