Comic-Con kicks off with Marvel’s return

SAN DIEGO – Comic book fans returned to San Diego, California on July 23 for the latest Comic-Con, with convention-goers buzzing about Marvel’s return to the event in 2026.

The studio skipped the event in 2025, but will be back at the coveted Hall H on July 25 to promote Avengers: Doomsday, which is slated to premiere in December.

Under the Russo brothers’ direction, the latest superhero flick will pick up where 2019’s Endgame left off, bringing together heroes and villains from the X-Men, the Avengers, Black Panther and the Fantastic Four to duke it out once more.

But surprises are often a major draw for the 130,000 fans who flock to the annual event, expecting to be wowed by movie previews and actor announcements.

Actor Johnny Depp stunned passers-by on July 23 when he appeared in a street near the convention centre, decked out in full costume for the miserly Scrooge character of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to promote Ebenezer, due in theatres in November.

Later, the famed Pirates Of The Caribbean swashbuckler burst into a panel, asking the audience: “Have you no lives? No responsibilities?” before sharing a preview for his new holiday movie.

Barbarian prequel

Horror film Barbarian director Zach Cregger confirmed a script is in the works for a prequel to the hit film that has “a lot of twists and turns and mysteries and crazy things” to tell the origin story of the terrifying Aunt Gladys character.

The film-maker also offered a first look at Resident Evil, his adaptation of the video game that is expected to hit the big screen in September.

“About five or six minutes in, he hits that woman in his car, and I wanted to see if I could just put my foot all the way down on the gas pedal and not let up until the end of the movie. That was the challenge,” Cregger said.

Game Night directing duo Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley also shared teasers of Apple TV’s Cold War comedy Mayday, starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh.

Calling all vampires

Fans began lining up around noon on July 22 for the events on July 23 in coveted Hall H, with sisters Adelaide and Delaney Hall heading up the queue.

“I’m gonna be camping out tonight so that I’m in there first thing tomorrow, I’m really excited,” said 21-year-old Adelaide.

Her sister had tried to line up near dawn but “there was no line, and so she was like, okay. She came home, she rode her bike, and then she grabbed me, and we came down around noon, and then we got in line”.

The San Diego native is eager to see the panel for Percy Jackson And The Olympians, a fantasy TV series with its third season due out Nov 20.

Fans shrieked over another morning panel on July 23 titled Bite Me: Calling All Vampires, which brought together K-pop sensation ENHYPEN and some cast members from 2008’s teen vampire blockbuster film Twilight.

Since the pop culture festival began in 1970, it has grown into a major event, with thousands of sometimes-costumed fans gathering in San Diego to buy memorabilia, see their idols and celebrate beloved stories.

On July 24, DC Studios will also grace Hall H to preview its HBO series Lanterns, starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as small-town Nebraska detectives, which debuts Aug 16.

The flesh-and-blood narrative offers a new take on 2011‘s Green Lantern, a Ryan Reynolds-led space adventure movie.

On July 24, fans will see the hotly anticipated preview for Spaceballs: The New One, a long-awaited sequel to Mel Brooks’s legendary space comedy.

Weeks before the Lucas Museum’s opening in Los Angeles, representatives from the museum will be on hand to share new details about the exhibits.

Comic-Con runs until July 26. AFP