While not nearly as exhausting or crowded as its San Diego counterpart Comic-Con International, San Francisco’s WonderCon definitely had a lot to offer comic book-loving geeks and movie buffs alike. The 3-day WonderCon 2009, which ran from February 27 – March 1, had a lot of the same panels as the recent New York Comic Con (probably because they happened to be so close together this year), but there were new panels (Pandurom, 9). There also wasn’t as many comic book companies representing out on the Con floor, very little gaming presence, and the least amount of cosplay of the three major conventions, but Artist’s Alley was nicely packed with some of the best indie artists selling their work.

Admittedly, there wasn’t a lot of breaking news, but you can check out Geeks of Doom’s coverage of Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, Watchmen, and more at our WonderCon page. Below are some photos from the convention floor, of which I think my favorite is the one of Jedi Sherlock Holmes and Jedi Dr. Watson. The first row of images is from the Isotope Comics 100 Bullets party after the Con. I’ve also embedded a video roundup of the Con events created by my friend Alex of First Showing — watch for me as Alex points me out on camera near the end of the footage while we’re riding up the escalator together with Peter (of /Film) and John (of /Gamer) as we’re leaving the Con for the last time. Lastly, I’m including an Artist’s Alley Spotlight, which has some info on some of my favorite artists at the Con.

By ScarletScribe

How do you know you’re at a Terminator Salvation panel led by the director, McG? The word “balls” is mentioned 50 times, an awkward (and unanswered) call is placed to Christian Bale’s house, and lots of unfinished CGI effects are flashed in front of your face in hopes that you’ll stop asking the question: do we really need a Terminator 4?

If you haven’t already guessed, McG thinks the answer to that question is a resounding yes and he’s been on a mission to get everyone to agree with him. While this is understandable — what director openly invites derision of his work, after all? — it’s led to convention panels that, while certainly entertaining, have been filled with cringe-inducing moments that are only forgotten when the clips start rolling.

The panel at WonderCon was no different. After rehashing, once again, his talks with James Cameron and Christian Bale about his desire to do another Terminator, McG attempted to drum up more enthusiasm from the crowd by calling Bale on speakerphone. Though the call went unanswered, the assembled were soon treated to appearances by Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard, Moon Bloodgood, and Common. Yelchin, who plays young Kyle Reese, gave his official opinion on the movie, saying, “I think it’s fucking awesome shit. It blew my mind.”

The teaser trailer for Overture Film’s upcoming sci-fi/horror thriller Pandorum is now online. Watch it here below.

In the film, which is from producers of the Resident Evil film franchise, Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster star as two crew members who awake aboard an abandon spaceship out in deep space in a post-apocalypse situation. The two have no memory of who they are, how long they’ve been asleep, or what their mission was. At first they think that they are alone, but they soon discover that they’re not and the reality of their situation is more horrifying than they could have imagined.

Foster (X-Men: The Last Stand) appeared at Overture’s Pandorum panel on Saturday at WonderCon in San Francisco, where the trailer debuted, along with another clip from the film. Along with Foster, who plays Bower, were his co-stars German actress Antje Traue and world champion martial arts fighter Cung Le.

Director J.J. Abrams was on hand this weekend at the WonderCon 2009 Star Trek panel to introduce the world premiere of the film’s newest trailer, which will play in theaters in front of Watchmen starting this Friday. Continuing reading at the bottom of this post for a description of the new trailer and some images from the panel.

Early in the panel, Abrams sought to dispel the talk that his new Star Trek was far removed from the existing franchise. He stressed that he “loves and is beholden to existing Star Trek fans” and that while new fans will appreciate the film, older fans will be happy too. Also, there’s plenty of references to old Trek in the film.

“It’s a prequel but a sequel,” said Roberto Orci, a long-time Trek fan who co-wrote Abrams’ version along with Alex Kurtzman. “If you’re a fan, your knowledge of Star Trek will be rewarded; if you’re not, you’re going to see why we’re all inspired by it.”

Depending on how well Watchmen does at the box office next month, a director’s cut of the film will be getting a short theatrical release this July, according to the film’s director Zack Snyder at Warner Bros.’ Watchmen panel today at WonderCon.

Watchmen will be released on March 6 and will run about 2:40 minutes, but Snyder said that his director’s cut will run 3:10 minutes.

Regarding the eventual DVD release, Snyder said that after an initial DVD release, which will be the theatrical version along with some extra footage that had to be cut for time, this Fall there will also be a lengthier DVD that has the Tales of the Black Freighter animated tale intercut into the main film which will be 3:30 minutes long.

Snyder revealed that some of the footage he had to cut from the upcoming theatrical release includes the death of original Nite Owl Hollis Mason, as well as some brief scenes like Edward Blake raising the flag by himself at Iwo Jima and Nixon’s inauguration, both of which were originally intended to be part of the opening credits.