A young man dressed as the hero of 'One Punch Man' rides a bicycle in downtown San Diego. Ariana Drehsler (AFP)
On Thursday morning, four planes were flying in formation over the marina in San Diego, California.
The ships returned to the naval base in the city, which has recently gained international fame thanks to
Maverick
, the second part of
Top Gun
.
Another numerous land army has invaded the city these days, especially the Convention Center.
We are an army of
nerds
” laughs Jody Garcia, 35.
She is one of the first in the long line that leads to Pavilion H. Waiting for a turn in this queue is a gesture of distinction and sacrifice in this appointment, known for the devotion and dedication of fantasy fans.
San Diego Comic Con, the largest pop culture event in America, returns at full steam after two years of low profile forced by the pandemic.
The huge queue, a local phenomenon that even has its own Twitter account, begins to form hours before dawn.
"I arrived at night, when it was more yesterday than today," confesses Garcia, around two in the afternoon, when he had already been guarding the stall for a little over 12 hours.
With only three people ahead of her, optimism reigned supreme for this fan of
The Lord of the Rings
, JRR Tolkien's creation.
the rings of power
, a new installment set in Middle-earth by the South African writer, is one of the most anticipated premieres of the season thanks to Amazon studios.
The new series, whose budget is speculated to exceed $1 billion, will premiere in early September.
This morning the secrecy with which Jeff Bezos's company had surrounded the series, which will have five seasons, will finally begin to fall.
At 11:00 local time, fantasy devotees will be rewarded for their wait with a few-minute trailer and the chance to meet the cast and ask them a few questions.
One of those absent from this appointment will be Juan Antonio Bayona, director of two episodes, who is signing another project outside of San Diego.
This Friday is a big day for
nerds
.
The word here does not offend anyone.
He carries himself proudly.
Hundreds of meters behind Garcia is a group carrying an orange sign with a stuffed fox sitting in a patient position.
"Nerd Herd" (nerd herd) say bright yellow letters.
These types of badges are important to find your people in a homogeneous line: men and women with series or movie t-shirts sitting on beach or camping chairs.
Some play Magic, others read magazines or look at their phones next to pizza boxes stacked on the side.
Whatever it takes to make time move forward.
In addition to
The Rings of Power
, this Friday there will also be a farewell for
The Walking Dead
and
Dragon Ball Z
.
“You have to prepare yourself mentally,” says Calvin Ng, 41, a human resources employee for a coffee company.
Tonight he has a shift and must sleep on the cement to save the place.
Each person formed represents five others, who are distributed in the activities waiting for their turn to slaughter to begin.
Calvin is one of the veterans of the legendary row.
He has been coming to Comic Con for 20 years, an event where he meets old friends that life has scattered across the country.
In the good times, he says, about 20 came here.
Now they are half.
Many are married or have children.
Little by little they have been leaving this Land of Never Never that the convention creates for four days.
Calvin continues to give himself with relish to this world of fantasy.
Wednesday night,
People dressed as Loki and Thor attend the 2022 edition of Comic Con.ROBYN BECK (AFP)
The organizers expect some 135,000 attendees this year, a figure that would place them above the numbers achieved in the 2019 edition. This year's titles have helped boost the turnout.
In addition to the aforementioned Amazon project, on Saturday it will be the turn of
House of the Dragon
, with which HBO will try to recover the audience of an entire generation that religiously came to its screens to follow the eight seasons of
Game of Thrones
,
which earned the network 59 Emmy Awards.
It will be the return to Westeros 300 years of the facts already known to all.
The episodes will tell the origin of the Targaryen house, as they emerge from the universe created by George RR Martin.
This has tried to combat the idea that the two series will fight for a single audience.
“I want both shows to reach audiences who appreciate them and to be quality television.
The more successes in the fantastic genre we have, the more fantasy we will have in the future, ”the author wrote on his blog.
After
House of the Dragon
, the stage will be for Dwayne Johnson,
The Rock
.
One of the biggest figures in Hollywood today lands in San Diego to unveil
Black Adam
, where he plays the antagonist of Shazam for the DC comics house.
Marvel is expected to reveal some secrets from the sequel to the hugely successful
Black Panther
and volume 3 of
Guardians of the Galaxy
.
The juiciest details, according to the
Deadline
medium , will be saved to give exclusively at Disney's own news conference that will take place from September 9 to 11.
Even so, Marvel is very present in the San Diego convention center.
On Thursday morning, Gilberto, Andrea and Brandon arrived at the appointment dressed as their favorite characters from the house created by Stan Lee.
Brandon, a 24-year-old air traffic controller, had spent more than $600 on a detailed costume that mixed Captain America's armor with Spiderman's suit.
His friend, a video game designer who traveled from Seattle, on the other side of the country, dressed as Marvel's winter soldier.
“After the pandemic, where we distanced ourselves from each other, it feels great to come back to this community and be all together sharing the same things.
I was already desperate.
Now I feel like I never left."
