A Black Panther: Wakanda Forever teaser closed Marvel’s San Diego Comic Con panel.
It’s been three years since the last San Diego Comic Con and Marvel Studios in person pulled the trigger for their panel in Hall H, giving us a full overview of phases four, five and six in the mcu We got a new trailer for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and attendees got to see exclusive teasers for Ant-Man: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and a new series crossover event called Secret Invasion. The panel ended with the first teaser for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Wakanda Forever was already in development when Chadwick Boseman, who played T’Challa in 2018’s Black Panther, died of colon cancer in August 2020. Little did director Ryan Coogler, Marvel’s Kevin Feige and many others know that Boseman was sick. They decided not to recast T’Challa, nor would they try to insert the character with visual effects, even though most of the other main cast members are returning. “His portrayal … is iconic and transcends any iteration of the character in any other medium in Marvel’s past,” Feige said in a December 2020 statement.
The finished film is in many ways a tribute to Boseman, and the trailer evokes that sense of loss, set to an almost elegiac cover of “No Woman No Cry.” There’s even a photo of a street mural honoring a deceased T’Challa. T’Challa’s mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) are mourning the loss of their brother, with Ramonda currently sitting on the throne. “I’m the queen of the most powerful nation in the world and my whole family is gone,” she says in her only lines of dialogue. “Haven’t I given it my all?”
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Street mural commemorating T’Challa.
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Ramonda (Angela Bassett), the Queen Mother, mourns the death of her son T’Challa (the late Chadwick Boseman).
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Dominque Thorne plays young genius Riri Williams, who is building her Ironheart suit.
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Who will take on the legacy of the Black Panther?
YouTube/Marvel Studios
“I promise you, I feel his hand on me right now,” Coogler said of Boseman during the discussion. “Chad’s passion and genius and his culture and the impact he had on this industry will be felt forever. We put our love for Chadwick into this film. We put our passion, too.”
There are many familiar faces. Among the new ones is Namor (Tenoch Huerta), king of an underwater tribe, supposedly related to the Mayans. The trailer also introduces Riri Williams, aka Ironheart (Dominique Thorne), a teenage tech genius who is a protégé of Tony Stark in the comics. We see her bond with the equally brilliant Shuri, with another photo showing her in her Ironheart outfit. (Thorne will also play Riri in the upcoming Ironheart series on Disney+.) The final shot of the trailer is a new Black Panther, shown only from behind, advancing on a battlefield. Shuri becomes Black Panther in the comics, and it’s possible she’ll do the same in Wakanda Forever, unless another dark horse candidate lurks in the background.
announcement
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters on November 11, 2022.
She-Hulk: Lawyer
Marvel also released a new official trailer for the Disney+ She-Hulk series.
Marvel also unveiled a new trailer for its She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series. According to the official premise: “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law follows Jennifer Walters as she navigates the complicated life of a single 30-something attorney who also happens to be a 6-foot-7-inch green hulk with superpowers.” Mark Ruffalo will appear as “Smart Hulk”, Tim Roth will reprise his role as Emil Blonsky/the Abomination from 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, and Benedict Wong will return as Wong. Jameela Jamil plays Titania, a super-strong rival of She-Hulk; Ginger Gonzaga plays Walters’ best friend; and Renee Elise Goldsberry plays Amelia.
The first trailer came out in May and introduced us to Jennifer, who had just been asked to lead her firm’s superhuman law division. But then his cousin, Bruce Banner, gave him a blood transfusion and gained some of his Hulk abilities. Banner becomes her mentor, training her to channel her powers by focusing on her anger and fear (aka “the baseline of any woman who has ever existed”).
During the panel, series creator Jessica Gao described the show as “Marvel’s first half-hour comedy.” It seems to have that sitcom vibe to it, with some superhero action thrown in for good measure, though Jessica is that rare superhero who doesn’t really feel like being one. The new trailer opens with Jessica sleeping peacefully in human form as a giant green hand enters the frame. It’s Smart Hulk, who wakes her up with a loud horn, changing her into She-Hulk. Who says scientific experimentation can’t have an element of comedy?
Check out the Hulk/She-Hulk training montage. “‘This is a multi-year journey you are about to embark on,'” Smart-Hulk tells him. Lesson 1: “Spandex is your best friend.” She-Hulk nails every task. Smart Hulk begrudgingly says that she can be a lawyer again if she wants, which prompts She-Hulk to break the fourth wall (a risky tactic) and address the camera, “She doesn’t really mean that.” She chooses the law.
Expand / She-Hulk breaks the fourth wall.
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Her Hulkiness makes her the perfect choice to lead the Superhuman Law Division as “more and more eccentric superhumans come out of the woodwork,” according to their boss Holden Holloway. Her first customer: Blonsky/Abomination, who greets her with a cheeky “Namaste.” It’s a clear conflict of interest, given that Blonsky tried to kill his cousin Bruce, but Holloway doesn’t care. And it gives Jennifer a higher public profile. When Titania crashes into the office looking for trouble, She-Hulk goes into battle and her superhero life begins in earnest.
Wong appears through a portal, warning as he usually does about a grave existential threat to the universe. We see Blonsky transform into the Abomination in his cell. And at the end, a mysterious figure slumps into the frame and takes a fighting stance. Fan speculation is that it’s Daredevil, but we don’t get a good look.
announcement
She-Hulk premieres on Disney+ on August 17, 2022.
Phase 5 and later
She-Hulk and Wakanda Forever will mark the end of Phase Four of what is officially called The Multiverse Saga (which includes Phases Four, Five, and Six). Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will begin phase five with its release in February 2017, 2023.
Marvel’s panel included an exclusive teaser for the film (not yet released online). The footage opens with Scott Lang reading his memoir (aptly titled Look Out for the Little Guy) when he learns that his daughter Cassie has been arrested. He has been working with the Van Dynes and things seem good with the family. But then something goes wrong with a mysterious device and they are all transported to what appears to be the quantum realm. MODOK makes a cameo, but the big reveal is the evil version of Kang, a character first introduced at the end of Loki.
Also hitting the big screen in 2023 is James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, slated for release on May 5, 2023. According to the log line: “Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora , must rally his team around him to defend the universe and protect one of his own. A mission that, if not successfully completed, could very well lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.” Images from Comic-Con revealed that this version of Gamora is now with the Ravagers and doesn’t remember Peter.
Marvel Studios
It looks like we’ll learn more about Rocket’s origins on a planet known as Halfworld, and fans finally got a good look at Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock, whose power comes from the Soul Gem. The movie will also feature the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) as a villain, aka…