Who Won Comic Con 2018?
Written by: Terence Johnson, CC2K Staff Writer
Comic Con 2018 is in the books and this year, unlike many others, was a pretty muted affair. With studios such as Marvel, Fox, and HBO not attending, there wasn’t much in the way of Earth-shattering news. However, the convention had its share of highlights, and some lowlights. Though deciding who won and lost a convention seems arbitrary, a lot of business news and trends are generated from Comic Con. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers of the convention.
Winners
Fans of Inclusion
The comics and entertainment industry has a long way to go, but this con emphasized the changes and strides being made to have the art become more diverse. World of Wakanda, centering on two lesbian members of the Dora Milaje, won an Eisner award, Supergirl will be bringing on the first transgender superhero this season, Jason Momoa’s film Aquaman got a lot of praise, in addition to a slew of other wonderful news. It’s great to see diverse art and artists are getting more shine.
Halloween
By far the scariest footage that showed at Comic Con was from the Halloween sequel. Bringing Jamie Lee Curtis to a room full of adoring fans is always great. The panel also gave the Con the most unexpected emotional moment of the convention when a fan shared that he was inspired by her character in Halloween during a home invasion. Watch the wonderful moment below:
Iron Fist
The first season of Iron Fist was a complete dud critically, a lightning rod for controversy and discussions about appropriation, and one of Netflix’s most watched series. The show had nowhere to go but up. They’ve brought in a new stunt coordinator, have given more weight to Misty Knight and Coleen Wing working together, and got a new showrunner who wants to show fans K’un L’un. Mix that in with footage that doesn’t make Finn Jones look completely inept at fighting and you’ve got yourself a win.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars fans/Disney News Enthusiasts
I say fans specifically because not only did they get a pretty well regarded finale, but we also learned during the panel that the show would be coming back with more episodes on the new Disney streaming service, allegedly to be named Disney Direct.
Warner Bros.
As one of the only major Hollywood studios to host a panel this year, Warner Bros. is here by default, but one cannot deny how well received their entire panel was. Everything from giving out special wristbands that lit up during the Fantastic Beasts panel, to Chris Pine’s attire at the Wonder Woman panel went over well with the audience. The footage also delivered, both in the room and on the internet, giving DC fans especially a glimmer of hope that the “Worlds of DC” universe could be saved. You can view all the trailers from the panel here:
Aquaman
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Shazam!
Voltron: Legendary Defender
Fans of the Nextflix series were eager to see what was in store now that the show had righted itself from the malaise it was in. However, none of them, or those who weren’t in the room, were prepared for the seismic event that would be the reveal that Shiro, the Black Paladin and Leader of Voltron, was gay. As shown in the season seven premiere, Shiro has a serious boyfriend named Adam whom he broke up with before going on a mission that was one of the catalysts for the show’s event. Fans went crazy over social media when this was announced, posting memes, inciting ship wars, and above all being happy to have representation in a major show.
Losers
Warner Bros.
You might be wondering how Warner Bros. could also appear in the losers section when they so clearly dominated the Con? It’s when you lack the foresight to see that the optics of bringing both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard to your panel will be met with controversy. Who was in charge of scheduling the guests? It was particularly foolish because Depp didn’t do anything other than come out and make a creepy speech in character. Maybe next time it’s worth paying attention to what’s happened in your stars’ lives.
Venom
When Slashfilm refers to your panel as low energy, you know you haven’t delivered like you should. While hearing about how the movie will be hero free might whet the appetite of the die hard fans, not dropping the new trailer online immediately after the panel is foolish in today’s media climate.
Titans
But maybe Venom was on to something not dropping the trailer, especially after seeing the trailer for Titans and the reactions to it. The gritty take on the character that is popular at the moment because of a cartoon comedy show landed to a slew of mix reviews. Throw in some casual racism over the casting, the look of Starfire, and the general apathy to all things dark and gritty and you have a show known more for its negatives rather than positives.