Instead they crafted a bitter parable for bureaucratic inaction and paralysis in the face of existential crisis, something Japanese audiences were eminently familiar with following the Fukushima nuclear meltdown disaster of 2011. And yet, even so, Higuchi admits that he and his co-director Hideaki Anno were surprised when they learned that they’d inadvertently invented the cuddliest looking Godzilla ever: you know the one with the big, googily eyes.
“It’s evolution, it’s not growth,” Higuchi says of Godzilla’s ever-mutating appearance. “There’s a difference. So I wanted to really follow an almost Darwinism [form] of evolution.” Thus to represent the midway point between the sea creature at the beginning of the movie and the more iconic reptilian visage that ends it, he and Anno settled on an image they thought would be chilling, not charming.
“Director Anno doesn’t like fish and doesn’t like meat,” Higuchi reveals. “So director Anno hates when you go to a fish market and you see the eyes, the way they look at you. So that was what we decided. ‘Let’s give him those eyes!’ But Anno is kind of confused, because he thought he made the scariest creature imaginable, but all the kids love it and everyone says it’s super cute. So there is this gap.” Merchandising windfalls have started from less. – DC
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
After countless spinoffs, movies, comics, and other projects, Star Trek is finally boldly going where many rootless Gen Xers go: back to school. No, Gene Roddenberry’s sunny vision of a collaborative sci-fi future isn’t going to grad school to get its masters; it’s going all the way back to Starfleet Academy in the fittingly titled Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
Den of Geek was joined by a supersized roster of Starfleet cadets and producers to discuss the project, including Holly Hunter (Nahla Ake), Robert Picardo (the Doctor), Noga Landau (executive producer), Alex Kurtzman (executive producer, co-showrunner), Sandro Rosta (Caleb Mir), Bella Shepard (Genesis Lythe) , Kerrice Brooks (Sam), George Hawkins (Darem Reymi), and Karim Diane (Jay-Den Kraag).
“It was very intentional to set it in the 32nd century,” Landau says. “Because it’s a time of rebuilding and it’s a time when the pressures of the rebuilding really falls on the shoulders of the younger generation. There’s a lot with these kids going on that other generations haven’t had to face.”
Kurtzman elaborates on why the time was finally right for a series featuring young Starfleet cadets after so many previous rumors and false starts.
“It feels like this generation in particular is facing so many deep challenges. Everybody is trying to figure out ‘how do we get back to hope?’ I think that’s where Roddenberry comes in. I always feel like Star Trek is a compass that points us toward our better angels and the people we want to be.”
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is set to premiere to Paramount+ in 2026. – AB
Star Trek Strange New Worlds
When Paramount’s freshly-installed Star Trek czar Alex Kurtzman invited Akiva Goldsman to work on the first modern Trek spinoff Star Trek: Discovery, Goldsman ran a simple Google search to get what the series was all about. It immediately led him astray.
“I discovered that it was a show about Pike and Number One… at least according to the internet. Then I got there and discovered it had zero to do with any of that,” Goldsman says.
That initial internet research, however, planted the seed for the spinoff that would become Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, arguably the most creatively successful Trek endeavor of its era. Now with the show in its third season (and with two more final seasons on the way) Goldsman, producer Henry Alonso Myers, and castmembers Rebecca Romijn (Number One), Christina Chong (La’An Noonien-Singh), Ethan Peck (Spock), Paul Wesley (James T. Kirk), and Jess Bush (Christine Chapel) stopped by the studio to talk about season 3 and the show’s ultimate legacy.
“What we’ve done so far exceeds anything I’d ever imagined,” Goldsman says. “I hoped we’d get the original Star Trek values back because God knows we need them in times like this. I had no idea that we would be gifted with this extraordinary cast. They are more than collaborators, they are authors. If we’re lucky and if we stick the landing we’ll have added a significant piece to the canon of Star Trek.”
Before the end comes, however, season 3 finds Strange New Worlds being its goofy, ambitious self, including a fourth episode that pays homage to The Original Series and Star Trek parodies in more ways than one.
“That was the most fun episode I think I have filmed,” Chong says. “When I got to see all these guys as their different characters, it was just incredible. La’An has been really uptight. Season 3 I had an opportunity to lighten her up. She’s exploring her passions, full stop.” – AB
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane’s King Spawn is about to hit issue 50 later this year. It’s a benchmark and milestone for the creator of Hell’s monarch, a character he created in 1992. That’s also the same year McFarlane co-founded Image Comics, where he remains president. Still, that’s a modest run when compared to mainline Spawn’s 350 and counting issues. Yet the way McFarlane tells it in our studio, it is the character’s longevity which is the secret to his success.
“At some point over time, and I don’t care which business it is, you’ll have high and low points,” McFarlane says. “But what’s going to matter is that the brand, that word that you’re putting out there, just never goes away. It’s always there. Attrition of the same thing over and over. Has Spawn had highs and lows? Of course it has. What it has [though] is it’s been there nonstop for over 30 years. That’s the secret sauce.”
McFarlane also confides that his biggest issue with many creators today, even at Image Comics, is that they wrap up a story they personally created after five or six issues.
“You get big sales in the first five and then they start to flatten and paper down,” the comic maestro notes. “And the thought is ‘I can stop and go start another book and get good sales for these next five of those.’ The answer economically is yes, in the short term, but I’m telling you, long-term I keep saying get to issue 50. Every book that Image Comics has done that has gotten 50 or more issues has gotten outside the bubble. And the bubble by definition is comic books and us in the geek [community]. The choir. The choir’s always coming, but how do you get it now out to T-shirts, hats, toys, video games, movies, TV shows? Outside so your neighbor may have heard of the work?”
Here’s to 50 more issues, King. – DC
Tony Hale
Tony Hale is quite simply one of the most successful comedic actors of this TV generation. After embodying motherboy Buster Bluth on Fox and Netflix’s beloved Arrested Development for five seasons, Hale would go on to win Emmy gold as President Meyer’s bagman Gary Walsh on HBO’s acidic satire, Veep. Now Hale is producing and starring in Sketch, a film he excitedly calls a combination of Inside Out and Jurassic Park.
“It took eight years to get made,” Hale says. “My buddy Seth Worley had the idea and wrote the script. We just went back and forth for a few years. I play a single dad who is worried because his daughter keeps drawing these crazy pictures that end up coming to life. It’s a really fun family adventure with a beautiful theme of processing feelings.”
In addition to teasing the madcap adventure to come in Sketch, Hale was kind enough to go deep on his career, discussing his time on Arrested Development, Veep, Community, Toy Story 4, Inside Out 2, and even his brief Marvel and Star Wars voice acting forays. One theme that emerged is that you might just remember Hale’s best roles better than he does.
“One of my favorite things is when people come up and are like, ‘I love this joke,’ and I’m like, ‘Please tell me it because I’ve completely forgotten.’ The only one I remember, because it’s my favorite, is Tobias joining Blue Man Group because he thinks it’s a support group for depressed men. That was the level of comedy you were working with.”
Next time you see Tony Hale out and about, please remind him of some more great Arrested Development gags. – AB
The Toxic Avenger
Writer-director Macon Blair and the stars of The Toxic Avenger remake, including Peter Dinklage, stopped by to chat about their new superhero movie—err, make that “super-human” movie. Yep, as producer Lloyd Kaufman, who co-wrote and co-directed the original Toxic Avenger, tells us, he has advised both Blair and Ahoy Comics to knock off using the term “superhero” while running with ol’ Toxie.
“[It’s] a super-human movie,” Kaufman insists. “You get a lawyer’s letter because Warners and Marvel co-own the word ‘superhero.’ When Toxic Avenger was a Marvel comic book, he was a superhero, but as soon as Warners dumped the Toxic Avenger remake, then suddenly we got a lawyer’s letter to no longer use ‘superhero.’ So it’s a super-human hero… That’s how you do things in the movie business.”
We should note that Marvel and DC have since lost their attempt to trademark the word ‘superhero’ in court, but the fact that Toxie has to stay DIY about even his job description—and even as the star of a glitzy (if still gory) new Legendary Pictures remake—is pretty on brand for a superhero who got dunked in toxic sludge. Watch the above video to see the rest of our discussion, including why Dinklage is not under the extensive Toxie makeup post-transformation. – DC
The first season of Twisted Metal on Peacock offered just about everything fans of the long-running vehicular combat video game series could have hoped for. In addition to Anthony Mackie’s anonymous hero John Doe, the season introduced many characters, vehicles, locations, and even the iconic fiery harlequin Sweet Tooth from the mythos. The only thing missing, however, was the all-important demolition derby itself. That is now set to arrive in Twisted Metal season 2 thanks to the introduction of another important game character: the mysterious Calypso, played by Anthony Carrigan (Barry, Superman).
“He’s just kind of your basic, run-of-the-mill MC of a vehicular death match. Go with the old standards,” Carrigan says.
Joining Carrigan to tease the season to come were Mackie (John Doe), Joe Seanoa (Sweet Tooth), Stephanie Beatriz (Quiet), and showrunner Michael Jonathan Smith.
“First of all, New San Francisco is a wonderful place,” Mackie says of John Doe’s initial season 2 digs. “If you get a chance, go check it out. I discovered carpaccio in New San Francisco. It’s quite nice. We discover John there having a wonderful time and trying to move forward without his right hand…”
“His right hand,” Beatriz interrupts with a masturbatory hand motion. A brief moment of sincerity immediately followed up by a dick joke? Hard to imagine a more fitting representation of Twisted Metal than that. – AB
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
The folks behind The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon stepped into the studio triumphant, having just announced at the preceding panel that their Walking Dead spinoff would receive a supersized fourth and final season. Producers Scott Gimple, Greg Nicotero, and David Zabel; and producers and stars Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride were happy to tease the ending to come.
“The French part of this show was always envisioned as a two-season story,” Zabel says. “And then starting this season we have three and four. By the end of that, Carol and Daryl’s European adventure would have a really good conclusion and open up whatever comes next.”
Following two full seasons of fighting the dead in France, Daryl (Reedus) and Carol (McBridge) head west (in a very roundabout way that includes a trip through the “Chunnel”) to take in some post-apocalyptic sightseeing on their long journey home.
“There’s a real passion in Spain,” Reedus says. “It’s like a Western. There’s a real Spanish fire to the cast and crew. You feel the passion in the show. We tried really hard not to make an American show and plop it down in Europe. We tried not to fake the funk. We didn’t want everyone in France to have a beret on and a poodle and eat brie. In Spain we were authentic as well.” – AB
Yaeji
One of the many draws of SDCC 2025 was the highly anticipated Crunchyroll Anime FanFest, two free days of live music, ranging from Japanese alternative bands to anime-inspired hip-hop groups. On the second day, Brooklyn-based DJ Yaeji performed a set on the Crunchyroll stage before stopping by the studio.
“It was definitely different,” Yaeji said about her FanFest set. “I prepared for it specially on the side. I wanted to play only anime edits and get deep if I can, so it wasn’t like a usual set I would play at all.”
Yaeji’s usual sets are platforms for her bilingual lyricism and dual lofi/electronic sounds. According to the DJ, the purpose behind writing lyrics in both Korean and English has changed for her over the years.
“In the beginning, I just sang in Korean because I wanted my friends to not know what I was singing about, and then I discovered that Korean sounds really texturally interesting, so it was more of an instrument,” the musician says. “Now, I find it to be helpful expressing in both languages … and also communicating via sounds and the sonics.”
Although Yaeji doesn’t point to one specific artist as her primary influence, she has resonated with icons of hip-hop and pop throughout her life. However, she has most notably found inspiration within mediums she shares in common with many SDCC attendees.
“Sometimes I would find random indie music through a blog probably, but I was always on the internet,” Yaeji tells us. “I think the more influential ones are actually probably from video games or anime openings and endings that I listened to throughout my teens.” – SR
Panels
Coyote vs. Acme Panel
Bright and early in Hall H, Looney Tunes fans at very long last got to watch never-before-seen clips from the long-awaited Coyote vs. Acme, the movie that Warner Bros. Discovery—I mean, Acme!—didn’t want you to see. The panel was hosted by comedian Paul Scheer and featured director Dave Green, cast members Will Forte, Eric Bauza, Martha Kelly, and surprise appearances by Wile E. Coyote himself, plus P. J. Byrne in-character as Acme’s legal rep. We saw three clips, including six minutes of footage and the film’s first official trailer. Byrne handed out fake cease and desist papers and had the panel removed by unpaid Acme interns.
These bits referenced WBD’s decision to shelve the completed film in 2023 as part of a $30 million tax write-off, which sparked immense fan outrage. Ketchup Entertainment later picked up the film for $50 million. The panel also revealed that Coyote vs. Acme is set for global release on Aug. 28, 2026. The film’s plot is based on a 1990 The New Yorker article by Ian Frazier, and imagines Wile E. Coyote finally suing Acme after years of injuries from their defective products.
“While [Wile E. Coyote] is the star of the movie, he is not the hero of this movie. Because I think what Paul [Scheer] and I, and everyone you’re going to meet on this panel today would say, is that the real hero of this movie is all you guys sitting in those seats,” Will Forte says at the panel. “Like Wile E. Coyote, you guys were underdogs who fought against a major corporation, and because you never gave up, this movie is now going to come out in a global wide release.” – DZ
George Lucas and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Panel
In the discussion of geek culture’s biggest influences, few names loom as large as George Lucas. This year, the creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones universes, founder of Lucasfilm, and veritable godfather of science fiction made his first appearance at SDCC for a panel titled “Sneak Peek of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Panel.”
Over the course of 50 years, Lucas has collected over 40,000 pieces of narrative art. Many of those artworks will soon be on display at the museum in Los Angeles, founded by Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson.
“It’s more about a connection, an emotional connection with the work, not how much it cost or what celebrity did it,” Lucas said about the artwork he collects. “It’s more a personal thing, and I don’t think it’s anything that anybody else can tell you… if you have an emotional connection, then it’s art.”
Sitting next to Lucas were director and museum board member Guillermo del Toro, artist and designer Doug Chiang, and musician and panel moderator Queen Latifah. Each member of the panel has their own connection to Lucas’ work, as well as their own passion behind narrative art.
“Many of the pieces we have celebrate freedom or anarchy,” del Toro said. “… Comics have a lot of social conscience, before or around the same time as movies and so forth. You have graffiti, you have many of the popular mimeographed forms of art that do that, they are not dominated… What is important for me or what is magical, [the museum] is not a man and his collection, it is a lineage of images… We are in a critical moment in which one of the things they like to disappear is the past, and this is memorializing a popular, vociferous, expressive, eloquent moment in our visual past that belongs to all of us.”
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is scheduled to open in 2026 and will feature original works from the Star Wars universe, along with original Peanuts sketches, an original Flash Gordon comic strip, the first Iron Man cover and much more. – SR
Gundam Wing
The flowing locks of unkempt ‘90s nostalgia were on full display when the anime heartthrobs of Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Quatre Winner, and the rest of the Gundam Wing pilots took a long overdue encore at the convention center on Thursday night. Before thousands of cheering fans, actors Mark Hildreth, Scott McNeil, and Brad Swaile–who voiced Heero, Duo, and Quatre in the beloved 2000 English dub of Gundam Wing—took a bow and recited some of the fans’ favorite lines while reminiscing about how best to vocalize imminent annihilation at the hands of a Gundam.
The biggest piece of news out of the panel was definitely a modern tribute video to Gundam Wing’s 30th anniversary with dazzling hand-drawn imagery that set the mind aflutter with possibilities. Gundam executive producer Naohiro Ogata was on hand to also tease folks to “keep watching” if they liked the above video (which might just be fan-baiting the dream of a Wing sequel). However, for attendees in the room, the highlight might be one fan asking for Hildreth to tear up a hand-delivered invitation to his birthday party with the same coldness that Heero infamously displayed to Relena Peacecraft in the first episode of Wing… Hildreth even made sure to throw the torn scraps so that the paper could catch the air-conditioning, like a feather in the wind. – DC
Peacemaker Panel
Touching down at the Peacemaker panel in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, we were graced with the presence of the crew behind Peacemaker, including actors John Cena, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, Sol Rodriguez, Frank Grillo, Tim Meadows, and writer-director James Gunn.
Not only did they answer questions and speak on their characters’ motivations coming into the next season, but we also got a few clips of the new season 2 coming to HBO Max on Aug. 21, including a comedic “bird blindness” bit with Steve Agee’s John Economos and Tim Meadows’ new ARGUS agent character, “Langston Fleury,” as well as a hard-hitting action scene featuring Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt giving out haymakers and head kicks in a biker bar.
James explained to the audience that coming into season 2, Peacemaker feels shunned from the superhero community, his love interest, and the things he wants from life in general. With Gunn speaking to where we find peacemaker: “He’s dealing with the demons he sort of uncovered from the first season and trying to deal with them and the world is not accepting him the way he is.” But once his father’s inter-dimensional storage door, aka the Quantum Unfolding Chamber, comes into play, Chris has a chance to see if the grass is greener on the other side in this parallel world. – CM
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Panel
The mythological world of Percy Jackson & the Olympians has seen many iterations, from the original book series by Rick Riordan to the film adaptations in the 2010s to a spinoff series to, most recently, a TV rendition. The first season aired in 2023 and after a year and a half of patient waiting, members of the cast and production team offered fans a sneak peak at Season Two in the first Hall H panel of SDCC 2025.
“We like to say it (Season Two) is supersized,” executive producer and writer Dan Shotz said. “Season Two is epic, it is so huge what we were able to build … We are out at sea, we are on a 175-foot ironclad ship, we are on cruise ships, we are in chariot races, we are fighting incredible monsters … It is so massive and we cannot wait for you guys to see what we do.”
Season Two will dig deeper into Riordan’s written world, this time following the story of the series’ second installment: The Sea of Monsters. Cast members like Walker Scobell (Percy), Leah Jeffries (Annabeth) and Dior Goodjohn (Clarisse) all spoke to the experience of returning to a film set that has become a home to them and how Season Two allowed them to open up to their characters in a way viewers will not want to miss. The panel ended with a video message from Riordan, in which he announced the official release date of Season Two – Dec. 10 on Disney+ – and the casting of two vital characters set to appear in Season Three: Levi Chrisopulos as Nico di Angelo and Olive Abercrombie as his sister, Bianca. – SR
Predator: Badlands Panel
Disney and 20th Century Studios have a lot of confidence in Predator: Badlands, and for good reason. It was, after all, only three years ago when they brought Dan Trachtenberg’s previous live-action movie in the Predator universe, the Hulu exclusive Prey, to SDCC. There the historical period piece set during the 18th century and in Comanche Nation tore the roof off of a nearby theater. So seeing Trachtenberg back, now in Hall H alongside stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and moderator Kevin Smith, amounted to something of a victory lap. Except this win had a whole other movie to wow attendees.
While Trachtenberg didn’t bring his full Predator follow-up to San Diego in 2025 (it’s still being made), he and Disney confidently unveiled the first 15 minutes of Badlands, including portions of action sequences and special effects that are unfinished. They were right to be bullish, the sequence, which amounts to an extended prologue set on the Predators’ homeworld, reveals just how much of Schuster-Koloamatangi’s protagonist, a Predator named Dek, truly is the main character of the future-set movie (a first in the Predator franchise). His story is given vaguely Shakespearean heft as he must battle against the expectations of his clan and a murderous father.
Our full impression of the first 15 minutes can be found here, but rest assured that there is much yet to be revealed, including the full extent of Elle Fanning’s role as a pair of Weyland-Yutani synthetics that Dek discovers on a hostile alien world where there is an apex predator so ferocious that even the alien race which hunts Arnold Schwarzenegger for sport fears it. What that creature looks like has yet to be glimpsed–or just how much fun Fanning will have playing dual roles (Smith teased she portrays two very different kinds of robots)—but suffice to say the future looks bright for pop culture’s most beloved ugly MFer. – DC
Tron: Ares
Disney also brought Tron: Ares to SDCC this year with perhaps the most spectacular light show Hall H has ever witnessed. Heralded by several red-hued programs and neon-crimson beams piercing the darkness, an all-star cast, including Jeff Bridges (and for better or worse Jared Leto) took the stage to discuss the legacy of Tron, the future of technology, and just how awesome it is to walk on a Disney soundstage made to rebirth “the Grid.”
Still, the most tantalizing tease offered fans was an extended glimpse and listen at the original score written by Nine Inch Nails for the movie. Following in the footsteps of Daft Punk’s iconic score from Tron: Legacy (2010), all of NIN has reassembled to write and perform on a soundtrack that includes literal vocal tracks and new NIN songs. In fact, a killer music video was even fired up for Hall H attendees. Trust us, it’s amazing, as some naughty social media posts have proven with leaks like the one above. – DC
Events
Avatar Party
Earth, fire, water, air… the four nations were more than represented at the Nickelodeon x Den of Geek Avatar the Last Airbender 20th anniversary party in San Diego, celebrating the massively popular animated series and its ever-expanding world, with some of the cast and crew that made it special. including voice actors Jack De Sena, Jennie Kwan, Olivia Hack, Dante Basco, Zach Tyler Eisen, Michaela Jill Murphy, and Dee Bradley Baker, as well as co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
The party was a lively time with signature mixed drinks from each of the four nations and plenty of food to boot, including a beautifully crafted sushi bar made out of ice in the water tribe section, and a large charcuterie platter within the mini earth kingdom, while servers handed out a vast amount of food and treats like vegetarian spring rolls, cabbage dumplings, hand-cut potato chips, bao buns, and countless other Avatar-themed snacks. We were also happily entertained with the exciting sounds of DJ Dante, aka Dante Basco, pleasing the crowd with a set list signature to his swagger while at the DJ booth, Basco actually brought up his fellow Avatar castmates one by one, on stage by name and character name, to exclaim, “We just want to say thank you guys so much for 20 years, just being in support of the show and changing all of our lives… ours and yours.”
And he wasn’t the only one with words for the audience; co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko came up on stage to lend some words, with DiMartino stating, “We have Den of Geek to thank for that, for throwing, to my knowledge, the first actual really awesome, really fun party… Thank you, Den of Geek.” Konietzko added, “Here we are, we’ll keep going as long as we can go.” –CM
DC Comics x eBay Live
Den of Geek was honored to host the culmination event of our Summer of Superman charity auctions live at San Diego Comic-Con. Partnering with eBay and DC Comics, we brought you all-new and original Superman artwork from seasoned comics veterans like Rafael Albuquerque, Cully Hamner, Scott Koblish, Joe Prado, Ian Churchill, John Timms, Eddy Barrows, Daniel Sampere, Clayton Henry, Tony S. Daniel, Dan Jurgens, Kenneth Rocafort, and Ivan Reis.
The event was hosted by Sam Stone and Rosie Knight, with guest appearances from comic creatives Jurgens, Hamner, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, and Tom King, as well as Peacemaker actor Steve Agee joining in on the fun. Fans and fellow geeks came out in droves to support the cause, helping raise over $7,000 for the BINC Foundation. BINC’s mission is to support the emergent financial, medical, and mental health service needs of comic and book shop owners and workers across the country, who have guided fellow comic enthusiasts along the way.-CM
Op Games
The Op Games Party came alive with shared laughter, the cheerful clink of glasses and a nostalgic soundtrack featuring ‘90s icons like Madonna and New Radicals, which captured the electric, feel-good vibes of the night. Tables buzzed with excitement as fans and first-timers alike dove into classic titles like Telestrations and Blank Slate. Founded in 1994, The Op Games, formally known as USAopoly, is celebrating over 30 years of bringing families and friends together over fun, easy-to-learn party games. The Op has built a legacy of laughter and connection with original fan favorites and licensed games from renowned brands like Disney, Marvel, Sanrio, and Nickelodeon. Partygoers who wanted to game rotated from table to table, speed-dating-style, sampling four of the company’s best-selling and most fast-paced games. Tasty hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine and specialty drinks at the open bar were restocked throughout the night as the over 400 guests that attended passed through the Andaz Hotel on the first night of San Diego Comic-Con.
At one table, each player would alternate between sketching and guessing to see how wildly their original phrase transforms by the end of the round while playing Telestrations. Others raced against the timer to shout out answers that fit a category without repeating letters during multiple intense rounds of Tapple. Attempting to read the room but not be too obvious, others tried to match one word with another player to complete a phrase in many hilarious rounds of Blank Slate. One of the most popular and competitive games of the night had to be Flip 7, which earned the 2025 Golden Geek Award for Party Game of the Year. People roared during this fast-paced, push-your-luck card game where players race to play numbered cards in sequence, which involves flipping and swapping cards to outwit opponents and be the first to clear their hand. Guests arrived in full cosplay, their best 90s fashion, in groups and solo, but no matter how they showed up, everyone found something to enjoy.
“My mission, and The Ops mission, is to bring people together, where we can all play these games and actually experience them in a real world situation that you can replicate at home and show to your friends,” Adam Minton, associate director of marketing at The Op Games, says. “We want nothing more than joy, laughter, lifetime memories, and doing events like these with cool people in a cool atmosphere.” – DZ
Mission Brewing Party
No SDCC is complete without stopping downtown at Mission Brewing, and with the Comic-Con crowd still buzzing from the recent release of Superman (2025), what better way to celebrate than with a super happy hour?
In collaboration with Mission Brewing, Upper Deck and Den of Geek, the brewery hosted two live podcast tapings. The podcast Power-Up discussed Upper Deck’s Rush of Ikorr card games, and Roddenberry Entertainment’s Does it Fly and iHeartRadio’s X-Ray Vision teamed up to chat about the Man of Steel himself.
The first 50 guests received a pack of Upper Deck Fleer Brilliants Superman trading cards, and the first 150 snagged a free Mission x Den of Geek custom pint. The vibes were good as people unwinded with tailor-made canned Den of Geek lagers, deliciously refreshing pale ales made just for the event. – DZ
