New Halo 4 Trailer, Dark Knight Details, New Fantastic Four Movie — Your Comic Con Update

Culture

An Update from the 2012 Comic-Con event, focusing on the best of video games, TV, books and comics.

-       Games

The latest game by Epic Games (Gears of War) will focus on multiplayer but bears little resemblance to the company’s most famous franchise. Ellen Page discussed her role in the hotly anticipated Beyond: Two Souls. Gearbox revealed enemy details for their upcoming Borderlands 2. Microsoft and 343 Industries are bringing a Halo web-series that they intend to make understandable for even the Halo “n00bs.”  Ubisoft revealed that Assassin’s Creed III will have a multiplayer component, allowing people to work together to take out targets. Nintendo’s lesser known but insanely cute franchise, Pikmin, was showcased with actual gameplay footage from Pikmin 3. New Super Mario Bros. U, a Mario game for the Wii U system was demonstrated; it clearly does not drift too far from the established Mario formula. 

-       Movies

Dreamworks’ unveiled The Croods, an animated family film starring Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Ryan Reynolds (Waiting). The movie revolves around a family that is forced to leave their cave for the first time. It was revealed that the Fantastic Four reboot will be directed by Josh Trank (Chronicle). Lego has unveiled a toy set based on the upcoming hobbit film, entitled An Unexpected Gathering. John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman discussed their roles in Disney’s upcoming Wreck-It-Ralph Sam Raimi, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams discussed the upcoming Oz The Great and Powerful. The Expendables 2 was showcased, with the highlight being a gunfight featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis. Tim Burton showcased his bizarre sense of style in Frankenweenie, a movie that works as a parody of both horror and children’s “animal movies” such as Air Bud. A trailer for The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp was showcased, despite the fact that the movie is facing budget concerns. Stephanie Meyer, writer of the Twilight series, revealed footage from The Host, a movie based on her novel of the same name, although targeted at audiences older than the fans of the vampire novel/drivel. Arnold Schwarzenegger confirmed a sequel to his 1998 film Twins.

-       Television

The World Wrestling Entertainment’s panel revealed future storylines starring popular characters such as CM Punk and Sheamus. Punk took on some difficult questions, including the subject of Chris Benoit. Capcom revealed that it is developing a live-action series based on the Street Figher franchise. Fans were treated to the opening of Dexter’s seventh season. Power Rangers celebrated its 20th anniversary by bringing back member of the retro cast.

-       Comics

A panel consisting of the creative team behind Batman discussed upcoming events in the Dark Knight’s universe; highlights include a new look for Gotham in Batman #0, a cover reveal for Batman #13, and a discussion of Talon (a story inspired by a character from the Batman universe). Other notable discussions include Nightwing, Catwoman and the Red Hood. All the fans present received a mask from the Court of Owls, a central organization in the upcoming storylines. Jeff Parker’s Hulk series will be shaking things up with Red She-Hulk gaining more importance than ever. Deadpool fans will have many changes to look forward to with Daniel Way signing off on his take of the merc-with-a-mouth. Several Walking Dead reveals were made by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charile Adlard.