Peacemaker Season 2 Sneak Peek Set for Comic-Con

Comic-Con opened its doors on Saturday to tens of thousands of fans, both in San Diego and from across the world, and the big arrival that has many veterans excited this year is one of Comic-Con’s own.

George Lucas, creator of the expansive world of Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, will be a guest at the convention for the first time, despite the direct relation between Lucas’s work and the con. Lucas’s was one of several sci-fi and fantasy heavyweights announcing and revealing their most-awaited projects, with many cosplaying in character for the event in San Diego. Comic-Con continues on Sunday.

A long-time no-show for Comic-Con, this year marks a full-circle moment for Lucas and his signature brands, which both have roots in early Comic-Con history.

“In 1974, Star Wars made one of its first public appearances at our convention, and a booth offering [comic book artist] Howard Chaykin’s now legendary Star Wars poster as a giveaway,” David Glanzer, Chief Communications and Strategy Officer, told PEOPLE in an email. “We’re also humbled to welcome him back as a badge-wearing attendee, a true full-circle moment that showcases the influence he’s had on world-building, pop culture, and visual effects for generations.”

Lucas will appear on a Sunday panel moderated by Queen Latifah, hosted at Comic-Con. Moderators include Lucas, Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, and two-time Oscar-winning artist Doug Chiang, known for his designs for the Star Wars universe spanning four decades.

The group will be discussing Lucas’s Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, set to open in Los Angeles in 2025. The museum, which focuses on illustrated stories and storytelling through the cinematic, comic, and concept art worlds, will also feature Lucas’s archive.

Comic-Con: a pop culture evolution in 50 years

Founded as a convention by comic book fans in 1970, the original San Diego Comic-Con has grown into one of the biggest pop-culture celebrations in the world, with more than 130,000 attendees over the four-day run.

Fans from all over the world descend on San Diego for the chance to don elaborate costumes, snap photos, collect comics, and grab exclusive swag, as well as watch sneak peeks and premieres of films and shows before anyone else.

Fans of Alien vs. Predator will see the series’ world premiere at Comic-Con 2024 on Saturday, a prequel series to Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi classic Alien, titled Alien: Earth. Directed by Noah Hawley, the new series explores more of the film franchise’s lore and takes place a few years before the classic film. It will premiere in Hall H, the con’s largest venue, tomorrow, with a release date on streaming services coming this August.

Fans will also see the feature film Predator: Badlands, the new take on the sci-fi series, in which, for the first time, the alien is the prey. The movie has already been directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who revived the film series with 2022’s Prey, and will also have on the panel Elle Fanning as well as actor Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who plays the alien Dek in the film.

The programming will see a reduction in involvement from Marvel Studios, which will be holding off on a Hall H showing, despite the hotly anticipated next entry in the Avengers movie series.

Variety reported that with ongoing production in the United Kingdom, which started filming this year, Marvel Studios was unable to finalize its plans in time, so it opted out this year.

Sci-fi stalwarts have announced large pushes at Comic-Con this year, including in the coveted Hall H programming.

Ryan Gosling, Peacemaker, and more A-listers

Sci-fi and action fans can also be on the lookout for Project Hail Mary, based on the book by The Martian author Andy Weir, which will have a panel with Ryan Gosling.

The film will be released in theaters next year, and Gosling plays former schoolteacher and character Ryland Grace, who wakes up in a spaceship all alone and has to find out what happened and is left to figure out he’s humanity’s last hope.

Joining Gosling at Saturday’s event will be directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, known for their Spider-Verse trilogy.

DC fans will also get a look at new and upcoming scenes in season two of Peacemaker, with creator James Gunn, who also now directs DC’s broader cinematic reboot, including Superman, and the full cast of the series.

An Event Where Fans Are the Stars

For all the headline-grabbing announcements and celebrities at the convention, Comic-Con remains a chance for fanbases around the world to feel like part of a community.

Thousands of attendees will flood into the convention center over the weekend dressed as everything from superheroes to princesses, fantasy characters to video game avatars.