Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey make surprise Comic-Con 2014 appearance to showcase new Interstellar trailer

The director and Oscar-winning actor are keeping plot details hushed

Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey surprise fans at Comic-Con (Getty Images)

Every year, Comic-Con is packed full of surprises and, two days in, the 2014 event is proving no different.

The latest surprise to thrill pop culture fans came in the form of Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey, who rocked up to promote forthcoming sci-fi movie Interstellar.

Oscar-winning lead actor McConaughey entered the fray to cheers on Thursday, before responding with his trademark “Alright, alright, alright” and introducing Nolan to the stage.

Known for The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception, the 43-year-old director made his debut at the festival in front of more than 6,000 fans.

The pair showcased the new trailer for Interstellar, about an engineer who joins forces with researchers and astronauts before embarking on a scientific mission to save the world after climate change threatens to destroy us.

Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine and Jessica Chastain also star.

Details of the storyline remain under wraps, but Nolan spoke a little about theoretical physicist and executive producer Kip Thorne, whose studies of relativity and time travel inspired the epic.

“For me, in working on the script, there were a lot of very intense conversations with somebody who is much better informed than me,” he said.

“It actually made my head hurt a bit. I actually said to Kip, ‘Well, I don’t want to understand this stuff too much because I have to be able to explain it to the audience.”

Nolan is a long-time sci-fi enthusiast, having grown up “amazed” by the likes of Star Wars and ambitious to be an astronaut.

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He describes Interstellar, due for UK release on 6 November, as being “about human beings, and what it means to be human, and what our place is in the universe”.

McConaughey was kept in the dark about the plot of Interstellar for as long as possible. “I got a call from my agent who said Christopher Nolan has a film and he wants to meet,” he told Comic-Con.

The Dallas Buyers Club star visited Nolan’s house for dinner but “three hours went by and he didn’t say anything about a new film or me having a role”.

“Then a week later, the script came,” he said.