San Diego Comic-Con 2025 honestly surprised me in the best way. Going in, I wasn’t sure how SDCC Hall H would feel without the usual Marvel or big DC anchors, but once I stepped inside the convention center, the energy was already buzzing. You could tell everybody who showed up really wanted to be there. Even with the crowds, the heat, and the long badge lines, the vibe felt fun—like we were all in on the same secret.
SDCC on Friday completely flipped my expectations. FX walked onto that stage and basically said, “Hey, we’re just gonna show you the entire first episode of Alien: Earth,” and the whole room lost it. And I have to say, watching Noah Hawley take on Alien with this slow-burn, grounded tension was such a moment. You could feel the audience lean in—Hall H has this special silence when a room full of fans is all thinking, “Oh wow… this is good.” Then Dan Trachtenberg came out and casually dropped that Predator: Badlands ties into the Alien timeline, and you could practically hear everyone’s brains rewiring. People started whispering theories before he even finished talking.
SDCC on Saturday felt like the blockbuster day. Ryan Gosling walking out for Project Hail Mary—I swear the temperature in the room spiked ten degrees. The footage looked incredible, but the energy from the audience was even better.
Then we got Tron: Ares with Jared Leto and Jeff Bridges on stage together, which hit this perfect mix of nostalgia and hype. And James Gunn and John Cena brought Peacemaker Season 2 footage that was so chaotic and fun, the audience just rolled with it. It felt like classic Hall H again.
But Sunday was the day that really stuck with me at SDCC. George Lucas—George Lucas—walked into Hall H for the first time ever, and it felt like the entire room collectively paused to take it in. Hearing him talk with Guillermo del Toro and Doug Chiang about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was surprisingly emotional. You could tell everyone in that room grew up touched by something he made, whether it was Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or the countless storytellers he’s influenced.
By the end of the weekend, what struck me most was how strong SDCC 2025 was on its own terms. This was the year Hall H proved it can still deliver huge, unforgettable moments without Marvel or DC steering the ship. Between Alien: Earth, Predator: Badlands, Project Hail Mary, Tron: Ares, Peacemaker, and George Lucas showing up like a final boss, it felt like a love letter to sci-fi, genre storytelling, and everything that makes Comic-Con magical.
And honestly? If this is what 2025 delivered, 2026 is going to be wild.