Fans in Southern California who want to meet them will get a chance at this week’s Fan Expo Anaheim at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is an animated series that was the template for the popular characters fans see today including Ahsoka Tano.

“When we first were announced and people found out about our project, they were not excited,” Taber tells Nerd Reactor. “Star Wars animation was not something that had been around. So there was a lot of skepticism, especially with the character of Ahsoka. We talk about this all the time. So, in general, people were like, ‘I don’t know about this.’ I always tell this joke that some of my friends, they didn’t even watch the show. They were like, ‘Oh, a cartoon,’ and then a couple of years later they watched Clone Wars, and they were like, ‘Dude, your show’s so good!'”

Fans will get to meet Catherine Taber this weekend at Fan Expo Anaheim, and she talks about her appreciation for them.

“I am meeting people who love what we do and are so grateful, and how can I not feel grateful for that?” she said. “So it’s like a mutual love fest, and then I meet the coolest young people. And sometimes they’re going through things in their life that are difficult. And I feel like I get to have a moment with them where I could be encouraging, and that’s been the greatest gift.”

James Arnold Taylor on Obi-Wan Kenobi

James Arnold Taylor’s credits include Magneto in Marvel Rivals and Tidus in Final Fantasy X, just to name a few. His most well-known role is Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars universe.

“I’ve actually, and I never say this with a bloated ego, but I’ve played more Obi-Wan than even Ewan McGregor and Sir Alec Guinness combined,” the actor said.

Taylor loves meeting people who love the world the actors were a part of.

“I have just felt like at every convention, I am meeting people that love what we do and are so grateful.”

Brendan Wayne, the Mandalorian

The Mandalorian series is a huge hit on Disney+ that spawned a live-action feature film, The Mandalorian and Grogu. Pedro Pascal is known as the voice of the titular character, but the actor underneath inside the suit is mainly portrayed by Brendan Wayne. Star Wars fans will instantly recognize that walk.

“I mean, honestly, it’s incredible,” Wayne said. “Like I could sit, come over and grab some tissue, I guess, and whine about something, but at the end of the day, dude, I really do have the best of both worlds.

There are positives to being an actor in a Star Wars project in a helmet.

“I get to be a part of my kids’ lives without interruption at dinners and things like that,” he explained. “I mean, I watch Pedro; I’ve been out with him. It’s rough, dude.”

Fans will also get to meet Wayne at Fan Expo Anaheim, and like everyone else, he’ll be excited to see Mark Hamill.

“But as far as going to cons, I’m gonna do Fan Expo Anaheim, and I’m doing it because Mark Hamill’s gonna be there.”

Fan Expo Anaheim is running from June 26 to 28, 2026, at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Celebrity guests include Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Giancarlo Esposito (The Mandalorian), The Lord of the Rings‘ Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, John Rhys-Davies, and many more.

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The inspiration comes from Tokyo’s alley culture, where guests will get to walk through an immersive corridor featuring Hulu’s anime lineup. From paper lanterns to cherry blossoms, anime characters and interactive moments are around every corner.

You can check out the image renders above and below:

Expect to see the following anime featured, which are available to stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers.

• Naruto Classic
• Tokyo Revengers
• Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War
• Rooster Fighter
• Mission: Yozakura Family
• Though I Am An Inept Villainess
• Undead Unluck: Winter Arc

Hulu Animayhem Yokocho will be showcased from July 2nd to July 5th at Anime Expo 2026 on the Los Angeles Convention Center floor.

Here’s the official description for each of the areas:

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Photo Opportunity

Step into the world of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War and take your place alongside life-size standees of Ganju, Chad, Ichigo, Orihime, and Uryu. Fans step into the sixth spot in the lineup to capture a selfie station keepsake, instantly delivered in a branded digital frame.

Naruto Classic Photo Opportunity

Step into Naruto’s favorite restaurant and take a seat beside a 2D cutout of him at the open stools and pose for photos with bowls of (faux) ramen.

Rooster Fighter Interactive Activity

Join life-size cutouts of Keiji, Piyoko, and Elizabeth for the Rooster Fighter Dance Challenge, where fans can dance solo or with friends as animated character overlays dance alongside them in a recorded video keepsake. If you get lucky, you might just get a surprise visit from an actual rooster mascot.

Tokyo Revengers Dragon Graffiti

Step into the world of Toman with a full-width street wall featuring iconic Tokyo Revengers art and the legendary dragon tattoo at its center creating an instant, shareable moment that puts fans right where they’ve always wanted to be: standing with the gang.

Mission: Yozakura Family Interactive Activity

The Yozakura family overslept, and you only have 60 seconds to pack the family’s gear! Guests can participate in a collaborative puzzle-like game, packing the family’s case in a short amount of time.

Though I Am An Inept Villainess Photo Opportunity

Join Kou Reirin and Shu Keigetus on the Maiden Court. Guests will be asked a question and join either side for their court portrait photo opp.

Undead Unluck: Winter Arc Photo Opportunity

Face off with Apocalypse – the devilish book that always has something to say. Don’t get whisked into the Winter Arc confrontation!

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Warner Bros. brought Dune: Part Three to CinemaCon 2026 with Denis Villeneuve, Timotheé Chalamet, Zendaya, and Jason Momoa. Villeneuve says that this next chapter takes place 17 years after the second film and is a faster, more emotional, and more action-packed.

Rather than simply repeating what came before, the film looks ready to show the cost of everything Paul Atreides has become. The world has changed, the visions and nightmares have turned real, and Paul is now living with the consequences. The story was described as a redemption arc and as a broken love story between Paul and Chani. That emotional split appears to be the heartbeat of the movie.

Timothée Chalamet framed Paul as a man who has become his own worst vision. He is still trying to hold onto part of himself while protecting the people he loves, even as he takes his place as a dark emperor. On the other hand, Zendaya’s Chani also seems poised to fight for more here. The years have not been kind to the world of Dune, and they have not been kind to her either. Even under that pressure, the film appears ready to keep her at the center of the story rather than leaving her in the background.

One of the more intriguing reveals involved Duncan Idaho. His body has been regenerated from Duncan’s cells, but he is no longer the same man. They present him as a gift to Paul, yet also described in stark terms: “he’s hate now.” That alone hints at a Duncan who could be both tragic and dangerous.

Finally, attendees were shown footage of the first 7 minutes of the film, which immediately set a harsher tone. Sirens wail as ships descend toward Paul’s home planet of Caladan. Explosions light up the sky, and the falling ships crash toward the surface. The sequence has a war-film feel, with a heavy sense of dread hanging over everything.

Inside the dropships, soldiers sit in near silence. The mood is tense and carries a strong Saving Private Ryan energy. These soldiers are Fremen, and they’re led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem). One of them talks about “water falling from the sky” because for the first time, they’re about to see rain. Remember, for the Fremen, rain is not normal. It is something almost unbelievable. Once on the ground, they move ahead.

The calm does not last. Stilgar warns everyone to wait, then shouts for them to get down. Sentry guns fire, spraying bullets as soldiers and ships are hit. A tower rises from the ground, turning the battlefield into a trap.

Stilgar keeps the group moving, brushing aside the moment with, “Enough sightseeing.” From there, Stilgar calls out coordinates, and a giant missile slams down toward the tower. The Fremen ask for the Shield Piercer, and Stilgar asks for three shots, but even that is not enough. The blasts bounce off, and some of the fire comes back toward them.

The footage sounds like a brutal opening, one built on fear, confusion, and overwhelming firepower. It also sets the stage for a much more war-driven film than audiences may expect.

After that opening, Warner Bros. showed a montage of scenes from the rest of the film. Paul tells Duncan, “You’re an Atreides, I need Duncan Idaho,” suggesting that their relationship will be a major part of the story. The montage also teases the growing divide between Paul and Chani. At the end, Chani stands against Paul on a battlefield while a sandworm bursts out of the sand.

For longtime fans, Dune: Part Three looks like the chapter where everything finally comes crashing together. It’s an emotional conflict on a huge scale. Paul is no longer just facing destiny. He is trapped inside what he created. We can’t wait.

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The preview centers on Matt Hagen, who looks badly disfigured, lying in a hospital bed with bandages wrapped around his face. Even before the footage fully reveals what is happening, quick cuts of terrifying imagery appear.

Hagen’s face starts to melt and warp, becoming something unstable and unnatural. The effect is messy, disturbing, and deeply personal, making the horror feel tied to identity just as much as physical pain. Various scenes push the body-horror angle in a way that feels far more intense than many might expect from a DC title.

The first look ends with him lying in a bathtub and smearing his ruined face into clay. It is the kind of shot that drives home that this film wants to make Clayface tragic and terrifying at the same time.

Based on this early look, Clayface seems ready to take one of DC’s more unusual villains and turn him into something much darker. If this footage reflects the final film, Clayface could end up being one of the studio’s boldest comic book swings in the James Gunn/Peter Safran era.

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The scene begins with Liu Kang asking Baraka for help, but Baraka shuts him down. Kang tries to challenge him, but that goes nowhere, too. It is Johnny Cage who finally gets a reaction, though not in the smartest way possible. Cage mocks Baraka and the Tarkatans, which quickly gets Baraka’s attention and turns the moment into a challenge Cage instantly regrets.

From there, things get hilarious. Johnny clearly thinks he’s about to die, and nobody around him seems eager to tell him otherwise. As Baraka attacks, Johnny evades it all, but Baraka is relentless. Johnny runs and hides inside a hut, where he finds two Tarkatan kids already inside. “Eww,” he says, then promptly tells the kids to keep his location a secret. Unfortunately for Johnny, the kids immediately give him away the second Baraka walks in.

Johnny gets launched through the roof, and Jax dryly sums it all up by saying, “Well, this is a stupid way to lose.” Sonya gives Johnny the push he needs. He picks up his sunglasses, puts them on, and announces, “It’s show time.” From there, Cage finally starts fighting like the version fans came to see. Johnny Cage goes toe-to-toe with Baraka in a full-on showdown, trading blows and holding his own. Then, to cap it all off, he lands his iconic split punch, which gets the perfect reaction from Jax: “Goddamn.”

If this footage is any sign, Mortal Kombat II looks bigger, funnier, and more confident this time around. It knows how ridiculous this world can be, but it also knows how to turn that into a very good time. Johnny Cage may have stolen the footage, but the bigger win is that the film seems ready to embrace the wild energy fans have been waiting for.

Mortal Kombat II hits theaters on May 8th.

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Jason Momoa also took the stage and spoke about finally getting to play Lobo. From the sound of it, he sounds like someone having the time of his life. On his first day, Momoa had to ride in on Lobo’s bike with a fireball blasting behind him. He guns it, slides onto his mark, and pulls out a cigar. It’s there he realizes one thing: “I’m fuckin’ Lobo, baby,” he says. Unfortunately, he kept missing his mark after that. Luckily, the first take was so good that they ultimately used it in the film.

The footage shown made the movie look fast, funny, and much more chaotic than a typical superhero origin story. Kara is first seen sitting at a bus stop when a spaceship bus lands in front of her. Once onboard, the setting becomes packed with aliens, and Kara casually gives one of them a piece of gum because he keeps smoking inside the bus.

Things quickly go sideways when space pirates invade the ship and start robbing passengers. Kara’s young companion is ready to fight back and pulls out her sword. However, the pirates demand both Kara’s watch and the girl’s weapon. Kara hands them over while trying to play it cool, even insisting the sword is not worth much. She then says she has a plan (kind of).

That is where the footage really starts to move. Kara steals one of the pirates’ teleporters and uses it. The sequence looks playful and messy in the best way, with Kara teleporting onto passengers, around enemies, and across the bus while trying to take control of the situation.

The action then expands even further when Kara gets locked in an airlock. She asks the pilots where the sun is and even wonders if they can move it closer, only to get a sarcastic response. She finds a spacesuit, and as she tries to put it on, she gets blasted out of the airlock and into space. Once the sunlight finally reaches her, she heals, powers up, and goes on the attack.

Next, the footage becomes a full-blown cosmic battle. Kara tears through pirate bots outside the ship, dodges incoming fire, and flies toward the sun as the pirate ship chases her through debris. As the pirate ship shoots its laser at her again, she uses her heat vision to overpower the pirates’ own laser beam.

Attendees also got a look at a montage of clips from the film. The girl asks Kara what Superman is like. Kara calls him a nerd, saying he sees the good in everyone while she sees the truth. It is a small line, but it says a lot about how this version of Kara may differ from Clark. We also get to see Kara’s past during the last days of Krypton.

Lobo also makes his presence felt by trading barbs with Kara after recognizing her from a dive bar. Lobo asks, “Aren’t you the ditz in the dive bar?” Kara replies, “funny I said the same thing about you.” Now, between that, the giant space action, and Kara using the full range of her powers, Supergirl looks like a superhero movie that wants to be weirder, bigger, and a little more unpredictable. Most importantly, it looks like Kara is getting a story that truly feels like her own.

Supergirl hits theaters on June 26th.

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The movie is directed by Takashi Yamazaki, the director of Godzilla Minus Zero, with J.J. Abrams producing. That’s a strong creative team, and the concept alone already sounds built for a mega theatrical experience.

Sony did not share many plot details, but it honestly didn’t need to. “Mecha vs. kaiju” says a lot all by itself. Yes, we’ve got Pacific Rim, but you know what they say: The more, the merrier. In the small bits of footage attendees saw, it promises large-scale destruction, huge visual set pieces, and the kind of battle movie that plays best on the biggest screen possible.

What gives the project an extra layer of interest is the talent behind it. Fresh off the completion of Godzilla Minus Zero, Yamazaki brings an eye for scale and emotion. At the same time, Abrams adds another major name to the production side. Together, that gives Grand Gear instant weight even before a trailer exists.

Right now, the film is still in its early stages. Still, Sony’s brief CinemaCon reveal was enough to put Grand Gear on the studio’s radar as one of its most intriguing future releases.

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The presentation also included two teaser posters.

Then came the new footage. The footage shown at CinemaCon leaned hard into Peter’s emotional life rather than teasing the film’s new action sequences. Peter is in a bodega looking at his phone when Ned walks in and grabs some mini kegs of beer. Thanks to the events of No Way Home, Ned does not recognize Peter at all. Distraught, Peter follows him, which leads him to a college party.

Inside the party, Peter wanders through the apartment and spots a Chewbacca LEGO minifig, a call back to his friendship with Ned. He later finds a wall covered in Spider-Man material. Ned walks in and admits that he’s been trying to figure out who Spider-Man is so he can thank him face-to-face. “He’s saved me and my friend a couple of times,” he said. He even created a “Spidey-tracker” to track his whereabouts. Ned figures he’s based out of Brooklyn, and the two people he suspects of being Spider-Man are Flash Thompson and Midtown High teacher Mr. Harrington.

MJ then enters the scene, and Peter’s thrown off, awkwardly introducing himself as “Maynard.” MJ discusses receiving a job offer with Ned and decides to turn it down because she does not want to work for a “soulless” corporation. Then things get worse for Peter when MJ’s new boyfriend walks in and kisses her right in front of him.

The footage ended on a more physical note. Peter stretches before taking on prison guards. “I’m not in high school anymore,” he says as he stretches in front of the guards.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters on July 31st.

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The footage shown to attendees focused on mood, tension, and dread. It begins with a man walking through the snow toward a house. He enters and finds no one inside. As he moves through the building, he keeps calling out, asking if anyone is there.

From there, things get stranger. He tries using the phone, only to get a dead response. He then calls his girlfriend, and the footage cuts to moments of him moving through Raccoon City. As you can imagine, the city looks grim and dangerous, and the tension builds as he goes deeper into the nightmare—everything taking place at night.

One of the most memorable moments shown was a large, pale zombie in the sewers—a giant, bloated figure resembling Stellan Skarsgård’s Harkonnen character from Dune. Soon after, even more zombies appear, spilling into the frame and chasing after him as the chaos ramps up.

What stood out most about the presentation was what Cregger did not do. The footage avoided obvious nods to the games. It’s been reported that “Aiming for an original story set in the world of the games rather than any of its well-known characters,” and “the writer/director is instead taking inspiration from the second through fourth installments.”

That approach could be a smart move with Cregger’s recent hits. Resident Evil has a built-in fanbase, but a straightforward survival-horror movie could help it connect with a wider audience, too. This reboot could do what the other Resident Evil movies and shows couldn’t: tell one tense, scary story without overcomplicating it.

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Higuchi was present to promote the upcoming 4K remaster of Shin Godzilla, which will stomp into North American theaters on August 14, 2025.

“It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed,” the director said during the panel. “When we were filming, it was more than ten years ago. We did spend a lot of money cleaning it up in 4K, so it’s like it’s fresh, but I do think it is still very relevant. So hopefully you guys who didn’t have the opportunity to go ten years ago can go see it in theaters.”

IDW Publishing stole the spotlight with exciting reveals about their expanding Godzilla comic universe. Editor Jake Williams announced the upcoming Godzilla x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 crossover series. Fans were also treated to previews of Starship Godzilla by Chris Gooch and Oliver Ono, and Godzilla: Escape the DeadZone by Ethan Parker, Griffin Sheridan, and Pablo Tunica, both explore a shared universe. The panel showcased new art and teased plot twists that promise to expand Godzilla’s mythos in bold, new creative ways.

Beyond comics, the panel highlighted an array of exclusive merchandise and fan experiences. This included Super7’s pop-up shop at their Gaslamp store with movie props, cosplayers, and exclusive items like the Toho ULTIMATES! Godzilla: Minus One figure and a Toho Kaiju Response Team T-shirt.

Mondo offered daily exclusives, including a Godzilla and Hedorah Soft Vinyl Figure Set and a Godzilla #1 poster of Herbe Trimpe’s classic 1977 Marvel cover.

The panel capped off with a surprise appearance by O’Shea Jackson Jr., star of 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. He emerged from behind the curtain just as the moderator opened the floor for questions. The actor shared that his favorite Godzilla film was the 2019 flick he starred in because he did not die in the movie.

When Jackson Jr. asked the panelists about their favorite Godzilla movies, Shinji Higuchi cited the 1973 cult classic, Godzilla vs. Megalon, while others mentioned Shin Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and even the Matthew Broderick 1998 Godzilla.

Jackson’s unexpected appearance and how he constantly brought up the fact that his character is not dead have many fans speculating that he may be involved in the next Legendary Godzilla project.

The panel concluded with Mondo giving away unreleased figures to fans who answered Godzilla trivia questions.

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