LRF COMIC-CON (SEASON 37)

 

LRF Comic-Con returns for Season 37, bringing with it a new wave of casting reveals, exclusive footage, first-look posters, and updates on the studio’s upcoming slate of comic book and comic book-adjacent films. From major superhero franchises to cult properties and genre-bending adaptations, this year’s presentation offers the first major glimpse at some of the biggest projects of the upcoming LRF season. Plus, LRF's resident Comic Book Guy will share his opinions from the Con floor after each panel.


POKEMON

With Pokémon set to open Season 37, directors Matt and Ross Duffer kick off LRF Comic-Con with one final tease for a film that has already had most of its secrets revealed. The brothers admit that there is not much left they can say without spoiling the finished movie, but promise that audiences will not have much longer to wait before finally seeing the world of Pokémon brought to life. Instead, the pair offer a new look at the film by unveiling its official theatrical poster, giving fans one final glimpse at the movie before its Season 37 premiere.

NIGHTWING: BLOODHUNT

Taron Egerton takes the stage to promote Nightwing: Bloodhunt, which marks his third solo outing as Dick Grayson and his eighth appearance overall as the character. Egerton jokes that after this many appearances he has gotten fairly accustomed to Dick Grayson being surrounded by psychopaths, before revealing the newest addition to that list. John Carroll Lynch has joined the film as Professor Pyg, one of the primary villains of Bloodhunt. Lynch walks onto the stage to join Egerton, promising that LRF's version of Pyg loses none of the disturbing qualities that have made the character one of Gotham's more unsettling villains.

Egerton then reveals that Professor Pyg will not be the only threat Nightwing faces, announcing the return of Jean-Claude Van Damme as Slade Wilson / Deathstroke for the first time since Season 30's Deathstroke. Van Damme joins Egerton and Lynch onstage to a huge response from the crowd, teasing that Slade has unfinished business that brings him into Dick Grayson's orbit. Egerton refuses to reveal how the two villains connect, but promises that Bloodhunt will leave Nightwing caught between two very different kinds of killers.

X-FORCE

Jeffrey Dean Morgan takes the stage alone for X-Force, quickly confirming that he will reprise his role as Cable from X-Men: Age of Apocalypse. Morgan describes the film as a rougher, less disciplined corner of LRF’s mutant universe than the traditional X-Men movies, joking that Cable somehow finds himself surrounded by people even more difficult to control than the team he encountered the last time audiences saw him. Morgan then teases that one of those teammates will be making his first appearance anywhere in LRF’s Marvel Universe.

Before Morgan can finish the introduction, Deadpool suddenly walks onto the stage wearing what is very obviously a cheap store-bought Halloween costume rather than the film’s actual suit. Morgan explains that the studio refused to let Andy Samberg wear the real costume outside production, so “this is what they gave him instead.” The masked figure never removes the costume or breaks character, but Morgan repeatedly assures the crowd that it is definitely Samberg underneath as “Deadpool” poses for photographs, interrupts Morgan whenever he tries to speak and generally refuses to leave the stage. Samberg is officially announced as Wade Wilson / Deadpool, marking the character’s long-awaited debut in LRF’s Marvel Universe.

ATLANTIS: THE DEAD KING

Natalia Dyer and Harris Dickinson appear together to unveil the first poster for Atlantis: The Dead King, the third film in LRF’s Atlantis trilogy. Dickinson teases that the new installment pushes Arthur closer than ever toward the traditional comic-book version of Aquaman, promising fans that after two films they will “finally” get to see him wearing a proper Aquaman costume. Dyer reveals that Arthur will not be the only character receiving a superhero upgrade, teasing that Tula’s evolution throughout the trilogy culminates with her becoming Aquagirl. The pair then unveil the film’s official poster, offering the first visual tease of the trilogy’s concluding chapter.

MORTAL KOMBAT III

Patrick Wilson and Ronda Rousey take the stage for Mortal Kombat III, confirming that many of the surviving heroes from the previous films return for the latest installment, including Wilson's Kurtis Stryker and Rousey's Sonya Blade. The pair then introduce Isabel May, who walks out to join them before revealing that she will play Cassie Cage, the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade. Rousey jokes that apparently surviving two Mortal Kombat movies was not enough punishment for Sonya, who now has to watch her daughter enter the fight as well, while May promises that Cassie inherits plenty from both of her parents.

The trio then turn their attention to the film's soundtrack. Wilson notes that music has always been inseparable from Mortal Kombat before revealing that Skrillex's “Reptile Theme” will appear in the film. The lights drop as the track blasts through the venue, giving the crowd its first taste of the film's soundtrack and bringing the Mortal Kombat III presentation to a suitably loud conclusion.

And that's a wrap on the Season 37 LRF COMIC-CON! Season 37 kicks off on September 24th!