Comic Con 2012: Fri-Sun

The later half of Comic Con was honestly a bit of a blur. In between the lack of sleep and the massive waiting in lines, the days could easily be condensed into one blog post. Friday and Saturday tend to be the busiest days of the convention, with massive panels in the ballrooms, tons of great costumes, and general shenanigans throughout the entire day. This is starkly contrasted with Sunday, which is extremely laid back and consists mostly of people doing last minute shopping or niche panels to close out the weekend.

Friday was a day mostly spent walking around and getting great pictures of the cosplay (which will be a blog of its own in the near future). I find it important to take a day and not have any plans. Wandering around the convention floor, letting things happen as they do, can lead to some really interesting moments. For this particular year, it was the day I randomly saw the cast of Community getting interviewed on top of the G4 booth, getting Tracy Hickman and Ken Higgens autographs from the DC booth, and landing a few great pieces of swag to take back to my coworkers. The magic of SDCC works in mysterious ways, and it did not disappoint this year.

Saturday, on the other hand, was the major day of planning, as I would wake up at 4:30AM to line up at the line for Hall H. This was my first time entering the room, and I unfortunately did not land the best seat due to misunderstanding the signs regarding certain reserved sections. Still, I was able to see the main screen, and after hours of waiting in line, got to spend most of the day there. The first panel was Django Unchained, which was interesting. I was not particularly interested in the film until Tarantino revealed an 8 minute sizzle reel, which impressed. Following quickly was the panels for End of Watch and the new Silent Hill film. I felt bad for these panels, as they were clearly filler panels (the majority of Hall H was there for what came next. Details in a second), but they did what they could do what was essentially a captive audience. I was actually really intrigued by End of Watch, and genuinely want to see it after previously knowing nothing about this low-budget cop drama.

The main panel for me came next: the 2.5 hour WB/Legendary Pictures panel. The energy before the show was ecstatic, and the room nearly brought the roof down when the curtains next to the main screen started to pull back to reveal a Cinarama experience. Chris Hardwick came out as moderator, and the entire show felt more akin to a rock concert than a convention panel. It was clear from the get-go that WB was going to go all out with this, and one-after-the-other, film teasers and footage was released. The show started off with Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro's giant robots vs. giant monsters film. We saw the first ever trailer for the film before the production goes into media blackout mode until Christmas. It was... intense, to say the least. After months fo buzz, it was great to see what the film was all about, and it looks like it will be great fun.

One of the big two I was looking forward to came next. Working at the studio, I knew we would be revealing it, but no one else in the Hall seemed aware. The screen went black, and the crowd was treated to various scenes of a destroyed city while a narrator recited Oppenheimer's famous speech stating "I am become death, destroyer of worlds." Then, we heard a very famous roar made by a very famous lizard that breathes lasers. The crowd went nuts as we saw the famous lightening-absorbing fins and the title card "GODZILLA" flashed on screen. It was everything I hoped for, especially considering the movie is not even officially in principal photography yet, as far as I'm aware. It was good enough we saw it twice.

The WB portion of the panel was a ton of fun, as well. They wasted no time in bringing out surprise guests WIll Farrel and Zach Galifianakis to promote The Campaign. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard at something live before. The panel barely even mentioned the film and consisted mostly of the two comedians (three if you count Hardwick, who was holding his own quite well) riffing each other or the fans.

Then came the highlight for me: Man of Steel. It was a simple panel, with only Zach Snyder and Henry Cavill there to promote the movie. It was the main film most of us were there to see (that or Iron Man 3 later on). Zach did not waste any time in showing off the first, SDCC-exclusive trailer for the film. It was fantastic in every regard, and very different from what I expected from a Zach Snyder movie. Just the teaser alone was heartfelt, and emphasized Clark Kent's desire to know more about his past, as well as decide what he must do. It was clear from the first images that this was not going to be a movie that was entirely visual flair with no story behind it, which is a criticism many have of Snyder. It was everything I wanted a Superman movie to look and feel like. When the Q&A started, one man was moved to tears to the point he could barely ask his question, so Zach answered by rolling the trailer a second time to give us more time to take in everything. For all the simplicity of having only two men there to talk about a tentpole film, the movie landed in a very, very big way.

Not long after Man of Steel ended, the lights went dark and we began to hear deep voices humming a song over the loudspeaker. Cheers erupted, and we were treated to beautiful artwork from The Hobbit coming into focus on the side screens. We were treated to a very long clip from the production diary before Peter Jackson came out with a few of the cast members, including Sir Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, and Elijah Wood. I have never seen such respect given to a cast before, but Hall H made it clear that there have been few movies to garner there attention as much as this. We watched a 12-minute excerpt from the two films, and the film looks absolutely gorgeous. Almost similar to a moving painting. I could not help but get a little misty-eyed upon seeing such beloved characters back on the screen. I left soon afterwards, greatly happy to have experienced a pnael I am sure to remember for many years to come.

Sunday came and went quickly with one last loop around the convention hall, purchasing a couple of prints to take home with me. The con seemed to have gone quickly this year, though it seemed as though 2011's was only last week. I was extremely happy with everything this year (aside from getting sick after pulling too many early mornings). While I still hope San Diego quickly goes to work on expanding the convention center to fit everyone, I want to continue this every year from here on out. There is no place like Comic Con if you're in love with entertainment arts.