WonderCon 2013: Sunday, by David Bax

There was only one panel I wanted to see today so, when I woke up a little later than I’d intended, it was a mad dash to the convention center. Luckily, the lines I mentioned yesterday, being shorter than at Comic-Con, allowed to me grab a quick pastry and coffee from one of the many food trucks lined up outside and duck into the arena with a few minutes to spare.

Most adaptations of Shakespeare wouldn’t find much of a home at WonderCon but this new version of Much Ado About Nothing is directed by Joss Whedon and so the atmosphere in the arena was as electric as anything I’ve attended this weekend.

Whedon himself was not scheduled to appear but the panel began with his walking onto stage to announce that Nathan Fillion, who had been expected to show, would not be there. Then Whedon brought out a number of his cast (as well as his director of photography), which included many favorites from his past works, included Tom Lenk (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Sean Maher (Firefly) and Clark Gregg (The Avengers), the last of whom proved himself a convention MVP by being funny, self-deprecating and fiercely sympathetic to an audience member during the Q&A who had been dumped by her fiancé at the convention (can you imagine?).

This panel was a blast. Everyone on the dais truly appears to get along. That camaraderie also shows up in the incredibly promising footage shown (three scenes or excerpts thereof in total). Given its numerous festival showings, reviews of this film abound online but, not having seen it myself, these sequences made me more excited than any of the advance buzz. Funny and fleet-footed, they gave an impression of an accomplished piece of work.

My first WonderCon has been a lot of fun. If it moves back to San Francisco next year, I hope to follow along.