Comic-Con 2026: Johnny Depp promotes 'Ebenezer' and ENHYPEN members meet 'Twilight' cast

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — Johnny Depp scolded Comic-Con International attendees in character as Ebenezer Scrooge as the nation's biggest pop culture convention opened Thursday.

“Do you have jobs? It seems as though you have so much spare time. Why are you here?” said the actor, clad in an overcoat and top hat as he emerged from a faux snow-lined downtown San Diego storefront marked with a “Scrooge and Marley” sign. A crowd gathered, recording on cellphones and calling out “Merry Christmas!”

"I can only say you're all very, very strange people. Humbug!" Depp called out gruffly, shuffling back inside the building.

“Ebenezer,” set for release Nov. 13, is the embattled star’s first studio film in eight years. His appearance on the streets of the Gaslamp Quarter — outside any official panels — fits the more guerrilla-style approach to marketing and promotion that some Hollywood studios have taken at the expo in recent years.

More than 120,000 people are expected at the four-day convention, which began in 1970 with a gathering of several hundred sci-fi and comics fans and an in-person appearance from Marvel icon Jack Kirby.

Organizers have said in recent years that the San Diego’s event and hotel space may not be enough to hold growing crowds, and have floated moving to Los Angeles or another large city. But the city’s mayor Todd Gloria said Wednesday as the expo opened that it would remain in San Diego through 2030. He said the announcement “reflects our shared commitment to the fans, creators, businesses and workers who make Comic-Con unlike anything else in the world.”

PJ Richardson, 44, drove cross-country from Orlando, Florida, with his family for his first Comic-Con International. He’d visited a smaller convention in his hometown — but it hadn’t prepared him for the magnitude of toys and collectibles on display at the bayfront expo.

“It’s the Mecca. It’s once-in-a-lifetime, so we had to come. This was a thousand times more,” he said. “The setups of all the booths and everything are absolutely amazing.”

The K-pop group ENHYPEN joined Catherine Hardwicke, director of the first “Twilight” film, and franchise actors Peter Facinelli and Ashley Greene at a Thursday panel about vampire storytelling. It marked one of many moments of cross-pop culture exchanges.

Members of distinct fandoms unite through cosplay, showing off handmade costumes and exchanging photos. Brionna Slavalk, 27, traveled from Indiana to attend the convention dressed as the elf paladin Vaelus from “Critical Role,” a Dungeons & Dragons-themed web series. Her skin was painted purple.

“Obviously I am partial to the body paint. I think it looks really neat when people do that. I saw somebody who was red, who I think is from ‘Hazbin Hotel,’ who was amazing. We just saw three Doctor Dooms over there!” she said. “It’s a blast.”

Comic-Con has grown to include cosplay contests, autograph booths, obstacle courses, concerts and panels covering everything from video games — new titles feature Wolverine and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — to movie poster art and fencing. (Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and “Ghosts” actor Asher Grodman were discussing “Hollywood’s Love Affair With Fencing” on Thursday.)

The Avengers appear set to return to Hall H as Marvel Studios uses Comic-Con to build hype for the December release of “Avengers: Doomsday” — and chart a path forward as audience interest in superhero films has waned.

That panel on Saturday is the most-anticipated hour of the nation’s biggest pop culture convention, which runs through Sunday.

DC Studios, which like Marvel sat out last year’s Comic-Con because the publicity campaign timing wasn’t right, will showcase its HBO “Lanterns” series with a “training headquarters” activation in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter and a Friday panel featuring stars Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler.

That presentation, like Marvel’s, will be in the convention center’s 6,500-person premier showcase: Hall H. Livestreams aren’t allowed inside but online reaction from fans in attendance can swiftly lift — or doom — a film or TV show’s prospects.

Another prestige TV highlight: Actors from “Widow’s Bay” are expected to pay a visit to the bayside convention center on Saturday as Apple TV celebrates the comedy-horror series’ 19 Emmy nominations.

Comedy fans won’t need to comb the desert to find updates on “Spaceballs: The New One,” the focus of a Friday panel. The film set for release next year features Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman and 100-year-old Mel Brooks reprising their roles from Brooks’ 1987 parody.