Both San Diego Comic-Con and D23 are right around the corner—in fact, SDCC is in a matter of days. It’s these particular events that are usually home to some massive MCU announcements. The last time Marvel Studios took the Hall H stage at the event was in 2019, when they announced most of the Phase 4 slate.
So what can fans expect this time around? Well, funnily enough, a rumor recently dropped that claimed to have listed all of the announcements Marvel would be making. Among them were how World War Hulk will be a four-part series on Disney+, Wonder Man casting details, a Professor X casting, and far more mind-blowing reveals.
As exciting as all those details were, it now seems two entire bullet points have been disproven, throwing the entire post into question —and audiences can thank Amazon Studios' The Boys for being a part of that.
Comic-Con Rumors Debunked
Recently, a big online rumor gained a lot of traction, which included a long list of announcements to expect coming out of SDCC and D23.
While there are many reveals listed, it seems two of them have now been debunked.
For one, reputable sources have noted that Steven Spielberg is not going to be directing the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. Though, they did mention that Marvel Studios seemingly at least reached out to Spielberg to gauge interest.
The second rumor to be put to rest was that The Boys’ Antony Starr is joining Blade as the villain Dracula.
Jacob Fisher from Discussing Film brought to attention the fact that Starr will be filming The Boys Season 4 in August 2022, which will last for months—Blade starts production in September. Since he is playing Homelander, a key character in the show, the odds of him being able to juggle the two at that point are not very high.
On average, The Boys has taken around six months to film its seasons. So that would mean Starr’s schedule is booked through February of 2023. Blade is likely to have already completed filming at that point, as its production supposedly starts up this coming October.
Steven Weintraub from Collider also commented that "Marvel keeps the con info on super secret lockdown," and how there wouldn't be any real leaks at this point ahead of the panel:
"Love reading all these people that say they know what @MarvelStudios is doing at @Comic-Con. They're all lying. Marvel keeps the con info on super secret lockdown. ESP this far out. As we get closer to next Saturday something could leak but not a week out."
So What Will Happen At Comic-Con?
While the timing doesn’t seem to be right for Antony Starr and Blade, the actor will almost certainly get to play some sort of role in the MCU in the future. His performance in The Boys is not only a fan favorite but one of the most critically claimed aspects of the show.
If he can’t do Dracula, maybe one day he can play Marvel’s Hyperion or Sentry. Any of the dozens of mutants set to be introduced in the coming years are also on the table – Wolverine in particular would also make a great choice.
So, what can fans actually expect when it comes to announcements at Comic-Con and D23? Well, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is guaranteed. It’s also likely that other finished movies like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels will make their presence felt as well. Hopefully, Marvel will be generous and start feeding fans some Fantastic Four info as well.
Marvel’s current project, Thor: Love and Thunder, is now playing worldwide.
