The Sons of Anarchy Ride Into Hall H……..One Last Time – [SDCC]

There’s been a lot talk about the big movie panels that were at San Diego Comic-Con but we cannot forget one of the best panels we saw. The Sons of Anarchy panel on Sunday.

Coming into it’s seventh and final season, it was bittersweet as the moderator called out the SOA members. They all came onto the stage to a roaring Hall H – Drea de Matteo, Niko Nicotera, David Labrava, Dayton Callie, Theo Rossi, Tommy Flanagan, Mark Boone Junior, Kim Coates, Katey Sagal, Paris Barclay, and last but certainly not least….mastermind Kurt Sutter. Unfortunately, Charlie Hunnam couldn’t be there but he gave everyone something to look at via video message. Of course the conversation gravitated towards season seven and what may or may not happen, especially regarding character deaths. The moderator even announced a poll that taken where fans got to guess as to who would meet “Mr. Mayhem”. Theo Rossi’s character, Juice, probably got the biggest moans and whistles. One surprise was the announcement by Kurt Sutter where he talked about the first full graphic novel coming this fall on Amazon and Barnes & Noble called Bratva. Sutter says “I wanted to have a story still in the SOA world (around season 3) that follows Jax, Opie, and Chibs.” Sounds good to us….

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Highlights:

•  Q: Is Jax’s fate decided or can that be changed maybe in the writer’s room? SUTTER <smiles and looks down> “I would say that I know where I want our hero to be thematically and emotionally in the story……when I’m writing, I like to back up really tight to production…..I’m writing episode seven right now. I get to this place where it ends up in a direction, where it gets close to where I want it to land but I really never know where it will actually land.”
• Q: What was the hardest scene you have to shoot? BARCLAY “For me, the hardest scene was Opie’s death….when his head was smashed in. I remember watching the guys run up to the glass and they were crushed….they felt as though they had actually just lost a brother. They weren’t acting at that point. The thing was that Ryan (Opie) knew that was his last episode. What the audience didn’t know was that when Ryan turned and looked at the glass where the guys were, right before the final blow, the whole cast and crew were on the other side of the glass looking back at him. It was hard.
• Q: Kurt has said that Walton Goggins will return as ‘Venus Van Dam’. If that happens, what can you say we can expect? COATES “Goggins is a great guy…..I told him not to come around while he was getting “fitted” with that suit. When the time came that we did see him..her….it was uhhh…yeah.”
• Q: Tommy you recently joined Twitter! What can you say are the do’s and don’ts of tweeting? FLANAGAN “Nothing really jumps to mind. I get nothing but love from the fans.”
• Q: If you can take away one thing from the SOA set, what would it be? SUTTER “My wife.” BARCLAY “Charlie’s shoes.” SAGAL “My husband…..and Gemma’s shoes!” COATES “My bike – Spike.” BOONE JUNIOR “Charlie.” FLANAGAN “The love of my brothers and sisters.” ROSSI “I would say that too…this show is a massive family and we all have great love and respect for one another.” CALLIE “My trailer.” LABRAVA “My education I got while on the show and my friends and family.” NICOTERA “My boots.” DE MATTEO “I wanna take Dayton!”

Right after the group answered what they would all take, Paris Barclay had this to say:

A show like this doesn’t just happen…..it was an opportunity given to us all by one guy. I’m really really grateful that Kurt decided to take us all on this trip.

At this moment, Hall H erupted in a deafening round of applause the entire audience and the panelists cheered and gave appreciation to Kurt Sutter. It’s in this cherished moment that Sutter, while sitting in his seat, breaks down into tears….to which the crowd cheers even louder and then rises to their feet along with the cast on stage. Once the admiration died down a bit, Sutter had this to say:

It’s work. And it’s hard. But I know everyone shows up…..and genuinely wants to be there. And that’s the gift for me.

Among the huge movie powerhouse panels that were in Hall H over the weekend, we felt really grateful to be there with the Sons in their last appearance at Comic-Con. It was truly a very fitting farewell for such a emotionally charged and dynamic show as the Sons of Anarchy is…without question.