Some people claim that much of the success of Comic-Con is down to the extended childhood of its attendants. To that we say - whatever, grandad. Bring on the toys!
As ever, as well as being a venue for film announcements galore and the launch of the occasional comic book, Comic-Con also saw the debut of hundreds of cool new toys, many of them from recent or upcoming movies like Predators, Kick-Ass,Green Hornet, Tron Legacy and Avatar. Check out the full gallery below, and prepare to awww at the adorable Toy Story Duplo. Yes, now you can get Toy Story Lego for even smaller children, because it's never too early to start that Pixar indoctrination.
There have been a great many weird and wonderful panels at this year’s Comic-Con. Tron Legacy saw an 8,000-strong queue stretching around the block and a crowded auditorium all shouting “De-rez!” at Joe Kosinski. Scott Pilgrim ended with Edgar Wright leading a bunch of fans out of the panel to a screening of the film like some kind of bearded pied piper. Resident Evil: Afterlife even resulted in someone getting stabbed. But none of that (not even the latter, which the surreal sight of a guy in a Harry Potter t-shirt being handcuffed and frog-marched out of the hall by a phalanx of San Diego's finest) could measure up to what has been the most fan-pleasing event of all at this year’s Con.
The Marvel Studios panel kicked off with Joe Johnston’s adaptation of The First Avenger himself, Captain America. The director referenced Raiders of the Lost Ark as an influence for the film (never going to go down badly) and insisted that he wants it to have a modern feel - "We'r...
“In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light!”
The sizzle reel didn’t include a shot of him in his signature emerald costume – after last week’s controversial Entertainment Weekly cover, it’s possible that the CG work is being tweaked – but Ryan Reynolds did treat Comic-Con to a rendition of the Green Lantern oath. He was actually delivering it directly to the cutest child in the known universe, a boy named Connor whom Reynolds also invited backstage with his parents after the panel. The sight of the movie star and the pint-sized Lantern fan flashing their green rings at each other was easily the most adorable sight seen in Hall H this weekend.
The aforementioned reel was a flurry of rapid shots (they really should have shown it twice), including Reynolds’ Hal Jordan spinning directly up into the air, an alleyway brawl that’s concluded ...
If Guillermo del Toro is the undisputed king of Comic-Con’s Hall H, and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are the top jesters, then Jon Favreau is easily the ringmaster.
Or maybe the rockstar, since he arrived to roaring approval and pounding music. Thanking the fans of Hall H for getting behind Iron Man and its sequel, he was quick to raise a cheer by admitting that they’d considered filming Cowboys in 3D, but that he wanted to shoot on film, and that post-converting a movie was, unless you take the time to do it properly, like colourising a black and white film. Gawd bless ‘im for voicing what we’ve all been thinking recently. There was even room for a zinger: “Take the money you save and see it twice!”
And Favs wasn’t alone. He brought out stars Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach out, and even called up writers Rob Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
But there was a bigger surprise on the horizon: ...
There was drama even before the Paul panel began, as, sometime near the end of the Resident Evil panel, there was a stabbing incident, apparently between two con-goers fighting over chairs. Our innocence is broken…
Still, despite a 45-minute delay, the Paul team arrived to brighten our spirits and make us forget about blood-spilling incidents.
Introduced by the panel’s moderator, the cast arrived to righteous applause. But what do you expect when Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are one stage? Greg Mottola (happy), Simon (mellow) Nick, (triumphant), Jason Bateman (sprightly), Bill H (gawky), Sigourney weaver (big cheers), Jeff Tambor (stately), Joe Lo Truglio (State-ly… because he used to be in US comedy troupe The State. Geddit? Oh, nevermind.), Seth Rogen (some mild cheers, though maybe that was due to leftover Hornet animosity).
Simon got proceedings off to a suitably audience-grabbing style by quickly name-dropping Shaun of the Dead (a trick ...
Priest carries with it a certain amount of baggage in that it’s the second collaboration between director Scott Stewart and star Paul Bettany after the angelic/apocalyptic Legion, which was shown off to positive effect at last year’s Comic-Con but ended up a damp squib in reality and at the box office.
But when Stewart was introduced by Stu Levy, the head of Tokyopop comics (the company behind Priest’s hefty, sixteen-volume source material), the crowd was surprisingly positive. The pair were quick to cut the chat and get to the meat- some footage from the film, which is apparently in the middle of a months-long conversion to 3D. And yes, Stewart tried to convince us all that this won’t be another Clash of the Titans.
The teaser revealed the movie to be a rough cross between Mad Max’s dusty future and something out of Dark City. It looks like it could be fun – particularly when you watch Bettany and co-sta...
There is no getting away from it: Guillermo del Toro is one of the true kings of Comic-Con.
Even when he’s the surprise guest (such as Thursday’s Tron Legacy panel), he can command the audience like few other filmmakers, blending raw, funny language with passion and insight into the business. So when the event is focused on a film that the beloved Mexican multi-hyphenate has co-written and produced, it was hardly a surprise that he dominated the time and got the lion’s share of the questions.
Despite the presence of director Troy Nixey (who was introduced as “from Canada, so be gentle”), it was del Toro’s domain. The reaction was nothing less than rapturous as he was announced and arrived on stage to proclaim that he was delighted with the chocolates left waiting for him. “That’s how they attract fat people,” he quipped. “They put f****ng chocolate here and I’m driven.”
Comic-Con Videblogisode 4 "C'mon, you swines, spill - how the HELL did you get rooms in the M******t? I'm guessing the greasing" Thumbsucker Read comment
