NYCC '24 - Panel Nation
Rich L.
New York Comic Con is arguably the biggest convention on the east coast, and it’s an honor that I’ve been able to go consecutively for the past decade. This year I bought a four-day pass and managed to attend the convention on Thursday for the first time ever. Last year, from what I remember there weren’t too many panels that interested me, but this year was a different story as I attended three panels, and a fourth one that I just sadly didn’t make it in time for.
The Cosplay
This year I was playing it a bit safe with cosplays and re-used one of my cosplays I’m doing for Halloween, which was James Sunderland, the protagonist from Silent Hill 2. This game had just received a fantastic remake, and figured it worked well for Halloween, due to it being a horror game. I even got some pics with someone dressed as Pyramid Head, arguably the most iconic character from the Silent Hill franchise. I also cosplayed as Future Gohan from Dragon Ball Z, (whom I also went as to Anime NYC). There was a demo for Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, and for fun, I attempted to play as a team of Gohans against the computer using only one hand (since Future Gohan is famously known for having only one arm). Surprisingly, I managed to pull it off, with only one of the Gohan(s) being defeated. The show floor and convention halls were stunning as usual. There were many large statues of characters like Goku, Luffy, and Tanjiro. You could even take a picture with someone dressed as Godzilla. I, of course, had to take a picture of the banner for Bleach’s 20th anniversary.
The first panel was on Friday, which was Blumfest 2024.
SideNote: Blumfest is where Blumhouse studios, responsible for many hit horror movies (such as The Conjuring and Insidious), provides interviews, trailers, and other news for their upcoming media.
The interviewer, comedian Nicole Byer, and the guest on stage throughout the entire panel was Jason Blum, the CEO of Blumhouse. Blum provided an amazing lineup of Blumhouse premieres that were both engaging and chilling:
Wolf Man
The first trailer and interview featured Wolf Man, with the film’s director, Leigh Whannell, taking the stage. This film is a modern take on the classic werewolf story, focusing on a mother and daughter (played by Julia Garner and Matilda Firth) who must struggle to survive after being trapped in a house with their father/husband, who has been bitten by a wolf and transformed into a monster.
Release Date: January 17, 2025
Thoughts: From the trailer it seems like a dimly lit, intense, and mostly claustrophobic experience. Even though I find the best kind of horror to be supernatural and psychological, I will admit, it looks like a movie that can keep one on the edge of their seat.
Drop
Drop's premise centers on a nervous, widowed mother going on her first date in a long time. During the date, she receives an airdrop warning her that she must kill her date, or her son will die. The guests for this spotlight were the director, Christopher Landon, and the lead actress, Meghann Fahy.
Release Date: April 11th, 2025
Thoughts: This trailer was the one that caught my eye the most. While it can be cheesy and cliché to just have entertainment be so focused on everyday modern social technology, I find something interesting about horror geared around it. Perhaps because it’s frightening seeing things, we casually rely on being used against us. Christopher also mentioned that the whole idea for the film, came from a producer’s dinner meeting where they had gotten air drops from random people.
Fear the Spotlight
Join Vivian and Amy as they sneak into a school after dark, navigate a seance that takes a terrifying turn, solve hands-on puzzles, and unravel the chilling secrets of a long-buried school tragedy.
Release Date: Available Now
Thoughts: An indie game with intentional blockier graphics that focuses on audio and atmosphere. While it doesn’t seem like my cup of tea, I hope this new launch helps the game do well and help Blumhouse Games grow into a larger gaming powerhouse.
The Woman in the Yard
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, and was probably the most mysterious of the trailers, it featured what appeared to be a family haunted by a woman cloaked in all black that kept repeating a phrase that I believe was “Today’s the day!” in a sing-songy voice. This appears to be a warning for the family.
Release Date: March 28, 2025.
Thoughts: A mysterious trailer, a warning, what does she want?
Honorable Mention
There were three final films discussed, but unfortunately, no trailers were shown. First up was M3GAN 2.0, the sequel to M3GAN, a horror film about an A.I.-controlled doll. It received a brief teaser featuring Megan, who reminded viewers that she’s not going anywhere. One of the main stars, Allison Williams, came out to talk about the movie and her experience working with the animatronic Megan.
Blumhouse is also working on a remake to The Exorcist, as they had the director of the movie, Mike Flanagan, come out and talk briefly about it. Mike discussed how he grew up on the original film, and how it inspired him to want to make this remake. He seemed really excited for people to see it, but as of now there wasn’t anything to show.
Circling back to animatronics, Blumhouse was responsible for the Five Nights At Freddy’s movie that released last year. Despite the movie receiving mixed reception, it did fantastic in the box office, and a sequel is already in the works. While they didn’t have enough to show a trailer, they did show the first movie poster that had the release date, which will be December 5th, 2025.
Sony
The second panel I attended was for the Sony Films panel. Kraven was up first which would be released on December 13th. Being a big Marvel fan and supportive of the anti-hero movement that Sony is releasing, I felt lukewarm about Kraven at first. However, after watching the movie’s opening and its isolated action scene, my excitement definitely grew. The film’s R rating gives it an edge over other Sony projects—you'd expect a bloodthirsty character like Morbius or Venom (especially with a violent villain like Carnage in Venom 2). While blood and gore aren’t everything, they do allow for a more visceral and impactful fight scene experience. The opening also struck a good balance between grit and comedy, making the movie much more appealing.
Aaron Tyler Johnson (who’s portraying Kraven) also made an appearance on stage, which I was not expecting. He hyped up the movie, and even took a picture with a few Kraven cosplayers attending the panel. The director of the movie, J.C. Chandor assured that it would have that “Marvel Flavor” to it with some easter eggs, but it would be a still be a more violent action film.
Sidenote: At the time of writing, Venom: The Last Dance also premiered and was released on October 25th 2024. Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock and Venom’s voice) made a surprise appearance, and the director of the film, Kelly Marcel, were all brought out on stage. Kelly and Tom emphasized again that this would be the last Venom movie, and Tom seemed bittersweet about it.
Next was Karate Kid: Legends. Unlike Venom and Kraven, this was just a trailer. The film is attempting to tie together the Karate Kid from the 80’s with Ralph Macchio returning as Daniel, bringing in Jackie Chan’s character from the 2010 film, as well as bringing in a new “Karate Kid,” played by Ben Wang. Karate Kid was never something that clicked with me growing up, however I always appreciate when a long-standing franchise, brings all its past pieces together. Plus, it’s rare to see Jackie Chan featured anymore, so I may give the film a watch out of respect.
Bleach: The Thousand Year Blood War.
The Good - My final panel was Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War. This was mainly meant to talk about and recap all the new additions in the world of Bleach, since it’s triumphant return in 2022. New Bleach merchandise was announced like figures, shirts, and blue rays such as the second cour of the Thousand Year Blood War. They also showed off one of the newest trailers for the new Bleach console game called Bleach: Rebirth of Souls, which is releasing early 2025. The trailer shown was the Reawakened trailer, which was the first reveal of Ichigo in his full hollowfied form, and the fourth ranking espada, Ulquiorra Schifer (my personal favorite character of the series), having their epic showdown during the Hueco Mundo arc.
Following that news, the panel also brought to the stage, the Japanese voices of Ichigo Kurosaki (Masakazu Morita), and Uryu Ishida (Noriaki Sugiyama). They were interviewed about things related to the series, such as what their most intense moments during the recordings were, what other characters they enjoyed, and so on. Morita’s most intense moment was trying to channel how Ichigo felt when he returned during the Soul Society to find it in ruins during the current arc, and he did a fantastically hilarious impression of Senjumaru, a character exclusive to the current arc.
They were also asked more casual questions like how they enjoyed New York, and if they were friends outside of recording, and they shared a funny story where Sugiyama helped Morita figure out which new computer he should buy.
They ended their time at the panel by doing a live dubbing of scenes from Bleach, including two from the beginning of the series and a newer scene where Ichigo first discovers that Uryu is working with the villains in the current arc. While this was enjoyable to watch, it felt like they were running out of time.
SideNote: Once the panel wrapped up, we were promised a sneak peek at something, only to be told they had run out of time and dismissed the panel. This was especially frustrating because I still don’t know what the sneak peek was....
The Bad - It was disappointing not getting any new reveals for the game, however this happened to be my favorite trailer so far and considering that Bleach hasn’t received a new console game in over a decade, it gave me an epic “we are so back” type of feeling, seeing the trailer on the big screen. Additionally, While the panel was enjoyable, it didn’t have the same impact of the Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War panel from 2022, where they premiered the first episode of the new anime. This also leads into a common problem I’ve had with this New York Comic Con and a few other recent years, which is lack of new reveals for IP’s or products, more so when it comes to video games. Many aspects shown at the Bleach panel, where things that were already revealed to the public.
There was also a display for Bleach: Rebirth of Souls, in the exhibitors hall, which made me think there would be a public demo but instead it was just…..a short video you could be in. Why not have this be an event for fans to try out the game? There was a Dragon Ball Sparking Zero demo, but that game had already been out for a week, so for hardcore fans they probably already played the game. I’m not sure what the reason for NYCC holding out on new game content is, perhaps it’s just marketing timing but the last year that really felt like we were given a lot of exclusive news was 2018.
Final Thoughts
One reoccurring issue I have with NYCC, is just the lack of organization. I witnessed one autograph signing I had a friend try to go to that capped off at about 75 people, with no prior warning. There was also a Godzilla panel I tried to hold a spot for, that neither me nor the friend I tried to hold it for had a reservation for. This was over an hour before the panel started, and we just missed the cutoff. I feel we could’ve made it, if it was on the Empire Stage (the biggest stage for panels). Godzilla is incredibly popular right now, it’s newest film won an Oscar (Best Visual Effects, 2024), why would a panel like this not be on the Empire Stage?
Also, most of the panels I attended offered a poster or some form of memorabilia afterward. While that was nice, there was only a few people handing them out, which caused a massive cluster of people at the panel exit. This not only made it difficult to get the poster, but also made it hard to leave the area altogether.
Overall, New York Comic Con was still a blast. However, it’s becoming a bit disheartening that I keep having the same complaints since 2018, or at least since after 2020. NYCC remains one of my favorite (if not my absolute favorite) conventions. There’s still a ton to do and plenty of exciting things to see. It would just be great if it could recapture the peak it reached in the late 2010s.
