Prime Video and DC Studios, undisputed stars of the show of second day at San Diego Comic-Con 2024

The San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) continued this Friday as the epicenter where major film and television studios present their new products for the upcoming season.

But if there is one platform that stood out above all others, it was Prime Video, which showed up to the convention with two of its most successful series: "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" and "The Boys."

Prime Video kicked off the evening with "The Boys," the fiction that parodies superheroes and that will premiere the fifth and final season in 2026. 

That does not mean goodbye to the superheroes however, since the first announcement they made was the green light to what will be their second spin-off series. Thus, "Gen V," the first spin-off series of this universe, will be accompanied by "Vought Rising" a prequel about the origins of Vought starring Jensen Ackles and Aya Cash, whose first season will revolve around a mysterious murder.

The new series, showrunner of "The Boys," Eric Kripke explained to Variety, has been in the works for some time. In fact, it was conceived at the same time as "Gen V" but Prime Video asked the producer for time to develop it and, finally, now they've found an opportunity to be able to make it happen:

"We've actually had this idea in our pocket for a long time. And in fact, when I went to Amazon to pitch spin-offs, I came in with two spin-offs, 'Gen V' and 'Vought Rising.' And at the time, they said, 'Let's start with 'Gen V,' we'll see how it goes, and then maybe we'll do 'Rising.' It turns out it went OK."Eric Kripke, showrunner of 'The Boys'

That wasn't the only news about this universe that was presented at the convention. The panel also served to ensure that the character of Soldier Boy (played by Jensen Ackles) will return in future episodes and, moreover, will do so as part of the main cast of the series:

"He’s going to be in Season 5 quite a lot. We want him to be a big character. There's a lot of good father-son emotion between him and Homelander that we nevergot a chance to play nthat we're really interested in."Eric Kripke, showrunner of 'The Boys'

Along with this, Kripke revealed during the panel that he was trying to find a role for Jared Paladecki and thus make a dream come true for many fans who wanted to see a reunion between the two "Supernatural" stars, Paladecki himself and Jensen Ackles who also starred in several of the bloopers with which "The Boys" had kicked off its panel:

First look at the second season of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'

After "The Boys," Hall H didn't have to wait long to welcome another Prime Video cast eager to present the news of their second season: that of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power."

The fictional series based on how the mythical rings of Middle-earth were forged kicked off its talk with what all fans were waiting for: the official trailer of the second season that will premiere in just a few weeks: next August 29.

This season will explore in particular what happens when the dwarves get their rings, something that takes place just after the end of the first season. This was explained in statements collected by EW actor Owain Arthur, who plays Prince Durin IV of the kingdom of Khazad-dûm:

"Due to some very powerful rings, there’s a shift in dynamics among the dwarves. The rings certainly have an effect on the king, and therefore the entire kingdom, really. We see the positives of the rings, but Durin certainly also feels the negative aspects of them."Owain Arthur, actor who plays Prince Durin IV in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'

Not only that, the second season will also allow us to get to know Sauron a little better, the villain of the saga created by Tolkien. Played by Charlie Vickers, we got to know him slightly during the first season but this second season of episodes will allow the viewer to delve even deeper into his mind and understand why he ends up doing the things that make him the villain of "The Lord of the Rings."

Mass renewals for multiple Prime Video animated series

An animated series aimed at adult audiences of Prime Video also received good news during the San Diego Comic-Con as they have established themselves as strong products for the company.

Thus, the streaming platform announced the renewal of "Invincible" for a fourth season and revealed the first official poster for the third series of episodes.

Along with this, the Amazon-owned platform announced that it was giving the green light for the third and fourth seasons of its animated series "The Hazbin Hotel" as well as a second season of "Sausage Party: Footopia."

Additionally, and ahead of DC Studios' announcements, Prime Video showed a new preview of the animated series "Batman: Caped Crusader," which, it stated, will arrive on the streaming platform in just one week, next August 1.

Finally, and although it does not belong to the animation realm, Prime Video also showed a small preview of "Dragon: Yakuza," the live-action series based on the popular video game that will arrive on the streaming platform next October 24 with its first season consisting of six episodes and whose promotional poster was also unveiled during its panel at the convention: 

DC Studios unveils its new official logo

Prime Video was not the only star of the San Diego Comic-Con. After a day in which Marvel Studios' presentation on "Deadpool & Wolverine" grabbed all the attention, DC Studios decided to make a surprise appearance.

It did so with its CEO, James Gunn, presenting what will be the new logo for the studios film based on the superhero comics.

The emblem, which fans raved about as an homage to the comic book company's logo, was no cause for debate since, Gunn explained during the video played at the convention, they were always clear about the design they wanted to employ, both he and Peter Safran, during their time as executive directors of the film company:

"I can pretend we worked long and hard on what it was. But the truth is, we knew what we wanted the logo to look like when we were put in charge of DC Studios."James Gunn, CEO of DC Studios

The new logo wasn't the only thing DC Studios unveiled as a surprise. They also decided to show a first preview of a new animated series: "Creature Commandos."

This fiction, which will air its first seven episodes on the Max platform starting in December, will be written by James Gunn and will focus on the characters of "Creature Commandos," a team of military supermen including Frankenstein, a werewolf, a vampire and a gorgon who must fight the Nazis in World War II. 

Unlike the comics, this animated version will include Weasel, a character who Variety recalls appeared in the 2021 film directed by Gunn and Rick Flag Sr., "The Suicide Squad," as a member of the Commandos and soon became one of viewers' favorite characters.

'The Walking Dead' universe continues to expand

AMC also had its moment of glory at San Diego Comic-Con. The TV network continued to build on the popularity it gained with "The Walking Dead" and announced several new additions to this TV universe.

Its panel began with "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon." The fiction presented the trailer for its second season in which Norman Reedus' character will be accompanied by Melissa McBride who, after eleven years, will once again share scenes with Reedus by reprising her role as Carol Peletier in a season that has received the subtitle 'The Book of Carol.'

This second series of episodes will premiere next September 29 but fans should not worry, since the convention was also the place chosen to ensure that "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon" had been renewed for a third season that will premiere soon on the television network. 

A season that, they explained during the panel, will take place in Spain, which will take them to shoot in Madrid, Galicia, Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia during the coming months. It's not the first time Reedus has had to shoot outside the studio, as the second season is set in France. Something that, as the actor explained in statements collected by People, is "interesting":

"Spain is amazing and we pick up where we left off. It's interesting to shoot this show out of Georgia and the way we shot it for so long. It becomes a giant machine. We chose these two characters and David put them in one place, and we recreated the world around them."Norman Reedus, star of 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon'

Along with the series starring Norman Reedus, AMC also gave a new look at "The Walking Dead: Dead City." The fictional show, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, will also soon premiere its second season and took advantage of its panel at the convention to present its official trailer:

In said trailer, you can see the return of Negan's signature item: the bat he named Lucille. A fact that Morgan himself highlighted during his intervention at the San Diego Comic-Con:

"I know, I was really excited too. There's something about that sweet girl that I love... She makes me turn into Negan."Jeffrey Dean Morgan, star of 'The Walking Dead: Dead City'

This new season will star Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan, who will reprise her role as Maggie. They will be joined in this round of episodes by Mahina Napoleon, Kim Coates, Željko Ivanek and Gaius Charles who will play, respectively, Ginny, Bruegel, The Croat and Perlie Armstrong.

Michael C. Hall returns to the universe of 'Dexter'

It is no mystery that nostalgia is one of the big players in the audiovisual industry. And "Dexter" is good proof of that. The Showtime fictional series that ended in 2013 returns to the small screen with two new spin-off series: "Dexter: Original Sin" and "Dexter: Resurrection." 

The San Diego Comic-Con was the perfect place to talk about both and to unveil one last surprise: the return of Michael C. Hall as narrator of "Original Sin" and as part of the cast of "Resurrection." News revealed by Paramount's global co-CEO Chris McCarthy and echoed by Variety:

"We are thrilled that the brilliant Michael C. Hall will reprise his iconic role as Dexter Morgan in Showtime's most successful series to date. While 'Dexter: Resurrection' will appeal to the tens of millions of longtime fans, 'Dexter: Original Sin' will introduce a whole new generation of viewers to this iconic series starting from the beginning, which is sure to satisfy existing audiences as well."Chris McCarthy, global co-chief executive officer, Paramount

In addition, the "Dexter" panel served to confirm that the season of "Dexter: Resurrection" will start on Showtime in summer 2025 and that it will serve as a sequel to "Dexter: New Blood." For its part, "Dexter: Original Sin" will premiere on Paramount + with Showtime in December this year and will be set in 1991, 15 years prior to the events of "Dexter," as reported during the presentation of its first official trailer:

'Alien: Romulus'

Cinema also had a place at this Friday's San Diego Comic-Con with the "Alien: Romulus" panel. The 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney Studios film panel allowed fans to ask questions of some of the cast of the new film that is set between "Alien" and "Aliens." 

Thus, director Fede Alvarez took the stage in Hall H accompanied by Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wi to talk about the new film in the saga that will hit theaters on August 16, as well as to answer questions from fans and they even got to unveil a preview of the feature film: 

Fire at 'The Penguin' start-up forces building to evacuate

It wasn't all good news at San Diego Comic-Con. The convention was also the scene of a fire on the roof of a building that led to its evacuation. It happened at the site hosting the start-up of Max and DC Studios' new series, "The Penguin." 

There, at 7:30 p.m. (local time), an alarm began to sound indicating that there was a fire in the building. Upon this, the journalists who were gathered there to find out the latest news of the fictional series were evacuated.

Hours later, the fire was put out with no reports of any injuries, and the start-up resumed its activity.

A representative of the San Diego Police Department reported, just afterward, that the fire broke out at the premises located at Fifth Avenue and E Street and that everything seemed to indicate that the place of origin of the fire was a Brazilian steakhouse located in the same building. 

The fire, considered to be a level-three, forced the deployment of a total of four fire trucks as well as several San Diego Police officers who evacuated the place until firefighters were able to put out the flames.