Marvel's announcement that they will skip this year's Comic-Con in San Diego came as a surprise while key members (the creators, Dan Weiss and David Benioff) and actors (Kit Harrington) will be missing from the Game of Thrones panel as well. Fans have every right to feel crestfallen about these news, but they should remember that Comic-Con still has a few surprises up its sleeve. After all the geek world does not consist only of these two big franchises.
For starters, take into account that Disney, the owner of Marvel Studios, also owns the Star Wars franchise.
With Episode VII on the horizon, the attendants of Comic-Con will surely see teasers of the new Film along with additional news about the upcoming spinoff movies in the franchise. There's a remote chance that we'll also find out who the studio has chosen to play the younger versions of the legendary space pirate, Han Solo, his pal, Lando Calrissian, and of course Boba Fett himself, who are all about to appear in the rumoured Boba Fett movie that comes out in 2018.
Warner Brothers and DC Comics could make the biggest splash in San Diego this year. With arch rival Marvel skipping the event, they have every chance to absolutely astonish and please the audience. Rumours have it that WB will announce the actors who will play the Green Lanterns, at least two of them, in the shared cinematic universe.
While a solo Green Lantern movie is still years ahead, WB won't forget to promote their upcoming movies, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and the Suicide Squad. If we had to, then we would bet on Jared Leto's Joker making his first appearance in the screen in the form of a trailer or at least a promo video.
If you are feeling being tired of the big franchises, there's plenty of other interesting stuff that will take place at Comic-Con too.
Remember the director who made the highly praised Moon and Source Code movies? His name is Duncan Jones, and his new movie is World of Warcraft. Although the movie is coming out next year, not much information has been leaked from the set. Back in May the first official images of the orcs were released, which looked awesome, and odds are high that we'll finally get the first trailer of the film that could easily redefine computer game adaptations on the big screens.
If you prefer intricate characters with amusing dialogues set in the world of the Wild West of America, then you should be there in Hall H panel on July 11, when Quentin Tarantino and his cast of his new movie, The Hateful Eight will show up. Reportedly Tarantino will air exclusive premiere footage of the film too.
Of course these highlighted events are just the tip of the iceberg, but it's clear that without Marvel and with the incomplete cast of Game of Thrones, Comic-Con in San Diego still proves to be the best of similar events around the world.
