Day 3 at SDCC

Day 3 at SDCC was definitely the most action packed. Although I had a ticket for Sunday, I only really went in to do my final blog post for Hero Within. The only reason for that was because my boyfriend had come all the way to San Diego with me, but he wasn’t interested in con, so I had to spare time to spend with him too.

After getting a Hall H wristband the previous day, my morning was sorted! Luckily, one of the line-buddies decided to camp overnight to ensure we all got a good spot in queue! What I didn’t realise was that even though you had a wristband the previous day, you still had to be there at 7.30am for when the queue started to move. If you weren’t, your wristband was void and was given away, then you had to queue just like everyone else – all over again! With that in mind, I set off from my air B&B at 6.20am to get there in good time.

Even though we were there in time, it was another case of queuing, they didn’t actually let anyone into the hall until around 9am, so by the time we got in was around 10am with the panel then starting at 10.30am. As we entered the hall we were given a wristband with the Fantastic Beasts logo on and were asked to put it on. We found our seats and then it was time to sit back and relax! As I took a seat I had a tear in my eye, there had been so many years that I wished I was in this very room, and now I was.

First up was The Fantastic Beasts panel, I am a huge fan of the first one, and this one looks even better! As Eddie Redmayne introduced the trailer, our wristbands lit up as he said the words “Lumos”! Everyone screamed, including me!

Then the rest of the cast turned up, which included the lovely Ezra Miller dressed in his usual Hall H crazy attire.

As the cast discussed the film and what they would do if magic were real, the lights went out and we were greeted with propaganda from Grindlewald – then he showed up – Johnny Depp! He was still in character and continued the propaganda speech! The room SCREAMED!

Then it was time for Wonder Woman, and Patty Jenkins, Chris Pine and Gal Gadot graced the stage. The three talked about what it was like to work together again and whether or not this was a direct sequel to the first film. Well, according to Patty it is not, it is its own stand alone film. She didn’t want to be one of those directors that just keep piling out sequel after sequel, so instead she wants each of her films to tell its own stories. This could have something to do with how Steve Trevor is back, but we will have to wait until the film to know for sure! Although WW84 has only just started production, they brought us some footage – exclusive to Hall H! I was honored to be one of the first to see it! It started with Wonder Woman saving a young child from the crossfire of a bullet and then serving justice! We then saw her running down the streets almost at super-speed! The cut was very rough, as can be expected, but it was glorious. Her suit seems so much shinier, but maybe that’s to fit with the 80’s theme.

Then it was time for Shazam! I was excited for this part of the panel because I just really didn’t know what to expect from the trailer. I didn’t know what tone it was going to take or where in the DCEU it was going to be placed. Zach Levi turned up with a can of Guinness that Jason Momoa had given him before coming on stage – brilliant! He, the rest of the cast and the director basically discussed the childish ways of Zach and also the character. Then they showed us the trailer – there were so many screams! And rightfully so! The trailer was amazing, and so much more than I expected. It’s safe to say that I am looking forward to seeing more of this film!

And last but not least… AQUAMAN. Now this was the real reason I wanted to be in Hall H – I’ll be honest. Director James Wan has done one hell of a job at keeping details of the film under wraps. This is/was the first time we were going to get to see the trailer. The cast joined Momoa on the stage – man he has such a presence! What a guy, it was clear that he was also excited for us to finally see the work they have been doing. He and the cast discussed the challenges that they had to overcome whilst making a film that was mostly based underwater. Those things included all of the harnessing they had to go through, cold showers in the morning to make them look wet and the fact that Yahya had to learn to swim, then only to find out that he wasn’t actually going to be swimming! Well they showed us the trailer, and I’ll be honest the trailer didn’t wow me. But it was still great to see Aquaman in action. But then James Wan also showed Hall H a 6 minute montage of footage from the film, and that blew me away! A lot of the stuff they put in those 6 minutes should have been in the trailer. It was incredible, and that really got me hyped for the film! Not only that but I actually get to meet Jason Momoa in person tomorrow at London Film and Comic Con – I promise I’m not following him…

I was so sad when it ended, but I still had the rest of the day ahead of me! Whilst I was walking around the off-site events I found an area which seemed a little quiet… especially considering THE BATMOBILE was there! Of course, I had to go and take a few photos of it! Although I’m a Superman fan, I am a sucker for the Batmobile!

I had seen the front of the DC Universe offsite event and knew I had to go! It was the closest I’d ever get to having the DC Universe service, seeing as it isn’t available in the UK. Every time I tried to get in there was around a 2 hour wait in the queue! But seeing as it was my last day, I thought it was bet to give it a shot. After waiting for an hour, I was finally in! The first thing I did was head to get some Nitro-Popcorn from the Doom section! It was chocolate flavoured but it was also ice cold!

Nitro Popcorn from the DC Universe event! 😋
It was ice cold but chocolate flavoured! ❄️#DCUniverse pic.twitter.com/xuDMUm5Sef

— Tasmin ✨ (@aspiringkrypto) July 27, 2018

Then I headed to see the DC Titans costumes! So detailed, and I’m surprised that there weren’t more people checking these out!

Although the DC Universe featured a lot of new stuff from the upcoming streaming service, it also featured the old DC stuff. The classic DC Comics… like this batmobile!

And Christopher Reeves Superman!

I also went into the Court of Owls which was a small and narrow tunnel which basically a little jumpy! As you walked through characters and monsters popped out at you and whispered stuff in your ears. I’ll be honest it wasn’t my kind of thing – I’m a very jumpy person, but I’m glad I went in. As I was tried to go into some of the other features like Harley Quinn’s Stress Room and Swamp Thing’s Swamp, I noticed the ridiculous queues. After having to have waited an hour just to get in, I was a little annoyed to see that I had to wait in line again! I know con is all about the queuing, but I assumed that if I was in, I was in! I started to wait for the Dick’s Loft Escape Room but the queue was huge, I asked the staff how long the wait would be and they said up to 40 minutes to an hour. So I called it quits, the other lines were exactly the same as well. So instead I took a picture of this EPIC display and was on my way.

Keeping up with eating is hard when you have so many activities and panels planned, so we found a bar nearby for some grub. They were selling Hulk-Burgers, so I couldn’t resist one of those either! Look at the bun! It was spinach infused apparently, but tasted the same but was bright green! A genius idea!

I then went back into SDCC to check off the last bits of my exclusives hunt and autographs! The next few booths on my list were Graffiti Designs, Diamond Select Toys and Mattel – can you guess what I wanted to get? And I can tell you, that I got them all! The final autograph on my list to get was Artgerm! He did an absolutely beautiful variant cover for Action Comics #1000 and I wanted him to know how much I loved it, and of course his squiggle on it! I finally found the booth and he was focused on a drawing he was doing on a blank cover, but stopped to do the autograph for me and shake my hand. It was $5.00 to get his autograph, which is nothing. Back at the cons in the UK you have to pay a lot more than that, so I jumped at the price and offer!

After numerous texts from my boyfriend asking where I was and how long I was going to be, I decided to call it a day. And as mad as it sounds, I am so so so so so glad I did! He sent me the name of the bar he was at, so I inputted it into Google Maps and started making my way there. As I went to cross the path of a hotel (can’t remember which), a security guard stuck his arms out and said sorry you are going to have to wait. There was a crowd of people there, but I pushed my way through to get past, and explained that I wasn’t part of the queue and just wanted to get out. He wouldn’t let me, and as I said that Dominic Purcell from The Legends of Tomorrow walked out and started taking pictures with people. He left and people were still there, so I stayed to see who would come out next.

Then, Brandon Routh walked out! I had met him twice previously at conventions in the UK, and he was always so lovely. He lived up to those traits yet again as he went around the whole crowd asking if anyone needed an autograph or picture from him. So of course, I wanted one! He had previously played Superman in Superman Returns, and that is the film that got me into collecting, so he is a huge part as to why I love and collect Superman.

After that, a bus turned up and all of the cast walked past to jump in. Not all of them offered pictures and autographs, Brandon was the only one to really do that. But I did manage to get a few of them to stop and take a picture while they were waiting to get on the bus. First was Matt Ryan who plays Constantine.

Then it was Tala Ashe who plays Zari.

Then it was Caity Loitz who is the White Canary!

Getting to meet these guys was by chance, and all because I decided to leave comic-con and the bar my boyfriend had picked. This REALLY made my comic-con an amazing one!

After that we went for a nap at the hotel – it had been a long day! Then it was time for the Hero Within after-party at Volcano Rabbit! As we walked in we were handed Hero Within branded capes which were amazing! The first 100 attendees got one! I picked the blue one, as it was the closest to the Superman colours!

The party was great and it was so good to see the team unwind and have a few drinks to celebrate comic con! Me and my boyfriend were enjoying a drink when someone walked up to the bar to order a drink, he looked VERY familiar. I was second guessing myself, I knew who it was but I wanted to be sure. Low and behold, it was ALEX SINCLAIR! My favourite colourist at DC Comics! And we were at the same party together! This really topped off my evening and comic-con experience!

Cosplay

Jake Sully – Avatar

Batman – Batman V Superman

Ace Ventura

Alien Vs Predator

Thanos

Newt Scammander and Mrs Weasley

The Joker and The Penguin

Tusken Raider

Shazam

The Mystery Gang

A huge thank you to Hero Within for making this experience and opportunity for me possible and I hope I have repaid that with my blog and social media coverage of the show! I loved everything about it, the Hall H line, the mass of people, and the amount of money I spent… No, seriously. I enjoyed every minute of it.

I loved all of the exclusivity of SDCC, and from personal experience, it was amazing to say that I was there when this happened, I was there when this was released, I am the first to see this! Usually this time every year I posted a meme of Ariel from The Little Mermaid sulking over a stone with the SDCC logo on saying “I want to be where the people are”. Well this time I was there, and I still cannot believe it. I got to meet some of my favourite comic artists and actors – Alex Sinclair, Marv Wolfman, Artgerm, Neal Adams, Brandon Routh, Caity Loitz, and Matt Ryan! You don’t get to do this anywhere else, it’s a place where all of your idols and favourites are in once place, ready to meet and greet fans!

The only low about SDCC… was it finishing and me jumping on a plane back to England. Honestly, I loved every single moment of it and if I had the chance I would go every single year! SDCC exceeded all of my expectations. Previously I have only attended conventions in the UK and they are not a scratch on SDCC. This truly is the daddy of all comic conventions, and I will cherish every single memory I have and every moment I spent at San Diego Comic Con. I am praying that I am able to get tickets to future years as it is truly my happy place.