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Pop Culture at its Biggest & Best: San Diego Comic-Con International Returns for 2019!

Pop Culture at its Biggest & Best: San Diego Comic-Con International Returns for 2019

Comic Con San Diego

San Diego Comic-Con International is always a big deal—this is the biggest pop-culture festival in the world, after all—but this year’s edition is extra-special.

That’s because 2019 represents Comic-Con’s 50th anniversary, an occasion that’ll come marked (as every year) by exclusive movie and TV screenings, panel discussions, autograph sessions with iconic artists and actors, and (naturally) no scarcity of festivalgoers costumed and cosplayed up as their favorite characters.

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the highlights of this 50th anniversary of San Diego Comic-Con International, the bulk of which will be going down at the San Diego Convention Center just minutes from the Sofia Hotel here in Downtown San Diego!

Notable Panels at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con International

As usual, some hugely popular TV shows will be the subject of big-name panels at this year’s Comic-Con International.

Some of the shows in question are much-anticipated reboots. At 11:30 AM on Friday, for example, there’ll be a panel devoted to the resurrected Veronica Mars about to premier on Hulu, which’ll feature star Kristen Bell and others. And on Saturday at 7:45 PM, Andy Samberg, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, and other cast members and creators of Brooklyn Nine-Nine will talk about the cop-show comedy, canceled last year by Fox and freshly revived this past January on NBC.

Another Comic-Con panel this year bids adieu to a true pop-culture phenomenon. On Friday at 5:30 PM, a number of cast members—including Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie Williams, Jacob Anderson, Iain Glenn, and Nathalie Emmanuel—will join showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss as well as executive producer and director Miguel Sapochnik for a discussion of HBO’s Game of Thrones, which ended (to much fanfare and much grumbling) its eight-season run this past May.

Other hotly awaited shows are just getting off the ground, and using the unparalleled arena of San Diego Comic-Con International to help do so. That includes His Dark Materials, a BBC/HBO TV adaptation of Philip Pullman’s popular fantasy novels; its panel takes place Thursday at 4:40 PM and features cast members James McAvoy, Dafne Keen, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Ruth Wilson as well as executive producer Jane Tranter.

Then there are some true warhorses: On noon at Saturday, Matt Groening and others will talk The Simpsons—now the longest-running show in American TV history—and its upcoming (31st!) season, premiering in September.

Preview Night Screenings

Wednesday evening will feature some exclusive Comic-Con International screenings, including the CW’s Batwoman, Epix’s Pennyworth, Fox’s Prodigal Son, DC Universe’s Harley Quinn, and Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans GO!.

Other Comic-Con Happenings

There’s a ton more composing this 50th running of Comic-Con International, including awards ceremonies, appearances by special guests such as Comic-Con founding member David Clark and Shadow and Bone trilogy author Leigh Bardugo, and the much-loved Masquerade costume contest (a Saturday night Comic-Con fixture).

If you’re attending San Diego Comic-Con International this year, we invite you to stay with us here at the Sofia Hotel on West Broadway, close to the proceedings and offering some of the very finest hospitality San Diego has to offer!

And finally, a heads-up: Even if you can’t make it to this year’s Comic-Con, you’ll soon be able to experience some of the magic anytime you visit San Diego and the Sofia Hotel by checking out the in-the-works Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park!