What to expect from SDCC 2022: Marvel to DC to Game of Thrones to Rings of Power

San Diego Comic-Con 2022 has been rescheduled. For the first time in 25 years, the largest American comic convention is welcoming in-person guests, panelists, and famous faces. Will the frisson of SDCC’s historical role as the Room Where It Happens win out and bring all the trailers and updates a fan could ask for? Or will studios — rusty from two years without the convention, leery of announcing plans in a still COVID-unstable world, and maybe even accustomed to running their own bespoke news events — play it safe and quiet?

We won’t find out for sure until this weekend, but for now, here’s everything that Polygon is keeping our eyes peeled for. And when it happens, you’ll find all our coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2022 right here.

Crunchyroll

Image: A-1 Pictures/Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is going to Comic-Con with a lot on its mind, given the acquisitions announced at Japan Expo 2022 earlier in the week. What’s sure to be on most attendees’ minds, though, is the question of what Crunchyroll will reveal about the upcoming fall season — more specifically, the premiere date for Chainsaw ManThis is the highly anticipated animated series of 2022.

HBO: House of the Dragon

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HBO’s first spinoff from the era-defining Game of ThronesIt is ready and set for the premiere of its new series on August 21st. Warner Bros. first will be giving a preview. House of the Dragon a whole Hall H panel to itself, and with the last trailer several months old at this point, you can bet that we’ll get another one with more footage and more of the story of the last great Targaryen king.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Image: Amazon Studios

Amazon Prime will arrive in Hall H with one thing in mind: The studio’s billion-dollar bet on the pre-history of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. We know very little about this plot. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but with the TV series’ premiere slated for Sept. 2, now is the time that Amazon will want to crank up the PR push.

Paramount: Star Trek and the D&D movie

Image: Paramount Plus

Paramount will be attending San Diego Comic-Con to host two large Hall H panels. One for all Star Trek, and one to promote Star Trek. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the upcoming live-action Dungeons & Dragons movie.

D&D: HATHugh Grant is set to star alongside Justice Smith and Michelle Rodriguez as Chris Pine. Filming wrapped last year and will be completed in March 2023. Which means it’s about time for Paramount to show off a teaser or trailer.

The Star Trek Hall H panel is sure to be hyped up by the studio for the return. Lower DecksAugmented series. With most of the rest of Paramount Plus’ Star Trek offerings slated to return in 2023, we can’t be sure of any teasers, trailers, or looks, but it’s safe to expect messages from the cast and crews about how they’re hard at work. And Paramount could always announce the next new Star Trek series it wants to set in its constellation of streaming originals — or give an update on one of its handful of theatrical Star Trek films currently in development.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Image: Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios

Rumors are already swirling about the potential revelations from Marvel Studios’ return to Hall H after three years away. The studio’s Saturday evening Hall H panel is traditionally the biggest hype moment of the convention, and the last time Marvel came to SDCC it was to reveal a torrent of news about its Phase 4 plans (all of which were pretty much immediately paused and reshuffled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

There’s so much news Marvel could potentially reveal on Saturday that we broke it out into its own post. The main question here is, will Marvel reveal its plans? Fantastic FourX-Men BladeAnd all other SDCC projects? Will Disney hold off on the big news until September when its convention is held? Or, will it just show Hall H some love instead? Wakanda for Ever: Black PantherAnd call it a day?

Warner Bros.’ DCEU

Warner Bros.

Expectations for Warner Bros.’ Hall H panel are bounded by some of the same questions as Marvel’s. In the intervening two years of the pandemic, the company cooked up its own successful streaming “convention” for all DC Comics news, DC FanDome. And sure, Warner Bros. hasn’t announced a DC FanDome 2022 yet, but it’s only August. It might use SDCC to reveal new castings, crews and directors as well as projects. The studio might choose to hold off until later in the year for its own news day.

Our dedicated post will provide details on what Warner Bros. has to SDCC, as well as the vast array of development projects that might feature in major updates.

Star Wars

Lucasfilm

Star Wars Celebration has been absent from SDCC since a long time. D23 Conventions and Star Wars Celebration have also been missing. Star Wars 2022 is no different. According to all reports, Disney and Lucasfilm have all of the latest about Andor, Mandalorian season 3, Taika Waititi’s untitled film, and any other updates about the franchise for a marathon panel at D23 on Saturday, Sept. 10.