HomeComic-Con: Stars banter at 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' panel
Jul 25, 2008, 10:06 PM | by Nisha Gopalan
Categories: Comic-Con 2008
Things are changing," said Buffy
the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon at his Comic-Con panel on Friday
afternoon. He was talking about the success of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along
Blog, his three-act, Internet-only flick about a lovelorn wannabe-supervillain
with a penchant for breaking out into song. Titular star Neil Patrick Harris (pictured, with Nathan Fillion) also took the stage along with his costars — a hammy Fillion (superhero nemesis
Captain Hammer), the charming Felicia Day (the object of their affection), and
super-quiet Simon Helberg (Horrible's hapless roommate/sidekick). "Dr.
Horrible," said Whedon of the lack of studio involvement, "is a
little bit about putting power in different hands." Added the director
jokingly, "the wrong hands." (Pause for thunderous applause from the rapturous
audience; then wash and repeat for virtually everything Whedon said.)
There was much banter — repartee even! — at the expense of scoopage. After an audience member playfully accused Whedon of liking to kill off his female characters, Harris deadpanned, "You do kill a lot of chicks." Retorted Whedon, "I have two tricks. You're either out, or your dead." Fillion, meanwhile, cracked some choice phallic "Captain Hammer" jokes, then claimed that Harris, vis-a-vis Doogie Howser, invented the blog. And Harris? He claimed he didn't recall said show, referring to that time in his life as his "heroin years."
But there were a few revelations among the
revelry. On the ever-enduring Buffy front, we learned:
• Joyce Summers had Whedon's favorite death on
Buffy. Said Whedon: It was "the most time I got to spend with something
that close to me." Awww.
• Oz will return to Dark Horse's
most-excellent Buffy comic (!).
• Willow
was basically outed only because Oz left the show.
• And, no, Whedon was never going make Xander
gay.
And in Dr. Horrible news:
• Harris did some of his own MTV
Cribs-like choreography in the musical, including that beloved shoulder
shimmy in the second act.
• While filming, Whedon sang as Hammer to
Felicia's character. And cowriter Maurissa Tancharoen has it on tape.
• They're hosting a contest for "Evil League
of Evil" video submissions that are no longer than three minutes. The top 10
will be on the Dr. Horrible DVD.
• The Dr. Horrible soundtrack will be available for
download in a couple of weeks.
• Lastly, if you want to be an agent of doom, and
rock an iPhone, you too can log onto the very same interface Doc Horrible used
in the film at www.thesoftwire.com/horrible_remote.html.
Up next for Whedon? His latest TV show, Dollhouse, will air next year on Fox. (Read about the Dollhouse panel on EW.com tomorrow.) And — at long last — his horror movie Cabin in the Woods is finally a go! (Additional reporting by Dafna Pleban)
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