By the time of this writing, the trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass has made the rounds online and millions have seen what looks to be one of the director’s most ambitious efforts yet. Some of us who attended San Diego Comic-Con last week and were able to get into the prestigious Hall H was able to be the first to see the trailer on several large screens with a bombastic sound that gave most in attendance chills by the time the title flashed across the screen. It was a truly powerful moment and showed the importance of putting together a good trailer because it left everyone in the audience wanting more. But that’s how things ended, let me take you back to where the panel began…
The moderator for Friday’s Glass panel was Yvette Nicole Brown, who filled in heavily at Comic-Con this year due to Chris Hardwick being ousted from moderating after his ex-girlfriend leveled allegations of abuse and sexual misconduct against him. Brown didn’t feel like a last minute replacement since she’s also a fixture moderating these panels at conventions and she’s instantly a welcomed presence. She’s funny, she’s engaging and she knows how to keep the panel moving without taking the attention from the cast and crew.
Things moved rather quickly on this panel because it was clear that a lot was booked in the room and they were running a tad behind schedule. Brown began by first introducing M. Night Shyamalan who came out on stage and sat alone for a moment to discuss with the audience how Glass came to be. I’m immediately struck by how articulate and honest his commentary is. Say what you want about a career that has seen some great highs and even greater lows, this is a man that loves the art of film and his passion is evident through how he speaks about it.
We learn from the director that the road to Glass began with disappointment. M. Night Shyamalan recalled how he was disheartened when the mixed reactions to Unbreakable arrived back in 2000. Part of the problem, he thinks, may have been that the time had not yet come for a comic book movie like this. He even recalls how the marketing team said that they couldn’t mention comic books or superheroes in promotional materials because it was too fringe. They even referred to those things as being “for people who go to those conventions.”
What’s even more interesting is that if it weren’t for “those conventions,” we might not have gotten Split as we know it today. That’s because M. Night Shyamalan met James McAvoy at a Comic-Con party when the director was at the event screening The Visit for attendees. At the time, McAvoy’s hair had barely grown back from playing a bald Professor X in the X-Men franchise, and he had the perfect look to play Kevin Wendell Crumb in Split, a character who was originally part of the script for Unbreakable but was too unwieldy for such a grounded story. And the rest is history.
After giving a bit of backstory as to how he made it to Glass, Shyamalan brings out the cast one at a time beginning with Samuel L. Jackson and he is then followed by Bruce Wilis, Sarah Paulson & Anya Taylor-Joy. What I appreciated is that before each into, Shyamalan had something significant to say about each person and you can tell he’s extremely proud of the cast he has assembled for the project.
As you may have noticed, James McAvoy was missing from the list of names above and that’s because he was very sick and couldn’t make it. Shyamalan insisted that even down to the last minute that McAvoy really wanted to come but he just felt too ill to travel but he said that McAvoy would’ve loved to have been there and his presence is felt throughout because his performance is praised several times throughout the panel.
Of the cast, Samuel L. Jackson gets the first question and is asked why he enjoys playing Mr. Glass and why he chose to return. Jackson says that he likes that the character is subdued and that while he’s weak in body, he’s powerful with brains and intellect and that he likes being able to play quiet and understated characters:
“I just love the complexity of Elijah. I love that he has his mom who understands him and knows who he is. He’s an extremely strong character who has this fragile body. He has a belief that’s stronger than anything anyone can take from him. And he’s quiet. See, I don’t actually play the same motherfucker all the time! I like the loud ones yes, but I also like to do a quiet one.”
Jackson dropping the first f-bomb in Hall H got a rousing response from the crowd and wasn’t lost on Yvette Nicole Brown who exclaimed that of course, Jackson would drop the first f-bomb of the Con. It was a much needed moment and I’m glad we got it.
Bruce Willis gets the next question about what lead him to do the little surprise ending at the end of Split that linked it to Unbreakable and Willis, who seemed out of it or drunk, didn’t really answer the question and said something along the lines of he can’t give anything away. Thankfully Shyamalan gets it back on track and says that he asked Willis to do it, who he says has been like a big brother to him since they did The Sixth Sense, and Willis was more than willing to do it. They did the scene in one afternoon and Willis did it for free. From there Shyamalan opened up about how this project is a bit of an unprecedented thing in Hollywood because two studios had to come together to make it happen. It required Universal and Disney to agree to team up by using two different franchises that they each owned and bringing them together. Disney had Unbreakable via Buena Vista while Universal had Split and according to Shyamalan, there was never a push and pull between the two. He asked, and they delivered.
Sarah Paulson, who I didn’t even know was in the film until she came out during the panel, spoke on her character of Dr. Ellie Staple a bit and said that she’s tasked with rehabilitating our three main characters. She didn’t give a ton away about her character because most of the cast seemed restricted a bit by spoilers but she said she did find it exhilarating to share scenes with all three of the main actors.
Anya Taylor-Joy probably said the least of the bunch but her character also seems prominent within the story and it’s said her role is important because she faced “The Beast” in Split and proved to be a worthy adversary. This will play a role in Glass according to those involved.
The panel ended with the reveal of the trailer, which as I stated earlier, played very well with the crowd. It’s probably the best trailer to drop during San Diego Comic-Con and I think it got just about all of us hyped for January 19, 2019. An interesting tidbit was revealed by Shyamalan that he had the chance to premiere the trailer ahead of the two big Marvel movies this year but since the genesis of Glass was born out of the fans who attend these conventions, he thought it was fitting that they premiere the trailer at Comic-Con, which also got a big applause from the crowd.
Definitely a solid panel and although it was a bit too short since things had to be hurried along, I think we got some interesting facts about how the film came to be and it definitely makes me look forward to how it all turns out.
