We knew the Watchmen panel was going to be insane, but this is … insane. Packed house, hordes of people in costume, the first panel this year where masses of people were turned away.

Highlights:

–Dave Gibbons, co-creator of Watchmen, addresses the Alan Moore “elephant.”
–The extended trailer is way more hard-R than the trailer that appeared before Dark Knight. Includes a glimps of Richard Nixon and the obliteration of the Viet Cong. Shot-by-shot sum-up inside.
–There will be stuff in the film that wasn’t in the comic book.
–Real women, according to Malin Akerman, can neither kick ass nor fight crime.
–Hearing C-list stars describe what it “feels” like to make a comic book character “come to life” is exactly as boring as it sounds.

Full live blog transcript after the jump.

12:56 - Now they’re showing the footage again, to a huge amount of cheering.

The fan question onslaught:

12:55 - Last question, someone is asking about the DVD, and asking about including all of the preproduction materials from Greengrass and Terry Gilliam and everyone who has worked on the project over its 20 year history.
Zack: “I hadn’t heard that, but I’d buy it. I think someone should write a book. I charge someone to write a book about it.”

12:54 - The fanboy follows up the question with “Thank you, you’re all very attractive.” Wow.

12:53 - Carla Gugino “Well, my character is this kind of exhibitionist crime fighter… 1940s Vargas girl pinup, and that was fun to play.”

“Being a 67 year old alcoholic mother who is very controlling and still wants to be in the spotlight isn’t something I’ve played before.”

12:51 - Malin Akerman is talking about how “real” the characters all seemed, even though this was a script based on a graphic novel. “We’re all real people who have our good sides and our bad sides. Laurie is a real woman, besides the fact that she can kick ass and fight crime.”

She won’t stop talking. Fanboys are looking uneasy.

12:49 - Two twins wearing “Peter the Hut” shirts from Family Guy’s Star Wars episode get up and ask if there’s anything new in the movie that’s not in the graphic novel.
The whole answer was “yes.”

12:46 - A rabid fan gets up and tells everyone that “You guys are blowing my nervous sytem! A distant high-five to all you guys. And Carla? You were the BOMB in Son in Law. Yeah!”

12:45 - Matthew Goode is literally still talking, and rambling on and on. Everyone around me has tuned out, is playing games on their cell phone, or are reading the program.

12:42 - Matthew Goode is playing Ozymandis, who he’s playing as a “slightly ambiguous homosexual,” which he says with a slight lisp. Someone Wikipedia-ed the character for Matthew when he was offered the role, and told him “Well, looks like you’re playing another gay… but he’s a stoner!”

12:40 - Q: For Jeffrey Dean Morgan, “So what was it like playing The Comedian? I mean, he’s not really a funny character.”

A: Jeffrey: “I thought he was hilarious! I mean, like Dan’s character, I think everyone pulls for The Comedian…” laughter…which is creepy because he’s basically a woman-beating molester. Ouch.

12:37 - Q: “What was it like working with so much green screen?”

A: Carla Gugino, “Well, we didn’t really work much with green screen…” Billy Crudup chimes in with “Well, on Mars we did.” Zack: Yeah Billy and Malin had to do a lot of green screen for that scene.”

Carla: “This is just such a phenomenal group of actors, and when they dive into their characters it’s really inspiring.”

12:35 - Now someone dressed up like Rorschach is asking “Do you think that comic book movies will keep being more mature, like The Dark Knight?”

“I love that you’re asking about mature movies while you’re wearing that outfit. That’s great.”

Oh, and to sum up, Zack’s answer is a very long winded, “Yes.”

“One day I’d like to see Frank Miller’s Dark Knight adapted into a movie. I think there’s a new wave of superhero movies coming. Maybe. I don’t know.”

12:34 - Snyder is talking about the challenge of condensing a 12 part miniseries and graphic novel into a 3 hour movie. “We had to cut out some bits.”

12:30 - Next up, the Joker asks a question. Did Warner Bros. characters get preferential Q&A line treatment?

The Joker, ironically enough, wants to know if they ever thought the movie was too dark.
According to Snyder, “it’s a reflection on all of us. There are hopeful characters in this movie, but there’s no real answer. It becomes up to you. It also becomes… what is darkness in a movie? If someone does something that’s maybe not morally correct, is it a metaphor, or is it real? I think that’s the question.”

12:28 - Patrick Wilson, who plays the Night Owl, had to put on some extra pounds in for his role, and when asked what that was like he said “Well, I could just kick back, have a carton of Haagen-Daas, pop open a beer and kick back. I’m done.”

“Everyone pulls for Dan (Night Owl), you feel for him, you just do. He wants it so bad, the relationship he has with Hollis, you just pull for the guy the entire film. Every day that I got in that suit, man, was a gift.”

12:25 - San Diego weird dude Bob Stencil gets up and asks a question. “For Billy Crudup, what was it like being a blue man, and was the rest of the Blue Man Group upset that you got the part and not them?”

“Well, we’re not on speaking terms anymore. So, I don’t know. I had to work out a lot and try to look as good as I could.”

12:23 - Next up, Batman –– literally Batman in costume –– asks “For Zack Snyder, who’s your favorite Watchmen character?”

“Uh, nice question, Batman.”

“I like them all for different reasons!” the crowd boos — “Okay, fine. Everyone like Rorschach the best, so that rules him out. Everyone likes the Comedian because he’s like, a badass, and is morally… you know. So there’s those two that I can’t vote for. You have the girls, which I think… awesome! But, also a copout. That seems obvious, doesn’t it? Man, okay you know what? I like the girls best. Fine.”

“Thank you, Batman.”

12:22 - First up: “What was it like to bring Rorschach to life?”

Jackie: “Where do I start with that one? It was a blast, it was challenging, it was mind-numbing… this character, there’s a lot to him. I studied the script and the book. I even spent a lot of time on the websites and blogs reading what you guys were saying about who Rorschach is.”

The post-video afterglow

12:20 - Jeff starts asking Billy Crudup a question, and he responds with “I know what you’re going to ask already” - a little inside nod to Dr. Manhattan’s character, who is omniscient.

“Well, I have no frame of reference for Dr. Manhattan in anything I know. How do you pretend to be a 6′4″ master of matter when you’re a 5′9″ jackass?”

12:19 - Snyder said “it just seemed wrong” when asked why they didn’t try to update the project into modern times.

The video

12:17 - The crowd goes pretty damned nuts. Extended cheering and woo-hoos.

12:15 - As promised, Dr. Manhattan obliterating the Viet Cong. Rorshach finding the Comedian’s secret weapons and costume cache. Owl Manstaring at the Comedian’s button with blood on it and slumping to the floor. Shots of the Minutemen back in the 1950s. Dr. Manhattan’s huge glass fortress on Mars rising into the sky. Silk Spectre unveiling Archie, the Owlship. Billy Crudup being obliterated. Spectre and Owl Man making out in front of an atomic bomb, President Nixon reacting. Manhattan disintegrating thugs in a bar. The Comedian being tossed out the window, with the bloody smiley face button following him down in slow motion.
Build up to the video crack

12:13 - Zack is setting up the clip now. Some people said he should just bring the trailer that ran on The Dark Knight, “But haven’t all of you seen that?” *cheers*

“These are some of the shots from the trailer, that we’ve extended to show a bit more of the… non-PG aspect of the movie…You’ll see Dr. Manhattan marching through Vietnam blowing things up, and it’s not quite as friendly as it is in the trailer.”

12:13 - Jeff: “But Dave, didn’t you ever try to go overseas and talk to Alan Moore and get him excited about this movie?”

Dave: “Well, I can tell there’s an elephant in the room, and I wish Alan hadn’t had a bad experience in the past… because I’m having the time of my life on this.”

12:12 - Dave: “What really blew me away was that they had extreme detail, down to the fact that there’s a “Judomaster” class in the background, and Judomaster was one of the original Charlton heroes, who were going to be the Watchmen. Someone knew that and paid attention to that, and that’s great.”

12:11 - Dave Gibbons: “It’s the stuff of dreams to have something come to life out of your head and appear in front of you. When I was standing on the Owlship, that did it for me. Getting to smell the Comedian’s cigar, that’s amazing.”

12:10 - “They were trying hard to get the trailer on The Dark Knight, and in the marketing meetings they were trying to figure out what to do and one guy was like ‘I know! It’s the word WATCHMEN, and then the date! And that’s it!’ But I didn’t want that, so we worked hard to get that trailer together. And we’re going to show you even more in a minute.” *massive cheers*

12:08 - Snyder’s talking about last year’s Comic-Con when he didn’t have anything to show except a poster. “Last year people were like ‘Show us footage!’ but we literally hadn’t shot anything yet.”

Origins of the project

12:07 - “We shot the movie in Vancouver, and…” yadda yadda yadda. Already people are restless and ready for whatever video they’re going to show us.

12:06 -Zack Snyder is talking about being in post-production on 300, and being asked if he wanted to do Watchmen. He was overwhelmed at the time, but didn’t want to say no, because he “felt responsible” even if he would have passed on it. I’m not quite sure how that works.

“I’m trying to get as much of the graphic novel into this movie as we can, and the cast has been very helpful in doing that. Some of them have even said ‘My character’s supposed to say this thing that’s in this little bubble here, see?’ - Okay, if you think that’s right!” *laughter*

It begins…

12:04 - The special guest is Dave Gibbons, co-creator of Watchmen. A lot of people expected Alan Moore, but there’s no way in hell he’d come to something like this.

Intro

12:02 - Zack Snyder is one of those fans who loves the comic book, and he’s brought all of his Watchmen with him today, including one very special extra guest.

Here comes the cast, one by one. “YOU’RE HOT” shouts one guy near me at Malin Akerman.

12:01 - “How many of you have seen the trailer?” Cheers.
“How many of you liked it?” More cheers.
“How many of you want to see more?” Thunderous applause.

12:00 - Here comes Jeff Jensen from Entertainment Weekly to moderate the panel. He’s giving a capsulized version of the impact that Watchmen has had on the comic book world.
The Pre-show:

11:59 - “Please don’t record the video and stick it up on YouTube.” Blurgh. Give me a break.

11:58 - Here we go, Eddie Abrahim, Comic-Con director comes out to intro everyone. He’s hobnobbing with the crowd, asking “Who’s new here? Who’s planning on being here tomorrow? All right!” Okay Eddie, you don’t need to pitch us. We’re already here.

“We actually have true HD in this room this year.” Woot. Is it 5.1 surround sound? I wanna know.

11:57 - People are starting to clap, as in the whole “we want the show!” thing. It sounds like thunder in here.

11: 53 - They keep advertising “Text the word WATCHMEN to 58671 to win a special WATCHMEN themed Xbox 360.” They’re giving away 5 of them and people are going nuts with the texts. I feel like I’m in Asia.

11:52 - This is the most packed I’ve seen this room. It only holds 6500 people, but it feels like twice that many.