by Michael B. Hock

The great thing about being a nerd is that Christmas comes twice each year. First on actual Christmas when… you know it’s snowy. The second time is when it’s mega hot and everyone descends for some reason on San Diego for their annual Comic Con, when everyone is showing off all the new television shows, movies, and other stuff that makes me look forward from now until actual Christmas. Never mind that it would make sense to go anywhere other than California in the middle of summer.

There are some people who complain that San Diego Comic Con has moved far away from comics. This isn’t going to be one of those posts, because it’s going to be about joy: the pure unbridled joy that comes with seeing all the new movies and television shows that are coming out in the next few months. And there were a lot. This, by no means a complete list… I do this blog primarily for fun, so it’s not like I have the money to go to San Diego. But I can still follow what I can, and I can get excited about it. Because honestly, I feel we’re losing that lately. That excitement. I want to bring that back, and this year, I really feel we’re getting to some movies and shows that I’m really excited about.

So, here’s what I followed from San Diego Comic Con that I’m really looking forward to over the next year. Or at least until the next Avengers movie, because I really want to see a bunch of superheroes wail on a purple alien with an affinity for accessorizing.

Steven Universe

I’m a huge fan of this show that features rock aliens hanging out on Earth with the kid of another rock alien who refused to destroy the planet Earth. Or colonize it. What started as a pretty simple show about a Steven, the youngest member of the Crystal Gems (and the only half human/half Gem in existence) has evolved into a story of rebellion, intrigue, hidden identity, and love. Following up on the most recent revelation that his mother was not the heroic Rose Quartz, but the member of the ruling class, Pink Diamond, Steven is going to find himself on homeward for a few episodes. Apparently finally meeting with White Diamond, a character we haven’t met until this point, and makes the two previous big bad, Yellow and Blue Diamond, look like mini-bosses.

The best part is that they dropped a secret episode on us (Which is pretty much Cartoon Network’s strategy for the show: They’re all secret episodes) and announced the Steven Universe movie, which I’m sure will air sometime between now and when actual rock aliens try to colonize earth.

Star Trek: Discovery

The newest edition of Star Trek finds itself back in familiar territory as Captain Pike comes on board to take command of the ship that’s definitely not commanded by a secret section of the Federation called “Section 31”. (If you don’t understand what I’m referencing, Google Section 31 and understand that it probably is under that command.) The new season looks like fun. It looks like they’re going to get back to some of fun aspects of the show, and leave behind a lot of the darkness, including evil Mirror Universe versions of the crew, particularly those who might want to use the Discovery for their own evil purposes. Who knows. This trailer has a sneezing lizard, so it’s got that going for it.

Now, make the Klingons normal again.

Shazam!

So, here’s the deal, I’m a pretty big defender of the DCEU Movies. I dedicated an entire post to Justice League, which even I’ll admit didn’t have the build up it needed to have. But when they said they were going to make a movie about Shazam (Also known as Captain Marvel, but since the MCU is going to do a Captain Marvel movie, I’m calling him Shazam) I had my doubts. I mean… he’s basically a Superman fantasy/ripoff about a 10 year old who finds himself an adult when he says a magic word.

The trailer… works. It just works. I don’t know what else to say about it. It looks like a genuine comedy that still honors the gee-whiz we live with Superheroes vibe. It helps that everyone seems really enthusiastic about their parts, especially Zack Levi as Shazam, channeling his inner Tom Hanks. The movie looks like Superman meets Big, and I mean that as a compliment.

Now to get Superman and Shazam to re-enact the piano scene…
Aquaman.

This was the trailer I was looking for. Aquaman, first seen in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, then seen again hanging out with the Justice League, hitting on Wonder Woman. Could this work, given that he’s largely been relegated to jokes when he’s not gettin gritty origin reboots?

Looks like it.

He was one of the best things about Justice League. First, it’s Jason Momoa, and I’m quite frankly terrified of ever angering him. I mean, he was Conan. But his first real appearance is proof that he’s enjoying himself in the part while looking like the gritty 1990’s origin reboot version of the character. The underwater sequences look amazing, and I’m really looking forward to him getting a crab sidekick named Sebastian. Too far? Probably. Regardless the trailer itself had a lot of heavy lifting to do, and it succeeds. This one looks amazing.

Obviously, there’s a lot more news that I’m really looking forward to that came out of Comic Con, including The Flash/Legends of Tomorrow/Arrow/Supergirl stuff. I was disappointed to hear that Legends of Tomorrow won’t be included in the crossover taking place in Gotham this year, but I’m sure it will still be a good show.

I was disappointed there was very little representation from Disney, opting to sit out with the latest Avengers stuff (this whole “ooooh, everyone’s dead after Infinity War” is a little old, especially when Spider-Man: Far from Home just started filming.) I was also disappointed there was no Star Wars stuff, because I’d like to hear more about Episode IX, and I really want to hear it after the haters keep on their hating. Really stick it to them. The announcement of Clone Wars coming back was pretty cool. I was also excited to hear about more Buffy! I wish they had more on it than just an announcement, but it looks like it’s in good hands.

From the non-superhero side of things, the Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer looks awesome. They’re just going to keep at this Godzilla thing until they get it right, aren’t they? I mean, they almost have it completely worked out, but the real sweet spot is still Kong: Skull Island, which used the character as a backdrop for some really weird stuff. I hope they keep going there with the really weird stuff.

Looks like we have a lot of good stuff moving forward. I’m looking forward to seeing it, and covering it here, on Bad Shakespeare.