Star Wars Takes Over San Diego Comic Con
Each year, right about mid-July, the world looks to San Diego for "what's next" and, of course, this year it was Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens! (Queue opening title music)
Now Star Wars has a long history with Comic-Con dating all the way back to 1976 where Star Wars (before it was Episode IV: A New Hope) was screened the first time to a room of unknowing soon-to-be-fans.
(For those of you that have never had the chance to experience Comic-Con, there is nothing like it. People line up for days to sit in Hall H (a 6500 seat arena) and wait for that big moment when a new trailer or some type of breaking news about the film they are waiting to see. So let's rewind to July 9th, 2015: a day that will live in infamy this was the day fans started lining up for the 'Lucasfilm Panel' (as it was listed in the guide) but we all knew what it was for.
At about 4:30 p.m., I joined my group who had been waiting since 4:30 a.m. in a line, which didn't seem that imposing...but I was wrong! As the day turned to night, the line of a maybe a 1,000 fans quickly stretched back to the peninsula with numbers over 4,000.
Thankfully last year a new method to this madness was implemented where approximately 6,000 wristbands would be handed out in order to give fans an idea if they would be admitted into Hall H first thing or if they would have to continue to wait in line all day with hopes of other fans leaving the hall. I was lucky enough to be among the first few hundred and so I had no problems getting a coveted — so much so they were being sold online starting for $200 within minutes of being passed out — wristband.
After securing entry into the most hallowed of halls for Geeknerdia, we all gathered under the tents set up to protect us from the elements for a short summer's nap.
Bright and early the next morning, a buzz among the crowd quickly spread... almost as quickly as the doughnuts J..J. Abrams sent out to the queue disappeared. Now having 6,000+ people waiting to rush into Hall H and spend a day seeing panels for things such as The Walking Dead, Fear of the Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones before the Star Wars panel may seem like a San Diego version of the Running of the Bulls, but really the staff did an excellent job keep us all informed and moving forward.
We had started to fill in the massive Hall H as the programs started for the day. First up was The 16th Annual Animation Show of Shows which showcased award-winning animated shorts from the past year. While this was a fun panel, showing cartoons to a group of people that had just waited over 24 hours may not have been the best pick me up for the day. But it did start off with one of my favorite Disney shorts, Feast.
As the day went on, we learned about zombies taking over not only the East Coast but now also L.A., how Winter is Coming, and how EW picks some funny guys to be Brave New Warriors, but finally, after more than 24 hours of waiting, it was time for Star Wars!First up we had Chris Hardwick (one of the funniest and most entertaining people you could hope to have moderate your panel) come out and introduce Lucasfilm president and producer Kathleen Kennedy, director J..J. Abrams, and writer Lawrence Kasdan.
Kennedy started off by talking about how we the fans were the one that made Star Wars what it is and kept it alive.
Abrams went on to tease us that there is a cut of the film that we, of course, couldn't see. Then Kasdan talked about, how since George Lucas brought him in to write Empire Strikes Back, his life has been tied to Star Wars. Hardwick also talked with Abrams about his focus on the practical effects and how people thought some of the things from the first video release were C.G. and, in response to that, they brought out Bobbajo to take a stroll around the stage and show some photos of other characters from the film all created by Neal Scanlan Studios.
After a brief Q&A from the audience, Hardwick prodded J..J. into showing us, the die hard fans, the behind the scenes reel that Hardwick said he had seen the day before and he cried.
Once everyone dried their eyes, next to take the stage were the "light side" of the film: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac.
All three of were just so humble and appreciative of the fans. Also, Isaac was asked about Harrison Ford's advice about flying in the film to which he said, "It's fake, it's a movie."
During the next set of Q&A, a pair of Asain fans asked Abrams about more Asians in the Star Wars film to which he said (tongue in cheek) that he wishes he could cast a fully Asian Star Wars film, but he did follow up on how much he loves working with the diversity of cast.
Next up we have the Dark Side...For the first time taking the stage we had Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, and Gwendoline Christie, who talked about how this was out of control and Hardwick had to remind her she is on Game of Thrones.
During the Q&A, one of the questions was how they reacted when being cast for Star Wars and a spoiler snuck out that the base is named after the original last name of Luke from the first drafts: "Starkiller Base." After a few more questions, Hardwick just nonchalantly says, "I'd like to suspend questions and bring out Carrie Fisher!" to which the audience went crazy!
Fisher talked briefly on how the 3 of them are the "Legacy" people and how great it was to be all back together just this time she said it was "like a flashback... an acid flashback" and it was like before just "we looked more melted this time, but in a good way like the force melted." Of course, as Fisher paused after taking about the "Legacy People," Hardwick brought out Luke himself — Mark Hamill!
Hamill talked about how he has been a fan of films and his first convention was in 1972 and re-enforced how without the fans they are nothing and how it's an out of body experience with fans telling him life changing stories based around him being Luke.
But no Star Wars panel would be complete with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) making a surprise appearance. Ford talked about how the original Star Wars was the start of his real career and how he is very grateful for it all.
The three "Legacy Players" took a few minutes to toss about old lines, talking about how they felt they have grown up, and making jokes about where they thought their characters ended up before starting Episode VII — including some Luke/Leia jokes.
Just as Hardwick is starting to wrap up the panel, he asks Abrams, "What else do you have in store?" He talks about how the music is one of the stars of the film and asks, "Who wants to go see a live Star Wars concert?" Then he puts all responsibility on Chris Hardwick!
We then all headed out the side door, leaving Hall H empty for the Kevin Smith panel after, we were given lanyards as our passes to the concert.
With lanyards in hand, all 6,500 of us walked out to the peninsula (where many had spent the night) to a large stage set up for the San Diego Symphony to do Star Wars Concert for the Fans.
As we arrived at the location, we exchanged the bottom of our lanyard for our very own lightsaber, with the color being of your own choosing.
Before the concert, Abrams and Kennedy came out and thanked all the fans and once again introduced the cast.
Then with the direction to raise our lightsabers high in the air, the concert started with the beautiful San Diego Symphony bringing to life the music of John Williams with the stunning visuals from the first two trilogies being shown on the screens.
Of course, no Star Wars Concert would be complete without a grand finale that had to include the main title being played as a fireworks spectacular is launched from the bay.
To say this was one of the most amazing times of my life would be an understatement. Now to just wait for December 18th!
I would also like to thank these great people who I didn't know before I got in line but thanks to Twitter not only did I have a great seat for the panel, I made some great friends!
May the Force Be With You!