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Comic-Con 2014: all the news from geek culture's biggest event

The 2014 San Diego Comic-Con should be bigger than ever. The next two years in movies and TV are going to be huge ones, and this year's Comic-Con is where a good many of them will introduce themselves and start getting fans excited. Follow along here for all of top news from the event, from panels to trailers to surprise announcements. Comic-Con will be going on from July 24th through the 27th, and we'll be there live each and every day.

  • Chris Schodt

    Jul 26, 2014

    Chris Schodt

    Custom Batman cape and cowl designs

    Custom Batman cape and cowl designs

    1/18

    The basic black cowl that all the artists received.
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  • Chris Schodt

    Jul 26, 2014

    Chris Schodt

    The neon knight: Batman goes high fashion

    Floral prints are the new black? For Batman's 75th anniversary, DC Comics had a team of artists and celebrities paint over the classic black mask and cape at the Cape/Cowl/Create exhibition. The likes of Zack Snyder, Will Arnett, and Lego artist Nathan Sawaya used everything from melted neon plastic to black fur to make over the outfit, which was modeled on the one from the upcoming Arkham Knight game.

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  • Kwame Opam

    Jul 26, 2014

    Kwame Opam

    The first trailer for Kevin Smith's horror film 'Tusk' is here and it's bizarre

    Kevin Smith promised to unveil the first trailer for his latest horror film Tusk at San Diego Comic-Con, and he delivered this evening. And it's much weirder than even we expected. Starring Justin Long as a podcaster visiting Canada for a new story, Long's journey takes a turn when he meets an old man who... winds up surgically turning him into a walrus. It's as bizarre as all that sounds, and Smith looks like he's blending body horror with a really strange sense of humor in this movie. We'll just have to see what comes of it when it hits theaters on September 19th.

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  • Jul 26, 2014

    Verge Video

    All of my dreams coming true: I experienced The Rock at Comic-Con

    Dreams do come true. Casey Newton is experiencing his first-ever San Diego Comic-Con. Here's what happened to Casey, in his own words, the moment Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) takes the stage to promote Hercules and talk about his "fanny pack" photo popularized this week on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

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  • Jacob Kastrenakes

    Jul 25, 2014

    Jacob Kastrenakes

    Edgar Wright's next two films are reportedly a comedy and a sci-fi about sex-crazed bugs

    Edgar Wright just left Marvel's Ant-Man movie a couple months ago, but he appears to already have two new films locked up. Deadline reports that Wright's next two movies will be Baby Driver — a long-gestating comedy written by Wright himself — and a young-adult novel adaptation called Grasshopper Jungle. Wright's plans to direct Baby Driver appear to be all but a done deal, and he's said to be fully signed on for Grasshopper Jungle.

    Details are limited on Baby Driver, but it's reported to be in the same vein as the comedies in his trilogy of films with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost — though the two don't appear to be involved. It'll also involve elements of crime, music, and action.

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  • Adi Robertson

    Jul 25, 2014

    Adi Robertson

    Here's the new cast of 'Game of Thrones,' and a blooper reel from last season

    Game of Thrones is a serious show. A very, very serious show, where anyone can die. Except when they're falling off their horses or missing their lines or doing a catchy dance down the carpet. This blooper reel from Season Four opened the Game of Thrones panel at San Diego Comic Con, where we're on the ground live, and it's now online for your edification. But if you're looking for real news from the series, you can watch the video below, introducing the characters who will be coming in Season Five.

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  • Jacob Kastrenakes

    Jul 25, 2014

    Jacob Kastrenakes

    Watch the first trailer for the next season of 'The Walking Dead'

    Things have never really been going well on The Walking Dead, but the core crew only appears more broken and battered than ever in the first trailer for Season 5. The trailer teases the group's attempts to get to DC and — hopefully — deliver a cure for the zombifying infection. There's always been a lot standing in their way, and it all looks even more gruesome and horrifying in this coming season. The show will come back on the air with new episodes starting October 12th.

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  • Adi Robertson

    Jul 25, 2014

    Adi Robertson

    Sam Raimi writing 'Evil Dead' TV series

    Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series could be coming to TV. In a surprise appearance at San Diego Comic Con, Raimi announced that he and his brother Ivan are writing a show based on the franchise, and that it will star Bruce Campbell. We know pretty much nothing else, but it's extremely exciting news. In addition to the original trilogy of films, a remake of The Evil Dead was released in 2013, but it wasn't directed by Raimi and didn't star Bruce Campbell.

    We also got some news about the film adaptation of 2013 game The Last of Us. Naughty Dog writer Neil Druckmann and producer Raimi revealed one potential casting choice: Maisie Williams, better known as Arya on Game of Thrones. Druckmann and Raimi stressed that they'd only met with Williams, but the news is apparently firm enough to announce in a panel. She'd presumably play the role of Ellie, a young survivor of the quasi-zombie apocalypse. In the game, Ellie bears an uncanny resemblance to actress Ellen Page, and in fact one attendee wondered if she might star in it, though Raimi confirms that her age makes that unfeasible.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jul 25, 2014

    Andrew Webster

    The cast of 'Firefly' is reuniting for upcoming game

    At last year's San Diego Comic-Con, Brown Coats all over the 'verse got excited by the announcement of Firefly Online, which planned to revive the cult-hit show as an online game. Firefly Online never made its planned summer release date, but at SDCC 2014 we at least have some exciting news: the original cast is returning to reprise their roles. There's also a brand new trailer that provides the first look at actual gameplay, and it features a cameo from none other than Nathan Fillion, better known as Captain Malcom Reynolds from the show. Firefly Online is described as an "online strategic roleplaying game," that will let you take control of your own ship and explore the galaxy. It's in the works for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, from little known studio Spark Plug Games. Unfortunately, there's no new details on the game will launch.

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  • Adi Robertson

    Jul 25, 2014

    Adi Robertson

    DC comes for Marvel on the small screen: a first look at 'The Flash' and 'Constantine'

    While DC doesn’t have quite the spread of TV shows and movies that Marvel has developed, it’s a few months away from launching three new series based on the lower-profile parts of its comics empire. Wednesday night, we got a look at the pilots from two of those series: The Flash, airing on CW, and NBC’s Constantine. Both have potential, but they couldn’t be more different – and neither is a sure bet.

    The Flash ties into CW’s existing Green Arrow adaptation, and the protagonist, Glee star Grant Gustin, seems to nail the tone it’s going for: earnest and incredibly excited at its own geekery. The pilot quickly sets up Barry Allen’s rise to World’s Fastest Man: raised as an orphan after his mother is mysteriously killed and his father takes the blame, he becomes a quirky young forensic investigator obsessed with paranormal science. That is, at least, until he’s hit by a bolt of lightning from a particle-accelerator accident and wakes up nine months later with super-speed and accelerated healing. When he does, he begins to tie his newly discovered powers to the tragic events of his childhood.

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  • Cassandra Khaw

    Jul 25, 2014

    Cassandra Khaw

    'Community' season six could be your Christmas present

    Cult TV show Community has dodged the broadcaster's axe, and may be en route towards fulfilling its self-orchestrated "six seasons and a movie" meme, thanks to Yahoo TV. According to The Associated Press, creator Dan Harmon told Comic-Con 2014 attendees that Community would not return until at least Christmas as writing would likely begin in fall. Unlike with so many other on-demand series, there are plans to release the sixth season's 13 episodes on a weekly basis.

    But fans are likely to be most interested in Harmon's comments about Troy Barnes, the loveable jock-turned-nerd played by Donald Glover. "Troy's out there somewhere. He may be in peril. That's what movies are made of," said Harmon. The Wrap reports the writer then added that there are currently "no plans" to bring a Troy-centric Community movie to the big screen, but believes "a 'Search for Spock' kind of thing" could be good. Nothing has been stated either in regards to whether or not Glover will return to Community, which he left early during season five.

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  • Kwame Opam

    Jul 24, 2014

    Kwame Opam

    This is Hot Wheels' life-size 'Darth Vader Car'

    A visit to the Hot Wheels booth at Comic Con's exhibition floor will give visitors a look at a life-size car that looks just like Darth Vader's iconic helmet. And is it ever strange. Hot Wheels went all out with the car, giving it all the Star Wars touches you could think of: Sith lightsaber-style exhaust pipes, Imperial insignias in the wheels, and even Vader's life support panel.

    The Darth Vader Car is actually a modified Chevy Corvette C5, with the Darth helmet comprised of fiberglass that sits atop the car's frame. It comes complete with a 526-horsepower engine, and can reportedly hit a top speed of 150mph. It's not the most attractive car we've ever seen, but we can still sense the good in it.

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  • Casey Newton

    Jul 24, 2014

    Casey Newton

    Christopher Nolan talks up the science of 'Interstellar' in surprise Comic-Con appearance

    Details on the plot of Christopher Nolan's upcoming Interstellar are still scarce, but the film may be his most ambitious to date. In a surprise appearance at Comic-Con, the director of The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception says that his latest film is his grandest in scope. One of the film's executive producers is the theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, who gave Nolan extensive guidance on how wormholes could work — a hint at how the film's characters will accomplish their interstellar travel. But the film's emotional core lies deeper, the director said. "It's about what it is to be human, and what our place is in the universe," Nolan told a rapt crowd in Hall H. "The further that you travel out into the universe, the more you realize it's in what's in here," he said, pointing to his heart.

    Nolan was joined on stage by the film's star, Matthew McConaughey, who reiterated what was previously disclosed about the plot: that it involves his character, an astronaut named Cooper, and his efforts to find another planet for humanity to live on after earth becomes uninhabitable. A new trailer shown to the Comic-Con crowd showed McConaughey and co-star Anne Hathaway, who plays a fellow astronaut, as they hunt for an inhabitable planet. The trailer will be released more broadly sometime in the future, Nolan said.

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  • Chris Welch

    Jul 24, 2014

    Chris Welch

    Comixology users can now download DRM-free backups of some comics

    Maybe Amazon's purchase of Comixology isn't the worst thing to ever happen after all. Comic book readers on iOS have been fuming over the loss of in-app purchases following the company's acquisition, but today during a panel at Comic Con, Comixology announced a new feature that users are certain to love: DRM-free backups. Customers can now download and store copies of books without being bothered by a DRM system that limits what they can do with content they rightfully own.

    "For those out there who have not joined the comic reading community because of DRM, you have no excuse now," said co-founder John Roberts. Backups are available in high definition PDF and CBZ files and can be downloaded from the "My Books" section of Comixology's site.

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  • Jacob Kastrenakes

    Jul 24, 2014

    Jacob Kastrenakes

    Batman is still sad in the second Ben Affleck photo from 'Batman v. Superman'

    DC Comics decided to honor Batman's 75th anniversary yesterday, and — while he's a day late — Zack Snyder is joining in on the action too since he's at the helm of a film starring the hero. Snyder published a close look at Ben Affleck's Batman on Twitter today, the second photo yet of him from the set of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. We don't really know what happens in the movie yet, but one thing continues to be evident from the early photos: everyone is sad. Batman and Superman both looked down in their first images, and this second photo of Batman shows him just as gloomy. The movie is planned for a release on May 6th, 2016.

    Snyder also had a bit of fun on Twitter this morning, messing with Star Wars fans by posting a photo of Henry Cavill — his Superman — as a lightsaber-wielding Jedi. You can see the photo embedded below.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jul 24, 2014

    Andrew Webster

    Watch the first trailer for Ridley Scott's live-action 'Halo: Nightfall'

    At San Diego Comic-Con 2014, Microsoft has finally provided the very first look at Halo: Nightfall, the original new live-action show based on the sci-fi video game series. The show stars Mike Colter with Ridley Scott serving as executive producer, and based on this first glimpse it looks quite a bit like some of Scott's earlier work, most notably Prometheus. "With Halo: Nightfall, we're pioneering a new medium in terms of interactive storytelling on Xbox," says Scott. Colter plays agent Jameson Locke, a character who will play a relatively large role in the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians, which is expected to launch next fall. At a panel today, 343 Industries confirmed that Locke would be a playable character in Guardians, though they would not specify whether he would be a "friend or foe" of Master Chief.

    Halo: Nightfall will be set on a colonial world, and the story will be catalyzed by the discovery of a fragment of the Halo ring from the first game. The fragment remains partially functional and will supposedly become an "almost dark and malevolent" part of the series, says Halo franchise director Frank O'Connor. O'Connor says the series will explore political tensions in the "scrappy" backwater colony, and that it will lead into the events of the game. It will also provide an origin story for Locke, who will eventually appear as a Spartan in Halo 5. "It's kind of the origin of a superhero in a way," says O'Connor. Halo: Nightfall will be available to Xbox Live users on November 11th, as well as packaged with the upcoming re-release Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

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  • Casey Newton

    Jul 24, 2014

    Casey Newton

    Rihanna destroys Paris in Dreamworks' upcoming 'Home'

    What to do, when you find the Louvre in a hopeless place? It's up to Rihanna to save the world in Home, an upcoming animated buddy comedy from Dreamworks, and a new clip shown at Comic-Con today finds the character she plays turning Paris upside-down. Rihanna plays Tip, who teams up with an outcast alien named Oh to stop an alien race named the Boov from relocating humanity. In the clip shown at Comic-Con, Tip and Oh find themselves surrounded at the Eiffel Tower, which the aliens have set up as a radio transmission tower floating above the city.

    Rihanna's character springs into action, using alien technology to turn the Eiffel Tower upside town. A wild chase follows, during which big chunks of Paris are turned into rubble. The good news for humanity is that (spoiler!) their escape appears to be successful, and the rude boys on the alien side retreat to fight another day. Home is based on the children's book The True Meaning of Smekday, and it is scheduled to come out next June.

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  • Jacob Kastrenakes

    Jul 24, 2014

    Jacob Kastrenakes

    The coolest posters of Comic-Con 2014

    Movie posters need to appeal to a wide, wide audience if they actually want to get people into theaters, so today’s posters often aren’t all that interesting. But things can be different at Comic-Con. At Comic-Con, everyone is a fan, and everyone is looking out for something a little bit more exciting. Below, we’re rounding up some of the best posters that we see heading to the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con.

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  • Kwame Opam

    Jul 24, 2014

    Kwame Opam

    A chat with the award-winning writer who's perfecting the art of digital comics

    The comics industry mastered Hollywood a long time ago, but the tried-and-true comic book has had a harder time making the transition to digital. The biggest player in the game right now is Comixology, which long ago established itself as the gold standard of comics distribution online. However, ever since its recent acquisition by Amazon, the app has endured criticism for a new design that — as a consequence of Amazon's understandable unwillingness to deal with Apple's in-app purchases policy — effectively breaks what was originally an awesome storefront. But when it comes to alternatives, the last decade is littered with ambitious experiments in the medium that either did too much or just never got off the ground. How do you make a viable digital comics business while pushing the medium forward? It's a tough question to answer, and no one has really made a perfect solution.

    Award-winning writer Mark Waid gets all that, and could be the one to get the business right — as one of comics' big-name authors, he's worked as a collaborator on a few major projects in digital and even helped with Comixology's earlier well-received design efforts. He's also been an ardent critic of what he sees as excess in the space. And people ought to listen: fans might recognize his work in classics like Marvel’s Age of Apocalypse (a screen adaptation of which will hit theaters in 2016) DC’s Kingdom Come, and Empire, an Eisner-nominated limited series about a supervillain dealing with what happens when you finally take over the world.

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  • Kwame Opam

    Jul 24, 2014

    Kwame Opam

    We piloted a giant robot from 'Pacific Rim' using Oculus Rift

    Last night, Legendary Pictures gave us a brief look at how it wants to bring the worlds of Pacific Rim and Guillermo del Toro's upcoming gothic horror film Crimson Peak closer to real life. For Pacific Rim, the company teamed up with Oculus to put fans inside a virtual Jaeger. For Peak, del Toro himself was on hand to walk us through a gallery of props and costumes, explaining some of his vision for what we can expect from the film.

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  • Sam Byford

    Jul 24, 2014

    Sam Byford

    'Final Fantasy' designer creates the wildest take on Batman yet

    If nothing else, Square Enix artist Tetsuya Nomura has built up a distinctive style over the years — his androgynous, zipper-heavy designs for characters in games like Kingdom Hearts and the Final Fantasy series are recognizable anywhere. But none of that will have prepared you for his surreal take on Batman, revealed in action figure form at this year's San Diego Comic-Con.

    The "DC Comics Variant Play Arts Action Figure" looks more like something from Soul Calibur than the Caped Crusader, with bizarre talons on the back, dragonesque "wings," and a helmet with giant red horns. No word on when or where this figure will be released, but it'd certainly make for an interesting conversation piece on anyone's coffee table.

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  • Kwame Opam

    Jul 23, 2014

    Kwame Opam

    The Verge is live at San Diego Comic-Con 2014

    It's finally here. Every year, some of the biggest names in Hollywood and geek culture converge on downtown San Diego to kick off Comic-Con International, the nexus for all things entertainment. The Verge is here to bring you all of it, from the major panel reveals in Hall H, the surprise appearances on the convention floor, and all the craziness that fans are sure to bring with them.

    You might be here for The Avengers. Maybe you're dying to hear news about Jurassic World. Or maybe you just want to see what's next for Dan Harmon and the cast of Community. It doesn't matter; we're covering it all. So keep it locked through the rest of the week. There's going to be a lot of news from the ground, breaking stories, and plenty of cultural commentary on one of the biggest shows in the business. It's gonna be bigger than ever, and we can't wait.

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  • Jacob Kastrenakes

    Jul 23, 2014

    Jacob Kastrenakes

    Spider-Man villain spin-off movie 'Sinister Six' set for 2016

    The bad news for Spider-Man fans is that the hero's next solo movie is being pushed way back. The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was originally scheduled for June 2016, but it's now being pushed to an indeterminate date in 2018, according to Variety. When Sony initially announced the sequel, it said that Marc Webb had not yet signed on to direct a third film, and there's no word today on whether that's changed either. There's clearly some hesitation around the series though: Variety notes that a fourth Amazing Spider-Man entry was originally planned for 2018.

    The Spider-Man series is an important one to Sony, as it gives the studio a way to combat Marvel's constant release of superhero blockbusters (and doing so using one of Marvel's very own heroes). It's now planning to flesh out the Spider-Man universe with a world of villains, and Sinister Six appears to be the start to that. Given reactions to The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it'll have some work to do to win fans over, but ultimately Sony would like to build one overarching tone and story for the series, much as Marvel has done. A Venom spinoff is also currently in the works.

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  • Chris Welch

    Jul 23, 2014

    Chris Welch

    Here's the first teaser art from the new 'Fight Club 2' comic book series

    Chuck Palahniuk's long awaited sequel to Fight Club is coming in the form of a 10-issue comic book series, and today we're getting our first idea of what that will look like. Set ten years after the events of Palahniuk's novel, the comic book will apparently feature the wedding of Fight Club's narrator — who now goes by the name Sebastian — and Marla. Tyler Durden is also featured in the artwork; just take a look at the stained glass window behind the expecting couple.

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  • Jul 23, 2014

    Verge Staff

    The 31 biggest things to look for at Comic-Con 2014

    In just a matter of hours, 150,000 rabid comics fans of all stripes will descend on San Diego for Comic-Con 2014. It’s the mecca of all things nerdy for the summer, where some of the biggest names in geek culture and entertainment come to show off what’s to come for the next few years. This year’s event is a bit different, though: with movies like the new Star Wars and Avengers coming out, 2015 and 2016 already promise to be the biggest years in film history, and Comic-Con could very well be Ground Zero for a pop culture singularity.

    We’ve put together a primer for what to expect for this year’s mega-event. There’s plenty that’s already been announced, but there may well be a few surprises that could steal the whole show. The madness starts tonight and runs all the way through Sunday. Make sure you’re ready.

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