“Cease and desist!” A “lawyer” in an ACME t-shirt yelled up at the “Coyote vs. Acme” panel in the biggest room at San Diego Comic-Con, Hall H, the cavernous 6700-seat venue people line up for days in advance. “Coyote vs. Acme” was of special interest to Comic-Con attendees. Inspired by a witty 1990 Ian Frazier essay in the New Yorker, it is a hybrid animation/live action film, based on the idea that Looney Tunes’ Wile E. Coyote, after decades of backfiring Road Runner-capturing equipment from Acme, decides to sue them for damages. In 2023, after the movie was completed, Warner/Discover CEO David Zaslav decided it would be of more value as a tax write-off than a theatrical or streaming release and decided not to let anyone see it. Fans protested, and ultimately, Ketchup Entertainment took it over. In Hall H, moderator Paul Scheer joked that for legal reasons he could only say it was Acme that “dropped an anvil on the movie.” He and Will Forte, who plays Coyote’s lawyer, told the cheering audience that it was our support for the film that ensured its upcoming theatrical release, in late August of 2026.
The panel also included director David Green, Eric Bauza, who provides the voices for ten cartoon characters in the film, co-star Martha Kelly, and, in a surprise appearance, Wile E. Coyote himself, holding up signs to answer questions, as he does in the cartoons. The “lawyer,” of course, was another cast member. P.J. Byrne, who in character tried to replace the presentation of the movie’s trailer with a zoom call from his boss, Foghorn Leghorn. The clips we saw of the movie had the chaotic energy of the cartoons, and I especially enjoyed the lawyers’ opening statements in court, with John Cena’s character as Acme’s lead counsel and Luis Guzman as the judge.
Also in Hall H, there was a panel from this summer’s “Bad Guys 2,” moderated by Kevin McCarthy. The original Bad Guys were there, Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, and Awkwafina, along with new cast members from the “Bad Girls,” Danielle Brooks, Natsha Lyonne, and Maria Bakalova. We got to see a wild clip from the film as the Bad Girls hijack a rocket ship and the Bad Guys come after them. McCarthy asked them about recording “efforts,” the grunts and yells that usually come at the end of recording. Awkwafina told us about the sounds she had to make as her character is “going down a thousand steps while being electrocuted.” Rockwell’s were for his character’s hypothermia. Brooks said that because her character sucks on a lollypop, she had to as well during the recordings and developed a fondness for the cherry flavor. When McCarthy complimented Maron’s podcast interviews, Maron confessed that everything he knows about acting he learned from the actors he interviewed, sometimes brought on the show specifically for that purpose. Lessons that were especially meaningful to him included Martin Landau’s advice that acting is listening, Ethan Hawkes explaining that before filming “Training Day” he watched each of co-star Denzel Washington’s previous films the way a football team watches recordings of the opposing team’s games, and Al Pacino telling him that “acting is the pursuit of truth.”
Other big events included a first-time SDCC visit from George Lucas, a Hallmark Movie panel, Matt Stone and Trey Parker on this week’s headline-making episode of “South Park,” and Ryan Gosling presenting a glimpse of one of the most anticipated movies of 2026, “Project Hail Mary.”
More SDCC highlights:
Ray Costa’s composer panels are always at the top of my list. Movie score composers do not worry about whether you will want to hum the theme. They are as committed to the story and the characters as the writers, directors, and actors. In the 11th annual panel of composers for comic book and franchise movies, the discussion was about reflecting the emotions of the characters and the arc of the storylines. As Alex Seaver (“Arcane” Season 2), pointed out, that sometimes means a battle with the sound design team over what gets heard more prominently. In these scores, “every second has to have a purpose and lead somewhere.” He especially enjoyed the opportunity to produce full-length four-minute songs for each episode.
The clip Mick Giacchino selected to show us from “Penguin” had emotional scene with Sophia (Cristin Milioti) screaming at her brother as she is dragged off to prison. He told us she is has favorite character and it was “a dream come true, exciting to do something different with the character and find out what made her tick.” Like Mick Giacchino, some of the composers had to respect or incorporate previous themes for those characters or settings while creating something new. The Penguin wants to be in a higher social class, but he is also irrational. So he combined a string quartet with some percussion to create that emotional conflict. For “Andor,” Brandon Roberts said he had to “segue musical palate-wise” from “Rogue One,” “a beautiful kind of puzzle, to honor the script.”
Simon Franglen delighted the audience by giving us a sneak preview of the wind traders’ theme from the upcoming “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” He said when he worked on “Titanic,” there was no money for music. His background as a synth musician helped James Horner develop four minutes of the score as the ship first comes into view with more than three minutes on synthesizer. He talked about developing music for the Avatar theme park attraction. It’s a 3D world, with five hours of music.”
Michael Giacchino, moderator of the panel and father of Mick, said that composing the score for “Fantastic Four: First Steps” was not like “The Incredibles” (which he also scored), but like a mash-up of “The Right Stuff” and Disneyland’s Light Parade, filled with hope and optimism, like the original Tomorrowland.
When asked about AI, all the composers agreed that “people want to feel human people doing human things,” and ideally you bring on people who are better than you to create what Franglen called “random chaos,” though they value the struggle between human and machine.
Most of my favorite panels feature “below the line” talent, the unsung heroes of filmmaking who do the stunts, the editing, the make-up, costumes, special effects, and many, many more. Some of the best are put together by Impact24. Their “Game Changers” panel featured women who had come from backgrounds as diverse and surprising as aerospace engineer, lawyer, and banker, to shaping stories in Hollywood. Make-up department head Katie Machaiek (“The Rehearsal”) said that being able to experiment with digital tools to create wounds and other make-up challenges created a “more refined hand” when she was literally face-to-face with the actors. Sue Obeidi (Muslim Public Affairs Council) hopes she will be able to put herself out of a job advising Hollywood projects on Muslim representation. “Every story we tell is a matter of survival.” Allison Norlian (director of Meandering Scars) also spoke eloquently about the importance of representation, including mental illness and disability.
Their other panels included two composers connected to “Dora the Explorer” projects. “Dora” is a 25thanniversary reboot of the beloved series. Bobby Villarreal wanted the music to convey love, friendship, and belonging. Because questions are such an important part of Dora’s personality, he leaves chords unresolved when she asks one, to evoke the anticipation of discovery. Kenny Wood (“Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado”) said he was inspired by Bad Bunny and Camila Cabello, pan-Latino, “anywhere Spanish is spoken.” Though he recorded with an orchestra in Scotland, ¾ of the musicians watched Dora “after they have haggis for breakfast.” Eden Rousso told us stories about working collaboratively and drawing from each member of the writers’ room’s individual expertise on “Wylde Pak.” They took suggestions from a secretary and “even an executive.” As a theater kid, she enjoyed creating an episode about a theater camp, featuring “redneck goon” character Chuck, keeping in mind that “comedy is about subverting expectations.” Jon Griggs, editor of the popular “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” reality series said that one problem with the show’s success is that “the case becomes self-aware.” They think, “I’m a terrible person! I’m going to change that. And it is completely fake.” But one benefit of subsequent seasons is “not so much set-up. You can explore characters more.”
“Snow White” composer Jeff Morrow confided that he provided the whistle for Dopey and got the Disney archivist to find the same glass bottles used to provide the sound of the organ in the original animated film to dust them off so they could use them again. And editor James Thomas provided the chicken sounds for this year’s unexpected hit, “A Minecraft Movie.” Andrew Schmidt (WondLa) said the most important lessons he learned from co-producer John Lasseter is “make the world you’re building one that you would want to go to, everything comes from what best serves the story, and reveal the world from your protagonist’s eyes.” VFX supervisor and 2nd unit director Johnny Han (HBO and DC’s “The Penguin”) talked about the challenge of taking events that occurred in another film (“The Batman”) and presenting them from a different perspective, “pure sorrow and tragedy.” Nikhil Koparkar’s enthusiasm for “The Wheel of Time” began when he read all 15 of the books, long before he got the job. He got to create “an orchestral love letter to the series.” That included creating a song called “The Hills of Tanchico,” which he described as “a bawdy bar song that is hundreds of years old with darker undertones.”
Unsurprisingly, the stunt performers panel, titled “Selling the Hit,” was energetic, with a former Army Ranger, an Olympic athlete, and a fencing master. We heard about Nathan Fillion’s special consideration for the stunt performers, taking a break so that the stuntman could get on camera to earn extra pay. The story I liked best was from Janeshia Adams-Ginyard, who doubled for Danai Gurira in “The Black Panther.” She’s very good at falling out of a car. She’s not so good with bees. They terrify her. So, when she was being taken to set in a golf cart and a bee flew at her, she impulsively rolled out of the moving vehicle, scaring the driver more than the bee scared her. A classic Comic-Con moment was when the stunt people were arriving as the previous panel, VFX experts specializing in animals, were leaving. A member of each panel had worked on “Cocaine Bear,” but they never met until SDCC.
The Black Panel and the Blerd (Black nerd) panels both emphasized the importance of representation, authenticity, and pivoting to develop whatever skills might be called for. Jay Washington, soon to have a recurring role on “Euphoria,” spent 24 years as a professional wrestler, then became a stand-up comic. “After 30 minutes on stage, I needed a Gatorade, instead of after 30 minutes in the ring, needing a week off.”
Outside the convention center in the Gaslamp neighborhood and along the shoreline, there were elaborate installations with exhibits and interactive attractions from Dr. Who, Peanuts, Abbott Elementary, Aliens: Earth, King of the Hill, and many more. In Jacobs Park, behind the convention center, streaming anime app CrunchyRoll held a two-day festival of anime and anime-inspired music, including yama, INIKO, Yaejim and SPYAIR, with delightful anime nerd co-host Jacki Jing.
The Children’s Film Festival concluded with an endearing film about a 13-year-old girl with synethesia called “Magnetosphere” (now available on most streaming services). It has a lot of goofy humor alongside a perceptive depiction of the pains of early adolescence.
The vast Exhibition Hall had huge displays from Marvel, Peanuts, Netflix, Random House, and more huge brands, the motorcycle from the upcoming “Tron” sequel, LEGO Glinda and Elphaba, plus tables selling everything from comic books and original comic and cartoon art to t-shirts and tchotchkes from every popular IP, L. Ron Hubbard books, and something called Butts on Things, which is exactly what it sounds like.
The costumes worn by about 10-20 percent of the attendees were as wildly imaginative as ever, with classic characters from Disney animated films, superheroes from Marvel and DC, and up-to-the-minute designs from “KPop Demon Hunters” and “Fantastic 4: First Steps.” The one that made me laugh the most was a couple who used a cardboard circle and some well-studied movements to cosplay as the pair caught by the Coldplay kiss-cam.
I often describe SDCC as “the Iowa caucuses of popular culture,” where we first see the entertainment that everyone will be talking about 1-2 years from now. That’s not why people keep coming back, though. It is the most inclusive, supportive, instant community anywhere I’ve ever been, with something for everyone. 55 years after a small group of comic collectors got together to show off their treasures, even after the pandemic and the strikes and more competition from studio-sponsored events, San Diego Comic-Con is still going strong, surprising, welcoming, and inspiring new generations of creative people.
