GEEK OUT WITH THESE QUESTIONS AHEAD OF FESTIVAL
Geek nirvana is upon us again. Nerd-friendly blockbusters-to-be like Justice League and Blade Runner 2049 and hugely popular TV series The Walking Dead, Game of
Thrones and Westworld will be among the many featured at Comic-Con, which runs Thursday through Sunday and will bring more than 125,000 fans to San Diego. USA TODAY’s Brian Truitt asks the five questions that fans want answered.
Q Will Deadpool crash the Kingsman panel? A Thursday’s 20th Century Fox movie panel is slated to be all about the spy sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle, with Taron Egerton as a young James Bond type. But with a Deadpool follow-up out next June, could Ryan Reynolds and/or his merc with a mouth show up to steal some thunder? If so, “he’ll get a Kings
man kick up the backseat,” director Matthew Vaughn says with a laugh. Q Is 2017 the year Netflix takes over Comic-Con? A The
streaming service is following up a slew of Emmy nominations with a large presence. A movie-centric Thursday panel will host Will Smith from the fantasy action thriller Bright, as well as the cast of the Japanese manga adaptation Death Note. Netflix superhero stars Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter and Finn Jones will take the stage Friday for supergroup show
The Defenders. And favorite ’80s kids get a showcase on Saturday for the upcoming second season of breakout Stranger Things. Q Will there be an official announcement of Wonder Woman 2? A This crowd would go nuts for a release date and other details on a follow-up to the runaway superhero hit with Gal Gadot. There will be plenty of superheroes on Saturday’s multimovie Warner Bros. panel, with
Justice League (in theaters Nov. 17) on tap. But there’s another old team that fans would be psyched to see: Steven Spielberg, on hand for Ready Player One (March 30), maybe crossing paths onstage with Harrison Ford, who returns to Comic-Con with the new Blade
Runner (Oct. 6). Q Will Marvel have enough room for all its talent? A Last
year, the cinematic superhero factory filled the Hall H stage with 39 filmmakers and actors. They return Saturday with potentially an even bigger crew with Thor: Ragnarok (Nov.
3), Black Panther (Feb. 16) and
Avengers: Infinity War (May 4) all on the horizon. They’ve brought the Avengers together before for Comic-Con, but this could be the most epic year ever. Q Will the new Doctor stop by for a chat? A Jodie
Whittaker is just announced as the new Doc
tor Who. Comic-Con, which will certainly be filled with Whovians, would be a fine time to introduce the 13th — and first female — Doctor to America. However, Sunday’s panel will likely be more of a goodbye than a hello, as departing actor Peter Capaldi makes one last Comic-Con appearance before he exits with the upcoming Christmas special.