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SDCC 2013: The 10 Most Interesting Moments of Day 3

Saturday was anticipated to be the biggest day of Comic-Con 2013 for film news, and – for better or worse – Day 3 most certainly delivered on that claim. Here's our ranked rundown of all the day's best stuff, from least to most interesting ("most interesting", you'll notice, is not the same as "most earth-shattering").

And while you're at it, here's our look at the best of Day 2.

10. 'I, Frankenstein' Baffles

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Apparently this is a real movie starring Aaron Eckhart and leather-clad gargoyles. Hey, January needs movies too!

The "Underworld" series is the obvious point of reference for "I, Frankenstein," although io9 both piques our interest and predicts the doomed genre outing by stating that the movie "feels more like the glorious fondue-gasm of 'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.'" Yikes. In a good way. Eckhart has been slowly slipping back into obscurity after his brush with "Dark Knight" stardom, though production stills indicate the beefcake got even beefier for his role as Frankenstein's Monster. So there's that.

9. 'The LEGO Movie' Is a DC Comic Book Movie

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In an age where every brand glows with the potential of cinematic adaptation, there are worse offenses than mining LEGOs for a stop-motion animated comedy. But the adaptation, from "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and "21 Jump Street" directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, loses a few cool points for topping its toy movie with another layer of marketability. Warner Bros. premiered footage of the movie at Comic-Con and revealed that "The LEGO Movie" will feature Channing Tatum as Superman, Will Arnett as Batman, Jonah Hill as Green Lantern and Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman. Because the LEGO movie also needed to be a superhero movie. The defense here is that today's LEGO sets are all block sets tied to existing properties, so it makes sense. But can't LEGO people just exist in a LEGO world and fall face first into LEGOy situational comedy scenarios? LEGO of the superhero thing, WB.

8. 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Teaser

The highly anticipated sequel to "The Hunger Games" released a longer trailer that shows off director Francis Lawrence's more conventional style and taste for realistic dystopian imagery. It mostly plays like a retread of the first movie — so does the book, sadly — but one can't help connect Lawrence's interpretation of the material to the current goings on around Egypt. Or is that just me? I don't think that's just me.

7. "Thor: The Dark World" and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"

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One might normally find Marvel footage presentations topping a day's activities, but that latest from the comic book conglomerate (which we argue is eating its own tail with the announcement of "Avengers: Age of Ultron"). This year, presentations for the next two movies from the studio were met with "solid" reactions. Sizzle reels teased a "Thor" sequel with even deeper fantasy roots and a "Captain America" that lives up to the promise of the '70s thriller genre. Fans of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow were happy to learn she balances the movie with Chris Evan's Steve Rogers, while the footage for "Thor" ended with a shocker. Loki slices off Thor's hand. What the hell?! The kind of question you want to be asking at the end of a Comic-Con panel.

6. 'Warcraft' Concept Footage

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Following last year's made-for-Hall-H "Godzilla" footage debut, Legendary Pictures wowed Con-goers with concept footage of "Moon" director Duncan Jones' upcoming "World of Warcraft" movie. The title has been whittled down to "Warcraft" and shooting is set to begin in early 2014 — but as Con veterans know, not having an actual movie on hand doesn't mean there isn't footage to show. Jones introduced a clip that saw a armored human preparing for a showdown with a growling Orc. The clip drew comparisons to classic Western shootouts and left gamers hyperventilating. While we're sad to see Jones departing from his back-to-back original efforts, he's passionate about the material and knows full well that most video game movies blow. Could "Warcraft" out "Lord of the Rings" Peter Jackson's "Hobbit?" Let's spend two years speculating.

5. X-Men, New and Old, Take the Hall H Stage

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20th Century Fox dared to top the first assembling of The Avengers back in 2010 by parading the cast of Bryan Singer's "X-Men: Days of Future Past" — all 8,000 of them — on to stage. The tactic may have worked. The Hall went bananas when the old (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry…) and new (Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy…) strolled out into Hall H for a photo op that required panoramic lenses. There was a trailer, a quick glimpse of the characters in action, but the reunion earned the loudest buzz and raised the bar for the Disney/Marvel panel following it.

4. Godzilla Kicks Unspecified Other Monsters Butts

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Gareth Edwards was chased down to direct a reboot of "Godzilla" after he wowed genre fans with his mumble core sci-fi movie, "Monsters." At Satuday's Hall H panel, one might expect characters and social undertones to be the big talking point. Not so; Bryan Cranston, Aaron Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, and even Godzilla were all overshadowed by the appearance of other monsters. Gojira won't be the only skyscraper-sized creature to be plowing through American cities. "Godzilla" is shaping up to be the naturalistic kaiju film those disappointed in "Pacific Rim" — for better or worse.

3. Tom Hiddleston's One-Man Loki Show

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Marvel showed off a bit of "Thor: The Dark World" footage at their panel, but the real show before a frame of footage graced the screen. Tom Hiddleston introduced the final panel of the evening in full Loki grab, demanding the audience bow and declare him their master. Everyone complied.

Marvel, I have a billion dollar idea for you since Hiddleston loves playing the Asgardian trickster and the fans eat up every bit of his material: "Marvel's Othello." Starring Hiddleston in character. He was born for it.

2. The World's Finest Announced

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We don't like it, but it's hard to downplay the pure geek meltdown that comes with the announcement of a Superman/Batman team up film partially inspired by Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" (read the full news story and our concerned reaction to it here). Opting out of a stand alone "Man of Steel 2," Zack Snyder took to Comic-Con to declare Warner Bros. DC universe plans. A logo treatment was enough to send fans off the deep end, imaginations running wild and blowing the roof off Hall H. No one really knows who will play Batman or how the story set up in "Man of Steel" will funnel into this momentous team-up. But it's happening, and so are the Reddit debates that will rage until the untitled movies' release in 2015.

1. Women Who Kick Ass

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(from Drew McWeeney's Twitter)

In 2013, Comic-Con decided that women were worthy of more than a Slave Leia costume. It started Thursday, when Gina McIntyre of the LA Times became the first women to host a panel in Hall H. Saturday added to the praise, with a panel dedicated to women action stars that left jaws hanging on the floor. No explosive footage or surprise casting announcements needed — Con-goers were enthralled by the intriguing discussion on the state of the industry between Michelle Rodriguez ("Fast and the Furious 6"), Maggie Q ("Nikita," "Divergent"), Katee Sackhoff ("Riddick"), Tatiana Maslany ("Orphan Black"), and Danai Gurira ("The Walking Dead"). Condensing the conversation doesn't do it justice. Read a play-by-play of the panel here.

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