READY FOR LAUNCH

Luis rounds up movies and TV series coming soon, plus a few games and series that went nowhere fast

Every year, you can count on NYCC to be the place where major launches or reveals take place. In years past, you were able to see costumes from upcoming movies (this has been the main photo op for years at the DC booth) sit in the offi ces of major Marvel characters (Netflix recreated Jessica Jones and Matt Murdock’s for the Marvel booth), signings with newly announced casts (DC trots out the cast of their animated adventures every year while Marvel usually counters with the cast of Agents of SHIELD or one of the smaller members of their cinematic universe) or go through interactive experiences for a sneak peek or snippet of information. Here were some of the major launches from 2018:

SHE-RA Netfl ix unveiled the look of the title character for its new series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power with some screens of the animation with a large presence at the Block with a nearly 10-foot tall statue of She-Ra with an accompanying booth where you could order the exclusive fi rst fi gures from Super 7.

AQUAMAN The DC booth was adorned with Aquaman signage as well as having the costumes from the movie on display and a life-size Lego Aquaman in his original costume but with a Jason Momoa head.

DC UNIVERSE The most buzz-worthy thing happening in the DC booth was the launch of their DC Universe app. With the full content library of their past comics releases (with an embargo nine months on newest releases) DC was making a huge push to incentivize convention goers to sign up. There was a signing at the DC booth with the cast of Titans highlighted by Minka Kelly (Dove) of Friday Night Lights fame.

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY Prior to the convention I thought the Netfl ix adaptation of the brilliant Dark Horse Umbrella Academy comic was going to be an animated series. Then during a signing at the DC booth the artist on the series Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (they were there promoting the hardcover edition of their genius Daytripper series) told me about how much fun it was being on the set, to which I immediately asked “the set.” That’s when I realized it was a live action series. The Dark Horse booth contained a photo op to promote the series. Moon and Bá drew White Violin and Spaceboy for me which was the absolute highlight of the show.

At the end of Sunday, when no one was in line, the Netflix booth operator gave up telling him not to pull on the umbrella. He was working it hard. Spaceboy looks like he belongs in a gloriously animated TV series.

Madeline Vega

Donald Faison and BB-8 were also around the booth that Friday, but R2 was the biggest star while were there. Kal wanted to watch Star Wars: Resistance, so Luis has only seen the premiere (and not finished Rebels).

Madeline Vega

THE HORROR

These TV shows and products did not meet great success

Heathers was cancelled long before NYCC. The show is certifiably rotten with "its blunt, misguided attempt at social commentary,"according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Madeline Vega

Looking back, there some tells. Why did Marvel think anyone needed a mobile card game? Other shows NBC promoted with huge ads at NYCC lasted only a season. Midnight, Texas was cancelled shortly after NYCC. Heathers was actually cancelled in June 2020, but Paramount tried re-edited for streaming, so it had nine U.S. episodes instead of 10. And maybe if DC had given Superman a beard in its Primal Age line, Luis would have been more interested in the Target exclusives. They all went away quickly.

Luis had no idea what Battle Lines was when I asked in 2020

Madeline Vega

I caught this ad when scanning video and it made me think of other NBC shows that had giant ads at NYCC but short runs on television

Madeline Vega

The Primal Age line was exclusive to Target, but I don't think Luis ever talked about trying to see or find any of it on shelves

Luis Vega