Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig make their Comic-Con debuts for 'Cowboys and Aliens'

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Harrison Ford made a surprise appearance at Comic-Con 2010.

Credit: AP Photo

In a surprise development during Universal Pictures' panel for "Cowboys and Aliens," movie icon Harrison Ford made his first in-person appearance at the annual Comic-Con cultural extravaganza.

Ford, who co-stars with Daniel Craig (also a first timer) in the Jon Favreau directed adventure, had previously appeared in a live webcast alongside Shia LaBeouf and Steven Spielberg for "Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," but had never journeyed to San Diego himself.  A genre icon because of his roles as Indiana Jones, Han Solo and as the noir detective in "Blade Runner," Ford received a rapturous standing ovation from the euphoric Comic-Con crowd.  He was visibly moved after the salute that almost lasted five minutes.

Ford initially created some laughs by having security guards bring him out on stage.  That might have been a quick joke over an incident only a few hours beforehand.  The entire panel was delayed thirty minutes after a reported fight between two attendees resulted in cops and security officials having to investigate the assault.  In the meantime, the 6,000 plus other members of the audience were treated to a repeat of a trailer program shown earlier in the day.

Favreau is no stranger to surprises having premiered the original "Iron Man" sneak peek two days earlier than schedules in 2007.

Also appearing on stage with the heralded duo were co-stars Olivia Wilde and Adam Beach. 

There was little time for questions from the audience, but Craig did respond to an inquiry into the next installment of the James Bond franchise that has been placed on hold because of the financial troubles surrounding studio MGM. Craig carefully said, "It is on hold, but all I can say is that I just want to get going on it as quickly as possible."

Look for more coverage on the incredible scenes previewed by Favreau from HitFix's Drew McWeeny later on HitFix.