San Diego Comiccon is the mecha for fandom and geek culture and it just concluded this past weekend. So it should come as no surprise that there was a ton of information released to the public and exclusively to those in attendance. I won’t give a play-by-play of everything that happened, but a quick highlight as to some of the (subjectively) best announcements and reveals that happened.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Trailer

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power kicked things off on Friday with a lengthy panel, hosted by Stephen Colbert, and it went straight for the hype by showcasing footage of the show for those in attendance (said to be a First Age prologue featuring Morgoth and all that comes with that) and then dropping a full-length trailer, just over a week from the last teaser. There’s still a big campaign of hate against the show, (and our piece on Toxic Fandom is worth the read with this in mind!) but I’m more optimistic about it than I was when the Superbowl teaser dropped. That Balrog looks great!

Marvel’s Multiverse Saga

Marvel unveiled the Multiverse Saga at SDCC, otherwise known as Phase 4, 5 and 6. The saga will conclude with not one but two Avengers films in 2025: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, which will release six months apart from one and other. Secret Wars could very well see the MCU’s debut of Spider-Man’s black suit and Galactus. We also got the release dates for the known MCU films, including Blade, which will debut in November 2023, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is set for May 5th, 2023. We got our first look at Wakanda Forever as well, which featured a rousing use of Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry as the shadow of the passing of Chadwick Boseman looms over the film. We still have no idea as to who will don the mantle of Black Panther, but regardless, the trailer was fantastic. We also got our first look poster of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and confirmation that Daredevil’s revival show will be titled Born Again, which one has to assume will adapt the comic of the same name and will run for a whopping 18 episodes. Marvel’s Secret Invasion and Captain America: New World Order were confirmed for 2023 and 2024 respectively, and Thunderbolts would conclude Phase 5, while She-Hulk and Wakanda Forever would conclude Phase 4.

Animated Marvel

But while the MCU likely came out of SDCC with the most hype, we shouldn’t forget about the animated Marvel properties coming as well. The biggest news, I’d imagine, is that Charlie Cox is also coming back as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: Freshman Year, which will be a prequel to the Spider-Man films. and feature a slew of Marvel favourites, some familiar to the MCU, some making their debut, such as Harry Osborn. A sequel, Sophmore Year, is also in development. No word on if Tom Holland will reprise his role as Peter Parker. Marvel also announced season two of What If… for 2023 and confirmed a third season. They dropped a trailer for I Am Groot, a series of shorts that will debut on Disney+ and announced Marvel Zombies, which is said to be very gory.

The Sandman

Debuting on August 5th, 2022, The Sandman is the title we knew very little about with an impending deadline. But we got our best look at the film at SDCC thanks to a full trailer and I must say, it looks promising. Original author Neil Gaiman is heavily involved in the development of the show, so here’s hoping it’s faithful to the graphic novels while making changes that are approved by Gaiman. DC was honestly a bit of a letdown for me this year. I have no interest in Black Adam and the Shazam trailer failed to impress me. But The Sandman has shot way up on my anticipation list. Bring it on.

John Wick Chapter 4/BRZRKR

In the later hours of the evening for me, I noticed that the first trailer for John Wick: Chapter 4 made its debut online. That Parabellum subtitle for Chapter 3 is really looking out of place now, but Chapter 4 looks like it’s promising all the good stuff, including a confrontation between Keanu Reeve’s John Wick and martial arts legend Donnie Yen and is slated for March 2023. Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and Lance Reddick return, along with series newcomers Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada, Scott Adkins, and Clancy Brown. The action looks wild and I’m genuinely invested in John’s story and in the lore surrounding the Continental. Netflix’s animated adaptation of Keanu Reeve’s graphic novel, BRZKRK was also confirmed to run for two seasons on the streaming platform, so it’s safe to say he had a good con, especially after making a surprise appearance at the Wick panel.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

This is a weird one. I can’t tell if this was a terrible trailer for a movie that looks bad or a spot-on trailer for a movie that looks to capture the goofy tone of playing a real DnD game. Either way, the trailer made an impression and while I’m not perse hyped for it, it’s on my radar now and curious to see how it will play out.

Dragon Ball Super: Superhero

I’m a big Dragon Ball fan and loved the last film, Broly thanks in part to its awesome animation design. Superhero is hopefully going bigger on story, as it focuses on Gohan’s return to the fight and his friendship with Piccolo as the Red Ribbon Army returns. The film is slated to hit IMAX screens between August and September, depending on your region. The film has a dumb title, but looks pretty epic and fans of Gohan definitely want to see his comeback.

Mythic Quest Season 3

Disclaimer: I’ve never seen Mythic Quest, but I know there’s a passionate fanbase for this show and felt it would be important to highlight that season 3 is coming and that a trailer dropped for the Apple TV+ series as well.

There was a ton of other announcements, from Lego Avatar sets to Zach Galligan returning in the animated Gremlin’s film, Secrets Of the Mogwai, but I think this list covers most of the big reveals. Thanks for reading!