You gotta love Jon Favreau. Not only is he responsible for one of the greatest movies ever made (“Swingers”), but he’s also a fanboy at heart. At this year’s Comic-Con, Favreau showed up with an exclusive trailer for his new film, “Iron Man,” and easily won over the crowd with the best panel of the four-day event.
Of course, the trailer showed up on the net soon after, and instead of going nuts like most studios these days, Paramount didn’t even attempt to take it down. Honestly, the quality of the video that was showing up online wasn’t very good, but after seeing the trailer three times at Comic-Con, I can understand why people wanted to check it for themselves.
And now you can. Previously scheduled to hit Apple.com at midnight tonight, the trailer has already been unveiled for impatient fanboys, and though it doesn’t include everything we saw in San Diego (not to mention it’s been completely recut), you can still get a sense of what the movie is about. Plus, the fact that a trailer this extensive is being shown a full eight months before the movie arrives in theaters is generous enough.
Click here to enjoy, and then come on back to tell us what you think.
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:
* 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.
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 
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.
“Iron Man” may have had the most exciting presentation, and “Midnight Meat Train” the most fucked up on, but it was the guys from “Balls of Fury” who provided the most entertaining panel of the weekend. Here to show off some footage from their new film were “Reno 911” and “The State” alum Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon (in full costume and makeup), and star Dan Fogler. But before I get to any specifics on the panel, it’s probably important to address the film’s constant rescheduling issues. Apparently, the CGI effects for the film took longer than anticipated (seven months), but now that they’ve finally finished, the movie is coming out… for real.
The Comic-Con attendees were treated to a clip from the film, and I have to say, this could surprise a lot of people when it’s released in theaters. The clip in question featured Dan Fogler’s character’s first competition in the tournament (against Freddy Fingers, played by Terry Crews), and between the taunting before the match, the over-the-top “Matrix”-style effects during the match and, well, Christopher Walken as the “Enter the Dragon”-esque villain of the film, I couldn’t stop laughing. Regrettably, I’ve been disappointed by both Garant and Lennon in the past, and so I don’t want to get my expectations too high until I see the completed project. Here are some other highlights from the panel:
* Lennon was the only of three panelists to appear on stage in costume, and later attacked Garant for tricking him into wearing it all day long on the showroom floor: “Dude, I was getting made fun of by a guy dressed like Daredevil. Some asswipe dressed like Daredevil – and I mean new Affleck Daredevil – was pointing at me like I was a douche. I’m sorry, this might be gay (pointing to costume), but it’s not new Affleck Daredevil.”
* Late into the presentation, “Big Trouble in Little China” baddie James Hong appeared on stage to fool around with the other panelists. It was a bit weird at moments – as he was literally stroking Dan Fogler’s hair – but there’s nothing cooler than seeing the dude flash the Lo Pan sign. I’m kinda mad about not thinking about it later in the day when I sat down to talk with “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau, but if a second film is ever greenlit, Hong would make the perfect Mandarin.
As I’ve mentioned here several times before, I’m not a really big fan of horror movies. Nevertheless, I’d like to say that I’m really looking forward to Brian Bertino’s “The Strangers.” Of course, the movie isn’t really horror in the conventional sense, but is rather more of a suspense movie about a newlywed couple who are stalked and terrorized by a trio of would-be killers. These are real people facing off against a very real threat. Stars Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler joined first-time writer/director Bertino on stage to show a few clips from the film (including a slick teaser trailer) and answer questions from the audience. The panel wasn’t quite as revealing as others – they just showed a few clips, answered a few questions (including the mandatory “Can you say something in Elvish, Liv?”) and left the stage – but it’s nice to see that every horror/suspense movie that comes out these days isn’t rooted in torture porn.
Director Neil Marshall has made some pretty unique movies over the last few years. “Dog Soldiers” is the ultimate in B-movie camp, while “The Descent” reinvented the horror/suspense genre from the days of “Alien.” His newest film, “Doomsday,” will be released sometime in the first half of 2008, and for fans of films like “Mad Max” and “The Warriors,” well, they’re in for one helluva treat. Marshall didn’t bring any footage with him other than a short teaser trailer (narrated by Malcom McDowell, no less), and though it certainly reeks of been-there-done-that material, the last time it was done was 20 years ago, and so, it’s just as good of time as any to bring it back.
