At Comic-Con 2018, Shazam and Wonder Woman will try to make rope in the fans

Minor Spoilers for various movies and television shows below. Read with caution.

Who needs Marvel Studios and Avengers? Certainly not this year's San Diego Comic-Con.

The annual Con, which kicked off with a premiere on Wednesday, was launched with some of its biggest headliners. With Infinity War in homes via Blu-ray and the upcoming Avengers movie scheduled for 2019, Marvel Studios has withdrawn from a large presence at the convention . Similarly, the key HBO franchises Game of Thrones and Westworld are a no-show

Compare that with last year when Stranger Things Game of Thrones and Westworld had main panels, and Marvel appeared with exclusive images to Infinity War, concept art for Captain Marvel and teases for Black Panther and Thor : Ragnarok .

But that did not slow down the news as others try to fill the void. Transformers impressed with new images and information on some of the Decepticons that Bumblebee will be facing. Venom showed new sequences and confirmed at least one villain named Riot, who is another symbiote. The cast and showrunners behind Star Trek: Discovery dropped some bombs, including the fact that Spock would be back . Mr. Night Shyamalan brought his universe Unbreakable and Split with his trailer for the glass .

Congress organizers hope that this will be enough to keep fans in San Diego for the 49th Comic-Con International. The convention, which is expected to draw more than 135,000 people – many dressed in costumes ranging from Wonder Woman to Batman – has gone from a niche event focused on comics to a mecca drawing. Entertainment. stars and big Hollywood franchises like Marvel, DC and Star Wars.

Even though there will not be long lines for Hall H there will be cosplay, exclusive geek merchandise and even a futuristic Taco Bell . A lot is going on, so here's a survival guide for the con as well as 13 comics to read to put you in the mood. For a complete list of events, go to here . Read on for highlights.

Warner Bros. Dominance

The Justice League was … something. The film should have been a decisive moment for the "DC Extended Universe", but it eventually reached a lower total box office than Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Wonder Woman, critic and popular.

DC has a chance to redeem himself with teasing for Wonder Woman 1984, as well as Aquaman. Actor Jason Momoa was one of the highlights of the Justice League presentation last year, triumphantly charging Hall H's public alley and leaving the fans in his with his antics. The director of Aquaman, James Wan added other images this year after showing a brief teaser and concept art last year. The film is released in theaters in December.

At the DC booth, costumes for Shazam were on display. A trailer should begin Saturday. The film, about a boy who can turn into a powerful superhero by pronouncing "Shazam", saw a slow trick of new images of Zachary Levi as the red and yellow costume character . DC has some work to do to create interest for the character, since it is a step back from Batman or even Aquaman for casual spectators.

DC and Warner Bros. also released information on the title and release of the new Joker movie with Joaquin Phoenix. It will be separated from another Joker movie with Jared Leto, who performed the Prince of Crime Clown in Suicide Squad.

Ezra Miller, who played Flash in the Justice League, was seen at Comic-Con on Friday Chances are, he will talk about the Fantastic Beasts sequel.

But it's not just movies. DC has unveiled its $ 8 per month subscription service, DC Universe, which combines a library of new and old TV shows and movies with a comic book catalog. He even created intense theme rooms as part of the show's DC experience, even allowing you to go crazy with a bat in a padded cell. DC Universe is where you will see exclusive series like Titans. The first trailer was created on Thursday

Bad timing

This year's Comic-Con comes at a difficult time for many key franchises. Marvel has had an explosive start to the year with Black Panther and Infinity War, and Ant-Man and The Wasp are now in the movies. The next film MCU Captain Marvel, will be presented only in March next.

Similarly, Westworld has just completed its second season and the last season of Game of Thrones will not be presented until next year.

The First Woman Doctor

Jodie Whittaker made one of her first major new public appearances of Doctor Who . She has made waves as the first female doctor and should shed light on how her version will stand out from the previous 12 incarnations.

The cast said the show would be more inclusive, pointing out that Doctor Who

Venom lands at Comic-Con

The Marvel flag still sails thanks to Sony Pictures, which brings Tom Hardy and Venom director Ruben Fleischer to the convention. They showed some rude pictures only to the audience Hall H, and Fleischer potentially attracted more than one villain in the movie.

Transformers Throws Michael Bay

Paramount went all-in on the theme '80 by opening with Stan Bush playing You've Got the Touch – sort of anthem for all fans of Transformers (it was the song of brand for Transformers: the film).

The last film Transformers takes place in the 1980s and his latest teaser suggests the cleaner robotic designs of the original cartoon. Like Venom, footage of new scenes from the film were shown only in Hall H. Site Sisters Gamespot describes the enemies as triple money changers and director Travis Knight said the film would go to Cybertron.

While this may excite fans of old-school comics, it's still unclear whether fans of Michael Bay's movies will be satisfied. But considering the terrifying reception of Transformers: The Last Night, a reshuffle was expected.

Predator

21st Century Fox brought Thursday its near-restart game to Predator at Hall H, hoping to breathe new life into the franchise. Director Shane Black, who played in the original alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, seeks to bring back the same magic.

The new footage showed a more humorous side of the film, and there were more Predator-on-Predator fights, as suggested by the improved Predator seen in the latest trailer.

(Watch our interview with Predeal Cast Keegan-Michael Key .)

Star Trek: The Discovery Returns The Enterprise

Star Trek: Discovery Ends his inaugural season with a lot of questions. But the most pressing is: what does the Enterprise do here?

Distribution actors and executive producers came to Comic-Con with answers. A new trailer debuted referring to more action and comedy. The cast speaks of the lighter tone of the war and the star Sonequa Martin-Green talked a lot about the family. Executive producer Alex Kurtzman, meanwhile, promised that fans would receive even more responses as he "syncs with cannon."

(Disclosure: Star Trek: Discovery airs on CBS All Access, and CNET belongs to CBS.)

The Walking Dead says goodbye to Rick

The most popular show in America is back with a trailer for its upcoming season, which begins in October. The show will go through a leap of time. Actor Andrew Lincoln, who plays principal actor Rick Grimes, confirmed reports that he would leave after this season.

Netflix, Hulu and Amazon make their mark

Netflix has a solid presence at Comic-Con thanks to its Marvel franchises (Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage), but it seems its presence with The Dragon Prince, a series of creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as the animated reboot of Voltron: Legendary Defender.

Unfortunately, there will be no Stranger Things sign like last year.

Amazon has a series of shows, including The Expanse, that it saved from the cancellation after SyFy chose not to renew it for a fourth season. There is also Jack Ryan, a show based on Tom Clancy's book series with John Krasinski of The Office (Jim). The people behind this show have set up a training area at Comic-Con to raise awareness.

Hulu boasts Castle Rock, an J.J. Anthology horror series produced by Abrams that incorporates characters and elements from various stories of Stephen King.

Where does he find these toys?

Comic-Con is not just a place for entertainment news. Fans will line up for a chance to discover exclusive Funko pop figures, or unique Lego sets. In fact, Lego brings a life-size statue of Thanos to Comic-Con. It is eight and a half feet tall, contains 91,350 bricks and weighs 450 lbs. Unfortunately, this is not for sale.

Hasbro, meanwhile, will feature unique sets of different Transformers, as well as action figures based on the Netflix Marvel and Star Wars series.

This year, Comic-Con has set up a lottery system with many vendors, including Funko and Hasbro, with people who have earned the right to buy goods a week ago. This did not stop Funko from being one of Comic-Con's most sought-after toys.

Random Mashup

Fighter of Street Fighter and Power Rangers? Yes, only to Comic-Con.

The Taco Bell of Demolition Man Returns

Comic-Con is known for its interactive and immersive experiments both in and around the convention. One of the best experiences was also one of the simplest: a converted restaurant to resemble the Taco Bell of San Angeles and the World 2032 of Demolition Man, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

From the pianist playing Folgers' juggling to the servers that greet you, the "citizens" and "Taco Bell, be fine," the organizers of this activation did an impressive job in creating the fictional 2032 of the universe Demolition Man. Even the first dish was a perfect match for the meal served in the movie.

Alas, the three notorious shells in the toilets were out of order. He continues to be the biggest mystery of Demolition Man.

The story was published on July 16 at 5 o'clock in the morning.
Updated July 17 at 6:45 am PT: Adds more information about toys to Comic-Con.
Updated July 18 at 7:30 PT: Adds more information about Shazam and Jack Ryan.
Updated July 19 at 6:00 PT: Adds more information about DC Universe
Update, July 20 at 5:00 PT: Adds more information about Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Doctor Who and Taco Bell demolition man.

13 comics to get you in the Comic-Con spirit : While you keep an eye on Comic-Con (yes, there are still comics ), enjoy these fantastic

Comic-Con 2018 : Keep up to date with everything we see in San Diego at the latest geek conference.