Comic-Con has returned to downtown San Diego, and Preview Night on Wednesday offered an early glimpse at what fans will see over the next four days inside and outside of the convention center.
FULL COMIC-CON COVERAGE: Comic-Con 2023
Preview Night is open for just a few hours, but visitors can get a look at the exhibit hall, meet up for gaming and see screenings of television series. Outside the convention center, some pop-up interactive experiences, known as activations, are already open for business.
Even though it’s not a full day of Comic-Con s, events and activities, downtown San Diego is already packed with cosplayers, promotional events and imagery and other things to see and do. Our reporters, editors and photographers were on scene to check out the action.
Here are some of the best things they saw.
An ‘Ahsoka’ exhibit
Star Wars fans can see costumes, lightsabers and other props for the “Ahsoka” series inside the exhibit hall. The costume seen was created by costume designer Shawna Trpcic. Fans can also see replicas of a loth-cat and Ahsoka’s starship (a T-6 Jedi Shuttle) as well as artwork from the series.
— Abby Hamblin
The Adult Swim Festival
The Adult Swim Festival is back with games, rides, concerts, comedy and more. This year’s free event features numerous musical artist such as Flying Lotus, Saba and producer and DJ Akira Akira. It is located behind the San Diego Convention Center and runs through Saturday.
— Carlos Rico
The Lodge: A Paramount + Experience
Happy Does Bar in the Gaslamp Quarter has been transformed into The Lodge: A Paramount + Experience for an activation promoting shows and movies on the streaming platform. This activation resembles a mini village of pop-ups featuring “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Good Burger 2,” “Ink Master” and more.
— Carlos Rico
CatBus from Studio Ghibli
Available for a photo opportunity inside the exhibit hall is the CatBus from the popular animated movie, “My Neighbor Totoro.” Fans can line up to climb inside the lifelike character.
— Hannah Ramirez
‘Star Wars Outlaws’ experience
Toward the end of the hall, video game publisher Ubisoft has propped up an activation to promote the forthcoming video game “Star Wars Outlaws.” During the interactive experience, fans get their video taken as they ride a stationary motorcycle through a desert scene.
— Cameron Fozi
A Grimlock robot that transforms before your eyes
Roll out to Hasbro Pulse booth #3213 to see the toys of the future. Hasbro has teamed up with Robosen, a company that includes AI algorithms into its toys so they can transform with voice commands. In the photo is the Grimlock Robot Flagship G1 Collector’s Edition, which auto-converts from one mode to the next.
— Hannah Ramirez
Giant character statues for sale
LM Treasures is touting 10-foot-tall statues of the Hulk and Thanos — for a cool $12,500 and $14,450, respectively. The statues and prop rentals company also set up smaller sculptures of characters from “Looney Tunes,” “Avengers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy,” starting at $2,250. Find them all inside the exhibit hall.
— Cameron Fozi
Comic-Con jerseys
Inside the Comic-Con merch store at the Marriot Marquis Pacific Ballroom 23-26, the Comic-Con Game Day Greats Baseball Jersey was available for purchase. The style is reminiscent of the San Diego Padres’ City Connect jerseys.
— Abby Hamblin
Padres unveil City Connect uniforms
Barbie cosplayers
When Barbies visit the real world, they make their way to San Diego Comic-con first! These attendees donned 1980s-inspired astronaut costumes and a version of Margot Robbie’s iconic Cowgirl Barbie costume from the new movie.
— Hannah Ramirez
