Kicking off Friday afternoon, the main hall opened with vendors and artists at 3pm. The opening night also included a Collider panel, featuring host Jon Schnepp and Collider founder and Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub, discussing some of the most relevant comic related projects in release and development. The wide ranging discussion featured speculation on whether Spider-Man actor Tom Holland would make an appearance in Sony’s upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe extension film Venom, universal praise for the second season of Luke Cage and the first season of Cloak & Dagger, the pros and cons of Joaquin Phoenix vs. Jared Leto as the Joker, and whether anyone really wants a Morbius, the Living Vampire movie (a handful of preferable options were presented and affirmed by the crowd).
Other opening night events included a presentation by My Little Pony comic artist Tony Fleecs, a Street Fighter video game challenge, and a red carpet event for cosplayers. Many artists additionally offered free Star Wars sketches for fans of all ages. And another new event to the lineup this year was a Q&A event with feature filmmakers.
The opening night featured a panel with Australian writer-director Steven Spiel, who has completed his first feature horror film, Living Space. After showing at the Cannes Film Festival, it has been picked up for a US release in October of this year. A psychological horror film featuring an American couple on their honeymoon in Germany tormented by Nazi forces was a challenge to get funded and shot. But director Spiel has nothing but encouraging words for those who have a vision and want to pursue their dream of making a film. “Put yourself out there,” he encourages, “it’s going to happen.” His producer, Natalie Forward tempered the advice, noting it’s often more important—and rare in the industry—to find the right people to work with. Actor Leigh Scully was also on hand to share anecdotes and his perspective on the experience of filming the movie. The entire panel praised SFX artist Steven Boyle who had previously worked on Peter Jackson’s King Kong and The Spierig Brothers’ sci-fi vampire film Daybreakers.
Las Vegas Comic-Con continues throughout the weekend, featuring appearances by Daredevil star Charlie Cox, Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld, Deadpool 2 actors Brianna Hildebrand—who reprised her breakthrough role as Negasonic Teenage Warhead from the first Deadpool film—and Lewis Tan who portrays Shatterstar. Other guests include Teenage Mutant Turtles creator Kevin Eastman; Marv Wolfman, the creator of the Teen Titans; Jim Starlin, creator of Thanos and Gamora; Skottie Young, writer and artist for Rocket Racoon and brilliant cover artist; Neal Adams, Batman, X-Men, and Green Lantern artist; and Amanda Connor, who has worked on Harley Quinn. Additionally, voice artists from popular video games such as Overwatch, Street Fighter V, Final Fantasy XV, and the anime One Punch Man are guests for fans to meet.
Las Vegas Comic-Con continues through the weekend and is open to the public.
