TRANSCRIPTION

Raymond Bruels: Hi. Welcome to the AggroCast. This is Ray.

David Hades Becker: And this is David.

RB: And today, we are talking about the ramp-up for Comic-Con 2025. We are starting to see things trickle in for a bunch of the off-sites, Hall H, as well as other panels. So yeah, we’re just gonna dive into the things that we’ve seen thus far. Part 2 will actually be next week. It will cover everything else that should have come out right before we head to Comic-Con.

DHB: Yeah, probably everything that… ’Cause we’re recording this about two weeks pro- before Comic-Con. And while he’s saying, uh, while Ray’s saying things are trickling out, we’ve been getting things throughout the entire month so far, but these are the big things that have been confirmed and set up, and we already have plans to go check a lot of these things out.

RB: You know, when, when we first looked, uh, the things that were rolling in were the parties primarily, as they were generating hype. A lot of people get excited for the parties.

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: And then they started releasing information about some of the parties, like for instance, uh, Fandom.

DHB: Yeah, the, the Fandom party, which, uh, I think this is their fourth year in a row they’ve done it at Comic-Con. They’ve done it at a bunch of other events as well. This is the, the big one where All-American Rejects are playing. They have a bunch of publishers, celebrities, all sorts of stuff, and it’s generally invite only, but they have a lottery system. I think they’re letting in 200 people this year, uh, and that’s just like general fans you had to sign up and I think it’ll be done by the time this podcast comes out, but I think until July 17^th, people could sign up to be randomly selected for them plus one to show up for the Fandom party.

RB: And that was a lot of tying into their socials.

DHB: Yes.

RB: And I think that was to kind of generate interest as you’re pushing things out. The other thing I think you had mentioned about the Fandom was a tie into Universal Dark Universe.

DHB: Uh, yeah. So Universal Dark Universe and, like, their Epic Universe, they’re one of the sponsors of the event and th- th- to kind of get, build more hype, ’cause that, that whole park just opened up a couple of months ago back in May.

RB: It looks amazing.

DHB: Yeah. It, I- I so want to go there and check everything out, out there, but a whole different podcast though.

RB: Yeah. (laughs)

DHB: But at the same time, the, uh, not only are they sponsoring this party, they’re gonna be out there with their own panel talking about it all to, to get hype for it and everything. They, I think they might actually have a couple of the animatronics in the area potentially, if, if I’ve heard some of the rumors correctly.

RB: Wow. That could be really cool. As e- well, and here in Vegas, of course, we’re super stoked because we’ve got the Universal Experience that they’re opening up.

DHB: Yeah, the, the Horror Unleashed.

RB: And so we’re, we are huge Universal fans. We are huge fans of the Universal Horror Nights. Anytime we hear information about these things, we want to, like, get dialed in. But yeah, going back to the party, so there’s the Fandom party, there’s the Mosh Eisley.

DHB: Yeah, it’s like a, um, emo Star Wars rave kind of mixture. Like, I’m not 100% sure, I just know it’s Star Wars themed, and it’s an, it’s one of the after parties that’s happening as well. I think it’s, like, on the Saturday night of the c- convention.

RB: And I know that some of our crew is really excited about going out to that.

DHB: Th- there’s people who have their costumes already selected and chose, chosen and all that stuff.

RB: And then there’s the Ready Player One party.

DHB: Yeah. That, so that’s the one they’ve, they’ve done multiple times as well. That’s kind of like the, "Hey, this is the intro to comics." I think that happens on Wednesday night or Thursday night or something like that.

RB: And I think they just released information about a special DJ.

DHB: They did, yes. Any of those Napoleon Dynamite fans out there will know, be ready to vote for Pedro.

RB: Hell yeah. Vote for Pedro. So yeah, we started seeing the parties roll out. We’ve referenced that in some of our other podcasts. But we also started seeing stuff roll out for off-sites and the panels. Do we wanna cover the off-sites first?

DHB: I think we c- cover the off-sites first ’cause that’s gonna be the more general, ’cause y- you can go to those as long as you’re in San Diego.

RB: Yeah. You just have to be willing to stand in line.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: Make sure you hydrate and you, you carry an umbrella or something to keep the, the, the sun off you.

DHB: Yeah. Well, that, and some of them are, they’re either starting at Comic-Con or ending at Comic-Con. Some of them are doing tours around, like, uh, there’s the, uh, Clown in a Cornfield from Shudder. They’re doing an actual haunted house type corn maze out there. And I want to say Comic-Con’s the first stop, and they’re touring around to take that everywhere to help promote the movie as well as, uh, Shudder.

RB: Yeah. That’s gonna be over where they did the Interview with the Vampire.

DHB: Th- that, uh, from what I’ve seen so far, yeah, that’s what they, they’re trying to set up for in that area.

RB: And that space is really cool.

DHB: I- it is.

RB: So it’ll be interesting to see how they deck it out for that.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: We also have some information we heard about Old Spice.

DHB: So, uh, there’s some stuff we could talk about Old Spice. There’s n- not a l- they’re doing a tie-in with the new Superman movie and can’t say how they’re bringing it down yet, but there’s gonna be a lot of scents that, uh, tie into Superman and I’m pretty sure that’s gonna go around a little bit as well, kind of, after the convention to help promote the movie that’s coming out as well.

RB: Yeah, that’s gonna be great to see, especially a tie-in with Old Spice of all things.

DHB: Yeah, right? Exactly, the weirdest thing ever.

RB: The one that I think we are both super excited about and I’m just gonna j- ’cause we’re, we’re following a list, ah.

DHB: (laughs)

RB: Uh, Twisted Metal bumper cars.

DHB: Got it. Soon as I saw the release for Twisted Metal bumper cars, I’m like, "I’m in. Let’s do this. I’m gonna figure out how we can get there." We can wait in line or we can see if we can-

RB: (laughs)

DHB: …d- do some schmoozing and be like, "Hey, let’s go s- check this out for the podcast or the site." But I wanna do the Twisted Metal bumper cars.

RB: That just, I think it’s gonna be so unhinged and chaotic.

DHB: That’s the point.

RB: (laughs)

DHB: A- and much, so like, I think when season one came out, it feel, it feels like this is kind of a sh- sign that they’re putting some more effort and faith in the show, ’cause season one came out, they had a couple, like, photo ops and like, the Twisted, uh, Sweet Tooth was driving around and giving out free ice cream and the biggest thing they did out of all of that, e- that was another one that toured around as well, but at Comic-Con, they had SisQó come out and sing the Thong Song a bunch of times and that was it. This one is just, they, they bought an entire area to put up a bumper car, you know, course. So I think th- that’s them going, "We’re gonna spend money," because they have faith in not only the show but the IP going forward.

RB: As a brief aside, I am glad to see them e- to extend out to the bumper cars thing because there were so many spaces around the Comic-Con convention center. I think it was last year. I hiked out to, of all things, a Roseanne.

DHB: Oh, the Roseann Diner? Yeah.

RB: Yeah. I, I had some free time, so I just decided to walk all the way out to it ’cause it was, it was, you know, like a mile and a half I think from the convention center itself. It was like an old fair.

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: So they had various games and, and I got a T-shirt and some other things. Not that I’m really a fan of the show. Like, it had its time and she’s just kind of weird these days.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: But the fact that there are, that they are doing these off-sites and anyone can go and generally participate in the off-sites is super cool.

DHB: Yeah. And they, and they cover everything. So like we had Twisted Metal there. We, we saw a bunch of horror things, but there’s like the Barbie off-site, which is another one that’s like it’s not right near the convention center. It’s a little farther away, and you could get, get to go there. It’s like a diner bar. It, it is all-ages, so you don’t have to be over a certain age to go. They also have rollerskating you could do in there.

RB: Well, and you were telling me about something your, either your food is brought out in special, like-

DHB: Yeah, I was seeing, like, there’s one of the pink Barbie cars they’ll bring out, like, there’s a root beer float or whatever you can order. There’s like a boat you could order, and that’s how the food’s being delivered out. So it’s kind of like leaning into the theme, as well as giving you, like, photo ops to do and all that kind of fun stuff.

RB: So merch as well as food.

DHB: Yes.

RB: A fun Barbie experience. But that’s very similar to kind of like what Paramount Lodge does.

DHB: Yeah, Paramount Lodge is almost the exact same thing, except for they’re just kind of… Like, they put all their IPs in one location, and this year they’re doing, they’re, they’re hyping up the new Dexter show. They’re doing a big thing with the NFL. They have something for, um, oh, is it NCIS? Mission: Impossible of all things. They’re diving into that, the movie franchise, not, like, a new TV show.

RB: Isn’t that over now?

DHB: I would think so, but-

RB: ’Cause the second sh- They, they did the second part of that movie.

DHB: Th- They’re doing something, so there’s, they have to have something coming up. May- Maybe they’re doing a massive collector’s edition where you can get all the movies in one spot, but-

RB: That, that would make sense doing something like that.

DHB: But they’re, but it’s a huge, yeah, come out. There, there’s gonna be free drinks based on one of their IPs. There’s gonna be food. Like, I thought, I mean, it’s where we did the Ghost thing and we did the Ninja Turtles thing. Oh, one thing I am interested to see at the, uh, Paramount Lodge is Star Trek holodeck. I’m not sure if that’s gonna be like they just have an immersive experience to make it feel like you’re on a holodeck or if they’re using technology to actually do it.

RB: Huh.

DHB: But the hype, the hype pictures that we’ve, we’ve posted online make it look really cool. But at the same time, they look like they’re generated to make it look cool and not indicative of what’s actually gonna be there. But another one of those they-have-something-for-everybody no matter if you’re a horror fan, sci-fi fan, comedy, all that kind of stuff, which, like, to continue with that, FX, Hulu, and ABC and all that stuff, they’re kind of foregoing the way they would normally do it before, ’cause a lot of their IPs like Archer, What We Do in the Shadows, um, and, uh, I, I think The Bear is still running, but all those IPs are kind of, like, fizzling out so they’re making way for all the new ones that Disney just, just acquired. So King of the Hill’s doing, like, a backyard barbecue out there. Uh, Alien’s do, like, crashing, uh, spaceship out there that’s gonna be, like, part of the set from one of the, from the Alien Earth TV show. Abbott Elementary, which, uh, we talked about before, they’re doing one of their block parties out there. Like, last year they did the giant AVAfest, which is a giant street carnival. This year they’re kind of doing the same. And then Percy Jackson’s having, uh, another off-site further down to the Gaslamp where I think you get chosen by a god, go through a few trials, and see if you’re worthy or not. So it’s a bunch of stuff to build into all the new TV shows, uh, coming out as well.

RB: That’s super cool. There was a, uh, another thing that we had come ac- that we had gotten information for, but we weren’t sure. There’s a writer, S.G. Blaz, who is doing some kind of Hollow Healer animated teaser premiere and immersive fan activation. That’s something else. I, I guess this is a, a longstanding series that this author has written quite a few parts to, and they’re gonna do some kind of really cool immersive thing.

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: So we’re, we are still getting stuff rolling in, uh, even as we are recording this. But we also… Comic Con Museum is an off-site.

DHB: Yes.

RB: And they were-

DHB: And that’s a, that’s a permanent year-round one, so if you kind of w- And they, they change it up so you kind of get that small Comic Con feel every time you go there. Like, e- every other month or so, I think, is they change it up.

RB: And this year, Doctor Who. They’re, they’re doing an auction for Star Wars.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: Some of th- some Rebel-themed materials.

DHB: There’s a, there’s a kawaii thing they have going on there. And then on top of that, it feels like it’s a, also a children’s museum kind of, like, mixed in. So, like, there’s always little things to get people involved in crafting and costume-making and other stuff kind of surrounding Comic Con, so it’s-

RB: Which given the fact that one of the, the things that they’re doing is luchadors-

DHB: Yes.

RB: …I wonder if there’s gonna be, like, paper masks that you can, you can color (laughs) for kids.

DHB: Oh, I, I’m pretty sure they give if they, if they’re l- linking it in, ’cause there was one year that the big thing was cardboard, and they had people building cardboard armor and, and statues. So you could do that there on site, but then they had, like, the professionals come in. Like, there was a seven-foot-tall cardboard Groot somebody made that looked almost, like, film-accurate, uh, out of just random cardboard. So, like, there’s always little things like that going down, down at the Comic Con Museum, and again, that’s just you gotta be in San Diego, and it doesn’t even have to be during the, uh, Comic Con time.

RB: What is the parking lot outdoor area?

DHB: Oh, the, the Petco Park area.

RB: So one of the things that I heard for Petco Park, so Magic: The Gathering, a Hasbro product, is about to release, I think it’s at the end of this year, Avatar: The Last Airbender as a set. And supposedly they’re gonna have something in Petco Park for that. So that’s something to potentially look forward to.

DHB: A- and that’s another one of those areas. It’s like they, they change that up every year, so I think at the same time I think Se- that might be where the South Park thing is gonna be going down.

RB: Oh.

DHB: ’Cause South Park’s gonna be out there doing a massive fan event where they’re doing, like, giveaways, photo ops with all the characters from the show, costume contests, all that kind of stuff.

RB: And if that’s the case, I’m really glad to hear that, because the last few years that we’ve gone down to Petco, it’s been kind of lackluster. Like, they had the Texas Chainsaw Massacre barbecue truck.

DHB: That was, like, sold out before we got there.

RB: Yeah, and I think the, the only thing we really got from that, there was a pin you could get.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: But the rest of it was just kind of… There was th- there was the really cool giant rusted-metal creature thing.

DHB: The anti-smoking and anti-vaping ad.

RB: Yeah.

DHB: ’Cause it was, like, a weird AR thing that you could take a picture and it would come to life-

RB: But I think-

DHB: …and tell you not, not to vape, not to smoke.

RB: And then there was, was it last year or the year before they had the Transformers standing out there?

DHB: Uh, yeah, that was two years ago, ’cause, uh, last year the big one was the giant exploding ket- cat for the Exploding Cat game.

RB: Yeah. So yeah, so the fact that they’re potentially pulling some bigger IPs into Petco means that maybe they’re br- breathing some new life into that area.

DHB: Yeah. And mind you, that’s, that’s speculation. I’m, I don’t remember exactly, but I know South Park’s doing a big thing.

RB: Well, and I-

DHB: That’s-

RB: And I know the, the Magic: The Gathering thing is something I’ve definitely heard. But yes, in terms of off-sites, that’s what we’ve heard thus far, Hall H and panels.

DHB: Okay. Well, w- working right off of that, um, al- right back onto South Park, it has been apparently have been a decade since they came out and showed off anything for South Park at con- at Comic-Con. And I c- I, in my mind, I remember that being s- a lot rec- more recent. But now playing it back, I’m like, no, it’s been about a decade since they’ve, Matt and Trey specifically have been out there. ’Cause I was there the, they, they came out there and started singing, uh, Jackin’ it in San Diego with a crowd of people in San Diego. It was amazing. But they’re gonna be out there, uh, for a panel for the new season that was supposed to start up, like, a couple days ago but will be starting w- the Wednesday, the very first day of Comic-Con. And they’ll be out there with Mike Judge, uh, talking about the new season of Beavis and Butt-Head and, uh, Andy Samberg of all people for his new TV show, uh, Digman. It’s, it’s all Comedy Central cartoons-

RB: Yeah.

DHB: …which is why they’re doing this huge panel. But it’s like, you have those four people on stage, that’s gonna be a, that’s a huge Hall H panel.

RB: Yeah, that’s pretty incredible-

DHB: Yeah.

RB: …getting all of those people together. But yeah, so, uh, South Park for Hall H. Toxic Avenger.

DHB: Yeah, To- Toxic A- for the, for the movie ’cause there’s also the thing for the video game that I’m still waiting to, to hear on. But yeah, this is the movie, uh, with Peter Dinklage that you were iffy on before.

RB: Okay.

DHB: (laughs)

RB: All right, so if you heard our podcast, I think it was when we went and had coffee at Horror Vibes.

DHB: Yeah, it was the Horror Vibes podcast.

RB: I mentioned I wasn’t sure about Peter Dinklage as Toxic, and then I watched the trailer. Holy shit. I am stoked and excited for… I, I wasn’t sure and then as soon as I watched that trailer, I had to text David, I’m like, "All right, I’m in. I, I take it back. I, I wasn’t sure, but I’m sold." So the fact that they’re doing the Toxic Avenger movie tie-in-

DHB: A- and as a Hall H panel as well, so I think a lot more people have bought in. Because that b- for people who haven’t been to Comic-Con, Hall H is the coveted, you want to be in there ’cause that’s where everybody wants to be. Like, that’s where Marvel does all of their announcements. Last year where they showed off the new Deadpool movie, that’s where they do this. And Toxic Avenger does not sound like something that should be in a Hall H-

RB: Yeah.

DHB: …but if people have that much faith in it that they’re putting it in Hall H and bringing, like, uh, Peter Dinklage is gonna be there, like, everybody from the movie director, everybody’s gonna be on stage for that doing a panel talk.

RB: That’s incredible. So they’re really banking on Toxic Avenger being amazing. And there’s a comic book out. I just saw it today at a comic book shop. I think they’re, like, five, five epis- uh, five issues in.

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: It looks great. And, like, the first couple of issues they, I think they came out with, like, a trading card that came with the, the comic.

DHB: Oh, that’s awesome.

RB: So yeah, Toxic Avenger, South Park, The Long Walk.

DHB: The Long Walk, yes.

RB: Based off of a Stephen King short story starring Mark Hamill and an amazing cast of young actors. This movie that… I watched the trailer just today because I, I had seen some stuff about The Long Walk and I was like, "Holy shit." The, uh, I think it’s the people that did the Hunger Games are tied into… I don’t know if they’re the producers for this, but it’s that young people thrown into a really chaotic crazy situation. I don’t wanna ruin any of the story elements. Go watch the trailer. Maybe we’ll even push it out on the socials. But the fact that they’re gonna put that in Hall H and I don’t know if Mark Hamill’s gonna be there.

DHB: I’m pretty sure he will be ’cause I, every time I’ve, he had, he’s had a product or IP or something like that and he’s legally allowed to be there, he’s there. I’ve met him multiple times and it was, like, some of the smaller things he’s done ’cause he’s like, "I’m out here promoting everything I can."

RB: He is so supportive of his, of his movies. The Long Walk and then Percy Jackson & the Olympians.

DHB: Yes.

RB: Which I’m really impressed by what they’ve done with Percy Jackson. I haven’t watched all of it, but the things that I have seen have been super cool.

DHB: And I, I w- have watched the entire first season. I’ve been e- excited for the next season to come out and I kinda wish the movies didn’t exist even though it did give a couple of the actors, like, bigger breaks, but this is, to me it feels like the way the story should’ve been told and all that stuff. As a, y- oh, no, I’m a, I’m a huge Greek mythology fan. How could you tell? (laughs)

RB: (laughs) Well, and, and so that’s what we’ve heard thus far for Hall H.

DHB: Yeah. There, there’s always things trickling in. I guaran- we probably have, like, four emails coming in saying more stuff right now.

RB: And then the other panels that we’ve heard, I was right, uh, when we were talking about the, uh, talking at Horror Vibes about Telamesca-

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: …which is the, that’s the research group from Anne Rice’s Dark Universe. They have the offshoot series, so they’re gonna be there with a panel, not in Hall H, one of the other rooms, probably Ballroom.

DHB: Yeah, Ballroom 20 is probably, if it’s, if it’s that big it’ll probably be Ballroom 20.

RB: And they’re gonna… The next season of Interview is tying into the i- uh, Vampire Lestat book. They’re gonna have… ’Cause I, I sat in one of the panels for that before I’d actually watched the show, last year or two years ago? It was, it was neat to see and that show is amazing. They’ve done a really good job. Even though they’ve had to, uh-… adjust some of the timeline just to help it flow. Still super cool. And then-

DHB: Resident Alien, ’cause I think they’re in their fourth and potentially final season. And I think, uh, Alan Tudyk is out there pushing it everywhere, ’cause he was at the IGN thing just a little bit ago when the first episode aired.

RB: Yeah.

DHB: And now they’ve got a couple more coming up, and…

RB: We were just talking about how Alan Tudyk must have sold his soul to somebody, because he is everywhere, so talking about his work.

DHB: Yeah. And, and he has a lot of work to talk about.

RB: Yeah.

DHB: So it’s not like, "I’m out there pushing the same product over and over." But yeah, that, that’s supposed to be out there. There’s talks that even though DC said they’re not going to have any kind of, like, massive Hall H thing, there was talks of Peacemaker being out there. James Gunn is apparently going to be out there to, to help with that. Kind of surprised with the talk of, like, s- uh, Superman, none of that stuff’s gonna go down, even though I guess Superman will be out for two weeks by then.

RB: Yeah. ’Cause it’s coming out officially Friday.

DHB: Yes.

RB: Although there have been some sneak peeks already, ’cause I’ve seen some folks on my socials that have gotten tickets and have, have already seen it. And the reviews are already flowing in, although they’re reserving spoilers until Friday. The things I, I, I… It’s always interesting to see, like, some of the reviewers and their criticisms, but then the folks that have already gotten to see it who are not critics and seem to enjoy it. I’m hoping that it’s good.

DHB: Same. Like I, I want it to be good, ’cause it, said… I want more, more fun content out there.

RB: Well, and even if it’s not good, we have Peacemaker season two.

DHB: Yeah, and that’s guaranteed to be good already.

RB: Yeah. Well, and John Cena is just amazing in that role. I s- I am so glad that he stepped into that. Well, and right now he’s in WWE. He’s doing his farewell, Farewell Tour.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: And then he’s retiring. Unlike a lot of wrestlers, who s- you, you know, say they’re gonna retire and then they come back, I really feel like, ’cause the way that they have made this such a big hype train. And he’s currently holding the belt.

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: I feel like he is re- legitimately gonna be done when this thing is done. So that’s what we’ve seen for off-sites.

DHB: Oh, we, oh, uh, we, we missed the one other big sneak peek that’s, uh, in why it’s always, like, exciting to hear more news. Originally, Marvel said they weren’t doing anything big because Fantastic Four drops-

RB: Yeah.

DHB: …in the middle of Comic-Con. But earlier today, we got the, the email saying, "Hey, if you’re a D23 member, we’re doing a sneak peek of Fantastic Four at Comic-Con."

RB: Well, and I ex- I think it’s gonna be… Yeah, it’s at a movie theater in San Diego.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: I’m a D23 member, so tomorrow I can get in a queue and potentially get a ticket plus one to get in and see Fantastic Four.

DHB: And, uh, and that, I believe that’s gonna be the day before it releases to the general public.

RB: Yeah.

DHB: Which will be nice.

RB: I think, yeah, it’d be great to see it. I’m really hoping that they do a great job with the Fantastic Four. I personally love the Fantastic Four, although we’ve never really had a great visual on screen for them. All of the movies have been kinda mediocre.

DHB: Yeah. They, they’ve, uh… Outside of the most recent one before this one came out, th- they’ve been kinda good.

RB: Well, in the last one, there was a Doctor Doom actor who just passed.

DHB: He was the one who was the Doctor Doom in the one that had, uh, Chris Evans as Human Torch.

RB: Okay, yeah.

DHB: That Doctor Doom died.

RB: He, he was great. The, the presentation of Doom was not that ex-

DHB: Yeah.

RB: …exciting, but he was a great actor.

DHB: But the, but the point of, point of that is, is even though, uh, let’s get back to the Fantastic Four and the sneak peek. Marvel Studios has said they’re not doing anything at Comic-Con, same as Disney, but they’re always slipping things out there. So there’s always so many things to find out. And this, like, you don’t have to have a Comic-Con badge to go to that. You just have to be a D23 member.

RB: Yep.

DHB: So…

RB: And it makes me wonder, if they’re doing that, if there’s anything else that they’re secretly gonna pop up with.

DHB: Je-

RB: And that’s the thing. Since we’re, we’re not seeing everything and it’s just slowly kind of trickling in, th- there might be surprises right around the corner.

DHB: Th- there might be surprises that, that happen day of, and we’ll never know. ’Cause like, I think there was t- there was talk that Nathan Fillion is gonna be out there, specifically around the Green Lantern stuff, even though they haven’t announced doing anything Green Lantern out there.

RB: Yeah. Is that tied to the Superman movie, to his, his being in Peacemaker, or is that tied to the Green Lantern TV show that I think is gonna show up on Max?

DHB: Yeah.

RB: So there’s a number of tie-ins potentially there for that character.

DHB: Y- exactly. Or, like, there was, there was one year where they even stealth announced it at Comic-Con. They had a, it was the year the… It wasn’t a big thing, but it was like the year the first Deadpool, like, big video game came out. They had a bunch of banners out there and nobody knew what the hell it was. The day the panel happened, all the banners dropped throughout San Diego, and that’s when they made it known there’s a Deadpool game coming. And then all the, them got Deadpool-ified or whatever. And it was absolutely hysterical to watch, but even being on site, nobody had a clue what these banners were for until the panel happened.

RB: Surprise.

DHB: Exactly.

RB: Makes me wonder, ’cause we also know that Deadpool, Neil Patrick Harris voiced.

DHB: For the, for the new VR video game-

RB: Yeah.

DHB: …that’s coming up, yeah.

RB: I, I have not seen anything more other than his announced…

DHB: I, I haven’t… I’ve seen a few things I can’t talk about.

RB: Okay.

DHB: But I think they, uh, they have stuff that’s coming. The same thing with the, the new Invincible video game. They just started pushing a bunch of stuff and it feels like they’re amping up even more now that we’re about a week or two out from Comic-Con and Skybound wants… Is probably gonna have some kind of big announcement. ’Cause even a- as we’re doing this podcast, they haven’t in… They’ve only announced the Wednesday and Thursday panels for j- just general.

RB: Yeah, ’cause we were sitting there starting to put together our preliminary schedule and we’re like, "Wow, so…"

DHB: Thursday’s pretty much front loaded already for us.

RB: Yeah. A lot of front load, but then the back end we’re like, "Okay, so there’s gonna be some surprises."

DHB: Yeah.

RB: And of course you’ve got some of the typical things that you see with Comic-Con, like Todd McFarlane.

DHB: Todd McFarlane, yeah.

RB: Is gonna be out there signing autographs. That’s a special ticket. Did h- did you sign in and look at the special…

DHB: I, I’ve looked at some of the exclusive stuff. Nothing really sung to me, so…

RB: Well, and Funko is always-

DHB: The F- yeah, Funko, Mattel, and then there’s one other one that’s always in there, and it’s… But that’s one of those, if you, if they didn’t do it this way, there’d be a 48-hour line to get to their booth ’cause everybody wants every little exclusive they bring.

RB: But the thing I think is really funny is every time I’ve seen the Funko stuff whe- when we’re walking past their booths-

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: …it’s some guy with like six stuffed bags full of Funko.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: And it’s like, "Okay." And some of, some of these people, multiple years they get Funko. And I’m like, "How the hell are you knocking that?"

DHB: There’s, uh, there’s ways to do it. There’s shady ways, but there’s ways to do it.

RB: I didn’t see anything for Loungefly this year.

DHB: Usually that’s, uh, lumped into Funko now.

RB: Oh, okay.

DHB: Like, I don’t think there’s… I don’t think they’ve announced any exclusive Loungefly bags-

RB: Yeah.

DHB: …which is probably why there’s no exclusive portal for it. So that’s probably gonna be loot- lumped into the Funkos. Even when you do… In the past when we got the one for, uh, Loungefly or whatever, I still could have picked up any of the Funkos. So it’s, it’s always changing. It’s always mutable.

RB: Out of all of the years I’ve gone, I’ve only ever gotten one exclusive, and it was something I couldn’t pick up because we were doing something at the time. It was for a Masters of the Universe, like, poster or something.

DHB: Oh, yeah, it was, like, the poster and autograph for, like, the, the new animated-

RB: Yeah.

DHB: …animation that was coming out.

RB: And I couldn’t pick it up. Uh, that’s the only… And I’ve put in for quite a few things. Because a- anyone who gets a ticket has an opt- opportunity to go in and, and try to sign up for the exclusives. And they, and they tell you, of course, even if you put in multiple times for, for something-It’s no guarantee.

DHB: Yeah. It’s, it’s all in lottery, ’cause they can only get so many people through.

RB: Yeah.

DHB: And, like, even, even in my… Like, I think I’ve only… I did the LoungeFly one year, and that was because I dropped like 24 of my, my tickets into the LoungeFly to see if I can get it, and I got one option to buy out of that. And then outside of that, I think there was the year when Hot Fuzz came out, and Nick Frost and Simon Pegg were out there autographing the exclusive Comic Con covers for it. I got an exclusive for that, which was cool, but it, that was also before they started doing it online. It was literally you walk up, pull a ticket out of the bag. If it’s green, you get to go. If it’s red, get back in line.

RB: Oh, wow.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: That’s super fun.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: The other thing I saw today was they… on the scheduler for Thursday, all the gaming stuff.

DHB: Yeah, they’re pushing gaming really hard this time.

RB: Yeah, RPGs, board games. I saw something from Magic. Like, it was probably Commander.

DHB: Uh, there was a Adventures League, like, almost every hour.

RB: Yeah, which is great because Juliette, when, when she has an opportunity to go, she will actually sit down and play Adventures League for a while just because she loves the experience, and she also gets to catch the vibe in the gaming area. Uh, and there were some exclusive games as well.

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: So I, I wonder what the presence, if Hasbro, because Hasbro owns WotC, Wizards of the Coast, if they’re gonna do anything that we just haven’t seen.

DHB: I- it’s potential. I mean, I haven’t seen anything from them announced yet.

RB: Yeah. Well, un- and there was some hype generating when they were talking about a possible Netflix TV show for D&D.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: So, uh, I… They, they have, they have not done a lot of that, uh, production yet, but it’s, it’s something on the horizon. So looking at what we’ve seen thus far and possibly projecting, this is, this is not any spoilers or any kind of gospel, what would you want to see in the next week come out?

DHB: Well, uh, uh, as we were talking earlier, I think one thing I wanna see is from Amazon. They haven’t mentioned anything about The Boys or Gen V, and Boys just wrapped filming. Gen V’s coming out, like, a month after. So I kinda wanna see some of that, ’cause I… That getting introduced to the TV show for the first time at Comic Con was amazing. I’d love to see their fel- farewell tour start at Comic Con as well. What else was there? There was another Amazon thing that’s, that cropped up not too long ago.

RB: Well, and you were talking about Invincible.

DHB: Yeah, Invincible. That’s the other one, yeah. Uh, s- seeing something from that come up. I mean, I think they’ve just finished their third season, and I’m not sure how much they’re gonna put, put into that. But at the same time, I haven’t heard anything from Amazon on any of their stuff. So I’m assuming they might put something out there, but that’s another one of those companies that said, "We’re not going to Comic Con this year."

RB: And some of these companies, they say they’re not, and then of course they surprise us.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: If I were to project anything… So generally there is some kind of booth in the vendor hall for Star Wars.

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: And often they display costumes from, from whatever TV show or a pu- um, movie. I would like to see something for Star Wars pop up, because we know we have the Mandalorian movie. We know that there’s Ahsoka season two. So there are other things that they are working on. Some kind of snee- sneak peek or a hint at Star Wars, given the fact that we have, we have become kind of… not inundated-

DHB: Yeah, re- resurgence of the IP, yeah.

RB: …resurgence. It’d be nice to see something Star Wars related.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: Even like recently, I saw an article ta- talking about how Mark Hamill wants Sebastian Stan to play Luke Skywalker.

DHB: I could see that.

RB: Yeah.

DHB: Like, I’ve seen all, I’ve seen all those digital video, uh, pictures where it’s not e- They didn’t even have to enhance any of the things. Sebastian Stan just looks like him as a young person.

RB: Yeah, it w- and it would be great. Other than that…

DHB: Well, I know some of the other things I’ve seen, and it’s some of the stuff I’ve seen from, like, other… Like, the Anime Con that just recently happened or some of the other video game stuff, and I know I think Marvel Rivals is gonna have a big thing out there. They’re gonna have a panel and I think potentially a booth. And, um, Silent Hill, uh, Silent Hill, weird symbol F. I don’t really, even know how to pronounce it. Sil- Silent Hill F.

RB: (laughs)

DHB: They, they had a little haunted house they did at Anima- at the Anime Con.

RB: Yeah.

DHB: And it was just to further promote their, their new video game, and it was like a little walkthrough with a photo op at the end. But I remember doing that for a couple other horror games out there, and that was a great time.

RB: Well, remember the Diablo?

DHB: Yeah, they, they had the Diablo-

RB: The, uh-

DHB: …priest thing that we did, yeah.

RB: Yeah, they had the cathedral-

DHB: Yeah.

RB: … which was super cool.

DHB: But that, that would… That’s, that’s… So my point is I think the only thing we’ve seen in that gaming section recently, or in the last couple years, has all been Blizzard. Blizzard doesn’t really have much to push this year, so I’m kinda hoping other IPs jump in, ’cause every now and then we’ll get a… I know… I think Bando-Namco is gonna… Bandai Namco will be out there for Pac-Man and probably, uh, Shadow Labyrinth. There’s been a couple things from Marvel and other stuff, and, and Capcom’s usually there for Street Fighter. So I’m kinda hoping those big ones who don’t have anything big coming out step back, not go, "Hey, do you remember Diablo th- is a thing?"

RB: Yeah.

DHB: And lets somebody like a s- a new Silent Hill or some other video games step in.

RB: Well, and Marvel Rivals, they spend a ton of money on marketing.

DHB: Yes.

RB: That… Yeah, that’ll be cool to see.

DHB: Well, they, like, they’ve already announced they have a panel. Uh, like, it’s one of the smaller panels, uh, and that they’re doing a gaming tournament. And I, I don’t know if that’s gonna be in the area where they normally do Nintendo or, like, the, the pinball area, but they’ve talked about doing a massive tournament down there to further hype up Marvel Rivals.

RB: So the vendor hall should have some really interesting tie-ins as well.

DHB: Oh, they, they usually do, yes.

RB: And of course, you know, i- all the statuary and the, the art and the prints.

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: Always great to walk around. I could just spend hours, multiple days, and I always feel like I’m finding something new.

DHB: Oh, yeah, it’s like, uh, you could literally walk the floor in an hour and feel like you’ve seen everything and then walk out the next hour, you’re like, "Holy shit, I missed half this fucking place."

RB: And the other thing that I think is really interesting is when they bring in artists, famous artists-

DHB: Yeah.

RB: …that you can go in and get things signed, and you… Sometimes you can walk right up and just have a conversation with them.

DHB: Yeah, if, if you can time it right and it’s not one of the, like, the, like, uh, Todd McFarlane or Jim Lee exclusive ones. Yeah, you can generally, like, walk up and most of them, they love their craft. They wanna talk about it.

RB: Well, and of course, making, making money at a convention, you know, with s- with prints and that sort of thing-

DHB: Mm-hmm.

RB: …is a, is a way for them to generate money. A lot of people don’t recognize that those artists don’t have pensions or anything.

DHB: Yeah.

RB: They’re, they’re having to, to kinda scrape by, even in their old age.

DHB: Even, even if they had, like, a long running career in some, like, major publisher. When that money dries up, that money dries up.

RB: Yeah. So we covered a lot of, of material as we are talking about the first round of information for San Diego Comic Con 2025. And like David had mentioned earlier, we’re… We probably have emails in our box right now as things are starting to come out. So part two we will record next week as we start signing up for more things, we start getting more invitations to step in as press to review some things. I know there’s some interviewing potentials coming up. Uh, yeah, uh, a lot of things to see, a lot of things to look forward to. Let us know in the comments below, wherever you’re listening to us, what you want to hear more about or things that you’re looking forward to seeing if you’re going to Comic Con this year.

DHB: Yeah, and don’t be afraid to say hello or, or we will probably be running our, uh, cosplay scavenger hunt again.

RB: Yep, that’s something that Jana, one of our team members, does. And it’s always fun, the things that she pulls out of the woodwork.

DHB: Yeah, ’cause it’s u-… Like, there’s a- always the- these staples you’re gonna get, like, you gotta be Superman, your Wonder Woman’s al-… And then, like, what was it last year, like a very specific version of Ms. Marvel?

RB: Yeah.

DHB: Like the Warbird version. I’m like, "Okay, that, that’s a little specific." Okay, or zombie Scarlet Witch was my favorite one on there.

RB: Yeah, she does a great job putting that together, and then we get to just see what we can, we can pull together of all the amazing cosplayers that are out there on the floor. Thanks again for listening. This is Ray.

DHB: This is David.

RB: Catch us next week.

Thank you for listening to the AggroCast Resurrected, the official podcast of AggroGamer. For more gaming news and reviews, please check us out at aggrogamer.com. If you enjoyed today’s content, follow and subscribe to get notifications of our next episodes.