Each Summer, people from all over the world come together in San Diego to celebrate popular arts by dressing up as their favorite character or attending panels for upcoming TV shows and films. San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) celebrated its 50th Anniversary with an event that treated attendees to announcements in animation, prime time television, films, conversations with figures in the entertainment industry, exclusive items, and many others to commemorate the occasion from July 17 to July 21 at the San Diego Convention Center.
The convention featured a stunning line up of panels for guests to indulge themselves in whether in a regular room or the infamous Hall H, which holds 6,500 seats for big named titles such as Westworld III, The Walking Dead, AMC’s Preacher, and Game of Thrones. By far the biggest announcements to come from SDCC’s Hall H is the unveiling of Marvel Studios’ plans for phase 4 in the Marvel universe, which includes Natalie Portman picking up the hammer as the new goddess of thunder in Thor: Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and many other titles that will be premiering in Disney’s upcoming subscription streaming service.
An announcement that caught many Hall H attendees off-guard, which followed the Terminator: Dark Fate panel, was when Tom Cruise showed the first trailer of Top Gun: Maverick in Hall H.
“[For] 34 years you guys have been very, very patient and I felt it was my responsibility to finally really deliver for you,” said Cruise in reference to the long awaited sequel “For me Top Gun…is about family, it is about sacrifice, it is about heroism, it is about aviation… it’s a love letter [about] aviation.”
Hall H remains a big part of Comic-Con as many camp out overnight to secure a wristband to see the cast of their favorite shows and movies.
Programming in other rooms included the return of Veronica Mars, a pilot screening and Q&A of upcoming show BatWoman, NBC’s The Good Place, The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, and plenty of others.
Limited Edition items are a part of the convention that many people anticipate because many are created specifically for SDCC and in small quantities which in turn many sell for a large profit, such as Funko and Lego items.
The fun is not only inside the convention center as there are many activities offsite in the San Diego Gaslamp, PetCo Park, as well as the buildings and the trolleys decorated with comics.
Conan O’Brien hosts specials of his Late-Night Talk Show where he invites attendees to special episodes themed around Comic-Con. These specials included guests, skits, and giveaways of Funko Pops of himself dressed as different characters.
William Fitz, from the Inland Empire, has been attending SDCC for years and never grows tired of imagination of other attendees and those in the creative industry. Throughout the week Fitz dressed up as Steve Harrington in his Scoops Ahoy attire from season 3 of Stranger Things and Green Arrow to “go all out” as he’s spent months crafting these costumes. Fitz expressed that many have repeatedly requested that he cosplay, or dress up, as these characters because he strikes a great likeness to them. Even as crowds grow larger with each year and it becomes harder to get a pass to SDCC with their lottery system, Comic-Con still holds a special place to Fitz,
“What I love about Comic-Con is how people bring their inner ambitions to life and how crafting their ideas for a network or community of individuals can show them all art forms of media in one fun packed memorable place to behold.”