Marvel’s iconic Hall H event at Comic Con held up to the standard they’ve set for themselves in the past, as it was packed with enormous secrets including movie announcements, trailers, and astounding cast revelations. 2025 will be an exciting time for superhero fans, as there are going to be three new Marvel movies released in that year. The three films are Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and Fantastic Four.
Captain America: Brave New World’s cast will include Tim Blake Nelson, Danny Ramirez, Giancarlo Esposito, Harrison Ford, and of course, Anthony Mackie as Captain America. When asked how it felt to hold both wings and shield, Mackie replied, “I never realized how heavy the shield was… There’s a lot of responsibility.” Other than the cast, a trailer was shared in the hall. Three major essential details found in the trailer was the introduction of “Adamantium”, the mention of Mackie’s Captain America creating a new Avengers team, and Harrison Ford’s role as the “Red Hulk”.
The second film discussed was Thunderbolts*, which will include a cast with Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, Rachel Weisz, Wyatt Russell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman, Hannah John-Kamen, and Geraldine Viswanathan. While there wasn’t too much information given out about the details of this film other than action shots in the trailer, Florence Pugh promised that “This movie is so wonderful and bizarre and it’s very brave”.
The final movie expected to come out in 2025 is Fantastic Four. While the main four cast members weren’t expected to attend Comic-Con due to being out of the country, all four appeared at the panel—Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ralph Ineson. Once on stage, Kirby shared that “It’s so beautiful to be at work… We want to do it justice”. The trailer that was shown had a vintage 60s aesthetic similar to the style of WandaVision, and showed the four launching in a rocket in space suits.
While it seemed like these three movies would be the only news in the panel, Marvel wasn’t even close to being finished yet. The next announcement started with a compilation of past favorite moments from other Marvel films, and finished with the Russo brothers stepping onto the stage. This surprise created an uproar as the Russo brothers are officially back to direct the next two Avengers movies: Avengers: Secret Wars and Avengers: Doomsday.
And finally, the most shocking reveal of the night occurred in the last few moments of the panel. After the announcement of Avengers: Doomsday came the news of the new, never-before-seen character “Victor Von Doom”. The Russo brothers said that this character “could be the most important character in the Marvel universe”, and because of that, they would need one of the best actors ever to fulfill the role.
A cloaked and masked figure then stepped onto the stage, and the audience were all intrigued to hear who this new actor would be. But then the person tore their mask off, and the crowd was filled with roaring cheers as they realized it wasn’t a new actor at all, but none other than Robert Downey Jr. Once the screams died down, Downey said into his microphone, “New mask, same task” and added later, “I like playing complicated characters”.
Soon after, the former Iron Man star left the stage and the panel ended. Fans are getting rewarded with films: Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, Fantastic Four, Avengers: Secret Wars and Avengers: Doomsday directed by the Russo brothers, along with Robert Downey Junior’s return to the franchise.
This panel was essential for Marvel. Many moviegoers, even some of the most loyal fans, had been questioning Marvel and its recent performances. But with the upcoming movie roster including classic comic storylines, the direction of the Russo brothers, and huge star-studded casts, the Marvel Universe may finally be getting back on track.
Leave a Comment