Streaming Wars is a weekly opinion column by IGN’s Streaming Editor, Amelia Emberwing. Check out the last entry: Star Wars Needs The Acolyte Season 2 (and So Do I).
That’s a wrap on San Diego Comic-Con 2024! Ok, it wrapped two days ago, but we were all working non-stop at the most breakneck entertainment show of the year, cut a girl some slack. While major reveals and big show-stopping… show… stuff… was more limited than usual as production teams continue to recover from last year’s Hollywood strikes, there was still some very exciting TV and streaming news to come out of the con. And, not for nothing, if you’re a sitcom or animation fan, this was your year! Since they take less time to produce than long-form scripted television, shows like Abbott Elementary and Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dominated the SDCC 2024 scene.
I do love me a sitcom, but my favorite part of Comic-Con is the big reveals for all the geeky shows that I’m obsessed with at the moment. With that in mind, here are the SDCC announcements that had me the most giddy.
Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Finds Its Tyson the Cyclops
I interviewed the team of this show right before their panel and they didn’t say a word! Which is to say that no, Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri do not share Tom Holland’s unfortunate proclivity for revealing spoilers at the drop of a hat, but dang, y’all, I thought we bonded over our shoes! (I was wearing my red chucks, obviously — even if they’re not high tops).
Minor betrayals aside, during their panel it was announced that Daniel Diemer will be playing the fan-favorite cyclops Tyson in Season 2 of the series. Adam Copeland — Edge, for all my wrestling buddies — made a surprise appearance and also confirmed that filming will kick off in the next few weeks, which seems to be earlier than the initially anticipated Fall shooting schedule.
And no, still no news on Thalia. I asked.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Gets Hopeful
Half of the fun of SDCC is the absolutely epic trailers — many of which are supersized. The new The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s Season 2 trailer easily falls into this category with over three minutes of footage and a whole lot of emotions to go with it. Hope and earnestness are core tenets of The Lord of the Rings franchise, and it is extremely evident in this trailer that — despite the growing darkness — those emotions will be pivotal in Season 2.
To get the scoop, I talked with the Rings of Power cast on our SDCC live show shortly after the trailer went live.
New The Boys Spin-off Vought Rising Is Coming
While there’s a big part of me that immediately responded with “I don’t know if we really need a Nazi show right now,” I’ve got to admit that I’m curious. A prequel set in 1950s New York, Vought Rising will bring back Aya Cash as Stormfront and Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy. I trust the creative teams of The Boys universe, Cash played the hell out of Stormfront and, as a Supernatural girlie, I’ll basically watch whatever Ackles does going forward (except the Winchesters, that never needed to happen).
What I’m most curious about here is how they’re going to manage to make a series where the beginnings of Vought International are compelling. Right now it’s bad guy stacked on bad guy stacked on bad guy. Soldier Boy has some interesting enemy of my enemy moments in the present, but he’s still a tremendous dirtbag with a history of monstrous behavior. Meanwhile, Stormfront is 100% homegrown Nazi. They’ll have to introduce some pretty solid original characters to bring balance to the series.
Interview with the Vampire Imitates Bowie and Gets Away With It?!
I’m sorry, it was my understanding that attempting to imitate Ziggy Stardust was against the law. Then again, when has Lestat de Lioncourt ever cared about laws — human or otherwise?
Despite wrapping up its second season just weeks ago, the Interview with the Vampire team surprised fans with a musical teaser for Season 3 at this year’s SDCC. In it, we learn that the next season will be for a documentary rather than a book (but continuing the trend of interviewing vampires), following the escapades of the Vampire Lestat (and loosely adapting Anne Rice’s book of the same name).
I can’t say which is more bonkers — that the IWTV team had a jaw-dropping tease ready to go for the big show so soon after Season 2, or that Sam Reid successfully pays homage to David Bowie while leaving fans hungry for Season 3 and already losing our collective minds over Lestat the rock star.
Hazbin Hotel Is Here to Stay
Like Interview with the Vampire, it’s been no secret that I am absolutely obsessed with Hazbin Hotel. It’s been almost seven months and I haven’t stopped listening to the soundtrack on a loop.
The series may not have come to SDCC with a trailer or any major in-show reveals, but it did get renewed for Seasons 3 and 4 ahead of Season 2 hitting streaming. That may seem reactionary to some, given the fact that the show only has one season under its belt, but when you beat viewership records for as long as they have and continue to top Spotify charts months and months after your release, Prime Video throwing its weight behind the series makes a lot of sense.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time for yet another rewatch!
