The most exciting Comic-Con announcements and wildest moments from SDCC 2025
Comic-Con remains a highlight of the geek calendar. SDCC encourages the big names from the worlds of movies, TV, and comic books to peddle their wares in front of an adoring crowd. Last year, for example, Marvel used the famous Hall H stage to announce that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the MCU — as the villainous Doctor Doom rather than Tony Stark.
There were fewer fireworks in California this year with a more muted event. Marvel sat out entirely, while competitor DC mostly let its recently released Superman movie do the talking. But that's not to say that there weren't any big moments and notable announcements for fans to enjoy.
Here's a round-up of the most important things that happened at Comic-Con over the weekend, from new trailers to appearances from pop culture legends.
James Gunn finally unveiled Peacemaker season 2
There might have been a shortage of big superhero movie news out of Comic-Con this year, but that's not to say DC was completely quiet. James Gunn might have been busy kicking off a whole new superhero universe, but he still had time for John Cena's bizarre vigilante Peacemaker. The trailer for season two teases lots of silliness, as well as the tantalising idea of portals between dimensions — perhaps a nod to the very confusing DCU chronology since Gunn's takeover.
Read more: The Superman movies ranked worst to best according to fans (Yahoo Entertainment, 6 min read)
Gunn also got something of a hero's welcome at this year's SDCC as those in attendance thanked him for shepherding Superman back to the big screen. "The reason I'm so happy to be here with you guys, is because this is the real fans here," he said on stage.
Avengers: Doomsday might not have a finished script
Marvel didn't have an actual presence in San Diego this year, but that didn't stop the upcoming team-up movie Avengers: Doomsday from grabbing some headlines. Rebecca Romijn — aka the original Mystique in the X-Men movies — was at Comic-Con promoting Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, but she gave an intriguing answer when asked whether she had finished shooting her scenes for Doomsday.
"[I'm] not quite sure. The script hasn't — they haven't finished writing it. It's been very, very fun, and we don't know yet. They keep everything very close to the vest themselves in an effort to keep everything under wraps," she said according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Just over a year away from the release of Marvel's first Avengers movie since Endgame, the script apparently isn't complete. That could be a warning sign or just yet another symptom of Marvel's bizarre secrecy. The fact Romijn doesn't know of a finished script doesn't mean that there isn't one.
George Lucas was in the house
Until this year, George Lucas had never taken to the stage at Comic-Con. The Star Wars creator, however, broke his duck this year by sitting down with Guillermo del Toro for a panel discussing the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The museum will house lots of Star Wars pieces, as well as other art including early Flash Gordon drawings and paintings by Frida Kahlo.
Read more: George Lucas says perseverance is key to filmmaking: 'I fought for all my films' (PA Media, 3 min read)
'[Art] is more about a connection and emotional connection with the work, not how much it cost or what celebrity did it," said Lucas. "I don't think it's anything that anybody else can tell you. If you have emotional connection, it's art. If you don't, just move onto the next painting."
Star Wars fans also got a glimpse of Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger in the currently filming second season of Ahsoka. As for any concrete updates on that show, they were in short supply.
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is going much bigger
Five Nights at Freddy's managed to parlay its video game success to the big screen in 2023, with the movie adaptation of the creepy game earning a massive $291m (£217m) worldwide. Returning director Emma Tammi unveiled a trailer and also promised that the new movie would feature 'more than three times as many animatronics' as its predecessor, praising the Jim Henson Company for realising the critters as practically as possible.
Among those new animatronics will be Mangle and The Marionette, who will be very recognisable to fans of the games. Based on how many of those fans turned up to buy a ticket first time around, catering squarely to their tastes seems like a very smart move.
Coyote vs. Acme saga gets a happy ending
Two years ago, Warner Bros announced that it was chucking a completed movie in the bin. Coyote vs. Acme, which is a live-action and animation hybrid featuring Looney Tunes characters, was scrapped in favour of a tax write-off. After a fervent campaign online, though, the studio reversed course and allowed Ketchup Entertainment to nab the rights to the movie earlier this year.
Read more: Will Forte debuts first 'Coyote vs. Acme' footage, calls initial Warner Bros. cancellation 'devastating' (Entertainment Weekly, 4 min read)
At Comic-Con, Ketchup announced that the film will land in US cinemas on 28 August 2026 and also revealed that Bugs Bunny is in line for a cameo appearance. That's more than enough to whet the appetite of fans who have been following this long-running rollercoaster of a story.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds goes Jim Henson
The Jim Henson Company got a major shout-out during the Five Nights at Freddy's panel, but that wasn't the only time the world of the Muppets graced Hall H this year. In a short preview clip for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, fans saw Anson Mount's character Captain Pike in the form of one of the Henson Company's puppets. That's set to be a memorable episode indeed.
Predator franchise unveils Arnold Schwarzenegger cameo
It's a big year for the Predator franchise, with animated movie Predator: Killer of Killers already streaming and live-action adventure Predator: Badlands on the way very soon. Dan Trachtenberg, who directed both projects, appeared at Comic-Con armed with the first 15 minutes of Badlands and a very interesting additional detail for Killer of Killers.
'Unfortunately, some bits of Killer of Killers were left on the cutting room floor, but recently we were able to sneak it back in," said Trachtenberg. He then played a changed version of the animated movie's epilogue, revealing Danny Glover's Lt. Mike Harrigan and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch from the original 1987 Predator movie as warriors captured by the creatures this time around. That footage will be added to the existing streaming release this week.
Read more: Predator: Badlands makes the monstrous hunter a hero. Here's what to know about the sequel (Business Insider, 3 min read)
Trachtenberg said of meeting Schwarzenegger to discuss the cameo: "We talked a lot about the things we could make together and he was very kind to approve his cameo in this. And we can now continue to cook up things that may be in store for that guy.'
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
The comedic rockers of Spinal Tap are back, with Rob Reiner returning to direct a sequel to the classic 1980s mockumentary. Reiner appeared at Comic-Con to debut a packed trailer for the movie, which features A-list music biz cameos from Paul McCartney and Elton John. It's almost certainly the only trailer this year to feature a Beatle and a Taskmaster star, in Kerry Godliman.
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer all return to their famous roles in the sequel and Reiner, for his part, praised the celebs who popped up. 'I was surprised at how good Paul McCartney was at improv,' said the filmmaker.
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