Today at Comic-Con, the cast and series creator of NBC's new action-packed conspiracy thriller, The Player, hit the stage to screen the pilot and tease what audiences can expect from the high-stakes actioner. Cast members Wesley Snipes and Philip Winchester were joined by series creator John Rogers to preview the series and answer a few questions.

They talked about balancing action with character development, the strong script, pushing the boundaries of television stunts, and more. Check out the full panel recap below.

Footage

The Player is probably going to be a big hit for people who like The Blacklist, and it’s very easy to see why NBC has paired the two for their Thursday night primetime slots. The series combines a case-of-the-week procedural element with an overarching conspiracy narrative that has some pretty compelling potential.

The series stars Philip Winchester as an ex-FBI analyst and all-around badass who runs his own private security firm in Las Vegas. When someone he loves is murdered, Kane is catapulted into the high-stakes world of a secret gambling organization called “The House” that predicts crime and allows the world’s highest rollers to bet on his ability to stop it. Wesley Snipes has a great role as the mysterious Mr. Johnson, the so-called pit boss of The House who has an extraordinary amount of power given his wealth of technology, information and connections to his powerful, wealthy patrons.

Overall, the pilot is solid. There’s enough intrigue to keep people tuning in, and Winchester is an easy buy as the 2nd biggest badass in the land - the first being Snipes, of course. The pilot does have a few problems. Some of the gambling-centric lines are extra cheesy (“Fold, Mr. Kane, you don't have a strong enough hand”), and the soundtrack is almost aggressively irritating. When a show starts with “Bangarang”, things are not looking good. But these are small problems, which pilots always have.

Panel Highlights

Following the pilot screening Winchester, Snipes and writer Rogers took the stage for a brief panel. Check out the highlights below.

• Rogers described himself as a pulp writer, and wanted to make a show that would stand out in an age of serialized story telling, saying that The Player should feel like a new show every week. He cited The X-Files as an example of a show that surprised you week after week
• Rogers promised that the world established in the pilot “goes deep”.
• Both Snipes and Winchester said they were attracted to the writing with Snipes calling it one of the best action-oriented scripts he read that year, including films.
• Rogers was a big Strike Back fan and geeked out a little bit during Winchester’s interview.

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  On his mysterious character Mr. Johnson, Snipes said he’s the kind of character you can imagine Terrence Stamp playing.
• Mr. Johnson is a morally ambiguous man wrapped in a power struggle. Rogers said that every week you're not going to know if he's a good guy or a bad guy.
• The actors try to do as man of the stunts as they’re allowed to and train every day to keep in the shape they need to be to pull that off.
• Rogers promised a balance of big weekly action beats with strong character elements and plot twists, saying you’ve never seen stunts like what they’re doing on television before.
• When asked about the scene where Winchester runs through a crowded Vegas street in naught but his underoos, Rogers said “A lot of networks are exploitative of women. I like to give a little back to the ladies,” eliciting a big cheer from the audience.

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  The Player is pulling off a rare feat in film production by filming in LA. Some exterior shots were filmed in Las Vegas, but they wanted to base production in LA to take advantage of the infrastructure and stunt teams available there.
• The major theme of the first season is power - who has it, who gets to use it, who’s responsible with it and who’s not. There’s a lot of moral investigation of whether or not wha the house is doing is wrong.
• The greater conspiracy within the show revolves around the house - when it was created, why, and how it came together.
• While Kane is established as a man with a morally questionable past, Rogers describes him as a good man in a bad system.
• Cassandra is running her own agenda under everybody’s nose, but it’s unclear how much Mr. Johnson knows about what she’s up to.

Catch up with all our recent The Player coverage here and sounds off in the comments about your thoughts on the new series. The Player debuts September 24th on NBC.