The whirlwind of Comic-Con 2015 is over at long last, and we here at Collider HQ are in recovery mode. You’ve no doubt noticed a bounty of content on the site over the last few days, as we’ve brought you coverage of films and TV shows both big and small, with a boatload of interviews forthcoming. But the centerpiece of Comic-Con every year is, of course, Hall H—the 6,500-seater room at the San Diego Convention Center in which the entire Avengers cast was brought onto the stage in 2010, and where the walls shook with the screams of fans when Zack Snyder first announced Batman v Superman in 2013.
This year’s slew of Hall H panels was certainly stacked with memorable moments, and while choosing a “Top 5” wasn’t easy, we’ve done just that. Behold, the five best Hall H panels of Comic-Con 2015.
5. Bill Murray Rocks the Kasbah
If ever there was someone who could instantly and wholly take over Hall H, it’s Bill Murray. The actor made his first ever appearance at Comic-Con in anticipation of his musical comedy Rock the Kasbah, and the crowd was understandably transfixed the entire time he was on stage. Murray made a grand entrance as he sang “Smoke on the Water” while walking through the crowd, and the panel discussion was full of Murrayisms, as when he took a moment to seriously defend Miley Cyrus.
Standout Moment: Murray finally addresses the “No one will ever believe you” rumors by saying, “I don’t know what he was talking about. Sounds like fun though, doesn’t it?”
Click here to read the full recap.
4. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
During last year’s Warner Bros. presentation, director Zack Snyder briefly took the Hall H stage to introduce the first footage ever from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, then Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, and Gal Gadot came out, waved “Hello,” and exited Stage Left as Snyder added, “We’ll see you next year.” Indeed they did as Snyder brought the entire main Batman v Superman cast to Hall H this weekend to premiere the new trailer and discuss the film.
Revelations abounded, as Snyder disclosed that they’ve altered the geography of Metropolis and Gotham City to put them right next to each other and separated by a bay (like San Francisco and Oakland, respectively) in order to delve into the economic differences between the two cities and how that influences the central Batman vs. Superman conflict. All involved had high praise for Chris Terrio’s (Argo) script, and Snyder admitted that while the movie references The Dark Knight Returns, it’s an original story.
Standout Moment: Affleck recounting a surreal experience during which he was shopping for a Batman costume for his son and ran into Christian Bale, who gave him the following advice: “Make sure you can piss in that suit!” Affleck followed up by pointing out that Bale was also buying a costume for his kids, making sure it didn’t come across like Christian Bale just hangs out around Batman costumes in his downtime.
Click here for our full recap of the panel.
3. The Hateful Eight
A couple of years ago, Quentin Tarantino came to Hall H with the first footage from Django Unchained, which was at that time only halfway through production. It rocked the crowd, and the lively, informative discussion made it one of the best Hall H panels ever. So when Tarantino brought his new film, The Hateful Eight, to Comic-Con this year, we expected a similar level of greatness and we weren’t disappointed.
The Hateful Eight panel was a perfect blend of geek and cinephiles. Tarantino got nostalgic talking about how often he used to attend Comic-Con as a kid then went deep into the old 65mm lenses they used on Hateful Eight and how the idea to shoot the Western in 65mm was part of an overall plan to force theaters to project on film. The cast could not stop gushing about working with the filmmaker, and in addition to dropping the bomb that The Hateful Eight will be his first film with an original score (by Ennio Morricone at that), the lengthy sizzle reel—cut by Tarantino and editor Fred Raskin personally—was wildly entertaining and a Comic-Con exclusive to boot.
Tarantino also used the panel as an opportunity to (unsurprisingly) take some more digs at digital, but in the process said that if everything’s going to be projected on digital—which he likens to “HBO in public”—he might as well just stop making films and make miniseries instead, which he’s not opposed to.
Standout Moment: Actor Bruce Dern takes a fan question and turns it into a lengthy response praising Tarantino, concluding by saying his attention to detail is rivaled only by the Italian master Luchino Visconti.
Click here for our full panel recap.
2. Deadpool
In the history of fandom, there are few instances in which things actually get made because of fan support/enthusiasm/harassment. In these instances, the finished product rarely lives up to the promise built up in fans’ minds. So with Deadpool, an R-rated film adaptation of the Marvel comic for which fans have been clamoring for years now, there was a slight degree of trepidation involved. When the cast and director Tim Miller took the Hall H stage on Saturday and revealed the first footage, that trepidation was almost instantly replaced by pure, unbridled glee.
Yes, Deadpool looks amazing, and the R-rated trailer that was shown to the Comic-Con crowd made everyone go nuts. It’s hilarious, irreverent, and twisted, and the tone is absolutely pitch perfect thanks in no small part to star Ryan Reynolds’ performance.
But the footage alone wasn’t the best part of the Deadpool panel. The motley crew of Reynolds, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano, Morena Baccarin, Briana Hildebrand, and Ed Skrein had a fantastic rapport with each other and moderator Chris Hardwick, and the panel itself was incredibly funny and insightful. From Reynolds ribbing Tim Miller for choking up during the filming of particular scenes, to the entire crew dropping more F-bombs than you thought imaginable, it was one of the most purely entertaining Hall H I’ve ever witnessed, and it ended with a redemptive moment not just for those who worked so hard to finally get this thing made, but for Reynolds—a gifted actor who’s been saddled with subpar roles for far too long.
Standout Moment: As the panel concluded and the cast begun to walk off the stage, beaming from the response, the crowd literally rose to its feet and began chanting “One More Time!”, demanding the trailer be shown again. The Fox panel was already running late, but Chris Hardwick said, “Fuck it, I have a microphone. Show it again!” The cast was understandably on Cloud Nine.
Click here for our full panel recap.
1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
This was our most anticipated Comic-Con panel going in, and it more than delivered the goods. We were already prepared not to see any new actual footage from the film, but the behind-the-scenes reel was a lovely way to treat fans to a look at the secretive production while also touting the Star Wars legacy. And even though it wasn’t footage from the film, it had plenty of revelations all its own, from Simon Pegg’s role unmasked (literally) to the first look at Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia.
As for the panel itself, J.J. Abrams brought out essentially the entire main cast and illuminated the “bad guys” for the first time, played by Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, and Gwendoline Christie. They were unsurprisingly tight-lipped as far as details go, but the rapport and back-and-forth was entertaining nonetheless.
The real highlight, though, was the reunion of the main trio onstage: Fisher, Mark Hamill, and yes, Harrison Ford. All three were funny (Fisher dropped a reference to “acid flashbacks”), warm, and introspective—especially Ford. The actor’s thoughts on Star Wars are well-known by now, but he seemed eager to get across the fact that he feels incredibly grateful to the franchise, acknowledging that his life and career would’ve never been the same had it not been for George Lucas’ weird little sci-fi movie.
The Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel was, in essence, a sweet acknowledgment of how much this franchise owes to its fans, so how do you close something like that out? Well…
Standout Moment: At the very end of the panel, Abrams said he had a surprise. Admitting he has no idea why the city of San Diego let them do this, he revealed that the entire audience—all 6,500, some of which had waited days just for this panel—would be immediately walking over to a Star Wars concert performed by the San Diego Symphony with Abrams leading the way. Lightsabers were handed out, faces were filled with smiles, and the final notes of the concert ended with a massive fireworks display. I’d say this is going to be a pretty tough Hall H panel to beat.
Click here to read the full panel recap.
