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 One of the most high-profile draws of the
annual convention for pop and nerd culture fans, Marvel's
star-studded panel session on Saturday kicked off with "Thor:
Ragnarok," due in theaters in November.
Director Taika Waititi joined stars Chris Hemsworth, Mark
Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston and Cate Blanchett to discuss how the
Norse god has evolved in the film, specifically as he has lost
his power-wielding hammer, is trapped on a planet named Sakaar
and has to fight in a gladiator contest with the Hulk.
"I've played this character five times now ... I got a bit bored
with myself and wanted to make something different," Hemsworth
said.
Comedy weaves through a trailer that shows Thor meeting the Hulk
and filling him in on his status, saying "I'm doing my own thing
now, I'm not really hanging out with the Avengers anymore, it
all got very corporate."
As supervillain Hela (Blanchett) takes over Thor's home planet
of Asgard, he must recruit the help of the superheroes,
including his mischievous brother Loki, to stop Hela and prevent
Ragnarok - the end of the world.
Avid fans, many of whom lined up overnight to get into the
6,500-seat Hall H, gave a rousing standing ovation for the first
footage from 2018's "Black Panther," in which Chadwick Boseman
plays T'Challa, the new king of fictional African nation Wakanda,
who is also a deadly superhero.
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"T'Challa is someone who got his power from the people around him
and his history," director Ryan Coogler said. "History is something
very important to me, my family and African culture."
Scenes showed T'Challa, joined by his spy Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and
warrior Okoyo (Danai Gurira), in slick, explosive fight scenes with
a villain named Ulysses (Andy Serkis,) as well as T'Challa's
ambitious brother Erik (Michael B. Jordan).
Marvel announced that its upcoming female superhero standalone film
"Captain Marvel" starring Brie Larson will take place in the 1990s,
before the events of 2008's "Iron Man" that set Marvel's subsequent
film franchise in motion. The villains will be the alien
shapeshifters called the Skrulls.
It also revealed new additions to its 2018 "Ant-Man and the Wasp"
film, including Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne and Laurence
Fishburne as Dr. Bill Foster.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Richard Pullin)
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