The pop culture extravaganza that is Comic-Con International is back to its old ways. Stars, cosplayers and hordes of fans fill the San Diego Convention Center in full force for the first time since 2019. Here’s a look at this year’s version of the four-day festival.
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Jay Acey, left, dressed as A-Train from the TV series The Boys, Faeren Adams, center, dressed as Marvel superhero Doctor Strange, and Derek Shackleton, dressed as Marvel superhero Moon Knight, they walk together outside Preview Night at Comic-2022. Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022 in San Diego. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/The Associated Press)
The pandemic required virtual versions of Comic-Con in the summers of 2020 and 2021, and a scaled-down in-person version in November. It was nothing like the usual show, with lovers of all things geek descending from all over the world and arena-sized panels in movies and TV shows resembling sporting events.
It’s unclear whether the convention will attract the estimated 135,000 people who flooded San Diego before the pandemic. But when the doors to the Convention Center opened for Wednesday’s presentation night, fans came in droves, soaking up the floor. As required, almost everyone wore masks: the protective one, not the supervillain one, although there were plenty of those too, and the excitement in the crowd was palpable.
“Everybody’s been shut down for a while, and they expected it,” said Dinh Truong, 34, who came to Comic-Con for the second time from his hometown of Minneapolis. “It’s nice to see everyone in the same atmosphere. I’m excited to see the show, see what happens, see everyone cosplaying and all that, and get back to who we were before.”
Much bigger crowds are expected on Thursday, when the events begin in earnest.
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CFX’s Jenn Brown adjusts a silicone mask based on Pinhead from the Hellraiser film franchise at her booth during preview night at Comic-Con International 2022 at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/The Associated Press)
Chances are no one missed the convention in person more than the captains, queens, and cosplay connoisseurs. Comic-Con is their Met Gala, and no outfit is too elaborate.
Lorelei McKelvey, 54, who is from San Diego but now lives in Yokosuka, Japan, was dressed as Captain Carter, the British counterpart to Captain America during World War II.
“I had to make one that I could authentically replicate,” McKelvey said. “I went to research and found out what the real leathers British officers wore in World War II were, and I found manufacturers who actually made those leathers.”
He strode across the floor of the Convention Center in real officer’s cavalry boots and Royal Air Force gloves, and carried a two-kilo steel shield.
McKelvey came to Comic-Con and worked a booth for 20 years straight. This is her first time coming as a cosplayer, and her second as a trans woman, and she’s excited to be reunited with the dear friends she’s made here.
“My last convention is the first time I’ve been seen as Lorelei,” McKelvey said. “It’s the first time they’ve seen me four years later and to see how I’ve grown since then.”
Others walked the halls Wednesday including Star Wars Stormtroopers, the Mandalorian, Wonder Woman and Sailor Moon. Chuckie from Child’s Play emerged from a cosplayer’s stomach.
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Rylee Stubberfield and Reese Bartolome, of San Marcos, Calif., pose with oversized Lego The Mighty Bowser on display Wednesday at Comic-Con International in San Diego. (Images by Christy Radecic/AP for The LEGO Group)
Comic-Con makes most of its news as a place to showcase trailers and footage of upcoming movies and TV shows during the star-studded mega panels held in Hall H, which holds about 6,000 people. Announced panels include Warner Bros. and DC Universe’s Black Adam. It will include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who plays the titular anti-hero, director Jaume Collet-Serra, and the stars who play Hawkman, Dr. Fate and other members of the Justice Society.
“Get ready, because the hype is real,” Johnson said earlier this month in fighter promo mode on Instagram. “Guess who’s coming to town, the most electrifying man in the entire DC Universe.”
Warner Bros. will also preview Shazam: Fury of the Gods.
Marvel may be holding back their best material for Disney’s upcoming D23 Expo, but they’re expected to tease their upcoming film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and the Disney+ TV series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
A pair of highly anticipated fantasy prequels will also give fans a taste of their worlds. A new trailer was released Wednesday ahead of an HBO Max panel that will show the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon , set 200 years before the original series.
Amazon goes back in time 2,000 years for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a story of the emergence of evil among the elves long before Frodo and Bilbo walked through Middle Earth. His panel this year comes 21 years after director Peter Jackson showed footage from the first of the original films at Comic-Con.