Thursday, July 20th will mark the start of the 47th annual San Diego Comic-Con International, more commonly known as San Diego Comic-Con or “SDCC”. The convention is a four-day event held every July at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California, which celebrates comics and multi-genre entertainment.

The event was originally founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention in 1970 to primarily showcase comic books and science fiction films, television, and popular arts, SDCC has evolved to feature a larger range across all genres, including horror, anime, manga, toys, card games, video games, animation, web comics, fantasy novels, and cosplay. Exhibitors range from independent artists and publishers to major players in entertainment, including Marvel Entertainment, DC Entertainment, Disney, Nintendo, Capcom, Warner Brothers, Lionsgate, and Twentieth Century Fox.

Ladas & Parry has represented creators, publishers and owners of entertainment properties, including, among others, DC Comics and EC Comics.

Here are some recent Intellectual Property developments that you should know before Comic-Con takes over San Diego and the Internet:

San Diego Comic-Con

• Litigation between the dueling companies behind San Diego Comic-Con and Salt Lake Comic Con over use of the term “comic-con” remains stayed, as per the judge’s order¹.

Star Trek

• Axanar will finally beam down to YouTube after CBS/Paramount Pictures reached a settlement agreement with Axanar Productions to end all ongoing litigation. The Star Trek fan film will remove Star Trek from the title, cut its run time from 90 minutes to two 15-minute films, and follow the Fan Film Guidelines issued in June 2016 ². (Read more)
• Chris Hemsworth was fascinated by the pitch for the follow-up to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond and has signed onto reprise his role as George Kirk, the father of Captain Jim Kirk. The green-lit film will be the fourteenth in the franchise and the fourth reboot film in the “Kelvin Timeline.”

Marvel

• A Manhattan federal judge has given the green light to allow Horizon Comics’ lawsuit against Marvel to proceed, in part, regarding substantial similarity between the Iron Man 3 movie poster featuring Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark and Horizon’s Radix character poster³.
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 rockets past the $500 million mark at the global box office.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy blasted their way into Disney California Adventure on May 27, 2017 with the Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! ride, which replaced Tower of Terror. It became the second Disney attraction to be based on a Marvel property, following Iron Man Experience at Hong Kong Disney in January 2017. Disney has developed rides in their Orlando parks, due to an agreement between Marvel Comics and NBCUniversal (owner of Universal Parks & Resorts) struck prior to Disney’s acquisition of the company in 2012.
• Spider-man: Homecoming swings into theaters on July 7, 2017 as the first solo Spider-man film that will be an official part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a result of the agreement between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures. The deal first allowed the superhero to appear in Captain America: Civil War in 2016.
• “The Defenders” will punch their way onto Netflix on August 18, 2017, marking the first ensemble debut for the company on a streaming platform. The show will feature characters from Daredevil, AKA: Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, including the titular heroes.
• Inhumans invades ABC in September after an IMAX debut as the third series to hit the network for Marvel.
• Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger steps out of the shadows in early 2018 as their first venture with the ABC-owned Freeform network.
• After the success of 2016’s Deadpool film, an adult cartoon will start mouthing off on FXX in 2018.

DC

• June’s Wonder Woman soared at the box office as DC’s last release before Justice League lands in theaters later this year and smashed the box office record for the biggest opening for a female director (Patty Jenkins) in North America with a $103.1 million debut weekend ⁴. Standalone films for Aquaman, Batman, Shazam, Cyborg, and Green Lantern will follow, while film projects for the Flash, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Black Adam are also in development.
• The CW was struck by Black Lightning and picked up the pilot to series. The show will join The Flash, Arrow, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow on the network this fall.
• Krypton is due to touch down on Syfy in late 2017 and will act as a prequel that follows Superman’s grandfather, Seg-El.

Other Notable News

• 2000AD is developing a series based on Judge Dredd with IM Global, the producers of the Karl Urban-led Dredd film that became a cult success in 2012. However, there is no word yet as to whether the Judges will be the law on a television network or streaming service.
• Riverdale continues to blossom on the CW and has been renewed for a second season. The show is based on the popular Archie and Friends comics and related titles.
• Starz showed their faith in American Gods by picking the series up for a second season. The show is based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name.
• Peter Capaldi will be exiting the TARDIS and his role as the Twelfth Doctor on BBC’s Doctor Who after the 2017 Christmas Special. Showrunner Steven Moffat will also exit at the same time as Capaldi. While the BBC has yet to announce which actor will inherit the Sonic Screwdriver as the Thirteenth Doctor, former Doctor Who and Torchwood scribe, Chris Chibnall, will take the reins from Moffat.