This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The icons of two science-fiction universes — "Star Wars" hero Mark Hamill and "Star Trek" star William Shatner — kicked off the 2016 edition of Salt Lake Comic Con with laughs, applause and appreciation for the fans who make such conventions possible.
Hamill was gracious accepting the applause from the nearly full house at Vivint Smart Home Arena, where he and Shatner made back-to-back appearances Thursday.
"I don't take it for granted, and I don't experience it in my everyday life," Hamill said of the fan love.
Shatner — who made waves with a 1986 "Saturday Night Live" sketch in which he told "Star Trek" fans to "get a life" — has spent years musing about fan conventions and science fiction, and said he concluded that "science fiction is mythology."
Shatner, who played Capt. James T. Kirk on the original "Star Trek" and seven subsequent movies, compared science fiction to the work of astrophysicists developing theories about the universe.
"These astrophysicists are science-fiction writers," he said. "Then they go into mathematical calculations to see if what they came up with is true. … Every so often, what they imagined is right."
Hamill, known as the actor who has portrayed the farmboy-turned-Jedi Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars," told his "thousands and thousands of new best friends" about having fun with fans — like when he sometimes signs autographs with a snarky "Go Force Yourself!"
"It's a great phrase, because it sounds dirty, but it's not," he said.
Hamill shared the crowd's frustration that he couldn't divulge anything about Episode VIII of "Star Wars," for which he has already reprised the Skywalker role, and which doesn't arrive in theaters until December 2017.
"You all want to hear one little factoid from a movie I'm contractually forbidden to talk about," he said.
Even the fact that Hamill was clean-shaven — he posted video of himself cutting off his beard on Tuesday — has been taken as a potential spoiler, because he mentioned online that he might be coming back for Episode IX.
He recalled when he made "The Empire Strikes Back," Darth Vader's famous line "I am your father" wasn't in the shooting script. Director Irvin Kershner told only three people what the real line was, Hamill said, "so if it leaks, we'll know who did it."
Hamill agreed that the secrecy placed around blockbuster films is annoying, "but we do it for you," he said. "We want the fun to be in the movie theaters, not on the internet."
Shatner opened with a fond remembrance of his time in Salt Lake City, in the mid-1960s, when he was performing in a play that was being developed for Broadway. His Broadway dreams were thwarted when he got a call that a TV pilot he shot a year earlier was being picked up by NBC.
"That pilot was 'Star Trek,' " he said. "I couldn't go to Broadway because this stupid thing called 'Star Trek' got in my way."
Shatner, 85, isn't slowing down. His reality show "Better Late Than Never" — in which he travels to Asia with actor Henry Winkler, former boxer George Foreman and ex-quarterback Terry Bradshaw — has been renewed for a second series, he said, and he's been approached about recording a Christmas album in his trademark spoken-word style.
Hamill, 64, also has an active schedule. Besides reprising Luke Skywalker, he has appeared on "The Flash" TV series and returned to the voice role of The Joker in this year's R-rated animated movie "Batman: The Killing Joke." He also filmed a role in "Brigsby Bear," a comedy shot in Utah, starring and co-written by "Saturday Night Live" performer Kyle Mooney.
Before Hamill and Shatner appeared at The Viv, Salt Lake Comic Con co-founders Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg introduced an array of other celebrities and received a proclamation from Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski. The event was highlighted with Lou Ferrigno, TV's "Incredible Hulk," taking oaths to be a reserve Salt Lake County deputy sheriff and a "Citizen Reserve Agent" for the state of Utah.
More celebrities were scheduled to appear Thursday in the Salt Palace Convention Center, where Salt Lake Comic Con will attract thousands of fans through Saturday.
Twitter: @moviecricket —
Salt Lake Comic Con
When • Through Saturday
Where • Salt Palace Convention Center, 100 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City
Registration • Opens at 8 a.m.
Vendor floor hours • Thursday, 2 to 9 p.m. (opens at 1 p.m. for VIP and Gold passes); Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (opens at 10 a.m. for VIP and Gold); Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (opens at 9:30 a.m. to VIP and Gold)
Panels • Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m.; last panels start at 8 p.m. all three days
One-day passes • Advance prices $35 for Friday, $45 for Saturday (prices go up $10 each at the door)
Three-day passes • Advance prices: $70 for a regular Multipass, $95 for a Gold pass (includes early entry to the vendor hall, a collectible gold badge and a small collectible), $230 for a VIP pass (includes early entry to the vendor hall, collectibles, express panel lines, an exclusive print and a $30 photo-op voucher). Prices go up $10 each at the door.
Website • For online ticket and pass sales, schedules, cosplay rules and other information, go to saltlakecomiccon.com