PEDRO PASCAL and other stars sing the praises of director Zhang Yimou during the movie’s New York Comic Con panel Saturday.

    In front of a 5,000-strong audience in Madison Square Garden as part of New York Comic Con, the cast of Legendary’s “The Great Wall” talked about the amazing experience of working with director Zhang Yimou to create the international blockbuster that pits armies against a threat directly out of ancient Chinese mythology.

    Matt Damon and Pascal both explained that what had drawn them to the project was Zhang’s presence as director. Describing himself as “a super fan and a super nerd” of the director, Pascal said that he could never have dreamed he’d have the chance to work with the man behind movies such as “Hero” and “Raise the Red Lantern.”

    Damon, meanwhile, said that he’d been following Zhang’s career for years and jumped at the chance to work on the project. “So many of his movies just blew me away visually,” he said. “So few people work on that scale and nobody like him.” The actor said that, prior to “The Great Wall,” “I’ve never done anything on this scale before. If I did it, it would have to be with Zhang Yimou.”

    In addition to praising the director, Jing Tian said that what drew her to the project was the chance to play “an incredibly powerful female character” that shows, she said, a lot of wisdom and courage. Damon agreed, telling the crowd, “The girls in this really are badass,” adding that the Crane Corps — a group of female-only soldiers who jump from the Wall to perform mid-air maneuvers — are particularly worth noting.

    The panel closed with the debut of the new trailer, showing Damon and Pascal going from prisoners of the Chinese authorities to fighting alongside them as the Great Wall is attacked by monsters barely seen. Amidst a series of visually spectacular shots, Damon gravely announces, “I fought for greed and gods. This is the first war worth fighting.”(SD-Agencies)