San Diego Comic-Con: The Movies and TV Shows We Hope to See

San Diego Comic-Con has begun and, to be completely honest, after years of no Comic-Con because COVID, I’m sort of in disbelief the event is even happening.

But it is happening and now that smash hit Top Gun: Maverick has brought cinema back to life, we’re excited for what we could potentially see at the show. Marvel, DC and all the usual suspects are attending — including Apple TV for the very first time!

Panels, presentations and screenings run from Friday to Sunday. Here’s a short list of what we think we might see at the show — and a few things we just want to see.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the next major release for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, hitting cinemas on Nov. 11, so we fully expect to get a glimpse at San Diego Comic-Con.

Crucially, Ryan Coogler returns to direct, alongside Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia and Danai Gurira as Okoye. But Marvel has committed to not recasting the Black Panther role after Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020, so it’ll be interesting to see exactly what direction this movie is headed.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

In my humble opinion, the Ant-Man movies have been some of the most fun, well-paced MCU movies to date, so I’m super keen to get eyeballs on footage from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It’s next up after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in early 2023, which makes me think we’ll at least get some info — maybe an appearance from Bill Murray, who apparently plays an unnamed villain in the movie?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

James Gunn already tweeted about attending Comic-Con. Does that mean we’ll 100% get to see our first footage of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? No, but it’s a possibility, especially given the fact the movie is scheduled for release next May.  Perhaps it’s more likely we’ll just get news about the upcoming movie. In the past, Gunn has shown early footage exclusive to folks actually attending the show. Either way, expect to hear more about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law

We’re less than a month away from the debut of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law dropping on Disney Plus, so we can absolutely expect a fresh glimpse at the show at San Diego Comic-Con. Despite all the controversy around the show’s CGI She-Hulk, I absolutely loved the debut trailer for this show. Tatiana Maslany is fantastic in everything she does, so I have high expectations for this one.

House of the Dragon

We’ve already gotten a proper look at House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel series focused on the Targaryens, but we can always do with more. 

And at San Diego Comic-Con it looks like we will get more. There’s a panel dedicated to the new show, which drops on HBO on Aug. 21. House of the Dragon is an interesting one. I’m keen to see how Game of Thrones fans — battered and bruised by the controversial finale to the last season — will react to the release of a new spin-off like this.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

We just recently got a new, extended trailer for the ludicrously expensive Lord of the Rings show coming to Prime Video. So far, The Rings of Power is looking good. Maybe not the reported $1 billion good, but interesting nonetheless. The Rings of Power drops on Sept. 2, so it’s running head-to-head with the aforementioned House of the Dragon, which is a fascinating meta-narrative in and of itself.

Not sure if we’ll get a major new trailer from Comic-Con, but hopefully we’ll get to see something new.

Black Adam

As someone increasingly annoyed with The Rock’s Instagram account (enough with the energy drink shilling already), I’m grudgingly curious about Black Adam. We’ve seen snippets here and there, but with the movie scheduled for release in the US on Oct. 21, we’re definitely going to see new footage at San Diego Comic-Con. The clue? A panel called “Warner Bros. theatrical session with Black Adam and Shazam: Fury of the Gods” was what gave it away for me.

And speaking of that panel…

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Man, I forgot the first Shazam! movie even happened, but yes — a sequel is incoming. Zachary Levi is back as Shazam, the alter ego of teenager Billy Batson. The movie is scheduled for December and will probably share connections with Black Adam. Hence, why the two are sharing the same stage at Comic-Con.

Expect footage of The Rock, probably via satellite, as he pumps iron at his home gym, swigging on a can of his energy drink.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

In addition to the above, there’s an outside chance we could get a first look at Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. I have a feeling we won’t see a trailer, given that movie isn’t out until 2023, but it would be nice!

Barbie

The upcoming Barbie movie sent the internet crazy with early glimpses of Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in hyper color spandex, but we haven’t seen a trailer yet. Hopes are high for the Greta Gerwig directed movie, which looks to be a fish out of water story that takes Ken and Barbie out of their Barbie world. There’s an outside chance we might see some footage out of Comic-Con. Consider this a prayer circle for an early Barbie trailer.

Severance

Severance is still the best show of 2022. So we were pleased to see Apple TV make its Comic-Con debut with a panel about the show this year. While it’s too early to see any footage, creator Dan Erickson and producer Ben Stiller did offer some tidbits on the direction of season 2, after Severance’s incredible (and shocking) season 1 finale. Apparently the goats will be explained…