Lucky Comic-Con-goers today got a look at the pilotfor ABC's V, a retelling of the 1980s sci-fi miniseries about a mysteriousalien invasion that purports to come in peace. The packed ballroom keptthe enthusiasm in check for most of the pilot, save an initial cheerfor Elizabeth Mitchell's butt-kicking skills as an FBI agent and theappearance of Morena Baccarin, aka the gorgeous actress who plays Anna,the high commander of the alien species. Afterwards, there wasn't muchtime for the stars to talk about the CG-heavy pilot (and yep, the spaceships look pretty legit) — though Mitchell admitted to loving the oldminiseries and how she still remembers the "alien babies" (for more onhow Mitchell will balance her new role on V and any loose ends she mayor may not have to tie up in Lost, read more here).

Fans were particularly thrilled to see Alan Tudyk (Firefly and Dollhouse) playing Mitchell's FBI partner, while exec producer ScottPeters says the references to contemporary topics (like universalhealth care) were more than just coincidental (the aliens offer freehealth care for all, among other frightening things). "Wouldn't it benice if 29 ships showed up to say, 'We'll help'?" he said.

V, which also stars Scott Wolf (Party of Five) as aTV journalist who snags the first interview with Anna, debuts inNovember on ABC.

addCredit("David Gray/ABC")

“Nobody cared about Iron Man until we came here,” said director Jon Favreau, returning to Comic-Con to offer a packed and amped-up crowd in Hall H an advance taste of Iron Man 2. (The hall was so crowded, even Marvel executives had difficulty getting in.) Favreau was joined on the stage by stars Robert Downey Jr. (who plays Tony Stark/Iron Man), Sam Rockwell (who plays sleazy arms merchant Justin Hammer), Don Cheadle (taking over the role of Jim Rhodes from Terrence Howard), and Scarlett Johansson (who plays Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow — and who drew audible gasps from the audience.)

Favreau kicked things off with a deliberately cheesy-looking introduction that resembled a low-budget marketing clip. “What was that unadulterated garbage?!” Downey asked, feigning outrage. “This is bulls—, dude! You showed me better stuff in the editing room!”

Then, after a pause to acknowledge Favreau’s son’s 8th birthday with a mass sing-a-long of “Happy Birthday,” the real footage began. Fans saw about five minutes of footage, including Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury finding Iron Man eating donuts; Garry Shandling as a senator asking for control of the Iron Man weapon; Cheadle as Rhodey transformed into War Machine; Johannson as Black Widow; and Mickey Rourke as new baddie Ivan Vanko/Whiplash, complete with deadly lightning whips. (The footage was shown twice at Cheadle’s request.)

Though Johansson joked that her audition for the film consisted of “a couple of deep knee bends and lunges,” she drew praise from Favreau: “All the fighting and wire work is her own. She worked really hard and it shows on the screen.”

Cheadle addressed the slightly awkward challenge of stepping in to replace Howard, who fell out of the sequel in a salary dispute. “We addressed it elegantly and then moved on,” he said. “But I willsay, being the vampire that I am, I siphoned off everything I could from Terrence’s performance and then modernized it for 2009.”

Speaking of co-star Rourke, Downey deadpanned, “And I thought I was eccentric.” Favreau said Rourke did research for the role by spending time in a Russian prison, noting wryly, “You know, after Perestroika, the first film to arrive in Russia was 9 1/2 weeks. Mickey’s a sex god in Russia.”

Director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow)may be the king of the disaster movie, but he doesn’t really want the world to end. Showing off his latest apocalyptic would-be blockbuster, 2012, at Comic-Con, Emmerich — joined by one of the film’s stars, Woody Harrelson — said there’s one simple reason he favors these kinds of movies: relatability. “I loved disaster movies like The Towering Inferno as a kid. They’re about real people who don’t have any specific talents. I don’t have any real talent so I was drawn to them.” With Danny Glover as president and an Arnold Schwarzenegger lookalike playing the Governator, Emmerich destroys all of Los Angeles and then some in his modern-day Noah’s Ark-meets-Mayan-mythology tale, which stars John Cusack as a dad trying to rescue his wife and daughter — and, if possible, the world.

After screening a clip of California being destroyed, Emmerich said he’s ready to let go of his apocalyptic fixation for now:”This will be my last one–the mother of all disaster films.” His next project, he said, will be an adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s science-fiction novel, Foundation.

Harrelson was doing double-duty at Sony’s panel, promoting both 2012 and his R-rated horror comedy, Zombieland, about a group of people surviving a zombie apocalypse. Did he ever expect to star in a zombiemovie? “I certainly could have hoped for it,” Harrelson said. “It was high time I got offered a zombie movie.”

As for rumors that Bill Murray plays a zombie in the movie, Harrelson said, ” I can confirm that there is a rumor that Bill Murray is in Zombieland.”

Photo Credit (top): Glen Wilson
Photo Credit (bottom): Joe Lederer

Director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow)may be the king of the disaster movie, but he doesn't really want theworld to end. Showing off his latest apocalyptic would-be blockbuster, 2012,at Comic-Con, Emmerich — joined by one of the film's stars,Woody Harrelson — said there's one simple reason he favorsthese kinds of movies: relatability. "I loved disaster movies like TheTowering Inferno as a kid. They're about real people who don't have anyspecifictalents. I don't have any real talent so I was drawn to them." WithDanny Glover as president and an Arnold Schwarzenegger lookalike playing the Governator,Emmerich destroys all of Los Angeles and then some in his modern-dayNoah's Ark-meets-Mayan-mythology tale, which stars John Cusack as a dadtrying to rescue his wife and daughter — and, if possible, the world.

After screening a clip of California being destroyed,Emmerich said he's ready to let go of his apocalyptic fixation for now:"This will be my last one–the mother of alldisaster films." His next project, he said, will be an adaptation of IsaacAsimov's science-fiction novel, Foundation.

Harrelson was doing double-duty at Sony's panel, promoting both 2012 and his R-rated horror comedy, Zombieland, about a group of people surviving a zombieapocalypse. Did he ever expect to star in a zombiemovie? "I certainly could have hoped for it," Harrelson said. "It was high time I got offered a zombie movie."

As for rumors that Bill Murray plays a zombie in the movie, Harrelson said, "I can confirm that there is a rumorthat Bill Murray is in Zombieland."

addCredit("Glen Wilson")

addCredit("Joe Lederer")

Operating on one hour of sleep and loads of caffeine, Jason Bateman journeyed to Comic-Con to introduce audiences tohis new film Extract, the latest deadpan, offbeat comedy from Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill, and Office Space. Bateman, Judge, and co-star Mila Kunis were all on hand to show off three extendedscenes from the movie, which bows Sept. 4. Bateman plays a food-extract factory owner whose workplaceand marital frustrations spin into a ridiculous series of misadventures involving his wife (Kristin Wiig), a beautiful con artist (Kunis), and a drug-addled bartender buddy (Ben Affleck).

So is Extract (which follows thedebacle of Judge's barely-released last film, Idiocracy) the naturalfollow-up to the cult classic Office Space—except this time from the perspective of the beleaguered boss instead of the put-upon white-collar drones? "Yes," Judge said. "I worked in cubicles in San Diego, andOffice Space was born out of that. Then on Beavis and Butt-Head, I hadall these people working for me and I realized how hard it was tobabysit all of them. I started to feel sympathetic to my own boss."

Pixar's JohnLasseter has long admired the beautiful hand-drawn animation ofJapanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. The two met back in 1987 but firstcollaborated this past year on Miyazaki's new film Ponyo, which hits theaters Aug. 14. Lasseter co-directed the English-language version, which involvedwriting a new script and working with the all-star cast of voiceactors: Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson and Tina Fey. We wereable to spend a few minutes with the two legends outside Hall H at theclose of Friday's panel. Check out our conversation below–along with the trailer for Disney's other big upcoming animated release, The Princess and the Frog:

EW: John, you spoke earlier about how Miyazaki’smovies have inspired you. Can you speak specifically about moments in his workthat have helped you in yours?

Lasseter: In A Bug’s Life there's a rescue where all the bugs rescuePrincess Dot from this huge bird that’s attacking her. And one of my favoritesequences in Miyazaki’s films is in Castle in the Sky where there's thisunbelievable rescue that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Themain character rescues this girl from a fort that’s being destroyed andit’s breathtaking. One of the other amazing sequences to me is inMy Neighbor Totoro when the cat bus first arrives. In Hollywood movies tend to get faster and faster, more action and action. What I love about Miyazaki is he takes a breath and he lets something just be there. And that makes whatcomes after it all the more amazing. I think UP is a great example of PIxar havingmore quiet moments so the action moments are more balanced, and that isattributed to Miyazaki.

EW: I'm curious what you think of thePixar movies?

Miyazaki: When I look at Mr. Lasseter’s movies I realize what effort he’s put into it andwhat kind of trouble he’s had making the movies. So I probably see his moviesfrom a completely different perspective other people see them. It’s kind ofabout sharing the pain with a fellow director.

EW: Would you ever try computer animation or do you plan tostick with hand-drawing?

Miyazaki: I tried a little bit of it but then when I drew mycharacters, I realized that the [computer-animated] method was coming into my hand drawings, so Idecided to stop so I wouldn’t be influenced by it.

EW: What was the Ponyo collaboration like? Was it just about dubbing in English?

Lasseter: I always want to protect Miyazaki's vision, sowe worked first on the script, capturing the story so Americanaudiences can be at the samelevel of understanding as Japanese audiences at any moment inthe film and to make the language natural to our ears. Then casting the rightvoices andgetting the performances to fit the animation, so it doesn’t feel dubbed.

EW:  Why is now the time for a Miyazaki release toget thetheatrical support it deserves?

Lasseter: I believe so strongly that when you see a film byMiyazaki, you become a fan. I keep talking to Disney to get it out there. I say, Trust me, the audience will be there for it. They are unlike anything you’ve everseen and that’s why I’m so excited about this big of a release.

EW: Could we see a time where you two collaborate on story,character and animation from the beginning of a project?

Miyazaki: I think it’s better if we keep it separate and doour own work.

Lasseter: Yeah, I don’t want to corrupt his creative vision.It's too brilliant.