Today Superman took a trip away from his usual Metropolis haunts to land in San Diego. I know because I saw him marching down the street to hail a cab.
Once the cab had succumbed to his steely will, he climbed in along with a pair of female companions, one of whom was X-lady Rogue. Had I told stories of such superhero encounters (including the unlikely Marvel/DC crossover) anywhere else I'd be laughed out of town. Luckily, during Comic-Con, people dressed in primary-coloured lycra is all par for the course.
However, it was another group of superheroes who stole the limelight today at the Watchmen panel. WIth queues snaking for what seemed like miles outside the Convention Centre (apparently some brave, obsessive fans had started queuing in the early hours of the morning), this was undoubtedly one of the events of the Con.
Director Zack Snyder was accompanied by the movie's entire principal cast, and original artist Dave GIbbons to yak about filming the (supposedly) unfilmable Alan Moore tale.
"I was working on 300 and I got a call that Warner Brothers wanted to ask me if I was interested in making a Watchmen movie," said Snyder. "I said it seemed like a crazy idea, but once they'd asked me I felt responsible. Even if I'd said no, if the movie for whatever reason didn't turn out [well], it was still my fault, so I figured I might as well make it my fault anyway."
But there was an additional treat for the assembled masses - some never-before-seen footage from the movie, a super-trailer if you will. Going beyond the fantastic trailer that debuted last week, the footage provided plenty of titillation for the throng of eager fans. Highlights included Rorschach wandering around the Nite Owl's underground lair, a first view of the Nite Owl's alter-ego, Dan (Patrick Wilson), romance in front of a mushroom cloud, the Owl ship in action in Antaractica, old-school hero Dollar Bill learning the perils of a cape the fatal way, and a first look at Dr Manhattan's glowing, naked bottom, crack exposed for everyone to see. The new material continued the impressive faithfulness of the look at the comic - it was like watching Gibbons' illustrations come to life before your eyes.
Today also saw Frank Miller presenting footage from The Spirit, and a first look at KITT's brand new Attack mode from the upcoming Knight Rider remake. You can take at the unconventional auto-styling here .
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