There’s a lot that’s going to happen before The Avengers, and the movie itself will be jam-packed with story and action. Before we got a look at The Avengers when they assembled on-stage at Comic-Con 2010, the audience was treated to a short teaser for the upcoming team-up flick. Narrated briefly by Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), all we get a peak at is the logo for the film. You can read up on the cast and characters here, and watch the teaser below.

The 2010 San Diego Comic-Con has came and gone and we all made it out alive. Every over 100,000 fans of movies, television, video games, and comic books descend upon San Diego for four days of insanity. Comic-Con is an exhausting experience because there is SO much going on at any given time. Movie panels featuring big name celebrities rock Hall H, the convention floor exhibits the latest in entertainment, and the marketing for the latest films dominate the areas surrounding the convention center.

This was our second year attending Comic-Con. We had many memorable experiences that we have written about. We have seen the coolest footage for the latest big movies. We got to talk to big stars and production teams, and we recorded it all for you to see! If you missed any of our Comic-Con coverage you can check it all out here.

We have compiled our thoughts for the best and worst of the convention. Check them out below!

Comic-Con Highlights

Comic-TRON invades San Diego

This year was all about Tron:Legacy, the sequel to the 1982 movie Tron. Here we are 28 years after the first film and the hype is unbelievable. Banners lined the street posts featuring the cast of characters. Hall H dedicated a high profile panel to the movie where the audience was treated to 8 minutes of the film as well as a brand new trailer.

Along with the excitement in Hall H, Flynn’s Arcade was back this year! We were invited to attend a press line where we spoke with various members of the cast and crew including director Joe Kosinski.

Edgar Wright Should Moderate Every Panel

The director of Scott Pilgrim VS The World was the panel moderator for his movie, and he was hilarious, informative, and in general, a brilliant moderator. Letting the audience know they could only ask one question, and if they made any “two-part” questions, they would be shot, just added to the hilarity. Comic-Con should look into having him be a routine moderator in the future.

Scott Pilgrim VS Comic-Con

Advertisements for this movie overtook downtown San Diego. Even the hotel we were staying in had a huge window display that took over most of the front of the hotel. Instead of the actual title of Scott Pilgrim VS the World, Universal advertised the Michal Cera movie as Scott Pilgrim VS. Comic-Con.

We attended the panel for the film Thursday evening which showed us new footage and a Q/A with the entire cast. Best part was the chance to see the movie that night in downtown San Diego. Buttons were passed out to the crowd, if you got a specific button, you got to go. Sadly, we didn’t draw the right button, but we still enjoyed our Scott Pilgrim experience.

Will Ferrell Brings the Laughs

Starring in two upcoming movies (Megamind, The Other Guys) Ferrell was a big draw at this years convention. His panel for Megamind was hilarious as Ferrell, and co-stars Tina Fey and Jonah Hill kept the crowd laughing the entire time. Dressed as his animated character from the movie, Ferrell’s look was enough to make that panel a highlight of the entire convention.

He continued the laughs on Friday with his panel for The Other Guys where Ferrell and co-stars Mark Whalberg and Eva Mendes ripped on audience members at the Q/A session.

Green Lantern Lights up Comic-Con

The highly anticipated panel for Warner Brother’s Green Lantern lived up to they hype with Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong, Peter Sarsgaard, director Martin Campbell, and writer Geoff Johns all taking the stage. The footage was fun but the real highlight here was Reynolds, who may be the nicest, most charasmatic guy working in Holywood today. When a little boy came to the stage to ask Reynolds about his Green Lantern oath, the actor recited back to the kid the oath, along with a signed Green Lantern comic book. Very classy, Mr. Reynolds.

Jon Favreau is a Rock Star.

The Iron Man director took the stage in a rock star fashion to introduce the cast of his new film Cowboys and Aliens. Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, and making his first Comic-Con appearance, Harrision Ford, all took the stage. Favreau has only been shooting for a month now, but he didn’t let that stop him. He brought along a few clips for us to get a taste of what to expect for his western/sci-fi movie that hits theaters summer 2011.

The footage was spectacular, the cast was fantastic, and the vibe in Hall H was perfect.

Marvel Steals the Show

After a long day in Hall H, Marvel gave everyone what we all wanted: A boost of adrenaline. After the end of the Captain America and Thor segments, Marvel Studios president Kevin Fiege told audiences to wait just a little longer, as he had on more thing for us to see. And oh, was it worth the wait.

The lights went dark, and on the screen came a logo for The Avengers. Samuel L. Jackson comes on stage and introduces all of the Avengers as well as director Joss Whedon. Fans have been waiting for a long time for an announcement as rewarding as this was.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Lackluster Panels

Salt, Priest, and Resident Evil: Afterlife were all very dissapointing in the grand scheme of it all. This is a convention about exciting fans to flock to upcoming movies. Instead, the panels for these three new films, may have killed all the buzz that was out there. The footage was weak, the cast was boring, and when it comes down to it, you just can’t compete with the headliners of San Diego this year.

The Screw-Ball Schedule for Hall H

Thursday was an epic day in Hal H. It was also the longest day of my life. With high profile panels for Dreamworks, Tron: Legacy, Summit Entertainment’s Red, Sly Stallone’s The Expendables, and Scott Pilgrim VS the World, way too many panels were packed into one day. Which doesn’t sound like a problem until Friday came along and there was virtually nothing going on in Hall H. We didn’t even step foot into Hall H until 4 in the afternoon to catch the Sony Panel for Green Hornet and The Other Guys, but we didn’t even have to wait in line for that.

Saturday came along and it was even worse than Thursday! Way too much packed into one day with all big panels, and virtually no down time for the fans. Suggestion time? Spread the love out and make each day a little less exhausting for those of us who spent over 9+ hours on a folding chair hoping we wouldn’t have to get up to pee.

Hall H turns Violent

This may be a transition from what I wrote above about sitting in one room for an extended time, or maybe not. But it certainly was a moment for all of us sitting in Hal H. Around 4pm on Saturday, right after the Resident Evil panel concluded, an outburst occured about 50ft in front of us. People were standing on chairs yelling for security. The response time was embarrasing on the part of SDCC, as we found out that a man had been stabbed in the face with a pen. Apparently it began over a dispute over seating which led to one angry fan stabbing another with a pen. Subsequently the “pen stabber” was put in a choke hold by another atendee until he lost cousiousness.

This act of violence became most troubling (for us, obviously not the poor victim) when the rest of the evening’s schedule was delayed. An hour later things were back on track – but this was definitley a low of the convention.

Comic-Con has Outgrown San Diego

This is becoming a more significant problem over the last several years. There are too may people and there is not enough space. Hall H has one bathroom for the men and one for the women. The line for the men’s room in between panels is usually about 150 people long. There are over 6,000 in Hall H. You do the math. The city is crowded, the wait times at retaraunts are insane, and the overall look of the convention is one of overcrowding.

There has been talks about moving the convention to Las Vegas or Anaheim, California. Both of which have more space for convention goers. Guess we will wait and see what happens.

For those of you who attended Comic-Con, we hope you had a great time, and for those of you who followed our coverage, we hope we got it all. See ya next year!

Saturday at Comic-Con was a roller coaster day full of ups and downs. The day started out strong and ended strong, but after 9+ hours in Hall H we were looking for something to excite and stimulate our minds. Unfortunately we had to sit through a panel for Resident Evil: Afterlife movie that hits theaters this fall.

For the fourth movie the director and producers decided to do it in 3D (of course) and surprise, surprise, the movie still looks really bad. The 3D looks cheap and gimmicky. The action actually looks like a video game (not a movie,) and after three other movies that weren’t all that great, we are subjected to a fourth film!?

Clearly I am not a fan of the franchise. However, I will say that for a video game series that has been adapted to the big screen, Resident Evil has been one of a few that has seen any success. Resident Evil: Afterlife stars Milia Jovovich, Ali Larter, and Wentworth Miller in a film by Paul W.S Anderson For the panel the talent spoke about staying true to their source material. The director spoke positively about the use of 3D technology and even hinted their could be a fifth film.

The trailer they brought for fans to see was in 3D and was a fight scene inside a bathroom where water is spraying everywhere. Milia Jovovich and Ali Larter are trying to survive an attack, and the over-the-top 3D action scene just looked like a bad video game. For those of you who are fans of the game franchise, let us know what you think. Am I being too hard on this franchise? Let us know your thoughts.

First, Warner Bros. presented Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Mark Strong. The panel showed some footage (filming of the footage isn’t allowed, so you can read about the panel and footage screened here), offered insight about their roles and Reynolds even gave away his prop ring to a lucky attendee with a special paper under his seat.

The American remake of Let Me In had a good discussion about adapting one of the best horror films made in the last 20 years. Cloverfield director Matt Reeves talked about his passion for the source material (both the 2008 Swedish film and novel) as well as working with young actors. The Road‘s Kodi Smit-McPhee and Kick-Ass‘ Chloe Moretz talked about the complexity of their characters and Richard Jenkins spoke about finding a unique way to present his mysterious role. They also showed a scene in which Jenkins’ character unsuccessfully attempts to abduct someone.

Shaun of the Dead‘s Simon Pegg and Nick Frost presented their latest film Paul along with their stellar comedic co-stars. Their characters go to Comic-Con in the film, and Simon talks about recreating the massive convention. The panel also talked about their own Comic-Con experiences both past and present.

Jon Favreau came onstage to present his new western/sci-fi film Cowboys & Aliens. He brought out the cast including Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and a huge surprise guest. If you haven’t read the write-up from the panel, you’ll have to watch the video to see who comes out.

The First Avenger came out on-stage when director Joe Johnston brought out Chris Evans and the Red Skull-portraying Hugo Weaving for the Captain America panel. We caught a few glimpses of the movie, which has only been shooting for less than two weeks. Chris Evans talked about bringing the Capt. to life and Weaving talked about his attempts at a German accent.

The God of Thunder and Natalie Portman joined Tom Hiddleston, Kat Dennings and director Kenneth Branagh. Chris Hemsworth spoke about nailing the details of Thor, in battle and how he carries himself.

Lastly, Sam Jackson took to the stage to introduce The Avengers. Calling them out one by one, we saw the team Nick Fury assembles to take down a power beyond each of them. A detailed description can be found here.

Video of each of these events can be found below, except for the stabbing, because that was crazy and we didn’t know what was going on until after.

Depending on who you are, one of the great things about San Diego Comic- Con is that fact that you can dress up as your favorite character from fiction without being judged. Some people take this liberty too far, while others actually spend their free time creating some pretty impressive costumes. I often find myself wanting to ask these people how they ever came up with these ideas and how long it took them to put together. These aren’t just costumes bought at a store for Halloween and re-worn for the con. Time was spent and attention to detail was paid. I thought that it would be awesome to showcase some of the costumes that I thought were cool and give those of you that can’t attend Comic- Con a chance to see some of this hard work. There are literally thousands of attendees dressed up and here are a few that I was able to slow down and catch.

Next year I hope to get even more photos as there were so many great costumes that I didn’t get pictures of. It’s really cool to see all of the work that gets put in to these and you have to admire the dedication. Some of these people are probably already planning there outfits for next year and I can not wait to see whats in store.

What do you think of these? Who’s your favorite? Post below.

After the Disney panel for Tron: Legacy this past Thursday, a special teaser trailer was shown for the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Featuring Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) the teaser was just for Comic-Con audiences. In the clip, which is just under two minutes, Captiain Jack is recruiting pirates for a voyage to the fountain of youth. The teaser does nothing more than tease the audience for the next film, which is obviously the intention, as it shows nothing more than Jack Sparrow talking to the camera.

Hopefully we will see some footage pretty soon for the new action adventure, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which hits theaters May 20th 2012. Check out the teaser trailer below and leave your comments.

Along with action figure exclusive, San Diego Comic- Con also does some comic books as well. The offerings range from each publisher and most times the covers are pretty good. The fact that we are in San Diego has caused me to choose the SDCC Steve Rogers: Super Soldier #1 sketch variant. It shows a colorless version of the first issue that came out in stores on July 8, 2010. It’s a simple cover, but I have always enjoyed a good sketch cover. Carlos Pacheco is the cover artist for this issue, but Dale Eaglesham does the interior art. I would like to see Eaglesham get a SDCC cover at some point because he is a pro and deserves a Comic- Con variant.

What do you think of this weeks COW? Post below.

The cast of the film Paul is quite the ensemble of comedic talent. First, there’s the writers/stars of the film, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Their last two films together (Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz) are hugely popular in humor circles. They wanted to write a movie about being in America and finding an alien, and after 8 years, finally got it done. Bill Hader, who in the film plays an FBI agent alongside Joe Lo Truglio, was joking around and embracing the ridiculous nature of his idiot federal agent role.

Arrested Development stars Jason Bateman and Jeffery Tambor also sat in on the panel. Bateman plays the head FBI agent tracking Simon and Nick across the States, and Tambor is a science fiction writer the stars come across at Comic-Con. Director Greg Mottola was on hand, as well as Sigourney Weaver who is a high ranking government official. Last but not least, the voice talent for the alien character Paul, Seth Rogen took the stage and made everyone laugh.

The cast and crew of Paul brought with them footage from the film for the audience to enjoy. It begins with the main characters walking towards the San Diego Convention Center for Comic-Con. They meet Jeffery Tambor’s character at a signing booth then head out on the road. They witness a car accident, and discover an alien nearby. From there, we see them come across the FBI, other wacky characters and the whole time Paul is foul-mouthing lines at pretty much everyone he comes across. Expect a lot of buzz about Paul when it hits theaters March 18, 2011.

One of the last star-studded panels on Saturday was for Jon Favreau’s new project Cowboys and Aliens. The Iron Man director walked out on stage, without an introduction, grabbed the mic, and got the audience of over 6,000 people really excited.

Favreau knows how to command a crowd, and his energy was exactly what everyone needed after a very long day in Hall H.

He brought out on stage his all star cast which included Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, and making his first Comic-Con appearance Harrison Ford. The crowd went insane when Ford walked on stage! The panel then got started with Favreau talking about the new movie, his thoughts on 3D, and that we can expect another Cowboys and Aliens panel at next years convention.

The movie has only been shooting for four weeks but Favreau certainly didn’t skimp on making his panel one of the best of the convention. Right off the bat he talked about why Cowboys and Aliens will NOT be in 3D. The director said they looked into filming it with 3D technology but didn’t like the idea of shooting a western digitally. He ultimately decided against the 3D because he was opposed to post production conversion. His response to that method perfectly summarizes most peoples feelings on it. Favreau stated: “That’s like shooting in black and white, and then colorizing.”

Favreau has been preparing for Comic-Con for some time now. Following him on Twitter, he frequently tweets about his excitement for the convention and that he looked forward to reactions for his new movie. Favreau doesn’t disappoint either. He brought with him footage that he had just edited so everyone in Hall H could get a taste of what’s to come.

The footage was just a few different scenes put together. It wasn’t a trailer and followed no particular order. It started out with Daniel Craig riding on a horse to a home on a ranch. The footage reminded me of an old school western which is a rarity in cinema today. Craig enters what appears to be an empty home, approaches the sink to wash his dirty face, and at this point we see a large metal wrist contraption that is latched to his arm. Then a gun appears, being pointed at Craig, he is not alone in the house. The scene ends.

The next scene starts in a jail cell. Craig is confined in one cell with actor Paul Dano next to him in an adjacent cell. Dano keeps asking him questions, and after several annoying comments, Craig reaches through the bars and slams Dano’s head against the cell, knocking him out.

Next scene shows Craig and Dano shackled in a carriage being hauled away. Harrison Ford, rides up to the prisoners and halts the carriage. We learn that Ford is Dano’s father. The men all argue with one another, as Ford wants to take the prisoners with him. At this point we see a bright fiery light in the sky. It looks like it is moving closer. Then the light changes into several alien looking ships which begin to fire upon the town. The carriage carrying the prisoners is overturned, Craig escapes, his device attached to his wrist has expanded and is glowing. A ship begins to fly towards him, he point his device at it, shoots a laser, and destroys the oncoming attacker. The scene ends with the townsfolk staring at Craig in disbelief.

The footage we were lucky enough to watch was an early first look at this film. I would assume the scenes took place in the beginning of the film and that what we watched was the introduction of Daniel Craig’s mysterious character. It is probably too soon to formulate much of an opinion of the movie. I am very intrigued by what Favreau has going here. The blend of western and science fiction may be a tough sell, but with this cast and talented director I think they can pull it off. The filming style was beautiful, especially for something that was just shot in the last few weeks. The western look with the sci-fi backdrop is fascinating, but possibly too conflicting to engage most audiences.

For now check out the photo up top of Daniel Craig with the lit-up contraption on his wrist so you can get a feel for what we saw yesterday. I look forward to seeing more from this project very soon. If you have any questions ask us in the comment section below!