ANAHEIM — Amid the screams of fans, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige was joined by the heroes and villains of the studio’s upcoming phase 2 projects, and unveiled a nice long look at the continuing Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The centerpiece was an early look at “Guardians of the Galaxy,” James Gunn’s sci-fi comedy starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and Bencio Del Toro.
The effects-heavy footage featured a newly-ripped Pratt (“Parks and Recreation”) playing the legend-in-his-own-mind Star-Lord leading his team of intergalactic misfits (indluding the pint-sized Rocket Raccoon and the tree-man Groot) through a series of space-set adventures far removed from the more (relatively) realistic settings of the previous Marvel filmography. It as previously screened at Comic-Con earlier this summer.
But there was no mention of who will provide the voices for Rocket Raccoon or Groot, nor did the footage reveal Close and Del Toro’s characters.
Feige also led fans through a look at the rest of their ambitious upcoming slate, including an extended look at this November’s “Thor: The Dark World.” Co-star Tom Hiddleston was unhand, along with Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins.
In a new clip, Jane Foster (Portman) is transported to Asgard — much to the chagrin of Odin (Hopkins) — where her body may not be able to handle the new environment. Likewise, the new environment may not be able to handle her, as discovered when Odin’s guards try to grab her only to be shocked by a reddish forcefield. What has happened to Jane?
Marvel also presented an eye-popping look at 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” with live appearances by co-stars Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan.
The finished-looking footage included glimpses of co-stars Robert Redford, Stan (as the Winter Soldier), Mackie (as Falcon), plus Marvel movie vets Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson. In one screened scene, Cap takes down a dozen or so assailants in a small, glass-lined elevator.
Another clip, made up of footage both finished and raw, showed Cap and his team stealthily infiltrating a ship, “Metal Gear”-style. All the while, Black Widow (Johansson) teases Cap about his non-existent lovelife. At one point, Cap says he never has weekend plans because the other guys in his barbershop quartet are all dead.
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the newly-wrapped “Winter Soldier” looks more like a high-tech paranoid thriller than the first film’s WWII-era drama.
It opens April, 2014.
Fans hoping to get a glimpse of something new from 2015’s “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” no doubt went home disappointed, as the studio simply revealed the same logo that was first seen at Comic-Con.
HitFix’s Drew McWeeny is also live-blogging the event here.