Comic-Con 2025 was…meh – The Observer

San Diego Comic-Con 2025 was disappointing.

Usually, the convention sets the internet ablaze with major announcements and teaser trailers. Some studios have been shooting for so long that they can afford to show full-blown scenes for upcoming movies and TV shows. Others have barely started, but that does not stop them from teasing audiences with concept art and interviews with the creative minds behind highly anticipated adaptations.

In a sense, San Diego Comic-Con sets the stage for the next 12 months of entertainment. Studios and publishers from every field use the platform to market their content to the masses. But Comic-Con 2025 was surprisingly muted. Marvel and DC are partly to blame.

Whatever you think of them, comic book movies are the engine driving Hollywood in the 21st Century. Marvel and DC are the biggest names in that arena, and they use Comic-Con to promote their upcoming slate of movies and shows. However, both companies have just entered the rebuilding stage.

The MCU fell off after Avengers: Endgame, releasing a string of mediocre projects that diluted their brand and killed the fervent loyalty Marvel had nurtured. Right now, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are Kevin Feige’s only objective. Every other upcoming project can wait.

James Gunn is in a similar boat, having wiped the slate clean after a series of disastrous film releases. So far, Superman 2025 is a critical and financial hit. However, one successful film is not enough. The director has an entire interconnected universe to construct.

Until he gets all his ducks in a row, Gunn is hesitant to repeat the mistakes of his predecessors, who flooded the internet with announcements of projects they ultimately failed to deliver.

In the absence of major announcements and teasers from DC and Marvel, San Diego Comic-Con 2025 felt significantly diminished. The cast of Peacemaker promoted the upcoming second season, explaining how it would transition from the old (and dead) DCEU to the new and fresh DCU.

But the first trailer came out weeks ago. We already knew what to expect, so naturally, the Comic-Con footage had nothing new to offer. IT: Welcome To Derry looks…okay. The nine-episode TV show debuts in October. But after two live-action films in this franchise, I don’t see the point of a prequel series.

Paramount will celebrate Star Trek’s 60th Anniversary with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, an upcoming TV show that follows a crop of young students hoping to become Starfleet officers. I’m torn. As a Star Trek fan, Starfleet Academy does not look or feel anything like the Star Trek I like (Next Generation, Deep Space Nine).

The glossy sheen and YA-style stories are off-putting. But at the same time, Star Trek can only survive by cultivating new fans. That means taking the franchise in a newer, fresher direction But even with that perspective in mind, the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy trailer was tame.

Nothing about what we saw left a mark. Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 has a release date (December 10). The trailer introduced Athena, Tantalus, and Thalia. But again, I don’t like Percy Jackson, and the announcements did nothing to excite those who care. Tron: Ares and Predator: Badlands were the exceptions.

After Prey and Alien: Romulus, Badlands continues Hollywood’s pattern of reinventing dead franchises. Also, the Ares presentation was colorful and electric. I suppose Alien: Earth deserves a mention, but the teaser we got a few weeks ago was enough to whet our appetites.

Everything else fell far below expectations. That includes The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (How has that franchise survived this long?) and Gen V Season 2 (Meh!). Hopefully, 2026 will be better.

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