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But what stood out and made the biggest impression? We look at each of those aforementioned categories and choose what we remember the most -- and were most impressed by -- coming out of SDCC 2014, beginning with comic books!Galaxy Quest Sequel Comic
It’s been 15 years since we saw the fake-but-real adventures of the crew of the NSEA Protector, and now we’re going to see Captain Jason Nesmith and company on yet another space adventure. Yes, IDW has released a Galaxy Quest comic before in 2008, but this is reason to get excited all over again.
Remember at the end of the Galaxy Quest movie, Nesmith saved the day by going back in time 13 seconds? Well it turns out that his little time-travel maneuver had unexpected consequences -- ones he and his crew now have to fix. Galaxy Quest was a great Star Trek parody movie but also a great sci-fi movie all by itself, so we openly welcome any chance to return to that universe.
Fight Club Sequel Comic
Another long-awaited sequel is getting released as a comic! Chuck Palahniuk’s novel -- which most probably saw as the cult classic film starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt -- is finally seeing a continuation as a 10-issue comic book series from publisher Dark Horse.
The story picks up 10 years after the events of the novel with the unnamed narrator now having a family with wife Marla Singer and nine year-old son Junior. It’s supposed to use flashbacks to flesh out the story of Tyler Durden, who might be more than just a figment of the protagonist’s imagination.
Moon Knight Team Goes to Image
Of all the announcements to come out of the SDCC Image Expo, this was the biggest -- and most pleasing. Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire are currently killing it on Moon Knight over at Marvel, but when it was announced that they would only be doing six issues, a big question mark appeared as to what their next project would be. Now we know.The trio will reteam for Injection -- a comic about a group of people who wanted to make the world more loud and exciting, but it backfired on them in ways they didn’t expect. A bit vague, but just knowing that this team is free to cut loose and do their own thing is enough to get excited.
New Ultron Graphic Novel
With the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie coming out next year, it was no big surprise to get a huge Ultron-centric graphic novel -- Avengers: Rage of Ultron. What makes this extra-super-duper-freakin’ awesome is that it reunites Uncanny X-Force’s Rick Remender and Jerome Opena. The duo are a creative force to be reckoned with that always exceed expectations, so you can complain all you want about Marvel’s corporate synergy, but this is sure to be amazing.Marvel Announces 3 Star Wars Comics
This was by far the biggest comic book news of San Diego Comic-Con 2014. The presentation by Joe Quesada couldn’t have been better executed -- he showed a slide that said “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” before switching to the Star Wars logo accompanied by the John Williams score blaring on the speakers. The crowd was worked up and only clapped and hollered louder as three different comics were revealed, all by Marvel’s top comics talent.
It was not only great to see the titles that would be put out in 2015 -- Star Wars, Star Wars: Darth Vader, and Star Wars: Princess Leia -- but to know that Marvel was fully committed to making them as good as they could be by putting their biggest, most successful writers and artists on the books. No expense was spared.
And yes they are retreading the same ground as Dark Horse’s current Star Wars series, but you’ve got to expect that they’ve got some ideas of their own that made them choose to also explore the post-A New Hope era.
Continue on for the Best Games of Comic-Con.Why I’m Scared of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5
Sure, we may have already played through the original Kingdom Hearts games, but the chance to jump into Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5, the new HD version of the main titles in the series, is more than we can resist. At this year’s San Diego Comic Con, we had the chance to play through some of the new title, battling through Christmas Town alongside Jack Skelington and loving every Disney-filled minute.We’re still waiting for more news on the hotly-anticipated Kingdom Hearts 3, but this remastered version is enough to challenge us to find another 100 hours in a season already packed with loads of new games.
First Story Details on Shadow of Mordor
Monolith Productions already won us over on the game design for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. After the tremendous E3 showing, gamers were all in for the game’s Nemesis system and its intriguing blend of Batman Arkham City and Assassin’s Creed. The one thing we didn’t know was whether the team was going to add enough story context to make the gameplay more than just an incidental diversion.That all changed at Comic Con with the reveal of the game’s story trailer. Not only do we get to see Sauron’s background and eventual fall, but we also learned that the wraith aiding the hero is none other than Celebrimbor, the forger of the Rings. Throw in some scenes with Gollum, who plays as a sort of sidekick in the game, and we’re definitely all in for a return to the land of Middle-earth.
New Extended Tekken 7 Trailer
Tekken 7 was already a known quantity heading into the show, but the new trailer Bandai Namco released at the show delivered more of the soap opera goodness fans of the series have wanted (even if it didn’t show the gameplay that others had expected). The new trailer is narrated by Kazumi, mother of Kayuza, and seems to offer some intriguing clues about the original introduction of the Devil Gene.Kayuza has harsh words with his dad but the screen fades to black just as the two square off and prepare to fight. Sure, we’d have loved to seen an even more extended (extenderer) version of the trailer, but even this much was a nice treat to fans.
92 New Images for Smash Bros. for Wii U
Robin, Lucina, are Captain Falcon are the latest additions to the Wii U fighter and Nintendo brought more than enough content for each the most hardcore fans. With 92 separate screenshots of the fighters in action, fans of the series are able to see nearly every move and match-up they could possibly want in advance of the game’s holiday release.There are loads of details in each of these shots and, if you missed anything, we break it all down for you in one handy video.
30 Minute Demo of The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt
IGN fans are definitely hot on The Witcher 3, which has won our Readers’ Choice Award for E3 two years running. The developers at CD Projekt Red packed a panel room at Comic Con this year to show off a thirty-minute gameplay demo filled with loads of new content. From proudly riding down the streets of Novgirad, to battling vicious harpies atop a high cliff, to deciding whether or not to let a monster live, the demo was packed with all the things that fans love about the series.We got to see a substantial slice of the game in a real time format, which has us even more excited for the new Feb 24, 2015 release date.Continue on for the Best Movies of Comic-Con.
Batman v Superman Teaser / Wonder Woman Reveal
We didn’t know for sure whether or not Warner Bros. would bring Batman v Superman to the show, but it seemed pretty likely that they would at least have something, even if it was just concept art or the like giving us a first look at Wonder Woman. But we got much more than that, including an actual image of Gal Gadot in costume as the Amazonian Princess, some concept art depicting Batman and Superman from the film, a pretty great video teaser of the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel facing off -- with Batman in his armored bat-suit from Frank Miller’s iconic The Dark Knight Returns comic -- and director Zack Snyder and his stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, and Gadot taking the stage for the ultimate cast photo. All in all, the BvS presence was brief but it was a big hit and actually did give Marvel Studios’ con presence a run for their money…Avengers: Age of Ultron Sizzle Reel
Speaking of Marvel, their panel was as always the highlight of Hall H on Saturday, even if they didn’t reveal any new projects (aside from Guardians of the Galaxy 2’s release date, a sequel that was leaked in the trades earlier in the week and hence had a diminished impact in the hall). The short Ant-Man clip shown was lots of fun, but it was the Age of Ultron sizzle reel that shook the House (of Ideas). Pretty much the entire cast of the film (and producer Kevin Feige) were on hand to show off the footage, which featured not only a fun scene of the Avengers kicking back and each taking a turn at trying to lift Thor’s hammer over drinks, but also more intense and ultimately foreboding bits including the much-discussed Hulk vs. Hulkbuster armor, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in action, and a creepy Ultron who has decreed that the Avengers are murderers and must pay for their crimes. Plus, there was that whole Cap’s broken shield/the Avengers all seemingly dead finale. WHAT IS GOING ON?Godzilla 2 Monsters Reveal and Skull Island
These were both surprises in Hall H on Saturday. Legendary revealed a video intro from Godzilla director Gareth Edwards that included an old-school Monarch film clip -- i.e. the group that studies and keeps tabs on the M.U.T.O.s (monsters) in the film -- that confirmed the existence of three more monsters: the classic Toho beasts Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. The implication was clear -- Godzilla has new enemies to fight in his sequel!But that’s not all. Legendary also finished up their panel with a teaser showing off a dark and stormy tropical island, a mysterious land where suddenly… King Kong appears, howling! The film, however, will not be called King Kong, but rather Skull Island, the home of Kong, and will focus on that strange land. And since Godzilla and Skull Island are both Legendary properties now, it seems that a giant monster shared universe is in the making…
Interstellar: Christopher Nolan's First Comic-Con
For a guy who has made three Batman movies, director Christopher Nolan has done a man’s job of avoiding Comic-Con. But this year he made a surprise appearance at Paramount’s panel in Hall H to show off a brand new trailer for his upcoming film Interstellar. And the film’s star Matthew McConaughey also showed up for his first SDCC appearance ever. The new trailer had a very 2001: A Space Odyssey-esque vibe -- long, wide shots of open space, landscapes of stars and planets and what looked like a wormhole. That's not to mention the very real interiors of McConaughey's character's spaceship, which, again, looked very 2001. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise since Nolan cited Star Wars, Blade Runner and especially 2001 as sources of inspiration in making the film.Mad Max: Fury Road Footage
Perhaps the biggest question mark on the movies front coming into this year’s Comic-Con was Mad Max: Fury Road, a sequel to a film that’s 29 years old and that has been in the works for quite some time -- and has faced its fair share of hurdles. But director George Miller was finally ready to show off footage from the reboot/sequel to his classic dystopian trilogy, and he chose Comic-Con as the place to do it.And wow, are we glad that he did. Perhaps the most wild and out-there thing shown in Hall H in some time (you can see a short version of the footage in trailer form here), Fury Road looks intense and terrifying and awesome and crazy. The classic Miller car chases through the desert are heightened by CGI visuals like massive tornado sand storms, while the film also clearly is returning to its darker roots and avoiding the Beyond Thunderdome family-friendly thing, as Tom Hardy’s Max endures horror after horror before finally (seemingly) taking back control of his destiny by the end of the reel. And joining him is Charlize Theron, who has a mechanical arm and a harem of young brides who appear to be the only thing that’s still of actual value in this horrific wasteland. Whether Mad Max: Fury Road winds up being great or a disaster, we cannot say yet, but it’s clear now that it’s one of the most intriguing films coming in 2015.
Continue on for the Best TV Shows of Comic-Con.DC's Big TV Splash
With Arrow already a beloved hit, Comic-Con served as the big public debut for all of the new DC Comics-based shows, which got a huge representation that lasted for several days across multiple panels and events. Constantine and The Flash were both screened multiple times, while new footage from Arrow: Season 3 tantalized fans at that show’s panel, as we saw Roy in his Arsenal costume, Canary return and more.On Saturday night, Gotham was screened for the first time, at a three-hour event that brought together the casts of all four DC-based shows – along with an extended trailer that revealed Ra’s al Ghul will be making his debut in Arrow: Season 3.While fans enjoyed all the new DC series, there was a particularly strong, positive reaction to The Flash, which was greeted with big cheers and jubilant reaction all three times it was shown.Halo: Nightfall Trailer and Story Info
Going into SDCC, we knew very little about Halo: Nightfall beyond the fact that it took place in-between Halo 4 and Halo 5 and was produced by Ridley Scott.Comic-Con gave us the debut of an impressive-loking trailer for the web series (or “digital feature”) and cool info on how the show’s main character, Agent Locke, will actually be playable in Halo 5 – and certainly left fans eager to see more.After debuting a brief, but amusing, 30-second peview at a recent TV press event, we got a ton more footage for the long-awaited one-hour crossover event between The Simpsons and Family Guy, which will air as Family Guy’s season premiere.The fan response was highly positive, as we saw Bart and Stewie bond, Homer and Peter brawl and much more, as the Simpson family met the Griffin family.The Walking Dead: Season 5 Trailer
Going into production several months before the event, The Walking Dead comes into San Diego Comic-Con with a distinct advantage compared to many TV shows that go there, which have either just begun shooting or -- in the case of beloved series like Hannibal or Game of Thrones -- haven't begun filming their next season at all yet. But even for those who have had their issues with the AMC zombie series would be hard pressed to deny that the the trailer for Season 5 that debuted this past weekend during the jam-packed SDCC panel was really impressive.The cast and producers also hinted at some big, dramatic moves occurring this season, which will find the characters who have survived trying to come to terms with the things they've had to do along the way.Star Wars Rebels Premiere
While Lucasfilm held off from any Episode VII promotion this year -- don’t worry, between Star Wars Celebration, SDCC 2014 and D23, we’ll be more than covered in 2015 -- there was a lot to see and learn about the upcoming animated series, Star Wars Rebels. There was a party in celebration of the show and, of course, a panel which debuted a lot of new footage and some intriguing reveals about what to expect.But of course, the main event was an offsite screening of the entire one-hour premiere episode of the show. Happily, the reaction was very strong from those lucky enough to get in, including Amy Ratfcliffe, who attended for IGN.Rebels marks the first big launch for the Disney-era of Star Wars, making the positive reaction all the more promising for fans as we see what’s to come as this major expansion of the universe begins.
