Comic-Con 2011: Deadliest Warrior Coverage and Panel

Get the latest blood-curdling Deadliest Warrior news from UGO's live coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2011.

By Aubrey Sitterson at 11:00 AM
July 21, 2011

http://www.ugo.com/tv/comic-con-2011-deadliest-warrior-coverage-and-panel

Credit: Spike

Everyone knows full well that the most dangerous warrior of all is an overmaxed Bastet Warder, but despite our repeated, well-reasoned letters to Spike TV, the network appears intent on moving forward with another season of their show, Deadliest Warrior.

The new season sounds as exciting as ever, with match-ups that are the stuff dreams are made of...if you're anything like us and happen to dream about vampires fighting zombies. Here's what we learned out about the conflicts you've always wanted to see play out:

Vampires vs. Zombies, the new season's tenth episode, is a departure for the normally history and science-based series.
In the past, they've run thousands of simulations to determine each conflict.
New host, former Navy SEAL Richard "Mack" Machowicz, spoke about pitting fictional characters and creatures against one another and how it's still in the same spirit of discussion and argument.
Dr. Armand Dorian, the show's medical consultant, uses science as a base to discuss the more fantastical creatures.
George Washington got a massive pop from the Comic-Con crowd, when discussing Washington vs. Napoleon.
This season, Joan of Arc will be the first female warrior.
Max Brooks, author of World War Z, spoke about how people are afraid of one another and how that translates to zombie and vampire horror. He believes that zombies are reflective of an apocalyptic feeling that is a redux of many 1970s-era anxieties. "In a zombie movie, you can watch society breaking down, but still go to bed at night because it's zombies. Try doing that with Cormac McCarthy's The Road."
In every episode they bring in experts (doctors, scientists, engineers, etc.), but for vampires and zombies they recruited creators for a panel of experts, including George Romero (...of the Dead series), Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and Max Brooks. This panel established the "rules" to be followed withing the test.
Question: How many zombies do you need for Vampires vs. Zombies to be a fair fight? Answer: 63 in a "ring of death."
Vampires were NOT allowed to turn into bats.
Niles's vampires typically have no working parts, but in the issue of fairness, the vampires in this simulation were given working hearts so there was a possible way to stop them.
For zombies, they went with slow, staggering Romero-style zombies, but there were still some heated debates. Brooks said "Dr. Dorian got raw at one point."
Robert Daly, who has worked on the Deadliest Warrior video games is now a part of the show with the new season.
Season 3 will feature Mack breaking down the nitty gritties and the tactics of each battle and conflict.
For a Hannibal episode they tested a war elephant, and have also worked with catapults and cannons.
Rottweilers and alligators were used to determine pressure for vampire bites, and blindfolded strongmen to test how difficult it is to dig out a vampire's heart from their torso.
Three blindfolded strongmen can dig out a man's heart in a mere 58 seconds.
Codename for the Vampires vs. Zombies episode was "Detroit."
This season will see: French Foreign Legion vs. Gurkhas, Hannibal vs. Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc vs. William the Conqueror and more.
Fun fact: The Gatling gun was created by a physician.
This season involves much more analysis, in both the post-mortem as well as the psychology of each conflict.
Steve Niles spoke about how Dracula changed everything, especially Bela Lugosi's portrayal, because up until then vampires were always disgusting, like Nosferatu.
Max Brooks confirmed that World War Z, starring Brad Pitt, is currently filming and involves stars from numerous foreign countries in order to give it the "international" feel.
When asked if he could go to any time period and see any warrior, Mack name dropped Sun Tzu but confessed he would love to sit down and observe the Spartans before also mentioned Audie Murphy.
Dr. Dorian claimed that a shuriken injury is not a kill-shot. Feel free to discuss in the comments.
When asked by a county morgue worker, Dr. Dorian claimed that it's "not that big a leap" to imagine a virus that could infect people and put them in a zombie-like state.
Max Brooks said that a lot of problems facing people today are incomprehensible, which contributes to the popularity of zombies as a problem that you can solve by shooting it in the head.
T-Rex vs. Abraham Lincoln was floated as an idea...
This season will show you how various weapons were made in addition to how effective they are.
Giving vampires weapons would be considered an unfair advantage.
There's been discussion of a March Madness style bracket to determine the deadliest warrior of all.