Much like Summer Game Fest is for gaming news, so San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) is for pop culture announcements in general. Even if companies, studios and creators aren’t at the convention, they seem to leap onto the headline train during the same period.

But before we look at a busy week, a tragic death has to mentioned. Eighteen-year-old actress Kaylee Hottle was killed in a car accident on 21 July. Deaf performer Hottle appeared as Jia, the last known survivor of Skull Island’s Iwi tribe, in Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024).

Lifestyle

Comic Con Africa is less than two months away – the Joburg pop culture celebration runs this year from 24 to 27 September – and you can expect the guest announcements and new attractions to start flowing freely.

Just this past week it was revealed that in addition to Morty voice actor Harry Belden, the performers behind Rick (Ian Cardoni), AND Morty’s sister Summer (Spencer Grammer), will be present for stage appearances, autographs and photo opportunities on the first three days.

In terms of comic creators, Canadian artist Mike Rooth will also be in attendance – on all four days. Freelancer Rooth has achieved especial success as a cover artist, working for all the major publishers.

Meanwhile, on the CCA local content front, Sanu Wara Studios will be premiering their Afrofuturistic animated short Yohance: The Kalfani Job. And that’s just to start, as a new Africa-centric fictional universe kicks off. Exciting times.

Film

After a couple of years’ absence, Disney returned to Hall H this year at SDCC, and made a couple of key announcements about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – with plenty of star power on the stage. The two biggest reveals?

  1. Ryan Gosling is finally joining the MCU as dark supernatural hero Ghost Rider. The film is due in 2028, with Deadpool & Wolverine’s Shawn Levy directing. Previously the flame-headed Spirit of Vengeance was played on the big screen by Nicolas Cage.
  2. Black Panther 3 is on the cards. The Long Walk, and Alien: Romulus’s David Jonsson will play T’Challa II, the now grown son of Chadwick Boseman’s Wakandan king and protector. Filmmaker Ryan Coogler is once more back at the helm, with Letitia Wright and Winston Duke as returning cast members. The film is planned for a December 2028 release.

On top of this, before the con, Disney and Marvel dropped a new trailer and poster for multiversal ensemble Avengers: Doomsday. Bringing back heroes from multiple beloved franchises, The Avengers (old and new), X-Men and Fantastic Four must band together to face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered.

Avengers: Doomsday releases in cinemas on 18 December 2026.

Apart for Avengers: Doomsday, the past week was heavy on the horror trailer front. Like the disturbing-looking Other Mommy, which stars Jessica Chastain, and releases on 9 October.

Then there’s a fresh, similarly intense trailer for Clayface. A standalone Elseworlds entry from DC Studios, this body-horror themed Batman spinoff comes to theatres on 23 October. Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie star.

Finally, there’s a new look at Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil, where the Barbarian and Weapons filmmaker puts his spin on the video game franchise. Coming across as a massive departure from the source material – though the emphasis is on terror at least – the film follows medical courier Bryan (Austin Abrams), who finds himself caught up in a viral outbreak in Raccoon City. The film releases on 18 September.

Series

Fan-favourite shows got a lot of love this week, with trailers for Reacher Season 4 (back from 12 August), Dark Matter Season 2 (28 August), and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 (11 November).

However, as streamers took the opportunity to showcase returning hits, they also spotlighted new series in their stable. Like Prime Video’s Carrie, which sees The Haunting of Hill House and Doctor Sleep’s Mike Flanagan driving a new episodic adaptation of the Stephen King classic, now set in the present day. If you don’t know the plot, awkward teenager Carrie White (Summer H. Howell) discovers she has telekinetic powers, which is fine and well until school bullies and her controlling mother (Samantha Sloyan) push her over the edge.

Carrie starts streaming on 7 October.

Also coming to Prime Video is Blade Runner 2099. Set decades after the original sci-fi classic, and Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, the Replicants are in control. But that doesn’t mean rogue factions of the synthetic beings aren’t still being hunted by the title characters, like Michelle Yeoh’s Olwen, a Replicant herself. She joins forces with fugitive human Cora (Hunter Schafer) to complete her task.

Blade Runner 2099 premieres on 25 November.

Keeping things sci-fi is Apple TV’s long-awaited adaptation of Neuromancer, the highly influential proto-cyberpunk novel by William Gibson. In the ten-part series, Callum Turner stars as damaged super-hacker Case, who is thrust into a web of digital espionage and high-stakes crime alongside assassin Molly (Briana Middleton).

Neuromancer starts streaming on 22 January 2027.

Finally, Paramount unveiled the first full trailer for animated series Avatar: Seven Havens. The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are driving this sequel set in the same fantasy martial arts universe. This time, young Earthbender Pavi learns she is the next Avatar after Korra, but times have changed. To be the Avatar now is to be hated, as Korra is considered humanity’s destroyer after she initiated a cataclysm that left civilization confined to a few scattered strongholds.

Avatar: Seven Havens premieres 9 October on Paramount+. The series will consist of two seasons of 13 episodes each.

Comics & Books

SDCC plays host every year to the Eisner Awards, which are basically the Oscars of the comic world. In 2026, DC Comics dominated thanks to its Absolute Universe imprint – particularly the books Absolute Batman and Absolute Martian Manhunter.

The full list of nominees and winners can be found here, but Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez’s surreal limited series, where cosmic entity the Martian enters the mind of FBI Agent John Jones, saw its name mentioned the most when awards were handed out. It featured in such categories as Best Limited Series, Best Penciller/Inker, Best Cover Artist, and Best Lettering.