George Lucas Makes Historic First Comic-Con Appearance

Comic-Con made its official debut Friday in San Diego, welcoming tens of thousands of fans of film, comics, and pop culture to its annual extravaganza from around the world—and this year, it also has a very special guest.

Pop culture titan George Lucas is attending Comic-Con for the very first time. Lucas, who is famous for the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises, has long been connected to the festival, which prides itself on being one of the largest celebrations of storytelling, film, and fandom in the world. But the event will have another full-circle moment for him.

“Nearly 50 years ago, Star Wars was given one of its earliest public showings at our convention, and we had a booth featuring [comic book artist] Howard Chaykin’s now iconic Star Wars poster as a giveaway,” Chief Communications and Strategy Officer David Glanzer said in a statement.

“That alone is a true full-circle moment for our Convention,” he added. “It’s only fitting that we celebrate George’s enduring impact on world-building and visual storytelling.”

Lucas is expected to join Queen Latifah at a Sunday panel where the two will discuss the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, set to open next year in Los Angeles. The Sunday discussion will also feature acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and Oscar winner Doug Chiang, the man behind many of the film designs that have continued to define the Star Wars universe over the past four decades.

Filmmaker George Lucas makes a rare public appearance at the Smithsonian’s opening day of Star Wars: Where Science Meets The Imagination in 2017, in this Oct. 21, 2017, file photo. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Lucas, del Toro, and Chiang will all attend the panel to celebrate the museum, which will feature a tribute to illustrated storytelling, films, comics, and concept art. The museum will also be home to Lucas’s extensive archive.

Comic-Con History: The Show’s Growth From Comics to Pop Culture Phenomenon

Comic-Con International began in 1970 in San Diego and was a small pop-up event just for comic book collectors. From there, the event started to expand to focus on everything from role-playing games to board games and television. By the 1990s, the group was calling itself Comic-Con, a brand now celebrated for showcasing the very best in storytelling, visual effects, and animation for over 50 years.

The event continued to grow as well, with the current incarnation of the event in San Diego reaching roughly 130,000 fans every year. Fans attend Comic-Con to dress up as their favorite characters from pop culture history, from princesses to aliens and warriors to movie heroes. They also attend the event for the rare chance to get a look at exclusive sneak peeks, panels, and world premieres of some of the most buzzed-about projects in Hollywood.

An Alien Invasion? Sci-Fi Films Conquer Comic-Con This Year

One of the biggest panel events at Comic-Con this year will be the world premiere of “Alien: Earth,” a new series that is a prequel to the Ridley Scott sci-fi classic “Alien” from 1979. The upcoming series, directed by Noah Hawley, explores the Alien mythology and will focus on a planet that has been infiltrated by the aliens, just a few years before the events of the original film.

The series will premiere tomorrow in Hall H, the most in-demand space at the convention, and will hit streaming services in August.

Sharing space with the Alien premiere at Comic-Con will be a new project with an unexpected twist, “Predator: Badlands,” a feature film about the science fiction franchise. Fans have gotten to know the mighty Predator as the hunter, but this time, the intergalactic slayer of choice will be the hunted. Dan Trachtenberg, the director who put the franchise back on the map in 2022 with “Prey,” will be on the panel with Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who plays the alien Dek.

Marvel Studios Will Sit Out Comic-Con in 2022

Marvel Studios has decided to stay away from the festivities at this year’s Comic-Con. The film division has said that the studio will not be doing a panel at Hall H this year due to the uncertain state of its next “Avengers” film. A source told Variety that the issue was due to logistics, as Marvel productions are still in production in the UK. Changes to the film “are afoot,” but the plans have been further complicated by the tight window for post-production on the project.

But while Marvel is sitting this one out, sci-fi is already picking up the slack with heavyweights in the space leading the charge for Hall H programming.

Ryan Gosling Joins Project Hail Mary Panel; DC Universe’s Peacemaker Follows

A look at “Project Hail Mary,” the film adaptation of Andy Weir’s new book, will be one of the other big-ticket events at Comic-Con this year. Weir was, of course, the author behind The Martian, but his new project will star Ryan Gosling as former schoolteacher Ryland Grace, who wakes up on a spaceship to find himself completely alone with no memory of how he got there, only to realize that he is Earth’s last hope for survival.

The project, set for theatrical release next year, will feature Gosling at a Saturday panel alongside directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who have created the Spider-Verse trilogy.

DC Universe fans will also be treated to news about the second season of “Peacemaker,” the new DC series. The show is helmed by James Gunn, who has just taken the reins of DC’s reboot, which will include Superman as well.

Fans can’t wait to get a look behind the scenes of the new season and to see some of the new footage from the series.