Every summer, fans of film, TV, comics and video games descend upon San Diego, California, for the
massive pop culture event. And each year Hollywood takes the opportunity to
build buzz for their various properties by promoting them at the convention.
Though it may have begun as a comic book-focused event, Comic-Con International
in San Diego has grown to encompass all kids of nerdy, genre fare. As such,
some of the biggest upcoming movies and TV shows use the convention to release
new trailers or screen exclusive footage. Although the footage is rarely made
available online, studios and TV networks often release the trailers online for
those following along at home.
This year, there are plenty of movie and TV trailers to expect
from Comic-Con, including the first official trailer for Aquaman, a teaser for
Shazam!, the first trailer for Glass – M. Night Shyamalan’s followup to Split
and Unbreakable – as well as the first trailer for Godzilla: King of Monsters.
On the television side, less in confirmed, but there’s sure to plenty of fresh
teasers for upcoming seasons or new series. For those paying attention to the
convention from home, here’s a roundup of all the Comic-Con 2018 movie & TV
trailers.
AQUAMAN
After taking more than a year off following Justice League,
Warner Bros. will return later in 2018 with James Wan’s Aquaman. The film will
follow Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) and explore deeper into his underwater
universe, which was glimpsed in Justice League. Because much of Aquaman takes place
underwater, the movie has a great deal of visual effects. As such, fans have
been waiting for the first Aquaman trailer for some time. However, after
announcing the first teaser would arrive at Comic-Con, Warner Bros. delivered
the full Aquaman movie trailer to cap off their presentation.
SHAZAM!
Aquaman wasn’t the only upcoming DC movie teased at Comic-Con.
Warner Bros. also unveiled the first trailer for Shazam!, starring Zachary Levi
as the titular superhero. Directed by David F. Sandberg, Shazam! tells the
story of young foster kid Billy Batson (Asher Angel) who is given superpowers
that transform him into the full-grown superhero Shazam. Described as Big meets
Superman, the Shazam! movie trailer starts building hype for Warner Bros’ next
DC movie after Aquaman.
GODZILLA: KING OF MONSTERS
Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla film effectively rebooted the
classic Toho monster property, and launched a new cinematic universe that will
eventually see the iconic creature face off against King Kong. The second entry
in Legendary and Warner Bros’ MonsterVerse arrived last year with Jordan
Vogt-Roberts’ Kong: Skull Island, a prequel introducing King Kong. Next,
director Michael Dougherty’s Godzilla: King of Monsters continues the story
from Edwards’ film. A teaser trailer for Godzilla 2 was unveiled earlier this
week, previewing the full trailer’s release during Comic-Con.
GLASS
M. Night Shyamalan returned in a big way in 2017 with Split, a
psychological horror movie about a man with dissociative identity disorder who
abducts three girls. The end of Split also featured a shocking revelation: It
takes place in the same universe as Shyamalan’s 2000 film, Unbreakable. Now,
the stars of both Split and Unbreakable re-team with Shyamalan for the highly
anticipated Glass. All week, Universal Pictures has been teasing the arrival of
the first Glass trailer with short videos focused on the three main characters:
Kevin Wendell Crumb/The Horde (James McAvoy), David Dunn (Bruce Willis), and
Elijah Price/Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson).
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF
GRINDELWALD
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald hits theaters later
this year, continuing the latest franchise set in the Harry Potter universe.
The film is a sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which kicked
off a five-film prequel series set in the world of the Boy Who Lived. The
Crimes of Grindelwald has received a great deal of criticism during it’s
production due to the casting of Johnny Depp as main villain Gellert
Grindelwald, but those involved in the project have maintained their support of
the actor. During Warner Bros’ panel at Comic-Con, the studio unveiled the
latest trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, which features
a great deal of Depp’s evil wizard.
THE ORVILLE SEASON 2
In 2017, Seth MacFarlane’s latest TV series debuted on FOX; The
Orville is somewhat of a parody of Star Trek, following a crew of eccentric
space travelers as they tackle missions for the Planetary Union. MacFarlane
stars in the series as Captain Ed Mercer, who must work alongside his ex-wife
Commander Kelly Grayson (Adrienne Palicki). The first season of The Orville was
well received – even better received than Star Trek: Discovery by some Trek
fans – but there’s been a long hiatus until season 2 premieres later this year.
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS
Before Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, the only Star Wars
movie or television show to arrive after the prequel trilogy was George Lucas’
animated series The Clone Wars. The show ran for six seasons under the guidance
of Dave Filoni. To celebrate the The Cone Wars’ 10th anniversary, Filoni hosted
a panel at Comic-Con – where he also made the surprise annoucement that the
series would be revived for a 12-episode season 7. Plus the first new Star
Wars: The Clone Wars trailer and poster were revealed as well. The show will
return on Disney’s streaming service, which is expected to launch in 2019.
DOCTOR WHO SEASON 11
The long-running BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who returns this year
with a number of changes – both in front of and behind the camera. With the
start of season 11, Jodie Whittaker officially takes over as the Doctor,
following Peter Capaldi’s departure in the 2017 Christmas Special. She’ll bring
with her a new cast of companions. Meanwhile behind the scenes, showrunner
Steven Moffat stepped down, with Chris Chibnall taking the reins. The first
teaser for Doctor Who season 11 arrived last weekend during the World Cup
final. But during the show’s Comic-Con panel, the first full Doctor Who season
11 trailer was released.
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY SEASON 2
The long-running Star Trek franchise returned to TV last year
with the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery on CBS All Access. Though the series
wasn’t universally loved by Star Trek fans, it did earn a solid viewership and
was renewed for season 2 by CBS. Since that renewal, there’s been a shakeup on
the series as Star Trek: Discovery showrunners Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron
Harberts exited and were replaced mid-production on season 2 by Alex Kurtzman.
Nevertheless, the Discovery and its crew will return in January 2019 and at the
show’s panel during Comic-Con, the first trailer for Star Trek: Discovery
season 2 was revealed.
RIVERDALE SEASON 3
After a murder mystery in season 1 and a serial killer in season
2, it’s going to be difficult for The CW’s Riverdale to top its first two years
with its third outing. Season 2 ended with things going back to normal in the
town of Riverdale – well, as normal as they could be. However, the finale
dropped a bombshell when Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) was shockingly arrested for
murder. It’s unclear how that storyline will play out in the upcoming season of
the show, and the new trailer for Riverdale season 3 doesn’t offer any hints.
Still, the trailer released during the show’s Comic-Con panel reveals the first
footage from season 3.
THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 9
AMC’s zombie drama, The Walking Dead, will enter its ninth
season later this year and to promote the show’s return, the network is
bringing it to Comic-Con. There are plenty of changes ahead for season 9.
Though The Walking Dead is no stranger to losing main characters, Andrew
Lincoln’s upcoming exit means Rick Grimes will also be departing the series,
with Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon expected to step into the lead role of the ensemble
show. Further, series writer Angela Kang becomes the showrunner for season 9.
To promote the show’s presence at Comic-Con, AMC released a Walking Dead season
9 teaser. The full Walking Dead season 9 trailer arrived during the show’s
panel on Friday.
FEAR THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 4B
Launched as a spinoff to The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead
is a prequel to its AMC predecessor, following the events just after the zombie
outbreak hits. The first half of season 4 wrapped up earlier this year with a
devastating revelation about one of the show’s original characters. Now, as
fans wait for The Walking Dead season 9 to return later this year, its spinoff
picks up its current season next month. At the show’s panel on Friday, AMC
released the first Fear the Walking Dead season 4B trailer, offering fans an
idea of what lays ahead for the characters.
MAYANS M.C.
FX’s Sons of Anarchy, a gritty drama about the lives of those
involved with a California-based motorcycle club, ran for seven seasons on the
network from 2008-2014. And while Kurt Sutter’s Charlie Hunnam-starring,
critically successful drama has been done for some time, it still inspires a
dedicated fan base. As such, Sutter is returning with Mayans M.C., the spinoff
series following JD Pardo’s Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes. After the Mayans M.C. pilot was
reshot, the series was picked up by FX and is now moving forward. Now, ahead of
the show’s Comic-Con panel on Sunday, the full Mayans M.C. trailer has been
released.
BETTER CALL SAUL SEASON 4
The Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul concluded its third
season on a devastating note for main character Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk).
Now, when Better Call Saul season 4 premieres this summer, fans will get to
watch as the lawyer gets closer to becoming the Saul that viewers met in
Breaking Bad. AMC began teasing the series’ return weeks ago, but the full
Better Call Saul season 4 trailer debuted this week ahead of the show’s panel
at Comic-Con.
ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO
In the ‘90s, The WB adapted Melinda Metz’s young adult book
series Roswell High into a teen-geared drama about aliens attending a U.S. high
school. Rosewell ran for three seasons and joined the ranks of classic ‘90s
television that still has devoted fans today. Now, The CW is rebooting the Roswell
property with a new adaptation of Roswell High that ages up the characters a
little and tackles more modern issues. The first trailer for Roswell, New
Mexico was unveiled during Comic-Con.
TITANS
Though there are a number of DC Comics television series on
network TV – particularly as part of The CW’s lineup of superhero shows – DC
Universe will be the home of plenty more shows once the subscription service
debuts later this year. One show that will be available at launch of DC
Universe is Titans, a grittier, more adult take on the DC superhero team, the
Teen Titans. On the night before Comic-Con officially kicked off, the first
trailer for Titans was unveiled, which introduces the cast of superheroes,
including Brenton Thwaites’ Dick Grayson/Robin, Teagan Croft as Rachel
Roth/Raven, Anna Diop as Koriand’r/Starfire, Ryan Potter as Garfield
Logan/Beast Boy, Alan Ritchson as Hank Hall/Hawk and Minka Kelly as Dawn
Granger/Dove.
IRON FIST SEASON 2
With Netflix having already debuted two seasons of their various
Marvel TV properties in 2018, they only previewed the second season of Iron
Fist at Comic-Con. With plenty of footage from Iron Fist season 2, and an
official premiere date announced, Marvel TV didn’t skimp on hyping up the
series’ return. However, the teaser trailer for Iron Fist season 2 is on the
shorter site, only offering a brief glimpse of Danny Rand (Finn Jones) taking
on some bad guys in the streets of New York City. Still, it should get fans
excited for Iron Fist’s return in September.
ARROW SEASON 7
Arrow season 6 concluded with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell)
revealing himself to be the Green Arrow and striking a deal that sees him sent
to prison, but the remainder of Team Arrow going free. After so many years
evading capture for his vigilantism, Oliver will now spend some time in prison
in season 7. But meanwhile in Star City, the Longbow Hunters will rise and try
to root out the members of Team Arrow who weren’t arrested. The first trailer
for Arrow season 7, was released during the show’s Comic-Con panel.
THE FLASH SEASON 5
With the Thinker defeated at the end of The Flash season 4, it
seemed everything was looking up for Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), Iris West
(Candice Patton) and the rest of Team Flash. However, the surprise arrival of
Nora Allen – Barry and Iris’ daughter from the future – brought plenty of
complications. Now, the trailer for The Flash season 5 reveals she’s stuck in
the present, but that’s not all Team Flash has to contend with when the show
returns later this year.
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW SEASON 4
After defeating the time demon Mallus at the end of season 3,
the Legends of Tomorrow took a much-needed vacation. However, their rest was
interrupted by John Constantine (Matt Ryan), who revealed their battle with
Mallus softened the barrier between dimensions and there are fugitives to round
up – creatures of legend who are plaguing history. Once again, the Legends of
Tomorrow will need to unite in order to protect the timeline. The first trailer
for Legends of Tomorrow season 4, was revealed at the show’s Comic-Con panel.
SUPERGIRL SEASON 4
At the end of Supergirl season 3, Kara and her friends – with
the help of the Legion of Super-Heroes – were able to defeat Reign and the Worldkillers
and save Sam in the process. However, the Supergirl season 3 finale also
introduced a number of changes the show, namely that Winn (Jeremy Jordan) would
go back to the future with the Legion, while Brainiac 5 (Jesse Rath) remains
behind. At the show’s Comic-Con panel it was announced the show will introduce
TV’s first transgender superhero, and the first Supergirl season 4 trailer was
released.
BLACK LIGHTNING SEASON 2
The CW debuted its newest superhero series during the 2017-2018
season with Black Lightning. Following Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), a
high school principal and retired superhero, season 1 depicted his return to
vigilantism in order to protect his family and hometown. Now, the Pierces
return for season 2 in the full Black Lightning trailer that debuted during the
show’s Comic-Con panel.
THE GIFTED SEASON 2
Last year,FOX and Marvel TV teamed up for The Gifted, which
introduced fans to a different take on the X-Men universe, one in which the
X-Men team is gone and tensions between humans and mutants are getting
increasingly worse. Season 1 followed a family with two human parents (well,
mostly) and two mutant children who go on the run from a government
organization looking to capture dangerous mutants. Season 2 will introduce the
growing threat of the Hellfire Club, who are at odds with humans and the Mutant
Underground. The trailer for The Gifted season 2 was unveiled during the show’s
panel at Comic-Con.
–
Agencies
