Comic-Con Freakout Blast-O-Rama!!!! (Pt. 2)

Before I continue my Comic-Con extravaganza, I need to correct a fatal omission about the Thursday movie panels. So, right after the Max Payne panel finishes, the moderator dude was all, "Now we have a special treat for you all...." I was intrigued! So we waited for a few minutes while this guy introduces the mystery guest who turned out to be none other than Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman! He popped in to show us the trailer for his new movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It might be too early to tell, but it looked badass.

Okay, now for the Friday festivities. The big event of the day was the Watchmen panel. We got there pretty early, and still had to wait in a huge freaking line (the lines were amazingly long, but were managed surprisingly well). It ended up being worth it though. Way worth it. Zack Snyder and the entire cast (Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, and Matthew Goode) were there to promote the flick, and Mr. Snyder showed the extended trailer not once, but twice! I think it was during this panel when I realized that the cast's interaction with one another on the panel is a good indicator of whether a movie is going to suck or not. They were all funny and charming (especially that Billy Crudup. He's so hot right now), and it made me way stoked to see the movie next year. After that, we went upstairs to peep on the Joss Whedon panel (mainly for the chance to see Nathan Fillion and Neal Patrick Harris. Joss Whedon's kind of a big nerd). We were late getting in because of all the rabid buffy fans, but they were there promoting their online musical called Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which I have downloaded from iTunes but haven't watched yet.

Upon vacating Ballroom 20 (basically everything cool happens in Ballroom 20 and Hall H. Most of our time was spent walking back and forth between these two rooms), we went back to Hall H to see the Star Wars panel, which had some cool clips from the new videogame Force Unleashed (apparently Darth Vader kills the player's father when the player is a little kid. After sensing a strong presence of the Force with the player, he takes him in as an apprentice unbeknownst to Emperor Palpatine. Why unbeknownst? Because Vader wants to overthrow the mutha' f**kin' emperor, that's why!). Then they showed a few clips from the new Clone Wars movie, which (and I know I'm gonna catch hell for this) kinda, sorta, doesn't look as cool as the one Genndy Tartakovsky did for Cartoon Network already. Still, it was cool to see some new stuff.

After that panel, we caught another installment of Entertainment Weekly's "visionaries" series. This one was equally awesome because it involved filmmakers. The panel included Kevin Smith, Judd Apatow, Zack Snyder, and Frank Miller (yet another deuce-droppingly cool lineup, eh?) Though it was cool to see Frank Miller, he appeared like he didn't want to be there too much (Like, duh. He's making his first movie ever. They shoulda had Guillermo Del Toro. That would have kicked ass). I think the best part of this panel was when Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow made fun of each other, blatantly spurning "PG-13" atmosphere that the convention tried so hard to preserve. This served as a warm up for the next panel, which belonged to Kevin Smith and the cast of his upcoming flick Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Justin Long, Jason Mewes, Traci Lords, Katie Morgan, Ricky Mabe, and producer Scott Mosier). Again, they were damned hilarious, and the clips of the movie were pretty good as well (my personal fave was one where Justin Long makes out with Brandon Routh. Not because I'm a homo or anything, but it was pretty funny to see Superman make out with a Mac). All in all, these two panels kind of made me like Kevin Smith again, despite the shit brick that is Jersey Girl.

I'd go on, but I feel that Saturday and Sunday deserve a post dedicated solely to them. Those were the days when shit got real....

Oh, and we did take many pictures, but they were with Kodak disposables. I apologize for the lack of visual stimulation within my blogs. When I get them developed, I'll throw them up here.