Comic-Con 2015’s 10 Coolest Moments

 9. Bill Murray Attends Comic-Con For The First Time

Anyone familiar with Comic-Con knows that it’s become about much more than comic books in recent years — to the disdain of many — and is now one of the most important junkets for building hype for upcoming blockbuster films and new seasons of television series. As a result, it’s more surprising to discover which actors haven’t attended the event before than who has. This year, a pretty significant presence was felt at Comic-Con for the first time: none other than legendary funnyman Bill Murray. In attendance to promote his upcoming film Rock the Kasbah, Murray very much acted like a rockstar, entering his panel to the tune of “Smoke on the Water” and generally being the coolest guy there, even taking time afterward to say hello to Jennifer Lawrence at the Hunger Games panel.

http://www.newslocker.com/en-us/person/bill-murray/ Source: newslocker.com

8. Warcraft Movie

The Warcraft movie, based on the popular PC gaming series, has changed hands so many times in its almost decade-long development that it felt like it would never actually see the light of the day. Director Duncan Jones put those worries to rest in a big way over the weekend when he delivered a beautiful, five minute-long trailer for the long-gestating project. As if showing a ton of footage wasn’t enough, Jones is so confident in the film that he also made it clear days before the panel that he would love to return for a sequel or two. Considering that he hasn’t let us down yet (his first two films, Moon and Source Code, were very well-received), it looks like Warcraft could very well be the video game film that rights the ship and puts an end to awful video game adaptations.

http://static1.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1533/15333573/2902151-adsfaf.jpg Source: gamespot.com

7. One Heck of a “Women Who Kick Ass” Panel

The “Women Who Kick Ass” panel has become an annual Comic-Con tradition that brings together the best of the toughest women in the geek sphere and this year’s panel featured a bevvy of awesome ladies. Gwendoline Christie, Jenna Coleman, Kathy Bates, Hayley Atwell, and Wonder Woman herself Gal Gadot took the stage this year and spoke extensively about the characters they play and some of the stunt work they’ve had to do. Highlights included Christie discussing her famous fight with The Hound (Rory McCann) on Game of Thrones and how McCann actually asked her to punch him in the groin (ouch!), and Gadot discussing her experience of taking up the legendary sword and shield of Wonder Woman. This panel recap is worth a read and proves how much more of a presence women are having in our favorite stories.

6. Bryan Cranston Shuts Down Dumb Breaking Bad Question

Breaking Bad may have ended almost two years ago (it doesn’t feel like that long!), but the series’ popularity remains high. Therefore, it’s only fitting that one of the most awesome moments to come out of Comic-Con involved a Breaking Bad fan getting absolutely destroyed by series star Bryan Cranston. During a panel for his new upcoming show Supermansion, the quick-witted Cranston channeled his inner Walter White when responding to a question from an Albuquerque, New Mexico resident, who asked Cranston what it was like filming there and if he had any fun. Cranston immediately deadpanned; “Yeah, I’d go and visit your mother once in a while,” and literally dropped his mic. Naturally, the crowd was blown away by the eminently-cool actor’s antics.

5. Deadpool‘s R-Rated Extravaganza

Deadpool is a love him or hate him kind of comic book hero, as his penchant for hyper violence and groan-worthy, fourth-wall breaking humor are very much an acquired taste. Luckily for Ryan Reynolds and the rest of the team making the first Deadpool movie, the character has his fair share of fans and those in attendance at the film’s panel were treated to an absolute knockout experience. In addition to a panel that, in keeping with the spirit of the character, was filled with all sorts ridiculous comedy, attendees were shown a trailer that pretty much delivered in every conceivable fashion for hardcore Deadpool fans. Violent, crass, and with a hard-fought-for R rating, Deadpool is shaping up to be a superhero film unlike any other, for better or worse.

4. The Exciting, Emotional X-Men Panel

Fox’s slate of Marvel film franchises are generally considered second tier in relation to the films that Marvel’s own studios continue to pump out, but with Big Brother not showing off their new films this year, Fox was able to land a sizable one-two punch with their showings of upcoming films X-Men: Apocalypse and Deadpool. In addition to an exciting trailer that showed off Oscar Isaac’s new villain for the first time, the X-Men panel was pure fanservice all the way, featuring a staggering number of cast members, including Channing Tatum (starring in the Gambit solo film), James McAvoy, and a thankful Hugh Jackman. Jackman, who has played the role of Wolverine for a staggering fifteen years at this point, offered a farewell of sorts as he will soon be retiring the role. Considering how strong the last few X-Men films have been, it doesn’t seem particularly urgent that Marvel reacquire the film rights anytime soon.

3. Suicide Squad Footage

DC’s upcoming slate of world-building superhero films are intriguing, to say the least. In addition to the crossover event film Batman v Superman, the company also has the villain ensemble picture Suicide Squad coming out, which will notably feature The Joker onscreen for the first time since Heath Ledger’s award-winning performance in The Dark Knight. While the jury’s still out on whether or not Jared Leto’s Joker will be a contender to Ledger’s clown crown (and the trailer doesn’t show enough of him to make any sort of hard judgment either way), the footage revealed at the Suicide Squad panel shows a film that looks to undermine criticisms leveled at DC that their films are “too dark”. While Suicide Squad will definitely be a dark film, it also looks like it’s having fun with the material and is probably about as close as we’re going to get to a DC version of Guardians of the Galaxy. Let’s hope the final product can measure up.

2. Harrison Ford’s Appearance at Star Wars Panel Met With Standing Ovation

The Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel was arguably the highlight of the entire event, filled to the brim with awesome fan service and nostalgia-inducing behind-the-scenes production videos. It also brought Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford up on stage together and Ford’s presence alone was enough to incite a standing ovation from the entire crowd of 7,000 fans (Ford comes on stage just past the 47 minute mark). As if that wasn’t enough, Ford — who’s still recovering from injuries sustained in a plane crash incident earlier this year — was also observed using one of the lightsabers handed out to attendees as a makeshift cane. It’s good to know that injury and age have done little to quell his Han Solo-cool.

1. The Batman v Superman Trailer

The initial teaser trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder’s upcoming launching pad for DC’s cinematic universe, received mixed reactions when it was released a few months ago. Overly dark and serious, that initial impression rubbed a lot of people more used to the dynamic fun of Marvel’s stable of films the wrong way. Considering the attention it’s received so far, it’s safe to say that reaction to the Comic-Con trailer has been much more positive. Clocking in at over 3 minutes long, the trailer gives a much clearer indication of how the film’s shaping up, to the point where it looks like Snyder might have a winner on his hands. The best part (besides the scenes of Batman and Superman fighting and the brief glimpse of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman in action) is the way that the film is addressing criticisms leveled at Man of Steel. It looks like a big portion of Batman’s motivation for bringing Superman down is due to the latter’s inadvertent destruction of Metropolis. Many had wondered what would compel Batman to take on Superman and a personal vendetta looks like a convincing reason. Captain America 3: Civil War will have a tough fight for most anticipated film of 2016 now.