SAN DIEGO – While San Diego prepares for this weekend’s 2014 Comic-Con International, fans of comic books and sci-fi are preparing to find out what they’ll spend the next year whining about.
“I’m hoping they announce something like (Game of Thrones character) Doran Martell being played by James Franco. That’d be terrible and give me tons to complain about,” enthused self-described “fanboy” Calum Jeffries, 34.
With last year’s attendance topping 130,000, this year’s 45th annual Comic-Con will see a record number of impossible to please geeks, screenwriters frustrated no one will buy their original sci-fi screenplay, and cosplayers who want to make sure their sex costumes remain accurate. Attendees will enjoy huge announcements from major film and comic studios, followed by hours of ripping these announcements apart.
Many Comic-Con attendees have spent the past few weeks working up to the massive 4-day moan-fest. Longtime Comic-Con-goer Marie Duplass explained, “The recent leak of the Constantine TV show pilot, and the subsequent online backlash against changes to the character, were a great warm-up for this weekend. As we fans all know, part of loving something is relentlessly picking it apart, and second guessing every single creative decision that is made.”
One of the most highly-anticipated announcements is Marvel Studios expected unveiling of their film slate, extending all the way through 2019. “Maybe they won’t announce a Captain Marvel movie, and people can complain about the lack of female superheroes,” speculates Jake Howlett, writer for online news site GeekSPLOOSH!!! “Or maybe they do announce it, and other fans can complain about Captain Marvel being a token and taking spots away from other more deserving male superheroes – or maybe we could all complain about how they didn’t cast (Battlestar Galactica actress) Katee Sackhoff.”
“There’s really something for everyone.”
With this year’s Comic-Con expected to be bigger than ever, observers predict a 15% uptick in fan complaining and a 23% boost in fan arguments. This should provide fodder for a year’s worth of angry blog posts, Reddit sniping, poorly-lit vlogs, and tweets about how “the new Aquaman is so effing miscast!” This summer’s Comic-Con is expected to keep the nerd-outrage economy humming along nicely until summer 2015, with a possible May Geek-Whine Surge if Avengers: Age of Ultron manages to sht the bed.
Back at the convention, we asked Howlett if anyone was going to San Diego Comic-Con to actually purchase comic books. He paused for a moment before answering, “Why? That’s what ebay’s for.”
