Comic-Con News: Superhero films ignite rivalry among Marvel and DC comic fans; Lucas offers sneak peek of museum
SAN DIEGO — Comic fans are embracing the latest showdown between Marvel and DC as their superhero films Fantastic Four and Superman compete for box office dominance, reigniting a rivalry spanning over eight decades.
Whether it’s the thrill of seeing the comic book superhero The Thing shout “It’s clobbering time!” before throwing a punch or watching Superman and his faithful pup Krypto save the day, fans are heading to movie theaters to support their favorite films.
“Well, clearly I’m a Marvel fan,” said Danielle Stroski, who was dressed as the shapeshifter character Mystique from Marvel’s X-Men comics, at the San Diego Comic-Con.
“But I have a little white dog at home, so I love me some Superman as well. And I know the little white dog is stealing the show for Superman, so it’s going to be close. But I got to go Marvel,” she added.
The 42-year-old from California predicted Fantastic Four would outperform Superman at the box office.
DC fan Lito Loza, dressed as Superboy, voiced his support for Superman. “I’ve already seen Superman three times, and I’m very, very happy with what James Gunn did with it. It makes me feel hopeful,” he said, referring to the director.
The filmmakers encourage fans to support both movies.
“I’m a huge Superman fan. I’m a huge James Gunn fan. I’m thrilled that both of us are coming out this month,” director Matt Shakman of Fantastic Four: First Steps told Reuters at the London premiere.
“I think we share a lot of similar optimism in our tone and our feeling in the worlds that we’re building. And there’s room for Superman, there’s room for Fantastic Four. I’m thrilled. Go see both,” he added.
Superman director Mr. Gunn, who directed the Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy, said in an interview in Los Angeles that he grew up reading both Marvel and DC comic books, appreciating their distinct tones.
In theaters on July 11, Superman introduced David Corenswet as the Man of Steel. The movie grossed around $173 million globally and $264 million domestically for a total of around $437 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
Warner Bros. has heavily invested in Superman, aiming to launch a new era at DC Studios under Mr. Gunn, who has been named co-chief executive officer, alongside producer Peter Safran. Upcoming projects include a Supergirl film slated for June 2026 and a film based on the character Swamp Thing, as well as TV shows for HBO Max.
Disney said on Saturday that by the end of Friday, Fantastic Four, which stars Pedro Pascal, had earned an estimated $106.2 million globally, including $57 million domestically and $49.2 million internationally.
This year’s Comic-Con is featuring as much star power as usual. This year’s festivities at the San Diego Convention Center will not have the usual Hall H major A-list celebrity panels, which typically discuss popular movie franchises from the likes of Marvel and DC Studios.
But highlights include Star Wars creator George Lucas making his San Diego Comic-Con debut and Disney’s Tron: Ares and Predator: Badlands panels. There will also be a panel for the upcoming film Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling, and the world premiere of the King of the Hill revival and a panel with show co-creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels.
It is also the first year to include a two-day music festival called Crunchyroll Anime FanFest, hosted by Crunchyroll, an American subscription-based anime streaming service owned by Sony Group Corporation.
LUCAS MUSEUM OF NARRATIVE ART GETS SNEAK PEEK
Excited fans waved glowing Star Wars lightsabers on Sunday at the San Diego Comic-Con panel for George Lucas’ latest project, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
Along with Mr. Lucas, the panel included director Guillermo del Toro and Doug Chiang, vice-president of Disney’s Lucasfilm, with Queen Latifah moderating at the San Diego Convention Center.
Attendees shouted “Lucas! Lucas! Lucas!” and clapped their hands in anticipation of the Star Wars creator’s arrival, and gave the 81-year-old Mr. Lucas a standing ovation as he took his seat.
“Opening in 2026, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is a first-of-its-kind institution dedicated to illustrated storytelling across time, cultures, and media,” a press release from the museum said.
The 11-acre campus, in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, will include a green space and a 300,000-square-foot building with galleries, two theaters, a library, restaurant, café, and retail and community spaces.
Some of its collection will include art from comic book artist Jack Kirby, painter Norman Rockwell, and illustrator Kadir Nelson, as well as a Lucas archive with models, props, concept art, and costumes.
“I love all art, no matter what it is,” Mr. Lucas said after showing a video that gave a sneak peek at the museum. The video included renderings of the museum interior and exterior, as well as the museum’s broad range of art, from more traditional fine art and comic book strips to Star Wars sculptures and installations.
Mr. Lucas began the panel recalling his days as a college student struggling to pursue his dream of becoming an art collector due to the steep cost of fine art.
But the filmmaker found an affordable exception with comic books, sold cheaply in “underground” markets.
Now, rather than selling art he collected over around 50 years, Mr. Lucas said he prefers to create what he calls a “temple to the people’s art.”
Mr. Lucas kept the conversation focused on the museum and did not discuss Star Wars or Indiana Jones.
For Mr. Del Toro, the museum offers “a visual past that belongs to everyone” and can’t be erased, noting that he may move some of his personal art collection to the Lucas Museum.
Part of the liberation that comes with narrative art for the Pan’s Labyrinth director also means that art can’t be made with a computer app, as it lacks “personality and knowledge.”
PREDATOR: BADLANDS PROPELS PREDATOR PERSPECTIVE
The latest movie in the Predator series flips the script to focus on the bad guys who always lose to the humans in the end, director Dan Trachtenberg said on Friday.
“The predator never wins,” Mr. Trachtenberg told an audience at San Diego Comic-Con after footage of Predator: Badlands debuted at the convention’s Disney panel.
This, the Prey director said, inspired him to tell the story from the predator species perspective in Badlands, the seventh in the main movie series, dating back to the 1987 hit starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the ninth across the franchise.
It was key, Mr. Trachtenberg said, for him to explore a different aspect of the Predator world for this science fiction movie, developed by 20th Century Studios and landing in theaters on Nov. 7.
“There are no humans in this film,” said cast member Elle Fanning, discussing the challenges of learning the logistics of a completely fictional realm.
The biggest challenge was mastering the fictional Yautja language, said Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who stars as Dek, a young predator on a solo mission in a treacherous land of even bigger predators. He bonds with an android named Thia, played by Ms. Fanning.
Dek is “ferocious and badass, very much an anti-hero,” Mr. Trachtenberg said.
Before the panel discussion with the director and several cast members, the audience got a glimpse of a Yautja-speaking predator prowling the stage with the signature glowing weaponry as stirring music played. — Reuters
