Comic Con -day 2 Frank's report - Star Wars!

By Frank H. Woodward Jul 23, 2006, 2:54 GMT

Friday was officially Star Wars day at Comic Con 2006.  For me, however, the focus was on TV (at least until the original trilogy comes out unmolested in September - then it will be Star Wars day again).

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 Judging from the swarms waiting at the door, 'Battlestar Galactica' is the new "Trek" (in related news, the "40 Years of Star Trek" panel was in desperate need of a few good Trekkers). 

Room 20, the second biggest hall at San Diego's convention center, seats 4,200.

Every one of those seats was filled. 

They came for a glimpse of Season 3.  They came to see Admiral Adama / Edward James Olmos, President Gaius Baltar / James Callis, and Cylon beauty D'Anna / Lucy Lawless. 

Olmos was met with a rousing round of applause. The tickled actor pledged that, unlike another starship captain, he would never tell fans to "get a life". 

While the "Galactica" stars were gracious to their fans, they didn't divulge many details of what will happen in the face of the Cylon invasion that ended Season 2. 

These are the only hints: 

Like the Season 2 finale, there will be another jump forward in the timeline.  Season 3 events begin 4 months after the Cylon invasion. 

One episode will take place entirely on a Cylon base ship

One Cylon model will be discontinued... for good! 

A human resistance is a given.  That Starbuck and Tigh have put aside their adverserial relationship promises some good moments.  Also Tigh apparently loses an eye! 

Not all humans are on board with this resistance.  According to producer Ron Moore, some humans are experiencing a touch of Stockholm Syndrome with regard to the "toasters"

 Olmos defined Adama's relationship with son Apollo as "out of page 6 in New York"

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 'Heroes' is a new series that looks poised to grab just as vast a fan base as "Galactica". 

Creator Jeph Loeb ('Smallville,' 'Lost') screened an exclusive 72 minute cut of the pilot for Comic Con fans. 

In those 72 minutes, not one audience member expressed anything short of unfettered attention.  'Heroes' is essentially a cross between "X-Men" and "Unbreakable".  Normal people are beginning to discover they have special powers.  Unlike their 4-color ancestors, however, these soon to be heroes are real people with real reactions. 

This is not the first show to deal with super heroes in plain clothes.  'Smallville' proved that these stories could be told without tights (and Loeb was on that show... coincidence?)  Seemingly unconnected people in different parts of the world possess the genetic code to take the human species forward to the next evolutionary level. 

'Heroes' will follow these people as they learn their purpose in the world.  

There is a tortured artist with precognitive abilities. A beat cop that can read minds. A cheerleader with remarkable healing abilities (think Wolverine, but a little messier). 

In a world where super heroes are emerging, however, super villains are also a possibility.  The villains could come from a terrorist cell that has stolen a trainload of plutonium (one of whom is developing his own abilties) or it could come from a confused and possibly sociopathic soul who asks if his new powers make him good or bad... a coward or a hero. 

'Heroes' will debut on NBC in the fall. 

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Tomorrow at Comic Con, one name says it all... SAM RAIMI!!