A new fandom took over San Diego Comic-Con this year: “Dungeon Crawler Carl.”
While there were plenty of Marvel and DC superheroes walking around the convention center and the surrounding Gaslamp Quarter (not to mention the Trekkies and “Star Wars” storm troopers, and the other comic book cosplayers), there were just as many people sporting t-shirts featuring Princess Donut, the tiara-wearing talking cat from the popular book series.
In that sense, this year’s SDCC felt somewhat like a changing of the geek guard. Sure, hundreds of diehard Marvel fans began queuing for Saturday evening’s Hall H presentation on Thursday, but there was just as much buzz around newer (“Percy Jackson,” “The Vampire Lestat”) and niche IP (“Neuromancer”), plus plenty of nostalgia fare (“Spaceballs,” “Grimm,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”).
Here are some of the highlights:
“Dungeon Crawler Carl’s” Warm Welcome
Author Matt Dinniman’s book series, which turns Earth into a video game-inspired alien game show, has skyrocketed in popularity — with more than 10 million copies sold — and just last month, Peacock ordered a live-action series produced by Seth MacFarlane. At Comic-Con, Dinniman hosted two panels alongside Jeff Hays, who voices more than 200 zany characters in the audiobook versions of the novels. To the delight of fans, Dinniman revealed that Hays will voice Princess Donut in the Peacock show. No other casting has been announced, but fans are patiently waiting to see how the beloved book series will come to life. Meanwhile, Dinniman is hard at work on the final two novels in the planned 10-book series.
“There’s so much I want to tackle. All this stuff seems to be happening at once because we started doing it all at once,” he said, dropping by the Variety Studio, presented by Google TV. “I would love for there to be a full-on video game. … I would love to have an MMORPG, like a ‘Fallout’-style game, in the ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ universe. That’d be badass.”
The “Avengers: Doomsday” cast — including Robert Downey Jr., Hayley Atwell, Lewis Pullman, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Tenoch Huerta and Kelsey Grammer — at the Marvel Studios Hall H presentation.
Michael Buckner/Variety
Marvel Readies for “Doomsday” and DC Bets on “Lanterns”
After skipping Comic-Con last year, Marvel fans were ready to see what’s in store for “Avengers: Doomsday,” which brings back Robert Downey Jr. as the new big bad, Doctor Doom. Marvel chief Kevin Feige packed Hall H with the movie’s A-listers — Pedro Pascal, Paul Rudd, Anthony Mackie and returning stars Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell were among those who made the trek — to show off an exclusive trailer that teased more of Doom’s backstory. But the breaking news was that Ryan Gosling will star in a Ghost Rider movie and Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther 3” will introduce “Alien: Romulus” actor David Jonsson as the new hero, Prince T’Challa II, son of the late Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa.
DC Studios had a smaller presence at the con, focusing on previously announced projects instead of forecasting the future. The studio brought this summer’s “Lanterns” show, starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, to Hall H. The HBO series, which puts a detective spin on the Green Lantern character, is expected to be a prestige hit for DC, and Pierre will reprise his Green Lantern role in next summer’s “Superman” sequel, “Man of Tomorrow.” In other movie news, “Clayface” star Tom Rhys Harries made a surprise appearance at the Jim Lee and Friends panel following the debut of a creepy new trailer for the horror thriller.
Aaron Pierre, Kyle Chandler and Damon Lindelof during the “Lantern” Hall H panel.
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TV Titans
With summer movie season winding down, studios and streamers were eager to remind fans what’s coming to their televisions this fall. Apple TV came out swinging with a two-hour Hall H panel — the studio’s first major Comic-Con installation — that was largely dedicated to flexing its established hits like “Widows Bay” and “Silo,” plus a first look at the highly anticipated sci-fi drama “Neuromancer,” with Callum Turner, and “Matchbox the Movie,” starring John Cena and Jessica Biel. Prime Video focused on heavy-hitting IP vehicles in “The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power,” “Blade Runner 2099” and “Carrie” from Mike Flanagan. “Rings of Power” has tons of momentum heading into Season 3 with the addition of geek-god Jamie Campbell Bower (who played Vecna on “Stranger Things” and showed off his DJ skills at IGN’s party), while “Blade Runner 2099” seems destined for hit status thanks to the star power of co-leads Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer, and a confident vision from showrunner Silka Luisa.
Jamie Campbell Bower performs at Prime presents the IGN San Diego Comic-Con Party 2026 at Hard Rock Hotel San Diego.
Getty Images for Prime
Indie Spirit
SDCC isn’t just for comic book lovers; there’s plenty to keep cinephiles entertained, too. Over the past few years, indie distributors Neon and A24 have used the convention as a launching pad for some of their buzziest titles — especially horror movies, like “Together” and “Talk to Me.” This year, SDCC scheduled back-to-back showcases for a couple bloody-good films: Na Hong-jin’s “Hope” from Neon and Adam Wingard’s “Onslaught” for A24. For his first trip to Comic-Con, director Na detailed the 10-year journey to make his alien invasion action movie — and made the crowd cackle by revealing that “90%” of the characters don’t make it to the end credits.
The “Onslaught” crew — SDCC-vets Wingard, Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens and Rebecca Hall, with fan favorite Drew Starkey (welcomed by ear-piercing shrieks from the audience) — debuted a new trailer for the blood-soaked action movie. Arjona stars as a badass Army sniper grappling with PTSD, who must protect her young daughter from a rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers.
“I just felt crazy protective over her,” Arjona said of her young co-star, Blake Kennedy. “It’s that beautiful mother feral need to make sure that your child is fine.”
Drew Starkey, Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Adria Arjona, Adam Wingard and Kevin Smith at A24’s “Onslaught” panel at San Diego Comic-Con.
Michael Buckner/Variety
Cosplay Cameos
Cosplay isn’t only for the fans; superstars went incognito to create some of the convention’s best surprises. (Think Andrew Garfield walking up to the mic in full Spider-Man costume 15 years ago.)
This year, Rick Moranis made his Comic-Con debut to promote the long-awaited “Spaceballs” sequel, “The New One,” which ends his 30-year acting hiatus. The Hall H crowd went berserk when Moranis revealed himself from under a gigantic Lord Dark Helmet helmet.
Johnny Depp transformed into the “Christmas Carol” curmudgeon Scrooge for his surprise appearance at an activation for “Ebenezer.” A crowd of hundreds braved the San Diego heat for a couple of hours in hopes of catching a glimpse of the actor. “Have you no jobs?” Depp (as Scrooge) croaked, ribbing the crowd before heading to Hall H to debut the movie’s trailer.
But the grand prize goes to Ryan Reynolds, who crashed Marvel Studios’ Hall H presentation dressed as “Jeanpool” — a Canadian tuxedoed Deadpool, which might also be a subtle nod to X-Men’s Jean Grey — to beg for a role in the new “Avengers: Doomsday.” After the convention, Reynolds revealed that he traipsed around the convention floor without handlers or security, shaking hands and taking selfies with fans — all without getting recognized.
Rick Moranis speaks during the “Spaceballs” Hall H panel.
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