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Naked Ben Franklin! Headless Romance! Devilishly Handsome Centaurs! Sleepy Hollow at San Diego Comic-Con 2014!

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Home / Naked Ben Franklin! Headless Romance! Devilishly Handsome Centaurs! Sleepy Hollow at San Diego Comic-Con 2014!
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Naked Ben Franklin! Headless Romance! Devilishly Handsome Centaurs! Sleepy Hollow at San Diego Comic-Con 2014!

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Published on July 26, 2014

The Sleepy Hollow panel hadn’t even started yet on Friday at San Diego Comic Con and Orlando Jones was already killing social media, first with this adorable message to the world, and then with a tweet that summed the Con up pretty well: “What do mean you don’t ship Ichabbie? We’re gonna have to ask you to leave sir.”

The panel featured executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Fringe, Spider Man 2), Mark Goffman, Heather Kadin, Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, John Noble, Orlando Jones, and Lyndie Greenwood, and Katia Winter. We’ve gathered the highlights below!

Themes!

Executive producer Mark Goffman says that the major theme of season 2 will be “hope and redemption, all within the context of war,” which will be a nice build on the basic trust issues that were explored in season 1. They’re also going to develop “family,” and Greenwood says that each fight between Abbie and Jenny will serrve to bring the sisters closer together. I’m impressed that instead of starting with fun stuff, they jump right into their thematic arcs and larger issues.

Adorable observations!

Todd VanDerWerff of Onion AV Club pointed out that Nicole Beharie was sitting on her legs because she’s short. “We couldn’t pile up a few Sears Wishbooks for her to sit on?

Surprises!

Kurtzman mused on what works for the show, saying: “The unexpected seems to go very well…we did as much as possible to put everyone in the worst position…whatever you think is coming isn’t coming.” But Tom Mison has bigger concerns. “I have to get out of a box. I think Mark enjoyed putting me in a box too much…”

The New Sheriff!

There’s a new sheriff in town (which is going to create new obstacles for Ichabod and Abbie) and apparently she has a history with Abbie’s mom! Because everything must be connected! What else could the panel tell us about the new character? “She’s more of a quiet strength.”

“Oh, and I don’t like her, a lot,” Jones added. “It’s a horrific situation!”

Icahbod Struggles with Modernity!

They showed a preview of Ichabod doing valiant battle with a pen on a chain!

That Finale! And, Whither Katrina?

John Noble is still reeling from the end of season 1: “We had this extraordinary finale, all the principal characters are dead or in purgatory, and it was just me!” Obviously, Katrina’s relationship with Headless is going to get complicated. Winter said, “Everyone else sees Headless as Headless, but she can see him as Abraham. It’s a bit of a Beauty and the Beast.” Hmmm… Winter also noted she knows there are a lot of Ichabbie fans out there: “I’m sure there’s lots of you out there who want me to go away!”

John Noble’s Family Drama!

John Noble got a strong reaction from the crowd, prompting Winter to say “Mama’s very proud.

Noble sniffed. “Dad doesn’t care.”

And a flustered Tom Mison confessed that he was too caught up in Noble’s voice to pay attention. So, where does Noble see Henry going next? “He’s had his revenge, he doesn’t need that anymore…he’s become a powerful man and plants seeds of doubts…we do need to look at the redemption aspect of it…characters aren’t interesting if there isn’t hope for them.” So could Henry be brought back to the good guys’ side?? It might be too early to tell, since, as Noble points out, he’s still technically a kid. “For me it’s just an adolescence stage!”

Ichabbie.

Beharie said: “People may just be responding to their chemistry as working partners, that’s all” while Mison thought “It’s very nice that some people would like this (indicates Ichabbie) or this (Ichatrina)…I’m not trying to be romantic! Who knows whether they would have ever chosen to form a partnership…they really annoy each other sometimes. A) It’s what makes it interesting, and B) it’s what some of you find spicy.” Heather Kadin weighed in, talking about the “amazing friendship with amazing trust, that’s the core of it… [Like Beharie has said] it’s nice to have a female character who is not defined by her feelings for a man.”

American History Twist!

Sleepy Hollow’s, ah, unique take on American history (which they call ‘twistory’ because the show needed to generate more portmanteaux) will continue! Ben Franklin might be seen “air bathing,” and Benedict Arnold might explain why he betrayed the Revolutionaries. (Please let it involve another Masonic tomb raid!!!) But Orlando Jones has his own hopes, as he tweeted: “What all this means is that we’ll be seeing the character ‘Orlando Jones’ (Martha Washington’s gramps) on the show in S2.” The man stopped to tweet during his own panel!

Diversity!

Roberto Orci also addressed one of the best elements of the show. First, they try to use their childhood history lessons as jumping off point to explore. And they try to give everyone a voice. “Diversity for us is not about doing the right thing…it’s about representing our country,”

Q&A!

The cast were asked what mythological creatures they’d like to play.
Beharie: “I’ve lobbied to play a mermaid”
Mison: “I want to play a centaur”
(This prompted the questioner to say “I’d love to see your body on a horse!” Here is Mison’s reactions to that statement.)
Jones: “I want to be a badass unicorn. Flower crowns, represent!”
Winters: “I want to see some hot Vikings on the show.”
Greenwood: “Caribbean ghosts!”
John Noble: “I want to be Tom Mison.”

Acknowledgements!

The panel took a moment to give credit to Phil Iscove, who co-created the series but wasn’t at the Con. Kurtzman also honored his predecessors in creepy television: “We stand in the shadow of shows like X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer…they were so unique because they weren’t just about, oh, there’s a demon of the week. I think what makes certain shows work and endure is that you invest in the relationships first…and a mythology that feels like it’s bigger than monster of the week.”

Diversity! (Strong Female Character Division)

Orlando Jones, Nicole Beharie, and Lundie Greenwood were asked about diversity on the show, particularly with regards to the complex female characters. Jones asked that Beharie “cut me off at any point and save me from myself,” and Beharie refers to playing Abbie as an “honor. I don’t know if it’s a stepping stone…we know you don’t see casting like this anywhere. There are more shows [now] that are representative of what the world is. It’s lovely to be a woman that has lines and is not crazy about the guy.”

Blooper Reel!

The next question was about a blooper reel, which Mison is vehemently against. Kurtzman assures us that not only will there be a reel, but that it features “a new language of swears invented by Tom Mison.”

Previews & Spoilers!

Here’s a preview clip of Icabod and Abbie trying to work some magic together…

If you want a slightly spoilery preview, Entertainment Weekly has a corkboard full of next season’s monsters! Oh, and also? If Fox bring Sleepy Hollow back for a third season, Tom Mison promises to do a Heisenberg impression. So, start your tweets to Fox now, sleepyheads! 

[Info for this peice was pulled from Sleepy Hollow’s own Twitter Feed, the IchaPod CraneCast, and  Marisa Roffman’s stellar live blog for Give Me My Remote!]

All of our ongoing San Diego Comic Con 2014 coverage can be found here.

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Leah Schnelbach

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Intellectual Junk Drawer from Pittsburgh.
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