Comic-Con 2025: Star Wars Creator Joins the Celebration

Comic-Con opened its doors to tens of thousands of pop culture fans in San Diego this week—and this year, one comic universe creator in particular is making a highly anticipated and historic appearance at the convention.

Acclaimed movie director George Lucas will be in attendance at Comic-Con for the first time this year. Although his movie universes “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” have deep roots in the convention, Lucas has never before attended the world-famous event and celebration of story, film, and fandom.

The announcement is a major moment in the 53-year history of Comic-Con. “Close to 50 years ago, Star Wars premiered at our convention, which is why George Lucas’s presence in San Diego this weekend is such a true full-circle moment for us,” David Glanzer, Chief Communications and Strategy Officer for the organization, said in a statement. “When we debuted our con … we had a booth featuring [comic book artist] Howard Chaykin’s now-iconic Star Wars poster as a giveaway. We’re thrilled to be welcoming a man who has had such a deep and abiding impact on the art of world-building and visual storytelling.”

Lucas will appear on a special Sunday panel moderated by Queen Latifah. The conversation will center around Lucas’s upcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which will open in Los Angeles next year. The discussion will also feature acclaimed Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro and Oscar-winning artist Doug Chiang, whose artwork and design have shaped Star Wars for decades. Lucas, del Toro, and Chiang will discuss the new museum, which is dedicated to the art of illustrated storytelling and narrative through film, comics, and concept art. The museum will also feature a “large archive” from Lucas’s collection.

Comic-Con Through the Years

San Diego Comic-Con was founded in 1970 as a one-room event that was originally intended as a small gathering for comic book fans. The pop culture mecca has grown over the years, with annual attendance hovering around 130,000. Comic-Con offers more than cosplay, collectibles, and movies. Attendees come for a chance to see sneak peeks, participate in panel discussions, and catch world premieres from Hollywood’s buzziest films, series, and games.

Alien and Predator Premiere

Comic-Con will also see the world premiere of “Alien: Earth,” a new series that will serve as a prequel to director Ridley Scott’s iconic 1979 Alien. Set just a few years before the events of Scott’s film, the new series will further explore the universe and mythos. Noah Hawley will direct the new series, which will premiere tomorrow in Hall H—the most coveted and anticipated venue at Comic-Con—and will be available to stream in August.

Rivaling the Alien premiere will be Predator: Badlands, a new feature film in the popular science fiction series. The new movie will serve as an intriguing spin on the franchise: for the first time, the Predator is the hunted. Prey director Dan Trachtenberg will be on the panel, along with actors Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who plays the alien Dek.

Marvel Making a Smaller Splash This Year

Marvel Studios, which usually headlines in Hall H, has announced that it will not have a full panel this year at Comic-Con. In a statement to Variety, Marvel Studios said the upcoming Avengers installment had to “pivot and change during production due to continued geopolitical unrest in the U.K.,” which ultimately led to the studio opting to forgo a Hall H experience this year.

Despite Marvel’s scaled-back plans, many pop culture heavyweights are eagerly stepping in to take up the space. From now through Sunday, Hall H will be reserved for sci-fi titans and heavyweights to keep fans amped and excited for the weekend.

Ryan Gosling, Peacemaker, and More

Comic-Con will also play host to a special screening of Project Hail Mary, a film based on the book of the same name by the Martian author Andy Weir. The movie, which is due out in theaters next year, stars Ryan Gosling as former school teacher Ryland Grace, who wakes up on a spaceship with no other crew and realizes he’s the last hope for humankind. Gosling will appear at Saturday’s panel alongside directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who are currently helming the Spider-Verse trilogy.

DC fans will also be able to check out exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and sneak peeks from the second season of Peacemaker, and creator James Gunn will be joined by the cast at Comic-Con to talk about the show. Gunn has recently been tapped to take the helm of DC’s full reboot of the Superman mythos.

Don’t Forget the Costumes

Comic-Con is, of course, one of the premier cosplay conventions of the year. Tens of thousands of fans are expected to fill the San Diego Convention Center dressed as their favorite princess, warrior, alien, or hero. Comic-Con will run through Sunday, July 27.

Whether you’re here to check out George Lucas’s comic universe in person for the first time at Comic-Con, see a tiny bit of the alien planet for the first time on Earth, or learn more about comic book lore and cosplay, Comic-Con 2022 is shaping up to be one for the history books.