SAN DIEGO, California: When Kenneth Branagh walked through the doors of Marvel Studios to discuss directing Thor, executives greeted the British thespian with two questions.
The first was a polite “How are you doing?”
The second was whether Branagh had ever been to Comic-Con.
“I think they were warning me,” says Branagh, known more for his adaptations of Shakespeare than superhero stories. “They said to brace myself, that I’d never seen anything like it.”
If you’re making a movie that involves capes and spandex, you had better be prepared to face the critical eyes of Comic-Con, the nation’s largest gathering of fanboys, Twi-hards and all variants of geek in between.
The four-day San Diego convention, which kicked off yesterday, will draw more than 125,000 pop-culture fanatics of film, television, comics and video games.
But Sylvester Stallone, Angelina Jolie, Jeff Bridges, Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren and Bruce Willis will probably not get the adoring reception they’re used to when they descend on this year’s event. The convention, in its 40th year, has become one of Hollywood’s biggest showcases, and the hard core is incensed at the mainstream invasion of what began as a distinctly subculture event.
Los Angeles Times film critic Betsy Sharkey questioned whether “mainstream fame will destroy Comic-Con”. Blogger OnMedea commented: “It is already dead — R.I.P. Hollywood owns this convention now. The only chance for the geeks is to boycott it and start a new one.”
Last year, it was Twilight fans who swamped the event, much to the disgust of true comic aficionados. This year, Jolie will be there promoting her latest thriller, Salt, while rumours that Brad Pitt might turn up to promote the upcoming animated movie Megamind are still unconfirmed.
Happily for the film and TV executives, none of the diehard fans in their Star Wars and fantasy figure costumes will literally be up in arms over the dilution of their beloved festival. The convention’s rules state that weapons have to remain sheathed at all times.
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