Comic-Con 2026: Studios & Streamers Vie For Eyes In San Diego’s Gaslamp District With Promos For ‘Percy Jackson,’ ‘Rings Of Power,’ ‘Lanterns,’ ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ ‘Yaga’ & More

San Diego Comic-Con is an ever-evolving beast, and the 2026 event is no different. The TV takeover continues as studios and streamers throw more marketing dollars toward their upcoming series than films, and in a place where superheroes used to rule the world, more fandoms are getting a sizable spotlight as ads begin to flood the Gaslamp Quarter for the weekend.

In some ways, nothing has changed. Attendees can still expect to be inundated with promotional material from essentially every major studio and streamer in the biz including ABC, Hulu, Marvel, FX, 20th Television, Disney+, HBO, DC Studios, AMC, Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios, and more.

Marvel is back with its buzzy Hall H panel this year, ahead of the release of Avengers: Doomsday, so naturally the film is at the forefront of the studio’s marketing push down in San Diego. Doomsday signage resembling bright green stained glass (Castle Doom, perhaps?) has been draped over the famous Gaslamp sign at the corner of 5th and L, and green flags with the Avengers logo are waving on just about every light pole in the area.

Interestingly, the Avengers signage is somewhat difficult to distinguish from HBO’s Lanterns promos, which also line the streets with, well, a whole lot of muted green — an unfortunate coincidence of release timing, surely.

While both have quite a ubiquitous presence inside and outside of the convention center, the dueling superhero studios are keeping the signage low key this year. Other than a few glimpses of Lanterns stars Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, the masked and caped crusaders are not really on display on the streets of San Diego. This tracks given the recent superhero fatigue at the box office. Motion picture marketing execs are being extra cautious about what they show off. Following Marvel’s mega pre-Covid 2019 announcement of future films and series, they learned the hard way what happens when a studio over announces (i.e., Mahershala Ali in Blade, a project which is still in development and was hard to get off the ground). Studios know if they bring it, they need to win it. With the fans, that is.

It remains to be seen how Marvel might top the 2024 reveal that Robert Downey Jr. was returning as Victor Von Doom for Doomsday, but the studio has already shown that it is willing to sit the con out when it has nothing interesting to say these days, so some big surprises are expected. DC easily filled Marvel’s lack of presence (besides a late-night screening of Deadpool & Wolverine) last year with Peacemaker promo galore. This year, all of that energy is being channeled into Lanterns. 

Warner Bros. Discovery is also throwing some weight behind its latest Big Bang Theory spinoff, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. In addition to a few posters, the studio has brought the ‘Comic Center of Pasadena’ all the way to San Diego for fans to enjoy. That activation is at Sparks Gallery in 6th Ave.

Disney also has claimed several of its other usual spots across downtown San Diego, including the side of the Hilton Bayfront and Petco Park. Wrapped around the Padres’ stadium con-goers will spot posters for two ABC hits, The Rookie and Abbott Elementary, which are both vets at this point having had some sort of ad presence over the last several years. Look to the right, and an ominous ’13’ plastered on the side of the Hilton Bayfront is preparing audiences for the upcoming season of American Horror Story.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is back in front of the convention center this year teasing the third season, based on Rick Riordan’s The Titan’s Curse. The series has another a titan-sized activation planned similar to last year’s, where visitors pick a path between Percy (Walker Scobell), Annabeth (Leah Sava-Jeffries) or Thalia (Tamara Smart) after entering Poseidon’s trident when it branches into its three prongs. Disney Entertainment Television is definitely the winner when it comes to activations, also boasting Hulu’s Animayhem and an American Horror Story stunt.

Hudson Williams as Henry Park and Carrie-Anne Moss, Clark Backo, and Noah Reid in Crave/AMC+’s ‘YAGA’ | #SDCC pic.twitter.com/w9TmN5kj6F

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) July 22, 2026

Paramount has noticeably scaled back its efforts in the SDCC marketing war in recent years, though the company is still putting its stamp on the event. The well-known Paramount Lodge is back at the Happy Does Bar and is sure to have a line down the sidewalk all weekend long. As attendees head into the convention center, they’ll also spot a massive poster for the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on the side of the Marriott Marquis. The studio is always partial to Star Trek but is leaning particularly hard into the sci-fi franchise this year to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

Amazon has also limited its signage this year, but you can’t miss Sauron looming over 5th Ave across from the Hard Rock, teasing the new season of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Ryan Gosling’s Project Hail Mary, which bowed earlier this year, is also in display.

And it wouldn’t be SDCC without AMC. The small but mighty studio tends to carve out a respectable chunk of the Gaslamp District to draw attention to its fan-favorite franchises like The Walking Dead and the Anne Rice universe. The Vampire Lestat has taken over the Pendry hotel, as well as several other buildings across downtown San Diego. This year, though, the poster to see is AMC+/Crave’s Yaga: A Witch Hunt promo on the front of the Hilton Gaslamp Quarter which features Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams.

Check out the signage below.