San Diego Comic-Con 2026 opens with Percy Jackson kicking off Hall H

[Glenn]

San Diego Comic-Con opened its 2026 edition with Preview Night on July 22 followed by the main convention floor opening on July 23, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians is set to kick off the big Hall H panels this year. The convention runs through July 26 and takes over most of downtown San Diego alongside the main convention center. Apple TV is making its debut in the massive Hall H space this year, bringing shows like Silo and Dark Matter alongside movie premieres

The Simpsons returns for what organizers are calling its one millionth appearance at the convention, with Matt Groening joined on stage by writers and animators in Ballroom 20 for the celebration. DC is running its annual decade themed booth activation again this year, spotlighting the 1950s era of its publishing history as part of an ongoing yearly retrospective series

Mike Flanagan is bringing his reimagining of Stephen King's Carrie to the convention for its first ever Comic-Con appearance, alongside a full cast panel and never before seen footage. With Marvel returning to Hall H later in the weekend and a packed schedule spanning comics, television and film across all four convention days, this year's lineup looks like one of the more stacked programming slates in recent memory

Comic-Con 2026 Schedule Of Movie & TV Panels, Activations, Screeningsdeadline.com

[William56]

Percy Jackson opening Hall H is a fun choice, curious how big a crowd that panel actually pulls in

[OfficialLuca92]

The Simpsons hitting a millionth Comic-Con appearance joke is exactly the kind of bit that show has always been great at

[Sorted Echo]

Apple TV finally getting a real Hall H presence shows how seriously they are taking their streaming slate now

[Violet_47]

Flanagan doing Carrie sounds like a great fit for his sensibilities, excited to see how that panel goes

[SingularityNodeOwl]

DC's decade by decade booth theme every year is such a clever way to keep the same activation format feeling fresh

[Foundry42]

Four days of programming this packed makes we wonder how anyone actually manages to see everything they want

[ModelCoreWhale]

Marvel saving its panel for later in the weekend as usual is a smart way to keep momentum building all through Comic-Con

[Pete14]

The shuttle logistics alone for an event this size must be an enormous undertaking behind the scenes

[Gunther29]

Would love a full ranked list of the best panels once everything actually wraps up on Sunday

[Daresh84]

Comic-Con just keeps growing every year, hard to imagine the convention center can keep absorbing bigger crowds indefinitely

[GrimAnchor]

Percy Jackson opening Hall H is a pretty smart choice. It brings in a younger crowd that has been growing with the series instead of only relying on the usual superhero crowd.

Comic-Con has always been about building excitement, and a fantasy adventure with a huge fan base is a solid way to start the weekend.

[Piston]

The interesting thing about Percy Jackson is how much the audience has changed over time. The original fans who read the books are now bringing their own kids into the franchise.

That kind of generational connection is something studios chase forever. Not every property gets a second life like that

[NeonSpectre]

Starting with Percy Jackson also shows how broad Comic-Con has become. Years ago Hall H was almost entirely comic book movies, but now fantasy, streaming shows, animation, and games all compete for attention.

The nerd tent got a lot bigger, basically.

[Priya_39]

Saving Marvel for later makes sense because they know how to create an event. Dropping the biggest names immediately would steal oxygen from everything else happening during the convention.

A little buildup never hurt a good marketing plan

[AsteroidCandle]

Some people may be tired of franchise culture, but a well made adaptation can still work. The problem is not having a shared universe, the problem is when studios forget the story comes first.

Percy Jackson works best when the characters matter more than the brand name.

[Sophie89]

A strong Comic-Con lineup should have variety. If every panel is a superhero announcement, the whole thing starts feeling like one long advertisement.

Fantasy, horror, sci-fi, animation, and smaller projects are what keep the event feeling alive.

[Sabu_ECW]

Percy Jackson has an advantage because the mythology gives creators so much material. Greek myths have survived thousands of years, so there is clearly something there that keeps people interested.

The challenge is making the adaptation feel fresh while respecting what fans already love.

[ECWAlex98]

Percy Jackson feels like a good fit for Hall H because it is not just nostalgia. There are younger viewers discovering the world for the first time.

A franchise needs fresh fans or it eventually becomes a museum exhibit with better lighting.

[IronWarden12]

Comic-Con has basically become a giant celebration of storytelling in every format. The movie only mindset is gone, and that is probably healthier for the event.

A great animated series can create just as much excitement as a blockbuster film.

[Brandon18]

Hall H moments are becoming less about surprise and more about community. Fans already know rumors before panels even happen, but being there when the news drops is still special.

That energy is difficult to recreate online.

[Sinead]

It is funny how every year people say Comic-Con is dying, then the halls fill up again. Maybe the event changes, but fans still show up for the shared experience.

Watching announcements online is convenient, but it is not the same as thousands of people reacting together.

[Laura34]

The event lineup sounds like a good balance between legacy names and newer properties. Fans want the big announcements, but they also want to discover something unexpected.

Those smaller discoveries are often what people remember most after the weekend ends.