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Cowboys and Aliens

Jon Favreau has rocked Comic-Con in the past with Iron Man, and he really delivered with Cowboys and Aliens, complete with bring-out-geek-god Harrison Ford, which resulted in the largest geekgasms ever recorded. Hall H was certainly rocking at this point, and I can only wonder if the vibrations were felt in the exhibit hall. Despite only having filmed for about a month, Favreau debuted some impressive footage, including an impressive action sequence involving an alien attack. Favreau did what he does perfectly and started the buzz on a film that won’t be released for over an year. Yet, in a summer that will be filled with superhero franchises, Cowboys and Aliens will be an original property that looks true to the roots of a western while infusing sci-fi elements.

Captain America

Chris Evans as Captain America doesn’t do much for me, and the test footage of him in costume doesn’t make me feel much better. However, the clip starring Hugo Weaving seems to be promising, but he refused to share his Red Skull voice. I was guarded about this production before the panel and I remain just as guarded.

Thor

The only problem I see with Thor is the use of 3-D. Other than that the extended trailer for Thor had me very excited. Kenneth Branagh seems to fully know what he wanted to do with this film, while finding a great sense of adventure and action. I have read some other guarded responses, but while Thor may not be the success of Iron Man, I expect many fanboys to be very happy with the end result.

The Avengers

There's not much to say about The Avengers, but it did end up being a great photo-op. Yet, it was exciting to hear Jeremy Renner cast as Hawkeye, and that great cast of talent assembled on one stage, including Robert Downey Jr. taking the mic. Each actor got a large response, save for Mark Ruffalo (but seriously, is it really his fault Edward Norton got screwed over?). This film has two years to build some very positive buzz and if it doesn’t capitalize it will be seen as a colossal failure.

That’s my brief wrap of this year’s comic-con, with Tron, Scott Pilgrim and Cowboys coming out as clear winners. Scott Pilgrim used multiple screenings and a great exhibit in the Gaslamp to build its profile and was very successful at doing so. Edgar Wright used the power of Twitter to build the buzz even further. If you aren’t following him on Twitter you should do so now. The Expendables also seemed to have a very popular panel, but will have to contend with the far more popular Scott Pilgrim. I also took the time to attend a Chuck panel, and saw the great reveal that Linda Hamilton will be playing his mom. I also found out that it looks as if an adaptation of Garth Ennis’ The Boys may be moving forward. Disney also set up a mock Flynn’s arcade for a couple of apparently wicked parties, I was busy getting drunk elsewhere so I missed that. Robert Rodriguez also served up some hot dogs and footage for Machete, a movie while with limited box office potential should become wildly popular among young men. Even Jackass 3-D debuted footage that apparently killed. My first visit to Comic- Con ended up being very special and I hope to make this terrific trip yearly. Next year I will have a better lay of the land, so hopefully I can bring you all more updated reports.

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