
Superhero films ignite Marvel, DC comic fans' rivalry
Whether it's the thrill of seeing the comic book superhero The Thing shout "It's clobbering time!" before throwing a punch or watching Superman and his faithful pup Krypto save the day, fans are heading to cinemas to support their favourite films.
"Well, clearly I'm a Marvel fan," said Danielle Stroski, who was dressed as the shapeshifter character named Mystique from Marvel's X-Men comics, at the San Diego Comic-Con.
"But I have a little white dog at home, so I love me some Superman as well.
"And I know the little white dog is stealing the show for Superman, so it's going to be close, but I've got to go Marvel."
The 42-year-old from California predicted Fantastic Four would outperform Superman at the box office.
DC fan Lito Loza, dressed as Superboy, voiced his support for Superman.
"I've already seen Superman three times, and I'm very, very happy with what James Gunn did with it," he said, referring to the director.
"It makes me feel hopeful."
The filmmakers, meanwhile, encourage fans to support both movies.
"I'm a huge Superman fan. I'm a huge James Gunn fan. I'm thrilled that both of us are coming out this month," Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman told Reuters at the film's London premiere.
"I think we share a lot of similar optimism in our tone and our feeling in the worlds that we're building. And there's room for Superman; there's room for Fantastic Four.
"I'm thrilled. Go see both," he said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Mark Hamill was ready to quit but his wife had other ideas
Meanwhile, actor Ryan Gosling brought all of his Kenergy to the Hall H panel for the highly anticipated 2026 science fiction thriller, Project Hail Mary. Gosling appeared with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, writer Drew Goddard and author Andy Weir, who wrote the book on which the film is based. And they brought their Comic-Con A-game, screening the first five minutes of the film to rapturous applause. In the film, Gosling plays an astronaut named Ryland Grace who wakes up on a spaceship 'with no memory of himself or his mission [and] slowly deduces he is the sole survivor of a crew sent to the Tau Ceti solar system searching for a solution to a catastrophic event on Earth.' Not letting that slide by, Paramount threw down a hefty and hilarious sci-fi gauntlet, teasing an episode planned for the fourth season of their flagship Star Trek title Strange New Worlds, in which the cast and guest characters are all played by puppets. The series will 'boldly explore the puppet-verse,' according to Paramount. A short teaser clip - featuring a puppet-ised Captain Christopher Pike, voiced by actor Anson Mount, was a crowd pleaser in Hall H. (See below for this, and other trailers.) And these puppets will come with real pedigree, created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. An advance screening of an upcoming episode of Strange New Worlds, titled A Space Adventure Hour, was a part-glitchy debut of the show's famous 'holodeck', and part homage of 1950s-style B-movie sci-fi. While the convention itself was missing some of the majors – no Star Wars projects, and no new movies from either Marvel and DC Comics – DC did send Peacemaker star John Cena, who turned up in full costume, and Peacemaker producer (and Superman director) James Gunn. In the series, Cena plays patriotic mercenary Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker, who first appeared in Gunn's 2021 film The Suicide Squad. The significance of the character has amplified since, as Gunn has taken over management of the entire DC Comics film and TV franchise. His debut film reboot, Superman, is one of the year's movie hits. Comic-Con's four-day calendar of panels and appearances included Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood, director Rob Reiner, Outlander star Sam Heughan, Captain America Anthony Mackie, NCIS: Tony & Ziva stars Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, Timothy Olyphant (Alien: Earth), Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride (The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon) and Australian actors Sam Reid, promoting Anne Rice's The Talamasca: The Secret Order, and Ryan Kwanten, promoting Primitive War. American sports executive Jeanie Buss - the president and controlling owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers - also made an appearance on the WOW: Women of Wrestling panel, revealing that as a kid, she was an obsessive fan of both Wonder Woman and Supergirl. (Gunn's new Superman movie, in which Supergirl appears, gets a big thumbs up from her.) And Star Wars creator George Lucas is scheduled to close the convention with a Hall H appearance to unveil the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, an 11-acre campus in LA's Exposition Park, 'dedicated to the art of illustrated stories.' The museum, which will focus on painting, photography, sculpture, illustration, comic art, performance and video, will open in 2026. San Diego Comic-Con was launched in 1970, and is now the world's biggest fan convention. The four-day event is sold out, and is expected to sink more than $US150 million ($230 million) into the local economy. The convention wraps Monday, Sydney time.

The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Mark Hamill was ready to quit but his wife had other ideas
Meanwhile, actor Ryan Gosling brought all of his Kenergy to the Hall H panel for the highly anticipated 2026 science fiction thriller, Project Hail Mary. Gosling appeared with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, writer Drew Goddard and author Andy Weir, who wrote the book on which the film is based. And they brought their Comic-Con A-game, screening the first five minutes of the film to rapturous applause. In the film, Gosling plays an astronaut named Ryland Grace who wakes up on a spaceship 'with no memory of himself or his mission [and] slowly deduces he is the sole survivor of a crew sent to the Tau Ceti solar system searching for a solution to a catastrophic event on Earth.' Not letting that slide by, Paramount threw down a hefty and hilarious sci-fi gauntlet, teasing an episode planned for the fourth season of their flagship Star Trek title Strange New Worlds, in which the cast and guest characters are all played by puppets. The series will 'boldly explore the puppet-verse,' according to Paramount. A short teaser clip - featuring a puppet-ised Captain Christopher Pike, voiced by actor Anson Mount, was a crowd pleaser in Hall H. (See below for this, and other trailers.) And these puppets will come with real pedigree, created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. An advance screening of an upcoming episode of Strange New Worlds, titled A Space Adventure Hour, was a part-glitchy debut of the show's famous 'holodeck', and part homage of 1950s-style B-movie sci-fi. While the convention itself was missing some of the majors – no Star Wars projects, and no new movies from either Marvel and DC Comics – DC did send Peacemaker star John Cena, who turned up in full costume, and Peacemaker producer (and Superman director) James Gunn. In the series, Cena plays patriotic mercenary Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker, who first appeared in Gunn's 2021 film The Suicide Squad. The significance of the character has amplified since, as Gunn has taken over management of the entire DC Comics film and TV franchise. His debut film reboot, Superman, is one of the year's movie hits. Comic-Con's four-day calendar of panels and appearances included Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood, director Rob Reiner, Outlander star Sam Heughan, Captain America Anthony Mackie, NCIS: Tony & Ziva stars Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, Timothy Olyphant (Alien: Earth), Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride (The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon) and Australian actors Sam Reid, promoting Anne Rice's The Talamasca: The Secret Order, and Ryan Kwanten, promoting Primitive War. American sports executive Jeanie Buss - the president and controlling owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers - also made an appearance on the WOW: Women of Wrestling panel, revealing that as a kid, she was an obsessive fan of both Wonder Woman and Supergirl. (Gunn's new Superman movie, in which Supergirl appears, gets a big thumbs up from her.) And Star Wars creator George Lucas is scheduled to close the convention with a Hall H appearance to unveil the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, an 11-acre campus in LA's Exposition Park, 'dedicated to the art of illustrated stories.' The museum, which will focus on painting, photography, sculpture, illustration, comic art, performance and video, will open in 2026. San Diego Comic-Con was launched in 1970, and is now the world's biggest fan convention. The four-day event is sold out, and is expected to sink more than $US150 million ($230 million) into the local economy. The convention wraps Monday, Sydney time.


The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Ryan Gosling and faceless alien wow crowd at Comic-Con
Comic-Con got a lot of Ryan and a little bit of Rocky at a panel on Project Hail Mary, the forthcoming film that's equal parts space adventure, real-science deep-dive, broad comedy and relationship drama. "What's up Hall H!" a giddy Ryan Gosling in a trucker hat and flannel shirt shouted to the crowd of more than 6000 at Comic-Con's biggest venue. Amazon MGM Studios showed the opening five minutes and several other slightly unfinished scenes from the first third of the film, seven months before its planned release. (Spoilers for that section follow). It included an extended glimpse at Rocky, the stone-shaped and faceless alien who becomes Gosling's mission partner as they attempt to save the universe from ecological disaster. Phil Lord, who co-directed the film with Chris Miller, said the relationship between the two beings stuck alone together in space represents the central theme. "If the universe depended on it," Miller said, "can adult men make friends?" Rocky is already a cult favourite for readers of Andy Weir's novel, and is sure to be a future staple of Comic-Con cosplay. Gosling said he got on board immediately after reading Project Hail Mary in manuscript form, and was only partly kidding when he called Weir, who was sitting next to him, "the greatest sci-fi mind of our time". "I knew it would be brilliant, because it's Andy, but nothing could prepare me," Gosling said. "It took me places I'd never been, it showed me things I'd never seen, it was as heartbreaking as it was funny." Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a middle school teacher and underachiever drafted for the mission. The opening five minutes show a gloppy, long-bearded, amnesiac Gosling as he awakes in a pod. He climbs out, confused. He finds other people in pods who are clearly dead. Then he finds a window and learns he's in space. He gives a mealy-mouthed scream of "Where am ?!" The movie represents the return to directing, and return to space, of Lord and Miller for the first time since they were fired and replaced by Ron Howard by Disney and Lucasfilm from 2018's Solo. Like The Martian, the movie goes heavy on the science but takes the messy, kitchen-sink, everything-is-comedy approach Lord and Miller used in films like The Lego Movie. "This movie is not a Mac, it's a PC," Lord said. "It can be beautiful, it just can't be pretty." Comic-Con got a lot of Ryan and a little bit of Rocky at a panel on Project Hail Mary, the forthcoming film that's equal parts space adventure, real-science deep-dive, broad comedy and relationship drama. "What's up Hall H!" a giddy Ryan Gosling in a trucker hat and flannel shirt shouted to the crowd of more than 6000 at Comic-Con's biggest venue. Amazon MGM Studios showed the opening five minutes and several other slightly unfinished scenes from the first third of the film, seven months before its planned release. (Spoilers for that section follow). It included an extended glimpse at Rocky, the stone-shaped and faceless alien who becomes Gosling's mission partner as they attempt to save the universe from ecological disaster. Phil Lord, who co-directed the film with Chris Miller, said the relationship between the two beings stuck alone together in space represents the central theme. "If the universe depended on it," Miller said, "can adult men make friends?" Rocky is already a cult favourite for readers of Andy Weir's novel, and is sure to be a future staple of Comic-Con cosplay. Gosling said he got on board immediately after reading Project Hail Mary in manuscript form, and was only partly kidding when he called Weir, who was sitting next to him, "the greatest sci-fi mind of our time". "I knew it would be brilliant, because it's Andy, but nothing could prepare me," Gosling said. "It took me places I'd never been, it showed me things I'd never seen, it was as heartbreaking as it was funny." Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a middle school teacher and underachiever drafted for the mission. The opening five minutes show a gloppy, long-bearded, amnesiac Gosling as he awakes in a pod. He climbs out, confused. He finds other people in pods who are clearly dead. Then he finds a window and learns he's in space. He gives a mealy-mouthed scream of "Where am ?!" The movie represents the return to directing, and return to space, of Lord and Miller for the first time since they were fired and replaced by Ron Howard by Disney and Lucasfilm from 2018's Solo. Like The Martian, the movie goes heavy on the science but takes the messy, kitchen-sink, everything-is-comedy approach Lord and Miller used in films like The Lego Movie. "This movie is not a Mac, it's a PC," Lord said. "It can be beautiful, it just can't be pretty." Comic-Con got a lot of Ryan and a little bit of Rocky at a panel on Project Hail Mary, the forthcoming film that's equal parts space adventure, real-science deep-dive, broad comedy and relationship drama. "What's up Hall H!" a giddy Ryan Gosling in a trucker hat and flannel shirt shouted to the crowd of more than 6000 at Comic-Con's biggest venue. Amazon MGM Studios showed the opening five minutes and several other slightly unfinished scenes from the first third of the film, seven months before its planned release. (Spoilers for that section follow). It included an extended glimpse at Rocky, the stone-shaped and faceless alien who becomes Gosling's mission partner as they attempt to save the universe from ecological disaster. Phil Lord, who co-directed the film with Chris Miller, said the relationship between the two beings stuck alone together in space represents the central theme. "If the universe depended on it," Miller said, "can adult men make friends?" Rocky is already a cult favourite for readers of Andy Weir's novel, and is sure to be a future staple of Comic-Con cosplay. Gosling said he got on board immediately after reading Project Hail Mary in manuscript form, and was only partly kidding when he called Weir, who was sitting next to him, "the greatest sci-fi mind of our time". "I knew it would be brilliant, because it's Andy, but nothing could prepare me," Gosling said. "It took me places I'd never been, it showed me things I'd never seen, it was as heartbreaking as it was funny." Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a middle school teacher and underachiever drafted for the mission. The opening five minutes show a gloppy, long-bearded, amnesiac Gosling as he awakes in a pod. He climbs out, confused. He finds other people in pods who are clearly dead. Then he finds a window and learns he's in space. He gives a mealy-mouthed scream of "Where am ?!" The movie represents the return to directing, and return to space, of Lord and Miller for the first time since they were fired and replaced by Ron Howard by Disney and Lucasfilm from 2018's Solo. Like The Martian, the movie goes heavy on the science but takes the messy, kitchen-sink, everything-is-comedy approach Lord and Miller used in films like The Lego Movie. "This movie is not a Mac, it's a PC," Lord said. "It can be beautiful, it just can't be pretty."