Variety made a return to San Diego Comic-Con, hosting the casts of significant films and TV series, such as “Resident Evil,” “Ghosts,” “Walking Dead: Dead City,” and others at the Variety Studio, sponsored by Google TV.
Resident Evil
Zach Cregger saw Austin Abrams as the ideal “everyman” Bryan for his “Resident Evil” film after witnessing Abrams transform an offbeat junkie into a nuanced character in “Weapons.” Cregger stated, “It was just so clear that we were very aligned on how we saw the movie. I feel like anything he does, you’re gonna root for him.” He also noted that “Resident Evil” will have a tonal similarity to “Weapons” and “Barbarian.”
In addition, Cregger shared news about the much-anticipated Aunt Gladys prequel, confirming that Oscar winner Amy Madigan will reprise her role even though the film is a prequel. “There’s a really interesting story that exists for Gladys because the way she goes from being a normal person to what she becomes in that movie — to me, [it’s] a really cool story, and I just didn’t get to tell it in ‘Weapons,’” he said.
My Adventures With Superman
Jack Quaid, Alice Lee, Ishmei Sahid, Kiana Madeira, along with executive producers and showrunners Jake Wyatt and Brendan Clogher, took time away from fighting crime to discuss everything related to “My Adventures With Superman.”
Season 3 of the animated series premiered on June 13, and the cast hinted that the final episodes would introduce “weirder, badder guys.” As the third season wraps up, Wyatt teased that many characters will find themselves in different places compared to where they started. “Everybody’s a different person than they were when they started the season. Lois goes fully around on what she thought could expect from the future and the way she was going to face it. Clark has a different relationship to his powers and to Superman and to the whole world, and Jimmy and Kara torture each other in totally different positions,” he explained.
Wyatt also provided an update on the series’ spinoff “My Adventures With Green Lantern,” confirming that all recordings are complete, and they are currently in the animation phase with their South Korean partners, E Nation.
Ghosts
Following a cliffhanger ending in Season 5, “Ghosts” stars Utkarsh Ambudkar, Asher Grodman, and Román Zaragoza joined Variety to discuss expectations for the sixth season.
The upcoming season will include holiday episodes for Halloween and Christmas, with the latter inspired by Ambudkar’s favorite holiday film, “Die Hard.” Grodman remarked, “The Christmas episodes always seem to bring these surprising new dynamics, so that time gives us a chance to go a little crazy.”
“It’s the magic of Christmas,” Zaragoza added.
Ambudkar humorously mentioned sharing the spotlight with the upcoming vampire spinoff “Eternally Yours,” even hinting at a possible crossover. “It just makes perfect sense for the vampires or their kids. I don’t know the show very well, but if we could work with those actors. I think we’d be stoked,” he said, adding, “I wonder if vampires can see ghosts.”
Eternally Yours
Ed Weeks recalled not performing well in his audition for a 2019 episode of “Dead Pilots Society,” where the vampire comedy “Eternally Yours” had its initial table read before being picked up by CBS.
“I didn’t think I’d done very well, honestly. I kind of swallowed a couple of the gags and I kind of left without really saying goodbye to anybody,” Weeks shared. “I just couldn’t even think about it. Then the pandemic happened, and ‘Ghosts’ was an enormous hit. And then seven years later, the audition came in my inbox.”
Cast member Parker Young, alongside Weeks, Allegra Edwards, Jaren Lewison, and Helen J. Shen, highlighted the character challenges: “As vampires, we’re constantly torn between trying to be good people versus giving into our desires, to eat people!”
Edwards, who portrays a character in a loveless 500-year marriage, explained, “We’re gonna get to see flashbacks, which is the best part of our show, in my opinion, is getting to look at all those historical times and see us in a therapy session with Freud himself.”
Nimrods
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Green Day takes center stage with humor in their upcoming film, “Nimrods,” set to hit theaters on August 14.
Director and writer Lee Kirk elucidated on Green Day’s contribution to the film: “When Billie Joel and I started talking about the idea and kind of figuring out this story of these kids on a road trip to see Green Day, I realized, ‘We need a lot of crazy stuff to happen to these kids and a lot of fun antics, so what better source to go to than these three guys?’ So, I just started quizzing them about some stories and good stuff that happened to them. And then I took those and kind of folded them, twisted them into my fictional story.”
Green Day band member Mike Dirnt added, “We got a lot of the stories that parallel what our life was like back when we were touring in the van. Those are nice Easter eggs throughout the film.”
Walking Dead: Dead City
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, executive producer Scott M. Gimple, and showrunner Seth Hoffman gathered to discuss “The Walking Dead: Dead City” and reflect on the franchise’s origins.
Lauren Cohan auditioned for the role of Maggie during Season 2 of “The Walking Dead,” while Negan actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan joined in Season 6, without knowing his role’s name, simply referred to as “the big bad.” Now, in Season 3 of “Dead City,” premiering July 26, Cohan and Morgan’s characters, once arch-rivals, are now working together. Cohan joked that they might still want to kill each other, but in a sibling-like way.
Gimple commented, “There’s so much history. There’s so much of an intersection between survival and assistance and pain. Survival, assistance and pain, that is family.” Hoffman added that the new season respects this history while allowing characters not to be defined by their past.
“It’s definitely a new dynamic this year in every way, which is pretty cool,” Morgan stated, highlighting the fun in playing these roles with a long-time co-star.
Silo
The cast of “Silo” joined Variety to discuss the current season and share insights on what fans can anticipate from the upcoming fourth and final season, as announced at San Diego Comic-Con.
Rebecca Ferguson described the filming of the fourth season, which will be released in summer 2027 after being filmed alongside Season 3, as “like a long separation from a loved one, a friend, a partner.” Ferguson noted the challenge of keeping track of details from the different seasons, expressing a desire to release it soon.
Creator, showrunner, and executive producer Graham Yost reflected on the experience, stating, “It was a great group of people.” Ferguson added, “It’s a love fest. We love coming to work. We love seeing everyone again.”
Reacher and Neagley
“Reacher” made its presence felt at Comic-Con.
Stars Alan Ritchson and Maria Sten, who is leading her own “Neagley” spinoff, reflected on the main series becoming one of Prime Video’s most-watched programs, garnering 350 million viewers globally in just 19 days. The show’s success stood out to the actors, with Ritchson describing the series as “lightning in a bottle.” He elaborated, “I think that there’s something about ‘Reacher’ that is a bit of a social experiment. He’s a bit of a blank canvas, and people project onto him their own personal moral beliefs and ethics. They see in him who they want.”
Season 4, releasing on August 12, is anticipated to be the best yet, according to Ritchson, who noted more fight scenes in the first three weeks of filming than in all three previous seasons combined. “I think we’ve figured out what works about the show. We’ve elevated what I felt like we could improve on. The action to me was always something we could do better and fight really hard to do better every single season,” he said.
John Cusack
Amidst the excitement of Comic-Con, John Cusack was not there for a film or TV show but to debut his graphic novel, “Monos.” This project, solely created with visual artist Ignacio Noé, marks his first venture into graphic novels. Cusack shared, “I wanted to tell a story, but I didn’t want to negotiate telling a story, really. It’s kind of an anti-algorithm thing.”
Set to release on September 29, “Monos” is based on a true story from 1972, following two fugitives who stumble upon an ancient artifact linked to TV icon Jackie Gleason. The narrative involves aliens, conspiracies, and Richard Nixon.
Cusack explained that adapting “Monos” for the big screen would require little change, with a sequel already in the works. “It’s pretty much shot-for-shot the way I see the book and the film,” he said.
Heads Will Roll
Co-creators and sisters Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne discussed the second season of their audio comedy “Heads Will Roll” and the possibility of adapting the Audible original for the screen.
Released on June 25, the season featured guest stars such as Patti LuPone, Laurie Metcalf, and Carrie Coon. McKinnon commented on their performances, saying, “My lips were sore from chef’s kissing.” Incorporating more New York theater actors was a form of fan service the duo aimed to provide with the return to the world of Queen Mortuana and JoJo.
While both would love to adapt the series into a film, television, or even animation, they acknowledged the high costs involved. McKinnon mentioned, “There’s a lot of dragons. There’s a lot of castles,” with Lynne adding, “Oh my god, it would be a nightmare, but someone should do it.”
