San Diego Comic-Con is just a few short weeks away. My flight is booked, I've stocked up on 5 Hour Energy, dorky t-shirts, Axe Body Spray, and a portable fan for the annual event that jams too many people all in one place all at one time. And as usual the biggest reveals will be in Hall H, but things are going to be slightly quieter with Marvel and HBO sitting this one out. That said, there will be plenty to see, and i09 has come up with a list of the heavy-hitting films that will have a presence in the hallowed hall.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. gets the chance to shine this year as the biggest presenter in Marvel's absence. As I've said in the past, WB has had a better Hall H presentation than Marvel anyway, especially since they started using the room's grandiose panoramic views, but this makes them the must-see panel to attend on Saturday. Aquaman director James Wan has already confirmed we will get the first trailer, and don't be surprised if we see footage from Shazam! and possibly Wonder Woman 1984. I know DC Films is trying to do things differently in terms of announcements, but I still expect to learn something about Ben Affleck's future as Batman.
Other WB films we could see presentations for include Fantastic Beasts 2, The Lego Movie 2, Mowgli, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
Sony
Sony would be making a huge mistake not to have a presence in Hall H. It's the perfect venue to help launch both Venom and the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie. They will likely be very prevalent on the show floor, as well, so expect lots of photos to be going around next month.
Sony has other films on the way like Alpha and Goosebumps 2 but I don't expect to see anything else from them other than Spidey stuff. It's far too early for anything from Jumanji 3 unless they have some new casting reveals or something.
20th Century Fox
This could be a fun year for 20th Century Fox at Comic-Con. Their ownership situation is likely to be very different next year so they SHOULD want to go guns blazing, and they have the projects to do it. They are expected to bring Shane Black's The Predator to Hall H for what should be an awesome panel, and you know the Predator suit will be everywhere on the showfloor.
Fox has both X-Men: Dark Phoenix and New Mutants deep in post-production so if they wanted to make one helluva splash they could have some footage. That said, the smart money is on the X-Men being excluded this year, along with other Comic-Con worthy films Bad Times at the El Royale, Alita: Battle Angel, and The Darkest Minds. I hope this is wrong and all of these movies are shown in Hall H because they could potential steal the show.
Paramount
This year will be all about Bumblebee as far as Paramount is concerned. The Transformers spinoff is expected to have a panel at Hall H, and that's probably it for the studio. Travis Knight will be familiar with the surroundings as he's been there before on behalf of Laika's animated movies.
It's possible Paramount wants to make a splash with their new Power Rangers acquisition, or announce something for GI Joe, but that seems premature.
Universal
I sooooo want Universal to surprise everybody by having a Universal Monsters panel, but that ain't happening. Nor do I expect any announcements regarding it. That said, Universal is expected to come horror-heavy with their sequel/remake of Halloween. That should be fun, and I'm having visions of Michael Myers stalking through the Hall H crowd. It's possible we also see stuff from Peter Jackson's Mortal Engines, How to Train Your Dragon 3, and M. Night Shyamalan's Glass, all of which should fit right in with this audience.
Lionsgate
You would think Lionsgate would want to show off their Hellboy reboot after all the years of fans there begging for a new movie. But chances are slim that we will see it in Hall H, which is weird to me. I would definitely expect to see it have a presence on the showfloor at a Lionsgate booth, because they generally have one of the best displays around.
San Diego Comic-Con runs from July 19th-22nd!
