Guardians of the Galaxy Cosplay, SDCC2017. Photo by Jake Essoe.
Day 2 at Comic-Con and it appears the serious Cosplayers are starting to arrive. We found the Guardians of the Galaxy en route to the Convention Center. But the them of the Day for Friday, July 21 at Comic-Con was, Horde. Because that's exactly what this massive crowd looks like.
We are all used to the crazy crowds at Comic-Con, but this is pushing the limits of safety. Let's put it this way, if an actual zombie apocalypse broke out it would be impossible to survive. Despite all their efforts, the growing numbers are literally pushing this Convention out of San Diego. We hope that doesn't happen but there doesn't seem to be a good way to manage the overabundance of foot traffic.
Nevertheless we push on and into Hall H for several panels starting with Fear the Walking Dead and onto The Walking Dead!
The cast of The Walking Dead quietly took to the stage, in the dark, and Showrunner and Comic Book and Show Creator, Robert Kirkman introduced the panel with a tribute to their fallen colleague, stuntman, John Bernecker who was tragically killed while filming an episode of the show. Gimple gave a rundown of Berneckers impressive resume which in addition to The Walking Dead includes LOGAN, BLACK PANTHER, FANTASTIC FOUR and many others. Gimple went on to say that they were not sure if they should do Comic-Con but they decided to be there for the fans. The Walking Dead has one of the largest and most loyal fan bases in the world, heavily represented at Comic-Con.
After Gimple and Kirkman's opening remarks we were treated to the trailer for Season 8 and then they immediately went to questions from the audience. It was somewhat sad, but also had sweet and funny moments. They discussed how Season 8 will mark the shows 100th episode. Earlier in the day at the Fear the Walking Dead panel Kirkman hinted that he is working toward an end of the comic book and the series. Fans didn't like that very much but all good things must come to a good end, eventually. We'll see what happens. He's said this before...
Panelists for the The Walking Dead panel were cast members, Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Lennie James, Chandler Riggs, Seth Gilliam, Alanna Masterson, Khary Payton, and show creators/producers, Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Dave Alpert, Greg Nicotero.
Next up in Hall H was the Game of Thrones panel.
The cast of Game of Thrones, Hall H, Comic-Con 2017. Photo by Sarah Mason.
Hodor himself, Kristian Nairn, was the surprise moderator for the Game of Thrones panel. "These are the people I've worked for six years with on what I believe the greatest show that's ever been created," said Nairn. He then introduced Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Alfie Allen, Jacob Anderson, John Bradley, Gwendoline Christie, Liam Cunningham, Nathalie Emmanuel & Conleth Hill.
Alfie Allen (Theon GreyJoy) entrance was a crowd pleaser as he took the stage with his adorably cute dog, Abby. Way to bogart the cheers Alfie!
We got to see an existing trailer for Season 7 that's been out for months, wah wah, but bonus they did release a brand new trailer which ends with the Red Woman telling Daenerys "I believe you have a role to play, as does another." Hmm, might that other be, Jon Snow!
Nothing of things to come was reveal, no surprise there. We were hoping to see Kit Karrington (Jon Snow), Lena Headey (Cersei), Emilia Clark (Daenerys), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister) and Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) but alas, twas not to be. But that cast that was there were very engaged and lively, having fun with the Q&A particularly when the Night King, who is apparently from Philadelphia, asked a question.
The Night King showed up at Hall H to ask the cast of Game of Thrones a question. Photo by Sarah Mason
Just when we thought we were getting out of Hall H, the Twin Peaks panel was about to begin. Damon Lindelhoff, writer/producer of (Lost, The Leftovers), moderated the panel. He paid tribute to David Lynch stating there would be no Lost, The Leftovers, Stranger Things, Westworld if that had been no Twin Peaks. Here here. He went on to introduce the cast member panelists, Kyle MacLachlan, Tim Roth, Dana Ashbrook, Kimmy Robertson, Everett McGill, Matthew Lillard, James Marshall, Don Murray, and Naomi Watts.
They all gushed over working with David Lynch, who wasn't there but sent along a special video for the Hall H fans. It was really weird, in that way only David Lynch can be. Kyle MacLachlan added that he was really easy to work with and they all respect him but once he goes into artist mode, he likes to give him his space to create.
We ended up our day at one of the most fascinating and informative panels we've ever been to, at Comic-Con and beyond. VR CON, which is running in conjunction with Comic-Con at the Omni Hotel, produced the World Creators Crossing Platforms, a discussion of what it takes to make worlds come alive across a multitude of platforms, featuring some of the greatest creative minds in the business. Panelists included, Ted Schilowitz (Paramount Studios’ Futurist), Kiki Wolfkill (Head, Halo Studios, Microsoft), Randy Pitchford (CEO, Gearbox), Colum Slevin (Head of VR, Oculus), Wayne Kennedy (Digital Domain), Nathan Burba (Survios), and Marlene Sharp (Sega).
Bonus! Official Game of Thrones and STAR WARS artist, Rob Prior did a live painting of Boba Fett during the panel. No word yet on who gets it, but we will gladly offer up our studio as it's new home.
We will be back tomorrow with The Harold & Maudecast Comic-Con Diaries Day 3. Till then, follow our social feeds for real-time photos, live streaming and videos of all the action at SDCC!