Comic-Con 2007

After camping out in Hall H for a good five hours Saturday, I had high expectations for the Marvel panel, and they did not disapoint.

First off was “The Incredible Hulk,” a remake of the 2003 Ang Lee bomb that almost jeopardized the movie career of one of the most popular comic book superheroes.

A self-described “Marvel kid,” Edward Norton both penned the screenplay for the summer 2008 flick and will star as hero Bruce Banner, a role he said he has a gotten a number of “funny looks” for, considering his serious and mostly independent film credits. Liv Tyler, costarring as Banner’s love interest Betsy Ross, was also a fan growing up, though of the ’70s television show rather than the comic books themselves.

Unfortunately the panel featured no teasers or clips, since the production only began two weeks ago, but judging by Norton’s carefully crafted answers concerning the role and the script’s respect for the original mythology, it sounds like Hulk fans have something great to look forward to.

Iron Man fans also have a good summer 2008 to plan for, as the extended trailer was shown in preparation for the May 2, 2008 release. Stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard were all present to talk about the film and get a glimpse of Comic-Con, and scenes from the film, for the first time. All involved seemed to be very excited about the project, especially director Jon Favreau, who said the film was not about introducing Iron Man to ignorant film-goers. “This is about how we handle the comic books,” he said.

Downey Jr., in one of his biggest roles in recent years, labeled the part of Tony Stark/Iron Man as “a great opportunity” while keeping both panel members (especially on-screen love interest Paltrow) and crowd members in stitches. While not a lot of scenes were shown between the two leads, this odd couple is guaranteed to work great chemistry in the film judging from their onstage antics.

Even Marvel founder and Comic-Con god Stan Lee showed up on stage to show his support for “Iron Man.”

“He understands the characters, he understands the medium,” Lee said of Favreau.

– Kate Stanhope