The pre-panel began with Marvel's Arune Singh pointing out that CB Cebulski was holding on to the $2000 limited edition Iron Man LG cell phone which will be raffled off to benefit the Hero Initiative. Panelists for Cup O Joe include: Cebulski, Tom Brevoort, Sing, Fred Van Lente, and Joe Quesada.

Addressing the nearly capacity room, Quesada said that he was going to get things started, and pointed out that there were still raffle tickets remaining.

The Editor in Chief began with announcements of upcoming projects:

Marvel Zombies 3 by Van Lente and Kev Walker.

"Just in time for Halloween, Marvel Zombies will invade the Marvel U, in continuity, and the Initiative has to rise to the challenge," Van Lente said.

Devil Slayer a four issue MAX miniseries will also begin in September.

Confirming what Stephen King himself had announced, Marvel's adaptation of The Stand will begin in September, written by Roberto Aguire-Sacasa with art by Mike Perkins. The first chapter of the adaptation will be entitled Captain Tripps, referring to the name survivors and victims gave to the apocalyptic virus in the story. Quesada said that King will be fully involved with the adaptation of the acclaimed novel. In response to a question, Quesada said they knew how many parts the full adaptation of the 1000+ page novel will run, but aren't saying it publicly just yet.

September will also see the introduction of Lady Bullseye in Daredevil.

The presentation period over, Quesada opened the floor to questions.

in response to a question about the return of Runaways, Quesada said that the new start in August with Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos is a new beginning for the book, which Marvel sees as one of its most-prized books. The new start will bring fresh attention to the series and property, Quesada added.

Question: "When is Steve Rogers coming back?"

Quesada: "How do you know he's not already back?"

Will Marvel do any kind of "outside" projects (such as in other media) with Civil War?

Quesada said he could certainly see a videogame of the storyline, but anything's possible, especially with animation.

According to Cebsulki, Halo: Uprising #3 is done, and the script to #4 is being worked on. Quesada added that they want to be sure that the comic's story matches with Bungie's vision for the property.

When a fan pointed out the perception that Quesada doesn't like the New Warriors as a concept, the E-i-C said that everyone has different tastes in what they want to read - noting that he never had a good feel for the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe, until he received a good pitch for it, but as for New Warriors, Quesada said he has no strong feelings one way or the other.

Asked if the coming Ultimatum will lead to a cancellation within the Marvel Universe, Quesada said that the coming miniseries will bring changes, but any reports of cancellations are just rumors.

Asked about the future of Spider-Girl, Quesada said that things look good, as sales have been healthy.

Again touching upon Spider-Man, Quesada said that "something" happened on Peter and Mary Jane's wedding day, but all of their history happened. "It's a story for us to tell, and it's a darn good one."

Asked why Harry is so healthy, Quesada reiterated that there is a gap in time from the final scene of OMD to the first scene of Brand New Day, and many things will be told when that story of the gap is told. Still on the topic of Harry, Brevoort said that Harry's child is living with Liz.

Asked about royalties being paid for reprints of Jack Kirby's material, Quesada said that Marvel is in business with the Kirby Estate, noting that Marvel is very sensitive about these things, and works to make sure creators are taken care of. The EiC noted that while they might not go out and publicly announce how business is being done, there is much going on behind the scenes that fans don't see.

Will Aunt May ever find out that Jarvis was a Skrull?

Brevoort replied, saying that there's a month coming up when she's late, which caused laughter among the panelists and audience. "Skrull or no Skrull, everyone has needs," Quesada added.

Baron Zemo will be returning soon, Brevoort answered when asked if the Baron would be coming back into the spotlight.

Asked if there were plans to expand the Ultimate Universe, Quesada said that, like ICON, the plan is to keep ancillary lines small and tight, allowing Marvel to focus on quality. "That's not to say it's impossible," Quesada said, "But there's no real expansion planned right now."

In response to what a fan saw as a large amount of change in character design between Ultimates 1-2 and 3, Quesada said that things are always changing within comics, and pointed to the Marvel Universe's Wolverine's costume as an example.

Will Incredible Hercules ever turn back to Incredible Hulk?

Quesada said he honestly didn't know the answer to that right now.

Asked if there was a story as to why Nick Fury in the Ultimate Universe looked like Samuel L. Jackson, Quesada said that Fury was drawn that way on purpose, noting that Jackson is a huge comics fan. The use of his likeness did pay off with Jackson's cameo as Fury in Iron Man/ Quesada said that when you see Jackson on screen in that role, it feels like he came right out of a comic book.

Quesada said that there will be a resolution to Stephen Colbert's presidential bid in the Marvel Universe coming up.

Are there plans for Jean Grey?

Quesada: "Stay tuned. She was on the ship."

Yes, it was suggested that the reason behind Quesada's weight loss is due to him being a Skrull, but the EiC said that he went to a nutritionist to start, and it was a matter of eating better and working out several times a week. He's been at it for a little over a year, and still has further to go, he said. Quesada said that his goal is to get down to the weight he was at when he started working at Marvel.

Asked about expanding distribution, Quesada pointed to digital comics as a means of getting their material far and wide, noting that while it's expensive to get comics into grocery stores, Marvel has seen great success in getting its books into the bookstore market.

Asked if Marvel will be using Roger Stern more, Brevoort said that Stern is writing a Spider-Man story.

In response to a question about original Guardians of the Galaxy members making appearances, Brevoort said that readers will see a couple of familiar faces from the original series in the first several issues of the new series.

Moving to movies for a moment, Quesada said that now that Marvel is its own movie studio, the creative side of the Publishing division has a larger say in what goes into the movie, noting that before, movie studios that licensed Marvel properties had their own people involved with writing the story and envisioning the character and kept their distance from the comic book side of things. Quesada then reflected on a time when Mark Millar and Brian Bendis sat in on a meeting about Iron Man and talked over the script for the film with staff from the Studios.

Quesada said that Marvel is doing everything it can to keep cover prices where they're at, but said the question is better addressed to Publisher Dan Buckley, who didn't make it to the convention.

Asked about the future of the characters in The Twelve, Quesada said that J. Michael Straczynski's plan is to make the characters mainstays in the Marvel Universe. Brevoort said that they'll be initially contained within The Twelve series, but once that's done, any of them who are still around will be integrated.

Quesada said that if Dan Slott has his way, each Initiative team will eventually be shown, and Brevoort added that he has the master list of which team goes in what state.

Characters last seen in New X-Men will appear in Young X-Men and Manifest Destiny, Cebulski said.

As usual, late comics were discussed, with Quesada saying that Marvel does everything they can to avoid them, but they will happen, because they are written and produced by people. He pointed to Daredevil #1 as an example of comics being late since the very beginning, with Brevoort adding that the first issue was originally supposed to ship in 1963 but didn't reach stands until 1964.

A new Thunderbolts writer has been selected, but Brevoort declined to say who it was.

Asked about the Spider-Man movies, Quesada said that he enjoyed all three, but Spider-Man 2 would have to be his favorite. in response to a question about the next movies, Quesada said that whoever plays Spider-Man will do a good job.