The Marvel Studios panel wasn’t only one of the weekend’s final movie-related panels, but it was also perhaps the most anticipated panel of all of Comic-Con. After word spread on Thursday afternoon about the killer footage that director Jon Favreau showed during the presentation, fanboys were so adamant about seeing it again (or for the first time), that many sat through six hours of panels just to guarantee that they’d see it again. It also helps when you have the best star-to-minute ratio of all the panels thus far, because though the presentation only lasted for one hour, attendees were treated to appearances by Ed Norton, Liv Tyler, Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard. Not exactly the kind of cast you’d expect would be involved in two comic book movies, but then again, that’s what makes these movies so amazing.
“The Incredible Hulk” (guests: Ed Norton, Liv Tyler, Louis Leterrier, Avi Arad and Kevin Feige)
Since there wasn’t any footage to show (production began only two weeks), the panel jumped right into taking questions from the audience, and the first question was a little too obvious – “Why another big screen Hulk?” – to which producer Kevin Feige replied, “Because it’s the Hulk.” The panel when on to expose a few things people may not know about the new film:
* First things first: this is not a sequel to the Ang Lee “Hulk” from a few years ago. This is part one in what they hope to be a trilogy and the big green machine will remain one size throughout the course of the movie.
* Ed Norton is writing the script. That may come as a bit of a surprise to many, but it definitely shows that Marvel means business. Not only is Norton a great actor/director, but he’s a massive fan (referring to playing the Hulk both “an honor” and “hilarious”), and so I’m sure his rewrite of the Zak Penn script will be great.
* Norton was also adamant that the only reason he signed on board to play Bruce Banner is because new technology will allow him to contribute to the acting performance of the CG Hulk; much like Andy Serkis did with King Kong.
* Everyone involved is a big fan of the Bixby/Feringo television series, but they won’t be drawing influence from just one source. This is a brand new take on the Marvel superhero that is different from all other entities – whether it be the TV series or past story arcs in the comics.
* The filmmakers showed off concept art for what they envision the Hulk to look like. I didn’t photograph the image because I didn’t want to get in trouble at my first Comic-Con, but anyone who’s interested can check it out here. For fans of the character, he looks closest to the Hulk from the Ultimate series, but with a much better haircut.
“Iron Man” (guests: Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Avi Arad and Kevin Feige)
After Jon Favreau came on to stage to announce his cast (sadly, no Jeff Bridges), they jumped quickly into a screening of the exclusive Comic-Con trailer that some of us already saw on Thursday. Those looking for a detailed description of the footage can read about it here, but I wouldn’t recommend watching it on YouTube, because, well it’s really dark and just doesn’t look as good. I enjoyed the trailer just as much the second time around (as well as the third, when they showed it again at the end of the panel), but what was more entertaining were the faces of Downey Jr., Paltrow and Howard as the trailer ended and the lights came up. Their eyes were wide open, their jaws dropped, like they were kids in a candy story. I don’t think they realized just how good this movie is going to look, and it’s a testament to Favreau’s skills as a filmmaker when you realize that nothing in the trailer has been CG-enhanced. It’s all practical.
Aside from that, the rest of cast seem really excited to be participating in the film. Robert Downey Jr. was so jazzed about wearing the suit that he told Jon Favreau to put him in it as much as possible, Gwyneth Paltrow was just happy to be working with Robert (who she calls “one of her favorite actors”), and Terrence Howard couldn’t stop talking about how cool it was to go up in an F-16 and vomit… seven or eight times.
The Q&A session didn’t reveal much more about the project (except for how the cast worked together on set), and I’m kinda glad I didn’t, because less then an hour after the panel had finished, I took my place at a series of roundtable discussions with Favreau, Downey Jr., Paltrow, Howard and Feige. Full transcriptions of all five interviews are in the works and should hit Bullz-Eye or Premium Hollywood within the next few days.
