The pedestrian bridge from the San Diego Convention Center to the parking lots is jammed with 2014 Comic Con attendees as they head out in the early evening.(Photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)
With Superman and Supergirl on the invite list, San Diego’s Comic-Con has a good head start at maintaining its status as pop-culture’s biggest gathering.
The annual convention of all things comic-book, superhero, science fiction and fantasy (and more than a few that aren’t), begins with Wednesday’s preview night at the San Diego Convention Center, followed by four days of panels, parties, elaborate costumes and really long lines for more than 125,000 fans expected to attend.
Comic-Con is a big deal for studios and networks, too, as they promote upcoming films and TV shows, hoping the most fervent pop-culture consumers will embrace and endorse their projects using the ever-expanding megaphone of social media.
That helps explain the presence of such TV shows as Supergirl, Game of Thrones and two Walking Deads and films that include Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a Hunger Games sendoff and J.J. Abrams’ much-awaited Star Wars film.
Melissa Benoist as the young superhero and title character from the CBS series ‘Supergirl.’ (Photo: Bonnie Osborne)
But some big studios, including Paramount and Disney-owned Marvel, won’t be making their usual visits to the convention center.
Some film schedules didn’t time well to Comic-Con — 2017’s Spider-Man and Star Trek Beyond, due next year, just started filming — and Marvel is expected to save most of its big film splashes for Disney’s D23 Expo in August.
Tim Kring, creator of NBC’s upcoming Heroes Reborn, calls Comic-Con “Ground Zero for us,” remembering the original Heroes‘ visit before its 2006 premiere.
“We very much were launched by the Comic-Con experience we had the first time around. We showed an extended version of the pilot there that generated a tremendous amount of Internet chatter and buzz and fan sites,” he says. “By the time the show premiered, there was this very large audience that had already started to talk about it.”
Kim Dickens, star of next month’s AMC spinoff Fear the Walking Dead, is looking forward to her first Comic-Con immersion.
“Everybody tries to tell you what it’s like, but I don’t think we’re going to believe it until we see it,” she says. “I hope we do (the fans) right. I hope they’re happy, because I know The Walking Dead has such an amazing, passionate, loyal fan base. We’ve worked really hard and I hope they like it.”
For movies and TV shows, Comic-Con is a gift and a bellwether, says NBC Universal Cable Entertainment chief Jeff Wachtel, whose studio will present panels for USA’s Colony and Syfy’s Dominion, 12 Monkeys and Childhood’s End.
“It’s a gift because so many actors are blown away by the passion of the viewers. They don’t get to see that on a set in Vancouver or New York or L.A. in front of a camera and small crew. At Comic-Con, you’ve got 4,000 people all there only because they love your show,” he says. “You can get a pretty decent read on (whether) you’re going to hit that passionate core fan base – the people that spread the gospel of your show – that’s become more and more important.”
Harrison Ford in a scene from the trailer, released March 2015, for the motion picture ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.’ (Photo: Lucasfilm)
A look at six things fans in San Diego – and everywhere else – will be talking about this weekend.
Star Wars (nothing but Star Wars). The Force Awakens, Abrams’ addition to George Lucas’s epic space saga, is the elephant (or bantha) in the room, as Friday’s panel gathering of Jedi knights new and old is Comic-Con’s marquee event.A look at six things fans in San Diego – and everywhere else – will be talking about this weekend.
Super-duper. On the film side, there’s Saturday morning’s Warner Bros. movie panel featuring Batman v Superman (and Ben Affleck’s first public appearance since the announcement of his marital split), along with peeks at Pan (Hugh Jackman) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Superman‘s Henry Cavill). CBS’ Supergirl headlines a Warner Bros. Saturday night TV presentation that also will highlight other DC Entertainment shows, including Fox’s Gotham and CW’s Arrow, The Flash and the new Legends of Tomorrow.
Dead heads.The Walking Dead panel is always a huge draw in Comic-Con’s biggest hall, but fans may be even more animated Friday with the cast of companion series Fear the Walking Dead. Add aGame of Thrones panel following the two-hour Dead-fest for a surreal binge for TV fans.
Actor Peter Capaldi, the 12th “Doctor Who” will be at Comic-Con. (Photo: Todd Plitt, USA TODAY)
Cult(-plus) followings. BBC America’s Doctor Who doesn’t need a special welcome, but the first Comic-Con appearance by Peter Capaldi as the newest Doctor, along with co-stars Jenna Coleman and Michelle Gomez, could transport the TARDIS set to new levels of enthusiasm. Fans of the Evil Dead franchise will be excited by the appearance of stars Bruce Campbell and Lucy Lawless (and producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert) for fall’s Starz series, Ash vs. Evil Dead.
High-concept hangouts. Zachary Levi, who stars in Heroes Reborn and hosts Syfy’s Geeks Who Drink, presides at Nerd HQ’s fan space; Game of Thrones lets fans try their hands at some Arya Stark swordplay, get scorched by a dragon or turn into a whitewalker; FX’s “Fearless Arena” includes an American Horror Story hotel, The Strain‘s virtual-reality world, a Fargo snow globe and The Bastard Executioner‘s medieval forest; and Adult Swim fans can visit the Meatwad Full Dome Experience, a tribute to Aqua Teen Hunger Force if not Buckminster Fuller.
Greetings, reunions and fond farewells. Fox’s Saturday film presentation will feature Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds as a Marvel Comics anti-hero, along with new editions of X-Men and Fantastic Four. A huge film franchise will say goodbye Thursday with a panel focusing on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, the final film in the popular series.
Contributing: Carly Mallenbaum
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