No Marvel? Sci-Fi Thrills Take the Spotlight at Comic-Con

Comic-Con opened this morning in San Diego with tens of thousands of attendees. The pop-culture convention, a pilgrimage for fans of comic books, movies, and video games, has drawn many big names this year—but there’s one first-time attendee who, in particular, has longtime fans excited.

Sci-fi king George Lucas is attending the event for the first time in his career. He’s known as the creator of “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones,” two franchises inextricably linked with Comic-Con, but up until now had never made an appearance at the pop culture mecca.

The 2022 iteration of Comic-Con is, as David Glanzer, Chief Communications and Strategy Officer, said, a true full-circle moment. “Close to five decades ago,” he added, “Star Wars made one of its very first public appearances at our convention, alongside a booth selling [comic book artist] Howard Chaykin’s now-iconic Star Wars poster as a promotional giveaway.”

Lucas, who has been a crucial influence on generations of fans and storytellers with his visual style and his grand storytelling, will take the stage this Sunday for a panel hosted by Queen Latifah. He’ll be joined by Guillermo del Toro, a respected Mexican filmmaker and frequent collaborator, as well as Doug Chiang, a concept artist known for his Oscar-winning work on the Star Wars franchise. Lucas, del Toro, and Chiang will be joined by other guests to discuss their upcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a museum dedicated to illustrated storytelling in a wide variety of media: comics, film, concept art, and more. The museum, which will be opening in Los Angeles next year, will also house Lucas’s extensive personal archive.

The History of Comic-Con

Comic-Con’s 2022 programming will take place July 24–27, but it’s not the first time pop culture’s biggest celebration of storytelling and fandom has convened. In 1970, in what is now seen as a nod to nerd culture’s outsider origins, a group of local comic book fans met at the U.S. Grant hotel for a small get-together. From that origin story, Comic-Con has grown to be an all-access pass to pop culture, and around 130,000 attendees descend on San Diego to soak it all in each year.

Fans attend Comic-Con for any number of reasons: cosplay, merchandise, watching their favorite shows get teased, or hearing about their favorite directors’ latest projects. It’s also not uncommon for movies and shows to get their world premieres at the event.

Alien and Predator are This Year’s Big Buzz

The first day of the convention was not short on must-see announcements, with the day two premiere of “Alien: Earth” being one of the weekend’s most hotly anticipated. The series is a prequel to 1979’s Ridley Scott-directed Alien, and continues the mythology and lore of the franchise. Directed by Noah Hawley and premiering in Hall H tomorrow, the series is set “only a few years before” the film, and will debut on streaming services in August of this year.

Audiences will also learn more about Predator: Badlands, a new take on the long-running sci-fi franchise, with a key difference: this time, the Predator is the one being hunted. Prey, the last major movie to tackle the series, was 2022’s biggest sleeper hit, and director Dan Trachtenberg will return to the stage along with actress Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who plays the title alien Dek.

Marvel Won’t Show Up This Year, Sci-Fi Stars Have Filled the Void

Marvel Studios, which for the past few years has treated Comic-Con as a place to debut highly anticipated movies and series, will be taking a step back from the proceedings in 2022. Per Variety, Marvel will be skipping its big Hall H showcase because of disruptions in the production of the next Avengers movie.

Sci-fi and Comic-Con go hand-in-hand, though, and the sci-fi buzz has continued apace. Fans and celebrities alike are making up for Marvel’s absence in Hall H and ensuring that this year’s program will still be replete with buzzy moments.

In particular, Ryan Gosling will be stopping by on Saturday with his upcoming new film, Project Hail Mary, based on a novel by Andy Weir, who also wrote the book for The Martian. The new project, which will be in theaters next year, follows Gosling’s character, a former schoolteacher named Ryland Grace, who wakes up on a spaceship to find himself humanity’s last, best hope. Gosling will be on hand for the panel alongside directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who helmed the Spider-Verse trilogy.

Another major name set to appear in Hall H is James Gunn, creator of Peacemaker. While Gunn, who is also helming the DC reboot as a whole with Superman coming later this year, was also planning to hold a first look at the second season at Comic-Con, it has instead been postponed.

Peacemaker: Season 1 Photo Gallery

Fans will be treated to a first look at some new behind-the-scenes footage and a sneak peek at the second season, in which Gunn and his team promise even more action and space.

Sci-Fi, Cosplay, and Comic-Con

Cosplay and comic lore are other big parts of Comic-Con, and the hallways of the Convention Center will be filled with princesses, space warriors, superheroes, and aliens of all stripes, all dressed up to look like their favorite characters from the books, movies, and games.

All in all, this year’s Comic-Con has many promising notes on which to end day one, from George Lucas’s first-ever appearance to the buzz around the upcoming sci-fi flicks. Stay tuned to our liveblog for all the updates from Comic-Con on July 25, 26, and 27.