COMIC-CON: Live, via satellite, Ridley Scott!

So Fox’s big reveal Thursday was footage of and chatter about “Prometheus,” Ridley Scott’s (hopefully) triumphant return to the science-fiction genre.

Out of the gate, moderator Damon Lindelof asked Scott (who was checking in via satellite from Iceland) why it’s been so long since he saddled back up to “the genre he redefined,” as the marketing material notes triumphantly. Said Scott, “I was too busy doing other movies and exploring other genres. I honestly never thought about science-fiction until there was something of the first ‘Alien’ that no one ever asked a question about. No exploration of that one big question.”

Surely he’s talking about the Space Jockey of the first film, but nevertheless, everyone’s playing coy about the “Alien” connection. Scott said the new film has the DNA of the original film, but that they go off in another direction. Nevertheless, he hinted that by the end of “Prometheus,” you’ll understand the connection.

But why play games? Very odd.

In any case, one of the big eyebrow-raisers for me was Scott’s strong endorsement of 3D. “It has been a wonderful exercise,” he said. “With the help I’ve had, it’s been, for me, a pretty straight-forward ride. I’ll never work without 3D again, even for small dialogue scenes. It really opens the world up.”

Also joining Scott via satellite was actress Noomi Rapace, who Scott saw roughly 10 months ag0 in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (a film he says he really responded to as a unique piece of work). Rapace had little to offer outside of the usual “it’s an amazing experience” yadda, yadda, though.

Charlize Theron was on hand in person, and she began to dig into the specifics of her character in the film. “She’s very different from anything I’ve done,” she said. “She’s a suit, essentially. She’s kind of the machine that runs the machine that takes this mission into space. At first she comes across very cold and frigid, and it seems like economics for her. She’s not a scientist, she’s not a believer. But you can tell that she’s somehow going to be a problem.

“The thing I love about working with Ridley is we kind of layered her. You think you know who she is because she comes across so strong. But the real surprise for me is, in the third act, you really strip her from her skin and find out what her bones are about. But I’m not going to spoil that for you guys.”

So that’s it. Not a lot of intrigue from the panelists, but the footage — wow. All it did was make me want to watch the film STAT. Scott and the rest can play coy about the “Alien” connection all they want. The fact is, this looks like an “Alien” movie through and through, with vast and impressive production design and the overall vibe that it’s of a piece. Why not just own it?

Anyway, I was thoroughly stoked by the footage we were shown, and I can’t wait to give the film a look next year. Michael Fassbender, in particular, looked wicked. And according to Scott, you can expect a few androids, and from the looks of things, he fits the bill.

Mark your calendars.

[Photos: RidleyScott.net, Kristopher Tapley]