San Diego Comic Con 2025 – all the biggest movie and TV show reveals from day 1
Your guide to all the big entertainment news from SDCC's first day
When is San Diego Comic Con 2025?
San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) 2025 begins on Thursday, July 23, and will run throughout the weekend until Sunday, July 27. Each of the four days has a packed schedule of celebrity panels, exclusive previews and interactive exhibits, but the first three days are the most busy for movie and TV show announcements.
I'm Amelia, the senior editor of entertainment at TechRadar, and I'll be bringing you all the info you need ahead of the SDCC's official start.
SDCC 2025's movie and TV show day 1 schedule
A reminder that the programming schedule for Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27 for Comic-Con 2025 are live! Click the links to view! #SDCC2025Sat: https://t.co/7PmMfDQCwI Sun: https://t.co/yXy73eGzsl pic.twitter.com/6GnfQUYAcOJuly 14, 2025
This year's SDCC will kick off with a celebration for the 20th anniversary for Avatar: The Last Airbender, followed by panels with the cast and crew of Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2, The Legend of Vox Machina season 4, Twisted Metal season 2, The Strangers – Chapter 2, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 and South Park season 27 on July 24.
SDCC 2025's movie and TV show day 2 schedule
On day two (July 25), we're expecting to hear about Outlander season 8 and the prequel series Outlander: Blood of My Blood, Resident Alien season 4, Upload season 4, Phineas and Ferb season 5, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Rick and Morty season 8, Alien: Earth, Butterfly, Nobody 2, Lil Kev, The Long Walk, Solar Opposites season 6, Lilo & Stitch, Gen V season 2, King of the Hill season 15, Predator: Badlands, Dexter: Resurrections, TRON: Ares, as well as upcoming Neon movies Keeper and Together.
SDCC 2025's movie and TV show day 3 schedule
It's another equally busy day on July 26 as the lineup includes panels for Bob’s Burgers season 16, the live-action Coyote vs. Acme, Futurama season 13, Abbott Elementary season 5, The Bad Guys 2, The Simpsons season 37, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, The Rookie season 8, American Dad! season 20, Family Guy season 24, Paradise season 2, Spartacus: House of Ashur, Ghosts season 5, Peacemaker season 2, Project Hail Mary, Interview with the Vampire season 3, IT: Welcome to Derry and Twisted Metal season 2.
SDCC 2025's movie and TV show day 4 schedule
The last day of the Comic Convention will play host to George Lucas for the very time (the Star Wars filmmaker has never been to the event), who will speak alongside Guillermo del Toro and Doug Chiang as part of a panel about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art that's set to open next year in Los Angeles. However, we're not expecting to hear any updates about new Star Wars movies and shows.
Why isn't Marvel, DC or Star Wars at SDCC 2025?
There are some notable studios missing from this year's SDCC. Marvel, DC and Star Wars have all decided to sit out of the pop culture event, despite each having major launches over the coming months, including James Gunn's Superman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and The Mandalorian & Grogu.
That means we won't get any updates about either studio's upcoming movie releases this year unfortunately. The decision not to showcase any upcoming titles in Hall H is reportedly down to funds, sources close to the matter reportedly told The Wrap. "I think it’s expensive to go and hard for movies to really pop there now and move the needle. It used to feel like a must," the source told the publication.
Despite their absence, we will still hear from DC Studios about the next installment of James Gunns' hit HBO Max series Peacemaker. The panel – which includes Gunn alongside John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, Frank Grillo, Sol Rodriguez and Tim Meadows – is reportedly set to show a sneak peek of footage from the upcoming new season on Saturday (July 26).
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 has an official trailer
Ahead of today's panel for Five Nights at Freddy's 2, Universal Pictures dropped the official trailer for the sequel to Blumhouse's video game adaptation.
Directed by Emma Tammi and starring Piper Rubio, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail and Matthew Lillard, the film will pick up one year after the "supernatural nightmare at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza".
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is set to open in cinemas on December 5, 2025, and while it will eventually come to streaming, it won't launch at the same time on Peacock like the first movie did.
Lego debuts 9 new sets at SDCC
Of course, Comic-Con International isn't just about the movie and TV show panels. The annual pop culture event draws in thousands of fans all geared up in cosplay outfits galore to take part in exhibitions, presentations, screenings and more.
Before SDCC officially kicked off today (July 24), TechRadar's managing editor of news Jacob Krol got a preview of Lego's booth at showstoppers the night before to see its latest range of new products.
Lego dropped nine new sets at Comic-Con 2025, including a stunning brick-built Game Boy that he got to try out. This was unveiled alongside Lego’s Batman Arkham Asylum set, which has stunning details and 16 mini-figures.
Jacob is in San Diego at the Convention Center in person, so will be bringing you all the latest as he sees it today. I'll be back tomorrow to cover the build up to day two of SDCC. Until then!
The countdown is on for 'Happiness Is Contagious" at SDCC
Jacob Krol tapping in! Apple TV+ surprised us all with a tease for a show from the creator of Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan, earlier this week. While walking around some of the activations, I spotted a bright yellow truck. It turned out that it wasn't just vibrant for vibrancy, but rather it was another teaser with the countdown visible.
It also has the exact cryptic phrase, "Happiness is contagious," on the front, and while they did hand out doughnuts for those waiting in line, the folks staffing the experience (or activation) were a little dystopian, repeating the phrase.
While we don't know what the countdown will reveal, although it's likely not a surprise drop of the series, it will provide us with information about the sci-fi drama headed to Apple TV+. It's likely that Vince Gilligan will cue us in a bit more. You can see the full countdown clock here.
First look at Ahsoka season 2
This one is for the Star Wars fans – thanks to Industrial Light & Magic on Threads, we're getting our first look at season 2 of Ahsoka. It's a highly anticipated return by many, including myself. While it's not a trailer, a clip, or a series of photos, it is a single photo of Ezra Bridger, played by Eman Esfandi.
Percy Jackson season 2 lands on December 10
Come sail away. #PercyJackson and the Olympians Season 2 is coming to #DisneyPlus December 10. pic.twitter.com/ihphQgkAKyJuly 24, 2025
Not only did Disney+ announce that Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 would start streaming on December 10, 2025, but we also got our first trailer.
It was shared on X (formerly Twitter) from the series' official account, accompanied by the tagline "Come sail away."
Predator: Badlands, Percy Jackson, and more from beyond the show floor
While there are countless booths for major entertainment houses – Marvel and DC, for instance – and toy companies – Lego, Hasbro, and Jazwares, to name a few – as well as artists, comics, and more inside the San Diego Convention Center, there are also countless activations around the city.
Like the 'Happiness is contagious' bright yellow food truck, there's also a Percy Jackson pavilion of sorts outside, and Predator: Badlands took over a space in a hotel to immerse you in the upcoming film. Aside from donning the iconic masks from the trailer, you'll find several unique activations inside, straight out of the film, and an out-of-this-world-sized character.
I'll have more to share tomorrow from the show floor and beyond at San Diego Comic Con 2025.
Prime Video drops sneak peek of The Legend Of Vox Machina season 4
Good morning! It's Amelia here, bringing you all the latest news from the first day of San Diego Comic-Con. First up on the agenda is the critically-acclaimed Prime Video series, The Legend Of Vox Machina.
Critical Role's Comic-Con panel gave us some big updates about the hit Prime Video animation The Legend Of Vox Machina. Not only is the TV show, which is inspired by a campaign from the Dungeons & Dragons reality series, getting a getting a fifth and final season, but we've also been treated to a sneak peek of the next installment (see the video above).
Season 4 of the show is set to return in 2026. But if that's too long of a wait, then fans will have the new series The Mighty Nein to tide them over in the meantime. The new spinoff is scheduled to be released on November 19, 2025, and will be adapted from Critical Role's second campaign.
Nickelodeon celebrates Avatar: The Last Airbender's 20th anniversary
Can you believe it's been 20 years since Avatar: The Last Airbender first aired on Nickelodeon? The hit animated fantasy series has been a force to be reckoned with in the years since, spawning a spinoff series and live-action adaptation.
And now fans of the franchise are also getting a new spinoff called Avatar: Seven Havens. Nickelodeon unveiled artwork from the upcoming show during its Comic-Con panel, giving us our first look at the new animation's dreamy style.
The 2D animated series "follows a young Earthbender who discovers she is the next Avatar" and wont' be the only new project from the Avatar universe that fans can look forward to. There's also the The Legend of Aang: The Last Avatar that's coming to theaters on October 9, 2026.
Peacock unveils new trailer for Twisted Metal season 2
It's hard to miss Peacock's Twisted Metal at SDCC. Between the countless Sweet Tooth clown masks and seeing cast members Anthony Mackie, Stephanie Beatriz, Joe Seanoa and Anthony Carrigan, you'd be hard pressed not to be aware of the hit post-apocalyptic action comedy series.
Ahead of the show's sophomore outing next week (the first three episodes of season 2 premiere on July 31), fans attending San Diego Comic-Con have been treated to a screening, a bumper car carnival ride (see pictures of this in the Instagram post below), and a panel with the cast and crew of the show.
During the panel, Peacock also released another trailer (see above) that gave us a terrifying preview of Sweet Tooth claiming that it's "time to play". Strap in folks!
Lionsgate drops new clip from The Strangers – Chapter 2
Sticking to the more scarier updates we've spotted so far at SDCC, Lionsgate released a new clip from the upcoming slasher movie The Strangers – Chapter 2 during a panel discussion with director Renny Harlin, star Madelaine Petsch and producer Courtney Solomon.
The clip sees Petsch, who's reprising her role as Maya, attacked by an axe while hiding in a room, and if you're in any way squeamish then you might want to skip watching it as there's some pretty graphic hair ripping on show here. Those at the panel, were also treated to several other equally terrifying clips from the movie.
The South Park creators were at SDCC, despite a busy week…
Matthew Bolton, TechRadar's managing editor of entertainment, stepping in here.
The world of South Park had an interesting few days. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone seemed to have a falling out with Paramount, which led to the show disappearing from Paramount+ – and faced an uncertain future.
But then a new deal was struck, which included multiple more seasons on the show, and confirmation that Paramount+ would remain as South Park's streaming home. And the deal was apparently worth a cool $1.5 billion, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
And then the first episode of the new season turned out to have a salacious depiction of Donald Trump in it prominently, and kicked off a new firestorm, just before Parker and Stone appeared on a panel at SDCC. It didn't hold the panel, up, though – here's Parker's short response to the situation.
‘South Park’ creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone kept it short and sweet with their deadpan response to the reaction over last night’s very topical Season 27 premiere | #SDCC 2025 pic.twitter.com/vccHPfjhkzJuly 25, 2025
Spinal Tap II's trailer is finally here!
The sequel to This is Spinal Tap is finally coming in September, and the first trailer is here. The band has gone their separate ways, but will come back for one last blow-out stadium gig – all filmed by the same documentarian as the original movie.
Paul McCartney and Elton John make appearances in the trailer, and it all looks very true to the spirit of the original. (For the record, I have tried to get my computer to put an umlaut over the n, as it should be, but it doesn't seem to appreciate the classics.)
Invincible season 4 gets a few more details
BREAKING: Matthew Rhys will voicing Dinosaurus in the next season of Invincible. #SDCC pic.twitter.com/kf2eCYot6CJuly 24, 2025
Robert Kirkman talked at SDCC 2025 about Invincible season 4, including that the plan is still for a 2026 release. He showed off images of Dinosaurus, played by Matthew Rhys, and also said that Grand Regent Thragg's lines have been recorded, but declined to say who the actor is.
He also gave a good glimpse of what to expect in the future, saying that, “roughly seven to eight to nine seasons I think would be necessary to do the complete arc from the comics of Invincible”.
You can pre-order the surprisingly affordable Lego Game Boy now
We mentioned earlier that Lego launched a load of new sets at Comic-Con, and one of the is the incredibly tempting Lego Game Boy, which costs a thoroughly reasonable $59.99 / £54.99.
It's now available to pre-order, and it'll be extremely popular, so don't miss out if you want one!