Believe it or not, San Diego Comic Con is less than a month away, which means you've got just a few weeks left to polish that Boba Fett helmet and track down the souvenir Green Lantern cup you'll use to hydrate on those long Hall H days. Even though rumor has it that a lot of the major players won't be making the trip to San Diego at all this year, there's still more than enough for nerds of every stripe to look forward to, whether you're dying to pepper the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia cast with questions in Hall H or catch the premiere of Cowboys & Aliens in the company of your geek brethren.
I'll be there covering the four-day event with the crack team of Kelly West, Eric Eisenberg and Jesse Carp, and for my part I'm most excited to check out the new stuff they're doing-- the aforementioned Cowboys & Aliens premiere, the mysterious plans afoot to promote The Avengers in some way, and any other way the studios are trying to change up the formula of "panel + Q&A" that's been standard at Comic Cons past. But of course, we're not the only site on the internet that will be attending; a whole slew of bloggers and writers from other movie and fan sites got together to talk over what we're all most excited to see. Check out what everyone is looking forward to, and click through to go ahead and bookmark their coverage of San Diego Comic Con. Of course you'll come to Cinema Blend first, but if you simply can't get enough Comic Con, all these sites will have you covered once the Con kicks off July 20.
Kellvin Chavez of Latino Review says "Rotten Tomatoes say, "So much to do, so little time! I want to get into the Cowboys & Aliens premiere. I want to hear fans' thoughts on DCs Flashpoint initiative. I'm also going to go to the Marvel booth to demand to know why my MDCU subscription isn't available on the iPad comics apps."
The Screen Rant team had big hopes for Comic-Con 2011 - hopes that were a bit dashed when we learned that some big comic book films like The Avengers wouldn't be getting major presentations this year. We have our fingers crossed that Zack Snyder's Superman reboot Man of Steel will have some kind of presence at the convention, but failing that, we're eager to see if The Amazing Spider-Man is truly a worthy reboot of the franchise.
Don Kaye from MSN's Parallel Universe says, "I'm looking forward to the big Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel presen -- oh, wait, those aren't happening. OK, then I'm really psyched for the Avengers panel in Hall H and -- er, I guess they're not showing up either. You know what? I'm just looking forward to being surprised by something -- like I am every year."
Ed Douglas of Coming Soon says, "As much as I want to see footage and hopefully hear announcements about future superhero movies, Comic-Con is one of the best socializing and networking places for people who want to write about movies or genre-fare, and more than anything, I'm looking forward to spending time with people I don't normally get to see year-round."
The sentient robots and/or brain-in-a-vat that is io9 communicates, "The whole io9 staff will be in San Diego, covering the big new movies and TV shows, along with astonishing art, dazzling cosplay, and mindbending books. Check out the reviews, interviews, and previews on io9's Comic-Con 2011 page."
Jordan Hoffman of UGO wonders, "What exactly does a studio mean when they say they'll have a presence, but not a panel, at Comic-Con? I wanna see how The Avengers pulls this off, and I also wanna see Tarsem Singh dazzle the crowd with his comedy act during the Immortals panel. And I sure as hell hope I get in that elevator of two dozen women dressed like Power Girl like I did last year. . . or was that a dream?"
Josh Wigler of MTV Movies Blog states, Three words: Game of Thrones. Next season is based on "Clash of Kings," and with it comes more betrayals, more boobs and more blood. Very psyched for any and all new footage (Blackwater!) and casting announcements (Melisandre!) that HBO's bringing to Comic-Con this year.
Brooke Tarnoff and Breanne L. Heldman, Hit-Girls/Senior Editors of MTV's NextMovie.com, are heading to San Diego for cowboys, aliens and Cowboys & Aliens. In addition to catching Favreau's sneak preview, the ladies are most psyched to experience the record-setting decibel levels at the Twilight panel -- and will fight to the death, if necessary, to get their hands on Hunger Games intel.
Kristal Bailey will be trekking down to San Diego Comic Con for Gordon and the Whale. She's a long time attendee, but this is her first year as press. She loves the Hall H panels and Kevin Smith's long talk, but this year with so many big titles bowing out (see: SUPERMAN, BATMAN, AVENGERS), she's most excited for the smaller movies she's haven't even heard of yet. "There's always a handful that blow me away and get me excited for the year of genre movies to come!"
Jim Littler of ComicBookMovie.com says "With many of the major comic book movies bowing out this year (The Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel, The Avengers, etc.) ComicBookMovie.com's reporters are going to have some free time to browse this year-- and check out all the cosplayer hotties. Be sure to come by the site to see our massive gallery."
Rick Marshall of MTV's Splash Page says, "I'm hoping to finally see some footage from The Amazing Spider-Man that isn't recorded on someone's cell phone, because I need something to wipe the memory of Spider-Man 3 from my mind. I'm also really looking forward to seeing the Locke & Key pilot at IDW's panel on Friday, since it might be our only chance to find out what we're missing."
Movies.com, under the new leadership of former Cinematical Editor-in-Chief Erik Davis, will be assembling a host of movie geeks like David Ehrlich, Todd Gilchrist and himself to storm the Comic-Con castle in the hopes of rescuing a princess... or reporting the same story everyone else is, only five minutes faster and with twice the big words, whichever is easier.
Chris Carle of IGN reminds us that, "It's TV's big year at SDCC and I personally can't wait to see what's happening with Game of Thrones. This should be a huge, happy hug fest for fans, and a big "We Did It!" moment for creators and producers. Also, Fringe. I'm jonesing to get a look at the revamped Beavis and Butthead, and the new ThunderCats, and curious about Locke & Key and Alcatraz. Despite a reduced movies presence, The Amazing Spider-ManX-Men reboot.
Film School Rejects is hitting the sunny beaches of San Diego to relax, drink fruity drinks, and occasionally see whether or not there's anything going on at the convention center. Their Comic-Con Hit Squad plans on setting up tents inside Hall H, pestering Steven Soderbergh for interviews (at least seven), and finding the most interesting angles on the best stories coming out of the Con.
The succinct but lovable Mike Sampson of JoBlo.com says, "I can't wait to see what The Amazing Spider-Man looks like, especially in 3D. And with any luck, they'll officially reveal the villain…"
Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub at Collider.com is looking forward to hanging out with his fellow nerds and arguing about George Lucas, the Twilight fans, and what was the coolest footage in Hall H.
Danile Hubschman of Hollywood.com says "Many of the films I was most anticipating to see at Comic-Con will not be there at all, but luckily The Amazing Spider-Man will. A first look at the new beginning of this beloved franchise will no doubt be the highlight of the Con, but I'm also giddy about potential small screen hits like Person of Interest and Terra Nova, in addition to blockbuster titles like Cowboys and Aliens and Fright Night."
Katey Rich from CinemaBlend says, "I'm excited about all the potential for studios to plan something out of the ordinary this year, like the Cowboys & Aliens premiere or whatever Marvel is cooking up for the show floor. Hall H can be great, but it's time to change up the formula, and I'm hoping studios are planning a lot more unusual stuff than we know about so far."
Greg Ellwood of HitFix is "on pins and needles to see whether Comic-Con will finally put some of the massively popular TV shows such as True Blood or Game of Thrones in Hall H. It's been too long that fans have to wait for hours to try to get into Ballroom 20 only to never had a shot in the first place. There are definitely some movie panels that would seem more packed in Ballroom 20. There is no reason they can't mix both halls up with TV and movie content."
