This year’s comic-cons — that is, gatherings focused on everything nerdy and geeky in the cultural zeitgeist — were subdued this year, with the prestigious San Diego Comic-Con gathering just weeks after the Screen Actors’ Guild went on strike, and the Writers’ Guild having been on the picket line for over two months.. Due to the Guild’s member guidelines, actors could not attend the convention to promote productions made by companies that the union was — and continues to be — striking against.
New York Comic-Con, however, came at an opportune moment, just after the WGA solidified a new deal; television writers across the country returned to writers’ rooms, and fans returned to see their favorite franchises’ announcement over a period of three days, from Oct. 12-15. Held at the Javits Center in Midtown, Manhattan, the con’s main attractions were vendors, artists and panels teasing upcoming cartoons, television shows and films. Spotted intermittently on the convention floor was actor Charlie Cox (Netflix’s “Daredevil,” Disney+’s “Daredevil: Born Again”), simply enjoying the convention via an unconventional disguise: Bluey, from the Australian children’s show of the same name, decked in an adult-sized onesie, blue face paint and fake heeler ears.
Among the most anticipated announcements from the convention were news of the third season of Amazon’s “The Wheel of Time,” adapted from Robert Jordan’s fantasy novel series of the same name from showrunner Rafe Judkins. According to Judkins, who spoke to fans in conversation after a screening of the show’s second-season finale, the season will be based most heavily on the fourth book in the series “The Dragon Reborn,” while also pulling from the fifth, “The Shadow Rising.” Judkins also teased the appearances of anticipated locations in-universe, such as the cities of Tanchico and Rhuidean, as well as the magical power known as “dream walking.”
Also released were first-look images of many supporting characters in Disney+’s upcoming adaptation of the Percy Jackson novels — Lance Reddick as Zeus, Megan Mullaly as Mrs. Dodds/Alecto, Adam Copeland as Ares, Virginia Kull as Sally Jackson and Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes. The first trailer for the show, releasing Dec. 20 2023, was screened for fans alongside a surprise panel cameo by “The Lightning Thief” author Rick Riordan. Riordan was heavily involved in the development and production of the show, which was a relief for longtime fans who were dissatisfied with 20th Century Fox’s film adaptations of the early 2010s. The “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” trailer features Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood.
Various other productions were highlighted across the four days of the convention, including “Dragon Ball: Daima,” set for a release in the fall of 2024, a trailer for the second season of Amazon’s “Invincible,” a song from the upcoming season of the cartoon “Hazbin Hotel” and an additional trailer for Netflix’s animated “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” — featuring many of the actors from 2010’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” reprising their roles and premiering on the platform in November — and news of both DC and Marvel Comics’ upcoming series runs and discontinuations.
Though this year’s convention was certainly more muted than in years past, the many announcements coming from each day of the convention served to bolster the optimism that that next year’s festivities will be jubilant and action-packed. This convention gave attendees hope that actors and writers can promote and be proud of their work while also working under a fair and just contract.
Maggie Bonassar can be reached at [email protected].
