Author: Lesley Goldberg, Aaron Couch

July 23, 2016 8:00am PT by Lesley Goldberg, Aaron Couch

 Courtesy of CBS

THR is on the scene in San Diego. Here are the day’s TV and film panels to watch for.

It’s the halfway point at San Diego Comic-Con. Following a busy day with coverage from The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and Batman: The Killing Joke, Saturday is another busy day of film and TV events.

The Hollywood Reporter is on the ground in San Diego and each morning will offer a guide to the day’s must-see panels and what to expect from as some of the biggest names in Hollywood take the stage as movie studios and TV networks look to win over fanboys and cut through the clutter to breakthrough in a crowded landscape.

Here are the must-see film and TV panels for Saturday:

TV

Once Upon a Time (10-10:45 a.m., Ballroom 20) The ABC fantasy drama will feature showrunners Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz as well as the stars previewing exclusive footage of the forthcoming season. Also expect some casting to be revealed for characters from the Land of Untold Stories — perhaps Sinbad and Scheherazade.

Star Trek (Saturday, 2-3 p.m., Hall H) Celebrating 50 years, the star-studded panel will feature William Shatner and other franchise stars in a conversation moderated by Bryan Fuller — the showrunner of CBS All Access’ upcoming Star Trek reboot. Expect Fuller to introduce (and maybe bring out) his series’ equivalent of Capt. Kirk.

DC Comics TV marathon (3:30-6:30, Ballroom 20) Rather than focus on one multiple-show block, each of The CW’s DC Comics series will feature its own panel starting at 3:30 p.m. with Supergirl, followed by Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash and wrapping with Arrow. Producers and stars will preview the new seasons — including Supergirl‘s introduction of Superman — and likely unveil a few castings.

Riverdale (6:30-7:25 p.m., Room 6BCF) The CW’s Archie Comics adaptation will screen for lucky Con attendees — before the press has even seen it. Expect Greg Berlanti and fellow exec producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to offer their take on the Dawson’s Creek-meets-Archie Comics drama ahead of its midseason debut.

FILM

Warner Bros (11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.) The stakes couldn’t be higher as Warner Bros. brings Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman to Hall H. Officially, the studio has not announced any Justice League presence, but it’s hard to imagine Zack Snyder won’t bring a taste of his Batman v. Superman followup. The star-packed panel includes Wonder Woman stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine and Connie Nielsen and director Patty Jenkin, as well as Suicide Squad‘s Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, and more, plus writer/director David Ayer. The studio is also bringing its much-anticipated Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — with Eddie Redmayne and his costars — and other films on the docket include Lego Batman Movie,  Kong: Skull Island and Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

Aliens: 30th Anniversary (3:15 – 4:15 p.m., Hall H) James Cameron and star Sigourney Weaver revisit one of the most acclaimed sci-fi sequels of all time, along with producer Gale Anne Hurd and castmembers Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Michael Biehn and Paul Reiser.

Marvel Studios (5:30-6:45 p.m., Hall H) After skipping the convention last year, Marvel Studios is back — with Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 and Doctor Strange confirmed. There’s plenty of other things Marvel could drop teasers for — with Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Homecoming filming now. Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman is going to be at Comic-Con for a signing Saturday, so it seems likely he will drop by the panel to show Hall H what royalty looks like. 

Bookmark THR.com/ComicCon to keep up with all the highlights. 

July 22, 2016 6:29pm PT by Lesley Goldberg, Aaron Couch

The ‘Agents of SHIELD’ panel  Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

THR breaks down the best and worst of the film and TV panels from Day 2 at the San Diego confab.

With many of the major film studios skipping Comic-Con this year, TV took center stage Saturday with panels for The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Big Bang Theory, Bates Motel, Agents of SHIELD and more.

The Hollywood Reporter is on the ground in San Diego covering all the hottest events and bringing all the news from inside the jam-packed convention center. Here are the winners and losers from Friday’s festivities.

HIGHLIGHTS

Bates Motel‘s double whammy | Did anyone suspect that the veteran A&E drama would have what’s likely the biggest announcement at Comic-Con? After confirming that season five would be the final run for the Psycho prequel series, pop star Rihanna sent a taped message to reveal that she’d be joining the drama in a recurring role as none other than Psycho‘s Marion Crane.

The Walking Dead dominates | The AMC zombie drama had a hard task of unveiling its season seven trailer without revealing the victim of Negan’s brutal attack following the season six cliffhanger. But the trailer didn’t disappoint as it offered both the emotional set up for each of the 11 potential victims as well as a look ahead at the long-awaited arrival at the Kingdom, with the casting for the comic book favorite also revealed. All that plus a tiger!

Big Bang Theory‘s family business | Always a fan favorite at Comic-Con, the veteran nerd-com still finds a way to thrill the crowd. This year, those surprises included co-star Melissa Rauch stepping in as the moderator for the panel of writers and news that after nine seasons, viewers will finally be introduced to Penny’s (Kaley Cuoco) mother and ex-con brother. Better: the roles will be played by Katey Sagal — who reunites with Cuoco after playing her mom on 8 Simple Rules — and 30 Rock grad Jack McBrayer. Bazinga indeed.

American Gods goes full Daisies | Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel wowed the crowed with its first full-length trailer. What’s more, beloved showrunner Bryan Fuller surprised the room with a special guest — Kristin Chenoweth, who will be reuniting with her former Pushing Daisies boss for a role on the Starz drama as a key character, Easter. And yes, the stars of Fuller’s Hannibal are welcome on American Gods, too.

Agents of SHIELD gets revved up | The ABC Marvel drama is setting out to do what its film side has failed to accomplish: Bring Ghost Rider to life. In addition to audition tapes and blooper reels, the light-hearted panel unveiled that Ghost Rider would be introduced in season four. The only downer? Marvel waited until after the panel ended to announce that Gabriel Luna would be playing the character, missing out on another opportunity to please diehard fans in the ballroom.

Wonder Woman unveiled | Star Gal Gadot debuted the first poster for Wonder Woman ahead of Saturday’s big Warner Bros. panel, which is expected to reveal a trailer for the Patty Jenkins-directed film. With fans focused on Suicide Squad — and already abuzz about Justice League — it was a smart move for WB to take advantage of the lack of film news Friday build momentum on Wonder Woman — the first big-budget superhero movie to both star a woman and be helmed by a female director.

LOWLIGHTS

Film takes a day off | Where were all the film panels Friday? In a day where TV was in full force, the lack of a film presence in Hall H was never more glaring. 20th Century Fox skipped Comic-Con this year, citing concerns over piracy (so no Assassin’s Creed or X-Men in San Diego). Other studios opting out included Universal (with The Mummy reboot currently filming) and Sony, which has Spider-Man: Homecoming in production (though that could swing into Marvel Studios’ presentation Saturday). Lionsgate has been promoting its Power Rangers reboot at the convention, including with a party at Petco Park on Friday, but there was no Hall H presentation. And the big fish, Disney’s Star Wars, skipped San Diego in favor of last week’s Star Wars Celebration Europe.

Game of Thrones underwhelms | Always a must-see at Comic-Con — the interactive show-themed photo ops on the convention floor are stellar — the panel underwhelmed in the cavernous Hall H. With showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss both in attendance, little new information was unveiled about season seven (no castings as in previous panels) and the fantasy drama’s mega-stars (Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Maisie Williams) skipped the trip to San Diego. At least there’s the blooper reel.

Powerless goes powerless | Two days after DC Comics’ first half-hour comedy had its world premiere during Thursday’s Preview Night, NBC opted to screen the pilot a second time during Friday’s panel. While the series — which boasts Comic-Con favorites Danny Pudi and Alan Tudyk — was well-received by the crowd, the fine folks running the shindig actually turned off the power to the microphones after the half-hour panel ran out of time and the room needed to be cleared for Starz’s American Gods. Memo to Comic-Con organizers: Don’t screen a half-hour comedy and try to hold a Q&A in only 30 minutes. (And bring back free Wifi at the Convention Center.)

Bookmark THR.com/ComicCon to keep up with all the highlights plus coverage from Friday night’s Preacher and Scream Queens panels.