Comic-Con is like Christmas for Marvel Nerds! The annual convention in San Diego has been the home of major Marvel Studios announcements since 2007, when Kevin Feige and Robert Downey Jr. brought the first Iron Man to Hall H. Well it’s wonderful to know some things don’t change. And almost 20 years later, the duo has united once more to deliver some jaw dropping bombs to the unsuspecting attendees in Hall H this year.

This year, as they do every year, Marvel Studios brought their A-Game on multiple levels. They brought some heavy hitters in Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. But as with every single one of their panels, the best, and most surprising announcements were saved for the end.

Before diving into the new lineup though, the company did a quick celebration of Deadpool and Wolverine set to a choir singing Maddona’s “Like a Prayer.” The red and yellow robed singers gave way to multiple Deadpool variants walking down the aisles. Once of whom was “Peterpool” aka moderator Rob Delaney.

As Fiege introduced Delaney, the fun kicked off.

Captain America Brave New World

The event began with Captain America: Brave New World. Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tim Blake Nelson took to the stage. Esposito officially revealed he was going to be playing Sidewinder, the head of the Serpent Society. And they showed footage featuring President Ross discussing the celestial Tiamut from Eternals rising from the ocean, and showcased him revealing himself to be Red Hulk to the United States. At which they brought out the legendary Harrison Ford, who “hulked out” on stage to thunderous applause!

Thunderbolts*

Feige and Delaney remained on stage for Thunderbolts* and brought out the full ensemble including director Jake Schreier, and cast members Geraldine Vishwanathan, Lewis Pullman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hannah John-Kamen, Wyatt Russell, Florence Pugh, and Sebastian Stan. When Delaney tried to bring out David Harbour, there was a slight pause, as Harbour surprised everyone by coming out through the aisles dressed in his full Red Guardian outfit, playing up the comedy that he was the only one who dressed up! They still did not reveal what the added asterisk in the title meant.

The footage they revealed showcased Yelena Belova coming home to the Red Guardian. She states she’s been unfulfilled doing odd jobs. She goes to meet the Thunderbolts team who try to kill her. And it sounds like the main plotline of the film will be Yelena and the other targets of the Thunderbolts including Ghost, Bucky, Red Guardian, and US Agent banning together to try to survive the attempted assassinations.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Feige and Delaney then brought out director Matt Shakman to talk about the newly retitled The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Shakman discussed the retro-futuristic vibe of the film, and since shooting hasn’t started, he mentioned he cobbled together a small test reel to showcase what he’s looking to do with the movie. The footage, set to a gorgeous score by announced composer Michael Giacchino, showed the visual aesthetics Shakman is going for, and it looked incredibly promising and hopeful. It looked a lot like Speed Racer in some ways, but a bit better, and showcased reveals for the entire team including Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn).

Feige brought out for the first time, the full cast: Pascal, Kirby, Moss-Bachrach, and Quinn. Completely jet-lagged, but game, the cast discussed how they got involved, and what’s special about joining this Marvel family and the family dynamic of the film. Then as a huge surprise, Feige and Delaney summoned the Fantasticar! Which was literally flown across the stage. It was very cool!

Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars

The panel, of course, concluded with several surprises. Feige officially announced that The Fantastic Four would be part of the next two Avengers films. Then he revealed who will be directing both films, and brought out The Russo Brothers! Joe and Anthony Russo discussed how much they loved their previous MCU work. And that they loved the Secret Wars storyline in the comics, which is why they agreed to come back. However, for the biggest and greatest surprise, they revealed the only way forward with Secret Wars would be if they had a Doctor Doom.

With that, an ensemble of Doctor Doom actors bombarded the stage in full cloaks and masks. They stated that only the greatest actor ever could portray such a complex and incredible role. And they made sure to have that actor reveal himself. A very special Doom-Green cloaked man walked through the center of the parted Doctor Doom collective, removed his mask, and revealed himself to be none other than ROBERT DOWNEY JR.

That’s right! RDJ is making his comeback to the MCU as a variant of Tony Stark that became Doctor Doom! The crowd went wild and started chanting “RDJ.” As Downey stated ominously, “New Mask, Same Task!”

The panel concluded once more with a standing ovation and dropped jaws.

Stay tuned to The Nerds of Color for more Marvel Studios news in the future!