Outlander season 3 and the great Comic-Con trailer debate

Earlier this week, we wrote a piece detailing out some of the ideal dates in which Outlander season 3 could drop a new trailer on Starz to both maximize the attention to the show, but also to support one of their existing properties in between The White Princess and American Gods. There is a lot at stake in terms of giving the show the best launch possible, and helping some other shows at the same time.

In the aftermath of writing that piece, one of the other questions that we’ve seen fired off in our direction a number of times is rather simple — what about San Diego Comic-Con? Given the present plans to bring Outlander back there, isn’t this a great chance to debut another trailer? We think that it’s possible, but it’s not necessarily a guarantee.

The first thing that we’d say on this suggest is that if there is a trailer that comes out at SDCC, it would probably be in addition to a trailer that runs on the network — we don’t think Starz would want to take away from an opportunity to get people watching their own network for one that will not bring the same sort of attention there. At the same time, they recognize that Comic-Con is a tremendous opportunity to get amazing publicity — why in the world would they not want to be a part of that in some way?

One other option to showing a new trailer at the convention is something that we’ve seen a number of shows do over the years — a behind-the-scenes featurette where you see the actors and producers discuss the filming process and spill some new insight on the show. Given that the people attending the panel are likely diehard fans (beyond of course the number of people squatting in the convention hall for whatever’s coming next — we could get into the whole clearing-rooms debate, but that’s a discussion for another time), they are going to appreciate hearing from Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan on set. These sort of videos are insightful, and often funny. Maybe in the process you could get a new blooper reel!

In the end, we think that the best panels at any convention are the ones that are funny, interactive, and give you a sense of the actors’ passion for the project. We weren’t present at the Emerald City Comic-Con panel earlier this year, but we enjoyed watching the stream and writing out the highlights. As for whether or not we’ll bet SDCC this year … that’s a little early to tell.

One way or another, we feel like Comic-Con will give you something fun related to Outlander. Of course, we’ll have updates on it when it happens. Remember that Outlander season 3 premieres on Starz this fall.

What do you want the show to give you in San Diego later this summer? Share in the comments below!