Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and 'Megamind' kick off Comic-Con with a roar

The animated versions of Will Ferrell and Tina Fey in "Megamind."

Credit: DreamWorks Animation

It's gray and overcast in San Diego this morning, but the mood was bright in a packed Hall H as Comic-Con 2010 kicked off one of the funnier panels in recent memory for the new DreamWorks Animation film "Megamind."  Brad Pitt, who voices the short-lived hero Metro Man was unfortunately unavailable watching the kids (a hint Angelina Jolie may appear later in the day), but Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill more than made up with some very impressive improv.

Ferrell created quite a stir as he showed up in a handmade costume as the title character from the animated film -- blue makeup, black cape and all. As he entered the stage with a box of donuts and a pint of orange juice for the crowd of 6,000 he pronounced, "The first rule of Comic-Con is to show up in your own costume."

After a slight pause he realizes, "Not a lot of people in costume."

Cue the laugh track.

Fey was next, in heels no less, also bringing some breakfast for the crowd, "I have seven mini donuts from 7-11. I paid out of pocket.  If I could get a one one thousandth of a penny from everyone..."

"Please start passing the pennies to the front," Ferrell ads.

Hill stated the obvious as the last member of the cast to appear after Ferrell asked where his costume was,

"My character is a normal person. So, I wore normal person clothes," Hill said.  Then stating the obvious at Ferrell's mistake in attire, "It's one of those situations where you feel uncomfortable. I just feel bad."

Fey adds, "Germans have 15 words that mean that."

The two former "Saturday Night Live" cast members and the "Get Him to the Greek" star kept the jokes coming before and after an impressive 5-minute preview which revealed the general conceit of "what happens when the bad guy won?"  Does the super villain become a good guy?  Or does he enjoy his power over the world?  The outcome is unclear, but it brought up a very funny bit after moderator Drew McWeeny asked each star who their own real-life nemesis was.

"Betty White is my nemesis," Fey remarked as the crowd roars. "One day I will fight her in a ball of fire. It will be a glorious battle. Betty White and I will wrestle on pay per view."

Next up was Hill, who created quite a stir in what turned out to be a somewhat edgier Q&A then even DreamWorks must have expected.

"Mel Gibson's girlfriend," Hill says. "I just want to come out and officially support Mel. Thank you guys!"

Hill then gets out of his chair, knocks over a Pitt life size cut out and gives the crowd the fingers as he walks off stage.

Fey quietly says, "It's gonna be awkward when he comes back." 

And as for Ferrell?

"Charlize Theron. And I can't really get into it," Ferrell says. "There is a lot of bad blood."

A few minutes later, Hill was sheepishly back on stage.

"Um, I read what Mel said," Hill says. "I'm gonna have to take some of those things back. And now I read what he actually said. I feel guilty. I only support a quarter of the things he was talking on the tapes."

After a pause Hill makes sure everyone in the room knows he was kidding. But was he joking about this startling revelation?

"I'm playing the Hulk in the 'Avengers' movie," Hill says to a roar of laughs from the crowd.  "I want to say thank you to all the fans who made this happen. Me and Downey, Jr. are going to make this one good. We'll see you in 2012 guys!"

In the meantime, "Megamind" opens nationwide in 3-D on Nov. 5.