Comic-Con finally returns to San Diego this week, where new TV series Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones will go head-to-head in front of tens of thousands of cosplay geeks and nerds at the world’s most famous pop culture gathering.
Disney and its Marvel superheroes will also preview their upcoming movies and shows for adoring fans at the sprawling convention, which hasn’t fully happened in three years due to the pandemic.
“I think it’s going to look like Comic-Con 2019,” said the event’s chief communications officer, David Glanzer, although guests — whether dressed up as hobbits, dragons, or princesses — will have to wear face masks.
“We got through it. And if we come back now, maybe we’ll have tears of joy… it’s very emotional,” he told AFP.
Alongside 135,000 screaming fans, the comic book, sci-fi and fantasy extravaganza is drawing Hollywood’s biggest studios and their A-list stars to present upcoming titles – kicking off this year with Paramount’s Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves .
The first time the world’s favorite RPG is getting a mega-budget adaptation for the big screen, the movie will be out next March, starring Chris Pine, Hugh Grant and former Bridgerton heartthrob Rege-Jean Page.
But the week’s headlines are dominated by two huge fantasy series about to hit TV screens: Amazon Prime’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and HBO’s House of the Dragon.
The Rings of Power is Amazon’s hugely ambitious saga set in the world of JRR Tolkien’s books and well before the events of Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning film trilogy.
The series — which will span five seasons, the first of which starts Sept. 2 — reportedly cost Amazon well over $1 billion and is said to have been a personal obsession of founder Jeff Bezos.
Much of that expense went towards purchasing the rights to the Tolkien universe and lavish production values, with a significant sum set aside for “activations,” or immersive fan experiences at Comic-Con.
Amazon will bring its cast of hobbits, elves and dwarves to the venue’s cavernous Hall H on Friday, where fans who have queued for hours or even days can expect their first in-depth look at the series.
– Rings vs Thrones –
The following day, HBO will unveil House of the Dragon — the first Game of Thrones spin-off, set in George RR Martin’s fictional world of Westeros, out August 21.
Martin has downplayed talk of a rivalry between the two mega-franchises, insisting, “I want both shows to find appreciative audiences and give them great television.” Big imagination.”
“The more fantasy hits we have, the more great fantasy we’re likely to get,” he wrote in a blog post.
But HBO hopes its prequel can match the wild popularity of the original “Thrones,” which has been hit shows for eight seasons, spawned countless imitations, and garnered 59 Emmys — a record for a televised drama, the Oscars equivalent.
House of the Dragon, starring Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans and Emma D’Arcy, tells the story of the murderous, dragon-breeding Targaryen family some 300 years before the events of Thrones.
Its stars will be in Hall H immediately following a film presentation from HBO’s sister company Warner Bros Pictures, which will star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson promoting his upcoming superhero film Black Adam.
Elsewhere, Disney is keeping its own Hall H presentation under wraps, but rumors abound that it will finally be showing its much-anticipated Black Panther 2 sequel.
The week will also mark a farewell for AMC’s The Walking Dead as the gargantuan zombie TV series wraps up with its final season – and launches a new spin-off, the anthology-like Tales of the Walking Dead. “
But for Glanzer, Blockbuster Studios’ showcases are secondary to what Comic-Con is about: a community for their fans.
“Seeing people having a good time, enjoying comics and popular art is a gift I look forward to. I really, really do… We can come home,” he said.
“What’s better than doing that — and sharing it with your friends.”
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