From July 23-26, comic book aficionados, gamers, cosplayers and caped crusaders will descend on San Diego for Comic-Con. And as much as SDCC’s programmers focus on for superhero lovers and sci-fi nerds, this year’s lineup has a little something to satisfy every type of fandom — and create new bands of devotees. In addition to updates on the latest Marvel and DC projects, the major panels include first looks at eagerly awaited projects like “Lanterns,” “Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender” and “Spaceballs: The New One.” The event wouldn’t be complete without returning favorites (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Reacher,” “The Vampire Lestat,” “The Walking Dead: Dead City” and the “Star Trek” TV shows), as well as reunions of cult classics (“Super Troopers,” “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Grimm”).
Below are some of the buzziest titles expected at this year’s event.
The last time Marvel hosted a Hall H presentation, the studio rocked the fandom with the reveal that Robert Downey Jr. would return to the MCU — not as Iron Man (he died in “Endgame,” after all) but as the über-villain Doctor Doom. Two years later, Marvel returns with the promised film, “Avengers: Doomsday,” directed by the Russo brothers. December’s clash of superheroes features Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, the Fantastic Four, warring factions led by Anthony Mackie’s Captain America and Florence Pugh’s New Avengers (aka the Thunderbolts), the MCU debut of the original X-Men and the shocking return of Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers. Before that, the studio (and Sony) must promote Tom Holland’s fourth solo Spider-Man outing, “Brand New Day,” which hits theaters on July 31. Both movies are potential blockbusters and hopeful indicators of the future as Marvel prepares for Phase 7, following December 2027’s “Avengers: Secret Wars.”
Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre lead DC Studios’ new twist on the “Green Lantern” comics, with a detective story largely set in rural Nebraska, a dusty backdrop that infuses the HBO series with dread. From creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King, the so-called superheroes of “Lanterns” are flawed men who have their own agendas, and with a supporting cast that includes Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt and Nathan Fillion, the show feels like it’s in a different galaxy from the 2011 “Green Lantern” movie that starred Ryan Reynolds. The ambitious drama premieres on Aug. 16 and is wisely using the convention floor as a massive launchpad.
Saturday, July 25, 7:30 pm — Fan Screening at AMC Mission Valley
Last year, the team behind the beleaguered Looney Tunes legal comedy “Coyote vs. Acme,” which was infamously shelved by Warner Bros. Discovery for a tax write-off and ultimately rescued by scrappy indie Ketchup Entertainment, used its Hall H panel to announce an August 2026 release date. Now, the live-action/animated movie — which follows Wile E. Coyote’s legal fight against Acme Corp., whose products repeatedly malfunctioned during his pursuit of the Road Runner — returns for a victory lap ahead of its theatrical debut. Star Will Forte showed up for last year’s panel, and his co-star Lana Condor will be on hand this time. Fingers crossed that the lone protester who braved a rainstorm to picket the movie’s cancellation (dressed as the cartoon coyote) will also be in attendance.
For more than 30 years — even before “The Iron Giant” — Oscar-winning director Brad Bird has been batting around an idea for an animated movie that blends sci-fi with detective noir. The result: Netflix’s “Ray Gunn,” a retro-futuristic caper starring Sam Rockwell as Raymond Gunn, a small-time private eye, and Scarlett Johansson as Venus Nova, the world’s most famous pop star, whose secrets are at the center of the plot. Bird says his elevator pitch for the movie, streaming Dec. 18, is “‘The Maltese Falcon’ meets ‘Buck Rogers.’”
Before the DreamWorks movie launches in theaters on Sept. 25, its stars will descend on Comic-Con. Set in the 1990s, the Filipino folklore-tinged animated tale stars H.E.R. and Liza Soberano as Jo and Raissa, best friends who embark on one last adventure after their high school graduation. Their journey takes them into a night filled with shape-shifters, demons and witches, testing their friendship as they fight to find a magical portal and return home. The movie also stars Dave Franco and Tony winner Lea Salonga as the story’s villain.
The latest “Big Bang Theory” spinoff puts the perpetually unlucky comic book-store owner in the driver’s seat as he travels through space-time to try, and apparently fail, to save the universe. Kevin Sussman returns as Stuart Bloom and stars alongside Lauren Lapkus, Brian Posehn and John Ross Bowie. “Happy Gilmore 2” director Kyle Newacheck helms the series, which was created and written by “Big Bang” mastermind Chuck Lorre. HBO Max gives “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” a single-cam makeover, which feels like a significant leap in production value from the original TBS multi-cam comedy, which was a Comic-Con staple for years.
In the works at Amazon since 2022, this new entry in Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” universe —from showrunner Silka Luisa (“Shining Girls”) — revolves around characters in distress. Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh plays Olwen, a Replicant at the end of her life, who teams up with Hunter Schafer’s Cora in the Los Angeles of the future. Undoubtedly, they’ll all face the existential question of what it means to be human that Scott’s been posing since the original “Blade Runner” film in 1982.
The battle for Middle-earth continues on Nov. 11 with the third season of Prime Video’s big-budget “Lord of the Rings” prequel series. Season 2 ended with Charlie Vickers’ evil Sauron amassing his army of orcs after being disguised as the unassuming human Halbrand. After a fiery battle, he defeated the heroes, led by Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel and Robert Aramayo’s Elrond, who barely escaped with their lives to the elvish sanctuary of Rivendell. To make things worse, Sauron has the nine rings for Men, which “Lord of the Rings” fans know turn their wearers into deadly Ringwraiths, but the elves still have their three rings to combat him. Season 3 will up the stakes and jump ahead several years into the height of the elves’ war against Sauron.
Stephen King’s first novel has been adapted into films, a Broadway production and a very special, peculiar episode of “Riverdale.” Now, “Carrie” will become a miniseries, debuting this fall on Prime Video. Created by horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan — the first project under his new Amazon deal — the show features newcomer Summer H. Howell in the lead role of Carrie White and Samantha Sloyan as Carrie’s domineering mother, Margaret White, with whom she’s lived a life of seclusion. After her father’s death, Carrie goes to school for the first time, only to be met with a harsh bullying scandal. The all-star cast features Siena Agudong, Matthew Lillard, Alison Thornton and Amber Midthunder. As with every Flanagan project, expect twists, turns, jump scares and a good amount of blood. Cue the prom queen.
Just weeks before the Season 4 debut of “Reacher,” the cast is heading to San Diego not only to tease what’s to come on the Prime Video action drama, but also to introduce the world expansion. Alan Ritchson will guest star on “Neagley,” the spinoff drama set to premiere in September, which follows private investigator Frances Neagley (played by Maria Sten), a former military protégé of Jack Reacher. Greyston Holt, Adeline Rudolph, Jasper Jones, Matthew Del Negro and Damon Herriman also star.
Your father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate is coming to San Diego. The team behind “Spaceballs: The New One,” with Rick Moranis returning to acting after a long hiatus to play Lord Dark Helmet, will celebrate the sci-fi spoof movie’s 40th anniversary and preview the long-awaited sequel. Comedy legend Mel Brooks, who just turned 100, also returns for the film, which riffs on “Star Wars” lightsaber fights, the “Avatar” and “Harry Potter” franchises and Hollywood’s merger madness. Josh Greenbaum directs the film from a script by Josh Gad, Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez. Gad is among the new stars joining returning actors George Wyner, Daphne Zuniga and Bill Pullman. Keke Palmer, Lewis Pullman (Bill’s son) and Anthony Carrigan are also newbies.
The Disney+ series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is gearing up for its third season. Based on the third book in Rick Riordan’s series, “The Titan’s Curse,” the new episodes will follow the titular demigod, played by Walker Scobell, and his pals Grover (Aryan Simhadri) and Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) as they rescue the goddess Artemis from the clutches of the evil Titan lord Kronos. Charlie Bushnell returns as Percy’s rival Luke Castellan, while new to the ensemble cast are Dafne Keen and Saara Chaudry, who are set to play Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and the moon, and Zoë Nightshade, a fierce lieutenant in Artemis’ militia.
Disney and Hulu are rolling out the red carpet for four animated shows. Seth MacFarlane serves as star and co-creator of “Family Guy” and “American Dad!” In the former, which just wrapped its 24th season, his fellow cast members include Alex Borstein, Seth Green and Mila Kunis. In the latter, which is currently airing Season 22, MacFarlane stars alongside Wendy Schaal, Scott Grimes, Rachael MacFarlane and Dee Bradley Baker. Mike Judge’s irreverent middle America comedy “King of the Hill” was rebooted for Hulu in 2025 after its original 13-season run (1997 to 2009). Season 15 will launch on July 20; Judge pulls double duty as a star and creator. Fellow cast members include Kathy Najimy, Pamela Adlon and Stephen Root. Finally, “Futurama,” which was also rebooted for Hulu in 2023, launches Season 14 on Aug. 3. Co-created by David X. Cohen and Matt Groening, the show features Billy West, John Dimaggio, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Phil LaMarr and Lauren Tom.
“Ghosts” has been a staple at San Diego Comic-Con for years, so it’s no surprise that the CBS comedy, adapted for the U.S. by Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, will be back to promote the sixth season. Plus, “the Joes” are debuting a brand-new title this year, “Eternally Yours.” The family comedy follows a vampire couple (played by Ed Weeks and Allegra Edwards) who, after 500 years together, feel like they’re stuck in a rut. Then their daughter brings home a human boyfriend, and that shakes everything up. Per usual, expect the living, the dead and a whole lot of laughter.
“Star Trek” is beaming up to San Diego to celebrate its 60th anniversary. William Shatner’s James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy’s Spock and the rest of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s crew first explored the far reaches of space back in 1966, and “Star Trek” stars from multiple generations of the franchise are expected to reunite at the convention. The cast of “Strange New Worlds” will also be on hand to tease their penultimate Season 4. Filming on the fifth and final season wrapped last year, so it’s sure to be an emotional panel for Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn and the rest of the prequel’s cast.
Sam Reid’s rock-and-roll vampire Lestat will take a victory tour at Comic-Con, with the AMC series airing its season finale right before the convention. The first two seasons of “Interview With the Vampire” were based on Anne Rice’s Gothic horror novel, while Season 3 moved on to her second book and followed the rock-star career of the hedonistic bloodsucker. And Lestat is far from the only creature lurking in AMC’s Immortal Universe, which is based on Rice’s novels. Fans may get updates on “Mayfair Witches” Season 3, which wrapped filming this year, and “Night Island,” based on the vampire resort in Rice’s “The Queen of the Damned.”
For the past few years, the annual panel led by DC Comics president, publisher and CCO Jim Lee has been the venue to announce breaking movie and TV news, with surprise appearances by DC Studios co-chief James Gunn. In 2024, Gunn beamed in from the “Superman” set to tease the HBO Max series “Creature Commandos”; last year, the big boss showed up in person for a mini-victory lap after “Superman”’s $220 million opening weekend. With “The Batman 2” and the “Superman” sequel “Man of Tomorrow” both in production and “Clayface” headed to theaters in October, one can expect updates on the upcoming DCU and Elseworlds projects.
Saturday, July 25, 2 pm — Hall H (as part of the Apple TV panel)
Comic-Con is a one-stop shop for collectibles, but Apple Original Films is bringing a limited-edition item in the form of “Matchbox the Movie.” John Cena stars in the action adventure inspired by Mattel’s popular die-cast toy vehicles. Cena plays an undercover CIA agent who returns to his small town and unwittingly enlists his childhood friends in a globe-trotting mission to save the world. Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, Arturo Castro, Teyonah Parris, Corey Stoll, Bill Camp, Golshifteh Farahani and Danai Gurira round out the stellar cast. The movie, directed by “Extraction” filmmaker Sam Hargrave, begins streaming on Oct. 9.
Written and directed by Lee Kirk, “Nimrods” is inspired by Green Day’s pre-“Dookie” success, and yes, you’ll see Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool & Co. in the movie. “Nimrods” is the story of aspiring Kansas City rockers who fall for a prank that Green Day wants them as their opening act on New Year’s Eve — as long as they can make it to Los Angeles. Mason Thames, Kylr Coffman, Ryan Foust and Mckenna Grace star, with supporting turns from Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Bobby Lee, Fred Armisen and Sean Gunn. It’s scheduled for release on Aug. 14.