On Saturday, July 21, 2018 I got up a little early to get ready for our day at San Diego Comic-Con. We had been able to walk up and get D wristbands for Hall H around 11:00pm the night before, so we had to be back down at the line by 7:30am.
But I needed a little extra time to get ready, because today was the day that I would be cosplaying as Violet from The Incredibles! That’s right, I was merely dressing as myself. I had been wanting to cosplay as her for awhile now, but I had gained a lot of weight over the past few years, so I wasn’t comfortable doing so, considering that the outfit is spandex. However, with Incredibles 2 coming out this year, I made it my goal to lose weight so that I could cosplay as Violet for SDCC 2018. My hard work paid off.
We made our way to the end of the Hall H wristband line by about 7:20am and discovered that they were still handing out D wristbands, so really we hadn’t needed to get one the night before. Oh well, that’s okay, it was pretty much along our walk back to our room anyway, and I’d rather be safe than sorry. Compare this to SDCC 2017’s Saturday for Hall H, when we got in line about 8:00am on Friday and barely ended up getting D wristbands. What a difference it makes when Marvel isn’t on the lineup!
Cyberaug was just a bit in front of us in line, so we joined him. The line went to the back of the “island” behind the convention center, behind where the bathrooms are. Pablo was able to walk up just a few minutes prior to 7:30am and get a wristband, then came and joined us in line.
The long line slowly condensed and loaded in over the next couple of hours. Finally, we got into Hall H around 10:15am, just in time, as the Warner Bros. panel was scheduled to begin at 10:30am. Upon entering, we were given these mysterious wristbands. Noticing that the symbol on them appeared to indicated Fantastic Beasts, my guess was that Newt Scamander would cast a spell, similar to the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them panel at SDCC 2016, when Eddie Redmayne and the audience used wands to cast the “Lumos” spell to light up the room. We went and sat in our usual Hall H spot in the back right corner of the room.
As usual, Comic-Con International Director of Programming Eddie Ibrahim started things off by welcoming us and making his announcement about not recording the clips shown, because the studio brought them special for us SDCC attendees, and we want the studio to keep coming back. Then he teased the fact that those of us who have been in here before for Warner Bros. panels knew what was about to happen. This was Carlos’s first time, so he didn’t know what was in store. Being veterans, we knew what Eddie was talking about. The curtains along the sides of the room were pulled back, revealing screens, and providing almost a 270 degree immersive experience!
Aisha Tyler came out on stage to moderate the Warner Bros. panel, which kicked off with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Eddie Redmayne’s face appeared on screen as Newt Scamander, opening a suitcase, as if we, the audience, were inside of it. He then said “Lumos” and our mysterious wristbands lit up, just as I had predicted!
After watching the scene unfold on the 270 degree screen, Aisha and Eddie Redmayne were on stage. They started things off with an audience question: What character would Eddie have liked to play if he had been in the Harry Potter movies? Eddie answered Hagrid because “he loves those creatures as much, if not more, than Newt.”
Eddie then brought out some more cast members on stage, including Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Callum Turner, Zoe Kravitz, Claudia Kim, and Jude Law.
We then got to see the world premiere of the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald trailer, which you can watch below:
After the trailer, Ezra Miller excitedly commented, “Every single aspect of this movie is a geek out fiasco!” and went on to point out the various points of interest.
As for what’s at stake in the movie, Jude Law told us that it’s very much a “Whose side are you on?” story. Not only are the Muggles and Wizarding World pitted against each other, but at one point the Wizards are asked to choose a side as well. Jude went on to say that the depths and darkness of this movie are the darkest of what has come before.
A couple more audience members were given the chance to ask questions. One question was what the panelists would do if they could use magic for good in the real world. Zoe Kravitz replied, “Impeach Trump.” Katherine Waterston pointed out that Dan Fogler is good at making up spells, so he came up with an impeachment spell: “Impeacheus Maximus!” Ezra also answered the initial question, saying he would destroy the patriarchy.
Another audience member asked the panelists to describe the film in one word. Words included big, labyrinthine, epic, dangerous, perturbing, bananas, and juicy.
Then Aisha wanted to talk about “Hot Dumbledore.” Jude told us that Dumbledore is 45 in this film. As compared to the much older Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, young Dumbledore still has many familiar character traits, including being mischievous, and being able to manipulate people (particularly Newt) into doing things. Additionally, he has secrets, which Jude teased will be explained over time.
Aisha started to bring up Grindelwald, comparing him to Voldemort. Then suddenly, the lights went out and Johnny Depp’s voice as Grindelwald began playing over the speakers. But then, our wristbands lit up, as the room remained dark, and a spotlight revealed Johnny Depp on stage in costume as Grindelwald! He recited a monologue, during which he waved a wand and was able to control our light up bracelets. At the end of the monologue, everything went dark again, and he vanished.
That about wrapped up this portion of the Warner Bros. panel. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be in theaters November 16, 2018.
Next up for the Warner Bros. panel at SDCC 2018 was Lego Movie 2. Stay tuned for our recap and photos of that panel!
You can view more of our photos from the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald panel at SDCC 2018 below.
