Every year, pop culture fans descend on Southern California in late July for San Diego Comic-Con. The long-running convention is a battle of attrition to see who’s strong enough to make it through four days of lines, crowds, and permanently late shuttle buses to emerge victorious, con exclusives in hand, on Sunday evening. It’s a real-life anime tournament arc condensed into one hot and sweaty weekend.

San Diego Comic-Con 2026 runs from Thursday, July 23, through Sunday, July 26. According to io9 reporter Cheryl Eddy, who’s on the ground with fellow io9 reporter Germain Lussier, the crowds are already looking livelier than last year, when many major studios, including Marvel, skipped the convention.

This year, there are quite a few big panels to look forward to. Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender and an Aliens 40th Anniversary panel anchor the day on Thursday. On Friday, Prime Video kick-starts the day with an early Blade Runner 2099 / The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power combo panel. Common Side Effects, The Vampire Lestat, President Curtis, and Lanterns all get their moment in the spotlight in the middle of the day, while Spaceballs 2 and Pan’s Labyrinth take over Hall Hâaka the big oneâa 4:00 p.m. PT and 5:15 p.m. PT, respectively. And sandwiched right in between everything, at 2:30 p.m. PT, is a panel called “Creature Feature Reboot: Monsters of Horror.” It’s a conversation between horror authors Max Brooks, Shane Hawk, TJ Payne, and Marshall J. Moore, and it’s moderated by our very own Cheryl Eddy. We’re extremely proud.

On Saturday, Star Trek, Apple, and Prime Video’s Carrie series get some last-minute panels in before Marvel shows up to suck up all the air in the room with its headline spot at 5:30 p.m. PT. We’ve already seen the Avengers: Doomsday trailer, so we’re not sure what the studio has in store for us, but whatever it is, we’ll be there.

Which brings us back to the whole point of this post: we’ll be bringing you live updates and news stories all weekend right here. Join us in the comments as io9 braves San Diego Comic-Con 2026.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whatâs next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.