Tag Archives: Comic Con 2013

Comic Con: ‘The Walking Dead’ sets the tone in 4 minute season 4 trailer

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The Walking Dead premiered a four-and-a-half minute trailer for its coming fourth season. Did you get that? Sitting right there above these words is a video that contains over four minutes of brand spankin’ new footage. Go on, mash play! I’ll be here when you’re finished.

Freakin’ awesome, huh? With more hands to help fresh off the bus from Woodbury, the prison is as fortified as ever and yet the zombies break in still. Looks like we have a mole, somebody who doesn’t want our heroes to survive. “We might be safer outside those walls,” says a suspicious Hershel. What’s really great about this extended trailer is that it manages to set the tone of the new season without spoiling the goods. So if that’s what you’re worried about, don’t be; this is a safe watch that successfully hypes what’s to come in terms of mood, not so much plot. I’m getting a watch-your-back, paranoia-type vibe here; what about you?

Now what was learned at the panel? First, The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, October 13 at 9PM followed by Talking Dead with host Chris Hardwick. Just like last season, this one will be split in two; eight episodes will air in the fall and after a hiatus AMC will air another eight starting in February 2014–16 eps in all.

Andrew Lincoln shared a change in his character that fans will notice in season 4. “The relationship with Carl is integral to the beginning of this season,” he said. “Carl turning into a sociopath at the end of last season definitely woke [Rick] up.” Rick will no longer serve as the leader of the group and we’ll find him “in a completely new place; he’s renounced a lot of his responsibilities for the sake of his children.”

And what of The Governor, who mysteriously does not appear in the trailer. “At the end of last season, he was in a very dark place—but he feels like they betrayed them and that’s just not going to go down with the Governor,” his portrayer David Morrissey said. “There was a switch in him, and now we see him dealing with what that switch is; what is it that makes that switch go down?”

Check out the Comic Con exclusive Walking Dead poster featuring Rick, Daryl, Tyrese, and Michonne after the jump. Continue reading Comic Con: ‘The Walking Dead’ sets the tone in 4 minute season 4 trailer →

Comic Con: Showrunner Eric Kripke opens up about a “better” ‘Revolution’ in season 2

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Are you a fan of spoilers? Well you found yourself in the right place if you took a seat at this year’s Revolution panel at Comic Con. Unlike most showrunners at the Con, Revolution‘s Eric Kripke did not hold back when it came to promoting season 2 of the NBC post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama. The panel started with this three minute preview of the new season which includes a boatload of new footage including a first-look at Stephen Collins (No Ordinary Family) as Rachel’s dad, Monroe’s fight club, Neville’s bad-ass beard, and–YIKES!–the death of Aaron Pittman?!

Kripke expanded on some of the screened footage. First of all, our heroes failed to stop the detonation of the nukes; Philly and Atlanta have been decimated. “We’re trying to be the first network show in history that loses two American cities in the first 15 seconds [of a season],” Kripke said. “We’re back to a very intense set of basics, [a world] that’s even more dangerous than in season one.” Furthermore, when Revolution returns the lights will be off again (apparently the consequence of flipping the switch only lasts so long) and a new foe will emerge. The “Patriots” that Randall was referring to before he shot himself in the finale and the “President” who is hiding out in Cuba–these are not good guys according to Kripke. “The idea was to create a villain this year that’s so bad and so insidious and whose tentacles go so far, that even our heroes and our villains ultimately have to band together to fight this threat. They’re using the iconography of stars and stripes and patroism, but they’re using it as a mask. If you were to look behind closed doors…you’ll see that they are really, really bad dudes up to some nefarious stuff.”

So Miles and Monroe and Neville and the rest of our main cast of heroes and villains will team up to fight the Patriots. And no longer will the series be about claiming power and the pendants and the tower; driving the story now will be digging into the characters more and unfolding the mystery behind the Patriots and their endgame.

“It’s always been a show about family and hope and love, and now they can all move towards each other and not just make it so obsessed about the power. I think you’ll see much more intimate digging into character,” said Kripke. “Let’s stop talking about the power and lets start talking about the world.” Later he summed up, “As good as [the show] was, it needs to be better…It was a lot of story about a light switch,” he admitted to some laughs. “I think we have, no question, a better Season 2 than Season 1.”

Comic Con: Beloved Disney characters join ‘Once Upon A Time’ this season

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A princess, a pirate, a wizard, a queen, a knight, and a savior join forces in search of Neverland. That’s what this season 3 teaser masked as a season 2 recapper hypes as near the fall return of ABC’s Once Upon A Time.

The Once team did a good job at not revealing much, but they did say Neverland will play a big part in season 3. And who will we meet there? Well, Peter Pan of course. “Peter Pan has a complicated motivation,” said series co-showrunner Adam Horowitz. “It’s a little different than you’ve seen before.” Added showrunner Eddy Kitsis, “He might be frightening. To some people.” Also on the horizon is the formal introduction of Tinker Bell who has “a surprising connection” to somebody we already know and Ariel aka The Little Mermaid.

After the break you can watch two clips that were screened first at Comic Con. The first teases The Little Mermaids arrival, and the second is an extended look at a funny bit made for the season 2 DVD called “Good Morning Storybrooke” featuring some of the cast.

Elsewhere, it was announced that another Lost alum will be joining the Once family. Naveen Andrews (who played castaway Sayid Jarrah) will embody the villainous Jafar in the Once spinoff Once Upon A Time In Wonderland. Andrews will appear in the first episode as the season’s “very, very, very evil villain” and Kitsis promises his portrayal of the Aladdin character will be “very frightening.” Continue reading Comic Con: Beloved Disney characters join ‘Once Upon A Time’ this season →

Comic Con: ‘Person of Interest’ hits close to home with Machine/Prism comparisons

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This year’s Person of Interest panel at Comic Con wasn’t as revealing as the last one, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t just as fun. The panel kicked off with a video that proves how on the nose this crime procedural/serial hybrid truly is. The Machine from POI is juxtaposed with the real-life government surveillance system known as Prism. It’s actually scary how close to home this series hits. In addition to Prism comparisons, the clip contains a couple never-before-scenes; one featuring a young Finch (so that is his real name?) speaking with his father played by Bruce Greenwood and the other starring Root in the mental institution where we left her.

Speaking of Root, her portrayer Amy Acker is sticking around for season 3 as she’s been promoted to series regular along with Sarah Shahi who plays Agent Shaw.

After watching the video, jump after the break to view a new POI poster made exclusively for the Con. Continue reading Comic Con: ‘Person of Interest’ hits close to home with Machine/Prism comparisons →

Comic Con: Upcoming seasons of ‘Family Guy’ & ‘American Dad’ previewed at the Con

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It’s full steam ahead for FOX’s Family Guy which returns this fall for its 12th season. Here’s a five minute preview of the upcoming season.

At Family Guy‘s Comic Con panel it was revealed that one member of the Griffin family will be killed off and replaced with a new character this season. “It could be anyone, any one of our six main cast,” said showrunner Steve Callaghan. I was sitting in the Ballroom 20 crowd and like everyone else around me I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not but in retrospect I don’t think he was. What else? Season 12 guest stars include Adam Levine, Bryan Cranston, Tony Sirico, Jeff Daniels, Liam Neeson, Conan O’Brien, and Ashton Kutcher. As The Cleveland Show is MIA this season, Cleveland is moving back to Spooner Street and he’s bringing his new family with him! The Family Guy / Simpsons crossover episode will likely be a one-hour event and may feature a five-minute chicken fight between Peter and Homer, but don’t expect it to air until season 13. And yes, a Family Guy movie is in the works but a timeline has yet to be discussed.

After the break watch a nearly six minute preview of the 10th season of Seth MacFarlane’s other animated comedy American Dad. This marks the final season on FOX as AD will continue to air new episodes on TBS when season 11 premieres in fall 2014. “It’s going to be the same American Dad, just in a different place,” promised co-creator Mike Barker. What else? Upcoming guest stars include Zooey Deschanel, Alison Brie, Ellie Kemper, Stanley Tucci, Mae Whitman, Mariah Carey, T.J. Miller, and Olivia Wilde. There’s also an American Dad movie idea where fans will finally travel to Roger’s home planet. Continue reading Comic Con: Upcoming seasons of ‘Family Guy’ & ‘American Dad’ previewed at the Con →

Comic Con: Freddy Highmore snaps at the real ‘Bates Motel’

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Vera Farmiga aka Norma Bates just scooped up an Emmy nomination for Best Actress while her TV son Freddie Highmore was left in the dust. When the young Norman Bates stops by the Bates Motel writer’s room he begins to discover that the show’s executive producers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin are very much feeding into Farmiga’s fame. Highmore doesn’t like it, so Cuse plans a trip to the real Bates Motel that’s still up at the Universal lot. And from there, things get…weird.

This video, originally screened at Comic Con, had me in a fit of laughter on more than one occasion: “Norman thinks about sunsets” … Cuse practicing his “Previously on” line … I mean, this is seriously funny stuff. Let’s not linger; get to the goods and hit play!

Comic Con: ‘Hannibal’ gag reel is LOL, obviously

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Now here’s something you wouldn’t expect to come out of Bryan Fuller’s NBC serial killer thriller Hannibal: A GAG REEL! And a fine one, at that. Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen and the rest of the Hannibal cast do not disappoint this absolutely hysterical peek behind-the-scenes of the darkly violent and gruesome show. In my opinion, Mads steals the show at the dinner table when he calls Freddie Lounds…well, you’ll see!

To find out what’s in store for season 2, watch Fuller, Dancy, and exec producers David Slade and Martha de Laurentiis spill the beans in an informative and entertaining video interview conducted by TVLine that’s embedded after the break. Continue reading Comic Con: ‘Hannibal’ gag reel is LOL, obviously →

Comic Con: ‘Breaking Bad’ countdown clip hypes the series’ final run

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Breaking Bad made their final stop at Comic Con this summer hyping the AMC series’ final eight episode run that begins August 11. Creator Vince Gilligan and the cast led by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul screen this “countdown mashup” clip that serves as a “best of” video featuring some of Walter White’s best lines and moments from the acclaimed series. Gilligan was very tight-lipped about plot details, but he did say that he and his writing staff and everyone involved really are proud of the final 8 and he thinks fans will be satisfied by the way things end. Also, the rumored Saul Goodman spinoff starring Bob Odenkirk is very much in the works with Gilligan pushing for a green light.

If you happened to be walking the Con floor, chances are you might have bumped into Cranston! He was mingling amongst the crowd disguised as his TV alter ego Walter White wearing a mask and using a high-pitched voice. Check out some pictures from the panel reveal in the gallery below.

[Images via BIA]

Comic Con: Relive ‘Game of Thrones’ deaths in a “In Memoriam” clip here

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To remember those we have lost, the nifty editors at HBO’s Game of Thrones put together this “In Memoriam” clip that premiered at Comic Con. Set to Boyz II Men’s “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” makes light of so many of the grisly deaths that have come to pass on Thrones since the beginning. A tag “The North Remembers” concludes the video and we are left with a Spring 2014 premiere to anticipate.

It goes without saying: spoiler alert.

Comic Con: Martin Freeman & Benedict Cumberbatch appear at ‘Sherlock’ panel

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Comic Con hosted a Sherlock panel, but its two big stars Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch couldn’t make it in person. So they both filmed prerecorded bits for those in attendance and you can watch what they saw in the clip embedded above. Freeman is rocking some scraggly hair as he finishes shooting The Hobbit in New Zealand and Cumberbatch explains how he survived his big fall from the series 2 finale (or he attempts to, at least).

As you’re enjoying this humorous clip, know that lots more Sherlock is on the way. “As long as everyone wants to keep doing it, we’ll keep doing it,” shared creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss and producer Sue Vertue. “There is something lovely about the idea of Benedict and Martin aged 55, around the same fireplace, becoming the same age we associate with Holmes and Watson,” added Gatiss.

Comic Con: Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts ‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’ (teaser inside)

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FOX is rebooting Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (a 13-part TV series that aired in 1980 on PBS) with Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Sagan’s original creative collaborators, namely writer/executive producer Ann Druyan and astronomer Steven Soter, along with executive producer Seth MacFarline (yes, of Family Guy fame) have teamed together to continue where Sagan left off.

The series will explore how we discovered the laws of nature and found our coordinates in space and time. It will bring to life never-before-told stories of the heroic quest for knowledge and transport viewers to new worlds and across the universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest scale. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey will invent new modes of scientific storytelling to reveal the grandeur of the universe and re-invent celebrated elements of the legendary original series, including the Cosmic Calendar and the Ship of the Imagination. The most profound scientific concepts will be presented with stunning clarity, uniting skepticism and wonder, and weaving rigorous science with the emotional and spiritual into a transcendent experience.

When asked why do a reboot, Sagan’s wife Ann Druyan explained, “Well, it’s a very big universe, and in the first series we covered a lot of territory. But there’s so much left. We have new stories that have yet to be told.” She promises it “is as accessible as the first one and contains information that’s at times arcane, that at other times is as less complicated. But it’s for everyone.”

Interested in exploring the mysteries of space? Then the 13-part docu-series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey–premiering in 2014 on FOX–is a can’t miss TV event. See how cool science can be in the teaser trailer posted after the break. Continue reading Comic Con: Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts ‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’ (teaser inside) →

Comic Con: Zack Snyder teases ‘Man of Steel’ sequel featuring Batman (!)

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During the Warner Bros. panel at Comic Con, Man of Steel director Zack Snyder announced that another Superman movie is in the works, and most titillating, the Man of Steel sequel will reintroduce Batman into the mix. In a press release Snyder said, “I’m so excited to begin working again with Henry Cavill in the world we created, and I can’t wait to expand the DC Universe in this next chapter. Let’s face it, it’s beyond mythological to have Superman and our new Batman facing off, since they are the greatest Super Heroes in the world.”

At the panel Synder had actor Harry Lennox (who played General in Man of Steel) read an excerpt from the comic book The Dark Knight Returns: “I want you to remember, Clark, in all the years to come, in your most private moments, I want you to remember, my hand, at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you.” And then the logo formed on the giant screen behind him. Cue insane applause and cheers from the crowd. (Note: Snyder says the upcoming pic will not adapt that comic but will use it as a springboard to tell a new story.)

With Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy complete, Warner Bros. and Snyder’s crew are looking for a new Batman to step into the iconic role and join Cavill’s Superman “in one explosive new film.” I mean, the simple yet powerful logo hanging here says it all. This is going to be epic in ways it’s currently hard to imagine. Personally I’ve been holding out for a Batman versus Superman flick since the ’90s and now the pieces are finally in place. Snyder, bring it.

Synder is directing and co-writing the story with David S. Goyer. Production begins next year with a tentative Summer 2015 release. Official PR is after the break. Continue reading Comic Con: Zack Snyder teases ‘Man of Steel’ sequel featuring Batman (!) →