Get excited, marshmallows. While filming on the Kickstarter-funded Veronica Mars movie is still ongoing, creator Rob Thomas has taken the first opportunity to thank fans for their support, bringing his full cast and some early footage to unveil in San Diego this morning.
Picking up nine years after the series left off, the Thomas-scripted movie will find Veronica taking a break from job hunting in New York to return to Neptune for her high school reunion. She's also sworn off the PI business, but finds her resolve wavering when a new case emerges back home.
Digital Spy will be bringing you all the highlights from the panel, where Bell, Dohring, Thomas and other cast members including Enrico Colantoni, Ryan Hansen and Tina Majorino are due to appear.
20:07And that's our lot!
20:06Thomas confirms that the movie should be out in early 2014. "The first couple of months of 2014 is the plan, we hope, that's what we're shooting for."
20:05Tina Majorino and Jason Dohring would both want to play Dick. Ryan Hansen would also want to play Dick.
20:04If the cast could play any other character in the series, who would they play? "Logan! Logan! Logan!" Lowell laughs.
20:03"We want the movie to be the start of something, and we need to go big if that's gonna happen," Thomas explains.
20:02Will there be any mention of the show's various lost characters, like Duncan and Beaver? "The answer is mostly no," Thomas says, explaining that he wanted to write a movie that non-fans could appreciate too. There will be plenty of Easter eggs for fans, but don't expect many references to Lilly Kane or the bus crash.
20:00Bell says there's very little improvisation on Veronica Mars. "A really good writer is allowed to be militant about his words. Rob is a really good writer, and he's also a word Nazi."
19:59"Who taught Jason how to smoulder?" a fan asks, very reasonably. "The heavens!" Bell responds.
19:58"This may be on my tombstone," Thomas acknowledges. "I'm very, very proud of this show."
19:57Dohring reveals that there's a "no reprising of dead people" rule on the movie. That means none of the Echolls clan will be making an appearance, including Alyson Hannigan's Trina.
19:54There are two days of shooting left on the movie, Thomas confirms - it wraps on Monday. Makes it even more impressive that these guys all found the time to come out to Comic-Con.
19:52Daggs says the snickerdoodle episode was his favourite. "I got fresh snickerdoodles every day, and then I got sick..." he recalls, fondly.
19:50LOL. Ryan Hansen just stripped off his outer shirt to reveal a 'Team Dick' shirt of his own.
19:50The gang are now discussing their favourite moments from the series. Thomas recalls the first time he watched Veronica and Logan's first kiss, admitting that he watched it over and over again, and cried. "Yes, my wife caught me crying at the Veronica/Logan kiss."
19:47How easy did Bell find it to jump back into such a different version of Veronica? "There's a very strange connection between Rob's brain and my brain," she replies. "I have never had a problem memorising his dialogue. I can read an entire monologue of his and memorise it...something about her voice just has always been really easy for me to jump into."
19:45And yep, Jason Dohring is wearing a Team Piz T-shirt. Some QUALITY fan-trolling happening in Hall H today.
19:43Chris Lowell is wearing a Team Logan T-shirt. "I wore this just so I wouldn't be shot," he jokes, acknowledging his character Piz as "polarising".
19:42Bell and Ryan Hansen discuss filming the promotional fan video for the movie's Kickstarter campaign, which they acknowledge was "a literal puppet show".
19:40Aw. The first tear jerk moment of the panel comes as Francis Capra thanks the fans for "bringing [his] family back".
19:40Percy Daggs jokes that he was doing "a lot of perfect push-ups" to get back in shape for Wallace.
19:38Tina Majorino, who is rocking a truly awesome new hairstyle, recalls her first day back on set. "Obviously everybody has been busy living their own lives since the movie, so to be able to come back, it's like our characters are seeing each other for the first time, and we're seeing each other for the first time. It doesn't feel like work."
19:35Bell recalls her first line back in the role. It's very funny, and involves a lot of innuendo-based cocktail names.
19:35Kristen Bell says her first day on set of the movie involved a lot of jitters. Her first scene was with Jason Dohring. "We just kept staring at each other saying, 'Are we really here right now? Are they really letting us do this?'"
19:33"I know what the pleasure zones are for Veronica Mars viewers," Thomas promises. Cue nudge-nudge-wink-wink cheers from the crowd.
19:33Thomas confirms that Veronica has not worked as a private detective since the series ended, and the film centres on her being pulled back in for One Last Job.
19:32What can Rob Thomas say about the plot of the movie? "This is a weird reference, but it has a Godfather 3 theme to it," he says, mysteriously.
19:30No spoilers on the movie footage from us, but we'll just say there's a Joss Whedon reference within the first minute.
19:29All of the character dynamics that we've loved and lost are back in full force here - highlights so far include Veronica rolling her eyes at Dick living up to his name, and Logan smouldering at Veronica.
19:27The first footage from the movie is rolling right now, and it is looking incredible. The crowd is going wild, with good reason.
19:26We're quite genuinely on the edge of our seat in Hall H. We might also be bouncing up and down very slightly. In a matter of minutes, Veronica, Keith, Logan, Dick, Wallace, Mac and their creator Rob Thomas will be joining us.
Veronica Mars - who's in, who's out:Veronica Mars: movie cast gallery
Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything.
