Saturday is in many ways the heart of Comic-Con and even though the bar had been set pretty high by J.J. Abrams and his jolly band of Star Wars players the day before, Hall H was once again awash in hordes of fans eager for a follow-up. By and large they were not disappointed as Warner and Weinstein strutted their wares in the cavernous hall. Warner’s slate was heavy on DC Comics content but started out with a high-energy jolt courtesy of the stylish spy-comedy thriller Man from U.N.C.L.E. The Guy Ritchie reboot of the sixties franchise features Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer and if we’re to judge from the trailer that wrapped around Hall H it looks like the British maverick has been hitting all the right notes to deliver a highly entertaining summer caper in the vein of Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Next up on the big stage, and receiving the loudest ovation of the day, Zack Snyder and the cast of Batman vs. Superman came bearing a premiere viewing of the highly awaited trailer featuring the titular characters played by Henry Cavill (the man has been busy) and Ben Affleck respectively. The film is obviously based on the DC super heroes, but as Snyder pointed out it is a thoroughly original story set in a universe in which Metropolis and Gotham are sister cities overlooking the same bay. Snyder said the events in the plot follow “organically” from the previous story lines of both franchises. Affleck hinted at underlying themes of class and power in the setting with Gotham being a working-class town in contrast to the power politics of Metropolis. The trailer montage also offered tantalizingly brief glimpses of Jared Leto as the The Joker, Jesse Eisemberg as Lex Luthor and Holly Hunter as a powerful politician.
Also in the Warner/DC Slate Suicide Squad that David Ayer has been filming in Toronto for a Spring 2016 release. The film features a motley assortment of DC misfits recruited by a government agency to fight a greater evil and features, among others Will Smith, Viola Davis, Common and Cara Delevigne alongside Affleck and Leto.
Last but not least and on a different note, the presentation featured an extended trailer for Joe Wright’s Peter Pan foundation prequel Pan. The footage showed a spectacular rendition of events preceding J.M. Barry’s famous tale. In this world we see Peter turn into Pan as he battles the Pirate King Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), helped by a young Hook (Garrett Hedlund), who has not yet turned villainous. Also in the cast are Rooney Mara, as Tiger Lily and Amanda Seyfried. If it keeps true to the preview, the film promises to be a wildly imaginative take on a familiar tale that could be one of the Fall’s pleasant surprises.
After risking superhero overload, the crowds were treated to an exclusive preview of Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming Western epic Hateful Eight. After a featurette extolling the virtues of 70mm Super Panavision format filmmaking, the director showed about a 7-minute montage of the neo-western tale of revenge on the high plains propelled by a customarily dialogue-driven script that did not appear to veer much from the material presented in last year’s Ace theater live read. We shall have to wait till next Christmas day to find out whether this time the master hath wrought genius or self-indugence.
Luca Celada
Ben Affleck had this to say during the Batman vs. Superman panel about filling some pretty big shoes as the new Batman. Video by Scott Orlin. CLICK HERE!
Excited fans check out what Warner Brothers has to offer

Hugh Jackman will play Blackbeard

Ben Affleck will be in Batman vs. Superman

Quentin Tarantino’s showed previews of his upcoming Western epic Hateful Eight