A few weeks ago, I made my annual pilgrimage to San Diego for Comic-Con. The convention is known for bringing in the biggest stars to promote their latest movies and TV shows, and it's the place where studios will typically premiere new trailers or footage and make major announcements during panels.
This marked my tenth year since I first attended SDCC. Over that time, I've witnessed my share of memorable moments. I was there when the first Deadpool trailer was released, and I watched Robert Downey Jr. rip off that Doctor Doom mask last year. I even remember when the Supernatural cast gave away a real replica of the Impala (sadly, I did not win). I've camped out overnight in the Hall H line, run into celebrities on the street, and walked until my blisters had blisters on the huge exhibition floor. Despite the challenges of a convention with over 100,000 attendees, it's always worth it because SDCC offers pop culture fans something you can't get anywhere else.
The programming for the year will often dictate your enjoyment, and this year, most of the major studios, like Marvel, DC, and Netflix, skipped the convention, but that didn't mean it wasn't still a great year. As a huge movie fan, I found myself planted in Hall H (the largest panel room) for much of SDCC this year. That gave me the chance to see lots of exciting things. For the record, Comic-Con didn't contain any full movie premieres, but I did get to see footage and trailers from some upcoming titles that haven't been released online yet. So, I decided I'd rank everything I saw previewed at Comic-Con based on how excited I now am to see the movie when it releases.
8. The Toxic Avenger
The new Toxic Avenger reboot from Macon Blair had its festival debut in 2023, but ahead of its wider release, the cast and creatives showed up at Comic-Con to introduce audiences to their unvncentional superhero. The Toxic Avenger follows a janitor named Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage) who becomes a mutant vigilante named Toxie after a freak accident. He's not your typical Avenger, and fights off baddies with a mop and bloody disposition.
The film appears to be as campy and gory as the comedic splatter tone of the originals, but it didn't really grab me. There wasn't any exclusive footage shown - likely due to the movie's unrated nature (SDCC is a family convention after all) - and that meant it didn't leave me with anything memorable.
7. Five Nights at Freddy's 2
It's still wild to me that Five Nights at Freddy's is one of the most successful video game adaptations to date. The premise of the game positions you as a night security guard at an old pizzeria filled with haunted animatronics. For much of the game, you stay in one room, watching these animatronics creep closer to your door on security cameras. The fact that it translated into a hugely successful feature film that's earned a sequel is a testament to its huge fan base.
The second FNAF film continues the story of the first, which featured Josh Hutcherson as Mike, the security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, and his younger sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), who befriended the animatronics. Now, a year later, Abby goes in search of her old friends, and the twisted origin story of Freddy's is revealed.
I'll admit that I'm quite eager to watch the second FNAF film and the panel - which included Hutcherson and Rubio, new cast members Teo Briones and Theodus Crane, director Emma Tammi, producer Jason Blum, and surprise guest Skeet Ulrich - was very entertaining. I think what lessened the impact for me was the choice of clips that were shown. The panel ended by screening a scene showing a new group of characters investigating the original Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. This was all fine enough, except the clip barely included any of the cast members onstage, which seemed like a wasted opportunity given we'd just heard them discuss their roles for 45 minutes.
6. The Bad Guys 2
I enjoyed the first The Bad Guys film. It was an animated caper about a team of anthropomorphic animals attempting to shed their “bad guy” personas. It was charming and had a unique animation style that differentiated it from the usual family-friendly fare. I did not know that a second The Bad Guys film was even being made, but was pleasantly surprised by the panel that they put on.
This movie has some names attached, with returning cast members Sam Rockwell, Craig Robinson, Marc Maron, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, all in attendance, as well as three new additions, Natasha Lyonne, Danielle Brooks, and Maria Bakalova. The latter cast members join as the “bad girls”, a rival team to the bad guys, who get the reformed criminals into some new trouble. The clips from the panel promised more of the same, but it was the rapport between the cast that really sold me on this one.
5. Tron: Ares
15 years after Tron: Legacy and 33 years after the original Tron, Disney is returning to the franchise with Tron: Ares, a new sci-fi film focusing on the fears around AI. Tron: Ares looks at what would happen if an AI creation from the Grid entered our world, instead of the other way around. Jeff Bridges returns as Kevin Flynn, and Jared Leto plays Ares, with other cast members including Evan Peters, Gillian Anderson, and Greta Lee (all of whom attended the panel).
Just seeing this cast gathered together was enough to pique my interest, but Disney went the extra mile for its SDCC panel and made it a full-blown experience. Laser beams projected around the room made it feel like you were inside the grid, and the debut of the new Nine Inch Nails music video from the Tron: Ares soundtrack turned the room into a rave. If nothing else, this film is going to have great music.
4. Project Hail Mary
Amazon MGM's big showpiece at SDCC this year was Project Hail Mary, an adaptation of Andy Weir's popular novel. The movie is directed by Into the Spider-Verse duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller, with Ryan Gosling playing the lead role of Dr. Ryland Grace, a science teacher turned amateur astronaut who is the sole survivor on a mission to save Earth.
One of the fun things about panels in Hall H is that presentations will sometimes opt to use the giant screens on each side of the hall to create panoramic visuals. It's usually an expensive endeavour, but Amazon put in the effort this year, which resulted in a gorgeous visual spread, depicting some of the concept art and intergalactic stills from the upcoming movie. The filmmakers also debuted three exclusive clips from Project Hail Mary, hinting at the humorous tone and sci-fi style we can expect. It was a great showcase and rocketed Project Hail Mary to the top of my 2026 most-anticipated list.
3. The Long Walk
Stephen King is having one hell of a year. The Long Walk is the fifth adaptation of the author's work this year, following The Life of Chuck, The Monkey, The Institute, and the upcoming IT: Welcome to Derry. The Long Walk is a Hunger Games-style dystopian horror (ironically from the director of The Hunger Games series) about a group of young men who compete in a high-stakes contest that tasks them with walking until there is only one left.
The panel for The Long Walk got into the spirit right from the start, opening with an actor in character as the Major, barking the rules of The Long Walk from a megaphone. After brief intros from the cast, which included Mark Hamill, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Garrett Wareing, and Charlie Plummer, we were treated to a surprise screening of the first 20 minutes of The Long Walk.
I already knew this was my jam, but I was still impressed by the footage we saw, particularly by how efficiently The Long Walk sets up its characters, world, and stakes, getting right into the action within the first 10 minutes. Some scenes had to be blacked out because they were too graphic for the SDCC audience, so you can expect this one to pull no punches.
2. Coyote vs. Acme
Coyote vs. Acme is the film Acme (aka Warner Bros.) didn't want you to see. After being seemingly shelved as a tax write-off never to be released after the Warner Bros. merger, fan support convinced the powers that be to let Coyote vs Acme see the light of day. That meta narrative was very much acknowledged in the panel for Coyote vs. Acme, which saw actor P.J. Byrne interject throughout in character as an Acme lawyer, attempting to stop the filmmakers from showing any footage.
But show footage they did, and this could well be one of the surprise hits of 2026. Coyote vs. Acme is a blended live-action/cartoon comedy film that flips the script on the classic Looney Tunes animated characters, portraying Wile E. Coyote as the hero of the story. In this film, Wile is a disheartened victim of Acme's products who decides to take them to court by hiring a disgraced lawyer, Kevin (Will Forte).
We were shown the trailer for Coyote vs. Acme as well as some clips, all of which played immensely well with the crowd and totally sold the film as one that deserves to be released. It harkens back to the style of Looney Tunes: Back in Action, but with a modern edge and some great satirical moments.
1. Predator: Badlands
Heading into Comic-Con this year, I did not expect Predator: Badlands to be my movie of the convention, but it really blew me away. Dan Trachtenberg has revitalised the franchise with Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers, turning the classic monster universe into something that is so much more interesting than just the Predator hunting humans.
Predator: Badlands might be the most daring take on the Predator yet. This film is the first to feature the Predator as a hero, and gets deep into the lore of this alien species. Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi plays the young Predator outcast who is sent to an alien planet to attempt to redeem himself by killing the ultimate adversary, meeting an abandoned Weyland-Yutani android (played by Elle Fanning) along the way.
The panel opened with an on-stage appearance of one of the Predator characters in the film, and then proceeded to show the first 15 minutes of the movie, which included unfinished scenes. It's the kind of peek behind the curtain you can only get at a convention like Comic-Con, and even though the footage was raw, it did an impressive job of setting up this special new story in the Predator world. We also all walked away with free Predator masks, which I fully intend to wear in my screening.
It was a great year for films at San Diego Comic-Con, and I can't wait to see what's in store for next year. Drop a comment if you're adding any of these films to your watch list!
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