For the first time in nearly twenty two months, C2E2 returned for a weekend of cosplay, gaming, panels, and much more. You would think that the ongoing pandemic would have made C2E2 2021 less fun, but that was not the case at all.
Big name celebrities such as John Cena, Hayden Christian, David Hayter, and Giancarlo Esposito were the draws of the show. Also to note, the All Elite Wrestling superstars had the biggest line of the entire weekend. When you have names such as Matt Hardy, Orange Cassidy, and CM Punk appearing in C2E2 under the AEW banner, there will be fans lining up to see them.
But like for any of the guests, it is the first time since the pandemic started that fans of all fandoms are seeing them in person. There were safety measures that were enforced the whole weekend at C2E2. These included proof of vaccinations, plexiglass at the photo ops area, and for masks to be worn at all times on the show floor and in the panel rooms.
Speaking about the show floor, the iconic C2E2 red carpet that covered the entire floor was nowhere to be seen. The same thing happened at New York Comic Con, but it was at this show where I noticed it more. I asked a representative of ReedPop why this decision was made and I was told it was because of the ongoing pandemic. I really felt for the cosplayers who had on heels or footwear that is not built for concrete.
C2E2 Show Floor Entrance. Photography by Julian Cannon
Another thing that was sad to see at this year’s C2E2 was the lack of vendors. Over at New York Comic Con 2021, there were less vendors, but they managed to fill up the empty space. Here at C2E2, it was not a good impression at a first look. I can also say that it was a good thing that I easily walked the entire show floor this time around.
With that out of the way, I enjoyed what was offered at this year’s C2E2. I hope when the show returns in 2022, C2E2 will be back to the scale that it once was before. Now it is time for the best of cosplay! All the photos were shot and edited by me!
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The ongoing pandemic caused for San Diego Comic Con to switch to virtual this year. When this was announced, many fans were curious to see how this would be pulled off. I was also one of them to think that way too since I cover San Diego Comic Con every year. As the online event finished last weekend, I have gathered all of my opinions to why this would not work every year and also, why some aspects of this year’s event should be carried over to future comic cons.
One thing I have to get out of the way, is that Comic Con International has tried their best putting together the good content that was shown last week. From The Walking Dead, Bill and Ted Face the Music, The New Mutants, Motherland: Fort Salem, and even panels with upcoming Marvel and DC comics, there was a lot to digest with those panels. But that is where the first problem arised. There were way too many panels being shown at either the same time, or at different times on different channels outside of the official San Diego Comic Con channel. I feel that all of the panels should have been on one channel from the start, to the finish of the day. It is however, nice that you can watch them at your own home. But the experience of being in those panel rooms with nearly a few thousand fans cheering at every announcement and exclusive footage cannot be stripped away and it is severly missed. Yes sure, some of the big announcements that happened on the virtual panels were exciting to hear and witness, but it is also lacking the energy that we all feel in person. What I would suggest for next year, is for a hybrid version of this. That way, the ones who cannot attend the panel, can watch it either at home, or on their screen.
But there is another issue to tackle with that too since many big studios premiere sneak peaks to the live audience exclusively. How would it work for those studios to premiere that exclusive to the fans in attendance while people are watching it at home knowing that select footage cannot be filmed? Believe me when I say this because I was at the screening of IT: Chapter II at SDCC in 2019 and there were security guards at that theater watching everyone like a hawk since you could not record footage. And the studios would most likely not stream that same footage too. It is just something to think about since that kind of content is exclusive to the fans and press in attendance. But going back to the panels, it was understanding why many of the big studios did not want to showcase any material for this year’s event due to the pandemic. But the marketing aspect of SDCC at Home was abysmal. Only fans of comic con knew that this was taking place, but not the general public. I know many people that did not even know that San Diego Comic Con was happening as a virtual event this year until a few days later. And some did not know until the panels showed up as a recommendation on YouTube. I know that comic con sells itself, but there should have been more effort to market this event to every fandom. Speaking of effort, Most of the panels took place on zoom and there were a lot of technical difficulties that I noticed. But I wish that a few of them would have been live because whether if you like fan interraction at the panels with live questions or not, they are important. The feeling is not the same when panel hosts have to read tweets and Instagram comments as questions since we cannot assume that everyone that goes to comic con, has social media. That is why their only opportunity for the most part, is when the talent is on stage when you get your opportunity to ask your question. You would think that these panels that were pre-recorded, would have been edited very well. But no, that was not the case on most of the panels.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 21: KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, and Cole Sprouse speak at the “Riverdale” Special Video Presentation and Q&A during 2019 Comic-Con International at San Diego Convention Center on July 21, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Another thing I wanted to bring up, is that it is named “comic con” for a reason and it did not feel like that since the virtual panels were more talked about than the virtual convention itself. I personally, not only go to these conventions to cover it, I also spend time at the artist alley, the gaming area, and the cosplay area. Everything that makes a comic con should have been happening last weekend, but the talk of the panels diminished that. Sure, there were links to check out the vendors, but there was barely any mention of any of them at all outside of a few tweets. I think that there should have been more on a spotlight on the comic creators and vendors too.
And finally, I have to bring this up because this was a big problem starting from Wednesday night, until the final day. Funko went virtual for the first time during comic con weekend. Normally, you would have to enter a lottery for your chance to buy a Funko exclusive and if you do not win the lottery, then you will have to go to the retailers that have the shared exclusives. Since there was no lottery, everyone had the chance to buy their Funko Pops. But seconds after the stores online opened, many of them were already sold out as confused buyers questioned how this even happened.
It got worse when buyers already had their selections in the cart to checkout and when they did, the “sold out” icon appeared. This went on to the next day as the buyers had to wait at least an hour or two, to even attempt to buy their item. And at the retailers, many retailers had to put a limit to how many of the same item you can purchase. Those signs went up at some of the retailers after the fact since there were a number of people buying multiple copies of the same Funko Pop. The CEO of Funko even had to make an apology for everyone that is having a bad experience.
Attention Funko Funatics! We wanted to share a message from Funko CEO Brian Mariotti before we start the show. pic.twitter.com/JOAt1Z5rjR
I can hope that next year, San Diego Comic Con (And even other comic cons across the world) can return in full swing and better than ever. I appreciated what we got this year, but I know for sure that everyone felt it in their hearts that comic con has been affected by the pandemic. I also wonder if and when things get back to normal next year, how much could they limit the crowd due to social distancing. The entire experience of San Diego Comic Con cannot be duplicated, or bitten down to size infront of a screen because it is more than a convention, it is a week long event that thousands of fans love to attend each year.
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This year’s edition of San Diego Comic Con had to be canceled due to the current pandemic. Not only that was canceled, The Walking Dead had to delay the airdate of the season finale, delay the premiere of World Beyond, and halt the filming of Fear The Walking Dead. What was supposed to be 42 straight weeks of content of The Walking Dead universe, turned upside down due to the pandemic. But luckily, fans got a chance to see the panels of all three shows in the comfort of their own homes as San Diego Comic Con went virtual for the first time in it’s 50 year history. Today, I will give my recap and thoughts of the two panels as I will also make a seperate article of The Walking Dead: World Beyond panel.
FEAR THE WALKING DEAD
Showrunners and executive producers Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, and cast members Lennie James, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, all were on the panel today to talk about the first half of the sixth season. The panel was broken into two groups as Chris Hardwhick said that at the start of the panel. Also, the premiere of the sixth season will be on Sunday October 11th, 2020. They then begin to talk about the season 5 finale as Chris brought up the memories of the last ten minutes of the episode. We were then given a new trailer of the sixth season. as well. Andrew talked about Morgan’s fate. Ian also clarified that something is going on with Morgan since he is seen with red eyes in the trailer. Lennie then talked about shooting those scenes with Colby Minifie (Virginia) and praised her work as a villian since he believes that she is very unerving. Lennie also teased that Virginia runs more than one group and that we will see that during the sixth season.
Scott Gimple also teased that we will see more dimensions to Virginia this season. Colman talked about the current state of Strand and what can we expect from him. Then, the conversation shifted to Alycia as she feels that Alicia does not trust anyone but Strand at the moment since she has known him the longest. Colman also believes that Strand should be trusted as he made a promise to Madison to keep her safe. Andrew talked about how the shutdown affected the filming process and he stated that they were halfway finished with the first half and that the entire season has been written already. He did also say that when it is safe, they will begin filming the back half of the sixth season.
The conversation then lead to Morgan’s bond with Grace as a fan asked if Lennie would see Morgan in love with Grace. Lennie feels that Morgan is still locked down to his wife, but he could open up to Grace. But Lennie is interested to see how their bond will develop. Isabelle, who is part of CRM was brought up and Scott Gimple said that there will be more story with her and that there is a chance that we will see more of her on the show. Ian was then asked about his mindset going into season six and Ian said that Virginia is in control of everyone and how it will affect all of the characters. He also said that they all will be tested in ways that they have not before and how they will fit in Virginia’s world, and how will they react under these circumstances. The episodes will be an anthology structure and this season will be darker than the previous seasons.
Colman talked about the episode he directed as he stated that it featured a number of actors on the show as he sounded very excited about the episode he directed. Lennie James also directed an episode for the first time and Lennie loved the experience. Lennie also said that he meet the crew, riggers, and costume designers and was also given a fantastic episode to direct. The morning of the first episode he directed, Lennie said that he had a fun text exchange between himself and Colman. He also praised the crew that supported him and is not sure if he will ever direct again, but would be open to doing it again. The last important bit is the conversation is Scott Gimple was asked if there was a time jump during season 6 and he said that not only that there will be one, there will be multiple time jumps during the season. Also, Ian could not comment if that musical episode would happen on this season.
The second half of the group was Ruben Blades, Karen David, Danay Garcia, Jenna Elfman while Scott Gimple, Ian, and Andrew stayed. Danay talked about what can we expect from Luciana during this season. She also talked about the process of putting on the oil makeup when they were filming at the oilfield. Funny line from Karen David as she said that if you get a zit on the show, they celebrate. The Living Dead would also be the name if there was a band. Karen also talked about her reaction to Grace being pregnant as she feels that she has done a lot for Morgan before she found out. She wonders of Grace will be alive to see her child’s first birthday due to the nature of the apoclapse.
Jenna brought up an interesting point as June and John are seperated again. Jenna believes that they will have faith to see eachother again and that June is strong enough to not let Virginia break her at all. Chris brings up the status of Dwight and Sherry and Ian told him that he cannot say much about these two. He also said that he and Andrew were fans of Dwight and that he is a much different person now than he was when he was with The Saviors. Scott Gimple stated that there will be new characters coming in season six and one of them, will be Virginia’s sister named Dakota. Gimple also said that we will see a whole other side of Virginia too because of Dakota. Ruban said that he really misses being on the set because of the daily contact, and talking with everyone. He also misses Skidmark. The last few minutes were dedicated to a few fan questions and the funniest one, is if Lucianna would replace her wounded arm like Merle did and Danay said that she would replace it with a gun.
THE WALKING DEAD
Just like Fear The Walking Dead, this panel was split in two groups. The announcement of the airdate of the season finale has been revealed as it will air on October 4th, 2020. We were also shown a sneak peak of the Finale. The panel opens as Angela Kang, Scott Gimple, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Khary Payton, Greg Nicotero and Ross Marquand are the first group. Angela talked about beta being driven by the mass amount of walkers and Nicotero talked about how excited he was directing the episode along with the fact that the horde is closing in on the group. Norman Reedus talked about Daryl’s arc of the season and how Michonne’s departure, Alpha, Judith, and Carol has affected him. Norman was asked if Daryl would want a rematch with Beta and he said that Beta is way too tall for a rematch. Even Khary said that people do not realize how tall he is. Melissa talked about Carol’s state of mind as Carol has had a journey during this season that also negativity affected her friendship with everyone during this season. She also said that Carol’s conversation with Kelly also really helped too and that her relationship with Daryl has not been good towards the end of this season.
Khary Payton talked about Ezekiel’s current health as he feels that Ezekiel thinks that his time is coming up due to the cancer that is in him. Khary also said that the cancer may give him hope since it has not stopped him from moving forward. Then, we get to Ross Marquand as he talked about Aaron and Alden meeting the masked character too and how it reminded him of when the group first meet Michonne. Ross also wants Aaron to find a new love interest in the future. Melissa McBride said that she was excited working with Jeffrey Dean Morgan for the first time. Greg Nicotero talked about the process of creating that cancer lump for Ezekiel and I thought that it was interesting to see and hear how he did it. This part of the panel ends as it was announced that six additional episodes after the finale will air (that is part of season 10) sometime in 2021.
The panel then switched to the second group as Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Josh McDermitt, Seth Gilliam, and Paola Lourazo as Lauren first talked about Maggie returning to The Walking Dead. Lauren also said that it felt like she has never really left at all. Angela Kang then talked about the dynamic of Negan and Maggie since Maggie thought that Negan was still in the jail. It was funny to hear that Jeffrey Dean Morgan say that Negan saved a lot of her friends. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was asked how would he feel if he seen Hershel Jr. and Morgan said that Maggie might see a different side of Negan since Negan also has a bond with Judith.
The unfortunate news also came as it was announced that season 11 will be delayed to 2021. Then Seth Gilliam talked about Gabriel and how different he is now compared to then since he is the leader of the counsel. He also reacted to Carol letting Negan out of the jail. Josh was asked what Eugene sees different with Stephanie that he has not seen with Rosita. Josh joked that he has not actually seen her yet, but then Seth asked Josh about their connection and Josh ran down their connection and their bond. He also thinks that Rosita and Eugene are good as friends, and that Eugene and Stephanie are building a foundation. Paola was aked about her reaction to the community’s highly praised reception of The Princess. Paola also said that she would love to see Princess interract with Negan since both of the characters are very similar. She also said that her favorite character is Carol.
Angela then talked about the way some scenes were filmed and how challenging it was. It was funny to hear Jeffrey Dean Morgan to respond to the question about getting a new weapon and calling it “Rick” as Morgan believes that Negan has moved passed on from it. Jeffrey Dean Morgan also stated that the scene from the comics of Lucille being broken will not happen on the show.
Scott Gimple said that he would create a pre-apoclapse spinoff with Glenn as he misses working with Steven Yuen and that it would be very funny. Angela then talked about the huge diverse cast of The Walking Dead which also includes the people that work behind the scenes. She also praised Greg Nicotero for his work on this episode and teased The Commonwealth group as well as she hypes up the season finale. The panel ends as Chris gives the dates of The Walking Dead season 10 finale, World Beyond’s airdate, and Talking Dead right after both episodes.
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Chicago is always a great place to visit every year no matter if it is windy or not. The weather will go right out the way once you make your way to the Mccormick Convention Center for C2E2. C2E2 is the biggest comic and entertainment convention in Chicago and it will keep on getting bigger for the years to come. C2E2 this year was clearly celebrated during the three day show whether if it was a panel, or fan meetup, screening, cosplay, and gaming, you name it. I have seen it all over my three days over there and here is my recap of this year’s edition of C2E2.
Last year, it was revealed that the 2020 edition of C2E2 that it would take place on Feburary of 2020. This was the first time that this has happened for C2E2 and there was a large number of attendees that was concerned due to the weather or the fear of a snowstorm. Another concern is the recent news of the corona virus that has spreaded in the east. But none of those concerns stopped anyone from coming and the convention center was full of attendees from the first day, until the last day.
There are a few changes that I noticed this year as there was a large area that was named “The Yard” at the middle of the convention center. At this area, attendees could relax over at that area, play games, and the ocassional music in that area. The second big change is the gaming zone as it featured more of a variety of video games other than the retro and current consoles. There was a huge number of arcade cabinents and I have not seen that for C2E2 until this year.
In my opinion, these two major changes really benefitted for every person inside the convention center especially The Yard as there was no more need to stand around at the walls of the center to sit and rest for a few minutes.
Also at The Yard, I witnessed a Super Mario Bros. 3 speedrun and I have never seen a speedrun done in person before and I was amazed.
The cosplay I have seen this year was very great and the most I have seen this year was Star Wars related. This ranged from The Mandalorian, “The Child” (Baby Yoda), Rey, and Kylo Ren. There are other good ones I have seen too and it amazes me how much efford everyone puts into their costumes for this weekend especially since C2E2 is the home for the Crown Championship of Cosplay.
There were also a cosplay group that cosplayed every member of the Stark House of Game of Thrones and this was also pretty cool to see Richard Brake take a photo with them. Speaking of him, I interviewed Richard Brake for a few minutes at C2E2 to get some more insight of his memories of Game of Thrones.
I was only able to attend three panels during C2E2 weekend and I wanted to attend the Mark Ruffalo panel, but the entire room was capped before I woke up. But I attended the All Elite Wrestling, Jason David Frank Spotlight, and Stephen Amell/Emily Bett Rickards panels. For AEW, we learned more about what can we expect for the future of AEW and some never before heard stories about the pre-planning of AEW Double or Nothing, All Out, and even the action figures.
The Arrow panel was a farewell to the series as both stars shared their favorite memories of the series and some stories of what they wanted in crossovers if it were to happen. On Jason David Frank’s spotlight panel, Jason Faunt made a surprise appearence and made an announcement that Power Rangers: Time Force will have a sequel and that will happen on the BOOM Studios’ Power Rangers comic book series sometime this year. These panels were fun to attend an I felt that it was worth going to.
And just for amusement, Here is Stephen Amell taking a sip of coffee!
C2E2 was very fun this year and I am happy that next year’s show will take place in late March which means the weather will be much better this time around.
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This year’s edition of New York Comic Con I believe is the most crowded it has ever been. Not to say that it is a bad thing at all, but it is something I have observed during my entire week at the show floor. But before I get to my recap, I would like to thank ReedPop for allowing me to cover the show once again. Here is my recap of this year’s New York Comic Con.
New York Comic Con has attendees that come from all over the world. It is always great to see a great mixture of diversity on the show floor whether if they are waiting on the lines to buy an exclusive, a rare comic, or even for a spot at a panel. Speaking of panels, this year’s big panels such as The Walking Dead, 1917, and much more had to be won by a lottery and that is a great change so that way, nobody does not have to form large lines outside of Madison Square Garden, and the Hammerstein Ballroom. Another great change that happened this year is the SyFy Wire main stage panels being broadcasted on the second level before where the press lounge is so that way, whoever could not get a good seat, can now watch their panels on the screens. One thing I need to address is the Funko booth. It has always been in the same location for the last 4 years and I believe that it is time to place it somewhere else. Other than the normal line to enter the booth, there was also a very long line just to enter that line. I hope by the time the new expansion of the Javits Center is finished, that booth can move there in a seperate area so the lines cannot be very congested. I did however, stood in one line and that was the Skybound booth and I meet Robert Kirkman and he signed three issues of The Walking Dead that I own too.
I was only able to go to the artist alley once during the entire weekend and that was Sunday. Even then, it was very crowded and congested but I ran into one of my friends and comic writer and publisher Erica Schultz and we talked about her upcoming work and about the show. She even left a message for me when she signed one of her posters.
Despite the fact that everything in every area was crowded, I had a great time on the main show floor. My press coverage this year has also been great and what I also hope gets changed is the press lounge. I ran into many journalists this year who had the same thoughts that I did and that is, limiting the space for the cosplayers was a bad idea. There were many times that I walked into that area to bump into cosplayers that had their props attached. Don’t get me wrong, the cosplayers looked great with the material they used for their costumes, but it was very congesting for four days. At the press rooms, I interviewed the cast of Emergence, Lincoln, Impulse, Daybreak, and Batmman Beyond. Everything turned out great and you can watch them below.
I also was invited to attend The Walking Dead Whiskey’s The Last Bar offsite and they sold their branded whiskey over there.
While I am on the topic of The Walking Dead, I the panel on that Saturday morning and I loved it. Of all of the panels over the years that involved The Walking Dead, this year was the most noteworthy year for the fans of the series and it felt like christmas for everyone. The final event I had to cover took place at a private Hasbro event that showcases the upcoming Star Wars merchndise line for the fall just in time for Rise of Skywalker to premiere in the movie theaters. These figures look awesome and I want to have my hands on a few of them.
I will return next year at New York Comic Con for more coverage. Also to note, I recorded an episode for my podcast during the weekend and it features Brandon Davis of Comicbook.com, Fred Richani of TSC News, and Naiger of Big Gold Belt. And check out the best cosplay pictures that I have taken.
The Walking Dead held their annual panel this morning at New York Comic Con and the 2019 edition of the panel has given us more news about the entire universe of The Walking Dead than ever before. This panel featured the main show, and the untitled third series of the show as well. Here are my biggest positive takeaways of the entire two hour panel of The Walking Dead at New York Comic Con.
Season 11 Announcement
During the panel, showrunner Angela Kang announced to the world that the show has been renewed for an 11th season. This is excellent news and this also means that we will get new stories as well. The next season will return in the fall and to keep track on this, the 11th season will feature its 150th episode which will most likely be a monumental episode. The show made it to episode 100 on the first episode of season 8.
The Untitled Third Series Trailer and Cast
We have only known a few details of the third series since the announcement earlier this year and we finally got more news about it this week when the photos of the show was released a day before the panel. Today, we finally seen the trailer and got to know more of the cast today as Alexa Mansour, Hal Cumpston, Annet Mahnendru, Nico Tortorella, Nicolas Cantu, and Aliyah Royale took the stage to talk about their roles on the series and their love for the universe of The Walking Dead. The most interesting part of the panel is that the three-ringed emblem we have seen on the CRM helicopter group is also connected with this show and The CRM group’s logo represents three locations as well and we will finally find out more about them since one of the locations is on that show. I asked Scott Gimple about the show back at the SplitScreen Festival and at the time, they were going to begin shooting the following week. Another interesting detail we haver heard today is that the show’s Walkers are called “Empties” and they all told everyone why they are called that. The third series premise is that it is a new generation of survivors that grew up within their gaurded community and now, they begin to explore outside the community. There are also great details that we heard about how the weapons in the show will be used against the walkers, when in the timeline of the original show it will take place, and much more. The third series will debut in the spring of 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIGWqFsvJ5w&t=4s
The Princess Is Coming!
This announcement caught everyone by surprise today as the news of “The Princess” Juanita Sanchez will come sooner as we thought as she will be played by Paola Lazaro on the second half of the tenth season of The Walking Dead. The Princess was first introduced on issue #171 back in 2017 and she is from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The story here is that Michonne, Eugene, Siddiq, and Magna was traveling to The Commonwealth and on their way, they meet her in Pittsburg. It will be interesting to see how the group will encounter her on the show. Paola has been acting since 2015 with her roles on television shows and movies such as Scenes from the Underground, Dichos, Pimp, and most recently, Lethal Weapon.
The Return of Lauren Cohan
Photo Credit: Business Insider
This news shook the world and was long awaited as we got the return of Lauren Cohan on The Walking Dead. She has not been seen since the beginning of season 9 and the entire universe never forgot about her. Maggie was mentioned a few times in season 9 that she has went with Georgie. Now that Maggie is back, how will she deal with The Whisperers. The way this was revealed is that at the near end of the panel after Danai got her standing ovation, Chris Hardwick called a female on stage that cosplayed as Negan but with a Jason mask. She appeared on stage, and then took off the mask and the crowd erupted! This was a surreal moment to see live and I am happy that I witnessed this.
AMC’s The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead made their presence known at San Diego Comic Con this year with their Deadquarters offsite, the large walker meetup that weekend, and much more. It is a great time to be a fan of the television series. On the Friday of San Diego Comic Con, AMC premiered the season 10 trailer to the entire world and after that, the panel started and Danai Gurira announced that the upcoming season will be her final one. This news hurts as much as Andrew Lincoln’s departure last year. After the Hall H panel for both shows, the press conferences happened!
The first one was the Fear The Walking Dead press conference as Scott Gimple, Austin Amelio, Lennie James, Alycia-Debnam-Carey, Danay Garcia, Maggie Grace, Karen David, Jenna Elfman, Alexa Nisenson, and Chief Content Officer Scott Gimple, and Executive Producers Andrew Chambliss, and Ian Goldberg. The biggest piece of news that came out of the conference is that Scott Gimple said it himself that the CRM helicopter group has nothing to do with The Commonwealth from the comic book series. The conference was great and I took photos after it ended.
The Walking Dead press conference took place right after Fear ended and cast members Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Danai Gurira, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBribe, Cailey Flemming, Cooper Andrews, Nadia Hilker, Ryan Hurst, Avi Nash, and Eleanor Matsuura along with Scott Gimple, and showrunner Angela Kang took the stage to answer every question that they could about the upcoming season and Danai, in particular, talk extensively about her leaving the show. Another great tibit from the press conference is that former or active military members were also walkers in the past on the show along with amputees as well. Norman Reedus has a very funny line around the twelve minute mark. You will love the conference as you can listen below.
Here are some of the pictures I have taken from the press conference as well.
I always love catching up with the cast every year I cover the press conference. Jeffrey Dean Morgan remembered my halloween costume from last year, Me and Norman talked about Death Stranding, and me and Danai talked about her final season for a bit.
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San Diego Comic Con just wrapped up yesterday at the San Diego Convention Center as many attendees from different fandoms attended the show. No joke, over 100,000 people were there and I thought I would be obverwhelmed with going to different vendors, offsites, press rooms, and the panels this year, but I was not as I stretched out my schedule for press coverage this year. I can say that I am happy with my results for 2019 and here are my highlights below.
HALL H
I told myself that I would never go on very long lines and Hall H is an example of that. I believe that this year’s line was much longer than last year’s as it extended all the way to the IMDB boat. Some of the big panel attractions that were showcased this year were Marvel Studios, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Supernatural, etc. We got the most news out of Marvel Studios as the Phase 4 announcements light up the room with a huge reception with announcements such as Black Widow, Doctor Strange, The Eternals, Loki, and the biggest of them all, Shang-Chi, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Blade. It is finally great to see Blade to be added to the MCU as I wanted that for years. DC did not have any panels this year at Hall H, but there was a screening of Batwoman on preview night and soon, you sill read my thoughts of the show. As for the Hall H line itself, it looks very intimidating when you realize that you are looking at the front of the line under the giant tent and it extends way to the back to the point where you cannot see it.
IT: CHAPTER 2 AT THE THEATER
At the theater where the Conan tapings took place during the week of Comic Con, there was a special screening preview of It:Chapter 2. Not only that the entire cast was there, you were able to pick up the exclusive Funko Pops at the end of the viewing. The previews that were shown has made the crowd drop their jaws at every scene that was shown. I honestly cannot wait for the film later this year since I am a fan of the previous film. The entire cast took questions from the fans after the showing and Conan presented the event!
MY INTERVIEWS
My interviews also took place at San Diego Comic Con as I interviewed cast members of Netflix’s The Order. Those included Katherine Isabelle, Sarah Grey, and Louriza Tronco along with executive producers and creator Dennis Heaton and Shelly Eriksen. We all talked about the upcoming second season of the show and it was a blast.
I also interviewed Alison Tolman and Alexa Swinton as we talked about the upcoming ABC series Emergence. I have never interviewed a child before so this was fun to do. And finally, I interviewed cosplayer and make-up artist Meg Wilbur as we talked about her cosplaying as Rogue, her daily routine, the marvel cinematic universe, and much more!
I also attended the press conferences of The Walking Dead, Fear The Walking Dead, The Boys, and Dark Crystal, but that will be on a seperate article!
OFFSITES
There were many offistes that happened this year. Although I did not attend many of them, there were a few that I attended. Amazon had their activations this year which showcased The Boys, Carnival Row, and The Expanse. All of them were very fun and what I forgot to mention in my article about the experience is that on preview day at Amazon, Carl’s Jr. had a truck out there and you had 3 options of cheeseburger types along with french fries and a drink and it was FREE! Many people did not know this until after the fact.
The Walking Dead’s Deadquarters had a huge presence once again with their offsite as this time around, it centered around the airplane and treehouse on the current season of Fear The Walking Dead. There were also times that the radaition gas pyrotechnics happened in the area and it looked awesome. The biggest feature of Deadquarters is that there was an area dedicated to the snowstorm crossing that you have seen in the season 9 finale of The Walking Dead. There was a lot of snow brewing in the tent and it was very cold inside. We had to go through the storm to go to the other side. I have seen frozen walkers, and The Whisperers’ border with heads on a pike.
After you escaped, you are then in a area where you can try the slots game of The Walking Dead, take a audition animation of the mobile app game The Walking Dead: Our World, and demo The Walking Dead: Onslaught. Very fun experinece and I cannot wait to see what they will bring next year.
I also took the time to play the upcoming Switch port of Yu-Gi-Oh: Legacy of the Duelist as the Link Summoning mechanic along with the VRAINS story option has been added. I talked with the game’s creator about the game along with the rule changes over the years of the Yu-Gi-Oh card game. I am a Nintendo Switch owner so I am looking forward to playing this on the go!
CONCLUSION
I love San Diego Comic Con and this year was an awesome year for the show. I also have to say that the weather was the best in San Diego for Comic Con in years and many other people have said the same thing. I did not have too much time to take pictures of cosplayers, but these two images from the show that I took are my favorite.
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Amazon Prime is back at San Diego Comic Con this year with their activation experience where attendees can show up for fun activities. This year, the activities were themed around the Prime Originals The Boys, Carnival Row, and The Expanse. I attended all three of them and it was a great time.
The Expanse activation enlists the help of the fans to assist with a UN peacekeeping mission on the newly colonized planet, Illus. Never seen before, fans will be able to walk and see Illus for the first time. Participants will explore new terra, pursue science-driven discoveries, and attempt to ease tensions between private corporations vying for profit and refugee groups just struggling to survive. Keep in mind that all of the activations have actors playing out the scene that would be shown on the television series.
The Carnival Row activation was also interesting as attendees had to say whether if they were a creature or a human before entering the area. I chose human of course and everyone that selected Creature were berated by the police officers. It was funny to see that happen. The area itself looks like the rural areas of London from years ago and once you entered the bar area, there was a show there with all of the creatures. It was very dark and mysterious with the way everything was arranged. Then, the police raided the place of all the creatures. A very fun experience!
After you exit the bar, you were allowed to take a picture with the creature wings on your back.
The final activation is The Boys as that series alone is highly anticipated all around the world. In this activation, you had to solve puzzles as it puts fans in the forefront of a crime scene that needs to be covered up. Lead by two members of The Boys cohort, you and 15-20 other attendees must scour the store and dispose of anything that could lead back to Butcher and Hughie. With the cops on their way, fans have about 10 minutes to clean up to search and destroy the tape before fleeing the scene. This was the most fun I have had with the activations as Me and about 15 others scurried around the place to find all of the clues.
If you are at San Diego Comic Con this year, stop by Amazon to check this out!
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