It was the panel that Comic-Con attendees had been waiting for, as Marvel gave an update on their crowded slate, including Ant-Man, Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Guardians Of The Galaxy 2. Get all the key details below:
It was one of the worst-kept secrets in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Evangeline Lilly's involvement in Ant-Man was finally officially confirmed by Marvel. And not just that, but her character was confirmed too: she'll play Hope Van Dyne, the daughter of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). And that surname? It suggests she's the offspring of Janet Van Dyne, AKA The Wasp. Will Lilly get to show off her own set of superpowers? The actress might not even know herself yet, as she admitted she hadn't read the script.
2. Yellowjacket will be the Ant-Man villain
We'd known for a while that House Of Cards actor Corey Stoll was in the Ant-Man cast, but Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige confirmed that he'd be playing the vilain of the piece, Darren Cross (AKA Yellowjacket). He'll steal Pym particles to give himself similar powers to Ant-Man. Cross is a business partner of Pym's, although Stoll hinted that he takes the company in a direction some might consider evil.
3. Ant-Man already has a teaser (even though it doesn't start shooting until mid-August)
There was no completed footage involving face-time with the actors to show us, but we did get a snazzy teaser that started with a pan around a lab and finished with Rudd’s character falling about before hopping onto an ant and taking flight.
4. And it will be funny...
The teaser shown flaunted a sense of humour both irreverent – “Superheroes, what a goddamn joke,” says Douglas in voiceover - and a bit salty. “I think somebody already shrunk your balls,” adds Douglas’ Pym.
5. Elizabeth Olsen needs to mind her words about Avengers: Age Of Ultron
Olsen's one of the newcomers to the Avengers family, playing Scarlet Witch (twin sister of Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver), a character that also appears in the X-Men universe. Talking about bringing new powers to the MCU, Olsen said, "There's now magic, mut-... mutated people." narrowly avoiding infringing on Fox's X-verse's ownership of the term mutant. And according to Robert Downey Jr., Olsen is very much in control of her bewitching powers. "She actually cast a spell on me two weeks ago," he quipped. "It burns."
6. Andy Serkis plays a human
We also caught a close-up of mo-cap pioneer Serkis – looking, for once, like Andy Serkis. No performance capture role for Mr S? Or is that just what we’re meant to think? Let the speculation begin!
7. Thor's hammer is really heavy
The Age Of Ultron teaser kicks off with the gang chillaxing together… by trying to lift Thor’s hammer off a coffee table. Cue comedy as Stark and Rhodey fail to prove themselves worthy despite having a go with their iron gauntlets; then an eyebrow-raiser as Cap steps up and actually manages to shift it. Just an iota, but still.
8. It's going to be dark
Later on there’s a Cap shocker in store: his seemingly indestructible shield torn in half, as part of a nightmarish scenario involving a pile of prone bodies. “It’s the end of the path I started us on,” Stark says elsewhere, underlining the apocalyptic tone.
9. Josh Brolin is Thanos
Another of the poorly kept secrets of the MCU, Brolin confirmed that he was playing the film series' ultimate big bad when he marched onto the Hall H stage wearing the Infinity Gauntlet (Thanos' giant gold glove-thing). This means Brolin will become a regular fixture in the upcoming movies, as he's a key player in the Guardians Of The Galaxy mythos, as well as being the Avengers' ultimate enemy.
10. Guardians 2 is on its way
While the first film hasn't even hit cinemas yet, Marvel are so confident that they've already greenlit a sequel. Writer/director James Gunn and star Chris Pratt appeared via video link to confirm that a sequel would arrive on 28 July 2017, with Gunn once again pulling double duty. Looks like the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to be expanding for some time yet.
