Every year, Comic-Con is a source for lots of movie news. Studios announce the latest superheroes heading to the big screen. Productions announce the casting of previously announced comic book adaptations. Sometimes we get more information on a highly anticipated release.
This week, from Wednesday’s preview night through Sunday’s panels, we’ll be updating this post with the biggest and best revelations out of the convention.
Bumblebee pays tribute to the ’80s Transformers
During Paramount’s presentation and panel for the Transformers spin-off prequel Bumblebee, we learned that the movie will honor the original cartoon series (and toys, comics, etc.). That’s already been partly a given with the Volkswagon Bug version of the titular Autobot, but there will be at least a glimpse of the original look of Optimus Prime.
The movie will also showcase the Transformers planet, Cybertron, in all its glory. Meanwhile, Bumblebee also involves two main villain Decepticons, which take the form of muscle cars, specifically a Plymouth Satellite and an AMC Javelin, voiced respectively by Angela Bassett and Justin Theroux.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is full of fan-favorite characters
From Sony’s presentation and panel for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, we got the full scope of Spider-Verse characters involved in the animated feature. Recently, we heard that Nicolas Cage would be voicing Spider-Man Noir, but the latest footage also introduces Spider-Gwen, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld, who had already been known to be the voice of regular Gwen Stacy.
Also part of the ensemble of heroes is the two-dimensional anime version of Spidey called Peni Parker (Komiko Glenn) and, craziest of all, the anthropomorphic pig Spidey, Spider-Ham, aka Peter Porker (John Mulaney). In case the pig doesn’t make it clear, these are all incarnations of Spider-Man from other dimensions and all fan favorites that are sure to delight audiences this December.
The Clone Wars returns
While celebrating the 10th anniversary of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Lucasfilm announced the show will be returning next year. New episodes of the series, which had seemed to be finished four years ago, will debut this time on Disney’s new streaming service, which also arrives in late 2019.
Check out a trailer for the return of The Clone Wars below.
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Annabelle gets a sequel and a peer
Warner Bros. and New Line announced a third Annabelle movie is on the way, this time with a present setting. The sequel to the Conjuring spin-off prequel — which itself spawned last year’s prequel Annabelle: Creation — will mark the directorial debut of Annabelle and It screenwriter Gary Dauberman. This time the possessed doll is targeting the now-grown daughter of Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Meanwhile, on the eve of Comic-Con, occasional Conjuring franchise director James Wan and producer Jason Blum announced another killer doll movie unrelated to the other series. This one, titled M3GAN, is about a lifelike doll with artificial intelligence, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, it will be directed by New Zealand filmmaker Gerard Johnstone (Housebound) from a script by Akela Cooper (Luke Cage).
