Marvel’s much-anticipated Hall H panel kicked off with studio head Kevin Feige, who told moderator Chris Hardwick that they were putting the finishing touches on Thor: The Dark World. As he spoke, the lights suddenly went out, and a sinister voice echoed over the audience, belittling them for “lining up in the sweltering heat for hours” and “huddling in the dark like beasts.” With a flash of light, Tom Hiddleston appeared onstage as Loki and began pacing back and forth, taunting the fans.
“Where are your Avengers now?” he asked the crowd. “Swear loyalty to me, and I will give you what you need!” After a few thunderous chants of “Loki! Loki!” he commanded the audience to feast their eyes on the screen, which began to roll the newest trailer for Thor: The Dark World.
The footage looked much better than the lackluster teaser trailer that began making the rounds earlier this year, and Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor seems to be moving this film away from the CG-heavy aesthetic of the original. There was plenty of ass-kicking, some humor, and a truly shocking moment with Thor reaching out to summon his hammer, only to have his hand severed at the wrist by Loki. Thor: The Dark World opens on November 8, 2013.
Next up, directors Joe and Anthony Russo arrived to introduce Captain America: The Winter Soldier, accompanied by cast members Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Evans. Evans said every time he puts the suit back on, he gets excited because he can’t wait to see what Marvel plans to do next. He also said that Cap’s biggest struggles in the new film are not the advances in technology, but the changes in society and the blurry lines between good and bad.
Johansson says that Black Widow is a major part of the sequel, and to expect plenty of “gritty, down and dirty” fighting. Jackson was enthusiastic about returning to the role of Nick Fury once more, but cautioned that “pretty much everything [he]says is a lie anyway,” and Mackie gushed over his role as The Falcon, saying “I have wings and guns! That’s all I need!”
An extended action sequence was shown, featuring Cap taking down eight or nine guys in a cramped service elevator in incredibly stylish fashion, looking almost like something out of The Raid. This was followed by a montage of action-packed footage, culminating with a shot of Cap’s shield embedded in the ground as a bionic arm descends into the frame to pick it up, then slowly rising to reveal the Winter Soldier himself. Captain America: The Winter Soldier drops on April 4, 2014.
Feige then surprised the audience by introducing James Gunn and the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy, including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, David Bautista, Benicio Del Toro, Lee Pace, Djimon Hounsou, Karen Gillan, and Michael Rooker. Gunn talked about trying to do something different with the film, and saying he’s taking a very careful approach to ensure the best results. Pratt described his character as “kind of a jerk… he had a hard time as a kid and now he goes around space making out with alien girls.”
Bautista talked about fighting to get the role of Drax, and said that he was so overcome with emotion that he broke down crying when he found out that he’d been selected. Gillan shocked the audience by revealing that she had shaved her head for the role of Nebula, reaching up to pull off her wig and then toss it into the crowd. Del Toro admitted that he hadn’t begun shooting yet, so he was actually meeting his castmates for the first time that day.
Gunn said they’d only been shooting for about ten days, but he wanted to bring a rough cut of footage that he’d assembled. The sizzle reel he played for the Hall H audience looked fantastic, and the film seems like it will have plenty of humor, but doesn’t appear to be short on action, either. Guardians of the Galaxy is scheduled for August 1, 2014.
As the cast left the stage, Joss Whedon trotted out to a huge ovation. He told the audience “I don’t really have anything to say, but I do have one thing to add.” The lights went down, and we were treated to a short teaser for Avengers: Age of Ultron, which sent the Hall H crowd into a frenzy to close out the evening.
If you’d like to know more from the panels, check out the video below to watch the entire Marvel Hall H presentation (no film footage, of course).