Ryan Gosling is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the new Ghost Rider, and David Jonsson has been cast in Black Panther III as the son of King T'Challa — the two biggest casting announcements from a packed San Diego Comic-Con that ran July 23–26, 2026, at the San Diego Convention Center (The Hollywood Reporter).

Marvel had skipped Comic-Con entirely in 2025, taking a year off before returning to Hall H with full force (The Hollywood Reporter). The studio launched the official Avengers: Doomsday trailer at the convention and showed a sizzle reel to the Hall H crowd, with the cast appearing on stage (Marvel.com; Marvel.com). An "Avengers: Endgame Encore" screening was folded into the presentation. Marvel also introduced "Infinity Vision Tickets" alongside the trailer launch — a new ticketing option tied to the Doomsday release (Marvel.com).

Robert Downey Jr., who returns to the MCU as the villain Doctor Doom, told Entertainment Weekly that Avengers: Doomsday is "absolutely fantastic" (The Hollywood Reporter). Page Six has reported that Downey is earning $100 million across Avengers: Doomsday and the follow-up Avengers: Secret Wars combined — a figure The Hollywood Reporter noted without independent confirmation.

On the DC side, HBO debuted a new trailer for Lanterns, its upcoming Green Lantern drama, and screened seven clips from the series (The Hollywood Reporter). The trailer reveals the villain Sinestro and introduces the Manhunter threat (The Hollywood Reporter). DC built a "Lanterns Training Headquarters" escape room on the convention floor that took fans roughly 30 minutes to complete. DC Studios co-chief James Gunn was absent from the convention entirely; he was shooting Man of Tomorrow, the next Superman sequel (The Hollywood Reporter).

DC Comics had a strong weekend on the page as well, winning eight Eisner Awards — the comic industry's top honour — plus two shared wins, more than any other publisher. The company's Absolute imprint, a line that reimagines classic DC characters from scratch, is dominating sales and buzz (The Hollywood Reporter). The DC film Clayface released its trailer the week before the convention, adding to the studio's pre-Con momentum.

Johnny Depp made two separate splash appearances. He is starring in Paramount's Ebenezer, a film framed as a prequel to Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol with the poster tagline "Before he was Scrooge, he was … EBENEZER." Depp appeared at Comic-Con in full costume as Ebenezer Scrooge. Separately, he crashed a Directors on Directing panel to unveil the first trailer for a Ti West film — a surprise that left Zach Cregger, director of the upcoming film Weapons, visibly uncomfortable on stage (The Hollywood Reporter).

Mike Flanagan, the horror specialist behind The Haunting of Hill House, made his first-ever Comic-Con appearance and debuted a trailer for Carrie, an eight-episode Prime Video series adapting Stephen King's first published novel. Flanagan told the crowd the series will reflect how bullying has evolved since the book's 1974 publication, and promised twists in the iconic prom scene (The Hollywood Reporter).

Outside Hall H, the convention floor and surrounding streets carried their usual load of marketing muscle. Blade Runner 2099 had an official presence with events starting July 24 (Amazon MGM Studios). Promotional installations for Percy Jackson, The Rings of Power, and a project called Yaga were spotted around the Gaslamp Quarter (Deadline).

For fans, the 2026 edition delivered something the previous year deliberately went without: a full-throated Hall H from Marvel, a stacked DC slate pushing into both film and television, and enough unannounced surprises to keep the room guessing.