This incarnation of the San Diego Comic-Con seems to have developed a more theatrical flair than past years’ incarnations. Not only did Zack Snyder reveal the Superman/Batman film with the assistance of Harry Lennix’s voice acting, but Marvel upped the ante a little bit during their panel for Thor: The Dark World.
The panel began with the president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige taking the stage. The moderator of the panel, Chris Hardwicke asked Feige what Marvel’s upcoming projects were. Feige replied that they’re currently in post-production on Thor: The Dark World.
At that moment, all the lights in the hall went out, plunging the room into darkness. A familiar voice then started to taunt the audience. “Humanity! Humanity, look how far you’ve fallen! Lining up in the sweltering heat, huddling together in the dark! Like beasts!” As the voice continued, the fans began to scream in joy. Perhaps they guessed what was coming up next.
A flash of light appears on stage, followed by the house lights returning. Standing on the stage, in full Loki paraphernalia was Tom Hiddleston himself. This appearance alone got a standing ovation from the packed house. Then they started chanting “Loki!” over and over again. After signaling for silence, Loki continued. He introduced himself – as all egomaniacal villains do – and continued lording over the crowd for the next few minutes. He then introduced the trailer with a truly epic lead-in speech.
“Your ears yearn for untold stories. Your eyes crave unseen sights. Your imaginations ache and hunger. Where are your Avengers now? Claim loyalty to me…and I will give you what you need. Say my name.”
The crowd responded “LOKI!” But that wasn’t loud enough for him. Like some regal rock star, he encouraged them to say it again and again until he felt satisfied. “It seems I have an army,” he said with a smug smirk. As he made his way offstage, he gestured towards the screen with a final command, “Feast your eyes!”
Then the trailer debuted. The crowd got to see the Warriors Three fighting a group of masked warriors. Thor himself then arrived to help fight them off, and kills a kind of giant rockstar. He then beamed himself to London to save Jane Foster and take her to Asgard with him. He recruits Loki to his cause, and the Warriors Three and Sif promise to kill him if he dares to betray them. The rest of the trailer does feature a good deal more action interspersed, and it ends on a shocking note which will not be detailed here to prevent spoilers.
And that was it. It was just Loki introducing the clip. There was no panel with Feige or Hiddleston or anything else afterwards. That was it.
In my opinion, this was a partly a genius move on Marvel’s part. Hiddleston’s turn as Loki seems to have ended up as the breakout role in The Avengers, and fans love him in the role. I love that doing this allowed him to show off his theatre roots, and he kept it all in character. He only threatened by smiling and laughing at the audience. However, isn’t it odd that they didn’t have a real panel? The movie’s premiere isn’t that far away, and they haven’t been exactly been doing a whole lot of marketing for it. Captain America: The Winter Soldier actually got a panel, so why shouldn’t Thor? It seems fishy to me, and I can’t help but feel a little worried for the movie.
What do you think about Loki crashing the panel? Did you like seeing Hiddleston return? Are you concerned that they didn’t have any of the other cast and crew there to answer any questions from fans? Why don’t you just tell us what you think in the comments below?
Source: Collider