After today’s WB panel, one thing is clear. Warner Bros Pictures is not taking the success of Wonder Woman lying down. Their panel, presented with a giant panoramic screen, oozed with confident energy, with the guests presenting themselves as the rockstars that they are. Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player Once kicked things off with a burst of visceral nostalgia, Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 promised a sequel worthy of its pedigree, and of course, DC Films took an hour long victory lap around Hall H. Details from each panel below.
Ready Player One
Ready Player One- The creation of the virtual oasis took two and a half years to prepare. Spielberg joked that they may have needed a younger director
- Tye Sheridan works for a virtual reality company and the film’s use of that technology drew him to it.
- Olivia Cooke spoke about inhabiting the avatars within the Oasis. Each actor had to take on different body language when performing the motion capture, making for an interesting acting challenge
- Ernest Cline said Zak Penn’s work on The Last Action Hero was key to working alongside him on the script.
- Cline spoke about how he hopes the film will accelerate development of VR technology, with the blurred line between VR and Reality being the main draw for Spielberg
- Spielberg and Penn were the two people capable of making this movie, according to Cline
- Spielberg promises that The Iron Giant is a major player while explaining that he was reluctant to put a lot of characters from his own movies into the film.
Click here to watch the Comic Con trailer for Ready Player One below.
Blade Runner 2049
Blade Runner 2049- The panel begins with Jared Leto reverently talking about the Blade Runner legacy under neon lights. He then vanishes; he was a hologram.
- A panoramic timeline sequence opened the panel, giving us an introduction to what has happened from the first movie to now. Essentially, society has gone back and forth on the replicants and now they’ve become an even more marginalized group.
- Denis opens by saying that Blade Runner is his favorite film and that he refused to let somebody else “fuck it up.”
- Ridley Scott gave Denis a great deal of creative freedom instead of “standing over [his] back.”
- Harrison Ford signed on based on the strength of the script and the way it expands the previous film.
- Ford played coy when asked if the film answers questions from the first one, “it doesn’t matter what I think.”
- Gosling loved the original film as a kid because it was one of the first films that didn’t tell him how to feel. He described being in the film as being like playing on a football team with the Avengers (which was quickly corrected to Justice League).
- When Ford was asked if his agenda is to reboot all of his old franchises, he replied: “You bet your ass it is.”
- An exclusive clip was shown, with Gosling’s Agent K getting a lead on Deckard’s whereabouts. Not a particularly flashy clip. Visually stunning, but rather stoic in tone, with Gosling’s character giving off a vibe similar to that of The Driver in Drive.
DC
DC- WB opened with a long video showcasing the universe so far and dropping some titles for upcoming films. Most notably, The Flash’s film seems to be called The Flash: Flashpoint now, while Suicide Squad 2, Shazam and Batgirl were given their first official logos. The Wonder Woman sequel was also officially confirmed.
- Jason Momoa began the panel by running up on stage with the Aquaman trident to “Voodoo Child” by Jimi Hendrix. He’s an absolute rockstar, owning the stage with pure bravado. He broke a chair at one point; it was great.
- James Wan appeared over a video message to show concept art from Aquaman, which brought us into…
- A short clip. We see French fisherman listening to Beyond The Sea in the middle of the ocean. One of them gets a bite, and their rod falls into the water. The ocean shakes and their boat starts to sink. Beneath them, Oceanmaster’s Army. This was awesome. Very stylish and a bit cheeky, can’t wait to see more.
- Then, the Justice League sans Henry Cavill appeared on stage to debut a new trailer and talk about the film.
- Ben Affleck was quick to address the rumors of his departure, saying that Batman is “the coolest fucking character in any universe,” and that he would “crawl on the ground like an ape” for Matt Reeves.
- Gal Gadot was deeply thankful for the success of Wonder Woman. She seems to have taken on the mom role in a group of rowdy boys.
- They told stories about the moment they found out they were in the film.
- Ezra Miller was “in a small town in Costa Rica” when his panicked agent called him with Zack Snyder on the line to offer him The Flash.
- Ray Fischer was in his apartment, confident that he did not get the role when he received a phone call from Snyder.
- Affleck was shown concept art, won over by a mock up of his suit, which is inspired by Frank Miller’s Batman.
- Fischer re-assured the audience that “Joss Whedon is a great guy and Zack picked the perfect guy to step in.”
- The reshoots are almost done.
Click here to watch the new Comic Con trailer for Justice League.
…And that’s a wrap on Warner Bros. presentation at San Diego Comic Con. Follow more of our SDCC coverage here.
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