The 2018 San Diego Comic-Con International -- or just Comic-Con, since it’s the king of comic and fan conventions -- is this week, and we’ll be there to cover all the big movie presentations. Ahead of time, though, we’ve put together a guide for when each showcase is happening. Whether you’re joining us and the rest of the masses at the San Diego Convention Center or will be following along at home, here is our preview of what we know and what we’re expecting.
THURSDAY
20th Century Fox (10:30am-11:30am)
What will be there: Fox’s presentation is solely labeled as a showcase for Shane Black’s The Predator, the latest sequel to Predator, the 1987 sci-fi action movie about a big, bad, human-hunting alien. Black will be in attendance for a panel, along with actors Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Keegan-Michael Key, Trevante Rhodes, Jake Busey, Yvonne Strahovski, Thomas Jane and Augusto Aguiliera. This will be some last-minute promotion since the movie, which takes the Predator into the suburbs, arrives September 14.
Potential surprises: There’s unlikely to be anything else presented during the Fox showcase, but this would be a good time to build more hype around December’s Alita: Battle Angel. Anything from the X-Men franchise (X-Men: Dark Phoenix, New Mutants, Gambit…) would be nice, too, but that could come later on with the Saturday’s Deadpool 2 event.
FRIDAY
Universal Pictures (3:45pm-4:45pm)
What will be there: Universal’s presentation names David Gordon Green’s upcoming Halloween, which is a same-titled direct sequel to the 1978 original, and M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass, the follow-up to both Unbreakable and Split, as the focus of the event. Both movies’ directors are set to appear with unnamed special guests in tow -- perhaps Jamie Lee Curtis from the former and Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and James McAvoy from the latter? Additionally, we’ll be seeing the first trailer for Glass, which opens on January 18, 2019, and perhaps more footage from Halloween, which hits theaters on October 19.
Potential surprises: None are likely, but some of Universal’s upcoming titles the studio could tease or offer a surprise panel on include the Peter Jackson-produced Mortal Engines, the Robert Downey Jr.-led The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, Jordan Peele’s Us, next summer’s Detective Pikachu and the Fast and the Furious spin-off Hobbs and Shaw.
Paramount Pictures (5pm-6pm)
What will be there: According to the Comic-Con program, this isn’t so much a Paramount presentation as solely a Bumblebee showcase, and apparently it’s the first time a Transformers movie has been to Hall H. The spin-off prequel, which is due in theaters on December 21, promises a smaller and brighter installment, and its panel with director Travis Knight and star Hailee Steinfeld will help sell those appealing traits.
Potential surprises: If Bumblebee can share the space, maybe Paramount can share a first look at its new World War II movie Overlord or build some hype for the Pet Sematary remake or Sonic the Hedgehog. There’s a rumor that Tom Cruise will make a surprise appearance for a last-minute promotion of Mission: Impossible - Fallout and to give a sneak peek at Top Gun 2.
Sony Pictures (6:15pm-7:15pm)
What will be there: Sony is focusing its presentation on the studios’ two upcoming Marvel-based movies. First up we’ll meet the cast and makers of Venom, about the titular Spider-Man villain, which hits theaters on October 5. That will be followed by a showcase of the animated feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which is due in theaters on December 14.
Potential surprises: This would be a good time to shed more light on other Marvel-based projects, such as Morbius: The Living Vampire and Silver & Black, plus maybe a tease of the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, Spider-Man: Far From Home. Sony also could sneak in something for the Jumanji sequel, the Men in Black spin-off and The Girl in the Spider’s Web.
SATURDAY
Warner Bros. (10:30am-12:30pm)
What will be there: No titles or talent is listed in the Comic-Con program for this two-hour event, but we expect a nice showcase for the in-production DC superhero movies Aquaman (in theaters December 21), Shazam! (April 5, 2019) and Wonder Woman 1984 (November 1, 2019), including the first trailers for the first two. Additionally, the studio is set to spotlight the anticipated sequels Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (November 16), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (February 8, 2019) and Godzilla 2 (May 31, 2019), perhaps dropping a first teaser trailer for the last of these.
Potential surprises: This year is DC’s big chance to make a real splash and hype some more forthcoming titles, such as Flashpoint and Green Lantern Corps. They could have Margot Robbie appear as Harley Quinn to pump up the Birds of Prey movie as well as Suicide Squad 2. They’d pull a coup if they got Joaquin Phoenix to show up to talk about the Joker origin movie. One thing’s for sure: they need to end with a bang by dropping an unexpected announcement.
Fox Home Entertainment (5:15pm-6:15pm)
What will be there: This presentation is specifically for Deadpool 2, focused on its home video release (out August 21) including the extended cut. The sequel’s filmmakers and stars will be in attendance for a panel about the recently released movie.
Potential surprises: This would be a good opportunity for Fox to tease some goods for other X-Men franchise titles, though if they want to keep more focused they could at least share information on X-Force, which is the next installment tied to the Deadpool series, or even a Deadpool 3.
