Of the many cool things that Marvel did at Comic-Con, I was most intrigued by the Ant-Man test footage.  The basic premise of Ant-Man (a man who can shrink to the size of an ant fights crime) is not guaranteed to work on film.  But the word on the street says director Edgar Wright nailed out the big/small transition effects, and I want to see for myself.  Marvel executive Victoria Alonso implies that I will probably get my wish.  Alonso told our partners at Omelete (roughly translated):

“What we showed at Comic-Con was a work in progress.  We’re working on finishing it, and I think you might see it.  Not sure where, but we always listen to the fans.  And if the fans demand it we make sure they get it.  I don’t know if we are going to post it online, but I don’t have [any reason] to believe we may not.”

So please demand it.  For my sake.  Hit the jump for more from Alonso, including confirmation that Wright will direct and a comment on the Viggo Mortensen/Doctor Strange rumor.

If you’re a fan of director Guillermo del Toro, you’re about to be very happy.  I recently sat down with the filmmaker for an epic hour-long video interview and every day this week I’ll be posting part of it.  Over the course of sixty minutes we talked about his past projects, Pacific Rim, what he has coming up, and everything in between.  Trust me, this is one of those special interviews that you’re all going to love.

In this first part del Toro talks about how their amazing Comic-Con presentation in Hall H came together (it was the best Hall H presentation I’ve ever seen), when the teaser trailer will get released, how he got involved with Pacific Rim, what it’s like to work for Legendary Pictures and Thomas Tull, what kind of notes he got from the studio, what changed during production, the physical nature of the shoot, and so much more.  In addition, while you often hear about studios interfering with a director, del Toro said that he once got a note from Tull that said, “can you make it more kick-ass?”  Hit the jump to watch and check back tomorrow night for part two.

TNT’s hit sci-fi drama Falling Skies stopped by Comic-Con to talk about the current second season, the network’s renewal of the show for a third season and how inspiring it is to have the audience’s support.  You can check out our previous interviews with the Falling Skies cast here.  Noah Wyle and Will Patton completed the round table interviews, talking about what we can expect to see between their characters this season, the appearance of Weaver’s daughter and the possibility of an alien invasion.  Hit the jump to read the interview.

Breaking Bad has one of the most eclectic and strongest supporting casts on television. Bryan Cranston may carry the show – but without equally strong performers to bounce off, it’s impossible to think the show would be nearly as successful. It almost seems unfair to categorize Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman) as a supporting player. His transformation from complete idiot drug addict to the closest thing this show has for a ‘good guy’ has been revelatory. He’s every bit as integral to the show as Walter White. Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks are equally as formidable as the too-slick cheapo lawyer Saul Goodman and the morally conflicted hitman/enforcer Mike Ehrmantraut. The former providing much needed levity to the uber-nihilism of the show, whilst the latter providing the pathos of a man far beyond broken.

At Comic Con, the entire cast was on hand for a roundtable discussion of the new season, past season and upcoming final season. In today’s edition, cast members Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks and Aaron Paul argue about Walt’s character & motivations and preview the dark path ahead for their respective characters. For the full interview, hit the jump.

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to sit down with creator J. Michael Straczynski, widely known as JMS, to talk about his past, present, and future.  JMS has had long tenures as the creator and head writer for Babylon 5, a long and well-received run on Thor and Spider-Man, time spent as a journalist, script writer, and much more.  Straczynski was a willing participant as he fielded all manner of questions about him being a control freak, how he tried to hide from the crossover events that he clashed with in The Amazing Spider-Man by taking over Thor, and how he plans to utilize the Joe’s Comics imprint at Image Comics.  Hit the jump for a full transcript of my interview.

TNT’s hit sci-fi drama, Falling Skies, landed at Comic-Con and the stars were kind enough to sit down for a round table interview.  Drew Roy (Hal), Sarah Carter (Margaret) and Connor Jessup (Ben) talked about the second and upcoming third seasons of the show, gave some insights into their characters and commented on why they think audiences have latched on.  Make sure to take a look at all of our previous Comic-Con coverage here, especially the interviews with other Falling Skies cast members.  Hit the jump to see what Roy, Carter and Jessup had to say.

At this year’s Comic-Con, I was able to sit down with Olivia Thirlby for an extended video interview.  Urban was at the Con to promote his upcoming hard-R adaptation of the comic book series Judge Dredd.  For those unfamiliar with the film, Dredd is an adaption of the 2000AD comics character Judge Dredd, and it stars Karl Urban, Thirlby, and Lena Headey.  The film follows Dredd and rookie Judge Cassandra Anderson (Thirlby) fighting through a tower that’s crawling with thugs in their attempt to bring down drug overlord Ma-ma (Headey).  I actually got to see the film at Comic-Con and it’s great.

During my interview with Thirlby we talked about the R rating, how she got involved in the project, deleted scenes, how Urban never takes off his helmet, the drug slow-mo, what it was like playing a bad ass girl, and a lot more.  In addition, we also talked about Bored to Death, Red Knot, Nobody Walks, and more.  Hit the jump for what she had to say.

Falling Skies is a gritty, understandable drama that resonates with viewers through the commonality their characters share with us. At Comic-Con, stars Colin Cunningham (Pope), Jessy Schram (Karen) and Moon Bloodgood (Dr. Glass) sat down for a round table interview. the cast members pointed out that you don’t need to have big boobs and look fabulous to kill aliens, talked about the confidence from the network to greenlight a third season and what they hope to see for their characters in the future.

For more insight into the success of Falling Skies and the actors interpersonal antics, continue reading after the jump.

Over the past two years, Total Recall director Len Wiseman has been very nice to Collider at Comic-Con by giving us two extended video interviews.  Last year, Wiseman revealed that the three-breasted woman would be in the movie and talked about the differences between his remake and the original.  This year, Wiseman told us that while he’s very happy with the theatrical cut of Total Recall that runs around an hour and fifty minutes long, the Blu-ray will have a director’s cut that includes 17 minutes of additional footage.  Per Wiseman, the director’s cut spends more time on “the fantasy vs. reality and the kind of chess game that is played.” He adds:

“There are scenes where it really comes into question about questioning his whole reality: I love that game, that’s why I did this movie.  So there’s a lot more of that, so it often can feel like, ‘Is it repeating?’  I personally don’t feel like it is, I feel like it’s really diving in and really just chewing on it for a while, so I’m fascinated by that.”

Hit the jump for more.

The black and white, stop-motion animated 3D film Frankenweenie, from director Tim Burton and based on the ideas in his 1984 live-action short, is a tale about a boy and his beloved dog. After unexpectedly losing Sparky, young Victor (voiced by Charlie Tahan) sews him back together and harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life, but quickly faces unintended and sometimes monstrous consequences for his actions. The voice cast also includes Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Atticus Shaffer and Winona Ryder.  Here’s the recent trailer.  Frankenweenie hits theaters October 5, 2012.

Last week I got to sit down with producer Don Hahn at Comic-Con.  During our wide ranging interview we talked about making Frankenweenie, if it was tough to get the studio on board, if the current popularity of The Nightmare Before Christmas helped get the film made, and more.  In addition, with Hahn producing Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie, we talked about how that’s been going, what Easter Eggs people should look for at Disneyland and Disney World, what he collects, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

While I’ve interviewed many people over the past seven years, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is one my favorites.  No matter where and when we talk, he’s always brutally honest and willing to have fun.  Which brings me to last week at Comic-Con.  When my scheduled interview had to be changed at the last minute, Morgan was the one who suggested meeting up after he’d finished his press for the day so we could have an extended conversation.  Needless to say, I immediately said yes.

During  the interview we talked about his thoughts on Before Watchmen, Watchmen‘s extended cut, his upcoming horror movie The Posession (here’s the first trailer) which also stars Kyra Sedgwick, and Natasha Calis, Red Dawn, Magic City, what it’s like to film on location in Miami, being at Comic-Con, and The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea with Jessica Biel and Chloe Moretz.  Hit the jump to watch.

Season 5 of the FX drama series Sons of Anarchy, premiering on September 11^th, is sure to have big shifts in dynamics, as the new leadership for the club will certainly lead to some questions of loyalty. While the characters re-evaluate and find their new places among their SAMCRO family, they will also have the usual outside forces to deal with.

While at Comic-Con for a presentation in Hall H, co-stars Kim Coates, Ryan Hurst and Theo Rossi talked about where there characters will be when the season starts off, the new kinship and bond between Juice and Clay (Ron Perlman), how Damon Pope (Harold Perrineau) will come into play, what the new guest stars have been like to work with, and why they think the show is so popular in the States. Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Blade Runner celebrated it’s 30th anniversary at Comic-Con this year, and I was on hand during the celebratory panel to take notes of all that occurred.  Art director David Snyder, journalist Paul M. Sammon (Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner), and DVD/Blu-ray producer Charles Lauzirika made up the very informal panel that basically consisted of them moderating themselves and fielding a slew of questions.  The reason, according to Sammon, was because at the last panel the year before they simply had too many people on the panel and it was a slog to get the banter and information beyond the simple answers.

During the panel they talked about filming at the Bradbury Building, the replicant issue, their preferred version of the film, how they shot at night because the set wasn’t complete, where the props went, and how much deleted footage was kept off of the special features.  So hit the jump for all of that and more.

Over the last few weeks, Sony has finally started to reveal details about director Neill Blomkamp’s (District 9) sci-fi pic Elysium.  Just as District 9 tackled issues of segregation and xenophobia, the first synopsis for Elysium reveals that the sci-fi, future-set story will be delving into the immigration debate.  Set in 2159, two classes of people are roughly divided: the wealthy live on a man-made space station called Elysium, while the rest of the humans inhabit an overpopulated and ruined Earth.  For more on the film, here’s Matt’s recap of the Comic-Con panel, the viral campaign, and Comic-Con interviews with Blomkamp, producer Simon Kinberg, and Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley.

Shortly after the panel, I got to speak with Jodie Foster.  We talked about being at Comic-Con for the first time, what she collects, how she got involved in Elysium, who she plays, the relationship between Blomkamp and the studio during production, how she prepares for a role, future plans, her thoughts on doing a TV series, Contact, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

With television, unexpected and unpredictable have become more and more rare.  Due to the level of money on the line, safe is more of a sure bet.  But, it’s that unpredictability that keeps me coming back to the FX drama series Sons of Anarchy, season after season, and it’s the unexpected nature of the show that has me anxiously anticipating Season 5, premiering on September 11^th.

While at Comic-Con for a presentation in Hall H, show creator/writer/executive producer Kurt Sutter talked to the press about how Jax (Charlie Hunnam) sitting at the head of the SAMCRO table will affect things this coming season (which picks up three to four weeks after the end of Season 4), the physical and emotional wreckage that Clay (Ron Perlman) will be dealing with, whether Gemma (Katey Sagal) might ever be able to forgive Clay, the ramifications of Juice’s (Theo Rossi) actions last season, what it will take for Opie (Ryan Hurst) to come back to the club, and the additions of Jimmy Smits (as a gangbanger named Nero Padilla), Harold Perrineau (as Damon Pope), Chuck Zito, Ashley Tisdale and Joel McHale this season.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.