Marvel Studios At Hall H: A Comic-Con Recap Of The Biggest News Of 2024
Written by Nik Mohan
Robert Downey Jr. surprising fans at San Diego Comic-Con. Courtesy of JESSE GRANT/GETTY IMAGES FOR DISNEY.
Marvel Studios is back on top and looks to stay there with vastly exciting news for fans at Hall H at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.
Kevin Feige revealed what’s to come for Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe while looking ahead to Phase Six, during Saturday’s big Hall H panel.
Let’s start with the biggest news first: Robert Downey Jr. will return to the MCU, but not as Iron-Man. He’ll star in the next Avengers film ‘Doomsday’ as Victor Von Doom a.k.a Doctor Doom — shocking every fan in attendance and the general film-going public. He’ll also serve as the main villain for ‘Avengers: Secret Wars.’
In 2019, ‘Endgame’ featured the death of Iron Man. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said back then that he had no interest in bringing back the character after Downey’s emotional exit — even though variants of every character now exist in the Marvel ‘multiverse.’
“We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again,” Feige said. “We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.”
The posters for the next two new Avengers films, announced to be directed by the Russo Brothers after their success with ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame.’
Marvel Studios.
‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ was revealed as the movie’s official title as stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach took the stage, also announcing their appearances in the next two Avengers movies.
Courtesy of David Flores.
Pascal commented about how he loves his “new family.”
“I’m extremely excited because those characters are mainstays, are legendary pillars of the Marvel Universe that we’ve never gotten to play with or explore in any significant way apart from [Doctor Strange in the] Multiverse of Madness and a few fun teases before, in the way we’re doing that film,” said Feige. “So, I’m extremely excited.”
Watch the cast talk about their new Marvel project below (EW):
The film’s plot is under wraps, and the cast returned to the UK for filming after their SDCC panel, as production begins Tuesday. The film is slated for July 25, 2025.
Comic-Con 2024 arrives as ‘Deadpool And Wolverine’ has breathed new life into the MCU with a massively acclaimed film and a projected box office of $420M+ globally for opening weekend. This follows from last year when ‘The Marvels’ became the MCU’s lowest opening ever with $110 million.
‘Deadpool And Wolverine’ is on-track to become the first $1 billion live-action film of the year.
Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, and director Shawn Levy hyping up Hall H is epic fashion, yelling “LET’S F*CKING GO!” Courtesy of Getty Images for Disney.
Side news: The upcoming ‘Thunderbolts’ will wrap up this era of Marvel when it premieres May 5, 2025 in theaters.
Giancarlo Esposito announced his casting as Sidewinder in ‘Captain America: Brave New World,’ teasing footage of the upcoming movie ahead of its February 14, 2025 release. Legendary actor Harrison Ford was also in attendance as he plays President Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, replacing the late William Hurt.
Ford spoke to Deadline about “working with the actors who are terrific and really bring a lot to the screen and bring a lot to other actors. I was delighted to work with [Anthony] Mackie and all the other people involved, and I had a really great time making the movie.”
This all comes as Marvel Studios announced its shift of structure — reducing output to two feature films per year.
SDCC has shown Marvel returning massive hype to the franchise and winning over countless fans once again.
On a side note, highest-grossing producer of all-time Kevin Feige has earned a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
Feige’s vision to bring the interconnected storytelling of Marvel comics into live-action filmmaking with the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grossed more than $29 billion worldwide. Regardless of what some may think of the MCU films, Feige has solidified himself as one of the greatest producers of all-time at only 51 years old.
