Comic-Con

Sure, Comic-Con is known as a big geekfest, but every year the fanboy (and girl) gathering widens its scope of pop-culture offerings. The 2009 soiree in San Diego was no exception: Whether you loves you some 'Twilight' vampires, Johnny Depp Mad-ness or Megan Fox hotness, the 'Con had it all. Here are a dozen things we learned at the latest (and greatest, so far) Comic-Con.

One of the big draws at Comic-Con is always the exclusive -- sometimes even surprise -- video footage that attendees get to see before anyone else (those lucky bastards). This year's fest was no exception, as Comic-Con crowds were treated to trailers, clips and extended scenes from some of the most talked-about movies of this fall and beyond. Here are some of the highlights of what they saw.

"I literally sit in the bathtub without crossword puzzles but put crossword puzzles together in my head."

Just because theycollect fat paychecks and stroll red carpets doesn't mean celebritiesdon't have obsessions and collections, just like us un-fabulous folks.

We asked moviestars appearing at Comic-Con to tell us their geek secrets -- and,well, we feel a little better about ourselves now.

The buzz on 'Watchmen,' 'Wolverine' and more.

Comic-Con ain't just for fanboys anymore.

A bigger event for Hollywood with each passing year, it's where the buzz begins and builds on major movies of every kind, from superhero ('Watchmen') to sci-fi ('Terminator: Salvation') to horror ('Wolf Man') to comedy ('Zack and Miri Make a Porno').

After an action-packed long weekend in San Diego, we bring you the 20 biggest developments from Comic-Con 2008.

"It makes you feel warm in the pants."

Movie stars say the damnedest things.

Before we unleash our round-up of the major events and announcements of 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, we present the most memorable lines from actors and filmmakers at the convention's always-entertaining, sometimes-flat-out hilarious panels.

Be warned: profanity and vulgarity to follow. (What can we say? F-bombs are funny.)

Is it 2009 yet? New 'Terminator' footage leaves us awed.

It was all about 'Terminator' today at Comic-Con.

The Warner Bros. panel for 2009's 'Terminator Salvation' turned out to be the most energized and raucous show at the convention yet, despite the absence of it's main star, Christian Bale, who is promoting 'The Dark Knight' in Japan.

(It was probably a good thing: We'd hate to see the lovely San Diego Convention Center go up in riot flames.)

Christian Bale graduates to saving the world; Pixar makes 78-year-old men hot.

Many of Saturday's big panels are devoted to TV ('Heroes,' 'Lost,' 'Dollhouse'), but there's still plenty of high-profile movie scheduling to go around.

* 'Terminator Salvation': Christian Bale may be making headlines this summer as Batman, but next summer he'll be hitting the big screen in another iconic role: resistance leader John Connor in the fourth Terminator movie. The movie is actually the first in a planned trilogy to be directed by McG ('Charlie's Angels'), which means yes, if you do the hard math, that'll be seven Terminator movies in all. Ahnuld would be proud.

Unfortunately it doesn't look as though Bale will be making an appearance here in San Diego -- he's a little busy right now -- but surprises abound here at Comic-Con, so you never know. (Oh, how I wish one of the gazillion Jokers here could ask him a question.) At any rate, McG and the rest of the cast, including Sam Worthington, who plays an early version of the Terminator, should make for a rousing panel.

'Watchmen' live up to hype, Frank Miller's got 'Spirit' and Kevin Smith makes a 'Porno.'

Will comic book movies continue to get darker?

Considering one of the darkest yet, 'The Dark Knight,' is smashing one box office record after the next, you can bet your Batsuit they will.

Today's presentation for 'Watchmen,' easily the most anticipated of all Comic-Con movie panels, confirmed superhero flicks will keep exploring super-dark territory.

Big comic-book adaptations are the kings of Friday.

Going into this year's Comic-Con, the biggest panel looked to be the one for the 'Watchmen,' Zack Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore's venerated graphic novel. After yesterday's 'Twilight' panel (man, my ears are still ringing), I'm not so sure all those screaming teens could be beat .

Still, the 'Watchmen' panel promises to be a huge, packed-to-the-gills event. All the cast will be in attendance, including Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl), Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian) and Billy Crudup (Dr. Manhattan), plus Snyder, who's sort of the director du jour after his success with '300.'

Fans of the novel are either psyched that Snyder's finally making this movie, or filled with dread, so there'll be lots to look for at today's panel. I doubt any of the actors will come in costume (hey, dare to dream), but reaction to any new footage should be through the roof.

'X-Man' marks the spot, vampires leave fans shrieking, and 'Tron' returns.

It only one took major movie panel for Comic-Con's first whopper of a surprise.

At what appeared to be the end of this morning's presentation from Fox (slated to feature only 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' and 'Max Payne'), the announcement was made: "All the way from Australia..." Out trotted a very buff and bearded Hugh Jackman, aka Wolverine.

Cue the sound of Hall H's 6,500 guests going apes***.