Stephen Colbert walked the floor at Comic-Con as ‘Prince Hawkcat’

Movie publications everywhere reported that Stephen Colbert was at San Diego Comic-Con in July to moderate the panel for “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.” But did you know Colbert was also there in the guise of “Prince Hawkcat”?

During Wednesday’s “Colbert Report,” Colbert revealed that in an attempt to drum up possible film interest in the comic-book property he had just acquired, “Prince Hawkcat,” he walked the convention floor in costume. He chatted up fans and tried to figure out just how popular the character was. Hint: not very.

No, “Prince Hawkcat” is not a real comic book, despite the intriguing tag line: “Half Hawk. Half Cat. Whole Prince.”

Like many stars before him, including Bryan Cranston, who wore a mask of his own face, and former “Doctor Who” Matt Smith, who dressed as Bart Simpson (just to name two), Colbert was able to walk in costume without being recognized.

He even had a movie pitch and poster all set up, with the compelling title, “T.B.D.” As a backup, he was also pitching an animated movie about a banana man who befriends Jesus Christ.

Sadly, few appeared to figure out the hawk-and-cat hybrid, and interest in Colbert’s film was low enough that it’ll likely stay in development hell forever. Still, with incidents like this being more common, it should give any future Comic-Con attendees reason to give that person in the really good costume a little extra scrutiny on the con floor.

You can watch the whole segment here.

Twitter: @patrickkevinday