Marvel Tease Their Animated Future [SDCC]
After a couple of year of 'At Home' events, 2022 saw San Diego Comic-Con back in full force. Among the studios returning was Marvel. Their main panel on Saturday night, at which they previewed their upcoming live-action slate, was perhaps the most hotly anticipated event of the whole convention. But before that, they held a dedicated panel to discuss their animated offering.
Following the success of What If..? Marvel Studios is getting into animation in a big way. Lucky attendees got to see materials from several of the currently in production animated series for Disney Plus, and we have learned some tantalising new details.
What If..?
Con-goers got a chance to see an exclusive clip from season two of Marvel's
first animated offering. The clip featured the return of
Captain Carter. Season 2 will stream from Spring 2023, and it was
confirmed that a third season has also been greenlit.
I Am Groot
Marvel previewed the upcoming series of shorts featuring the adorable
Baby Groot. As well as the preview footage, it was also confirmed that
Bradley Cooper would be back voicing Rocket Racoon. The first
five shorts will stream from August 10, with another five set to arrive
sometime later.
Spider-Man: Freshman Year
This series will take us back to the very beginning of Spidey's career- but
this isn't quite the Peter Parker we know. This will be set in an
alternate timeline, which explores how things would have been different if
Norman Osborne had been Peter's mentor rather than Tony Stark.
The panel unveiled a first look at the series visuals, which are intended to
pay tribute to Spidey's early comic book roots. The series will feature appearances from Spidey's gallery of supervillains and other heroes such as Dr Octopuss and Daredevil. It was also announced that
Peter's journey would continue and that Spider-Man Sophomore Year has
also been greenlit. The first season is due in 2024.
Marvel Zombies
This spin-off from What If..? features an alternate universe that has been
overrun by zombies. The series will feature an assorted rag-tag band of alt MCU
characters including Shang-Chi, Kate Bishop, and
Jimmy Woo going up against zombified versions of other MCU heroes, set to include Captain America, Scarlett Witch and more.
X-Men '97
The panel gave attendees a chance to see animatics from this series, which
picks up where the beloved 90s cartoon left off. They also got a chance to
hear the updated version of that classic theme tune. The series will arrive in
autumn 2023, and season 2 has already been greenlit.