SDCC Talk

[Operation:Mego]

A close-up of the Silver Samurai armor:

[Operation:Mego]

Asked about his decision to return, Whedon said "Avengers 2, it wasn’t a tough decision. For a long time I thought, 'Well, it’s just not going to happen.' Then when I actually started to consider it, it became so clear that I desperately wanted to say more about these characters, it would’ve been an easy no and it was a spectacularly easy yes. There was no wrestling." Whedon also said that they intended for the film's production to not be as rushed as the first one.

Whedon said that death would be a theme in the sequel. In March, Whedon said that he looked to The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather Part II as inspirations. Also in March, Mark Ruffalo, who played the Hulk in The Avengers, tweeted that he will reprise the role in The Avengers 2.

Whedon also said the film would have a darker tone due to Ultron's involvement, and confirmed that Hawkeye would return.

[MIB41]

Asked about his decision to return, Whedon said "Avengers 2, it wasn’t a tough decision. For a long time I thought, 'Well, it’s just not going to happen.' Then when I actually started to consider it, it became so clear that I desperately wanted to say more about these characters, it would’ve been an easy no and it was a spectacularly easy yes. There was no wrestling." Whedon also said that they intended for the film's production to not be as rushed as the first one.

Whedon said that death would be a theme in the sequel. In March, Whedon said that he looked to The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather Part II as inspirations. Also in March, Mark Ruffalo, who played the Hulk in The Avengers, tweeted that he will reprise the role in The Avengers 2.

Whedon also said the film would have a darker tone due to Ultron's involvement, and confirmed that Hawkeye would return.

Where there's an Ultron, the Vision can't be far behind. Unfortunately being such a big fan of that character, I've already prepared myself for the disappointment of what he'll look like. I doubt he'll look anything like his comic origins, which is too bad, because I think alot of it would work with a few updates here and there.

[Bruce Banner]

I'm guessing Karen Gillan has shaved off her trademark red tresses in order to get the Nebula wig to fit perfectly?

[Operation:Mego]

Where there's an Ultron, the Vision can't be far behind. Unfortunately being such a big fan of that character, I've already prepared myself for the disappointment of what he'll look like. I doubt he'll look anything like his comic origins, which is too bad, because I think alot of it would work with a few updates here and there.

Whedon said we would see multiple versions of Ultron's classic armor (since he would keep on upgrading himself).

[MIB41]

^^^ Oh I have no doubt Ultron would come pretty close along the way. It's the Vision that will likely get tampered to the point of being unrecognizable. That's my concern.

[Operation:Mego]

^^^ My bad, I misread your comment.

[Operation:Mego]

Teaser poster for DofP:

[Operation:Mego]

It's rumored that Bill Duke will reprise his role as Trask, who now views mutants in a different light after the Alcatraz incident.

[Operation:Mego]

Singer has stated that the filming of DofP will continue until at least September 2013.

[Blue Meanie]

Just curious...did anyone see actual comics at the show? Seems like every year this thing becomes more of a PR show then it is about being a comic book show. I've heard that there are rumblings of some of the comic book dealers trying to get their own show together so that they don't have to sit through the hype machine that has become San Diego. I can tell you that I'd be ticked if I was a dealer at the show and people just walk by your table and go to all the press junkits and PR junkits for all the movies and new toys and don't spend any money on what you brought to sell. How much do the tables go for out there at the show?? 2 - 3 grand for the weekend or more??!!?? The amount of stuff that you have to sell would be pretty huge...and you know that they can't be making any money on half priced hard covers and omnibus'....because that's what seems to dominate shows like this one here on the east coast. It's one of the reasons NOT to go to the Javitz show. $40 - $50 to get in and it's basically an experience instead of a COMIC BOOK Convention. God forbid they have vintage comics and toys at a Comic Book Convention.

[madmarva]

Charles Rozanski of Mile High Comics said in his newsletters that back-issue comics are selling much better at shows than they have in the last 7 or 8 years and that he was dedicating a much larger portion of his booth to back issue comics than the last decade at SDCC.

Bleeding Cool also noted that there seemed to be more comics this year than in recent years.

I've been to SDCC six times between 1998 and 2009, and by no means do actual back-issue comics dominate the show. But there are plenty of back issue comics, original art, comics artists and writers to see there, but the growth of the show which has been enormous since 1990 has been driven by movies, toys and video games. The comics are sharing space with those and percentage-wise losing space. But that convention center has been added onto twice since 1998, primarily bc of the growth of Comic Con, and I believe other additions are in the works.

Most everything there is rooted in comics, sci-Fi, fantasy, horror, animation and action/adventure. Of late some comedy panels have been added to the mix, but I don't think those additions pushed comics out. I do think the changes among the readership and types of reprints available has moved the retailers to stock compilations, hard- and soft-cover reprints because that's how many read comics today.

I've been attending cons since the mid 1990s, and if you are strictly looking for comics and visiting with creators, the mid-sized shows seem to be the way to go. The Heroes Aren't Hard to Find show in Charlotte, NC is excellent and probably the most comics-specific convention I've been to - more so than the cons in Atlanta, Chicago, Orlando, Baltimore. That being said I enjoyed all those shows, but the focus wasn't centered as much on comics. I haven't been to Wonder Con since 2001 or 02, but it was very comics-centered at that time.

Dallas has two shows a year that are a good mix and Kansas City has a show in spring that is somewhat small, but generally has a lot of quality silver and Bronze Age comics. The KC show generally has a small but quality guest list and is not a particularly crowed show, so you get to spend more time chatting with the artists and writers.

To me the advantage of going to a big show is the types of panels offered and the guests involved. Some people don't care for the panels, but they are my favorite part since I'm more of a comic reader today than a collector. I've never been to a New York show, but the panels at San Deigo on comics in terms of quality and depth are the best I've experienced. The frustration for me at San Diego is there are too many I would like to see. They have so much going on and such a huge crowd that they counter program to split the crowd by putting a Marvel panel on at the same time as DC or in the past Lord of the Rings panel vs. Star Wars, when both franchises were in production.

So yeah comics have to share the stage at San Diego and most other cons, but if they didn't, there might not be comic cons of any scale at all.

By sharing the stage the audience has broaden. While I'm sure it was a guesstimate I read somewhere that female attendance at San Diego has move from about 5 percent 20 years ago to 20 percent currently.

[Operation:Mego]

Age of Ultron's premise:

As the US Government create a force, known as Ultron, The Avengers are told they are not needed any longer. But when Ultron turns against Humanity, it's time for The Avengers to assemble yet again for their most dangerous challenge ever.

From IMDb.

[Operation:Mego]

DofP premise:

In a future where mutants were killed by Sentinels, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent to the past, to work in partnership with a reticent Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), amid the turbulent 1970s.

[Operation:Mego]

Despite the subtitle, the film is not based on the 2013 comic book miniseries Age of Ultron. Feige explained, "We came up with a few titles, but every month a new comic book appeared, and that's a great title. Age Of Ultron is a great title. We had a few other 'Of Ultrons', but that was the best one. So we're borrowing that title, but taking storylines from decades of Avengers storylines."

The title of the film came as a surprise to many fans who were expecting Thanos, the mastermind behind the events of the first film, to be the main villain in the sequel. When asked about Thanos' involvement, Whedon responded, "We have to stay grounded. It's part of what makes the Marvel universe click - their relationship to the real world. It's science fiction, and Thanos is not out of the mix, but Thanos was never meant to be the next villain. He's always been the overlord of villainy and darkness."