SAN DIEGO “" When Tyrese Gibson sat down to talk about “Legion” he was all smiles and laughs, gushing about his debut comic “Mayhem” and discussing how he bring the party with him. Still on a high from debuting the teaser trailer of “Legion” before 15,000 people in Hall H, Gibson had plenty to say about the film.

“We just showed the trailer out there “" or the teaser “" and they went nuts” he said. “I didn’t think we was gonna go wrong with having a director like Scott Stewart make his debut, who happens to own a special effects company.”

With Paul Bettany’s shirtless body plastered all around the convention center to promote the film, Gibson had plenty to say directed towards the actor “" who happened to be sitting right behind him.

“Paul Bettany, just tell them how sexy you are, Jesus” Gibson joked. “Tell them about that shirt that came with muscles.”

Later, he joked again about Bettany in regards to Scott Stewart’s visual effects capabilities.

“I told him listen, whatever you do, I know you’ve got to focus on a lot of effects, just make sure I have more muscles in this movie. Draw me a few more lines and ripples, and I think he delivered, and I’m excited about that” Gibson said with a laugh. “I mean, he gave Paul Bettany a stomach for the cover, you know what I mean? Great CG work. Great CG work. [Bettany] worked out a little bit, but the CG work really took those abs to another level. And the whole film was sponsored by baby oil, so it was just crazy. It was a baby oil drought in the whole city of Albuquerque.”

On a more serious note, Gibson talked about the similarities between his character, Kyle Williams, and his own life. He said Williams is on his way to court to try to gain custody of his child “" something Gibson is going through right now “" when he stops at a diner and “all hell breaks through “" literally.” But even with such serious topics, Gibson showed he was always in for a joke.

“So they’re trying to stop these spirits and these forces are trying to stop the birth of Jesus that’s in this woman’s stomach and then it gets revealed that it’s actually my baby” said Gibson, pausing, and then bursting out laughing. “Oh no, I’m just playing. (laughs) Yeah! Everybody got quiet like, okay. I’m quick on the draw. (Adrianne Palicki’s Charlie) was only a couple months pregnant; we were stuck there for a minute, but we’re having a light-skinned Jesus. It’s going to come out half mixed; he’s going to be a half breed. It’s a beautiful collaboration.”
Scott Stewart said later Gibson always acted as hit cheerleader, flaunting Stewart’s visual effects abilities, and it was proven as Gibson kept coming back to the effects in conversation.

“(“ËœLegion’s) got some great effects in it. It’s not over the top” said Gibson. “Unfortunately, we don’t get no Optimus Prime in this one, but you know, Bumblebee makes an appearance in the film “" no, I’m just playing. Bumblebee with vampire fangs shows up. But yeah, it’s definitely got some great effects in it. You can’t go wrong.”

He added, “Crazy thing is, y’all didn’t hear this from me, a lot of directors and producers hire this guy and pay him big bucks to do effects on their films, but he hasn’t gave up all of the goodies; he saved them for his own damn movie. He’s got us doing some things in this film with some effects in this film, I’ve never seen before. He pulled out the bag of goodies for “ËœLegion.’ I mean, the way this movie looks, you’d this movie cost $75 to $100 million, easy.”

When Blast tried to find out how big the budget for the film was, Gibson responded immediately, “I don’t know” but then added with a laugh, “You said that so calm, you almost sucked me right into that.”

Gibson said it was great to work with Dennis Quaid again (who he worked with in “Flight of the Phoenix”) and talked about how his reputation is making sure everyone is having fun on the set of whatever film he is on.

“But that’s what I do: make sure the cast is having fun, then we all become good friends and we get each other pregnant” he laughed. “I’m a human party on feet, man. Come on, baby, I can turn this into a party. I’ll pull out a speaker box in a minute. Come on, man, I will have someone in the corner beat boxing, and we will have this piece dancing, please believe that. Come on man, people take life way to serious. I like having fun.”

After the blockbuster success of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” the upcoming release of “Mayhem” and the success of his music career, Gibson has much to be happy about.

“That’s right” he said, “life is beautiful. Life is beautiful.”

SAN DIEGO “" Though shooting has been wrapped for over a year, “Legion” made its first public appearance Friday at Comic-Con, showing a teaser trailer and bringing the cast and director out in full force to discuss the film. Adrianne Palicki, who plays a Virgin Mary-type character in the film, said it was the first time she saw the trailer.

Blast wasn’t lucky enough to get a look at the trailer, but coming from first-time director Scott Stewart who has a background in visual effects, it is sure to look amazing.

“Well he didn’t speak throughout filming the movie” Palicki joked about Stewart’s background in visual effects, “he just kind of drew out what he wanted, and just pointed to it. No, he was really amazing as a director because he was very collaborative. It’s hard to find actor directors; people who are really good at communicating, and also, if we had issues, he was really great at discussing and finding happy mediums. It was really fun. You have to trust, especially in a movie like this, where you have to give birth and, you know, angels are coming after you, it’s nice to have somebody to trust in the high chair.”

Palicki described “Legion” as “Terminator” meets “Constantine;” a coming together of action and horror with a hint of religion and a dash of comic book flare.

“It’s a bit of a genre film, but it’s not a slasher movie” she said of “Legion.” “There are some very shocking gory moments but it’s not, you know, gratuitous. It’s hard, like there’s such a fine line between a thriller and a horror. I lean more towards the thriller element of it.”

Palicki plays a not-so-virginal woman who is eight months pregnant with a Jesus-like messiah child. When asked who the father of the child was, she paused for a moment and hesitantly answered, “God?” before adding, “Who didn’t I have sex with in the movie?”

“The character, she is kind of loose, so you don’t really know who the father is, and she’s very shocked that she happens to be pregnant with this baby because, why her?” Palicki said. “She doesn’t even own a car.”

Palicki’s Charlie brings the forces of good and evil against each other as the archangel Michael (Paul Bettany) comes to Earth to protect her, and evil forces are coming to stop the birth of her child. Most of the film occurs in a diner where the other characters (played by Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson and Kate Walsh, among others) must work together to stop the biblical apocalypse from occurring. The ensemble cast plays characters that don’t know each other who Palicki described as a bunch of “misfits.”

As far as the supernatural forces in the film, Palicki said they are pretty standard fare.

“The angels that you see appear as angels look like (Paul Bettany’s Michael)” she said. “But there are the others that kind of come through humans, and that’s different. I just, I can’t say too much about it.”
For a film that deals so heavily with religious elements, Palicki said the religion was more of a backdrop to the film.

“It has religious undertones, but it’s not about religion. That’s kind of just a fun back drop for the movie” she said. “And so, I mean, of course, it’s a little nerve-racking. I’m ultimately playing the Virgin Mary, who is not at all a virgin. But ultimately, it’s fun, and it’s Old Testament-ish. It doesn’t portray God in a really bad light, it almost portrays us in a really bad light. I’m interested to see what people have to say about it, but I’m not overly concerned, because I think they’ll enjoy the movie. If they really watch it, they’ll enjoy the movie.”

The film all takes place during the night of Christmas Eve (“So, huh, weird.”) which sets up the possibility for the sequels Palicki signed on for.

“I signed on for three (films). Obviously it will depend on how well this does, and we’ll take it from there. I have no say. I’m legally bound to it anyways” she said. As for the ending, Palicki said it leaves you asking for more.

“It ends with you going, “Where’s Legion 2?” but in a satisfying way, not like a “Lord of the Rings” kind of way, where it’s like I have to wait five years for the next one” she said.

But don’t expect Charlie to be a helpless damsel in distress. Palicki said she will be getting in on the ass-kicking.

“I got a baby to protect, okay?” she joked.

Palicki, who was a regular on the TV show “Friday Night Lights” said the shift from television to film wasn’t so bad.

“It was different, but the way we shoot on “Friday Night Lights” is very film-like. We don’t have the eight day episodes; we have six day episodes. We shoot very quickly” she said. “We have an open dialogue. It’s actually not even like a TV show. But having worked with Scott [Stewart] was really exciting afterwards because he was really able to give and take and make us feel comfortable in that environment; make me feel comfortable in that environment.”

In jumping to film Palicki got to work with a wide range of actors as well.

“[Charles Dutton,] oh my god, he was just so awesome” she gushed about her costar. “Every day I would sit there and I would talk to him and he had a different story. You know, he was in prison “" that’s where he became an actor, and he formed this whole drama group in prison “" I mean, he’s just like the most docile, sweet human being, you know? He was a blast. He’s such a great actor.”

“But you know, Paul Bettany’s a complete asshole and Tyrese (laughs) he’s so bad to look at, so no, everybody was so fun to work with. Mainly my stuff was with Lucas Black and Paul Bettany” she added.

Though this was her first time in a panel for a film at Comic-Con, Palicki is no comics virgin.

“I love [Comic-Con]. I actually came last year just for fun” she said. “My brother writes comics so I got into it at a young age. I think it’s hysterical; it’s so fun. Not hysterical like “ËœHa ha, look at you, weirdo’ but like, it’s exciting to be in the element and walk around and just see everybody.”

Though she says “Legion” is more thriller than horror film, Palicki said she is a huge fan of the horror movie genre. As for her favorite scary movie, she said it was the original “Halloween” hands down.

“I think Michael Meyers is the scariest mother fucker” she said with a laugh. “It’s like, the tortoise and the hare; he just walks. He just knows he’s gonna get you. You can run, it’s fine: you can’t hide.”

“Legion” hits theaters January 22, 2010.

SAN DIEGO “" Whether it’s from “Transformers” the music world or just from Twitter, everyone’s heard of Tyrese Gibson. The star is the self-appointed life of the party; a charismatic force that sweeps over everything in his path. Making his second appearance at San Diego Comic-Con, Gibson came with a double-hitter of Con presentations.

“Everybody else is showing up, talking on panels about their movies, and they’re leaving” said Gibson. “I was out there seven hours, selling comic books yesterday on the floor.”

This year, Gibson was not only at Comic-Con to promote “Legion” his new film with Dennis Quaid and Paul Bettany, but also to promote his debut comic book, “Mayhem.”

Gibson said it wasn’t until he came to San Diego Comic-Con last year to promote “Death Race” that he truly became interested in the world of comics.

“I’ve never been exposed to so much selfless, selfless passion for anything that someone believed in, ever” he said of the experience. “I mean, I come from the world of music, done my share of films, but people don’t show up looking like Tyrese at a Tyrese concert. And so for people to be here, showing up looking like their favorite comic book character, says a lot about the level of passion that’s here for Comic-Con. (I’ve) never been exposed to it before.”

Saying he represents “the new generation of comic book fans” Gibson admitted he wasn’t a fan of comic books growing up, but after his Comic-Con experience in 2008, he felt the need to become involved in the world.

He said Todd McFarlane and Robert Kirkman of Image Comics gave him “the opportunity of a lifetime” to create his own debut comic book, “Mayhem.” Citing 20,000 copies sold on presales alone, Gibson was enthused enough about his new comic book that he passed out free autographed copies to everyone in the press room.

Comic-Con exclusive Mayhem tribute to Jack Kirby

Showing he has done his research about comic book culture in the past year, Gibson said the Comic-Con exclusive cover of “Mayhem” volume one is a tribute to Jack Kirby, with the page rip added into the art in the corner. The cover art for volume one was done by Ton Rodriguez, but Gibson had some exciting news to share about volume two.

“Jim Lee was just in my booth today. We got him to do the cover of issue number two” Gibson shared with an excited grin on his face. “Jim Lee is the founding partner of Image Comics. He parted ways and went over and did Wild Storm at DC. And for him to be doing anything at Image is a very big deal, and not only is he doing issue number two, we just revealed today on the Image panel, he’s doing the full wrap around graphic novel for Mayhem, too, which is a very, very big deal. So I’m excited.”

Gibson shared that the writing for volume four was already written, the artwork is completed up to issue three.

“It’s just kind of a process” he said. “We’ve got to stay ahead of the curb. And so we’re rolling.”

“Mayhem” hits comic book retailers August 5.