10 Most Insane Things That Ever Happened At Comic-Con

On the other side of the spectrum is James Cameron's Avatar, which everybody was charged up about... until it was released and turned out to be nothing more than a needlessly expensive FernGully remake with a weird line in love scenes. Before that, though, the prospect of a new sci-fi film from the director of Terminator 2 and Aliens was insanely exciting.

Especially given the all-star cast Sigourney Weaver! Giovanni Ribisi! Zoe Saldana from that Star Trek film some people liked! and that Cameron's last film was the more populist Titanic. Returning to the science fiction genre where he made his name was enough to get fans pouring into his Avatar panel at 2009's San Diego Comic-Con.

The Cameron faithful were rewarded for their patient queuing, too. Not only did they get the first info about the highly secretive film, which cost a bomb and had been in development for years, but the director actually premiered 25 minutes of finished, full-3D footage. Imagine seeing the biggest movie in history months before anyone else. That's insane.