San Diego Comic-Con kicks off in a little over a week and the jam packed schedule has finally been released. What used to be an opportunity for comic book fans to meet some of their favorite artists and purchase "Robotech" bootlegs and replica ninja swords from shady looking dealers has exploded into the number one showcase to promote new movies and TV shows.
One of the biggest surprises about this year's con that has already been revealed is that Metallica will be there. The influential thrash-metal band will be in attendance to promote the 3D film "Metallica Through the Never." The band will not only participate in a panel in Hall H on Friday but they also will be playing a secret concert somewhere in San Diego that night, according to CinemaBlend.
In what has quickly become one of the most anticipated panel each year HBO's "Game of Thrones" will invade Hall H on Friday. The panel will include executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss as well as stars from the show including: John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), and Richard Madden (Robb Stark), according to Yahoo. It's nice to see Fairley and Madden are able to make the appearance despite the Red Wedding.
Another hotly anticipated panel will be the one for Lionsgate Films as they showcase the upcoming films "I, Frankenstein" and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" Saturday afternoon. "I, Frankenstein" stars Aaron Eckhart and Yvonne Strahovski will appear as well as the film's director, Stuart Bettie, and the author of the graphic novel, Kevin Grevioux. The cast of "The Hunger Games" will also be on hand as never-before-seen footage is shown, according to the Comic-Con website.
What would a comic convention be without at least one or two quirky panels designed for the true fans? Probably the most intriguing of these on tap in San Diego is entitled "Not Guilty Due to Zombification? Law and Forensic Psychiatry in a Zombie Apocalypse." Thursday night's panel takes a look at the legal ramifications if society returned at the end of an epidemic of man-eating humans. It's best to let the Comic-Con website describe the panel.
"During a "zombie apocalypse" humans play by a new set of rules - or no rules at all. Zombies kill humans, humans hunt zombies, and humans murder other humans - with no legal repercussions. When society's laws are restored, what would happen if humans, zombies, and former zombies alike stood trial for their actions? Would any of them be found guilty, or would the circumstances of the apocalypse excuse crimes like theft, breaking and entering, misuse of a corpse, murder and cannibalism?"
This is really just the tip of the iceberg as Comic-Con 2013 is an enormous undertaking. Marvel will hold a panel for the upcoming Captain America and Thor sequels, "Breaking Bad" will be there one last time, and the cast of "Veronica Mars" will meet up fresh off of their successful Kickstarter campaign. A full schedule of the events can be found here. If you can't make the trip out to see it for yourself HNGN plans on updating all of the developments once it all gets started.
