Last week, we reported that filmmaker Quentin Tarantino was heading to Comic-Con 2014 to present his Dynamite comic book series that combines characters from his hit 2012 Western Django Unchained with the iconic Zorro character. During the panel, the filmmaker confirmed that he is moving forward with his new Western The Hateful Eight.

Deadline reported just before the panel began that the filmmaker is eyeing an early 2015 start date, which lines up with a report from earlier this month where Kurt Russell revealed shooting will begin early next year. The director wouldn't divulge any more details about the project at the Comic-Con panel.

As you may know, The Hateful Eight almost never made it off the ground after the script was first completed. We reported in January that the first draft of his script was leaked, which lead to the lawsuit he filed against Gawker Media. After initially talking about shelving the project indefinitely, he hed a live reading of his script, which was well-received. The filmmaker then stated in April that he is working on a a third draft of the script, with a completely different ending from the live reading.

Upon arriving at the panel in Room 6BCF this afternoon, Quentin Tarantino reportedly received the second-loudest standing ovation of the Con, behind the Avengers: Age of Ultron clip that debuted in Hall H. It was revealed at the panel that the Django Unchained comic book was conceived by Reginald Hudlin, who served as a producer on Django Unchained. When asked about why he wanted to continue this Western story, Quentin Tarantino had this to say.

"I loved this idea, not only because I like western comics in general, but I also loved Zorro in all his iterations whether it was the Disney series or the William Witney films. I thought it was a great idea of taking the most famous, fictional Mexican western hero and putting him together with the newer, famous black western hero. I don't want to make a ton of Django movies so this offered me a chance to keep control of the mythology, but to tell different stories."

The director is co-writing the comic book series with Matt Wagner doing final dialogue and Esteve Polls (The Lone Ranger) illustrating. The comic is set to debut in November. It was also noted that since Django Unchained is set before the Civil War, and Zorro's era is closer to 1915, they brought Zorro to the past, making Zorro a much older man. The director also added that he wanted the relationship between Django and Zorro to be similar to Luke and Obi Wan Kenobi from Star Wars.

When Quentin Tarantino mentioned the comic book to Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx, the actor reportedly exclaimed, "Can we make this movie? Let's get Antonio Banderas and make this movie!" Here's how Quentin Tarantino responded to that.

"God knows Banderas will be old enough if we make the movie!"

The director added that Christoph Waltz's Django Unchained character King Schultz will appear in a flashback in the comic, which is based on a deleted scene from the movie that explains his intentions.

Are you excited for The Hateful Eight and Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained comic book? Chime in with your thoughts below.