Joss Whedon’s panel at the San Diego Comic Con was part information, part entertainment, and only partially a sickeningly disgusting geek love-in. There’s only so much fawning, hand-crafted fan gifts, and questions that rapidly turn into lengthy, hysterical professions of undying love one journalist can take, and I got my fill during a Neil Gaiman panel yesterday. But the crowd entertained itself with its own affection, and Whedon’s easy manner, quick and kind sense of humour, and various exciting announcements kept things interesting.

Whedon, despite being absent from the film and TV world since 2005’s Serenity, does have several projects in the works, despite having been removed from the upcoming Wonder Woman film. Firstly, as previous reported on the Bin, the online re-launch of Dark Horse Presents ( www.myspace.com\darkhorsepresents ) will feature Whedon’s original work Sugar Shock, his first comics work based upon a completely originally idea. Fray, his Buffy-in-the-future comic from several years ago, will return at some undefined point. And sadly, despite his huge success, when Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men and Runaways work comes to an end in the near future, he will not pick up any new monthly books, choosing instead to focus on other projects.

 
In terms of his film work, his fantasy-thriller Goners looks to be heading to production soon, though it is technically not greenlit. In addition, in an announcement made exclusively to the Comic Con crowd, Whedon has completed a script with Buffy/Angel writer Drew Goddard. Cabin in the Woods is, as Whedon describes it, “a horror film to end all horror films. Literally.” Most exciting to the crowd was the announcement that the Buffy spin-off Ripper would be made as a 90-minute feature for the BBC, in all likelihood, though that deal has yet to be finalized. As well, Whedon is working on a short ballet film with Firefly/Serenity star Summer Glau. Whedon himself is composing the score at the moment, an announcement that was met with so much reflexive applause it would have made Pavlov proud. It seems to be an interesting project, especially considering the love of musicals Whedon professed during the panel.

In terms of comic book news, Whedon announced that Oz would be returning to the series, though he would not disclose when. The new Angel series would be a continuation of the cancelled TV show, as with Buffy, but will be titled Angel: After The Fall.