The 10 Biggest Stories From New York Comic Con 2018

Kim Taylor-Foster
TV Movies
TV Movies Comic-Con Comics Riverdale

New York Comic Con 2018 was the biggest yet. Numerous TV shows and movies were showcased at the massive annual celebration of pop culture, giving fans a glimpse at what’s to come, a look back at iconic films or series, and exclusive insights alongside sneak peek footage. But some stories from the event stood out from the rest — this is our pick of the biggest, buzziest reveals from NYCC 2018.

Daredevil Bullseye Reveal

The Daredevil panel announced the show’s worst kept secret — that Bullseye would be the villain in Season 3 — albeit one manipulated by Wilson Fisk. We’ll see Bullseye’s origin story as FBI agent Benjamin Poindexter puts on the red Daredevil suit and starts meting out his own brand of justice. However, it was during our interview with the series cast that we revealed just how much of a threat he will pose to Matt Murdock. Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays Fisk — one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most perturbing villains – had this to say about Bullseye:

“It’s important that Poindexter becomes the worst part of himself. The city needs somebody to hate more than they hate Wilson Fisk.”

Showrunner Erik Oleson,  meanwhile, told us: “I think in this season, we very much needed a physical threat to Matt in addition to the Machiavellian plottings of Wilson Fisk.”

Hellboy — the First Bloody Trailer

Hellboy-Harbour
David Harbour as Hellboy.

Anticipation for Neil Marshall’s Hellboy reboot had just about reached the limit on the scale of expectancy. Then the first trailer dropped at NYCC. And the scale all but busted — for the assembled fans at the Main Stage, at least.

From the very first shots, the film sets out its stall to be a bloodier, way more hellish, R-rated version of the Mike Mignola comic-book creation, compared to Guillermo Del Toro’s 2004 screen adaptation. According to our man who was there, you see David Harbour’s version of Red “pressing his hand cannon to an enemy soldier’s head and blowing his bloody brains right into the camera.”

Harbour described Mike Mignola’s work as “existential horror” so we can presumably expect to see something thoughtful that resonates with viewers, as well as a fair amount of blood and gore. And a sense of humour, of course. Oh, and Milla Jovovich as a badass Hela-esque Nimue the Blood Queen.

Spawning of a Title

Todd McFarlane took to the stage at NYCC to talk about the upcoming Spawn film set to star Jamie Foxx and Jeremy Renner — and revealed it’s yet to get the greenlight. The artist, writer, and Image Comics founder also announced the title he’s gunning for: Spawn… Do You Believe?

Because everyone in this movie is going to be going ‘I don’t even know if this even exists, or if it’s in my head, or if it’s a boogeyman, or if it’s physical’,” says McFarlane.

McFarlane’s Spawn reboot would be “a true, dark, nasty, R-rated superhero” film — but he says that Hollywood is “timid”. However, with special effects maestro and Walking Dead supremo Greg Nicotero on board as well as horror king Jason Blum, the film is looking increasingly like a valid proposition.

Shazam! Captures the Vibe of an ‘80s Classic

Shazam! actor Zachary Levi took part in a Q&A in which he compared the upcoming Shazam! movie — the latest entry in the newly labelled Worlds of DC, due for release in 2019 – to 1980s kids’ classic The Goonies.

“It’s a lot of wish fulfilment and a lot of fun and a lot of heart and a lot of levity,” said Levi. “I don’t know if anyone else felt this way, but when I was watching it [the trailer]… it delighted me. I felt joy. I felt the way that I felt when I was a kid when I was watching The Goonies. There was something very adventure-y about it.”

We first got a taste of what Levi is talking about when the initial trailer dropped earlier this year. The trailer garnered positive comments from fans and critics praising the film’s comedy and tone.

Brace Yourself for a Saucy Take on Sabrina

During the panel for teen-witch reboot The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Chance Perdomo, who plays Sabrina’s pansexual warlock cousin Ambrose in the series, let slip that there would be a full-on orgy in the show’s inaugural season. Kiernan Shipka, who plays Sabrina, added that it was witches only, with no mortals allowed. Recalling shooting the scenes, Perdomo said, “That was fun.”

The Dark Crystal Purists Are in for an Animatronic Treat

In 1982, Jim Henson released The Dark Crystal — a film that relied upon puppeteers and animatronics for its charming, and groundbreaking, look. A 10-part Netflix series based on the original film is currently in production and Lisa Henson, CEO of the Jim Henson Company and Jim Henson’s daughter, dropped into NYCC to chat about the upcoming series. She was joined by director of the series, called The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Louis Leterrier, who ruled out the use of CGI.

“It’s puppets, man. It’s all puppets,” he said.  He went on to clarify that they mostly used old-school technology, but are using a green screen to remove the puppeteers in post-production.

Bane Is Coming to Gotham

Bane-Batman-Break-Back-Injustice
Comic-book Bane breaking poor old Batman's back.

We recently wrote about wanting Bane to pop up in new Arrowverse show, Batwoman. But we’re more than happy to take an appearance in the final season of Gotham instead. Gotham has consistently proven itself to be one of DC’s most successful screen adaptations and its dark but kitschy tone is the perfect place to explore Bane’s villainous personality. Popularised among mainstream audiences by Tom Hardy’s performance in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, Bane will be played in Season 5 of Gotham by Shane West.

Showrunner John Stephens revealed that they’ll focus on his origin story. He said they wanted to “tell the story of how he was before he became Bane,” before adding that they “tied it to Jim’s backstory, in a way that I think is clearly different than canon, but I feel like it is like a tributary that then goes into the canon.”

In the storyline, Bane will fight with Alfred in a take on the classic Knightfall narrative in the comic books. Sean Pertwee, who plays Batman butler Alfred Pennyworth in the series, divulged, however, that it’s his character that gets his back broken rather than the Caped Crusader as per the comics. What a way to close the series.

First Look at Spock in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2

During the panel for Star Trek: Discovery, they wasted no time in giving the audience a glimpse at Season 2 in the form of the first trailer. The trailer contained a host of reveals to get fans excited, but none more so than the glimpse at the end of Ethan Peck’s Spock. We see the young Vulcan wheeled through on a medical bed before he’s injected in the neck and awakens suddenly. It’s especially exciting for the series because Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham – the show’s main character — is Spock’s half-sister.

Riverdale’s New Characters

Ever since Season 2’s shock ending, which saw Archie arrested and thrown in prison, fans have been desperate to find out what Season 3 has in store. And with the Sabrina reboot — which is a property that in the comic books takes place in the same universe — also upon us, there’s been more speculation than ever that things are about to take a supernatural turn in Riverdale.

While we’re still waiting on confirmation of that, we did get news of some new characters about to enter the town. And they’ll be coming in the form of Jughead’s mum and sister — Gladys and Jellybean Jones. Adding to the show’s exceptionally strong older cast, Gladys will be played by Gina Gershon and looks set to shake things up. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa also announced the arrival of comic-book favourite, Evelyn Evernever, while Madchen Amick revealed that her character Alice Cooper will be cosying up to a certain Edgar Evernever — Evelyn’s father and leader of a cult called The Farm.

Good Omens Will Diverge From the Book

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett was always a match made in heaven. When they wrote the novel Good Omens, about an angel and demon teaming up to prevent Armageddon, together in 1990, a cult classic was born.

With the Amazon series based on that book set to air in 2019, Gaiman joined the series cast — Michael Sheen and David Tennant, no less — on stage at NYCC to launch the first trailer and answer a few pressing questions. With showrunner Gaiman revealing that he has “reconfigured” the ending.

“If I did [the book’s] ending, then the book story would end, and you’d still have half an hour of television while people said goodbye to each other,” he said. “Now there is a plot that takes until the final second of the final episode.”

Kim Taylor-Foster
Kim Taylor-Foster is Entertainment Editor for Fandom in the UK. She was raised on an unsteady diet of video nasties and violent action flicks.