Thousands of cosplayers and nerds gather in California this Thursday for the first large-scale Comic-Con in three years, the world’s largest pop culture event where trailers for the “Lord of the Rings” and “Game of Thrones” series will be revealed. of thrones.”

Hollywood studios including Disney and Warner Bros. are in San Diego to show their upcoming movies and have done nothing to disprove rumors that they will show something from the new Marvel sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and that This week a new Superman movie will be announced.

The previous two editions of Comic-Con have been held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a limited audience turning out in November for a small-scale “special edition” in San Diego.

But it is expected that this week more than 130,000 followers will be present, many dressed as hobbits, dragons or princesses, although they must wear a mask because it is a closed convention center.

“I think it’s going to be like Comic-Con 2019,” said the event’s head of communications David Glanzer.

“We held on and now we’re back. Maybe there will be tears of joy. It’s very exciting,” Glanzer told AFP.

The science fiction, comics and fantasy extravaganza kicks off this year with “Dungeons & Dragons.”

The most expensive film adaptation of the most popular role-playing game will be released in March 2023 with the participation of stars such as Michelle Rodriguez, Chris Pine, Hugh Grant and former “Bridgerton” heartthrob, Rege-Jean Page.

The week’s headlines, however, may be dominated by the two new television series Amazon Prime’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and HBO’s “House of the Dragon.”

Rings of Power is Amazon’s ambitious saga that reaches into the universe of JRR Tolkien’s books long before the events depicted in Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning trilogy.

The series will have five seasons and will begin on September 2. It is estimated that it cost Amazon more than 1,000 million dollars and is said to be a personal obsession of its founder Jeff Bezos.

Much of the budget was used to buy the rights to the Tolkien universe and for the lavish production as well as “activations,” as the experiences fans immerse themselves in at Comic-Con are called.

Amazon is bringing its cast of hobbits, elves and dwarves to cavernous Hall H on Friday, where fans, lining up for hours or even days, await their first detailed look at the series.

The following day, HBO will unveil “House of the Dragon,” the first “Game of Thrones” spin-off series, based on the fictional world of Westeros, created by George RR Martin.

Martin has avoided talking about a rivalry between these megafranchises. “I want both shows to reach audiences who appreciate them and to be quality television. A great fantasy,” he said.

“The more successes in the fantasy genre we have, the more fantasy we will have in the future,” he wrote in a blog.

HBO hopes this prequel will match the enormous popularity of the original series that for eight seasons became a pop culture landmark, spawned countless imitations and won 59 Emmy Awards, a record for a television drama.

Starring Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans and Emma D’Arcy, “House of the Dragon” tells the story of the ruthless dragon-breeding Targaryen family some 300 years before the events of “Game of Thrones.”

Its stars will be in Hall H on the heels of a theatrical presentation from HBO’s sister company Warner Bros., featuring actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson promoting his upcoming superhero movie “Black Adam.”

Disney has yet to reveal its schedule for Hall H, but it is rumored that it will finally reveal the highly anticipated sequel “Black Panther 2.”

This Comic-Con will also include a farewell to AMC’s hit “The Walking Dead” with the final season of the apocalyptic series, and the launch of the spin-off series “Tales of the Walking Dead.”

amz/pr/yow