Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar weren’t able to make it, but creator Matt Nix and writer Joseph Barrios Jr. were there along with Bruce Campbell (Sam), Seth Peteson (Nate Westen), Ben Shenkmen (Stickler) and Michael Sharks (Victor, a villain who is dead but still popular).
During August, Nix says the main plot of the show will be one question: what price employment? Michael is relying on Stickler, a shady kind of guy,to get him back in the CIA. He has to do jobs for Stickler to show he’ll do anything. Being a cloak-and-dagger MacGuyer just isn’t enough, although Sam and Fiona say it should.
“She really objects to what Michael is doing, and she wants to support him,” Nix says, but eventually there will be strains, even enough for her to go back to Ireland. It may get more complicated, though. “I think we will see both of them doing things,” Barrios says, “we wouldn’t have probably expected them to do in the context of their relationship.”
Nix also praised Sharon Gless, who plays Michael’s mom, Madeline. Now that she knows what’s the deal with Michael, she sometimes gets involved in his missions, and holds her own. Then again, she was Christine Cagney back in the ’80s. That’s still there.
As for any chance Shanks may be back as Victor, Nix says that may not be likely. “My wife has this thing,” he said. “She made me this promise if you kill somebody, they gotta be dead.” Still, there’s the chance of a twin bother, flashback maybe.
But Shanks understands this. “This is not a genre show specifically. This is an action show, ” he said. “The elements will have to be sort of plausible and believable. It would be stretching credibility to really pull something out of your hat.” However, Shanks may make an appearance or two in Stargate Universe soon.
Seth then mentioned that his character, Mike’s brother, will have a wife, and be gambling again, which means trouble. He also mentions he’s not always in the center of the action. “They keep me shielded away from all the cool stuff,” he said,
“and they keep me in the kitchen or the living room.” Seth also noticed that he and Jeffrey have a good relationship when they play brothers. “I have a lot of fun playing off of him, and he’s so creative and funny,” he said. “I really look forward to those scenes, and not to mention when I see stuff blown up.”
He did say he was looking forward to walking around Comic-Con, especially the exhibit hall. Shanks, however, admits Comic-Con isn’t what it used to be. He had been there for some time, and admits the most difficult time isn’t fans coming up to him, but it’s becoming so crowded. “It took me 20 minutes, ” he said, “to walk the length of this room, and I can’t do it anymore.” He may speak for a lot of Comic-Con veterans.
But the real star of the panel is this man…
They call him Bruce Campbell, whose career is more durable than most A-listers, past and present. He’s Sam Axe, ex-Navy Seal and current raconteur. He likes this show because it’s not so serious like other drama or spy shows. “I know ex-CIA guys and special ops,” he says. “These guys sit around, crack jokes and drink beer.” Of course, so does Sam.
“You don’t watch a show to watch some bitter weird, twisted, sad, dark ending. That’s not us.” He says they are heroes who will always get the bad guys.
As for the future, Sam will mention a Miss Reynolds as his current girlfriend, but it’s not certain if we’ll meet her. We will hear Campbell in a new CGI movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs this fall.
