Details you may have missed from Marvel Studios’ Comic-Con panel
Marvel Studios announced huge news in Hall H at Comic-Con 2024, but the major headlines overlooked other key announcements.
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Marvel’s showmanship shines at Comic-Con 2024
You read that Robert Downey Jr. will play Doctor Doom. You heard Joe and Anthony Russo will return to Marvel to direct both “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars.” You may have even seen the footage of Harrison Ford “hulking out” on stage, imitating his Red Hulk likeness from “Captain America: Brave New World.”
But which Marvel announcements from Comic-Con got missed among the headlines? Here are some bits of news that may have gone under your radar, as announced by Marvel Studios during its Hall H presentation on July 27, 2024 at San Diego Comic-Con.
The Fantastic Four will appear in both ‘Avengers’ movies
Marvel is betting that audiences will want to see more of the Fantastic Four — so much so that the studio is committing to three movies with the characters. After their debut in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (July 25, 2025), the superhero team will appear in both “Avengers: Doomsday” (May 2026) and “Avengers: Secret Wars” (May 2027).
It’s a gamble to green-light follow-ups with those characters before seeing if the audience connects with them, but this Marvel has tried this strategy with success since almost the beginning. The original “Avengers” film from 2012 started filming before “Thor” or “Captain America: The First Avenger” released (according to “The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe” by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry), so Marvel didn’t actually know if audiences liked those titular heroes when marching full speed ahead into the team-up film. Now, the principle is at play again with the Fantastic Four’s future “Avengers” appearances.
As previously announced, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/Thing. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is directed by Matt Shakman (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “WandaVision”).
‘Thunderbolts*’ marketing will be ironic
In a press release of otherwise professional text that Disney sent us following Comic-Con 2024, the “Thunderbolts*” section is, um, different.
Marvel Studios and a crew of indie veterans who definitely sold out present “Thunderbolts*,” an irreverent team-up featuring depressed assassin Yelena Belova alongside the MCU’s least-anticipated band of misfits.
Marvel Studios
The line “indie veterans who definitely sold out” — referencing indie (independent) films, those not developed by major studios — is especially out-of-character for the corporate tone of the rest of Marvel’s typical language. Marvel announced several months ago that the film’s official title is punctuated with an asterisk, which may lend itself to a tongue-in-cheek explanation that aligns with the snarky tone of the marketing.
Who are the Thunderbolts? In case you need a refresher, the roster includes:
- David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (“Black Widow”)
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost (“Ant-Man and the Wasp”)
- Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (“Black Widow”)
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Bolova (“Black Widow,” “Hawkeye”)
- Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent (“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”)
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes (his ninth MCU appearance)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus reprises her role as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the CIA director who previously appeared in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The cast also features Geraldine Viswanathan and Lewis Pullman.
“Thunderbolts*” is directed by Jake Schreier (“Robot & Frank,” “Paper Towns,” “Beef”).
Michael Giacchino will compose ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’
The score for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” will be composed by Michael Giacchino, no stranger to Marvel Studios.
Giacchino’s previous MCU soundtrack credits include “Doctor Strange,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Thor: Love and Thunder,” and “Werewolf by Night,” the last of which he also directed.
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” will take place in a retro-inspired, futuristic world, also a subject with which Giacchino has experience. The composer previously lent his talents to the ’60s superhero stylings of “The Incredibles” and “Incredibles 2.”
Giacchino is one of the few artists to have had a hand in every sector of The Walt Disney Company, having composed scores for Disney Animation (“Zootopia”), Pixar (“Up,” “Inside Out,” “Coco”), Lucasfilm (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), Marvel, The Muppets (“Muppets’ Wizard of Oz”), and Disney theme parks (Space Mountain).
If Comic-Con is any indication, Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford enjoy each other’s company
Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford seemed in good spirits at Comic-Con 2024, jubilantly joking onstage with their fellow actors from “Captain America: Brave New World” (in theaters Feb. 14, 2025). Mackie returns as Sam Wilson/Captain America, his seventh movie as Sam but first as Cap. Ford plays Thaddeus Ross, succeeding the late William Hurt in the longstanding MCU role.
Mackie and Ford displayed a playfulness that indicated they’re quite excited about the movie and enjoy palling around with their castmates. At one point during the panel, Mackie shouted with expletives his delight at getting Ford to be in his movie, to which Ford pretended to angrily chase him. Come winter 2025, we’re in for a memorable press tour.
“Captain America: Brave New World” is directed by Julius Onah (“The Girl is in Trouble,” “The Cloverfield Paradox,” “Luce”).
The Russo brothers’ company will co-produce the ‘Avengers’ movies
Anthony Russo and Joe Russo will return to the directors’ chairs to helm “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars.” The brothers’ previous MCU directorial endeavors include “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
Straying from the MCU norm, both upcoming “Avengers” films will be co-produced by Marvel Studios with another production company — in this case, the Russo brothers’ own AGBO. Some of the company’s past projects include “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and the “Extraction” movies, among others. AGBO is also behind the upcoming live-action remake of Disney’s “Hercules.”
Stephen McFeely will write the ‘Avengers’ movies
“Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers Secret Wars” will be written by Stephen McFeely, who previously co-wrote a slew of other Marvel projects: all three films in Steve Rogers’ “Captain America” trilogy, the “Agent Carter” series, “Thor: The Dark World,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
Notably, Marvel did not mention Christopher Marcus, McFeely’s writing partner on all of those scripts.
Beyond the MCU, McFeely (and Marcus) wrote all three films in the 2000s-era “Chronicles of Narnia” series, as well as the Russo brothers’ post-“Endgame” directorial outings “The Gray Man” and “The Electric State.”
2026 is the new 2019
With the May 2026 release of “Avengers: Doomsday,” 2026 is shaping up to be a throwback to 2019 for Disney’s movie calendar.
In 2026, Disney will release:
- “Avengers: Doomsday”
- “The Mandalorian & Grogu”
- “Toy Story 5”
- The third “Frozen” film
In 2019, Disney released:
- “Avengers: Endgame”
- “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
- “Toy Story 4”
- “Frozen 2”
We got twins! Twiiiiiins!
Future Marvel projects not mentioned at Comic-Con 2024
Marvel’s Hall H Comic-Con 2024 presentation focused on celebrating the recent release of “Deadpool & Wolverine” and teasing five upcoming films.
However, Marvel Studios has quite a few other projects in development. In the immediate future, “Agatha All Along,” a spin-off series of “WandaVision,” will debut Sept. 18, 2024 on Disney+. Additionally, “Blade,” starring Mahershala Ali, is slated for Nov. 7, 2025, though just last month lost its director, as reported by The Wrap.
Other future Disney+ series include the grand return of Daredevil in “Daredevil: Born Again” in spring 2025, “Iron Heart” (starring Riri Williams from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), and a show focused on Vision, among others.
More to come at D23, less than two weeks after Comic-Con
It won’t be long before even more Marvel news is revealed. Marvel Studios is expected to be part of the Disney Entertainment Showcase on Aug. 9, 2024 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The presentation takes place on day one of D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Disney’s sold-out, official biennial convention.
In the past, Kevin Feige and other Marvel luminaries have taken the D23 stage to share new details and surprises about future MCU projects. Comic-Con and D23 are typically within weeks of one another; Marvel’s presence at one convention does not preclude participation from the other.
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