On July 13, lucky fans at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con were able to enjoy the Nerd HQ panel, hosted by Zachery Levi (“Chuck” (2007), ‘Tangled’ (2010), starring geek god Nathan Fillion (“Firefly“ (2002), “Castle“ (2009) and fan favorite Adam Baldwin (“Firefly,” “Chuck”). The panel was also streamed live online to be enjoyed from coast to coast.

The format of the panel is similar to other ones at San Diego Comic Con. Fillion and Baldwin sat down and selected questions from audience members and answered them with plenty of jokes and interesting anecdotes. The fans’ questions ranged from personal to work-related and were delightfully diverse rather than simply focusing on the actors’ work on Joss Whedon’s “Firefly,” which incidentally had a reunion panel earlier that day. The highlights of the panel are below.

One fan asked Fillion and Baldwin what they considered to be the best lines from “Firefly” and ‘Serenity’ (2005), and if they could act them out. Baldwin did the infamous “we get paid” line from the pilot episode and then Fillion did Jayne’s line about his “very favorite gun” from “Our Mrs. Reynolds,” and then closed out the reenactment with the famous, “I’ll be in my bunk” quote that all fans know and love.

Another fan asked about what kind of pranks went on during the filming of ‘Serenity.’ Fillion was eager to tell them about how he copied some photos of a teenaged, goofy looking Alan Tudyk and then plastered the pictures all over the back of the bar scene in ‘Serenity’, which utterly confused Tudyk when he saw them and caused the crew to crack up when Tudyk confronted him.

Someone asked Fillion what his thoughts were on George R. R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones,” both the novels and the HBO series, and Fillion was excited to share how he got into it and demonstrated the many range of emotions he goes through while watching an episode. He noted that he is particularly fond of Tyrion Lannister.

A “Castle” fan asked if “Castle” season five would deal with Castle’s father, whom he does not know but was suggested to be involved with the CIA, and Fillion confirmed that it would be addressed later on in some capacity.

Fillion also pointed out a few “Castle” cast members he would like to see return like Adam Baldwin’s character, Ethan Slaughter, who appeared in season four, Michael Trucco’s character Det. Demming, who appeared in season two, and Fillion even said he’d love to see Zachary Levi join the cast in the future. Levi eagerly accepted the invitation.

Speaking of Levi, Fillion also said he has dreamt of being able to voice a character in a Disney/Pixar film, which amused Levi as he voiced the roguish thief Flynn Rider in Disney’s ‘Tangled.’

A young boy named Connor asked Fillion if he was excited about voicing Hal Jordan, aka the Green Lantern, in two DC Animated Original films, and the actor confirmed this by revealing how he wore his Green Lantern shirt in the recording booth each time he went in. He then started to say the oath, but then changed it into a hilarious little parody poem instead.

One of the “Firefly” fans asked where Fillion and Baldwin thought Mal and Inara would be five years after the events of ‘Serenity’ and both men agreed that by then, the pair would have consummated their relationship, but would not have settled down for a normal life.

The panel was topped off by a fan donating $1000 to charity in order to see Fillion and Baldwin give Zachary Levi a smooch each. Both men tossed down their own cash and planted big wet ones on Zachary, who sheepishly complied to the request, which set the room ablaze with laughter and applause. The panel could not have ended on a better note.

San Diego Comic Con 2012 is still underway so more news of the “Firefly” veterans will be coming in over the weekend. Stay tuned.

Image Courtesy of  Gage Skidmore

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Fans of ‘Firefly’ (2002), rejoice! ABC recently announced that Adam Baldwin will be guest starring in an upcoming episode of ‘Castle’ (2009), starring Nathan Fillion as the titular Castle. The even better news is that Baldwin will allegedly be playing a roughneck cop named Ethan Slaughter, who teaches Castle the darker side of being in the police, which may be a callback to his famous role as Jayne Cobb on Joss Whedon’s ‘Firefly.’

For those who may not be in the loop, ‘Castle’ is a procedural cop dramedy about a handsome, charming, successful novelist named Richard Castle, who grows bored with his bestselling novels and kills off his main character. Incidentally, a murderer starts staging homicide victims in the manner that they are killed in his books, and Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) comes looking to Castle for answers.

Castle is instantly smitten with her and decides to base his next set of novels on her, creating the character Nikki Heat. His friendship with the New York City mayor allows him access to tag along with the gorgeous, but no-nonsense, Detective Beckett. As they solve the case, he becomes increasingly more interested in her romantically, and the job shadowing becomes more permanent. Here is a brief recap of the series so far.

Spoiler Alert!

In season one, Beckett and Castle constantly butt heads because he is open and flirtatious, while she is reserved and takes her job seriously. However, as time progresses, Beckett gets less defensive around him when she realizes his extensive knowledge of criminology and his ability to weave theories is actually useful.

Things start to go more smoothly until Castle digs into Beckett’s personal life and finds out that her mother was brutally murdered in an unsolved case, which is what drove Beckett to become a detective. He starts trying to solve the case himself, angering Beckett and causing her to not want him around.

In season two, Castle works his way back into Beckett’s good graces after apologizing for invading her privacy, and the two begin anew. Beckett becomes much more open to flirting with Castle on occasion while still keeping their relationship on a friendship and partnership level. The tension stretches as Beckett becomes romantically involved with another detective at her precinct, and Castle feels scorned.

At the end of the season, Castle decides to head to the Hamptons to write his next novel, and Beckett realizes her feelings for him, but just before she can tell him, he gets back with his ex-wife and leaves Beckett heartbroken over the summer.

In season three, Castle has yet to contact Beckett about shadowing her again, and the two bump into each other at the most unlikely scene: a murder, with Castle as the main suspect. Beckett is still angry and frustrated that he left and hooked up with his ex-wife and wants nothing to do with Castle, but after he apologizes and helps her solve the murder, she takes him back.

It is in this season that the most character development occurs between the dynamic crime-solving duo. Beckett is much more comfortable with letting Castle in on her personal life and her dark background, and Castle becomes much more mature and helpful than in previous seasons.

They share an intense kiss while working a case related to her mother’s death and seem to be getting closer to being a couple. However, Beckett gets shot at the end of the season by a shadowy organization who does not want her and Castle looking into her mother’s murder. Castle confesses his love to her just before she passes out, bleeding in his arms.

In season four, the currently airing season, Beckett recovers from the gunshot with the help of Castle and her friends at the precinct. She claims to have amnesia from the event, thus putting Castle in an awkward place about his confession of love, but in actuality, she does remember.

Beckett states that she cannot truly be in love with someone until her mother’s murder is solved, and Castle reluctantly agrees to stay with her and work through it one step at a time. The two have pretty much become a couple in denial ever since—growing jealous when someone flirts with their partner, going out on lunch dates, inviting each other over for dinner, spending time with their families, and holding hands on several occasions.

Adam Baldwin, who recently starred in ABC’s ‘Chuck’ (2007), will slip right into the action-packed season four with no problem as he has excellent chemistry with Nathan Fillion, both on-screen and off-screen. The cast members of ‘Firefly’ are all still good friends and stay in contact with each other both in real life and on Twitter.

Baldwin played Jayne Cobb, the aggressive, tough, but not too bright muscle, on Joss Whedon’s magnum opus ‘Firefly,’ while Fillion played the harsh, but ultimately caring, Captain Malcolm Reynolds. The two characters often butted heads because Jayne was not a fan of how the captain ran things, but knew he would be outmatched if he ever challenged his authority (see: “Ariel”). Unfortunately, the show was cancelled before the dynamic could be further explored, but the relationship between the two shows the talents of both actors.

Baldwin’s guest appearance is set for later this spring. ‘Firefly’ fans hope it will not be the last cameo of the Serenity crew on ‘Castle’ and patiently wait to see if someone else will get the chance to reunite with their captain.

Image Courtesy of  Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

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