Culture

Comic-Con Rumors Versus Comic-Con Fact

This year's San Diego Comic-Con has come and gone, and with all the news came a few rumors that either got their start or were debunked at the massive event. 

By Esther Zuckerman
This article is from the archive of our partner .

This year's San Diego Comic-Con has come and gone, and with all the news came a few rumors that either got their start or were debunked at the massive event. Not all of our Comic-Con questions were answered—whither Fantastic Four and Jurassic World?—but here is where we can separate fact from fiction. Or at least assume we can.

Rumor: Joaquin Phoenix will play Doctor Strange. (Or Benedict Cumberbatch.) 

Marvel was expected to make some sort of big announcement at their big Hall H panel Saturday, and rumor had it that the announcement would have something to do with Doctor Strange. Though Benedict Cumberbatch had been rumored to be playing the sorcerer—and had fun joking about said rumors at his Penguins of Madagascar panel—The Wrap reported that Joaquin Phoenix was in discussions for the role on Friday. Alas, when Marvel's panel rolled around the next day there was no news about Doctor Strange, or really any new Marvel projects. That's not to say that The Wrap's report was false, but Phoenix wasn't enough of a done deal to make a Comic-Con stop. The big surprise Marvel revealed was a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel. Not much of surprise.

Fact: We know nothing about Doctor Strange, or any other new Marvel projects aside from Guardians of the Galaxy 2. 

Rumor: The Rock will play a DC Comics characters, and we will know something about further casting for the Justice League. 

The Rock has been alluding to playing a DC character, but, alas, his Comic-Con appearance was made to promote Paramount's Hercules. Warner Bros., meanwhile, offered little new information about their DC projects, but there was some Batman v Superman footage and a shot of Wonder Woman's new look.

Fact: We got to see Wonder Woman's costume. 

Rumor: Sam Raimi is directing The Last of Us movie.

A moment of truth came at  the Screen Gems panel came when Sam Raimi and Neil Druckmann showed up to announced that the beloved video game The Last of Us would be turned into a movie. Reports then started coming out that Raimi would direct, but those were quickly debunked. Raimi, instead, will only be producing. Meanwhile speculation that Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams would play one of the movie's leads was always more tentative. Druckmann said, per reports, that he and Raimi met with Williams, not that she was signed on for the part.

Fact: Sam Raimi is producing The Last of Us movie and has met with Maisie Williams to star. 

Rumor: Joss Whedon killed The Avengers

Following the Marvel panel, Kyle Buchanan of Vulture wrote a post titled: "Did Joss Whedon Just Kill All the Avengers?" The footage that the studio unveiled showed, as Buchanan described, "a battered Tony Stark waking up in some cosmic realm, Captain America's split-in-half shield beside him. As Tony rises, he stares up a set of stairs suspended in space, and he sees that this odd outcropping is covered with the dead bodies of his fellow Avengers." But let's be real. As much as Joss Whedon has a habit of killing off characters, he also has a habit of keeping them alive after they are thought to be dead. Buffy did die twice, after all.

Fact: Come on. There is much money to be made in future Avengers sequels. 

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.