Hugh Grant, Keanu Reeves, Terry Crews and Sir Patrick Stewart joined comic book fans at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, as the event returned in-person for the first time in two years after moving online owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thousands of fans flocked to the San Diego Convention Centre for the four-day event, which wrapped up on Sunday, with Covid protocols including vaccine checks and mask-wearing still enforced.
Masks were not an issue, however, as many fans dress up for the occasion, donning their best cosplay costumes — and this year, they went all out.
Spider-Man was a popular costume, and there were plenty of pirates out and about, too. Of course, superheroes and Marvel characters dominated the trends, but there were an abundance of anime-inspired get-ups and popular sci-fi creatures.
Scroll through the gallery above to see some of the best costumes from San Diego Comic-Con 2022
Major announcements: new trailers and Marvel's road map
Pop culture fans returned home happy following a weekend of exciting film and television announcements.
A flurry of features were announced from industry giants including Amazon, Warner Bros, HBO and Marvel, who revealed exclusive sneak peeks and other content.
Most of the major announcements were made on the second and third days in the famous Hall H venue.
Things got under way on Thursday afternoon with the official release of the trailer for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
The two-minute trailer shows Chris Pine leading a team of A-list fantasy thieves against a backdrop of CGI action scenes, set against Led Zeppelin's track Whole Lotta Love.
Friday's announcements were led by Amazon, with the release of a new trailer for the coming series The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power.
The panel, hosted by US talk show host Stephen Colbert, featured interviews with most members of the large ensemble cast, as well as an enormous panoramic screen to show the new trailer and several other, exclusive clips from the show.
Fans will be thrown deep into JRR Tolkein's Second Age in the series, which takes place thousands of years before the events of the world-renowned The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings books.
Other panels on the convention's first day included one for The Walking Dead franchise, which released trailers for the show's final episodes and introduced the coming anthological spin-off series Tales of the Walking Dead.
Dwayne Johnson kicked off Saturday with an electrifying promotional panel for his coming DC blockbuster Black Adam.
The actor appeared onstage surrounded by crackling electricity and swirling smoke and dressed in his anti-hero attire, as he warned fans that the superhero universe would "never be the same again".
The Black Adam showcase was preceded by a panel for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which stars Zachary Levi, Rachel Zegler and Dame Helen Mirren.
Mirren joked that she had been banned from Comic-Con for fighting at previous conventions, as she appeared in a virtual message to fans apologising for her absence.
Later, HBO's House of the Dragon panel featured plenty of British talent as well an appearance by Game of Thrones's creator George RR Martin, 73, who reassured fans yet again that he was still writing The Winds of Winter.
But one of the weekend's biggest talking points was the Marvel "mega-panel" on Saturday afternoon, hosted by boss Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios.
After announcing that the franchise's Phase Four would soon end with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Feige went on to set out the road map for both Phases Five and Six, confirming dozens of new titles and a Disney series.
Among the announcements were trailers for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, ahead of which the cast and crew paid tribute to its late star Chadwick Boseman.
Director Ryan Coogler said the production team behind the film had "put our love for Chadwick into this film" before introducing the emotional clip.
Feige also announced that Phase Six of Marvel would begin in 2024 with a Fantastic Four film and end in 2025 with two new Avengers movies.
The first, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, is scheduled for a May 2, 2025 release and Avengers: Secret Wars will come out only six months later on November 7, 2025.
- PA contributed to this report
Scroll through to see more celebrities and fans at San Diego Comic-Con 2022
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From left, Aldis Hodge, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Quintessa Swindell participate in the Black Adam portion of the Warner Bros Theatrical panel on day three of the San Diego Comic-Con International. AP -
From left, moderator Stephen Colbert, Robert Aramayo and Benjamin Walker participate in a panel for 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' on day two of Comic-Con International. AP -
Jameela Jamil attends the Marvel Cinematic Universe mega panel at the 2022 Comic-Con International. Reuters -
Michaela Coel attends the Marvel Cinematic Universe mega panel at the 2022 Comic-Con International. Reuters -
Jonathan Majors and Paul Rudd at the Marvel Cinematic Universe mega panel during the 2022 Comic-Con International. Reuters -
From left, director James Gunn with actors Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Will Poulter and Maria Bakalova, present 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3' at the Marvel panel, during Comic-Con International. AFP -
Actress Lucy Liu arrives on stage to speak about the film 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' during the Warner Bros panel at Comic-Con. AFP -
Actor Dwayne Johnson presents his film 'Black Adam' during the Warner Bros panel. AFP -
English actors Matt Smith and Emma D'Arcy on stage at the HBO 'House of the Dragon' panel. AFP -
The cast of HBO's 'House of the Dragon' during the panel. AFP -
A statue of Vecna from 'Stranger Things' appears outside the convention centre on day one of Comic-Con. AP -
A cosplayer dressed as Spider-man from 'Captain America: Civil War'. AFP -
Ben Stiller attends a panel for the television series 'Severance' on day one of San Diego Comic-Con. AP -
A young cosplayer Sirius Black, 7, dressed as Loki, at the event. AFP -
From left, Stephen Root, Dolph Lundgren, Tiffany Smith, William Shatner, Robert David, and Gregory Mone speak onstage at the 'Masters of the Universe: 40 Years' panel. AFP -
Jose Cuadros cosplays as Aquaman. AP Photo -
Sarah Michelle Gellar participates in a panel for 'Teen Wolf: The Movie' on day one of San Diego Comic-Con. AP Photo -
The event is being held at San Diego Convention Centre. AFP -
Hugh Grant speaks during a panel for 'Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'. AP Photo -
A young fan at the event. AFP -
Michelle Rodriguez participates in a panel for 'Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' on day one of San Diego Comic-Con. AP Photo -
Fans cosplaly as the Joker, left, and Superman. EPA -
William Shatner at the event. AFP -
Fan Leslie Acosta poses with Patrick Star from the animated television series 'SpongeBob Squarepants'. AP Photo -
Lauren Ridloff poses for a portrait to promote the Inevitable Foundation on day one of San Diego Comic-Con. AP Photo -
The Nintendo booth has a 14-foot tall king-sized Lego creation of 'Super Mario' character The Mighty Bowser. AP Photo -
Cosplayers dressed as Greek water gods from 'Percy Jackson'. AFP -
A fan cosplays as Senna from 'League of Legends'. AP Photo -
After two years of virtual events due to the pandemic, the convention is welcoming back fans in-person. AFP -
An attendee gets a photo with cosplayers dressed as Batman and Red Hood outside the convention centre during day one of San Diego Comic-Con. AFP
