5 Things You Will Not See at Comic-Con This Year
In case you haven't already noticed, the list of movie-related items expected to drop at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con event is, to put it mildly, incredibly extensive.
Just about all the major players are pullin' out the stops this year to get that geek street cred on lock ('cause nerds rule, yo!). So, while we're all optimistically jotting down little lists of things to be particularly jazzed about, things are going to be so busy, hectic and ridiculously awesome for just about anyone even remotely involved with the entertainment biz ... well, except for a few people.
Believe it or not, there are some franchises opting out of a day in the sun at America's Finest City ... and some pretty big ones, too.
In the interest of saving you a trip to the optometrist from trying to squint through the fine print line-up too hard for something that's just not there, here are the five major movie items Comic-Con attendants won't be seeing this year.
(And don't worry ... there's still plenty you will see at the Con.)
1. 'Star Wars: Episode VII'
Disney has its own convention scene, thankyouverymuch, so it'll be saving the force any new "Star Wars: Episode VII" goodies for its D23 Expo in August.
Sure, they'll gladly let those Marvel-ous partners of theirs present San Diego Comic-Con goers with some sweet "Thor: The Dark World" and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" treats this year, but when it comes to Yoda and all his space pals, their big comeback is to be under the House of Mouse exclusively.
Yep, the third round of far-far-awaying will make its official debut at D23, though the studio hasn't revealed its new episode-related plans just yet. Lucasfilm has, however, put together some special nostalgic fan experiences for its new parent company's shindig, including "Darth Vader: The Evolution of a Villain" exhibit and a history panel called "Crash Course in the Force: Star Wars Saga 101."
2. 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'
Director Peter Jackson broke the news to the Tolkien faithful earlier this month that he "just really wasn't ready to present anything new" from the second installment to his "Hobbit" trilogy by way of this little production video. But whyyyyy?
Well, per Jackson, "We're still shooting [pick-ups], and we're going to be shooting through the period of Comic-Con. So, we looked at what actors we could send to make a really cool panel, but there wasn't really gonna be anybody available" (while Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom have both completed their portions of filming, they're also both now prepping to work it on Brooooooadway).
What's more, Jackson was not even up to phoning in the precious a "sizzle reel" for the Con either because, he explained, "the problem is, I'm so busy working six days a week to get these pick-ups done that every hour that I spend focusing on a really great reel for Comic-Con, and it would have to be great, would be hours spent away from the vital job of making the second and third 'Hobbit' films as cool as they can possibly be."
This coming from the guy who has time to get tipsy and tape Orlando Bloom ripping on himself? If you say so. Oh, but as a consolation prize to his news, Jackson did include a little behind-the-scenes action. So there's that.
3. '50 Shades of Grey'
Meanwhile, we're not sure how exactly this happened, but one way or another a rumor got around about the cast-to-be of "50 Shades of Grey" — for the uninitiated, it's that racy fanfic-turned-"mom porn" phenom everyone's been whispering about — possibly being revealed during the Con. The squeals were soon silenced, however, as "50 Shades" author E.L. James took it upon herself to nip that little "rumour" in the bud.
So, her millions of, um, ravenous readers can carry right on with all that fan-casting 'til another day.
4. 'Justice League'
Much as we would like to see DC heroes Batman, Superman, The Flash and Wonder Woman unite for some kinda gnarly cinematic "Justice League" adventure in the vein of "Marvel's The Avengers," it's just not coming together ... at least, not yet.
For starters, the modern vision-holder of Batman a la "The Dark Knight" trilogy Christian Bale is totally outta the cape-wearing game (for really real), and "Man of Steel" Henry Cavill wants to give it a 'lil time before he starts sharing his superhero stage, besides.
And while "Man of Steel 2" is totally racing into development faster than a speeding bullet, there's nothing for Zack Snyder & Co. to present from the DC realm (note: he will be there to support "300: Rise of an Empire"), so the only Superman movie stuffs we should expect to see this year will probably be among the cosplay crowd. Bummer.
5. 'Twilight'
All those dudes who've been seething over the presence of sparkly vamp-lovers since '08 ought to be just thrilled about this one.
Though one might've reasonably suspected that "The Twilight Saga" would find its eventual reboot or spin-off series by now — "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" has already been on DVD for like five months — it just hasn't happened yet, so for the first time in years (okay, there was actually a break in '10, too, with a summer release of "Eclipse" throwing things outta whack), there'll be no "Twilight" at San Diego Comic-Con. Kinda weird, right?
