Netflix Drops a Death Note on Comic-Con

Netflix's manga adaptation enjoys the Comic-Con spotlight.

By Blair Marnell

For the first time ever, Netflix films held court in Comic-Con’s Hall H, as moderator Terry Crews welcomed the cast and creative team of Death Note. He was joined by director Adam Wingard, producers Masi Oka and Roy Lee, as well as stars Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley, and LaKeith Stanfield.

To start things off, the trailer for the film was played, and it depicted Light (Wolff) as he obtained the Death Note and decided to begin wiping out criminals as Kira. In the footage, Qualley’s Mia told him that he wasn’t crazy enough, and encouraged an expansion of his crusade against evil. Stanfield’s L had a few bizarre appearances in the footage as he confronted Light.

After the footage played, Wingard noted that they took the preexisting manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, and breathed new life into it while exploring various themes including good vs. evil. Wolff noted that in preparation for the role, he made his own Death Note. He said that he was slow to start, but then “names were just flying off of my pen.” He said that the power is very tempting.

Stanfield seemed like he was in-character throughout the panel, and said that his favorite scene was L’s confrontation with Light. He also related that L is such a weird character that he gave him the freedom to be even weirder in his performance. The panel was soon interrupted by the voice of Willem Dafoe as the demon named Ryuk. That set up the next scene, which was Light’s first meeting with Ryuk, in which he convinces himself that Ryuk is only a dream. In turn, Ryuk encourages Light to make his first kill with the Death Note, but the clip ends before the death occurs.

Wingard noted that the scene with Ryuk was shot like a horror film, but Death Note was mash up of many genres, including thriller and romance. He also appreciated the opportunity to put his own spin on Death Note, even though it has previously been adapted. Wingard added that just because there haven’t been many good American adaptations of manga, that wasn’t a reason not to do it. He said that the key difference with his film is that the creators were directly involved, and they were happy with the finished film.

Death Note will be released on Netflix on August, 25.

You can follow Blair Marnell on Twitter @BlairMarnell.

Let's block ads! (Why?)