On the Friday of San Diego Comic-Con 2024, we didn’t think we’d have any chance of getting into The Boys panel in Hall H, so instead we headed onto the convention hall early. While my colleague headed to the Funko Pop! Yourself booth to get a Wolverine Pop! of himself, I headed over to the Funko Fusion wheel to spin for a prize. Unfortunately, I just ended up with a button. Afterwards, we checked out the Sony TV booth schedule to see when they were going to be doing the T-shirt tickets, but it was still a few hours away. We wandered around a bit, and stopped by the Doctor Who booth and did their photo opp. They had you stand in front of the TARDIS and do several poses and emailed you a video. Unfortunately my email seems to have gotten lost in time and space, so I don’t have anything to post here. The Hulu booth was giving out poster tubes again, so I grabbed one of those. TV Times Three podcast host Amrie had also asked us to pick up some SDCC-exclusive artwork for her, so we stopped by Artist Alley to get that, putting her on Facetime with the artist. After this, we headed over to the Marriott to pick up some panel passes for the next day.
Planet of the Apes Activation
We weren’t able to make it to the Planet of the Apes Activation on Preview Night, but they had offered us the option of a skip-the-line pass to use any day. So we decided to stop by there. They were preparing to do some sort of signing, so the activation was practically empty, but they told us we could just walk around. It was great—we pretty much had the activation all to ourselves! It was set up like a museum, with lots of props, costumes and artwork from all of the various Planet of the Apes movies and TV shows from over the decades on display. There was a station with a falconer with the opportunity to take a photo with the bird (not being an animal person, I passed on that one). There was also someone demonstrating how to walk like an ape using short crutches for your arms. Plus, one final photo opp where they would set you up a certain way that would place you in a motion poster for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes poster, with a hawk flying down to your arm as you rode on a horse. Virtual hawks I can handle! As we were leaving, they also handed us a small poster.
The Lodge (Again)
After this, we headed over to the Paramount+ Lodge yet again since I had some tickets for 12 PM. We got yet another T-shirt, plus a slice of pizza for lunch. I also got a refresh of my DoodleBob tattoo. The Paramount+ Lodge Scavenger Hunt was also back again this year. So we took this opportunity to cash in our completed passes. This year we got a tote bag containing a coffee mug, a pin set, a deck of cards, and a pin for Beavis and Butthead.
Solar Opposites & The Great North Panels
After dropping everything off at the hotel, I headed over to the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront. It was a long line, but I just made it into the Solar Opposites panel, which was a lot of fun. They showed some clips and teased the upcoming season. After this, the cast and creators of The Great North took the stage to show an episode from the upcoming season, and talked more about the series and upcoming season. They mentioned that there was going to be a horror episode this season, and teased that we could expect some “big change” or loss for the family.
Press Room for The Great North
After the panel, I went across the hall for the The Great North press room, to speak with these same folks. It turned out that there was only two of us in there for the roundtables, so each of us ended up with our own exclusive interviews! I first spoke with cast members Dulcé Sloan (“Honeybee”), Aparna Nancherla (“Moon”) & Paul Rust (“Ham”), and then with executive producers/co-creators Wendy Molyneux & Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin. You can find these interviews here.
Press Preview for The Penguin‘s Iceberg Lounge Activation
Next, I headed over to the press preview of The Penguin Iceberg Lounge. The check-in was split between two groups based on what was printed on your ticket—either Padrino or Capo. Though it seemed more of a way to simply spread out the line rather than having any effect on the experience. I got in line and ended up in the first group of six to be sent into the activation. Upon entering, you went down some stairs into what looked like an old abandoned subway station which recently had a flood. (Picking up from the events of the first The Batman film.) There was water dripping from the walls and ceiling and we eventually came up to these two intimidating Ryan Gosling-looking guys who were just standing there silently. Eventually, they stepped aside as the door opened to reveal an elevator. As it started to move, we were told to look up because Oz Cobb wanted to see us, and a surveillance photo of everyone standing in the elevator was taken.
Once the doors opened, we found ourselves in the main club. We were handed a Penguin slushy (good thing I didn’t wait in that line yesterday!), and presented with tablets so that we could send the photo to ourselves. There was a giant seating area and various other stations to explore. A photo opp behind a clear glass wall, a curtained off area marked Backstage, and another suspicious looking area with some plastic slats. As I was walking by that area, a guy came out and asked me if I was there to help with the next drop. He pulled me into this back room, which turned out to be some sort of drug manufacturing facility. Two shifty looking guys started questioning me, and I just played along, pretending to be the helper they were waiting for. These guys were great, always staying in character. They asked me to help them out, and provided me with a sample of the drugs, but told me to wait to partake until I got to the secret club within the club. They started to get suspicious that maybe I wasn’t who I said I was and asked me if I knew the password to the club—they eventually told me that it was Francis. However, they told me I needed to prove my loyalty with a tattoo.
Next I walked into the main club area in the back, where there was a bar, a DJ playing music, and dancers in cages on a large stage in the middle of the room. Off to the side was a hotdog cart, where you could pick up a dog and your choice of toppings. After getting some food, and a drink at the bar, I wandered back into the main area, looking for a way into the secret club. I stepped behind the curtain marked Backstage, which was a dressing room. A dancer named Peaches was in there, and started telling a story of how she is now forced to sit in this back room, but that she really wants to be back on the stage. She told us that if we told Oz to put her back on the stage, she would give us the secret password for the club, which again was Francis. Having this information confirmed, I headed over to a bouncer standing in front of this mysterious glowing door. As soon as I whispered “Francis”, he backed away and opened the door for me to head into the deluxe club within the club.
This was definitely a space for the elite. As you entered, you were greeted by several people who were eager to help you out and get you anything that you desired. The main host felt like your typical sleazy kiss-up guy, just ready to please. If you wanted a drink or anything else, he would get it for you no questions asked. There was also a table where a guy was hand-rolling cigars, and when you walked by, he offered up a sample from his selection. There were servers walking around with plates of food bites, including a slider, a rice ball and a chicken satay skewer. There was also a giant bar in the back where you could get drinks. There was a photo opp station in the middle where you could sit down on a comfortable chair and have your photo taken. They would print it out and give it to you in a small manila envelope (they also emailed, but I ended up getting someone else’s). They also had a tattoo station, and four chairs to the side where you could get a permanent bracelet. I don’t usually wear jewelry but figured why not, and got a silver chain.
I had sat down on a couch in the middle of the rom where the person next to me was constantly being offered this exclusive bourbon by one of these eager to please employees. I think he was given about four different bourbons as well an old-fashioned in the short time we were there. This was a really impressive and well done activation—Warner Bros. definitely spent a lot of money on this! However, about an hour into this, I received a text from a friend who said I think your building may be on fire. Shortly afterwards, we started hearing people telling us that we needed to get out of the building. While most people seemed to think this was all part of the immersive experience, like the club was being raided or something. I had an inkling that this was real, and sure enough the lights came on and they told us this was not a drill, and that everyone had to leave. As we exited out of the building, we saw at least four firetrucks pull up, with ladders up to the roof, where you could see a lot of smoke. We didn’t know exactly what was going on, but it seemed like this was definitely halting the activation. As we waited outside, everyone was taking photos and videos of the commotion. There was even someone from Max doing interviews asking people what they thought of the activation, with all of the firetrucks in the background. I eventually left and headed back to my hotel where the friend who texted me was waiting. We were supposed to have regular tickets to go to this at 9:30 PM. While I didn’t think that was ever gonna happen he was still eternally optimistic and looking forward to going.
After the choking incident the day before, and now this, I was beginning to think I had signed on for some kind of immersive Final Destination event!
We wandered back to the activation about 30 minutes later and were shocked to see that people were actually lined up out front despite the firetrucks still being there. Once we saw the cast head back into the building, we realized that the activation was back on, so we got in line for our now 10:00 session, and were soon joined by some other friends. During the regular non-press preview time, things were a lot more crowded, but it was still quite a fun experience. One thing I noticed during the regular timeslot was that in addition to the two stations that would tell you the password—the dancer and the two drug manufacturers in the back room—there was also a third guy who was wandering around. Whenever the line for the drug dealers got a bit too long, he would head over and coax people out of line, bringing them into the bar area, were he would point out that the password was also written on the napkins, which stated “Say Francis”. Also, in the club within the club, the champagne servers and that guy who was freely pouring bourbons were gone—folks were forced to redeem the two drink tickets on their on the wristbands if they wanted any alcohol. But it was the same food and surprisingly they were still handing out cigars to people as they entered the club. Despite the second attempt to kill me this weekend, I thought they did an excellent job with this immersive experience, providing lots of things to interact with and do, along with food and drink. They definitely splashed a lot of money on this and I was happy to see that what ended up being a fire in a restaurant in the same building didn’t affect their ability to continue running this activation throughout the weekend.
There had been a screening in the convention center of the penultimate episode of House of the Dragon that I had planned to go to this evening, but with the fire delay, we got out of the Iceberg Lounge a bit too late, so I just called it a night.
If you missed my previous recaps, you can find them here: Preview Night, Day 1
Look for my Day 3 recap soon.
