San Diego Comic-Con 2023 was very different from past conventions. Due to the ongoing Writer's Strike and Screen Actor's Strike, there were fewer big announcements and celebrities at the convention than fans are used to. Big draws like Marvel Studios, DC, Star Wars, and many more skipped out on the convention for a number of factors. This made some feel like 2023's Comic-Con would lack a lot of what had turned the event into one of the biggest hubs for entertainment news and exclusives for the year.
Yet one studio truly stood out among the pack, which was Paramount. Paramount has a wealth of fan-friendly franchises, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and SpongeBob SquarePants to television series that hit a wide array of audiences, like the sitcom Ghosts, the Emmy-nominated series Yellowjackets, and the popular Yellowstone franchise. Even without the actors present to promote some big projects, Paramount made a big splash at Comic-Con. They brought some big events and panels, which helped them become the star of the convention.
Paramount Brought Some Exciting News
Hall H is the biggest area in Comic-Con and typically one of the hardest to get into. People camp out all night just for a chance to possibly get into Hall H and see some of the biggest panels, with Marvel Studios typically dominating Saturday. Yet this year, Hall H was a less a major draw, and more people showed up on the show floor, which was great for Artist Alley as vendors saw one of their best years in terms of sales.
Paramount Pictures actually kicked off Comic-Con with the first Hall H panel. On Thursday, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem began the convention with a panel that involved the film's director, Jeff Rowe, and Ninja Turtles creator Kevin Eastman. Twenty minutes of footage were shown to audiences in Hall H, and a breakdown of the footage and news can be read here. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was easily the biggest movie at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, and got the event off on the right foot. With the movie just two weeks away, anticipation certainly is high. The Turtles were also all over Nickelodeon's booth at San Diego Comic-Con.
Major Booths Immersed Audiences in the Experience
Along with the Ninja Turtles at the Nickelodeon booth, the children's programmer also had a pop-up on the floor for Good Burger 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the 1997 film that will premiere on Paramount+ in November 2023. All over the show floor of the convention center were pop-ups and booths for major Paramount projects. Attendees could step into the Ghost experience, based on the popular CBS sitcom, which continues to grow in popularity with each season. Just outside, the Hard Rock Hotel featured a giant Yellowjackets makeover, with a special themed menu around the hit Showtime series.
Transformers fans were certainly represented at Comic-Con. In honor of the recent release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Pete Davidson's character Mirage's alternate mode of a Porsche 964 was at the Hasbro booth alongside new toys for the upcoming Transformers toy line. At Petco Park, life-size statues of Optimus Prime, Mirage, and Optimus Primal stood tall over attendees to get a photo while there was a panel for the Paramount+ series Transformers: Earthspark.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds had a massive setup that showed off the costumes of the Enterprise Crew. In addition, on Saturday it was announced during the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds panel that the highly anticipated crossover between Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks, which was announced at last year's Comic-Con, would be premiering early, that night in fact, and attendees could watch it on Paramount+ when they were done with the day. While not the same as a major news drop, it was an exciting surprise that was a massive celebration of the fans. Paramount also released a new trailer for the newest season of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Just off-site from the convention center, in the historic Gaslamp Quarter, was the Paramount Lodge. Decked out to look like a snowy cabin, it was an interactive experience for guests that highlighted some of Paramount's biggest franchises, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Star Trek, and Yellowstone. It also featured a photo op for Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, which premieres on Paramount+ on October 6, 2023.
A Celebration of the Fans
Paramount's presence at San Diego Comic-Con was a unique one. The absence of major competition meant they were the biggest game in town. While Disney had similar interactive experiences for their Hulu material, like Only Murders in the Building and Futurama, those projects are typically more contingent on the stars. Paramount was able to lean into iconography. The studio embraced the fact that it would not have actors or writers to promote many of its big projects, so it decided to instead allow fans of these properties to truly immerse themselves in interactive experiences that serve as great marketing. Stepping into a world one has only seen on screen makes the event feel more special and sticks in people's minds.
In recent years, many have felt Comic-Con has moved away from being about comics and the artists that make the material which fans love, and more of a marketing tool for big studios to promote upcoming projects. While films and television have always been a big part of Comic-Con, they became the star attraction. Most people spend their time waiting in line instead of buying from the artist on the floor.
However, this year was a great reminder that even without the big movie stars, Comic-Con is still worth attending and always will be. It is about the fans, who come together to embrace what they love and share in an experience. While everyone certainly wants to hear exciting casting announcements and see exclusive trailer drops, that is not the main draw. One can walk around and see an artist who made a unique piece that connects with them based on their favorite fandom, or meet a writer or artist who inspired them, or even step into a location that one could only dream about.
Paramount Pictures was able to delight audiences with simple joys, and one can't look at the excitement that young kids got at getting a photo with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or seeing a classic car fan talk with a toy fan about their shared love of Transformers. At the end of the day, the fans were the winner.