San Diego Comic-Con 2023 is underway and as usual, the event is full of announcements for upcoming comics, games, and (most importantly) films and TV shows that we can enjoy on our favorite streaming services.
The event isn’t quite as jam-packed as it usually is – as some streamers and media brands took the year off because of the uncertainty caused by the ongoing writer and actor strikes in the US – but there is still plenty to get excited about.
Here are our four favorite announcements (plus a few extras) from SDCC 2023 so far.
1.The MCU Secretly Invades Hulu
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is taking a bit of a break this year from SDCC, but that doesn’t mean no Marvel The latest Marvel TV show, Secret Invasion, is no longer exclusive to Disney Plus – at least for the next few weeks. That’s because from now until August 17 the first three episodes of the series will be available on Hulu (a streaming service also owned by Disney).
In our early preview of the series we found Secret Invasion to be a “grounded, tonally dark, and polished spy thriller with a talented ensemble cast who deliver terrific performances.” Unfortunately, it “falls short of being a true masterpiece.” Even if it’s not one of the best Disney Plus shows out there, there’s no harm in Hulu subscribers giving it a try. Worst case you love the first few episodes and pay for a month of Disney Plus to finish it off.
2.Gen V is taking over Prime in September
If you prefer The Boys’ brand of gritty superhero action then we have good news! At SDCC we found out that the spinoff series Gen V has its Prime Video premiere scheduled for September 29.
Gen V – which takes place concurrently with the events of The Boys Season 4 – follows a younger crew of college-age supes as they go through their training. But don’t expect this to be some cutesy coming-of-age origin story, this is The Boys we’re talking about. Amazon says we’ll see the students putting their “physical and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the school’s highly coveted top ranking” as the class learns that the superheroes aren’t always the good guys.
SDCC is also expected to reveal more details about Season 2 of Invincible, an animated superhero show also on Prime Video. IGN revealed a new poster for the series, and we can expect more news to come out during a panel happening at 5:45pm PT on July 21 (1:45 BST / 10:45 AEST on Saturday, July 22).
3. Ash’s Pokémon Journey finale is coming to Netflix
Also coming in September is the finale of Ash’s Pokémon Ultimate Journey farewell tour, which we found out is hitting Netflix on September 8.
The Japanese dub has already wrapped up Ash’s adventure and moved onto a new cast of characters, but this Netflix release will let viewers finally watch the end of Ash’s arc with the official English dub actors.
We also got a sneak peek at the English dub of Pokémon Horizons which follows protagonists Liko and Roy – and their respective partners Pokémon Sprigatito and Fuecoco – as they head out on an adventure of their own.
4. Max-ing out the animated shows
Despite some major cutbacks to animated shows on Max after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, the streaming service is still home to a bunch of excellent cartoons. At SDCC 2023, we got announcements for two of them.
Ahead of its July 27 release, we got a new trailer for Harley Quinn which DC also shared to Twitter. In a brief address before the trailer plays, Harley (played by Kaley Cuoco) tells us we can expect “more sex, more drama, more Bane being Bane, and more Harlivy” in the series which focuses on her struggle with life as a hero.
Good and evil are about to get all tangled up together. Season 4 of #HarleyQuinn premieres July 27 on Max. pic.twitter.com/rtH2utK8rvJuly 20, 2023
SDCC also gave us a new trailer and a release date (August 31) for Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake – a spinoff of Adventure Time. Fans of the show will remember Fiona the human and Cake the Cat as the female versions of Jake and Finn. When the show airs, we’ll be able to tag along with Fiona and Cake as they head out on a multiverse-hopping adventure that sees them face off against some new evil antagonist who wants to erase them from existence.
