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The 8 Winners and 4 Losers of San Diego Comic-Con 2026

io9 picks the best and worst from this year’s massive pop culture gathering.
Germain Lussier and Cheryl Eddy

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We survived another San Diego Comic-Con! This year saw the return of Marvel Studios to Hall H in celebration of Avengers: Doomsday and the MCU’s future. There were some notable firsts: horror master Mike Flanagan made his SDCC debut, and Apple TV got its own Hall H moment to highlight its genre shows.

And then, well, other stuff was not so great! Here are the winners and losers of SDCC 2026 in the eyes of io9.

Winners

Lanterns

The new DC show Lanterns hit the rare Comic-Con trifecta. Incredible panel with great footage? Check. Jaw-dropping offsite experience that immersed fans in the world of the show? Check. How about bringing fans who aren’t in town into the fun with an exciting new trailer release? Checkmate.

If any other property hit one or maybe even two things at the convention, it would be a success. But Lanterns even took things a step further. There was even a themed charging station near the convention center letting people charge their phones like Hal Jordan needs to charge his ring. How perfect is that? Yes, Lanterns did Comic-Con right.

Marvel Studios

We’ll admit it. Marvel Studios’ Hall H panel probably didn’t live up to the insane hype it had going into it. Does it ever, though? While we didn’t get news of an X-Men cast or any new footage released online, we did get a lot of hugely exciting and surprising news in the form of a Ryan Gosling Ghost Rider movie, a new Black Panther, and a fantastic Deadpool tease. Sure, the studio has done more in the past, but that was pretty great.

Those in the room got an even better experience, with a very exciting Avengers: Doomsday presentation, and there was a lot of buzz created by the Latverian Witch costume at the Marvel Studios booth, which changed every single day. Very few booths demand that kind of repeat business and coverage, but Marvel nailed that too. Plus, once the panel concluded, toys and collectibles from the film were revealed at booths across the floor.

So no, it wasn’t the world-changing presence fans dreamed up in their minds, but it was still above and beyond. Especially for those lucky enough to witness it in person.

Spaceballs: The New One

With still about a year until release, the highly anticipated Spaceballs sequel wasn’t quite ready to release footage to the world. But, instead, it delivered an incredibly hilarious in-person panel, lots of photo opps around the convention center, and, most importantly, one of the best jokes of the entire con.

Perfectly setting up the sci-fi parody, the team behind Spaceballs: The New One joked about how the film would start its own cinematic universe called “The Almighty Schwarz Saga,” aka the ASS. Then, they revealed even more plans for what they referred to as the “ASSwhole.” The hundreds of jokes spoofing Marvel Studios’ penchant to announce future movies created a viral sensation almost as good as new footage. You can see all the official images below.

Guillermo del Toro

Very few filmmakers can command a convention like Guillermo del Toro. The Oscar-winning director of The Shape of Water came to Comic-Con 2026, not with a new film, but for the 20th anniversary of arguably his most famous film, Pan’s Labyrinth. And through viral marketing, offsite events, and a killer Hall H panel, del Toro did his best to drum up interest in the re-release. The fact he made it very clear that the 3D conversion of the film wouldn’t be done with AI sure helped, too.

Mike Flanagan

One of the most exciting horror creators working today made his SDCC debut—yes, it was his first time at the convention—to talk about Carrie, his upcoming Stephen King series for Prime Video. Not only did he announce the date (October 7) and reveal the teaser, he also unveiled several in-room exclusive clips for appreciative fans, with several Carrie cast members also onstage to help bring context and excitement for what looks like a creative and contemporary adaptation of King’s novel.

Flanagan, lest we forget, also penned the script for Clayface, one of the few DC Studios movies to get an SDCC moment to shine (more on that below). So overall it was a win-win for Flanagan himself and all the Flana-fans too.

Blade Runner 2099

Prime Video had previously kept pretty tight-lipped about its new Blade Runner series, and now we know why: it was saving the big reveal for Hall H. A stunning first teaser trailer revealed the show’s cinematic visuals—including the “sunshine noir” of its dystopian world—and stars Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer brought some star power to the stage.

We were already excited to see Blade Runner 2099 thanks to the built-in goodwill of the franchise, but now we’re even more intrigued by what the streamer has cooking up.

Apple TV

Apple TV’s first Hall H panel provided a fitting platform for what’s become one of the most reliably great destinations for genre fans. Current hit Silo got a big showcase, with Tim Robbins emerging at the end to talk about his not-dead-yet character. The upcoming second season of Dark Matter got a solid tease, with an action-packed first trailer and Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly leading a cast and crew discussion.

But for us, the highlights were the surprise tease of Neuromancer, which wasn’t previously announced as part of the panel, and a catch-up with the creators and several cast members of recent horror breakout Widow’s Bay. As the audience shrieked in appreciation, you could tell everyone onstage was clearly still reeling from both the show’s viral success and its impressive haul of Emmy nominations.

San Diego

While there had been rumors that Comic-Con International might be scouting around for a new city to host its flagship event, we can put those to bed for now. As SDCC 2026 got underway, it was announced that the event is officially staying put in San Diego through at least 2030.

Losers

Leakers

The Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards were handed out Friday, July 24, but a few days earlier, a list of winners briefly appeared on the awards website. The error could have disappeared into the realm of quickly corrected internet mistakes, but a Reddit user seized the moment and reposted the list. It’s not the worst thing that could have happened to an awards ceremony (just ask the Hugos), but it’s… not ideal.

Cheaters

The best things at Comic-Con come to those who wait. And, often, those waits are very long. So when hundreds of people who put in the time to wait for highly popular parts of the con such as Hall H or Funko feel like they get screwed, it’s a problem. And when they get screwed by people claiming to also be fans, it’s unforgivable.

Though we have yet to see any concrete proof, rumors at and around San Diego were that people made counterfeit wristbands to skip the lines at both Funko and Hall H, leaving lots of people who had legitimately gotten them out of luck. Standing outside Hall H on Saturday afternoon, it was disheartening to see so many people with wristbands—which supposedly guaranteed them entrance—locked out because, somehow, the room was already full. The convention did its best to accommodate some, allowing many to stand along the walls, but it was a major problem that was handled poorly.

What kind of person do you have to be to cheat fellow fans out of their experiences? Fans who spent hours and even days waiting for an event? Would you want someone to do that to you? We’re disgusted at even the potential of it, and hopefully, karma is a bitch.

Noses

It was hot and sticky in San Diego this past weekend, and the convention center and surrounding streets were jam-packed with fans. Aromatic fans. Hygiene shortcomings are nothing new when it comes to these sorts of crowded events, but 2026 just seemed a little more fragrant than usual.

DC Movies

While DC had, probably, the biggest winner of Comic-Con with Lanterns, the lack of its movie slate was felt deeply. Co-president James Gunn did deliver a message in the Lanterns panel that he couldn’t make it because he’s shooting the upcoming Man of Tomorrow, and the cast and crew of Clayface made a surprise appearance in a Jim Lee panel. But after the disappointing reception of Supergirl, fans surely were hoping Gunn and his team would drop everything to show off a bit more.

Years ago, during his Marvel era, Gunn and his Guardians of the Galaxy cast flew to Comic-Con and presented a trailer while the movie was still in production. And yes, times are different these days, but that kind of push for Man of Tomorrow would have been epic. Or, at the very least, there could have been a full Clayface panel that everyone could’ve attended. It was just a wonky, disappointing showing.

And a special WTF goes to…

Johnny Depp

One of the oddest moments of this year’s (or any year, frankly) Comic-Con was when, during a panel with the directors of Apple TV’s Mayday and Sony’s Resident Evil, Johnny Depp came out in full costume to talk about Paramount’s Ebenezer. The move left everyone in the room very confused, and later, images of Depp at an offsite event just made things weirder.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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