San Diego-Comic-Con 2025 showed that fan joy is still high at the annual five-day Convention in San Diego, even when Marvel and DC do not take up all oxygen in the room. When big studios skipped this year’s excursion, Con’s premiere was still lively and committed crowds cheering for breakout panels from the 1900s studios’ ” “Predators: Badlands,” Amazon MGM’s “Project Hail Mary” and Disney’s “Tron: ares” -To prove that there are still genre prices outside superhero films to get Con’s most sought after room hyped.
As Thewrap previously reported, Comic-Con’s two largest draws in the last two decades-Marvel and DC films- chose to skip panels in the famous hall H in the San Diego Convention Center this year. This did not seem to mean, as this reporter observed that 6,500 people’s rooms were often packed to capacity even without Kevin Feige or any Avengers Holding Court.
“Comic-Con is still alive and well without Marvel and DC panels,” said Ian Kerner, CEO of Business Development at Lightiron and 30-year-old Comic-Con veteran to Thewrap. “It was before them and is good without them.”
Comic-Con has become the most important exhibition in Hollywood for genre properties, where the goal is to create a groundwell of immediate hype while measuring fan reaction as it happens in real time. The annual Confab is where studios and filmmakers can get a direct line to their most passionate fanbase and create viral moments with the audience that can get a project to go from zero to “must see” status.
For Hollywood, more addicted than ever at IP that can anchor franchise movies, Comic-Con is about using the Hall H-surre to drive potential blockbuster to Box Office Gold. The disadvantage is, of course, bad reception that can kill a movie or show’s prospects before it even hits theaters-or forces a costly course correction at the last minute.
But this year there were many winners, and Thewrap was down in San Diego to check them out. Here were some of the highlights.
“South Park” creator makes a well -off look
Comedy Central’s animation panel on Thursday had the most pre-panel surgery because it contained a rare Hall H look from “South Park” creator Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It has been almost a decade since their last performance, but this one was especially special because it marked their first public appearance since decimation Parent Paramount’s settlement with Donald Trump – as did the President himself – During the show’s premiere of season 27 Wednesday evening. The panel, which also contained “Beavis and Butt -Head” creator Mike Judge and “Digman!” Star and co -creator Andy Samberg, was largely free from controversy or political conversation, with parks that only offered a deadpan, “We are very sad.” His silent Nick elicited another round of laughter and applause.
Predators invade Hall H
For the panel “Predator: Badlands” a real predator went on stage and scanned the hall with its signature laser thermic sight while he spoke Yautja For the audience and created one of the most engrossing and unique experiences ever to Grace Hall H. The audience ate it. The dramatic stunt was followed by a preview of the first 15 minutes of the 1900s studio film, which will receive a theater edition this fall. The films were centered on Hero Predator Dek, who is trying to prove to his father that he is worthy of the predator’s legacy.
“In” Predators “films never win the predator. They should be the biggest warrior in the galaxy, and they are always the bad guy,” said director Dan Trachtenberg, who revived the franchise with 2022’s 18th century “predator” movie “Prey.” This new film finds the predator together with a robot played by Elle Fanning.
“The predator is not a friendly creature … It is violent, a bad ass and very an anti -hero. And I was really interested in replacing it and connecting a predator with some completely unexpected and taking these two unique characters on an incredibly emotional and visceral journey,” explained the filmmaker.
“Tron: Ares” brings Jared Leto, a laser show and nine inches of nail music
Rogue programs from “faith: ares” broke the hall h scene Friday afternoon and made the coolest entrance to Con as a participant was treated with a preview of the film’s bright bike hunting scene. Fans loved it and was called in. Jared Leto, who plays the named Ares, made his first Hall H look on the year together with OG “Tron” star Jeff Bridges who returned to 2010’s “Tron: Legacy.”
“I’m an official faith super fan. If I wasn’t on stage, I would be in the audience right now and cheering like all these crazy people here,” Leto said at a time. The panel also contained an extended first look at the Dillinger network – an engrossing digital world created by Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) and ended up on a high tone with a light show and music video by “As Alive as you need me to be”, performed by Nine Inch Nails.
“Coyote vs. Acme” is alive and good
“Coyote vs. Acme,” The Hybrid Live-Action/Animation film that for a moment seemed convicted as Warner Bros. Discovery aims to pay tribute to the film for a tax depreciationCelebrated his resurrection on Saturday morning inside Hall H as director David Green and Ketchup Entertainment announced a release date in August 2026.
“The real hero of this movie is all of you sitting in these places,” Star Will Forte told the audience, who eagerly agreed with applause. “Like Wile E. Coyote, you were a sub -dog who fought against a large company, and since you never gave up, this movie will now come out in a broad global edition.”
The panel ended with the premiere of the film’s teaser trailer after an ACME lawyer (played by PJ Byrne) and his gang trainees tried to turn off the panel.
Ryan Gosling and “Project Hail Mary” charm the room
When it comes to reception and execution, the “Project Hail Mary” panel came to a close second to the Disney panel thanks to a large extent due to Amazon MGM’s use of all Hall H monitors to create a massive Widescreen experience with the film’s first 5 minutes of images. The project already gathered lots of bucks coming from its Cinemacon presentation in AprilAnd star Ryan Gosling and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were eager to keep up with author Andy Weir and screenwriter Drew Goddard.
Sneak Peak showed that Gosling’s Ryland Grace woke up from a deep Cryo sleep. “It’s a story of connection,” Miller said, because Amazon seems to keep ESS judging by Cinemacon, Blockbuster trailer reception online And now this Comic-Con panel. We find out when the film meets theaters in March 2026.
While Amazon MGM went high with “Project Hail Mary”, it missed an opportunity to show off “Masters of the Universe”, a genre epos that would have filled the void of DC and Marvel.
James Gunn gets a standing ovation on DC Studios’ PeaCemaker “panel
James Gunn returned to Hall H along with John Cena to premiere the latest trailer and tease the coming second season of “Peacemaker,” His DC Studios series at HBO Max. Cena and moderator Josh Horowitz led the Hall H-audience in a standing ovation for Gunn’s Victory Lap when “Superman” exceeded $ 500 million all over the world, and the filmmaker-no-core-Creator of Comic-Con-Con-Visibly affected.
The story of “Peacemaker” Season 2 will center on Cena’s title character that discovers an alternative world where life is all he wishes it can be. But this discovery also forces him to meet his traumatic past and take the future in his own hands. In a clip preview Gunn a key fight scene from the second season showing Emilia Harcourts (Jennifer Holland) combat competence in a salon noise. Gunn annoyed that some characters from the “Superman” movie will be shown in “Peacemaker” season 2, which takes place one month after the events in the movie that started Gunn’s restarted DC universe. But noted that some SDCC fans were disappointed that there were no sneak tops on the upcoming “supergirl” movie or HBO Max series “Lanterns.”
George Lucas makes his first Comic-Con look
George Lucas is entirely in his own class when Comic-Con granted him the only Hall H panel on Sunday. By making their first look at the congress, the audience went completely wild and gave Lucas a rushing standing ovation And Hero is welcome with lamps held high. It was the highest reception this reporter heard this year, and the panel was also CON’s most gripping Hall H panel when the legendary filmmaker gave a preview of his Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and 40,000 pieces of art collection. Some highlights include the very first character drawing of Flash Gordon from 1934, Peanuts Comic Sketches from the 50s and 60s, original drawings from the first Iron Man -comedy and an original ink splash by Black Panther, to name a few. The 11 hectares of Los Angeles Campus and 300,000 square meters of building designed by architect Ma Yansong contains 30 art galleries, two screening rooms, a library, a restaurant and an event space.
“It is more about a connection to the work, not how much it costs or what celebrity did, it is more a personal thing … if you have an emotional connection to something, it is art,” said Lucas and closed Comic-Con 2025. It was a suitable conclusion to a convention that has celebrated narrative art over the past 55 years.
