Fans To Descend On San Diego For The 50th Comic-Con

Associated Press,

LOS ANGELES (AP) β€” Dust off your Captain Marvel cosplay, San Diego Comic-Con is here.

The four-and-a-half day convention kicks off Wednesday when the show room floor opens to thousands vying for exclusive merchandise, from art to toys. Later, Warner Bros. will get things going with a ScareDiego event promising some hair-raising new footage from β€œIt: Chapter Two.”

β€œWe have some exciting footage but I can’t go into details,” said β€œIt” director Andy Muschietti. β€œBut I think it’s going to be worth it for the fans to go and watch.”

Movie fans will also get a look at Paramount’s β€œTerminator: Dark Fate” at a Hall H presentation Thursday, and on Saturday be treated to a Marvel Studios presentation with its president, Kevin Feige. Details for the Marvel show are being kept under wraps, but many expect Feige and his β€œspecial guests” will outline the plans for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which could include announcements about β€œBlack Widow,” β€³Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” β€³Shang-Chi” and β€œThe Eternals.”

The movie fare is lighter than usual, however. A few of the studios have chosen to sit this year out, like Sony, which is already cleaning up at the box office with β€œSpider-Man: Far From Home,” and Universal Pictures, which doesn’t have any superheroes on its slate at all. Although Warner Bros. is coming with β€œIt: Chapter Two,” it does not have a big Hall H presentation planned for any of its DC properties like β€œJoker” and the Harley Quinn spinoff β€œBirds of Prey.” And there will be no β€œStar Wars” news either.

β€œIf anything, the exiting of some movie studios has made more room for TV and TV is just the best of the best right now,” said Perri Nemiroff, a senior producer for Collider.com and host of the YouTube series Movie Talk.

Television enthusiasts will have their pick, whether they want one last go-around the cast of a show that’s ended (like β€œGame of Thrones” and β€œSupernatural”), to check in with some old favorites (β€œThe Walking Dead,” β€³The Good Place,” β€³Westworld,” β€³Arrow,” β€³Rick and Morty” and β€œRiverdale”), or get first look at a new property (such as β€œSnowpiercer,” β€³Star Trek: Picard” and β€œThe Witcher”).

Occasionally this means throwing a Comic-Con newbie into the mix. HBO is bringing Lin-Manuel Miranda out for his first ever convention to promote the new show β€œHis Dark Materials.”

Last month Miranda tweeted a modest request for fans: β€œBe gentle, it’s my first Comic-Con.”