This year’s Comic-Con schedule has been a bit, well, underwhelming thus far, but Warner Bros. is looking to liven things up on Saturday. WB always gives Marvel Studios a run for its money with big, splashy panels in the massive Hall H, and this year will be no different. The studio has details on what, exactly, we can expect at the panel, and it’s pretty neat, if unsurprising.
Justice League will, obviously, get a big rollout during Warner Bros.’ Hall H panel, which kicks off at 11am PST on Saturday, July 22nd. The press release notes that stars Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, and Ray Fischer will be there touting the November 17th release, while Henry Cavill looks like a no-show as he’s currently busy filming Mission: Impossible 6 in New Zealand. More interestingly, I’m curious to see if Joss Whedon shows up or if the Justice League panel will be cast-only. Director Zack Snyder recently exited the project to tend to personal issues, and Whedon has taken over to oversee post-production and reshoots. It may be less awkward to simply let moderator Chris Hardwick chat with the cast rather than bring in Whedon, who’s only been on the project for a couple of months, but we’ll see.
Aquaman is also getting its own showcase with director James Wan in attendance to tease the December 2018 release. It’ll be interesting to see if we also get some DCEU news—perhaps confirm Patty Jenkins’ involvement in Wonder Woman 2 or announce the next DCEU film to go into production? We'll see.
But arguably the most exciting thing happening during the WB panel has nothing to do with superheroes. Steven Spielberg will make his first appearance at Comic-Con since he showed up in 2011 with Peter Jackson to tout The Adventures of Tintin. Spielberg will be debuting the first footage from his highly anticipated sci-fi adaptation Ready Player One with cast members Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, and T.J. Miller in attendance alongside author Ernest Cline and screenwriter Zak Penn. Spielberg made heavy use of motion-capture for the film—which doesn’t hit theaters until 2018—so I’m incredibly eager to see the first footage. The filmmaker will be taking a brief break from The Papers, his real-life drama that’s currently in production with Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.
Harrison Ford is also making a triumphant return to preview Blade Runner 2049 alongside Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Lennie James, and Mackenzie Davis as well as director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriters Hampton Fancher and Michael Green.
Warner Bros. will no doubt unveil new footage from the aforementioned films, but don’t expect it to be Comic-Con exclusive. Ever since the Suicide Squad sizzle reel leaked a couple years back, studios have been wary about seeing low-quality first looks at their films online in pirated format, and last year Warner Bros. released every single piece of footage they unveiled at Comic-Con online in an official capacity. So start prepping for those Justice League, Aquaman, and Ready Player One trailers now.
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