Spoiler-Free Fun: Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con was sort of like the “Game of Thrones” “Red Wedding” Scene—Except Without the Years of Therapy Afterward

This year’s Comic Con came off like a grand wedding—a little old (“Firefly”), a little new (“The Walking Dead”), a little borrowed (Superhero Battle Royale panel), a little blue (two fantastic “Doctor Who” panels.) And like a great wedding reception there were moments of great joy and tears and a whole lot of Deadpools, Harley Quinns and Doctor Whos—well, every metaphor breaks down at some point.

It’s tough to say whether “The Walking Dead” panel or the “Firefly” panel took top honors, but fans of the shortlived Joss Whedon series enjoyed a lively interplay between Adam Baldwin (Jayne), Gina Torres (Zoë) and Jewel Staite (Kaylee), who found herself in the middle of an early birthday celebration. Most of exchanges were between the roguish Baldwin, who nearly embodies his knit cap character, and Torres, who provided leadership for this crew in the absence of Nathan Fillion. Alas, Summer Glau (River) largely spent the time rolling her eyes at Baldwin even when prompted with direct questions.

“Nathan was a great leader, our department head, as it were. He did the lion’s share of the work and led with love,” Baldwin said of Fillion on “Firefly.” “Uh, he didn’t give any love to Philadelphia this weekend but … Oh! (crowd groans) But we’ll forgive him.”

Boy, did the crowd come for the “Walking Dead” panel, but because of the incredible popularity of the actors in the autograph area, a reunion was not to be. Each actor commanded the stage individually until the next took the baton. Norman Reedus (Daryl) was the highlight of the event as he came out taking photos of the crowd and genuinely seemed to love both working on the show and the adoration of the crowd.

“I will say that the scripts for season four are the best we’ve done,” he said.

Jon Bernthal “Shane” and Michael Rooker “Merle” were a little cagier, the former relying on a few catchphrases like “Kick ass” and “Rock on” and the latter skirting some of the questions entirely.

“It was a family (on the show),” Bernthal explained. “It was such a wonderful group of people. I don’t mean to get cheesy, but I’m telling the truth. I love them all. Rocking.” He went on to explain that Shane would have made short work of the Governor.

“The scriptwriters kept bringing Merle into the dialogue, and by the time they brought back Merle for season three, people were pumped up and ready for some Merle,” Rooker said. “Hell, yeah!”

Did Someone Call a Doctor?

Sure, John Barrowman showed up late for his Q&A. Sure, he kept a standing-room only crowd waiting for twenty minutes because he overslept. But he more than made up for that by appearing in his superhero pajamas, flashing his banana underwear (no, that’s not a euphasm) and overflowing with love and energy for the fans of his character Captain Jack Harkness on Doctor Who and Torchwood.

It was a mesmerizing performance, filled with humor, honesty, and a unique perspective of an openly gay actor who holds British and American citizenship and was raised in Glasgow, Scotland.

When asked about new Doctor Who Barrowman said, “I am a viewer of the shows, like I am a view of ‘The Walking Dead.’ I sit back and trust the people who write them, and because I like the journey of the show, I stick with it and I watch. You commit to that journey. Or you can jump ship like the Titanic. At the end of the day the reason we jump aboard that Tardis is because we love what the Doctor stands for.”

Hey, want to get a couple geeks fired up? Ask them who would win a fight between two heroes. Batman and Superman? Ironman and Batman? Like a verbal version of the videogame “Injustice: Gods Among Us,” the “Superhero Battle Royale” borrowed this classic debate from San Diego Comic Con to try and figure out whether Wonder Woman would swat The Wasp or how many Tony Starks could Bruce Wayne buy and sell. No matter whether you thought Teen Titans or New Mutants we better (ahem, New Mutants #98 created Deadpool, so take that into account) it was incredibly fun and deserves to be a staple of every Comic Con … well, ever.