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SXSW Activations Offer Potential Glimpse at SDCC 2017

SXSW – the annual festival held in Austin, Texas, which combines music, film, and technology for a mega event – has been a pretty good indicator of what offsite activations will eventually be headed to San Diego in July for San Diego Comic-Con.

For instance, last year we got our first peek at both the Game of Thrones Hall of Faces activation and Harley Quinn’s Tattoo Parlor, both of which made their way to San Diego in some form (though we’re still not over last year’s ferris wheel not being branded for Mr. Robot as it was at SXSW. Missed opportunity, USA!). So while none of these offsites are a lock for San Diego Comic-Con 2017, there’s a lot of potential for what you might be seeing this summer.

Let’s take a look at some of our favorite SXSW events, that we’re hoping we’ll see at San Diego:

HBO: The Escape

The popular Game of Thrones offsite changes a bit every year, and in the past, the SXSW version has always made its way to Comic-Con a few months later. This year, the exhibit got a larger-than-usual makeover and a name change, as HBO debuted HBO: The Escape.

This time, it’s not just themed to Game of Thrones — instead, the installation is a series of escape rooms, themed to GOT, Silicon Valley, and Veep. Once you’ve made your way inside from what’s sure to be a very, very long line, you and your team will solve a series of clues in each room to unlock the door to the following room and complete all three. In each room, teams will have the opportunity to complete a challenge, locate the door and escape to the next room.

Once you’ve made your way through all three rooms, don’t worry — you’ll still get a chance to take your photo on the Iron Throne, buy merch, and sample Game of Thrones wines. You can practically feel the Comic-Con line already forming.

Prison Break: The Escape Game

Escape rooms may be all the rage this year, which is both good and bad. Good, because they’re awesome — and bad, because similar to VR experiences, it takes a long time to load people through, which means the lines get extra long.

But FOX’s Prison Break brought their own escape room to SXSW which, according to Deadline, hosted escape room games that lasted one hour (!) each — culminating in, of course, a photo op. Prison Break hasn’t been renewed yet past this initial resurrection, so whether or not we see Prison Break: The Escape Game, likely all hinges on that.

American Gods

Similar to Prison Break, any appearance at San Diego Comic-Con in 2017 for American Gods all comes down to whether or not the series is renewed, as its first season will have finished airing by July. But if it is — Starz brought along a giant white buffalo to SXSW, surrounded by a boneyard, that could see its way to SDCC. Couldn’t you picture this somewhere in the Gaslamp?

Better Call Saul Los Pollos Hermanos Pop-Up

At SXSW this year, AMC created a pop-up restaurant of Los Pollos Hermanos, Gus Fring’s chicken eatery that should be familiar to Breaking Bad viewers (and soon, Better Call Saul viewers). And it was awesome. Like, really awesome. Do we really need to say anything more?

Of everything on this list, this is by far the most blue sky — it’s the most interesting to us, which of course means it won’t be at Comic-Con (still looking at you, Mr. Robot ferris wheel). Although Breaking Bad made its way to SDCC a few times, Better Call Saul has yet to make the trek, and we’re not convinced 2017 is their year. But boy, if they do, we really hope they bring this with them.

Which of these offsites are you hoping to see at San Diego Comic-Con 2017? Let us know in the comments.

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