Which came first, the proverbial Comic-Con chicken or the golden egg that is Twilight?
Well, the Con, of course, but ever since those beautiful bloodsuckers decided to get in on the action, the pop culture fueled convention has never been the same. And since Breaking Dawn Part 2 marks the saga's swan song, we decided it was the perfect time to look back at the love story that is Bella Swan and...Comic-Con!
2008: The Dawn of Twilight! Kristen who?! Edward what?! Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, (a not quite as buff) Taylor Lautner, the creator of it all Stephenie Meyer and the original director Catherine Hardwicke dominated Hall H for the first OMG-worthy spin with their vampire saga...and quickly found out just how loudly all those Twi-hards could scream.
"This is kind of the first time I've seen any of them," one of the eventual Kings of Comic-Con (that'd be R.Pattz) giggled when asked about the fans dying to see him. "It just baffles me!" The same year just happened to be the first time passes sold out before the convention started. Coincidence?! Maybe not.
2009: A New Moon is Rising! Hell-o, Jacob! Returning to Con (and Hall H) for the second year in a row, the New Moon cast had changed quite a bit: Taylor had a six-pack—which was revealed in a then brand, spankin' new clip—K.Stew had full on Joan Jett hair and R.Pattz was the hottest guy in the world. Plus, Ashley Greene and new director Chris Weitz got to get in on the action.
"I love you, Taylor!" girls shrieked from the audience, to which Kristen chimed in, "Me too!" throwing the scent off her real romance. And if that wasn't enough to satisfy all those San Diego-bound fang bangers, Summit held "The Twilight Experience," where everyone from the saga attended a fan screening of the first flick.
2010: Total Eclipse of Our Hearts! Poor us and poor every single Twilight fan who prepurchased their Comic-Con passes in advance in hopes that the Forks gang would be back to induce the now-expected pandemonium, debut new footage from the impending Eclipse and just be all around sexy. Because the saga was a no show this year.
But there were still plenty of people on hand to discuss our favorite twosome. Tron star Garrett Hedlund happily gushed about his future On the Road costar, saying "She's got it all there…She's fantastic." And Anna Kendrick (Con-ing for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), joked she feared for Rob's safety from all the, uh, overly loyal fans!
2011: Breaking Dawn Bonanza! Following a year off from the convention, 2011 was officially the year of the Twilight gang (which is really saying something, huh?). Comic-Con goers went insane over the return to Comic-Con: After the Hall H panel was announced, dedicated fans started lining up outside the center nearly a week before the panel began (where they were rewarded with breakfast from the cast)!
But back to the big stuff: K.Stew talked being pregnant as Bella ("I thought it was so cool")! Bill Condon debuted sexy unseen honeymoon footage (to which one audience member commented on Rob's back muscles, "Nom nom nom!")! And R.Pattz rocked one heck of a bizarre haircut!
2012: Bye Bye, Breaking Dawn! What will go down this year when Kristen, Rob, Taylor and everyone else hit up the San Diego Convention Center for the last time with their Twilight cohorts? Laughter? You betcha! Tears? Who knows! But we do know that we'll be bringing you more juicy scoop than you could even fathom imprinting on when those glorious glittering vampires hit the scene this Thursday.