Star Power on Display at Comic-Con 2025

Comic-Con officially opened in San Diego today to tens of thousands of pop culture aficionados from around the world, and attendees this year will see one major star set a record-setting milestone for the most in-demand guests of all.

Iconic filmmaker George Lucas will make his very first Comic-Con appearance after decades of association with some of the most popular franchises in pop culture history. While the Comic-Con celebrates all kinds of storytelling, cinema, and fandom, Lucas’s best-known creations, Star Wars and Indiana Jones, have featured heavily in the annual event over the years. Lucas will appear at this year’s show on Sunday, September 10, in a discussion about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Attendees will also be able to meet Guillermo del Toro and Oscar-winning artist Doug Chiang as they join Lucas to discuss the upcoming museum. Lucas is being moderated by Queen Latifah for the talk.

“It is our pleasure and privilege to welcome the legendary filmmaker and storyteller George Lucas to Comic-Con International for the first time in his career,” David Glanzer, Chief Communications and Strategy Officer for Comic-Con, said. “Nearly five decades ago, Star Wars made one of its earliest public appearances at our convention, and Howard Chaykin’s now legendary Star Wars poster was given out as a promotional item at the booth. It is a true full-circle moment to have Lucas here in San Diego sharing his impact and influence on narrative world-building and visual storytelling.”

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will open in Los Angeles next year. The new venue will celebrate the rich art form of illustrated narratives and storytelling through the lens of film, comics, and concept art. The museum will also archive Lucas’s collection of artifacts.

Comic-Con Has Come a Long Way in 50 Years

Comic-Con first began life as a simple get-together for comic book fans way back in 1970, and it has come a long way since those early days. Comic-Con now hosts around 130,000 visitors per year, with fans attending to cosplay, collect rare comics, and, perhaps most importantly of all, get a first look at the latest movies and panels from the most anticipated and exciting projects in Hollywood.

Alien and Predator are Center Stage

Filmmakers and fans will see an abundance of material this year related to the latest installments in some of sci-fi’s most enduring franchises. Series Alien: Earth premieres on Sunday and is a prequel to the 1979 Ridley Scott sci-fi classic Alien. Series director Noah Hawley discussed the show at length, and it was previously described as “exploring the full breadth of the franchise’s wildly imaginative mythology. Set just a few years before the events of Alien, the next chapter in the saga expands upon the central mystery at the heart of the universe while introducing all-new ideas and dangers.”

The series premieres tomorrow in Hall H, and it is due to launch on streaming platforms in August. This marks just the first of many superhero, sci-fi, and comic book projects to feature at the show.

Predator: Badlands also features in the sci-fi big-hitting line-up. Starring Elle Fanning, the feature film is the next iteration in the sci-fi classic series, and it has an interesting twist as it sees the Predator, for the first time, on the run. Fans can expect to see more of the new chapter of the franchise at the event as the cast will include Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, the actor who plays alien Dek, as well as director Dan Trachtenberg, who was behind 2022’s Prey and was largely credited with revitalizing the series.

Marvel Steps Back at Comic-Con

Marvel Studios has been forced to step back a bit for this year’s Comic-Con. The studio has had a Hall H showcase for years, usually making a big deal about its major announcements, but they have now made it clear that they will be staying away. Rumors had been circulating for a while, but it has since been confirmed that Marvel will no longer have a presentation at the Convention this year.

Variety claimed that the plan had changed because of Marvel’s upcoming Avengers movie. The UK was set to start filming the project in early September, which made a big hurdle in regards to pulling a show together in time.

While the MCU’s showing at the 2023 convention won’t be what it once was, Comic-Con will still be the sci-fi champions. Stars of big-budget series and features have stepped up to fill the gap in Hall H, and the programming looks sure to get fans through the weekend.

Ryan Gosling, Peacemaker, and More Star-Studded Appearances

In addition to Ryan Gosling, The Martian author Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary will be featured in a panel about the feature film based on his new book of the same name. It is scheduled for a theatrical release next year and sees Gosling play former schoolteacher and newly awoken astronaut Ryland Grace. Grace finds himself alone on a spaceship with no recollection of how he got there, but he is humanity’s last chance to survive, and he has no choice but to figure it out.

The actor will attend Saturday’s panel alongside director duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who are also responsible for the Spider-Verse trilogy.

DC Universe viewers can also expect to see a Peacemaker second-season premiere and special. The panel will be led by series creator James Gunn, who is also now helming DC’s rebooted film slate starring Superman. He will be joined by a host of the show’s cast to reveal behind-the-scenes content and sneak previews.

Costumes, Cosplay, and Community

Blockbuster announcements and headlining celebrities are what usually grab the headlines at Comic-Con, but the show remains a celebration of fandom and community at its heart. San Diego’s Comic-Con is one of the world’s most important pop culture events, and thousands will dress up as their favorite princess, warrior, alien, or superhero over the weekend. Hall H has plenty in the pipeline to power the excitement, too, with big names in sci-fi, superhero, and comic book film set to grace the panels on the Convention’s most anticipated stage.

Comic-Con 2023 continues through Sunday, September 10.