San Diego Comic-Con 2015: All the Big News You Need to Know

Movie buffs, comic book lovers and pop culture aficionados descended on San Diego this weekend for Comic-Con 2015, where the year’s hottest entertainment properties gather faithfully every year to hawk their progress and hopefully dazzle audiences into purchasing some tickets and merchandise.

This year’s showcase was especially stacked, with first looks at everything from the new X-Men: Apocalypse to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to the new Muppets TV show gracing convention hall screens.

HBO’s Game of Thrones cast members arrived at the convention center in a presidential-style motorcade, Playboy threw a party for a supposedly terrible movie, and everyone was dressed to the nines in their best costumes.

With so much going on inside pop culture’s biggest party, here’s a brief look at the top moments from San Diego Comic-Con 2015:

1. Harrison Ford Makes First Public Appearance After Plane Crash at ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Panel

The Hall H panel for Star Wars: The Force Awakens featured the cast and crew of the new film plus returning stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), and, in his first public appearance since surviving a harrowing plane crash in March, Harrison Ford (Han Solo).

Fans were treated to behind-the-scenes footage from the new film, set to be released this Christmas.

Ford said he was “proud and grateful” to have worked on the new installment and said the film was in good hands with director J.J. Abrams at the helm.

2. Quentin Tarantino Hearts 70mm Film

Quentin Tarantino wowed cinephiles during the panel for his new film The Hateful Eight by presenting a short history of 70mm film, on which he shot his latest Western. Approximately 100 theaters will show Eight in the expansive format, which was last used regularly decades ago.

The Pulp Fiction director also premiered seven minutes of new footage from the film, which Deadline called “gorgeous” and “stunning.” The film also got a cool new poster.

Tarantino also confirmed that legendary composer Ennio Morricone, the man responsible for the music of such classics as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and A Fistful of Dollars, would compose the music for Hateful Eight. The score will be Morricone’s first original music for a Western in 40 years.

3. Bryan Cranston Burns ‘Breaking Bad’ Fan, Drops Mic

Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston was hosting a panel for his new animated washed-up superheroes TV show SuperMansion when a fan asked him how he enjoyed his time filming the hit AMC show in New Mexico.

“How did you like [Albuquerque]? Did you have fun there?” the nervous young fan asked.

“Yeah, I’d go and visit your mother once in a while,” Cranston cooly replied before literally dropping his mic.

Burn.

4. ‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice’ Trailer Drops

Warner Bros. gave fans their first look at next year’s Man of Steel sequel Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which features Henry Cavill returning to play Superman and Ben Affleck stepping into the role of the Caped Crusader.

The film also stars Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luther with hair, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Diane Lane as Superman’s mom. The highly-anticipated movie will serve as D.C. Comics’ launching point for a multi-film superhero universe, much like Marvel is doing with their Cinematic Universe.

During the panel, Affleck reportedly told an amusing story about meeting fellow Batman actor Christian Bale in a costume shop.

“Make sure you can piss in that suit,” Bale told him.

5. R-Rated Superhero Movie ‘Deadpool’ Trailer Drops, Fans Ask for Encore

The trailer for the Ryan Reynolds-fronted R-rated superhero movie Deadpool was so well-received that fans asked the star to play it again after its first go-around in the cavernous Hall H room.

While the studio hasn’t yet officially released the trailer, an intrepid fan captured the whole thing on video and posted it online:

(Warning: Strong Language, Sexual Content)

Entertainment outlets are already saying the the Deadpool trailer “won” Comic-Con with its refreshing take on the superhero genre.

The movie is “a hard R,” producer Simon Kinberg told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s graphic. Nothing is taboo. You either commit to a truly outrageous boundary-pushing kind of movie or you don’t.”

Obviously, comic book fans are ready for Deadpool, which is set to hit theaters in February.