As one of my friends put it, Comic-Con is like Christmas in the summer time, and this year is shaping up to be no different.

Of course the big news was Tom Cruise showing up and delivering what must be one of the most anticipated trailers of all time: Top Gun: Maverick.  From the moment the trailer begins and we hear that iconic bell sound which signifies the Top Gun anthem, the trailer holds you and doesn’t let go.  From the looks of it Maverick is the old guard of fighter pilot in a world which is quickly moving towards drone flight.  We are treated to some fantastic aerial shots (all of which are real and not CGI), and of course a shot of Maverick taking off wearing his iconic helmet, and yes, there is a volleyball scene as well.  Cruise described this movie as a love letter to flying, which, let’s be honest the first one was as well.  Frankly, that’s all I need to hear to be in.

The second film, which I have been waiting for for at least 10 or 12 years returns us to the world of two of my favorite characters of all time: Jay and Silent Bob.  For those of you unfamiliar with the View Askew universe (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Clerks 2) do yourself a favor and go see all of those films (in that order).  Kevin Smith is one of those filmmakers that inspires me to create.  This time around Jay and Silent Bob are on a journey to stop a reboot of a film that is being made of the film they tried to stop getting made in Jay and Silent Bob strike back.  Along the way they meet old an new friends.  This film is going to be loaded with cameos; from the trailer alone we see Craig Robinson, Val Kilmer, Rosario Dawson, Chris Hemsworth, Tommy Chong, Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Lee, Harley-Quinn Smith,  Joe Manganiello, Justin Long and of course Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.  Just a quick warning, this trailer is definitely NSFW (Not safe for work)

And for all of us theater geeks, the good people and Universal bring us the film version of Cats, which boasts an incredible cast and one of the most interesting looks of a musical film adaptation that I have seen.  It will be interesting to see how this film does considering that most I know either love it or hate it.  The cast includes Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Jennifer Hudson, James Cordon, Idris Elba, Rebel Wilson, newcomer Francesca Hayward and Taylor Swift.  The trailer, though, is set to one of the greatest songs ever written, sung by one of the greatest singers ever.  Enjoy!

The final trailer released today is the much anticipated HBO series adaptation of His Dark Materials, which, yes, they tried before to adapt with The Golden Compass.  This adaptation looks a lot darker and a lot more faithful to the book series.  And yes, before you even say it, I know there are shots in here which look much like Harry Potter, but believe me, this ain’t Harry Potter.  The series will air this fall on HBO who is desperately looking for something to fill the void left by Game of Thrones.  This also boasts an impressive cast featuring James McAvoy, Dafne Keen (X-23 from Logan) and Lin Manuel Miranda.