SDCC ’13: Trask Industries Unveils Their Sentinel Design for ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’

Besides the panels, with their exclusive reveals and extensive line-up of stars, the best part of San Diego Comic Con is all the cool shit everyone brings! Last night Nerd Bastards went inside The Ender's Game Experience. Soon, we'll have an update from the Godzilla Encounter. We mentioned this recreation of The Walking Dead's infamous prison constructed on the showroom floor, and here - thanks to io9! - we've got our very first look at the Sentinels from FOX's X-Men: Days of Future Past,

Click to view slideshow.

What do you think? I absolutely love the clear face shield. It gives this design a unique detail, but with its purple color scheme and those soul-searing, red eyes, these Sentinels evoke the same fear and dread as any from the comics or cartoons. I wonder how big they're going to be? And I can't wait to see more than just the head, don't you?

Keep it tuned to Nerd Bastards for even more up to the minute SDCC coverage!

SDCC ’13: Nerd Bastards Gets Up Close and Personal With Godzilla

[Editor's Note: Last night Manny Lozano took us inside The Ender's Game Experience, today he's back - after barely escaping with his life! - from Legendary's Godzilla Encounter. Check out his impressions of the up close and personal encounter, pictures from the exhibit, and if you're attending SDCC make sure you to see it for yourself!]

The Godzilla Encounter is one of the most highly anticipated experiences being offered at this year's San Diego Comic Con. Legendary has created an immersive experience that celebrates the legacy of the original movie monster while simultaneously getting fans excited for Gareth Edward's 2014 film.

Participants enter a recreated Tokyo street, complete with a walk-up cafe, that features a wealth of Godzilla memorabilia; including movies, comics and clothing that the King of Monsters has been featured in over the years.

Before long, a proximity alert sends everyone off the streets and down into a series of underground bunkers filled with frantic scientists and soldiers, scrambling to prepare for Godzilla's imminent strike on San Diego. We enter a crowded elevator in an attempt to reach a secure location, but the monster has taken its toll and we are forced to exit on the 25th floor, which is half destroyed.

Huddled together, we hear Godzilla make his approach. Stomp. Stomp. We are faced head on with the monster and the experience concludes with his iconic roar.

Longtime fans of Godzilla will appreciate this version of the monster, which harkens back to the original but has just enough changes to draw in new viewers. Register for The Godzilla Encounter by visiting the Legendary Entertainment booth, #3920 on the convention floor and download the app (ed. more on the app below the cut!) to unlock exclusive bonus concept art! It's a can't miss!

Stay with Nerd Bastards all weekend for even more from San Diego Comic Con!

MJD Delivers "Monster Mobile App" to Promote Godzilla Encounter at Comic-Con

Agency Leverages Cutting-Edge Qualcomm Vuforia Technology To Market Legendary Pictures' Upcoming Blockbuster

San Diego, CA (July 18, 2013) - MJD, a leading creative innovation agency, announced today the launch of the San Diego Comic-Con Godzilla Encounter mobile application, to promote the film's 2014 release. Pushing the boundaries of technology and imagination, MJD leveraged the Qualcomm Vuforia augmented reality platform to bring this concept to life. The Vuforia SDK is a product of Qualcomm Austria Research Center GmbH, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated which is the world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies.

"This film (Godzilla) is going to be a huge blockbuster and we needed a solution that was equally massive to penetrate the market at this year's Comic-Con," says MJD's CEO, Jeremy Duimstra. "The Qualcomm Vuforia platform enabled us to create an app that unlocks new experiences from signage and posters, driving deeper engagement and more awareness for the film."

Working with Legendary Pictures and their marketing team, MJD built a multi-layer mobile solution that delivers excitement for both new and existing Godzilla fans. Engaging users in a one-of-a-kind Comic-Con adventure in downtown San Diego, the native app initiates a Geiger counter that leads users to a real world "aftermath" of a city destroyed by the legendary radioactive monster. Other special features are unlocked from users engaging in on-location activities and anticipation for this event is already receiving tremendous social buzz. Through a separate collaboration between Legendary Pictures and Qualcomm and its subsidiaries, Qualcomm Vuforia technology was also selected to power the Pacific Rim movie app.

"This has been an amazing project for our team to be a part of," Duimstra explains. "The Qualcomm Vuforia platform allowed us to take this even further then we hoped and we're thrilled that MJD was able to work with Legendary on this project and contribute to the spectacle of this year's Comic-Con."

The Godzilla Encounter app is now available for free download in the Apple App Store and Google Play. The event experience will be live during San Diego Comic-Con from Thursday, July 18 to Sunday, July 21 and available to all attendees with a valid badge.

Webb Tries to Not Spoil ‘Amazing Spidey 2′ in New Interview

We'll get some kind of official new details about The Amazing Spider-Man 2 when the panel on the film is joined at San Diego Comic Con later today. In the meantime though, Screen Rant got a chance to interview director Marc Webb and tried to worm some definitive answers in regard to some of the rumors swirling about the film.

As an opener, Screen Rant's Amy Nicholson asked Webb if Black Cat would have her bad luck powers in the film?

"Hmmm, I don't even know if Black Cat is in the movie...," he replied

Deftly deflected. How about whether or not the film ends with the death of Gwen Stacy? Well, the exchange went like this:

Amy: How intense it was shooting [Peter and Gwen's] final scene?

Webb: Um... whadda mean, the last scene in the movie?

Amy: I'm trying to get you to talk about her death.

Webb: Listen... the world we're trying to create is... it's partly obligated to cannon, but you also have to deviate from the cannon occasionally and so the... y'know... Andrew [Garfield] and Emma [Stone] and Peter and Gwen are - I mean, they're something really joyful and wonderful about that relationship and it's a lot of that stuff from the first movie [that] will continue in this second movie... [trails off].

I think Amy almost broke Webb there. So let's talk about something a little less spoilery. For example, the thematic arc for Spider-Man going into this film, what challenges await the web-slinger in this sequel and how will he overcome them?

"Y'know, if the last movie was [asking whether] Peter Parker can be Spider-Man, this movie is about if Spider-Man can be Peter Parker. At the beginning of the movie, he is extraordinarily capable, he is very good at being Spider-Man. There's a virtuosity there, he's so confident in the midst of total pandemonium that he may, uh, feel a little too confident and other elements of his life may erode because of that... I'll say this, [the theme] has something to do with time and the nature of time and the first shot in the movie... it's a watch... a ticking clock..."

"Ticking clock?" Does that suggest that Spider-Man will team-up with Jack Bauer? I digress, but it does open us up to a segue regarding the over-bloatedness of the film with so many new characters including the confirmed Norman and Harry Osborn, Electro and Rhino to rumored characters like the Black Cat and whoever Sarah Godan is playing. But Webb says relax because he and the writers are playing with creating a bigger universe here and telling a story that can unfold with multiple characters over multiple movies:

"Yes, yeah, listen, part of the fundamental concepts, the conceit of the universe that we're making is that it started... in that first movie we tease up, for example, Norman Osborn. He was an entity, he was around but you didn't see him onscreen. That allows you to unfold stories over a longer period of time and so you can create a sort of nuanced and complex world... The Rhino is in the movie for a very short time, because we're sort of teasing out the possibility of something more interesting happening there."

Hm. Could Webb be hinting at that Sinister Six rumor? I think we've made him sweat enough today, but if you want to watch the whole blow-by-blow, check out the video below:

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Source: Screen Rant

Latest ‘Hobbit’ Production Vid Brings (Bad) SDCC News

Let's get the unfortunate stuff out of the way: as fate would have it, it turns out that The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will not be appearing at San Diego Comic Con later this month. According to director Peter Jackson, he and the cast and crew are just too busy at the moment doing pick-up shots for the last two Hobbit films in New Zealand to be bothered to have the time to head across the Pacific to San Diego and be available for the fans at Comic Con. Jackson sends his regrets because he likes to be very hands on with what he brings to Comic Con, but at this time the pick-ups take priority and he need to "take the Comic Con burden" off his shoulders, so to speak.

Jackson promises some new footage from the films soon, but in the meantime you can get your Hobbit fix by checking out the latest of Jackson's production diaries, conveniently embedded below (It's got elves!):

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Source: Superhero Hype