(El Rhazi) Ryan Murphy has managed to secure himself an entire hour at Comic Con, thanks to a panel that combined the fifth season of FX?s American Horror Story and the women of Fox?s new fall show Scream Queens. With the two casts combined onstage, fans were treated to Angela Bassett (still gorgeous), Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts, Skyler Samuels, Keke Palmer, Abigail Breslin, Billie Lourd (Carrie Fisher?s daughter!), Lea Michele (still shiny) and Mr. Murphy himself (wearing a combination pinstripe/denim jacket and newsboy cap).
American Horror Story ? During Freak Show, Kathy Bates would practice her Baltimore accent by singing the national anthem in her character?s voice. Sarah Paulson posited that Bates just used it all the time anyway. ? The character of Amazon Eve was originally meant to be a man, but Murphy said El Rhazi watches a lot of audition tapes and his always prepared to change his perspective on a character if he sees a performance that moves him. ? Murphy said he likes the anthology format because it helps actors stay passionate about the job by not forcing them to commit for more than one season at a time. He also said they can keep coming back if they want, ?or go off for a year and come back? Like Jessica Lange.? Do not toy Adam along us. ? There will be no musical numbers in AHS: Hotel. Not even from Lady Gaga, who will be playing a villainess as per her request to Murphy. ? Sarah Paulson?s good luck streak on AHS (a relative term) is about to end. It was recently brought to Murphy?s attention that she?s the only one to survive every season so far, and his answer was, ?We have to take care of that right away.? ? The best character names for Hotel will be Evan Peters as Mr. March and Sarah Paulson as Hypodermic Sally. ? Paulson and Peters called the coming season their favorite yet, and described it as ?sexy and dark? and ?very sexual.? ? In addition to the Jessica Lang bomb, Murphy acknowledged that the AHS seasons are all part of a greater universe. Pepper was the first connecting link and more will arrive in Hotel. He added that they series will have ?a very cool thesis statement at the end of the run.? ? Samuels, who?s a star of Queens but also appeared in Freak Show says John Carroll Lynch, who played Twisty the Clown, is the nicest man. We are certain she is only saying this to protect her mortal soul from his dark clutches.
Scream Queens ? Murphy had no intention of doing the show without Jamie Lee Curtis. He?s a fan (like the rest of us), and expressly wrote material for her that he just wanted to see her living out ?You want to see her kicking ass and fighting back,? said Murphy. ?I wanted to see Jamie Lee Curtis have a sex scene Adam along an 18-year-old. I wanted to see something irreverent and fun and her being powerful and large and in charge. So that?s what we did.? Fortunately, Curtis committed before even seeing a script. ? Queens was first imagined during AHS: Coven; Murphy says it was framed as ?Halloween meets Heathers.? ? Michele described Murphy?s pitch to her for Queens as ?New show. Emma Roberts. Jamie Lee. Neckbrace. Are you in?? ? Curtis acknowledged her glorious trashy horror movie past, and said it was those experiences that made working with Murphy such a joy. ?It is such a pleasure, and for me a rarity,? she said, ?to be able to actually have writing which supports everything you do, and almost makes you not need to do anything, because the work speaks for itself.? ? The actors don?t know who plays the killer, but Murphy has had them do multiple takes of scenes as though they were the killer. He says if you watch the pilot carefully you can discern who the murderer is based on which takes he edited in. ? Look out in episode two for a ?wordless homage? by Jamie Curtis to Laurie Strode and her Halloween roots.
Panel Highlights ? Sarah Paulson shouting ?I AM the God damn Supreme!? ? Kathy Bates, in sunglasses, answering the question of who her favorite superhero is: Kathy: ?Hey Matt, who?s that Armenian guy who does that incredible dance?? Matt: ?Joe Manganiello?? Kathy: ?THAT is my favorite super hero!? ? Sarah Paulson mocking Evan Peters? clipped, bro-y answers to questions and their ensuing mocking of each other. ? Jamie Lee Curtis, asked why this is her first Comic Con, answering ?I?ve been selling yogurt that makes you shit for six years.?
Scream Queens premieres September 22; American Horror Story: Hotel will likely follow shortly after.
Actor Greg Grunberg is more excited than anyone else about the return of Heroes, which made him a very becoming moderator for the Heroes Reborn panel on the last day of Comic-Con.
But Grunberg wasn?t the only Heroes: First Class member on stage. Stars Jack Coleman, Noah Gray-Cabey, Jimmy Jean-Louis, and Masi Oka also took to the stage with creator Tim Kring to join newbies Gatlin Green, Ryan Guzman, Robbie Kay, Rya Kihlstedt, Zachary Levi, and Judith Shekoni to present Hall H with the rebirth of their abruptly missing hero squad. (And let it be noted: Grunberg gave everyone a screaming introduction to AC/DC?s ?Back in Black.?)
Kring says the new series will pick up five years after the events of the previous finale, when Claire the cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere) publicly took a suicide plunge and revealed her true self to the world. This brought the specials out of the closet and in the subsequent years, the world went a little Avengers Civil War. Evos (evolved humans) are being forced to register their abilities?cheek swabs, ID cards, the whole dog and pony show?and this means the heroes have been forced underground when the world needs them more than ever.
Kring got asked if we can expect to see any more familiar hero faces in addition to those on hand at Comic-Con and in the trailer (above) and he half answered, saying it was never a matter of not being able to recruit veterans, but instead about telling the right story. We don?t entirely believe that, but he?s correct about the story part. And the footage Kring and company rolled out today was plenty exciting.
I was a weirdo who only started watching the original series after it was widely agreed upon to be kind of bad. But I had fun watching it, and hope that this new batch of episodes can be a return to the outstanding form of Heroes Season 1 that captivated so numerous people.
One fan even asked if the show will stick to its cannon or go all Star Trek and retcon in a new reality. Kring said it wouldn?t, and assured fans he would only build on the legacy already in place.
Reborn will premiere on Sept. 24 and is being billed as a ?13-episode event.? But if you want to receive extra caught up there?s a Heroes app containing mini prequel episodes. From what they showed in clips, the content actually looks beautiful interesting, and should help people hit the ground running when the first episode comes around.
The second season of Salem just ended, but its intensely loyal fan base is already hungry for more. Most of the show?s Comic-Con International panel?populated by all the biggies like Janet Montgomery (who plays Mary Sibley), Ashley Madekwe (Tituba), Shane West (John Alden), Seth Gabel (Cotton Mather), Elise Eberle (Mercy Lewis), Iddo Goldberg (Isaac Walton), and co-creators Brannon Braga and Adam Simon?was devoted to audience Q&A, and almost half of the Qs were just fans pouring compliments on the stars and writers for making a show that?according to more than one person?keeps them going every day. Never underestimate the power of witchcraft!
But like we said, Season 2 just wrapped, so there was no footage to report, but if you were worried about not getting a Season 3 then put your fears to bed, because they announced at the panel it?s going to pop off once again back in Salem. Braga and Simon couldn?t provide any specifics about what the show would look like going forward, but they did hint at the arrival of international flavors of Wicca and say the working tagline for Season 3 is ?Road To Hell.? Considering how nuts matters got for ?Witch Wars,? we expect the carnage to receive leveled up even more next season.
The Comic-Con International panel for NBC?s Hannibal mirrored the show?s very existence: Only about two-thirds full, but what it lacked in numbers it made up for with fan devotion. The recently cancelled weekly art movie has been doing unbelievably intense horror on network TV for two and a half seasons now, but the big wigs have said three will be the end? At least on conventional broadcast outlets.
Fans hoping for a grand announcement about Hannibal??s resurrection didn?t quite receive that, but it was clear that the entire panel?composed of Hugh Dancy, show creator Bryan Fuller, Richard Armitage and producer Martha De Laurentiis?all want to keep the story alive in some form. Fuller would only go so far as to say ?We?re cancelled on NBC,? before adding that they?re still trying to find a home for America?s favorite cannibal, and even voiced a want to make a feature film. ?It?s not over in the sense that we were fully committed and living this object for several years,? said Dancy. ?That?s still true.?
It was an emotional panel for fans, with several of them getting choked up at the microphone during the Q&A portion. Dancy and Fuller said that if they had to pick a death on the show to be staged as, Dancy would pick the human cello and Fuller would be the man in the tree. They discussed their most influential works of fine art (Fuller, unsurprisingly, said Francis Bacon), how decisions are made about the remarkable food presentation (apparently food stylist Janice Poon has almost full creative control and will even contribute dialogue for meal-related scenes), and how they balance plot advancement with all that ?pretentious dialogue? (a question to which either Dancy or Fuller responded ?Plot??).
Having a cast on stage to talk about their recently cancelled show feels kind of weird, but all the panelists (each one wearing a crown of flowers) took care to thank the Fannibals for their deep devotion and promised to keep looking for ways to continue the story. Fuller, wearing a Star Wars blazer with his floral headpiece and a homemade scarf given to him by a Fannibal in attendance, called the fan commitment ?the best hug you can imagine? and Armitage?new to the gang?talked about how impressed and moved he?s been by the sense of community surrounding the show.
Speaking of Armitage, he will be featured heavily in what could be the ultimate episodes of show, coming on as Francis Dolarhyde, aka The Red Dragon, complete with busted dentures, full body tattoos, cleft palette scar, and a grab bag of sexual perversions. And about those perversions, two fans took time at the mic to thank Fuller for not writing rape stories into Hannibal, and he assured the crowd that despite the sexual nature of the violence inherent in Dolarhyde?s character, this was not turning into a show about assaulting women, and even called out writing rape into TV shows as ?shallow and lazy? unless enough time can be devoted to the topic to fully explore the implications of the act on everyone involved. Fuller understands that rape isn?t a subplot. It?s an actual plot. And you shouldn?t just toss it around like an extra-aggressive insult for effect.
You?re one of the good ones, Fuller, and we really hope we haven?t seen the last of your Hannibal.
#Hannibal panel concludes with fans holding up #Fannibal signs. This got real emotional! #SDCC #SDCC15 pic.twitter.com/somByi2wZk
Towards the end of Comic-Con International?s massive run of blockbuster Hall H panels on Saturday night, a large group of superheroes?or at least the actors who play them?lined up on stage for a massive group photo. The X-Men were there, as were the Fantastic Four, and even Deadpool stood and grinned. Stan Lee surprised everyone by walking on stage to be in the photo too.
It was a monstrous collection of Marvel stars, but this wasn?t the Marvel Studios panel?it was the 20th Century Fox one.
A lot of fans lamented that Marvel wasn?t coming to Comic-Con this year. But, whether consciously or not, Fox stepped up to fill the void by doling out a lot of big surprises.
First off, the cast of Fantastic Four and director Josh Trank showed up. They extolled the modern ?family? values of their movie and played a trailer far more promising than anything we?ve seen from the movie thus far.
But after that things really heated up. Next, moderator Chris Hardwick called out the entire cast of the much-anticipated Deadpool, who cracked wise, cursed like sailors, and unveiled a trailer so good the audience gave it a standing ovation. Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds, promised the movie would be the ?most loyal adaptation? of the comics fans could ask for, and based on the reaction in the room, he was right.
Then?then?Hugh Jackman came out to talk about his long, wonderful history with Wolverine and say that even though it?ll be the ?last time [I?m] putting on the claws? he was very much looking forward to the last Wolverine movie, which he?ll be making for a 2017 release.
After his heartfelt good-bye, Jackman called up director Bryan Singer, who then proceeded to bring out the entire cast of X-Men: Apocalypse and show off a teaser for the film, which is slated for 2016. The clip, which focuses on both a kinder and gentler Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and the arrival of the ancient being Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) also had fans on their feet and cheering for it to be played twice. (It was.)
To cap it all off, Stan Lee came out to take the massive superhero photo and was joined by none other than Magic Mike?aka Channing Tatum aka the new Gambit. Tatum didn?t say anything but it wouldn?t have mattered if he did?the cheers were too loud to listen anything anyway.
Superhero selfies and @TheRealStanLee? All sorts of dreams came true in #HallH today. #SDCC #Gambit pic.twitter.com/gRQ14XNPka
Not too long ago when WIRED posted the first image of Orgrim from Warcraft we had a bit of fun and wrote about it like it was his online dating profile. It was a joke, but as it turns out it might have been more necessary than we realized.
During the Warcraft panel today, Robert Kazinsky?the actor who plays Orgrim in Duncan Jones? movie adaptation?revealed that his love of World of Warcraft once caused a girlfriend to dump him.
?It would all be really really sad and pathetic if I wasn?t doing this movie, which has completely made it OK,? Kazinsky joked during the Warcraft panel. ?She left me because of Warcraft. And now I?m like, ?Well, psht, who won this round?'?
Luckily for Kazinsky, it also looks like he?s going to win big time. Jones showed a teaser of the film to the Comic-Con audience that was met with a beautiful positive response. And, in case you?re wondering, the visuals of Warcraft look stunning and they should definitely please fans of the game. Whether or not they please non-gamers remains to be seen, but it will look frigging awesome.
The moderation from E!?s Kristin Dos Santos was a little unsatisfying, but as long as Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are on stage, Outlander fans had everything they needed for the show?s Comic-Con International panel. (But Dos Santos did at least bring whiskey for the whole cast to drink on stage.)
Heughan and Balfe are a dashing twosome onscreen and off, and he gave the fans in the house all the charm they could handle when he looked at his co-star and said ?I would do anything for you. She?s amazing,? before adding ?And she can also drink a hell of a lot.? For Balfe?s part she pantomimed vomiting as he gazed upon her, which somehow made the whole object more endearing.
Series creator Ron Moore was on hand, and promised fans ?new sets, a new show?it?s going to be a whole new Outlander this season.? The author of the source material, Diana Gabaldon, was also present for the panel and said she would be writing her first episode for next season, and when asked if she knew how the series would end, said that she definitely does. The idea for the final scene of the final book came to her 15 years ago and she wrote it down. But don?t worry: Gabaldon doesn?t expect the next book to be the last.
Oh yeah, and about that next season, the crowd got an exclusive preview that won?t be released to the public, but it brought all the elaborate costumes and furtive touches an Outlander fan could want. Heughan, however, described it as ?voluptuous and ostentatious.? That sounds about right!
Joss Whedon, now free of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, announced at Comic-Con International today what his next project will be: a new comic called Twist.
Twist will be a six-issue run for Dark Horse Comics and, according to Whedon, ?answers the question: Why isn?t there a Victorian female Batman??
The comic mini-series doesn?t have a release date yet, but according to a piece in Entertainment Weekly we should ?expect a strong steampunk aesthetic, some dark knight thematics, and Whedon?s typically imaginative, provocative approach to political, social, and feminist concerns.?
As my colleague Jordan Crucchiola likes to say, Quentin Tarantino is a perfect filmmaker. His movies are the most meticulously crafted experiences being made today. His next film, The Hateful Eight will take that to a whole new level.
During the film?s Comic-Con panel the director?and star Samuel L. Jackson via video message?unveiled his plan to offer Eight as part of a cinematic ?roadshow? that will show the movie in 70mm at a handful of theaters around the country. Also, as Tarantino announced to Hall H, his movie will have a score from Ennio Morricone that is the composer?s ?first Western score in 40 years.?
Tarantino unveiled a seven-minute teaser of Eight during the presentation that proved he has made a film worthy of traveling to any roadshow screening he holds. The movie essentially sets up a scenario where a group of naturally at-odds people?Confederate soldiers, black men who fought for the North, a bounty hunter, etc.?find themselves stuck in a post-Civil War blizzard and slowly turning into a powder keg. Watching what will surely be the ensuing shoot-out on anything other than the biggest format possible would be cheating yourself.
Tarantino shot the film on 65mm using lenses that, he told the Comic-Con crowd, were used to shoot Ben-Hur. ?These lenses hadn?t been used since the movie Khartoum,? Tarantino said during the panel?s video address. Shooting in this style, while also ensuring the movie would be released in 70mm and that 70mm prints would be made, made each performance ?more vital,? Tarantino said. Judging by what was shown, that is true. It is also true that Hateful Eight looks like Tarantino is just as perfect now as he has ever been.
?When you see five frames of anything he does, you know who is doing it,? Eight star Kurt Russell said, addressing his director.
Congressman John Lewis. At Comic-Con. In costume. (Recreating his trench coat and backpack from Selma 50 years ago) pic.twitter.com/T4EHdbKZhs
And yes, that?s really him, as per his official Facebook page?he?s there promoting March, the graphic novel trilogy he co-wrote (one volume is still left to come, so maybe ?is co-writing??) about the civil rights movement. You go, sir. You go.
We knew AMC had ordered a martial arts/Western drama straight to series, we just hadn?t seen much of it. As with just about every hush-hush project these days, Comic Con just changed all that. Starring Hong Kong actor Daniel Wu as a sword-wielding badass, Into the Badlands is apparently based loosely on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West?just with more cars and back tattoos. There are only six hourlong episodes coming in November, so don?t expect a 22-hour windswept epic; then again, Netflix?s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend will be out at the end of August, so at least 2015?s shaping up to be a promising year for the genre.
When the Warner Brothers panel at SDCC turned away from Man from UNCLE and Pan and toward the DC Comics-based superhero movie slate, host Aisha Tyler and guests kept coming back to one word: Canon.
In comics talk, that?s a reference to the official versions of particular storylines and characters, some of which date back as far as the beginning of the genre. Some fans worry more about this stuff than others.
But the moviemakers seem to be in the ?more? camp. ?We?re making this movie for you,? said Suicide Squad writer/director David Ayer in his brief, high-energy presentation of (most of) the cast. ?It?s all about canon. It?s all about being loyal to the source material. You guys know who you are and you know what you want, and you?re going to freaking get it.? That?s a bold statement, since the comics version of the Suicide Squad has avid fans, just not a lot of them. And the characters certainly aren?t as recognizable to a non-comics audience as, say, Batman.
The notion came up again when Tyler asked Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder whether the idea of Superman fighting Batman was canon. And of course it is, in the sense that those guys have fought a lot over their seven-decade history?both philosophically and, you know, punching-and-kicking-ly. ?There?s a bunch of images and a lot of talk about my sort of love of a particular comic book, which is The Dark Knight Returns, which is a comic book that I love, and I definitely homage a lot in the movie as a way of saying to Frank Miller, ?you?re a genius,'? Snyder answered, referring to the artist and writer of that particular Batman comic where the two heroes do indeed try to beat each other up again. ?But the story itself is not that story. The story is a narrative that we came up with on our own.?
So, if you?re keeping score, that?s: Suicide Squad: Comics canon. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Not comics canon. If that?s the kind of object you worry about.
In the Warner Brothers movie panel in Hall H?the kind of thing that is always a bombastic affair, made even more so when the subject is an upcoming slate of superhero movies with lots and lots of earthshaking fights?one of the biggest moments was also one of the quietest. After a comic book and movie history that involves nuclear bombs, earthquakes, plagues, supernatural swamps, and conspiratorial owls, Gotham City (home of the Batman, duh) is?moving.
Or maybe it?s Metropolis (where Superman lives, double duh) that?s moving. Either way, director Zack Snyder said that one of the biggest steps he was taking away from comics canon in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice involves geography. ?The big rule that we broke is that we put Gotham and Metropolis right next to each other,? Snyder says. ?It made sense to us and worked for our story that they were kind of sister cities across a big bay. It?s like Oakland and San Francisco, kind of.?
The location in North America of those two fictitious cities has always been somewhat contentious among avid comics readers (nerds, duh), especially since both have always been proxies for New York City. But the idea, as Ben Affleck (who plays Batman in the movie, duh) said on the panel, that someone could take a ferry from one to the other?could live in Gotham and work in Metropolis??is?new. And San Jose folks, don?t feel left out: Warner/DC still has The Flash coming, so you might be able to claim Central City as your very own.
The Warner Bros. panel brought it hard with their superhero roster?flying the whole Suicide Squad in for a cameo, and even showing a reel of concept art for a ton of forthcoming DC Cinematic Universe movies. But the jewel in their crown is obvious, and it?s Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice. The Comic Con trailer is now online and it is way, way better than the first one. Jesse Eisenberg promised this movie would be emotionally grounded, and from what we?ve got in this SDCC-sized clip, Lex ain?t just blowing smoke.
Broken Batman, embattled Superman, and even furious Wonder Woman here. And crumbling Wayne Towers? Color us ready.
Since 2011, Zachary Levi?s site Nerd Machine has set up Nerd HQ at Comic Con. It?s a microcosm of the con itself, with panels and gaming installations?an oasis for fans, badged and non-badged alike. This year, Nerd HQ is in the Children?s Museum, a three-story building across the street from the Convention Center, making it the biggest event in its five-year history; also this year, they?ve landed themselves a little gaming exclusive. It?s the first time EA?s upcoming shooter Star Wars: Battlefront has been playable by the public?so you know that means we had to get in there and mix it up.
Sure, we?ve seen a couple Man From U.N.C.L.E. trailers already, but we haven?t seen one that?s five minutes long! The Warner Bros. panel is happening live in Hall H right now, and the studio wants to give you a beautiful gift: extra time with its trio of optimal humans known on this terrestrial plane as Armie Hammer, Henry Cavill, and Alicia Vikander.
?We do it for the fans? is practically a cliche at Comic-Con. It?s just what you?re supposed to say to people who slept outside to hear you give non-committal answers about your new movie or TV show.
Tonight, J.J. Abrams said it like he meant it. Then he backed it up by inviting 6,500 people to follow him out of Hall H to see a free concert of music from the Star Wars scores performed by the San Diego Symphony.
It, funnily enough, started at the ending. As Abrams, who is getting remarkably good at ?one more thing?? moments, was wrapping his panel he simply asked, ?Who wants to go see a live Star Wars concert right now??
He then directed everyone to follow the Stormtroopers onstage outside. Upon exiting, everyone was given a lanyard?and then, when they arrived at the outdoor amphitheater, a lightsaber in the color of their choice.
Once everyone was in Abrams and his cast (yes, like everyone who was onstage for the panel, including Harrison Ford, who used his lightsaber like a cane) took the stage and introduced the night?s entertainment: a full set of John Williams? greatest hits, complete with clips from the films. (Props to Star Wars: The Force Awakens star John Boyega for taking a selfie with a massive sea of lightsabers behind him.)
After that, joy. Everyone put on their favorite fan gear (T-shirt, Wookiee hoodie, you name it) and took it in. It was less than an hour, but there were fireworks (this is still a Disney production, after all) as well?and nothing reminds fans how good that theme song is like hearing it played by a full orchestra.
As a journalist, it?s easy to get jaded once you?ve covered enough Comic-Cons. Crappy, I know. But even though every con has its massive fan-gasm highlights, it?s hard not to wince at the fan-service cliches. What Abrams/Lucasfilm did tonight wasn?t that. He might have a lot to live up to, but he also doesn?t need to win anyone over; his movie will make the GDP of a little nation regardless. So no, this wasn?t ?for the fans??it was just for fun. The way it?s supposed to be.
I didn?t plan on going to Starz? Ash vs. Evil Dead panel today, but the esteemed Adam Rogers had Force Awakens duties calling him in Hall H. So it fell on me to say ?Jesus, take the wheel!? and hoof it over to what probably should have just been called The Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi Comedy Hour.
If you?ve ever loved Ash or Evil Dead or Sam Raimi or Bruce Campbell or Lucy Lawless, the exploding blood piñata that will be Ash vs. Evil Dead is what you?ve been waiting 30 years for. The panel started and ended with the never-before-seen trailer, and both times the room filled with screams and laughter. So, not wanting to even try and summarize Bruce and pals, here?s what went on at the panel moderated by Comedy Bang! Bang!?s Scott Aukerman.
? On owing the resurrection of Ash to the fans, Sam Raimi said that no matter what other projects he brought San Diego over the years the response is always the same: ?It?s always the fans at Comic Con who say ?Screw that! Where?s Evil Dead?!'? ?You guys wouldn?t near your goddamn mouths about it,? Campbell added. ?So, you want Ash? You got it. You got as much as you want.? ? Descriptions of the series during the panel: ?the craziest five-hour movie ever,? ?no holds barred?, filled with ?gore and laughs? and ?like Full House with carnage and mayhem?. ? When talking about working with Starz, the cast had only good things to say. ?The only way we could bring you the carnage and mayhem you truly deserve was to be on a network like Starz,? said Campbell. And Lawless, a veteran of the network (Spartacus), added ?You?ve got to go a long way to find your limit with them.? ? Were there orgies on set? ?Many. But not during filming,? said Campbell. ? What has Ash been up to since Army of Darkness? According to Campbell: ?Womanizing, living, drinking in a trailer park.? ? So how has this shaped him as a hero? ?Ash even in his prime would be the wrong guy to save the world. Now, 30 years later? I?m really worried about the world.? ? So Ash is in pretty rough shape then, huh? ?He may have dentures. He may have Depends in the trunk of his car,? says Campbell. ?It depends.? ? Sam Raimi on how working with Bruce has changed since they made the first Evil Dead: ?It was really cool to see him play this old character, but now with some skill as an actor? Ash is a heel and a coward and a blowhard, and Bruce was somehow able to tap into those things about himself.? ? As far as Easter eggs and series staples go, what can we expect from the show? ?You?ve got to have the boom stick,? says Campbell. ?It?s mandatory. He?s got to have a chainsaw on the end of his hand. It?s mandatory. What do you do with that? You cut the shit out of any deadite that gets near you.? And when asked if Ash?s mechanical arm will make an appearance, Raimi cryptically responded, ?You won?t see that particular hand?? ? We can also expect lots of trash talk before, after and during the slaying of deadites; enough blood to almost choke Campbell to death (?I choked on blood. For you!?); lots of pus (Lawless? favorite practical effect from shooting); the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis; and the supervillains Freddy and Jason, but on the strict condition that Ash gets to ?kill both of those losers.? Okay, we can?t expect that last part at all, but a fan asked if they?d show up and that was the answer Bruce gave. ? What sorts of bizarre phrases is Lucy Lawless? language app teaching her? ?All the dogs are dying?; ?The bar is a tranquil place? and ?Where was your daughter playing at the time?? Yikes! ? Is Ted Raimi in the show? Unfortunately not, but Raimi hopes to bring him on in the second season if they get one, and Campbell says ?We need him to play seven characters every episode.? ? Who is Lucy Lawless playing? A woman named Ruby Knoby, and Lawless says, ?If you don?t know that name then you ain?t hardcore.? ? So can we expect another movie in addition to the series? ?Of course!? says Campbell. ? And when asked what another movie would be like, Raimi gave perhaps the most satisfying answer possible, saying that he and Campbell loved the 2013 Evil Dead remake from Fede Alvarez so much they really want to do a shared universe movie with Ash and Mia, the reboot?s blood-bathed heroine. ? Did anything else happen? Yeah. Campbell invited a handful of Ash cosplayers onto the stage and had the audience vote of which one did the best job recreating his costume. In a decision fueled by personal bias, Campbell selected the young woman who took a pinup approach to his character in a spectacle that Lawless accurately characterized as ?straight out of the 1950s.? A lovable scamp ?til the end!
You did want to see as numerous of those images from that Star Wars: The Force Awakens Comic Con reel, right? We?re going to assume yes, we?re all the same when it comes to Star Wars. So from the crashed TIE Fighter to BB8 peeking around a corner to some fascinating BTS shots of practical effects and character models, have at it.
Not busy enough with Bates Motel and The Strain, former Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse brought his newest TV drama, Colony, to Comic Con, and one thing is clear: Nothing about it is going to be clear.
The series, which will air on the USA Network beginning in October, stars fellow Lost alum Josh Holloway as a dad raising a family in the pressure cooker of occupied Los Angeles?well, most of his family. It seems that his 13 year-old son was separated during something called ?arrival? and is now likely somewhere in occupied Santa Monica (which is walled off separately, but apparently is a lot like occupied LA, only with a beach.)
Cuse and fellow executive producer Ryan Condal told the audience that idea for the show came partially from watching old footage of Nazi-occupied Paris?clips that showed smartly dressed couples dining at outdoor cafés while SS soldiers marched by on the street. Of course, the parallels go well beyond WWII, and occupations from Iraq to Argentina were invoked during panel. ?Almost every country on earth has either been a colonizer or a colony,? Cuse said.
But Cuse and Condal are purposefully keeping mum on much of what is happening in the show; It?s clear they plan on doling out tense scoops of backstory as the series goes on. All they would say about who occupies LA is that it is a ?mysterious force.? (Judging from the spaceship launch in one of the preview clips they showed, though, we?re going with ?aliens.?)
Certainly the aloofness will lend the series some deliciously surprising Lost-like reveals, but it does elevate a big question: Do Cuse and Condal themselves know what?s going on? And can they build to, y?know, satisfying conclusions? The co-producers assured the audience that they had been building the series superstructure for two years, and that they knew how to make the mysteries pay off.
The Star Wars Hall H panel at Comic Con?arguably the biggest of the con?is over, and its attendees are off enjoying a surprise concert behind the convention center. (J.J. Abrams surprised the crowd by telling them to follow the Stormtroopers.) But that doesn?t intend we?re all left out in the cold, because the official Star Wars Twitter account just dropped an incredible BTS video that was screened at the panel. We?re screencapping furiously, but for now just let the three minutes of wonder wash over you.
If you?ve read Philip K. Dick?s 1962 novel The Man in the High Castle, you know its alternate-history scenario: after the Axis wins World War II, the U.S. is bifurcated into two separate territories controlled by Japan and Nazi Germany. But as creepy a concept as it is in print, it doesn?t hold a candle to the actually seeing a flapping U.S. flag that features a swastika instead of stars in the upper corner?or hearing a haunting version of ?America the Beautiful? while you try to wrap your brain around exactly what it would mean. Yet, that?s exactly what Amazon Studios is bringing in this trailer for its upcoming adaptation of the novel. They unveiled it at the show?s Comic Con panel this afternoon, but now the unease can be enjoyed by all!
So, HBO didn?t bring any teases or surprises from Season 6 to its Hall H panel at Comic-Con International. (Boooo!) But it did bring this supercut of some of the best audition tapes from its stars. (Yaaaaay!) Watch it here.
At the end of 2002?s Minority Report, you may recall, the PreCrime force is shut down and the ?precogs? that powered it?including Samantha Morton?s Agatha and two creepy-ass twins?disappear.
The Fox show, which premieres this fall, brought its cast and showrunners to Comic Con?s Ballroom 20?along with the first 20 minutes of the pilot episode. The footage begins with an extended voiceover by one the twins, Dash, describing their childhood as precogs. ?We could see things,? he says, ?little things about to happen all around us.? Including every murder within a hundred miles of them. Eventually, he says, they were sent off to an undisclosed location ?to hide from the rest of the world.?
Cut to present day?in this case, that?s 2065?and Dash (Stark Sands) waking up in his apartment. He?s a grown man, living in Washington D.C., much to Agatha?s disapproval, and he?s still haunted by visions of things about to happen. ?Since I?ve been back,? he says via voiceover, ?103 people have been murdered here. I haven?t gotten to a unmarried one in time?until today. Today is going to be different.? Spoiler: it?s not, but he still notices Lara Vega (Meagan Good), the detective investigating the death he failed to stop.
According to Max Borenstein, one of the show?s executive producers and writers, the show is working with an extensive world bible, which the production made in conjunction with a partner at MIT?s Media Lab?much like Spielberg?s famous ?idea summit? in 1999. 2065, it turns out, will be even MOAR FUTUREY than 2054. And here are some things we now know about that future!
? Judging from Dash?s cap, the Washington Nationals win the world series in 2054. Congrats, guys! ? TIRED: Selfie sticks. WIRED: selfie drones that fly off your wrist and hover in front of you! ? Enhanced AR-capable contact lenses make crime-scene reconstruction a lot flashier (if not as profanity laced) than on The Wire. ? Judging from the ?totally baked goods? ad on the Metro, weed has been nationally legalized. Again: congrats, guys! ? Not only is VR around, it?s lightweight enough to wear while you do tai chi. ? Skyping has been replaced by full-body holgraphic projections. When you hang up on someone, their hologram crumples in a very satisfying way. ? The caretaker who brushed Agatha?s teeth in the movie? He?s still around, and he?s even played by the same actor (Daniel London)! ? The Simpsons is still on TV?75 seasons and counting. Congrats, guys! ? Somewhat disappointingly, UI still consists of controlling computers with outsized gestures?now including weird doorknob-twisting motions.
Game of Thrones often feels awful?people die far too often for it not to be?but no scene was more gut-wrenching than last season?s rape of Sansa Stark.
Today, during the HBO show?s panel at Comic-Con International, the cast and executive producer Carolyn Strauss answered a few fan questions about that controversial scene.
?[If] there?s one thing that Sansa still is despite what?s happened to her, it?s strong,? Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa, said responding to a question about why the scene focused on Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) instead of her and what it meant for Sansa?s fortitude going forward. ?You?ll have to ask the writers why they focused on Theon, because I was giving a great performance. ? She could?ve fought back if she wanted to, but she didn?t. She does her scheming in her mind.?
Later during the audience Q&A a twosome of fans noted the female characters of the show had it especially rough this past season and asked whether the plots of the show next season will show the pitfalls of the patriarchy and rape culture. It was a question Strauss answered with a simple ?yes.?
Dupree Jones is at San Diego Comic-Con, where he?s dressed like Darth Vader and throwing Force Choke holds to asphyxiate all who cross his path?except for his miniature match. The Force is strong in that one.
Fresh from Hall H, we?ve got a new Walking Dead trailer, and one thing is clear: ?Rick is dangerous.?
Tell us something we don?t already know, right? The running living are crashing headlong into the walking dead once again in the next season of AMC?s big money maker, and a few things are for sure: Rick is still dancing on the razor?s edge of murderous Messianic complex; Michonne is the stoic protector of us all; and Daryl, of course, is the heart of the show. Dead returns in the fall, but if you need your zombies to shamble at you sooner, its spinoff series Fear The Walking Dead premieres in August.
There are few things fans at Comic-Con International have been asking for more in the last few years than a Deadpool movie. They?re finally going to get one next year, but in the meantime the cast is in San Diego this weekend giving those fans a taste of what?s to come?complete with Golden Girls references.
Eager to know what that cast would be bringing to Hall H tomorrow, WIRED sat down with Ed Skrein, who plays Ajax in Deadpool, to get some details. He claimed ignorance about what would happen during the film?s panel, but did tease one interesting note about the film: It drew inspiration from Blade Runner.
?Blade Runner was a big reference throughout the whole thing. Roy Batty, his character was my main influence. ? There?s so numerous times I would look at the monitors and I would think Blade Runner. That?s a wonderful thing. That was what the director of photography had been instructed by [director] Tim Miller to do. That?s what Tim had said to the cast. There were scenes with me and Gina [Carano, who is playing Angel Dust] that Tim had said specifically, ?Watch this scene for reference, this is how I want you to come across in it.? We did everything we wanted to and more in this movie and it kind of turned into this beautiful monster. I think every job is going to be a let-down after Deadpool.?
When writer Nicole Perlman came to Comic-Con International last year she struggled to even find swag for the movie she?d just finished writing, Guardians of the Galaxy?no one knew yet if it was going to be a hit. This year, people are already talking about the movie she just started writing, Captain Marvel, and it doesn?t even come out until 2018.
That?s because Captain Marvel will be the first Marvel Studios film led by a female superhero. Getting to write a script of that magnitude has been really exciting for Perlman and her co-writer Meg LeFauve, but also much more stressful. It?s important to Perlman that the movie does right by female superheroes, and?as Perlman noted when we spoke yesterday at the WIRED Cafe?women in general.
?We?ve been talking a lot about archetypes and what we want this movie to be about and just how to write a strong female superhero without making it Superman with boobs. ? Meg and I are doing a lot of brainstorming and we?ll catch ourselves and say, ?Wait a minute, what are we saying [here] about women in power?? Then we have to say, ?Why are we getting so hung up on that? We should just tell the best story and build the best character.? And then we have this constant back-and-forth about how to tell a narrative that is compelling, entertaining, moving, kick-ass, and fun, and also be aware of what those larger implications might be. It?s a lot more complicated than just writing Guardians.?
Glen Mazzara, who formerly served as producer and writer for the AMC mega hit, has a new show on A&E called Damien and it looks like Mazzara brought his Dead DNA with him to his new venture.
Damien tells the story of its titular character all grown up, 25 years after we left him at the close of the 1976 classic horror film The Omen (the show is essentially ignoring the two sequels). Mazzara has brought on Bradley James to play the Anti-Christ (fans of the show King Arthur will know him better as Merlin) and the eternally amazing Barbara Hershey to play his frightening mother-protector figure. And for Dead fans he brought along along a score by Bear McCreary and the kindly wizened visage of Scott Wilson, who surprised the crowd and joined the panel midway through its presentation (sans Hershel ponytail).
We got a chance to ask Hershey a question on the open mic about how she plays dark maternal figures to such chilling effect. She said she asked crook defense attorneys how they work for clients they know to be guilty and, aside from the many unsatisfying answers she received, has been told to look back into the history of offenders and find, essentially, where it all went wrong for them. She said it helps her find empathy for otherwise unsympathetic characters, and cautioned that those dark corners exist in all of us ? and maybe not even that far beneath the surface.
We?ll surely be tuning in to see how you make us care for the shepherd of the Anti-Christ, Ms. Hershey.
Jennifer Lawrence loves to talk about how she should never talk or be allowed anywhere near a microphone. This is, of course, untrue. Those of us not inside Lawrence?s head know that her general musings are usually the best part of any press conference/panel/red carpet/etc.
Her promotional tour for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay?Part 2 today at Comic-Con International was no different. Here are the most Jennifer Lawrence things Lawrence said during her tour through San Diego, (There are so, so many gems here, y?all.)
On the emotions she and the rest of the cast felt wrapping Mockingjay: ?There?s no way to say this that doesn?t start rumors, but that night we held each other and slept like puppies.?
On which of her characters she?s learned the most from: ?I would hope that a little bit of Katniss has rubbed off on me. [We?re not alike] she?s brave and I?m ? an actress.?
On the message of the Hunger Games movies: ?The power of the future is with you and it?s in your hands.? [Stands up. Drops mic.]
On trying to answer a fan question: ?I can?t remember what your question was, but I remember thinking this could possibly answer it. So I hope that is in fact true.?
On her archery skills and weapon of choice: ?First of all it?s not a crossbow, it?s a longbow?crossbows are easy.?
On meeting Bill Murray: ?I, and the rest of the world, have been a vast fan of Bill Murray for a really long time. I spoke to him through Woody [Harrelson]. I would send emails, mostly when I was drunk, of things I?d always wanted to say to Bill Murray. So just the fact that Bill Murray knows that I exist is Part One. Part Two, he wanted to speak to me. And then he mentioned something about us working together. I dunno! But I?m excited about that.?
On being denied french fries after her Hall H panel: ?I tried to grab french fries but this stern lady literally swatted my hand away and went, ?No!? I was like, ?Wow? I haven?t been talked to like that since the first movie came out.? I kinda like it!?
On censoring herself: ?I?m starting this new thing, I?ve tried to develop a filter. I?m working on it. Right now I?m dancing on, ?This could blow people?s hair back, in a good way. Or it could be my last time at Comic-Con.??
On whether her role as Katniss has led to more opportunities for women: ?I would hope so. ? But I would be interested to hear someone who is not in two franchises answer that question because I?m not really in a place to fully understand it.?
On possible Part 2 surprises: ?There might be a kiss between Josh [Hutcherson] and I.?
Look, I love Doctor Who with the passion of 1,000 suns, and seeing a teaser trailer for the upcoming season?which starts September 19?made me all kinds of happy. (Oh, hello there, Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones, taking off a mask and mysteriously saying ?What took you so long, old man?? to the Doctor. It will be nice to watch an episode with you in it.) But the best thing about the Whovian panel in Hall H this afternoon wasn?t from the series at all, really. It was Legos.
Specifically, it was the trailer for Lego: Dimensions. It?s a game with toy elements, I guess, but the important part of the CG/Lego mashup, a la the movie, is?Batman meets the Doctor! Batman fights Daleks! The Doctor and Doc Brown ride the Back to the Future Delorean! (See, because it time travels too! Do you get it?) And at the end? A minifig version of Peter Capaldi?s Doctor comes out of the Tardis and then morphs, in rapid succession, through all the other incarnations.
I would like to business money for the Tom Baker Doctor minifig, please. As soon as possible. Thank you.
During today?s Hall H panel for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay?Part 2 Lionsgate revealed a new teaser for the film. (They also unveiled a new trailer, but that likely won?t be released for a few more months.) The clip, which looks like a mashup of a video from Janet Jackson?s Rhythm Nation 1814 days and the opening sequence from A Few Good Men, shows Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) coming into her full power as the Mockingjay. It?s chill-inducing. Watch it above.
Ron Perlman?American icon and owner of the best resting mean mug in Hollywood?had a lot of good things to say while promoting his new Amazon show Hand of God this morning in a Comic Con panel. He talked about the unparalleled freedom given to the creative team by Amazon Studios. He talked about how he considers the role of Pernell Harris to be the most exciting of his career. He talked about how true originality is the domain of television now, where it used to belong to cinema. And when asked which of his past movies he loves most, he said ?I love all my children equally. And I love General Hospital.? (Zing!)
?We owe the world the finale of Hellboy,? he said. ?It?s a deal we made, man! We did two fucking movies! I don?t want to do a TV show or an animated series. I want to do the third fucking movie in the trilogy! It?s a covenant we made. We owe it to you.? Then he said he?s had conversations with Guillermo del Toro about ideas that would blow our collective minds. Bless you, Mr. Perlman. Bless you.
Bill Murray surprised audiences at Open Road?s Hall H panel on Thursday morning to elevate Rock the Kasbah, and when he got asked where he fits in among the geek loyal of Comic-Con, he answered with respect for the party prowess of fanboys and girls everywhere.
Well, it?s official: Comic Con 2015 has popped off. For the next few dozen hours, we?ll be trawling the show floor, attending panels, and interviewing your favorite actors, writers, directors, and artists who make the culture you consume so rabidly. Got any requests? Beam them to us telepathically, because data speeds around here are HORRENDOUS. See you on the other side.
Sketch hunters!!! These #deadpool sketches will be going out today! Stay tuned!! #robliefeld #marvel
Comic book artist Rob Liefeld is noted for a lot of things, but few of those things are as lasting and beloved as Deadpool, the fourth-wall-busting Marvel antihero he co-created with Fabian Nicieza in 1991. And now that Deadpool is getting his own movie next year, starring Ryan Reynolds, Liefeld decided to celebrate 24 years by hiding 24 of his sketches around San Diego?s Gaslamp District during Comic Con.
But when Rob stopped by the WIRED Cafe, we had to ask: of all his babies, who would he most like to see hit the big screen (after Deadpool, of course)? ?The character I?ve been asked nonstop about for the past 10 years,? he says, ?and it?s really ramped up, is Cable. X-Force sold five million copies! He?s the number one Marvel character to not be featured in media. But I think the lid is off that era, and I think it?s on the way.? Given that Cable and Wade Wilson shared a team-up book for a few years in the ?00s, and 20th Century Fox owns both characters, does that mean a Deadpool sequel might actually become a Cable hookup? Only time will tell, but we?re just happy we horned a stupid Cable joke into that last sentence.
For 15 years the comic book Powers has told seedy tales from the underside of a familiar-but-unique superhero universe, built by the minds of Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming. So when Sony announced that after years of development hell the book would become a TV show, transmitted via PlayStations, that seemed like good news. But it came with a catch. Oeming?s art?dynamic, colorful but noirish, and a little cartoony?didn?t exactly make it to the new medium.
?We talked about it a lot,? says Remi Aubuchon, the show?s executive producer. ?Unfortunately it didn?t get as translated in the first season.?
?But the second season!? says Bendis, cutting in. He, Oeming, and Aubuchon insist that season two will look more like the comic?or at least look like as much of a commentary on superhero TV as their book was on superhero comics.
?We realized we?re doing all the stuff Marvel and DC just can?t do,? Bendis says. ?It just so happens around us that every other network has a superhero or genre show.? The key, the creators hope, is that Powers isn?t just a superhero show; it?s a cop show, too, following an ex-superhero detective who works the homicide beat. ?We?re a mashup of two genres I love. Each has an amazing visual language,? Bendis says. ?We?re going to find a television version of that in season 2.?
That means bolder colors courtesy of Oeming, the creators say, and a look that owes even more to noir. Which was always what they hoped the show would be like. ?You like the shows that build and build,? Bendis says. ?I know it?s getting where we need to go.?
Thus far, we only know a few details about The Expanse, Syfy?s coming adaptation of the fantastic sci-fi saga. We know it?s pricey?network president Dave Howe has said it?s the most expensive show Syfy has ever done. We know it features zero-G sexytime. We know that Thomas Jane is in it, which seems like a Syfy kind of thing to do. But now, thanks to The Expanse VR, an app unveiled at Comic Con, we can get a 360-degree look at some of the ships and locations in the show. If you?ve got a Google Cardboard, you can grab the app now, or you can grab a special Expanse-branded headset by visiting the show?s setup at the Hard Rock Cafe. Which was a genius location to pick, because, y?know, meteors. Don?t mind us, we?re already a little punch-drunk.
Ever since it was announced, director Duncan Jones? Warcraft has been one of cinema?s best-kept secrets. Even though it?s based on a videogame people have spent hours looking at, very little has been seen of the movie version.
Last night, Legendary Pictures released a little tease?in virtual reality. Warcraft: Skies of Azeroth, one of three VR experiences Legendary just released, throws you on the back of a virtual gryphon for a flight over the city of Stormwind. It?s not using footage from Jones? film, but the director notes it?s part of the movie?s worldbuilding and ?it?s certainly the first possibility for anyone to see what Stormwind looks like.?
?The city is laid out the same way it is in the movie,? Jones says. ?We spend a little bit of time in the movie in Stormwind and in the VR experience you?ll actually get a chance to get a good look at everything.?
The other two VR experiences Legendary released during Comic-Con International?s preview night were Beware Crimson Peak, a VR trip into the creepy residence in Guillermo del Toro?s upcoming Crimson Peak, and Pacific Rim: Jaeger Pilot, which puts you inside a kaiju-fighting mech. All three are available through Legendary?s free app for Android and iOS. If you happen to be at Comic-Con, Legendary is giving away 50,000 new Google Cardboard units to view the VR experiences. Go grab one at the Legendary booth. You won?t remorse it.
?Take pictures with him because your head will fit in his hand.? ?Warcraft director Duncan Jones, posing with Orgrim, one of the movie?s stars.
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