By Chad Richards, Contributing Writer
The 49th annual San Diego Comic Con concluded last week. Like any convention, it’s a time for fans of comic books and other things to gather in one place and attend panels hosted by some of their favorite creators. However, SDCC also brings us many different trailers for upcoming movies, and this year certainly did not disappoint.
While the full list of trailers is available , I’ve gone through the list and picked out a few movies premiering this year that I’m interested in and think that others would enjoy as well.
Since the word “Comics” is right in the name of SDCC, comic book movies were the main attraction, and there were a lot of them. The soonest release will be Suicide Squad on August 5. The movie is an addition to the DC Extended Universe and follows a group of supervillains who go on dangerous missions for the government. Some of the cast includes Jared Leto portraying the Joker, Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and several others.
On the Marvel Comics side, Doctor Strange will be coming out soon with Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role. The film is an addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s about a neurosurgeon who has a career-ending car accident and then becomes trained in the mystic arts. Expect this one out in theaters November 4.
While it may not be based on a comic book, additions to the rebooted Star Wars Saga are highly anticipated; we finally got a look at the new one at SDCC. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is next in the line and though no trailer was shown, we did get a look at one of the characters in the film. The film itself is set just before A New Hope and is about a group of rebels stealing the plans for the Death Star. It will be released on December 16, and should be more than enough to tide over the fans until Episode VIII the same time next year.
However, this film seems to be stirring the rumor mill more than others this year. There were rumors that Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels, and a young Han Solo would be appearing in the film. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and the film’s director Gareth Edwards debunked them; we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the film.
Earlier in the year, however, we will be getting a film about Edward Snowden, who was known for leaking classified information from his work at the National Security Agency (NSA). I took a look at the trailer, and it seems to be a quite exciting film that I’m interested in. While I know biographical films aren’t for everyone, I think this is going to be more of a thriller than a biography. Snowden stars Joseph Gordon Levitt and features Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto and many others as it comes to theaters on September 16.
Finally, if horror films are more your speed, you might be interested in Blair Witch, A sequel to the 1999 found-footage horror film The Blair Witch Project. Though there already was a sequel released, it was universally panned by critics. This particular sequel shows a group returning to the forest to discover the truth about the disappearances that had happened 15 years earlier. It seems as though it will keep the found footage style of the original, which was part of what made it such an iconic film at the time. I certainly won’t be watching it, but if you do, it will be released on September 16.
