Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. From the sounds of things the WB presentation and the Hellboy panel were the coolest things at the Con this year. Thanks to spy "joe dope" we have a rundown of the DC presentation below! Enjoy!
Sandwiched in between The Hulk and Spirit panels, Warner Bros. was scheduled to give a fifteen minute "presentation" at the Con. No panels, just footage. Speed Racer and Dark Knight - Warner Bros. biggest projects on the slate - were the two most likely suspects. We were praying like hell for fresh Batman footage, but without concrete evidence, we feared that Speed Racer might ride solo. Lo and behold, possibly to stomp on our dreams, the program director introduced Paulie Litt, who will play Speed's younger brother Spritle in the upcoming flick. Even with my biased-disappointment, he's a cute 'lil fella. He toted the company line for a bit and started an impromptu sing-a-long to the Speed Racer theme song. ("Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer! He's a demon on wheels!" Very cool.) Paulie warmed up the audience and presented new footage from the film. With the world premiere in Tribeca fast approaching, we didn't break new ground here. Lots of fleshing out of scenes already depicted. It starts with the same line as the other trailers ("Your son seems to be interested in only one thing: automobile racing."), but now shows a young Speed sketching cars in his notebook, daydreaming, and mimicking the crowd's cheers from his dream "victory," with a smile from Trixie. Flash forward to the future, Mom Racer is amazed at what Speed can accomplish and proud to be Speed's mother. There's extended racing sequences with Speed wondering if the last race was fixed against him and chatting with Racer X bringing those to justice. Trixie and the Racer family want to work with Speed to help him do what he was born to do. Finally, we're shown scenes of Speed using his newly-installed defense system against the racers gunning for him. The footage ends. We cheer. The program director enters the room and introduces Paul Levitz (president of DC Comics) to the stage! I couldn't believe it. Since he was on an Eisner panel the day before, I thought he was going to introduce the Spirit, but then he tells us that before the rest of the human race, we will get to see the new trailer for The Dark Knight!! Pandemonium!! This trailer is more plot-driven, depicting the Joker's rise to power (Joker to mob bosses: It's simple: kill the Batman.) and Bruce's struggle with Rachel dating Harvey. There's an extended sequence of Joker meeting Rachel (the one in the second trailer - "A little fight in ya. I like that!"); he coyly fixes his hair and mentions how beautiful she looks. There are heavy shots of Harvey Dent promising that the dawn is coming and he delivers a terrific line to Bruce: You either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain. Further foreshadowing his turn as Two-Face, half of Harvey's face is held to what looks like a gasoline-soaked floor. There was thunderous applause, arguably the best of the night (next to Battlestar Galactica and Guillermo del Toro with the Hellboy cast). He said that it'll be released in a couple weeks, possibly attached to Speed Racer, but he vaguely mentioned that we'd need to hunt it down. Another viral marketing scheme? Quick tangential point: at the Mattel Toy Section of Comic Con, they displayed the new Dark Knight toy line, which did include a Scarecrow figure. He's donning the Arkham straight jacket we saw in Batman Begins, but now featuring many straps and locks. (Toy feature or was he recaptured and then set free?) What's most interesting is that his face is absolutely horrifying. I hope I'm not looking too much into this, but it appears that his mask lies around his neck and his face is now orange and black, resembling no distinct physical features. I really don't think it's a mask. The Scarecrow is set to appear in the animated Batman: Gotham Knight. Maybe they'll explain his facial disfigurement there. Oh, and he carries a wrist blaster for anyone interested. Note: there were two different types of toys: one geared Ages 4+ and the other 8+. The former set has "softer" features for the kiddies (i.e., no scarring on the Joker's mouth) and Scarecrow was a part of this bunch. (MIA for the older 8+ crowd.) So there will be differences in the true appearance, but we have a good idea. -joe dope
