The Weekly Worship: Breaking the Bad with our -final- SDCC Goods!

Not even the cast of last year’s biggest breakthrough program, Breaking Bad, knows what’s in store for their final 16. “We don’t ask and [Vince Gilligan] doesn’t tell us and we like it that way.”

That suspense is what makes this terrific team so enjoyable to watch, and just as magnificent in their first-ever Comic Con appearance. Bryan Cranston (Walt) and Aaron Paul (Jesse) showed up in their usual yellow labcoat flair, all the while Walt’s brother-in-law and DEA Agent, Dean Norris (Hank) went the cosplay route — with the most horrifying riff on Xena ever.

With that ridiculousness alone, you could tell the cast is having more fun with their even higher expectations. Luckily, Bad‘s final song-and-dance will pack as much dark humor as its usual intensity. That looseness is due to “the great weight lifted at the end of last season,” as Cranston put about his victory over Taco Hell-managing drug terror, Gus. Bad continues the fallout from last season’s finale, with the executives that funded Gus’ empire now making their presence felt. “You’ll be reading more German subtitles in season 5 than Spanish,” Gilligan explained. “[Breaking Bad] will be opening up the world a bit.”

Even with that said, Mr. White’s biggest threat may be the very man closest to him.

Scary, to think Jesse was going to get axed by the show’s executive producer way back in season 1. But, Gilligan promised that was “[far] before we found out we loved [Paul]. He’s such a sweet guy. You just want to pinch him.”

Jesse’s actions in last Sunday’s season premiere may have closed off any notions that the man intends to change.  Yes, he saved Walt from getting shot by Mike in the desert. Yes, he used brains rather than angst when realizing they could use Mr. White to rid of this horrendous evidence. And, yes, although some terrible shit happened to him and his family (especially from Walt), his crazy addiction to the ultimate adrenaline rush and the nonsenical outcome of escaping its danger will obviously continue.

So, while this “evolution of Jesse Pinkman” may or may never come, it’s a thread that will undeniably be one of the most intriguing in Breaking Bad.

Paul even bragged to Cranston, “Your whole life was aimless ’til I came around.”

At this point, I’m not sure the famed actor would completely disagree.

 

Let’s wrap it up:

• The Big 2 may have went head to head last weekend in San Diego (DC took comics, Marvel took movies), but there were sounds of another beach-town Smackdown last night — the long-awaited return of Rey Mysterio! The WWE’s answer to Spider-Man in his very own 6-1-9 couldn’t have made any more sense, and the wrestler didn’t haste last night, either, throwing himself into the Fatal 4-Way fire of Alberto Del Rio, new Money in the Bank winner Dolph Ziggler, and World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus. And with RAW‘s 1,000th episode taking place this Monday (and the fed succumbing to the likes of pitting ol’ fogies Rikishi and Road Warrior Animal against the “One Man Band” ), Smackdown could use their masked avenger now more than ever.

• Another immense return happened in the SDizzle, when comic writing legend Neil Gaiman confirmed his return to the world of The Sandman. Sure, I posted a gorgeous photo of Morpheus from the Vertigo booth last week without a clue of Gaiman’s comeback! And now, the New York Times bestselling author will receive a tremendous hand in the form of Batwoman artist (and now writer) J.H. Williams III. If you haven’t flipped through the pages of Batwoman or Promethea, yet, you’ve still got a year to do so. The dynamic duo isn’t expected to bless readers with The Sandman prequel until fall, 2013.

 

• While there’s no question the Marvel Studios panel at SDCC was completely awesome, I’m sure some found it a little strange the company is ready to push movies starring superheroes.. that don’t even show up in their own books. Well, the Marvel NOW! initiative answers that question with this image:

– Some other notes from the Marvel NOW! panel, the only Marvel Comics panel I covered this year (and thank God, as there weren’t many rocking announcements this year): Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso promises that Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye will be the breakout title of the year, and with the writer’s past success on Immortal Iron Fist and now with Defenders, I don’t doubt it. Again, this move is surely part of Marvel spotlighting their lesser-known film franchises, but with the soaring stock of the arching Avenger — and Jeremy Renner, too —  no better time than the present!

– Writer Peter David gave many butts parked in room 6DE last Thursday a heartattack when he insisted issue #245 of X-Factor would be his last. “Don’t ever say that again,” steamed one fan. Thankfully, that’s far from the truth. David let everyone in on the mutant detectives next arc, “Breaking Points,” which ties up allof the title’s loose-ends in a 5-day (5 issue) span. Hurrah.

– Jeff Parker’s Hulk will become Red She-Hulk this October. The comic centers around Red Hulk’s daughter (and Banner’s ol’ ex lady) and promises to “greatly impact every other Hulk book.” But wait. Won’t this eventually be the only Hulk book? Either way, our diocese will buy anything the man writes; hell, Parker got us into Agents of Atlas, Thunderbolts, and.. uh.. a red Hulk, didn’t he?

– Hey! God Hates Geeks hasn’t forgotten about our weekly comics. We promise that. But, with the rousing storms of San Diego Comic Con and The Dark Knight Rises, it didn’t leave us much time. As a result of the Parish Picks absence last week (some lucky buggers were focused for 2 weeks, right, Red Lanterns?) our flicker has 8 choices (bottom right hand corner of the main page, sweethearts). And, trust us, both Diana’s road to redemption in Wonder Woman #11 and the frenzied Namor vs. Wakanda war in Avengers vs. X-Men #8 deserve all the notoriety we can squeeze.

– Maybe the best news of the panel was that longtime Deadpool scribe Daniel Way is finally on his way out. Look, I enjoyed a good portion of ‘Pool’s story, from the Secret Invasion debut to more of its second and third season’s funkiest moments; but there’s no question this run got real dry real fast. It also didn’t help that Rick Remender was writing a kick-ass version of Wade in Uncanny X-Force. At least Way now has himself a nice “going away” gesture penning Activision’s new take on the Merc with the Mouth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S2MoeCpvP4

• Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go to the families of the victims of the Colorado shootings this past week. Not to use an obvious pun, but our best option would be to RISE together in a time like this; not blame the Dark Knight, or anything pop culture related.