UPDATE: Pictures from Friday at Comic Con HERE, Saturday HERE, and Sunday HERE.
New York Comic Con kicked off the first of four days at NYC’s Jacob Javits Center on Thursday (10/5). The wildly popular (passes to all four days are sold out) pop culture convention has a little something for everyone; comics, genre television, movies, anime, books, and gaming are all represented in a variety of panels and events that also spill into offsite locations like The Theater at Madison Square Garden and Hammerstein Ballroom. The huge sales floor has an array of nerdy goods for sale, from limited Funko Pop! vinyl figures to t-shirts from UNIQLO’s collaborations with Nintendo, Star Wars, and One Piece. And all of that is before you check out Artist’s Alley or any of the fan meetups.
Another beloved Comic Con activity is cosplay. You can see pictures of some of the best costumes I saw on Thursday in the gallery above, including a truly terrifying Pennywise the Clown, an elaborately detailed Pinhead from Hellraiser, and characters from Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and more.
Meanwhile, from Thursday’s events, Keanu Reeves premiered the first trailer for his unfinished sci-fi thriller Replicas, which you can watch below. Deadline reports from the panel:
Reeves revealed to fans that another Bill & Ted movie is still in the works but far from in shape beyond a script. “Showbiz is rough, you know,” the actor laughed of putting together all the pieces, finances and otherwise, for the pic. “Hopefully that’ll work out,” he said.
Reeves also let fans in on a third John Wick movie looks to start filming early next year.
The American Gods panel didn’t reveal much about the upcoming season two plot, but it did give actor Ricky Whittle, who plays Shadow, a chance to get political. Gamespot reports:
“I was really inspired yesterday morning,” Whittle continued. “I was in the gym, and a soldier was talking to me, and he said, ‘I didn’t put my life on the line for anyone to tell people–free people, never mind the president–what they’re allowed to kneel for in their life.’ It’s not about the flag. It’s not about the anthem. Colin Kaepernick and all these sports stars love America. They love the flag. They love the anthem. It’s never been about that, and we need to focus on what it’s about. And with our show, we’re keeping stuff in conversation which needs to be happening. We’re talking about immigration. We’re talking about racism, sexism. We’re talking bout homophobia. We’re talking about gay rights. We’re talking about gun control. All of this stuff matters. All of this stuff cannot be normal. We need to be having these conversations every day. And not just having conversations–how about we start making stuff happen?”
“I pissed myself laughing when Kanye said he was going to run,” he concluded. “I will take Kanye in a second.” The crowd’s cheers drowned out any further politicizing.
Comic Con continues through Sunday. If you can’t be there, some events are streaming live, including some Main Stage Events and some of Marvel’s events. There are also NYCC Presents events happening all around NYC.
