It’s that time again – time for San Diego Comic-Con! SDCC 2014 kicks off Wednesday, July 23 with Preview Night, then is in full swing from Thursday, July 24 through Sunday, July 27. Josh and Violet have each put together a list of the panels they’re most excited about! Read on to find out what those panels are, and to see how alike or different their lists are as well!
Josh’s Top Panel Picks:
Unfortunately, this Comic-Con will be a short one for me this year since I have to work on Thursday and Friday. But I want to talk about the panels that I think will be the most exciting, followed by some runner ups that I think would also be pretty good, but maybe not as great as my first choices.
First Choices:
1. The Warner Bros. Pictures Panel – I have to say the reason I am putting this at number one is because of Batman V. Superman. I know, I know, the movie isn’t even mentioned in Warner Bros. Pictures Panel description, but last year we got the big announcement of the movie in the first place. I have to imagine that something will be happening regarding the movie. Besides that, Jupiter Ascending looks awesome, and the final Hobbit film, Battle of the Five Armies is a part of the panel, and it will be sort of a farewell to the Tolkien stories for a while.
2. Marvel Studios Panel – The description for this panel is oddly brief, but every year Marvel brings a lot of movies and comics to talk about. We have Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America 3 to hear about. Hopefully with the departure of Edgar Wright from Ant Man, Marvel has come up with a new director for the film, which could be some interesting news. Hopefully some unknown films will be announced as well.
3. Warner Bros. Television and DC Entertainment – I am very interested in these new shows coming up. The Flash, Constantine, Arrow, and Gotham all have been on my nerd-radar for a while, and am looking forward to learning more about these. I especially wan t to know if we will expect cross over between the films and TV shows. So far we haven’t been given any specific indication that there will be, but I am hoping that since we haven’t heard casting for Green Arrow or the Flash for Justice League, that possibly Stephen Amell and Grant Gustin are possibly announced for starring in the film. That will be fun to talk about after Comic-Con is over.
4. The Walking Dead Panel – Always a favorite, a chance to see what is coming up for The Walking Dead is always fun. I am really looking forward to see what happens this season of our favorite zombie TV show. Chris Hardwick leads the panel, so that always makes the panels so much more entertaining.
5. Game of Thrones Panel and Q&A – Even though this show is really good at killing any character I care about, I can’t help but continue watching. Hopefully we get some insight into what will be coming next season, and maybe say farewell to some characters we have lost along the way.
Second Choices:
1. TNT’s Legends Screening & Panel – I am sorely disappointed I definitely won’t be seeing this panel. The show feels sort of like Quantum Leap and stars Sean Bean. How could this not be a good show? I have a feeling that there won’t be a whole lot of Q&A time since the panel is an hour, and the first episode will be screened, but I still think it would be worth it. After all, the show spawned the hashtag #dontkillseanbean. How could this show go wrong?
2. NASA’s Next Giant Leap – I don’t expect any crazy announcements of missions to Mars or anything like that for the NASA panel, but I am a big space nerd, and really am looking forward to see where we will go next in our galaxy. Men to Mars? Probes or rovers to Titan or Europa? Space is just a vast area that I really find entertaining learning more about. Besides, Buzz Aldrin will be there. That has to be exciting. He is one of the few people ever to set foot on land aside from Earth. So mind boggling!
3. Sony Pictures Entertainment Panel – Sony Pictures doesn’t seem to have a lot going on this year at Comic Con. Goosebumps could be an interesting movie, as that was a staple book series when I was a kid. It will be interesting to see how the film plans on handling the horror aspect of the books when it is directed at children. Seems to be a tough balance to strike. I am unfamiliar with what Pixels is, so I am not sure what to expect from that panel. I would hope to have some mention of The Amazing Spiderman or Sinister Six at the panel though, since they are the big Sony comic book movies.
4. Marvel Television Presents – This should be a fun panel. Agents of SHIELD really turned itself around in the final few episodes of the season, reinvigorating my excitement for the show. I would like to see what is next for Coulson and his rat-tag group. I am sure we will see several cast members. Learning more about Agent Carter would be nice as well.
5. Paramount Pictures – Nothing has been announced for this panel yet that I have seen, but there are some promising films by Paramount coming up. Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan, looks very good from the brief footage we have seen so far. Unfortunately, the odds are against us in seeing Nolan at Comic-Con–he is known to not be a fan. I would settle for Ninja Turtles though, as I have high hopes for the new movie coming out.
Violet’s Top Panel Picks:
I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get Preview Night this year, but I count myself very lucky that I was able to even get all 4 days. I’ll go through the top 5 panels I will be going to (assuming I get in, that is), followed by the top 5 panels that I most likely won’t be able to make it to, but would want to check out if I had a clone.
First Choices:
1. Warner Bros. Television and DC Entertainment: The Flash, Constantine, Arrow, and the World Premiere of Gotham, Saturday, July 26, 8:00pm-11:00pm in Hall H — I kind of feel like this is cheating to list this as one single panel when really it should be more like 4. As I mentioned, we don’t have Preview Night, so we’ll be missing The Flash pilot. We’ll most likely be in Hall H during the Constantine and Arrow panels, so this is a nice substitute. Not to mention that this is the only screening or panel for Gotham at SDCC, so that’s pretty awesome, plus the college girl in me is excited to see Ben McKenzie, because of The O.C. (even though I was a Seth Cohen girl). The question is whether I’ll be able to stay awake during all this after sleeping in line for Hall H, and spending the whole day in there…
2. Marvel Studios, Saturday, July 26, 5:30pm-6:30pm in Hall H — Marvel always brings it and has some fun surprises at their SDCC panels. Even though Mark Ruffalo already spilled the beans that the Avengers: Age of Ultron cast will be there, and Michael Douglas confirmed that he’ll be there for Ant-Man, presumably with the rest of the cast, I’m curious to see what they have in store. I’m especially curious to find out what movies they’re planning for the five movie release dates they recently announced.
3. Game of Thrones Panel and Q&A, Friday, July 25, 1:40pm-2:40pm in Hall H — After last year’s panel, I started reading the A Song of Ice and Fire novels upon which the show is based, so I’m even more excited about the panel this year than I was last year. I also like how we’re getting several different cast members from those who were on the panel last year.
4. AMC’s The Walking Dead, Friday, July 25, 12:20pm-1:20pm in Hall H — Honestly, after that cliffhanger at the end of last season, who isn’t excited about this panel?? I need to know what happens next! October is so far away…
5. Entertainment Weekly: Women Who Kick Ass, Saturday, July 26, 4:10pm-5:10pm in Hall H — Every year Entertainment Weekly puts together an amazing lineup of awesome women, and this year is no exception. I’m also glad that Nicole Beharie from Sleepy Hollow was thrown into the mix, since I won’t be able to attend the Sleepy Hollow panel and this will be my only chance to see her.
Second Choices:
1. Anything Goes with John Barrowman, Saturday, July 26, 4:00pm-5:00pm in Indigo Ballroom — I was already kind of in love with John Barrowman, but after seeing his solo panel at Phoenix Comicon last month, I fell in love even more! He puts on an amazing, fun, and entertaining show, and I’m so sad I have to miss it! Yeah, he’ll be there for the WBTV/DC panel, but it’s just not the same.
2. Marvel Television Presents, Friday, July 25, 3:00pm-4:00pm in Ballroom 20 — Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. admittedly started out pretty slow, and I almost gave up on it, but it got so good once it started tying in with the Captain America storyline! Would love to see the cast in person. Also curious about the new show Agent Carter. Unfortunately, it’ll be impossible to get into Ballroom 20 for this after the Game of Thrones panel.
3. Sleepy Hollow, Friday, July 25, 5:45pm-6:45pm in Room 6BCF — I quickly became a fan of this show upon watching the first episode, so I’m bummed to have to miss this panel. At least I get to see Nicole Beharie, who plays Abbie, in the Women Who Kick Ass panel. Though I would have also liked to see Tom Mison, Ichabod Crane himself, in person – he’s so charming!
4. The Blacklist, Saturday, July 26, 1:45pm-2:45pm in Room 6A — It took me a few episodes to really get into it, but The Blacklist became one of my favorite new shows this past season. It would be great to go to this panel and see James Spader, as I enjoyed his performance as Red Reddington immensely. Too bad I’ll be stuck in Hall H at The Boxtrolls panel. Sigh.
5. Wayward Pines World Premiere Screening of Episode One and Q&A, Friday, July 25, 1:30pm-2:30pm in Room 5AB — This actually looks like it could be a really good show, and it has a pretty all-star cast attending (Matt Dillon, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard) for such a small room (about 500 seats). Of course, the most interesting part of this panel is that executive producer and director M. Night Shyamalan will be there. Whether you love him or hate him (or loved him, then hated him, as I believe is the case for most people), this seems like it would be a great panel to catch.
