While I didn’t go to San Diego Comic-Con this year, plenty of my Fifth Estate brethren (as well as Bigfanboy honcho Mark Walters) did, chasing interviews and looking for that one exclusive that would make attending the four days of the largest pop culture gathering in the world worthwhile. Here’s what we found out, as the dust settles and the bruises, blisters and strained ligaments heal up:
1. DC is still chasing Marvel for the lead in which publisher will own the hearts and minds at the box office. While DC started strong with the reveals of Gal Godot as Wonder Woman, and a snippet of the stare-off between Superman and Batman in the 2016 film DAWN OF JUSTICE, the completed sequence of the Avengers getting their collective arises handed to them by Ultron in next year’s AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (which still hasn’t shown up in any form of shakycam footage, amazingly) was mind-shatteringly awesome. Marvel has their ducks lined up with films until the heat death of the universe. DC has BATMAN VS SUPERMAN, then JUSTICE LEAGUE… then we’re not sure.
2. … but DC is kicking ass on the TV side of things. AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. got things cooking in the second half of the season, and AGENT CARTER will get its debut when AGENTS goes on Winter Break. Meanwhile, ARROW is coming off a phenomenal sophomore season, and its spin-off, THE FLASH, will debut on the WB this Fall. CONSTANTINE on NBC looks to be tonally on point – think a supernatural version of HANNIBAL, and you’re on track. Panels for both shows were raucous – put Stephen Amell and John Barrowman on the same stage and watch the swooning start. As much as Marvel owns the movie side of things, DC has it going on through the airwaves.
3. Mike Tyson doesn’t give a damn if you think he’s crazy or not. Adult Swim may have pulled off one of the most amazing shows in its history – and if you know how much I love AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE, THE VENTURE BROTHERS, or SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST, you know I’m impressed. MIKE TYSON MYSTERIES is an animated Tyson – voiced by the big man himself – joined by his crime-solving friends: his adopted Korean daughter, a talking pigeon (voiced by Norm MacDonald) and the ghost of John Chambers the 9th Marquess of Queensbury (the great Jim Rash). It’s just as batshit as it sounds.
4. The biggest surprise may have been SKULL ISLAND. None of the other big players had a real “out of left field” moment that caught fans on their heels quite like Legendary Pictures’ announcement of a prequel to KING KONG. There’s an effects test and release date (November 4, 2016), but that’s about it. No director, cast, or credited script writers announced. Doesn’t matter, man. SKULL ISLAND. Pair that with the GODZILLA 2 news that Rodan, Ghidorah and Mothra would be showing up to wreak havoc, and the first look at Duncan Jones’ take on WARCRAFT, and Legendary might have had the most bang from their Hall H bucks.
5. Adam Savage is the best cosplayer in the universe. A lot of the actors attending SDCC wanted to get a look at the show floor, so they donned costumes to try and walk around without getting absolutely mobbed. Daniel Radcliffe put on a Spider-Man costume. Norman Reedus tried to wear a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man rig, but when he took it off to cool down, the secret was out. No one, however, puts more into a cosplay outfit than Mythbusters’ Adam Savage, who has been working on his environmental suit from ALIEN for the last two years.
One Bonus: there are a lot of great galleries of the cosplayers from SDCC. This collection from Comic Vine is my favorite, so far.
America's Sweetheart. Pixel monkey; media whore; recovering film critic; baseball fanatic; husband; Texan; human. 
