With Metallica show, it’s curtains for Comic-Con

SAN DIEGO: The Metallica Day at Comic-Con, came to a rapturous close Friday night as the legendary metal band tore through a 90-minute set at San Diego’s historic Spreckels Theatre. The four members of the California-based heavy metal band were on site Friday at the San Diego Convention Center to promote their new concert film-plus “Metallica Through The Never” and share footage with fans. Though Metallica’s followers might come from another cultural subgroup, drummer Lars Ulrich said he could identify with the tens of thousands of fans roaming the halls.
“I’ve never been great with definitions because I think that the whole world should never be limited to that type of specificities,” Ulrich said in an interview at the nearby Hilton Bayfront. “When I was growing up, my experiences and my memories from my childhood were that I was a loner. Now, if you’re going to get really into it, loner and geek, what are they, cousins? They can’t be that far apart from each other.”
The “Metallica Through The Never” panel was held in the massive Hall H, which holds about 7,000 people. The band debuted footage with director Nimrod Antal before playing a private concert later in the night at an undisclosed location.
“Never” is not your average concert film. A narrative follows actor Dane DeHaan, who plays a roadie sent on a mission during one of the band’s shows. DeHaan’s story is intercut with footage of the band playing a live show on a specially designed stage.
Earlier on Friday, Spider-Man himself made an appearance at Comic-Con, scaling nearby hotels to swoop into a panel in the San Diego Convention Center’s largest exhibition hall.
Andrew Garfield, who plays the web-slinging superhero in “The Amazing Spider-Man” and its forthcoming sequel, was nowhere in sight. The actor only joined the panel once Spidey left.
Garfield, along with Jamie Foxx, director Marc Webb and the film’s producers, offered convention-goers the first look Friday at footage from “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” which is set for release next year.
But first, Spider-Man told the crowd of nearly 6,000 fans that he loves Comic-Con, saying, “It’s the only place where I feel normal.”
He complimented Foxx, who plays the villain Electro in the new film, saying he first noticed him opposite Al Pacino in “Any Given Sunday.”
“I loved ‘Django,’” Spidey said.
The superhero also confessed that he could really use a day off.
“It’s nice to swing, it’s nice to climb, but it all gets to be a little old hat,” he said.
The footage introduced fans to Foxx’s villain, a man who starts out admiring Spider-Man, but eventually seeks to destroy him. Spider-Man befriends the quiet man before an accident transforms him into Electro.
“I wanted Electro to be a serious individual who wants to burn the city down,” Foxx said, “and burn Spider-Man along with it.”
Comic-Con is a multigenre convention held annually in San Diego, California, United States.
Originally showcasing comic books, science fiction/fantasy and film/television, and related popular arts, the convention now includes a larger range of pop culture elements, such as horror, animation, anime, toys, collectible card games, video games, webcomics, and fantasy novels. According to Forbes, the convention is the “largest convention of its kind in the world.”