Depending on how you look at San Diego Comic-Con, it’s either dying or thriving, though a better word for it may be changing. It’s not as revelatory as it once felt, but it’s still ground zero for some of the buzziest announcements in entertainment. This year sees the return of Marvel Studios, which helped propel Comic-Con in the early 2000s and, in recent years, has taken a year-on-year-off cadence in its coveted Hall H appearances. (Of course, Disney has its own biennial con, D23, that Marvel and the rest of its high-profile franchises are set to present at next month.) Apple, Prime Video, AMC, and HBO Max will be there with notable projects, too. Let’s dig into them all.
The last time Marvel boss Kevin Feige came to Comic-Con, he announced the explosive news that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the MCU … as Doctor Doom. Two years later, the studio is promoting that very film, Avengers: Doomsday, going so far as to release the trailer days ahead of the panel. This same trailer was shown to CinemaCon attendees this past April. Unveiling it early frees up Feige and company to either show off more exclusive footage or to spend the time waxing poetic about Infinity Vision. With D23 a month from now, it’s hard to predict how a Marvel Studios panel will play at Comic-Con because Disney would seemingly want to reserve a splashier presentation for its own show. Additionally, Spider-Man: Brand New Day drops next week, and Feige has been making the interview rounds, revealing that the MCU has mapped out plans up until 2042.
Though I doubt Hall H will be privy to all those plans, maybe he’ll finally offer some more information on director Jake Schreier’s X-Men movie. Or an even lower lift: Can we just know which character Sadie Sink is playing in Brand New Day? Many theorize that she’s set to play the beloved X-Man, Jean Gray. Spare some mutant news, Feige! But even without new updates, Feige just has to trot out the extensive cast of Doomsday, which, yes, still includes Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, to make Hall H shake.
With Marvel’s return, when will James Gunn’s DCU make its grand debut at Hall H? It had some presence at the con: Last year, Peacemaker promoted its second season and this year, it’ll have Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre, and Damon Lindelof hyping the gritty, True Detective–inspired Lanternsseries. But aside from that, DC Studios has not had a presentation for any of its feature films since 2022, when it teed up Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and that was before Gunn’s takeover. Supergirl’s diminishing box-office returns wouldn’t have made for a triumphant return to Hall H, but there has to be some sort of plan for DC Studios to make some real noise at Comic-Con again, right? Maybe once it nails down its plans for Batman.
As for a company having a great year, Apple is making its Comic-Con debut at Hall H. It will roll out some of its upcoming slate, which includes the newly minted awards darlingWidow’s Bay, John Cena’s Matchbox: The Movie, the second season of Dark Matter, and Rebecca Ferguson’sSilo. Also, it feels a little strange that Severance isn’t on the lineup at all at the service’s first Comic-Con. It’s sci-fi, it’s beloved, it has a stable of fun actors to invite, it’s about to shoot a new season, and — most importantly — it’s cosplay appropriate. There’s probably nothing new to promote, but it makes us wonder: Could there be a surprise announcement or appearance in the works? We’ll have to wait and see.
In recent years, Prime has maintained a healthier presence at the convention than most other studios. Just last year it brought out Chris Miller, Phil Lord, author Andy Weir, and Ryan Gosling to debut footage from Project Hail Mary, which delivered Amazon a much-needed hit. This year, Prime and MGM will hit up Hall H again to promote the sequel to Mel Brooks’s Spaceballs. Aside from the Star Wars parody, horror maestro Mike Flanagan will be at Comic-Con for the first time to debut his Stephen King project, a new-age Carrie.
But the presentation I’m personally most excited for is AMC’s The Vampire Lestat. Rolin Jones’s series reflects how the convention thrives now — not through major film franchise players but on niche, beloved series that rely on their passionate legions of fans to spread the gospel. (Last year in Ballroom 20, their fans’ enthusiasm rang throughout the room with the ferocity of a Beatles concert.) Formerly known as Interview With the Vampire, this series has made a yearly appearance at the con since before its 2022 premiere and built up such a following that it’s nabbedits first slot at Hall H to discuss the third season and to hopefully announce a fourth.
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