Names and Faces

Stan Lee is missing in action at San Diego Comic-Con. A spokesman for the 91-year-old co-creator of superheroes such as The Avengers, X-Men and Spider-Man said Lee lost his voice because of laryngitis. He added that Lee is otherwise in good health and is disappointed he's missing the celebration. The former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief has been a constant presence at Comic-Con since the convention began in the 1970s. Comic-Con is a four-day festival celebrating film, TV, video games, comic books, costumes and other popular arts. It kicked off Thursday and continues through today at the San Diego Convention Center.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies launched a full-scale assault Friday on Comic-Con. The cast and crew from the final installment of The Hobbit trilogy showed off the first trailer for the fantasy film at the pop-culture convention, as well as a blooper reel from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. The trailer showed the audience of 6,500 the dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) setting Lake-town ablaze, Cate Blanchett's royal elf Galadriel kissing the forehead of Ian McKellen's beleaguered wizard Gandalf and legions of elves and orcs racing into battle. Stephen Colbert, dressed as the shaggy-haired character he cameoed as in The Hobbit, enthusiastically moderated Friday's panel at the San Diego Convention Center. "That was really just for you, Stephen," filmmaker Peter Jackson said to the talk-show host and J.R.R. Tolkien fan. "I mean, these other people are here, as well." Jackson was joined by several cast members for Friday's celebration of all things Hobbit, including Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans and Lee Pace. The Battle of the Five Armies debuts Dec. 17.

A Section on 07/27/2014

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