Comic-Con wrapped up

Comic-Con carried on through the weekend, a little bit of a muted year—it didn’t feel like I had to stay glued to my inbox for announcements and trailers this time around—but there were still some big highlights. One of which is: Sydney Chandler showed up for Alien: Earth and everyone was super normal. I mean that sincerely, if that stuff about her blowing off an interview hadn’t landed in Variety last week, none of us would have thought twice about the behind-the-scenes of this show, but now I am side-eyeing everything. How much of this goodwill do I trust? 

Also, let’s take a moment to credit Timothy Olyphant for showing up in an actual outfit, even if it does look like he’s running for Mayor of Candyland:

The biggest “get” of this year’s gathering of the dorks, though, was undoubtedly Ryan Gosling, who showed up to promote Project Hail Mary. He is also, apparently, bringing trucker hats back.

One thing that makes Comic-Con quieter these days is withholding more trailers and footage from the internet. I get that, especially since the pandemic, they want to reward those who show up in person with more exclusives, but I am just pointing out that Ryan Gosling is infrequently seen in between gigs, and one way to maximize exposure for both Project Hail Mary and Comic-Con would be pairing his appearance with new footage, but whatever. We’re all going to go see this movie anyway. Or are we? I always have to remind myself that Gosling’s internet popularity doesn’t translate to box office. He’s more famous than people go see his movies, on average.

Another of the biggest panels was for Tron: Ares. The whole cast turned up, including Jeff Bridges and Jared Leto, who is clearly on his best behavior. He’s really trying to get us to forget about the cult stuff and allegations of grooming and impropriety. He might also be trying to erase the memory of his appearance during the Suicide Squad days, when he annoyed everyone. On the bright side, Greta Lee was there, too. I’m seeing Tron: Ares for her and Nine Inch Nails, frankly.

In other Comic-Con news, Sterling K. Brown was there to promote Paradise, and was joined by Shailene Woodley, who will co-star in season two.

My favorite moment, though, was Paul Scheer introducing Wile E. Coyote for the Coyote vs. Acme panel.

The film, salvaged from the Warner Bros. Discovery trash heap, will be released exclusively in theaters in August 2026. That’s a long ass wait, but I am seated, I am anticipatory, I am filing my nails and preparing my popcorn. Of the film’s journey to screen, star Will Forte said, “The real hero of this movie is all of you guys sitting in those seats. Like Wile E. Coyote, you guys were an underdog who fought against a major corporation, and because you never gave up, this movie is now going to come out in wide global release.”

I genuinely cannot WAIT to see a trailer for this movie. I fear the pressure put on it, though, because it was so infamously scheduled for deletion, it feels like if it isn’t the best movie ever, people will wonder if the effort was worth it. Worth it to save creative effort from relegation for tax write-offs? Yes. Even if the movie sucks. But as a life-long Looney Tunes fan, and a fan of the Roadrunner cartoons, in particular, I just want Coyote vs. Acme to be good for its own sake. 

Finally, I leave you with this, what Comic-Con is really all about…Daniel Dae Kim doing a dramatic reading of “Soda Pop” from KPop Demon Hunters. It’s the song of the summer!