Recorded Live at San Diego Comic-Con 2017
It’s time to get in touch with your Dark Side! Forget those boring heroes – fandom loves our striking and iconic villains. Loki, Harley Quinn, Darth Vader – with their fascinating backstories, dangerous aesthetics, and devil-may-care attitudes, it’s easy to see why many fans self-identify with the bad guys. But what does it say about you when you proudly claim allegiance to Slytherin House, the 501st Legion, or the Agents of Hydra?
This panel, recorded in front of a live audience at San Diego Comic-Con 2017, explores fan fascination with fictional antagonists and what makes a great villain.
Fictitious host Adron Buske moderates this all-star speaker group, which includes:
- Superstar TV writer Jane Espenson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica)
- Best-selling paranormal romance author Rebecca Zanetti (Blood Brothers, The Dark Protectors)
- TV writer & producer Christine Boylan (Once Upon a Time, Punisher, Cloak & Dagger)
- YA breakout author Tomi Adeyemi (Children of Blood and Bone)
- Comics writer Erica Schultz (Charmed, Swords of Sorrow, Twelve Devils Dancing)
- Writer & editor Kendall Ashley (Nerdist, Geek & Sundry).
If you’re interested in what makes a great villain so compelling and captivating, you’ll find a lot of ideas to explore in this discussion. But, more than anything, this panel is just really, really FUN. It was recorded in front of a full-to-capacity, late night, rowdy Comic-Con crowd who definitely came to play. And so did our panelists.
So, here’s a WARNING: there’s a fair amount of good-natured swearing in this episode, including emphatic F-bombs and what movie ratings would call “adult themes”. This is probably not one to listen to with the kids.
Another heads up: this was recorded in July of 2017, before the release of many recent popular films and books. And, notably, ahead of the Kevin Spacey scandals that have changed any discussions of the Netflix series House of Cards and his villainous main character. So please keep that timing in mind while listening.
After the panel, stick around for some more info about Fictitious Season 3.
