SDCC 2022: Netflix’ ’The Gray Man’ Training Program Kicks Off SDCC With A Bang!

I’m so excited to be back in San Diego.

The spectacle of the convention itself, and the fact that it spills out through what feels like the entire Gaslamp District of San Diego, is simply baffling. The scale of SDCC is simply like no other event that I’ve ever had the privilege of being to, and as incredible as the exhibit hall, panels, and exclusives are, the offsite activations have to be my absolute favourite part of the SDCC experience (aside from seeing my Geekscape friends).

I wasn’t quite sure how offsites would look this year — without a convention for the past two years, would studios realize that they didn’t actually need them to build excitement for their upcoming projects? Would they be fearful of staffing issues (or sickness) and do things on a smaller scale to combat this? Would it be business as usual?

Before preview night opened on Wednesday, I had the fantastic opportunity to check out the huge offsite that Netflix built for their new star-studded Russo brother direction action thrilller, The Gray Man.

Interestingly enough, this offsite has been set up for a movie that drops in just a couple of days, rather than a property that’s still months away (or years, as it was with Prime Video’s Jack Ryan series, which popped up at SDCC for multiple conventions before it finally released). This should definitely help the film’s early numbers (not that a cast including folks like Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, and Billy Bob Thornton won’t) — I might be a pretty impressionable guy, but even just walking by the setup I was thinking that ”maybe we should check this out when we get back to the hotel tonight.”

The event is hard to miss, but for those in San Diego this week The Gray Man Training Program sits at the ABM Parking Lot at the corner of 1st Ave and Island Ave (this is where Prime Video was set up back in 2019 for The Boys, Carnival Row, and The Expanse). The offsite is open from Thursday, July 21 – Saturday, July 23 10am-7pm, and Sunday, July 24 from 11am-4pm.

The activation is a high-energy, interactive escape experience set on a tram car, inspired by the epic chase scene in the new Netflix Film The Gray Man. Once aboard the tram, fans will have to prove they have what it takes to become the next Gray Man in a test of skill, strength, and speed while transporting a top secret file to safety before the mercenaries catch up and the time runs out. The heart pounding mission will include various obstacles and special effects, and will culminate in a rooftop sprint as fans race against the clock to complete the mission. Fans will leave with a badass customized social takeaway that puts them at the center of their own action film.

Once you hit the front of the line, this is the start of the actual experience.

There was a decent lineup of press members present when I arrived at the activation. For those attending during the daytime, some umbrellas are set up to shield you from the San Diego sun. A giant display shows off the trailer for The Gray Man on repeat, and it’s loud enough that you’ll probably hear it if you’re pretty much anywhere close to the activation itself. Note that even for the press preview, this line took quite some time — attendees were completing the challenge one or two at a time, and took about two minutes once you actually began. Also, I’ve now memorized this trailer verbatim, as it’s the only thing that plays… over and over again.

Once you get closer to the actual activity, it looks pretty phenomenal. A life-sized crashed subway car greets you, complete with flying sparks and regular bursts of smoke. It’s a little tough to know exactly what you’ll do once it’s your turn, but it’s pretty clear that a ton of cash went into the activation, and that it’s going to be a damned good time.

Spoilers for the offsite activity ahead — you’ve been warned.

You finally hit the front of the line, and you’re sent in to be briefed by an agent. The agent tells you that they’re trying to determine who has what it takes to become the next Gray Man, and gives a brief overview of the challenges that you’ll be facing. You also receive a small metal necklace — one side has The Gray Man’s logo, while the other side has a pattern of sorts on it (I’m not quite sure at this point if the pattern is associated with the film, but I’d guess that it is).

Another agent then puts you into position at the end of the tram car, and instructs you to enter and get to work as fast as you possibly can once the door opens. Once you’re inside, you’re told to look for visual queues that will help you move on to the next area.

The first area was super easy and really took just a few seconds to solve. The second area however, really seems to require two people to have much success. I found instructions that I thought I was following, but then second-guessed myself when they wouldn’t work. Time ran out, and I failed this portion of the challenge (someone later confirmed that I was doing the right thing, but that it really took three hands to be able to fully solve it).

For the final portion of the activation, you end up on top of the tram car, and have to run across and insert your necklace into a briefcase of sorts to finish things up. A camera on a wire captures your run, and afterwards you can email yourself a cool video of your time on top of the tram.

Overall, the experience that Netflix crafted for The Grey Man was a very fun one. At the time of this writing, I don’t believe that Netflix is doing any sort of pre-registration to partake in the activation, and due to the one or two people nature of the experience itself, I’d anticipate lines to be long (well duh, it’s SDCC) and slow moving. In any case, if you have the time (or will be wandering the Gaslamp without a badge on one of the convention days), The Gray Man training program should definitely be on your to-do list.