By Jim Frye
It was a big weekend for consumers of pop culture and fan-favorite entertainment, as New York Comic Con went fully virtual this year in an event called the NYCC Metaverse. Participants were able to choose from a variety of panels across the October 8 – 11 event, ranging from movies and streaming series to new TV shows and publishing projects. And Disney did not disappoint, with cast and creators from a variety of TV shows, writers from comic books, and authors from stories from a galaxy far, far away making a big splash all weekend. Here are some of the announcements, videos, and sneak peeks from Disney over the weekend.
Cast of Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. Reveals First Look at Hulu’s New Animated Series
Fans received their first look at Hulu’s upcoming Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. series, starring Patton Oswalt as the titular villain. Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. centers on an egomaniacal supervillain with a really big head and a really little body, who struggles to maintain control of his evil organization and his demanding family. In the series, the megalomaniacal supervillain has long pursued his dream of one day conquering the world. But after years of setbacks and failures fighting the Earth’s mightiest heroes, M.O.D.O.K. has run his evil organization, A.I.M., into the ground. Ousted as A.I.M.’s leader, while also dealing with his crumbling marriage and family life, M.O.D.O.K. is set to confront his greatest challenge yet: a midlife crisis!
The NYCC Metaverse panel included Oswalt, along with voice actors Ben Schwartz who plays M.O.D.O.K.’s son Lou, Melissa Fumero who plays M.O.D.O.K.’s daughter Melissa, Aimee Garcia who plays M.O.D.O.K.’s wife, Jodie, and co-creator Jordan Blum. During the panel, the M.O.D.O.K. team announced a contest where fans could win a chance to appear in the show.
Big Hero 6 The Series
During Disney XD’s Big Hero 6 The Series panel, fans were treated to two sneak-peek video clips of upcoming episodes. In the first clip, Hiro goes to Karmi’s book signing, but a villain interrupts the event and prevents any sparks from happening between the two! This new episode premieres October 12 on Disney XD!
The second clip showcases a musical number that will be featured in the November 11 episode.
Stars Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Jamie Chung, Brooks Wheelan, Khary Payton, and Lucas Neff and executive producers Mark McCorkle, Bob Schooley, and Nick Filippi were all on hand during the panel, moderated by Jeffrey R. Epstein, co-host of the D23 Inside Disney podcast.
MARVEL | X of Swords
During Marvel’s X of Swords panel, host Angélique Roché described the upcoming X of Swords storyline this way: “Guaranteed to bring you unbelievable revelations, memorable new characters, and events of this tale are going to have a lasting impact on the future of the X-Men, forever changing the fate of the franchise’s most prominent characters.” She was joined by the comic book series’ creators, including Marvel Editor Jordan D. White, Tini Howard, Gerry Duggan, Benjamin Percy, and Vita Ayala!
Animaniacs! on Hulu
During New York Comic-Con, Hulu released a clip from the returning animated series, co-produced by Amblin TV and Warner Bros. Animation. It was a throwback to the original Jurassic Park, featuring animated versions of Sam Neill’s Dr. Alan Grant, Laura Dern’s Dr. Ellie Sattler, Jeff Goldblum’s Dr. Ian Malcolm, and even Steven Spielberg, who is returning as executive producer of the series. The series premieres on Hulu on November 20.
Conversation and Behind-the-Scenes Look at Hulu’s New Horror Series Monsterland
Cast members Jonathan Tucker, Taylor Schilling, Kelly Marie Tran, and Mike Colter and creator/showrunner Mary Laws delved into the creative process of Monsterland and shared a look at what happened behind the scenes during the making of the series. All eight episodes of Monsterland premiered Friday, October 2, on Hulu.
Polygon Discovers the Secrets of Star Wars: The High Republic
A new series of books called Star Wars: The High Republic tells the stories of the heroes centuries before the Skywalker saga. Yoda and a council of new Jedi deal with an event known as The Great Disaster. Moderated by Polygon’s comics editor, Susana Polo, the panel featured writers Claudia Gray, Charles Soule, Justina Ireland, Daniel José Older, and Cavan Scott, along with Lucasfilm Publishing executive editor Jennifer Heddle and creative director Michael Siglain. The discussion eventually focused on the weapon of a Jedi—lightsabers. Each author was able to design different lightsabers for the characters they wrote. Fans can watch the panel here
What We Do in the Shadows – Live Panel Discussion with Cast and Producers
Series stars Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, Mark Proksch, and members of the creative team dropped hints for what to expect in Season 3 of the FX series. There will be at least 3-4 new magical creatures this season, one of which will be Hellhounds. In hilarious fashion, the vampires take off on a long road trip—with all the attendant mayhem you might expect. And throughout the season, expect to see Nandor looking for love. At the end of the panel, viewers were shown a commercial for Jackie Daytona’s bar (Lazlo’s) from season 2. Seasons 1 and 2 are now available on FX on Hulu. You can watch the entire panel here
The Ghost and Molly McGee
The cast—Ashly Burch (Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet) and Dana Snyder (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)—along with Creator and Executive Producers Bill Motz and Bob Roth and Executive Producer Steve Loter revealed this cool video clip of the opening theme song, written by Motz, Roth, Allie Feder (Frozen 2), and Mike Kramer (Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures). The Ghost and Molly McGee is scheduled to come to Disney Channel in 2021.
Cast and Creator of Hulu’s Helstrom
Hulu’s new Marvel series Helstrom screened the first 10 minutes of its first episode, featuring Dr. Hastings (June Carryl) and Daimon (Tom Austen). On hand for the panel were showrunner Paul Zbyszewski and cast Austen, Sydney Lemmon, Elizabeth Marvel, Ariana Guerra, Carryl and Alain Uy. All 10 episodes of Helstrom premiere Friday, October 16, on Hulu.
ABC’s Lost Anniversary Fan Q&A with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse
No big announcements here, just nostalgia, as the showrunners of the hit TV series came together for this special one-time event, moderated by Josh Horowitz, and answered fan questions submitted using the #lostinthemetaverse hashtag. “We will answer all of the questions,” said Lindelof, “except for one, which is the outrigger, and that we will take to our graves.” He’s referring to an unresolved mystery from season 5—who was in the outrigger chasing the Lost survivors? Asked about future stories in the Lost franchise, Lindelof said, “I think that stories can be told by anyone. Anyone can take control of the story and make it their own vision. And that would be quite exciting.”
