It's a Wrap - The 2010 San Diego Comic-Con

A round-up of the main cinematic happenings at Comic-Con...

The 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International wrapped up yesterday after four eventful days with a host of Hollywood big hitters descending on the convention to plug their upcoming projects and hopefully tap into the lucrative power of geekdom.

The big story coming out of this year's event is of course is the so-called "Stabbing in Hall H", with the shocking report that a punter had been stabbed in the eye prior to the Marvel Studios panel quickly spreading like social media wildfire (naturally once the dust settled and it came to light that the 'eye-stabbing' was in fact more of an 'eye-socket-scratching-with-a-pen', it has to be said that the story lost some of its appeal).

So then, what about the movie goodness? Well, for comic-book lovers there was plenty to get excited about, particularly fans of Marvel...

The Avengers Assemble

First up came confirmation on Thursday that Joss Whedon would be directing the superhero ensemble The Avengers (with Lost creator JJ Abrams also announcing a September start date for his Steven Spielberg collaboration Super 8), while the real juicy stuff was held back for Saturday's bumper Marvel Studios panel.

Things kicked off with Marvel president Kevin Feige introducing a teaser trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger, giving fans in attendance a brief look at Chris Evans in costume along with some Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) action. Evans, Weaving and director Joe Johnston then hosted a Q&A which, as the film has barely started shooting, understandably didn't really go into that much detail.

Not so for Marvel's next release Thor, with Kenneth Branagh and cast members Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster) and Kat Dennings (Darcy) presenting some 3D footage from the film, which you can view right here. Scenes shown included Thor being cast from Asgard by his father Odin, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Agent Coulson encountering The Destroyer, Thor attempting to retrieve his hammer and glimpses of him battling it out with arch-nemesis Loki.

Fiege wrapped up that part of the panel by confirming that rights to The Punisher had reverted to Marvel and, after swerving a question about Ed Norton's dismissal as Bruce Banner / The Hulk, he opened The Avengers panel with a brief 30-second teaser before Samuel L. Jackson made his way onto the stage. An Avengers love-fest followed as all the main players assembled on stage including the aforementioned Evans, Helmsworth and Gregg along with Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), along with newcomers Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner) and writer-director Joss Whedon.

Other Marvel titbits from Comic-Con included suggestions of a standalone Hawkeye franchise and the likes of Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Iron Fist as possibilities for future features post-Avengers.

From The Hobbit to The Haunted Mansion

After causing quite a stir when he walked out as director of The Hobbit a few months back, Guillermo del Toro was on hand at Comic-Con to announce his next project, a 3D remake of the 2003 Eddie Murphy family comedy The Haunted Mansion for Marvel's parent company Walt Disney (Latino Review later clarified that the filmmaker was only currently involved as writer and producer and would be announcing his next directorial project in the coming weeks - now confirmed to be a 3D adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness with producer James Cameron).

As for The Hobbit, del Toro spoke briefly about his involvement and his hopes for the future of the struggling project. "I can just say as a fan -- because I have no more authority over the movie -- but as a fan, I hope that those movies get made. I hope they get made as soon as possible. And I hope to God Peter Jackson directs them, because they're beautiful and they're needed in the world."

Not content to dominate the convention with The Avengers and The Haunted Mansion, Disney also managed to debut a new trailer for their upcoming sci-fi sequel Tron Legacy along with a pre-recorded video message from Captain Jack Sparrow himself Johnny Depp to promote the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise On Stranger Tides [watch it at Joblo].

This Ain't Marvel-Con

While Marvel grabbed their fair share of headlines with their Avengers-centric panel they were by no means the sole player in the comic-to-screen stakes. Rival publishers DC Comics and star Ryan Reynolds were on hand to promote the upcoming Green Lantern (2011), revealing quite a few details in the process. A new trailer was also released for action ensemble Red, based on the Warren Ellis / Cully Hamner mini-series from DC imprint Homage, while Bleeding Cool reported that Lord of the Rings and Star Trek actor Karl Urban's chin was about to be cast as Judge Dredd in the upcoming reboot of the 2000AD character from director Pete Travis and screenwriter Alex Garland.

Elsewhere Iron Man director Jon Favreau wowed the crowds with a look at his current project Cowboys & Aliens, adapted from Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's 2006 graphic novel. Accompanied by cast members Daniel Craig, Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Adam Beach and Harrison Ford (making his Comic-Con debut), Favreau showed off some early footage which was said to be very impressive despite being just three weeks into filming.

The Best of the Rest...

Robert Rodriguez was on hand to deliver an R-rated 'red band' preview of his Grindhouse spin-off Machete in addition to confirming Predators 2... Horror fans were treated to new trailers for Let Me In and Saw 3D - along with a promise that the seventh installment would be the last in the series (please, oh please!)... Len Wiseman teased the return of wife Kate Beckinsale for the fourth entry in the Underworld franchise... Frank Darabont's new mini-series The Walking Dead debuted new artwork and ramped up the anticipation for its premiere this October with a nice teaser... Paul W. S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich presented some impressive 3D footage from Resident Evil: Afterlife... Sci-fi fans look set to enjoy a couple of decent alien invasion flicks in of Skyline and Battle: Los Angeles... Teasers released for new animated series' Transformers Prime and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes... Nicolas Cage blows things up with an extra dimension as Drive Angry 3D gets a teaser trailer... and finally, Star Wars video game enthusiasts were overjoyed with the news that fan favourite Boba Fett will make an appearance in LucasArt's upcoming sequel Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, which - judging by the trailer - looks to be one hell of a game.

Well, that just about wraps it up for the 2010 San Diego Comic Con International!