Comicon Day Two

Another day, another load of cool Comicon business. Some have been commenting that this year’s been an anticlimax in terms of news, and perhaps it has since so much was leaked beforehand, but I’ve found this year’s con particularly exciting. Maybe I’m just paying even closer attention than in previous years. Anyway, here’s the skinny:

The Dark Knight teaser debuted at the Why So Serious site, coinciding with an event outside the Comicon hall where fans were made up in Joker makeup as part of the film’s viral marketing. A Gotham City Police Department Report on the site states that the gathering was a rally for the Joker to gather troops, but that he was killed shortly beforehand. Another version of the report available during the countdown featured photos of a differently made-up Heath Ledger looking fairly dead in a ditch. Where does this come in the film’s storyline? Does the incident turn bank-robbing Joker into the homicidal psychopath we best know him as?

Photos of the ‘troops’ and their ‘aliases’ can be seen on the site. A skywriting plane even drew a phone number in the air above the Con, which began an hours-long information treasure hunt for the gathered fans. Sounded like fun, and the initiative is laudable, marking perhaps the first large-scale viral marketing campaign a film has undertaken (correct me if ‘m wrong). But some are miffed that the film didn’t make an actual panel appearance at Comicon; not even the trailer was shown for the gathered fans. Some are suspicious following Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan’s borderline contemptuous taped message at the 2004 con, but hopefully the approach is deliberate rather than aloof on the part of the director and cast. Having the viral stuff speak for the film rather than up-front statements is certainly a more innovative and mysterious strategy. And we were once again reminded that the Joker will return in December…

The teaser itself was the very definition of the word, with no actual footage. Instead, the gradually illuminated new Bat-logo was accompanied by a new voiceover by Bale and Michael Caine about the mob turning to a new, bizarre force in the wake of Begins. Thankfully at the end we hear Ledger in character for the first time, and the logo explodes sending a Joker playing card with it. Ledger sounds promising if weird – he’s never done a manic performance like this before, and I can almost hear him straining against his usually reserved demeanour. But I refuse to conclude anything until the end credits roll. It is a great cackle.

An easy YouTube copy can be seen here, or a Quicktime version can be downloaded at whysoserious.com. Don’t bother with the in-browser version at that site – too jerky.

Simultaneously, a new still from the film was released featuring Ledger and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes, a snippet of which you can see above. It’s pretty snazzy. Nice to see he’s in the trademark purple.



OK, other stuff. Charles de Lauzirika can be heard speaking at the DVD Producers Panel about Twin Peaks, and the mention of hours and hours of newly created and discovered extras is tantalising. The recording also includes a clip from his feature-length doco, and it sounds just like the contextual retrospective I’ve been longing for. Yes! We’re even getting the hallowed Georgia Coffee commercials (though, having now seen them on YouTube, I fail to see what the fuss is about). Thanks to Pete Vilmur at the Dugpa forums for uploading his recording.



The trailer shown at the Con for the Dangerous Days doco is now online at Yahoo, and includes a snippet of an Olmos deleted scene and a great final note from Harrison Ford. It looks immensely interesting. Yahoo also has the remastered Zhora chase sequence, but I’m going to wait until the DVD for that and the other new clips they have.

Plus, the official site for the release has gone live. Most of it hasn’t opened, but there are some bitchin’ wallpapers.



Bits and bobs from the Watchmen panel with Zack Snyder and actors Malin Akerman and Jackie Earle Haley (both of whom sadly received no questions):

- The release date is March 6, 2009. Warner are obviously hoping for a repeat of 300. They are also firmly behind the R-rating, which also partially explains that date.

- Additionally, Warner support the decision to set the film in 1985 and in the midst of the Cold War. I love that choice.

- Snyder is trying to secure the money to shoot the Tales from the Black Freighter pirate comic interludes for the DVD. Great effort, but I fail to see the point if they’re not interspersed with the main narrative, and they would likely be too cumbersome within the film anyway.

- Also, CHUD sorta reports that 300 star Gerald Butler will end up in the film after all... sorta – he may well be playing the vengeful castaway from Black Freighter. Good casting.

- Dr. Manhattan will be achieved with a motion-captured Billy Crudup, with the actor appearing on-screen normally for the flashback sequences.

- Thankfully, the film will not be shot 300-style against green-screens. A New York set is being built on a backlot in Vancouver, although Snyder will naturally be using green-screen for the Mars and Antarctica sequences. In a cool touch, he said that we should refer to Seven more than Sin City for clues about the visual style. He also plans to use the comics panels a lot to frame shots.

- Snyder rationalised his decision to cast younger actors as he will be able to age them up and down with makeup and effects to accommodate the story’s broad timeline. He cited Patrick Wilson as an example, that he will look older in most scenes than he does in real life. Good news.
He described the casting as ‘perfect’. He’s relieved that the studio allowed him to cast ‘real actors’ instead of stars, and said that he cited 300 to them as justification. That’s either spin or Akerman is genuinely accomplished, which will be a relief.

- Stephen McHattie (300, The Fountain, A History of Violence) will play Hollis Mason. Great visual match.

- Snyder talks regularly with Dave Gibbons, who has read the script and is behind the project. He also spoke of Alan Moore’s non-involvement: he holds out no hope that Moore will ever support a film version, but respects his stance.
Gibbons also drew a Comicon exclusive poster. Find that here along with pictures from the panel.

- The official site has gone live. Only a synopsis and the cast there at the moment, though.



Warren Ellis is taking over from Joss Whedon on Astonishing X-Men!! I still love the guy, but Whedon’s run has been really underwhelming, so hearing that Ellis is taking over is tremendous news. The guy’s a sardonic idea factory and I never thought I’d see him on the X-Men given his very public disdain for the superhero genre, although it’s not as surprising as it once would have been given his other recent work at Marvel (Newuniveral and Nextwave sound brilliant). He’s on for at least twenty-four issues (!) with big new artist Simone Bianchi.



Edward Norton and Liv Tyler appeared at the Incredible Hulk panel, and Norton surprised everyone by being very savvy about the Hulk, praising the TV show and citing the Bruce Jones comics run and Hulk: Gray. The most startling news is that Norton appears to have done a rewrite of Zak Penn’s script! No word on how extensive that is, but he came in suggesting ideas as a fan, which led to a suggestion that he take a shot at the script. This may well have been a condition of him to sign on the dotted line. Hopefully this is only good news – it’s certainly consistent with Norton’s track record of taking a, um, firm hand in the creative side of his movies.



Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and designer Stan Winston debuted footage from Iron Man at the Marvel Movies panel. Given that virtually everything from the Con has appeared online, don’t be surprised it this does. I can’t wait to get a look at what Favreau and Downey have been up to, especially since the cinematographer is Matthew Libatique, who shot, nay, painted The Fountain.



Joe Madureira’s huge gatefold cover for The Ultimates 3 can be seen here. His run with writer Jeph Loeb will start in December, though sadly the plan for Mad to do volume 3 and Ed McGuinness to do 4 has been scrapped. Instead, each will be pencilling one half of volume 3. It’s still a tantalising project, given the courageously different choice of artists.



Contrary to my previous comment to Alicia, Disney will be filming all seven Narnia novels at the rate of one a year. Given that the franchise’s financial longevity has not yet been proven, it’s a bold commitment. They can always renege, though.



Everyone’s returning to their shows! Lucy Lawless will be back on Battlestar Galactica next season for at least two episodes.

Also, actor Richard Hatch revealed that Ron Moore was seeking a two-year commitment from SciFi for Battlestar, but they couldn’t deliver one. To be on the safe side, he opted to resolve the story in the one season he was guaranteed. Makes sense.



Kevin Smith will be writing and directing the first episode of Heroes: Origins, the four-episode anthology series that will follow the main show's second season finale in May. Each episode will introduce a new superpowered character, and the audience can vote on which one will be included in the third season cast. At the panel, Smith once again plumbed the same damn well by saying that Hiro and Ando must be gay, right? Jesus….



Neil Gaiman says that Miracleman is sadly still embroiled in legal woes, and that every time he thinks they’re nearly resolved, a new snag reveals itself. He still wants to finish his storyline though, which is nice to hear. He also said that Terry Gilliam can now film Good Omens (the novel Gaiman wrote with Terry Pratchett) for $17 million, but still no studio will give him the money. It’s a shame. If Johnny Depp attaches himself as he unofficially did way back when, I’m sure the money would appear.



Richard Kelly unveiled the poster for Southland Tales at Comicon, adorned with its shiny new release date of November 9. It’s a nice piece of art – note that "Dwayne Johnson" is The Rock. He’s apparently distancing himself from his wrestling persona, which is a good move really, since he can actually act.

CHUD also have a great exclusive interview with Kelly. I’m pleased that with the new visual effects money and the Box deal, Kelly’s back in the fast lane (for the first time really – he’s been dicked around ever since he shot Donnie Darko). I hope Southland surprises people and that it delivers on its own ambition, especially after all this time. A trailer is forthcoming.



The 5-minute Comicon preview of The Golden Compass – the first adaptation of Philip Pullman’s distinctive fantasy trilogy– is now online. Don’t watch it if you haven’t read the book (known in Britain and Australia as Northern Lights) though, as it gives away most of the story beats. If you have though, take a look – it’s quite dazzling, and Dakota Blue Richards is uncannily Lyra-like.



Joss Whedon has put Ripper back on the front-burner! He’s putting together the Buffy spin-off Giles TV movie with an eye to the BBC broadcasting it in 2008. It’s not yet confirmed, but it has a good chance of happening. No word on whether it’s intended as a one-off or a pilot for an ongoing series. Regardless, the Buffyverse may well be back, people.



Whedon is also writing a horror script with Buffy and Cloverfield writer Drew Goddard. He claims that Cabin in the Woods will be “the horror movie to end all horror movies… literally”, whatever that means.



Johnny Depp is starring in a film version of long-running 60s vampire TV show Dark Shadows. Uh, okay...



Steven Spielberg and the cast’s rather nice live message to Comicon via satellite from the Indy 4 set can be seen here.



Frank Miller says that the reason for the Sin City 2 delay is the Weinsteins. Didn’t know that, but it’s not a surprise.



Universal have switched the release date of The Mummy 3 and Hellboy 2, with the latter now bowing in the coveted early July time period. A vote of confidence, perhaps? We’re told that the sequel is much more in the vein of Pan’s Labyrinth than the original, after all…



The poster for Whiteout, the adaptation of Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber’s much-loved graphic novel about a murder in Antarctica. Clever tagline that combines cliché and wit. The poster actually recreates Frank Miller’s cover to the first issue – even his pencil strokes are preserved in that photography. Hollywood loves Miller.



And that’s it for Saturday at Comicon. Last day tomorrow, although the news will likely be less. Gawd, like that news retrospective, this has turned into a far bigger endeavour than I expected. I hoped it stimulated and entertained then, and that my square eyes were not for naught.