During my coverage of San Diego Comic Con 2016 I got a chance to cover several panels between my numerous interviews and meetings and there was a wide-range of great panels and celebrities which is one of the many things this great convention is known for.
I started on Thursday in Hall H and caught the Dreamworks panel. First up was “Trolls” and Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick showed off footage from the film which looks like a real winner for families.
Alec Baldwin surprised audiences with his first appearance at the convention and showed off two clips for his upcoming film “Boss Baby”. The premise is one of a new baby voiced by Baldwin who is discovered by his older brother to be capable of talking and being behind a nefarious scheme. The clips make the film look like a fun family adventure and had the audience laughing throughout at the animated adventure.
Up next were Oliver Stone, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Zachary Quinto, and Shailene Woodley as they showed us the brand new trailer for “Snowden”. The cast talked about meeting the controversial figure and the subject matter and production of the film before taking questions from the audience.
The remainder of my first day was filled with celebrity interviews and covering things on the massive showroom floor but I did manage to get a bit of the Van Helsing panel in the Indigo Ballroom located at the Hilton at the end of the day.
Friday was very busy for several of the Halls and with my wife covering the happenings in Ballroom 20, I focused on more meetings, interviews, and the numerous events, exhibitions, and meetings provided by the convention.
Near the end of the day, I was able to get into Hall H again and was able to see South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone talk about the upcoming 20th season of the show, take questions from fans, and then talk about the show as well as the upcoming Fractured But Whole video game. As a fan of the show, I loved the experience and how much humor was provided. Up next was Preacher, and Seth Rogan and special guests like Kevin Smith joined many members of the cast for a table read of an upcoming episode. The event was great fun and was punctuated by images from the episode in question. It made for a very interesting and rewarding time.
Saturday was an insanely busy day for me with several interviews at the Hilton so I divided my time between the interview rooms and the Indigo Ballroom where I had several panels to enjoy.
I started with the Power Puff Girls which was followed by The Originals. I am not a regular viewer of the shows but one of the magical parts of San Diego Comic Con aside from the largest gathering of star talent on the planet is the ability to discover new and existing shows by attending panels and listening to the cast and creative talent behind them.
My favorite of the early panels was Gotham and it was great to get a tease of season 3 and hear the cast talk about what changes are in store and how the tone will continue to get darker and more action packed.
Lucifer was also a big surprise as while I was aware of the show, I have not been able to watch much of it. But the addition of Battlestar Galactica star Tricia Helfer to the cast is a very bold move and the humerous story about a drone interfering with the filming made for a great story.
The Expanse and The Magicians followed which was great fun as I had cast interviews with both casts during the day so it was nice to see some of the footage for what is coming up and be able to ask them about it during the interviews. The Expanse will be introducing a new character and turning the action up while retaining a character driven focus.
The Magicians cast talked about the cliffhanger and then said that all would be back but they could not promise what form they would appear in living or dead.
After a few interviews I returned to catch the last part of the Son of Zorn panel which sets an animated Barbarian in our world and he and his adult themed issues looks to be comedic gold.
I wrapped up the day with Will Forte and the cast of The Last Man on Earth as they talked about deleted scenes, filming plans for the new season, special guests, and took questions from the audience.
With so many things to choose from, I was happy that I was able to cover this and that my wife covered numerous other panels which she will recap soon.
San Diego Comic Con was as amazing as always and once again showed why it is such a fun and vital convention as all the biggest names in film, TV, and pop culture entertainment are there and with the numerous reveals we had an absolute blast and cannot wait for what 2017 will bring.
