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[07/23/06 - 12:00 AM]
Live at the San Diego Comic-Con: "Blade: The Series"
By Brian Ford Sullivan (TFC)

Please note: As a courtesy, please do not reproduce these comments to newsgroups, forums or other online places. Links only please.

1:30 pm: A surprisingly not-packed house awaits for the panelists to arrive. After a few minutes, the very soft-spoken David Goyer appears to introduce a clip package - basically a compilation of scenes we've seen thus far and some new ones from upcoming episodes. I'm not really up to speed on the show but the only new ones that stick out are a flashback scene involving Blade and his adopted (?) father as well as the introduction of a new nemesis for Neil Jackson's character - a "pure blood" adolescent vampire named Charlotte.

1:49 pm: David then intros the panelists: fellow producer Jon Kroll, famed comic writer Geoff Johns and cast members Sticky Fingaz, Jill Wagner, Nelson Lee, Jessica Gower and Neil Jackson.

1:51 pm: David wastes no time and opens the floor to fan questions.

1:53 pm: Sticky on his training regiment: "Mostly boxing, that's the foundation for all fighting... and I'm a natural athlete at heart." C'mon, where are the fanboy questions?

1:54 pm: Sticky, who's real name is Kirk Jones, on how he got the name "Sticky": "It means everything I touch I take, including the 'Blade' part."

1:55 pm: Nelson on why he accepted the role of Shen: "I didn't want to bartend anymore."

1:57 pm: Finally, the fanboys deliver! David is asked if we'll actually see Marc Spector, the civilian identity of the Marvel Comics character Moon Knight, who was mentioned briefly in the pilot. David says "there's a good chance" we'll see him next season (if they're picked up that is) albeit probably not in costume.

2:01 pm: David on if we'll see any other Marvel Comics characters, such as Morbius the Living Vampire: "We were just talking with Marvel last night and I think we're going to be seeing more Marvel characters from here on."

2:02 pm: David on the differences between the TV "Blade" and the movie "Blade": "What we're doing in the TV show is sort of like the 'Ultimate Blade.' It's a semi-more realistic take on Blade than the movies were."

2:04 pm: David confirms that Geoff wrote the upcoming episode "Hunters" and they co-wrote the season finale together.

2:05 pm: David on if we'll see the "Nightstalkers" (from "Blade: Trinity" and the comics) make an appearance on the show: "If they do show up, maybe they'll show up in season two."

2:06 pm: A fan confesses her love for Neil, saying "I'm pretty sure your character could kick Spike's ass." To which Neil adds, "My English accent is better anyway." Oh no he di'int!

2:08 pm: More fanboy drama: someone asks David and Geoff about the rift between "Blade" creator Marv Wolfman and Marvel, whom he sued prior to the original film's release. "We'd love to get him on the show," Geoff says. "It's come up so we'll see what happens but we'd love to have him involved."

2:09 pm: David on what the show's trying to accomplish and what's ahead: "The idea of the show was... fans of the movie were always kind of interested in the inner workings of the vampire world, the different houses and thinks like that. So we're treating the 12 vampire houses sort of like these different crime families." He then goes on to explain he views the first season as "Wiseguy" in the vampire world, with Jill Wagner's character going undercover in the "crime" family. "Next season is a war between the House of Cathon, which is the house Marcus works for, and the house of Arebus, which was Deacon Frost's house from the first movie. So we'll start to fetter in some of the mythology from the movies."

2:11 pm: A fan - and dead ringer for Judah Friedlander's character in "American Splendor" - tells Geoff that "Infinite Crisis" (this year's big DC Comics crossover) wasn't that good. Not surprisingly, this elicits a series of "oooohhhs" from the audience. Gotta love fanboy smackdown.

2:12 pm: David on where the "Blade" TV series fits in with the movies: "We're going to not try and contradict what's happened in the movies." He adds that we'll see Whistler again and see how he met Blade in an upcoming flashback episode.

2:15 pm: David on why the show ended up on Spike TV: "We had a bunch of bidders but Spike, Spike's been awesome. It just seemed like a good fit in terms of their audience."

2:17 pm: Scoop! Jon says a "special edition" DVD of the first season is in the works, which will feature scenes deemed even too risque for Spike, i.e. more nudity and violence.

2:18 pm: Sticky is asked to freestyle a little but declines, citing "there's a lot of kids in here."

2:19 pm: Nelson is given props for playing a role that wasn't designed as specially for a person of Asian decent. David then adds that before the original movie, Wesley Snipes wanted to make sure that the fact he's black wasn't ever addressed in the script.

2:20 pm: David notes that Spike really does really let them push the envelope, saying an upcoming scene involving Charlotte (the child vampire) implies she eats newborn babies. I'll say it for you "eewwwwww."

2:22 pm: David confirms that an option still exists for a "Nightstalkers" movie - and actors Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel to star in it - however nothing's currently in the works.

2:25 pm: And it's a wrap for the panel and Comic-Con! I hope you've dug these transcripts and we'll see you next year!





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· BLADE: THE SERIES (SPIKE TV)
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