After a slight but exquisitely torturous delay, Comic-Con 2012 hit the ground running in Hall H with the panel for "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2."
Comic-Con President John Rogers kicked things off by expressing his condolences to the family of Gisela G., the fan who was killed earlier this week when she was struck by a car while waiting in line to get into the "Twilight" panel.
Eric Moro of Wikia, who served as the panel's moderator, then introduced Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Stephenie Meyer and little Mackenzie Foy to the stage. Director Bill Condon wasn't able to attend due to being in London for scoring sessions on the film, but he had a pre-recorded greeting that included the announcement that they were about to see the first seven minutes of "Breaking Dawn - Part 2."
WARNING: SPOILERS!
The clip picked up right where "Part 1" left off: with Bella opening her bright red vampire eyes. She sees the world as her husband does for the first time, hyper-aware of every smell, sight and sensation. She's also of course considerably stronger, much to even Edward's surprise as her hug literally takes his breath away (well, so to speak).
And she's hungry, which prompts Edward to take her on her first hunt in the forest. A lone deer looks pretty tasty - until Bella gets a whiff of a mountain climber that accidentally cut his hand. Bella succumbs to the bloodlust almost immediately and proceeds to scale the face of the mountain as she stalks her prey — luckily, Edward intervenes just in time and she settles for a mountain lion for dinner. She is Bella, hear her roar!
The clip ends with Bella and Edward being greeted back at the house by Jacob, where he somewhat accidentally reveals his new bond with their daughter. Bella can smell the imprint on him: "You really stink, Jacob!"
Following the clip, Meyer told the crowd that she wishes Condon could've been there to hear everyone's extremely enthusiastic response to what they just saw. The "Twilight" author also said that she's most excited for audiences to finally see K.Stew as "awesome, powerful, vampire Bella."
Kristen obviously loved her undead turn. "It felt so good to break her in and see how fast the car goes," she said. R.Pattz expressed his enthusiasm for his final round as Edward Cullen, saying he especially enjoyed the fact that, over the course of four movies, he'd been constantly surprised by Bella — and now understands her even less as a vampire.
Lautner enjoyed playing a a more laid-back Jacob after four movies of being so "stressed and emotional."
"He has a weight lifted off his shoulders," he said. "He's less dramatic and more happy." That might take some getting used to!
The audience was then shown another clip that featured the Cullens helping Bella prepare to see her father for the first time since the recent, er, turn of events. The key, of course, is to appear like she's human, which means wearing contact lenses, creating the illusion of breathing and not having such … well, such perfect posture. Bella sums up vampire etiquette as follows: "I got it — move around, blink, slouch."
After the clip, Moro introduced Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene and the newlywed Jackson Rathbone to the stage and invited the audience to ask questions. One of the highlights was K.Stew and R.Pattz being asked what villain costume they would wear if they ever went to Comic-Con for fun. Stewart gave a nod to her pal and recent co-star Charlize Theron by saying she'd be "the evil Queen from Snow White," while R.Pattz would take on the Man of Steel himself as Zod. "Kneel!"
The panel's funniest moment was when R.Pattz was asked what advice the "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" Edward would give to the "Twilight" Edward. "Keep it in your pants," he mumbled, which was met with riotous laughter. R.Pattz, a little embarrassed, exclaimed, "I forget there are audiences at these things!"
The vampire actors all agreed that the most difficult aspect of shooting the "Twilight" films was acting, fighting and emoting through the disorienting and uncomfortable contact lenses. Rathbone took it in stride, though: "As long as it looks good, whatever!"
The adorable Foy kind of stole the show, though. Her favorite memory from "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" was "getting to ride Jacob-Wolf" … and losing a tooth at some point on set.
The panel was given quite the epilogue when Stephenie Meyer invited director Andrew Niccol to the stage to introduce an extended clip of "The Host," a film that might very well be "the next 'Twilight.'" The footage was something of a "highlight reel" introducing the strange world of Meyer's sci-fi romance and almost all the major characters, most notably Saoirse Ronan as Wanderer and Diane Kruger as The Seeker. While the scenes didn't make much sense out of context, fans of the book met the impressive footage — which ran several minutes — with great enthusiasm.
A bit of a bittersweet melancholy came over Hall H as the "Twilight" gang left the Comic-Con stage for the final time. On to "Breaking Dawn - Part 2," opening Nov. 16.
