Dylan O’Brien attended Comic-Con last week and participated in The Maze Runner panel at Nerd HQ. Panelists also included author James Dashner, producer Wyck Godfrey, and director Wes Ball.

The Nerd HQ panels are probably the most intimate settings at Comic-Con with only about 250 tickets sold for each panel. Zachery Levi introduces the talent and keeps the conversation going, but the fans get to ask all the questions.

While The Maze Runner did not have a panel at Comic-Con the Nerd HQ panel gave plenty of insight into the project and the audience was given a glimpse of some amazing footage. While the footage isn’t available the Nerd HQ panel is! The video starts at about ten minutes.

A few things are clear from the panel. First Dylan O’Brien has no idea about how his world is going to change. Being in a young adult adaptation puts an actor front and center to a fanbase who may not have known them – which can be a good or bad thing. Dylan clearly already has a fanbase from Teen Wolf but The Maze Runner is a completely different beast. This definitely has the potential that introduces Dylan O’Brien to the world as a leading man.

Second, Wyck Godfrey knows how to choose an adaptation. Godfrey produced all five Twilight movies as well as Dear John, and is currently working on The Fault in Our Stars. While they may not be everyone’s favorite films they were very successful at the box office. Godfrey has an uncanny ability to know exactly what is important to the fans and include it in the final product.

Lastly, The Maze Runner has the potential to be very successful. After only finishing filming last week, director Wes Ball, brought footage with him to show the crowd at Nerd HQ. The footage was raw, with no effects and set to music. It was also amazing. Everything about the footage felt right.

Only time will tell if The Maze Runner will be successful, but it certainly has some key ingredients.

The Maze Runner hits theaters February 14, 2014.