Fans camped out all day and all night, and the Marvel San Diego Comic-Con panel did not disappoint.
Marvel will never underestimate the power of Comic-Con. For the full details, you can read our live blog from the event, and check out the best moments below.
The ‘Ant-Man’ cast make their first appearance
Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd, Michael Doulas and Corey Stoll were introduced to the Comic-Con audience, along with hotly rumoured (and now confirmed) addition Evangeline Lilly. New director Peyton Reed was also present, although the somewhat underwhelming cheers he received from the crowd may indicate a lingering resentment over the replacement of Edgar Wright. Interestingly, Lilly revealed that even though they begin filming in two weeks, she hasn’t seen a script yet. Uh-oh.
The first ‘Ant-Man’ footage is shown
They haven’t started filming yet, but they did show a special scene to the Comic-Con audience, which is the first footage we have seen of Reed’s new take on Ant-Man. This also confirmed that Ant-Man will be coming in 2015 – something some fans found hard to believe after Wright departed the film.
Paul Rudd and Michal Douglas pop their SDCC cherries
Paul Rudd: “I am popping my Comic-Con cherry, and it is as advertised.”
Michael Doulas: “I’ve popped enough cherries.”
The cast of ‘Age of Ultron’ enter to Michael Jackson
Robert Downey, Jr. strutted out to the sounds of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough,” before throwing flowers into the audience. The rest of the cast followed, and although the crowd went absolutely crazy, Iron Man was a difficult act to follow.
The crowd chant ‘HULK’ for Mark Ruffalo
The actor was adorably grateful. He says that people on the street don’t even know who he is now aside from the Hulk, and that they just yell “Hulk! Hulk!” at him as he walks past them. Downey, Jr. suggested he reply, “It’s Banner!”
Chris Hemsworth references the changes in the ‘Thor’ comics
Moderator Chris Hardwick: “Is there anything you haven’t done yet as Thor that you wish you could do?”
Chris Hemsworth: “Turn him into a woman. I don’t want to speak too early yet and jinx it, but I think it could be my Oscar.”
James Spader thanks the Comic-Con audience for being weird and crazy (like him)
James Spader: “I have always thought my whole life that life could never get weird or crazy enough for me, but I have to tell you something, this place could be the weirdest, craziest place.”
Elizabeth Olsen uses the word ‘mutant’…
…and the crowd goes wild. Olsen joins Age of Ultron as Scarlet Witch, who according to the canon is the daughter of Magneto. Of course, the X-Men are not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so they have to use the word “magic” instead – a fact that it seems Olsen momentarily forgot.
The first look at ‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’
The first footage from The Avengers: Age of Ultron had the Hall H crowd jumping to their feet and cheering (along with the panelists).
Iron Man gives Thanos a rose
After the Age of Ultron footage, Downey, Jr. announced that Marvel always has one more thing up their sleeve. Josh Brolin (Thanos) then comes on stage wearing the Infinity Gauntlet. He asks Downey, Jr. where his rose is, and is dutifully given one.
A ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ video message
In a supposed behind-the-scenes message, Guardians star Chris Pratt and director James Gunn announced “off camera” that the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will premiere on July 28, 2017. The two guys were acting like they were just pulling a random release date out of a hat.