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The con in Comic Con

by Tyler Wilson/Special to the Press
| August 1, 2014 9:00 PM

At a certain point in life, the process of growing up turns into the act of becoming a curmudgeon.

It might seem odd for a 30-year-old to have the personality of a grumpy old fart. Yet there are things I used to like that now bug the nerd right out of me.

Case in point: San Diego Comic Con. The four days in July when all things geeky, crazy and cool about pop culture converges into one place. I've never actually gone to the event, but every year I look forward to the news, videos and merchandise that come out of festivities.

I just don't care anymore. I've had it with all the teases, fake-outs and empty-headed acts of fan service.

The highlights of every Comic Con are the movie studio presentations of upcoming blockbusters, as well as whatever game of one-upmanship played between rivals DC Comics and Marvel. It's often the first time we get to see footage from the next must-see, billion-dollar blockbuster.

This year, of the few things that actually made it out of San Diego and available for online viewing, only the vague drawls of Matthew McConaughey in the space epic "Interstellar" provided any lasting impression.

Sure, Marvel showed a couple scenes from next summer's "Avengers 2," but they weren't released online. And DC served up a few seconds of Superman staring down BAffleckMan. Again, the clip won't be provided to the rest of us.

I understand these companies want to give the fans in attendance something special. Some wait in line for hours just to see a few new seconds of Thor's hammer. And it would be fine if not for the resulting media blitz that splatters the Internet with half-stories, speculation and smug "you-should-have-been-here" boasting.

It's bad enough we are inundated with trailers and commercials that spoil some of the biggest moments of these movies. Now we're not even getting the imagery. Just some schlub on his iPhone tweeting that #HulkSmashesGoldenGateBridge or #UltronIsReallyReallyCoolLooking.

I don't need it. I'll see "Avengers 2" at the appropriate time - when they actually finish making it.

The news out of San Diego this year was also pretty underwhelming. Marvel's big reveal at the end of their panel was they're making "Guardians of the Galaxy 2." Nevermind we all kind of assumed they would, Marvel actually announced this news before their presentation. The stinger merely added an arbitrary release date three years from now. Mark your calendars!

The most glaring omission to me was the lack of news on next year's "Jurassic World." As a longtime aficionado of films featuring dinosaurs eating people, I was hoping to have a brief glimpse at the secretive production. We got nothing, but at least we know there will be a "King Kong" prequel movie to enjoy at some point in the next decade.

The folks behind "Jurassic World" did me a favor. Rather than clamoring over every detail of every second of promotional material, maybe I can just enjoy the film on the release date. Take away all the expectations and anticipation and maybe I can walk out of the theater without a feeling of crushing disappointment.

With my itch for dinosaur carnage officially unscratched, I'm no longer paying attention to San Diego Comic Con. Maybe I'll miss out on photos of Wonder Woman's sleek new costume or news of that time a bunch of famous people stood onstage and said nothing at all. I'll be happy on the porch, enjoying my puzzles and telling those Iron Man-masked neighbor kids to get off my damn lawn.

Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.