San Diego Comic-Con Thursday, Friday wrap: 'Doctor Who,' 'Hunger Games' and 'Star Wars'

With being almost half-way done through this year’s Comic-Con the panels and announcements have yet to be disappointing. Every year the amount of people in attendance seems to get bigger and bigger and the more crowded the infamous Hall H seems to become. Everyone flocked to the convention doors yesterday and all throughout today to witness the most exclusive pop-culture announcements and trailers for new shows and TV.
Thursday was definitely a good day for TV and film news but overall, Friday was the day to be at the convention. Not only were popular TV shows like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones having their panels in Hall H, but what had fans lining up and camping out at the convention all day and night was for Friday evening’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel.
In between these major panels fans can go and enjoy the packed main event floor and artist’s alley as well as sit in on some smaller panels, however a majority of the con-goers are there for the HUGE media news that happens in Hall H. In case you missed any of the big reveals the past two days, here is a recap of the past two days of San Diego Comic Con and the big announcements.
[new page=Doctor Who Series Nine]
Yesterday afternoon a great panel hosted by the Nerdist, Chris Hardwick, took place in Hall H that had Doctor Who fans going wild. Doctor Who himself (Peter Capaldi) along with his loyal companion Clara (Jenna Coleman), the Master (Michelle Gomez) and show runner/writer Steven Moffat were all in attendance.
Not only did the panel include a recap of last season’s highlights, it also included a preview of what is to come next season as well in series nine of the modern series. Fans of the show were also surprised to see a familiar face from other popular series Game of Thrones when actress Maise Williams made her debut in the new trailer for Doctor Who.
Moffat was unable to give fans any more information on this new character and on Williams’ role in the show, however he did say big things were to come and he told fans that if they really looked at the subtext of the show they would be able to figure out where the show was going.
The great actors and actresses from across-the-pond, couldn’t stress enough how flattered and amazed they were and are at the number of fans and support they always get, especially at conventions. Here is some great video footage of the panel and the questions asked by fans.

[newpage=The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2]
In one last farewell to Comic-Con, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and the rest of the cast gathered to say goodbye for their last Hunger Games film. With a great panel moderated by Conan O’Brien, fans were happy to see a sweet, yet emotional, interaction of the actors together as the bid farewell to the film series.
Even though Lawrence’s acting career has already taken off and she is extremely successful, she stated that she will always miss being in The Hunger Games and Katniss will always be a part of her. Hutcherson himself was very sad about leaving his cast and crew and that that aspect would be the hardest part to let go of, regarding the film series.

[new page=The Walking Dead Season 6]
With last season of The Walking Dead ending on such a dramatic note, many fans of the show are wondering what is in store for Rick Grimes and the gang in the town of Alexandria.
Hosted by Chris Hardwick, in Hall H, the 13-person panel was able to give insight on to what to expect from the new season. Also giving some insight was the 4 minute long preview trailer that was released. From what it seems, the group is going to finally face the terrifying group known as “the Wolves” in season six and will also see familiar faces such as the loved character, Morgan.
Big news for the comic-lovers, joining the cast are Corey Hawkins, who will play Heath from the comics and Nurse Jackie actress Merritt Weaver, who it was not revealed who she would be playing yet.
For more details about next season, just take a look at the new trailer from AMC.

[new page=Game of Thrones]
One of the most talked about part of the Game of Thrones panel today was that well...there was nothing really talked about.
The panel, hosted by Seth Meyers, included many favorites such as Maise Williams, Natalie Dormer and Liam Cunningham. Also present was executive producer Carolyn Strauss who basically said that the show runners always try their best to keep an element of surprise and secret for the show. No preview for the next season was aired and in its place was a funny audition reel video for most of the actors on the show that was shown to the crowd in Hall H.
Despite all of that, fans still tried their hardest to ask about any show information during the Q & A portion of the panel, one of the most popular questions being about Kit Harrington (Jon Snow) and whether he would be back or not. Many who read the books by George R.R. Martin (who was not in attendance) have reason to believe that Snow might make an appearance again. However, Game of Thrones show runners have claimed that he is simply “dead.” Only time will tell for the show, because this panel was surprisingly not revealing.

[new page=Star Wars: The Force Awakens]
This even at 5:30pm PST the fans of Star Wars were sent to fandom heaven when the Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel began in Hall H. All evening Thursday night and into Friday morning fans camped out on the lawns and streets of downtown San Diego and the convention center grounds just to get a chance at being able to enter Hall H and see the panel.
Unfortunately for thousands, they never got a chance to get into Hall H, but the news that came out of the panel were every fan’s dream.
The panel was hosted by Chris Hardwick (again) and then he quickly introduced JJ Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy and Lawrence Kadsan. They were later joined by Peter Mayhew, Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. There was footage from the movie released that was amazing emotional because of how well it captured the essence and feeling of classic Star Wars.
However the most exciting part for the fans at today’s panel was the special appearances by Carrie Fischer, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford which was unexpected and huge. Just posted publicly online about an hour ago, here is the footage from today’s panel

Also, for a play-by-play recap of the panel for those of us who could not get in, here is a great web-site that documented the “historic” comic-con event: Firstshowing.net