This year's San Diego Comic Con was quite an improvement over 2014's under whelming convention, as we received all kinds of exciting news, announcements and surprises. Despite the unfortunate absence of Marvel Studios, this year's convention was more than satisfying, but all good things must eventually come to an end. In the aftermath of the convention, I thought I'd take a look at the five best surprises the convention had in store for us over the last several days, as well as a couple of honourable mentionings.
HONOURABLE MENTIONINGS
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Extended Trailer
The latest trailer for
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice wasn't perfect but it was still really good. The fight between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel is clearly more personal than what was initially apparent and there were some brilliantly emotional scenes in the trailer. But like I said, the trailer isn't perfect and there are a few things I take issue with.
The first is that I am not at all sold on Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor. I have been giving the film the benefit of the doubt but, after watching the trailer, I can't help but notice how Eisenberg acts nothing like Luthor.
I thought the scene with Batman fighting soldiers in the middle of the desert was a bit too cheesy and over the top, and I really hope Batman doesn't actually kill in this universe. The ending to the Man of Steel film was entirely justified but an essential characteristic to Batman's character is his strict "no killing" role.
Regardless, this was an over all around good trailer. On a final note, anyone who is as big of a Batman fan as I am undoubtedly geeked out at the sight of that Robin suit. People often say "you can't do Robin accurately in a live action film" but considering Marvel was able to adapt a talking Raccoon, I think Warner Brothers can do Robin just fine.
Siouxsie Sioux Is Writing A Song For The Hannibal Television Series
As a fan of both the hit television series,
Hannibal, and the gothic band, Siouxsie and the Banshees, this is a match made in heaven. Too bad we have to wait for the
Hannibal Season 3 finale to hear it.
THE LIST
5. 'Anarky' Is Coming To Arrow Season 4
"The enemies of the people are the enemies of Anarky."
The announcement that Oliver Queen has fully embraced his role as the Green Arrow was exciting but it was the reveal that Anarky will be appearing in the upcoming season that sold me. Anarky is a villain that I have wanted on the show since the beginning. Anarky's world views and modus operandi make him the perfect villain for Arrow's semi-realistic, grounded and street level tone. Now that we have Anarky, Brick, the Dark Archer, and Cupid all in the series, we only need Onomatopoeia to complete the list of villains that fans have been asking for.
4. Ben Affleck and Geoff Johns Are In Talks To Co-Write A Batman Reboot
"You let your family die."
Variety has confirmed that Geoff Johns is indeed in talks to co-write a Batman reboot with Ben Affleck, while also having Ben Affleck star and direct. I honestly don't see any downside to this at all. Geoff Johns is a brilliant writer and the the perfect person to help lead this DC Extended Universe. Ben Affleck is an academy award winning director, and he looks very promising as the new Batman in the Batman v Superman trailers. This whole situation is simply a great idea. So what are waiting for? DO IT!
3. Get Ready For Green Lantern Corps: THE MOVIE!
"Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
This is another film I was hoping to see announced as part of the DC Extended Universe and it thankfully has. With the name Green Lantern Corps, we get the promise that this film will focus on many Green Lanterns, not just a single lantern fighting a generic supervillain. It also gives us hope that the vast majority of the film will be set in deep space. My fingers are crossed that we see the likes of John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Killowag and many others in starring roles.
Now if they will just announce Hal Jordan for the Justice League films...
2. Three Words: Old. Man. Logan.
"I'm the best at what I do..."
This is yet another example of studios giving us exactly what we want. With Hugh Jackman putting on the claws for one last time, fans have been asking, more than anything, if we will see Jackman's last performance as Old Man Logan. Much like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Old Man Logan film obviously won't be a panel by panel adaptation of the comics story arc, so it will be interesting to see what Fox does with this storyline.
This coincidentally aligns with the post-Secret War comics, which appear to be replacing mainstream James Howlett with Old Man Logan.
1. Batman: The Killing Joke Is Coming To The Small Screen
"It only takes one bad day."
Often considered to be the greatest Batman story of all time (rivaling The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One), this is yet another project fans have been asking for, for years. Now we know that Bruce Timm and the crew are bringing us the animated feature that we have been waiting for, with added content that will give even the biggest Killing Joke enthusiast something new to look forward to.
With that being said, actors Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill (who have both expressed an interest in doing a Killing Joke film) NEED to return in their respective roles. I don't think fans will have it any other way. It isn't because we are greedy and picky, it is because this is a one time opportunity that needs to be done correctly and to perfection in order to do the source material justice. We are dealing with the definitive Joker story. Speaking for myself, I will certainly lose all interest in the film if they decide to bring back Jason O'Mara and the rest of the awful voice cast from the New 52 animated films.
Those are my top five favourite announcements from this year's San Diego Comic Con. As always, you can give me your thoughts and opinions in the comments below. Darkknight2149 signing out.