Jeri Jacquin
It is day three of San Diego Comic Con 2025 and if animation is your thing, then Hall H and Ballroom 20 have plenty for you. The sun is shining; the weather is amazing so let’s get to it. Ballroom 20 has a total line up of shows including BOB’S BURGERS, FUTURAMA, THE SIMPSONS, AMERICAN DAD and FAMILY GUY. All the shows that are fit to test your funny bone to the max.
In Hall H this morning, more animation of familiar ‘faces’ comes with the film COYOTE VS. ACME. Coming the summer of 2026 from Ketchup Entertainment, the panel includes moderator Paul Scheer who is interrupted by Bill Pellicano (P.J. Byrne) yelling that he has ‘cease and desist’ papers claiming the movie is anti-ACME. Eric Bauza, Dave Green and Martha Kelly. The film is the legal push by Wile E. Coyote against Acme claiming he has suffered under their hands. Trying to capture the Road Runner and feeling ‘Hurt’ (thanks Johnny Cash), Wile sees a commercial for a personal injury attorney with the question, “Have you ever pulled the ripcord to your parachute and only silverware fell out?”
It's off to court with attorney’s Avery (Will Forte) and Crane (John Cena) as the judge (Luis Guzman) hears the case. As a Road Runner-Wile E. Coyote fan since infancy, I love this twist and can’t wait to see how Wile’s court case comes out when the truth about Acme fires off like a rocket skate!
Later today, my granddaughter and I will be off to see THE BAD GUYS 2 from DreamWorks Animation. Until then, moderator by Kevin McCarthy, brings the voices of Sam Rockwell returning as Mr. Wolf, Craig Robinson as Mr. Shark, Marc Maron as Mr. Snack, Anthony Ramos as Mr. Piranha, and Awkwafina as Ms. Tarantula to the screen. Clips from the film get the actors to talk about the difficulties of doing voice over work. The new characters to the film are Natasha Lyonne as Doom, Maria Bakalova as Pigtail and Danielle Brooks as Kitty Kat, also knows as The Bad Girls! I think the best part was the cast letting the fans know this was their full trip to Comic Con and Hall H. Nothing like experiencing it all with 7,000 of your closest friends, right?
Star Trek Universe has a place in the big hall today as moderator Robert Picardo who played The Doctor in STAR TREK: Voyager and will be returning for STAR TREK: Strange New World and STAR TREK: Starfleet Academy, along with co-show runners and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau. Always full of surprises, Hall H fans got a screening to an upcoming episode A Space Adventure Hour and an episode with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop puppets. The list was long for this panel of Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Paul Wesley and executive producers Akiva Goldsman who says, “We think of you all the time when we are in the writer’s room and what would the fans want and love”, Henry Meyers and Alex Kurtzman.
A trailer for STAR TREK: Starfleet Academy gives fan a look at Holly Hunter as Chancellor Nahla Ake and Paul Giamatti as the evil Nus Braka. The cadets include Sandro Rosta, Karim Diane, Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins and Bella Shepard. If you need something more of Star Trek, head over to the Gaslamp Quarter and step inside the immersive Strange New Spectacle and go into different worlds brought about by Strange New Worlds.
The upcoming film PROJECT HAIL MARY brings directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, along with author Any Weird and THE MARTIAN screenwriter Drew Goddard to the panel in Hall H. Don’t think for a moment that last night lightshow was the one any only because galactic maps look absolutely stunning in the stretchy screens. The film tells the story of Ryan Gosling’s character Ryland Grace who is a school teacher who becomes an astronaut. Up in space, he suddenly wakes up on a space station and doesn’t remember who he is or what he is suppose to be doing. Twelve light years from Earth, he has to use duct tape and a table knife (figurately speaking) to do what needs done.
Gosling, who received a very loud reception by the audience and gives a shout out to Hall H, says the film is, “about a scared guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing and I was a scared guy who didn’t know what I was doing, trying to turn it into a movie.” It explains why he wanted Andy Weird as part of the project calling him the greatest science fiction writer, I’d blush! Amazon MGM Studios is set to release the film March 2026. As a fan of THE MARTIAN, I can’t wait to see how this looks on screen and plays out.
For Season 2 of HBOMax’s PEACEMAKER, moderator Josh Horowitz returns hyping up fans after we see a trailer. James Gunn’s universe brings the panel Tim Meadows, Frank Grillo, Steve Agee, Freddy Stroma, Jennifer Holland, executive producer James Gunn and, of course, John Cena who comes out in costume. After chugging a full bottle of water, Cena makes his apologies for any ‘mishaps’ that may follow warning he needed to stay hydrated. Meadows wanted to make it clear that he thinks the fans are so nice shouting “I love you too Mom” to a fan in the audience.
Cena says wearing a costume is what he is needed because it’s Comic Con! The crowd then goes wild when Horowitz mentions SUPERMAN as Cena gives a standing ovation next to Gunn. So, PEACEMAKER Season Two falls under the guise of the new DCU as Gunn explains, “The SUPERMAN leads directly to the show, the show happens a month after the events of Superman. A lot of the characters return from season one and there is a lot more as we go down the line. It is part of the DCU now.” When asked about working in the Gunn universe, Grillo says quite loudly, “It’s FUN!” Holland says, “The most unique thing for me is that James’ improv writes while we are filming so he is throwing improv lines while we are filming and he is laughing the whole time he’s doing it. It is a lot of fun.”
Gunn continues, “I like television shows where there is growth and sometimes regression. Peacemaker is a different guy this year, he is dealing with the demons and has uncovered from the first season and the world isn’t accepting him. They aren’t accepting him as a hero, he’s in love with Amelia Harcourt and she isn’t accepting him. He isn’t getting anything he wants so he discovers another universe and he thinks it’s the perfect universe and it goes from there.” Cena adds, “I’m doing great! Gosh, I applaud James for his ability to tell stories through super circumstances and make material we can all relate to is so important. When we watch these larger-than-life characters go through their journey, it needs to be something we can root for. I never want to tell the audience how to feel but what I see is someone going through a rough patch in life and thinks the grass is greener on the other side. I think people will enjoy that lane of the season.”
Tim Meadows (of SNL fame and other films) gets the call to be a part of the comic universe and says, “I was very excited and my manager said James wanted to facetime with me. I didn’t want to fan-boy out to hard but he explained to me the character and the arc and it was the easiest negotiating ever.” Gunn says, “we were desperate! We interviewed so many and none of them fit the character and I thought Meadows might be good. He came in day one and the role was written for him, he was perfect.” Grillo adds, “When James Gunn calls you and says ‘I got this’, it isn’t like ‘okay send me the script’, it’s okay – you don’t have to send me anything, just tell me where to show up. When that call comes, there is no question that you are going to do it. It is about the captain!”
Anne Rice has always been one of my favorite authors and my love affair with her world begin in 1976 and Interview with a Vampire before it ever became a film with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas. AMC has been on top of her work bringing INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE to the screen for its 3rd season changing its name to THE VAMPIRE LESTATE as well as the return of MAYFAIR WITCHES, and now THE TALAMASCA: The Secret Order which premiers in October.
Sam Reid looks exactly like the Lestat in my head and is on his way to being a rock star and going on tour along with Gabrielle, Nicholas, Marius (oh goodness read his story!) and Magnus joining Louis played by Jacob Anderson, Armand and the rest of the gang in what can only be called vampiric need for therapy. Jennifer Ehle, Christopher Heyerdahl, Damien Atkins, Ella Ballentine is Baby Jenks and Jeanine Serrales takes on the role of Christine. Reid says in Season 3, that Lestat is, “living a rock star life in its hedonistic and most authentic way. Right now, he wants to be completely engulfed in the music and it lights a fire in him.”
Moderating is Damian Holbrook as Eric Bogosian has crossed over from Interview to Talamasca portraying writer Daniel Molloy, who is being summoned to speak with Louis once again. The stars include Nicholas Denton, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Celine Buckens, William Fichtner (be still my heart) along with showrunners John Hancock, Mark Lafferty and Mark Johnson. Since finishing up her long role on Downton Abbey, Elizabeth McGovern moves on to a role in the series and I’m so thrilled for her to be a part of this new world. If you don’t know anything about the Talamasca (and I highly suggest you read about them because its awesome), this secret group basically tracks witches and vampires all over the world. Another amazing bit of it all is that Anne Rice’s son, Christopher Rice will be part of showrunning the series.
Can you believe it? One more day and San Diego Comic Con 2025 will be coming to a close. Tomorrow is a great time for families to bring the kids and explore all the fun things to see and do both inside the exhibit hall and outside behind the Convention Center and in the Gaslamp. I have one more stop in Hall H before bidding everyone adieu till we meet again in 2026!
