A review of yesterday's Da Vinci's Demons panel has been shared on the IGN website, along with the lovely video interview with Tom and Laura Haddock. David S. Goyer announced in the MTV interview that series 2 would be 10 episodes and they were headed into the writer's room next week!
What we saw was a trailer with a lot of quick cuts and no full scenes, but it hinted at a very stylish, very artfully shot series. There were plenty of slow-motion shots and stylistically, there were similarities to Starz’ hit Spartacus in terms of graphic sex and violence, including some glimpses of passionate love scenes and someone getting their throat sliced - and their blood splattering from the wound in slow motion.
We see glimpses of Da Vinci as a boy walking into a cave and as an adult working on plans for his flying contraption – and also in the midst of a sword fight, where he is using two swords at once. A man is heard in voice over telling Da Vinci that he has amazing gifts and that because of that, “People will always seek to destroy you.” The trailer ended with Da Vinci being told, “This is a deadly game you’re playing,” to which he replies, “When has that ever stopped me?”
IGN also transcribed the panel's Q&A, including Tom's. Read it in full on the website.
Riley said it was interesting playing someone mostly known as “the dry guy who did the Mona Lisa and has a big long beard,” noting there really wasn’t a well known young version of Da Vinci. This Da Vinci, the actor remarked is, “Kind of combination of Tony Stark and Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones - You get to play puzzle solving and action and adventure and relationships.” He noted that there weren’t a lot of precedents for Da Vinci in pop culture, though he mentioned Assassin’s Creed as an exception. But he felt confident, “We’ve managed to create our own version.”... ...
Riley spoke about all the skills he had to learn for the role, including using the same trainer Daniel Craig uses for the James Bond films. Because Da Vinci was ambidextrous, Riley noted he’s been “Sword fighting and painting with both hands.” Naturally right handed, Riley remarked, “My left hand has some serious dexterity.”
