If San Diego Comic-Con is geek heaven, then Hall H is its holy land. While there’s always something epic going on in and around the biggest pop culture convention of the year, the truly special events are often reserved for Hall H. This year, Disney took over Hall H on Friday night of SDCC with two epic presentations for its upcoming films, Predator: Badlands and TRON: Ares.
Both panels took the prime time spots of the evening, with back-to-back presentations. First up, Predator: Badlands kicked off the festivities by distributing a great looking Predator helmet mask for every one of the over 6,000 fans in attendance. Swag used to be an integral part of every major Hall H presentation, but disappointingly, that’s become more rare in recent years. The Predator masks were definitely a welcome added element.
They showed a sizzle reel looking back at the iconic Predator franchise, from the original 1987 film to more recent offerings. Then someone in an incredible looking Predator costume took the stage to formally kick off the panel, which featured Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, creature designer Alec Gillis, and the film’s director/producer Dan Trachtenberg.
What’s clear is how much Trachtenberg loves this franchise. His first Predator film, Prey, was a quiet hit that has already garnered cult following. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who has seen Prey who doesn’t shower it with praise. Trachtenberg followed up that film with the animated anthology series Predator: Killer of Killers, which was yet another crowd pleaser. In many surprising ways, those two Predator projects were the opposite of what you would expect from a blockbuster franchise. They came out with relatively little fanfare on Hulu and turned into genuinely organic fan favorites. It’s almost like Disney wasn’t quite sure what they had in Trachtenberg.
If Disney didn’t know before, they know now. With those two successful projects under his belt, Trachtenberg looks to have the full might of the Disney marketing machine behind him for Predator: Badlands. At the panel, Trachtenberg talked about how he used to attend Comic-Con as a fan, and he reminisced with host Kevin Smith about when they talked on his old podcast. “We’re taking you on an adventure thrill ride,” Trachtenberg said of his next Predator film, and you could hear the excitement in his voice.
We had the opportunity to see the first 15 minutes of the film, with unfinished footage. Simply put, it was awesome. It was intense, action packed, and immediately allowed the audience to empathize with the main Predator character. Trachtenberg, Fanning and Schuster-Koloamatangi (who plays the alien), stressed that there are no humans in this film, so for it to work, audiences must connect with the Predator.
Check out my live Tweet of the Predator: Badlands panel here. I went into the panel with Badlands as a film that I’m interested in seeing. After the panel, it bacome a must-watch film. Predator: Badlands releases November 7th in theaters and I can’t imagine it not being good.
Following that incredible panel was TRON: Ares, another iconic franchise for Disney with a fresh spin. This panel began with a laser light show that would rival a concert and then saw two people in glowing TRON costumes take the stage. Smith then introduced Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, Gillian Anderson, Jeff Bridges, director Joachim Rønning, producer/creator Steven Lisberger and, of course, Jeff Bridges. The sheer star power on stage was impressive, and fans in attendance cheered enthusiastically with each introduction; Bridges, Gillian Anderson and Evan Peters received the loudest pops.
Lisberger, who wrote and directed the original TRON, and Bridges kicked off the panel. Both have been involved in the franchise since the very beginning and both seemed genuinely amazed and delighted to be on a massive panel promoting yet another TRON film over 40 years later. Lisberger talked about the relevance of TRON today, with artificial intelligence and machine learning being the most talked about issue in society. He joked that they weren’t ahead of their time with TRON, but everyone else was just behind. More seriously, Lisberger said that we need to kick AI before it kicks us. I appreciated his seemingly genuine concern about the dangers unchecked AI may pose to society generally and specifically the filmmaking industry.
Leto, who may be positioned to take the TRON franchise torch, talked about how Ares is a passion project for him as a big fan of the TRON films. He said that he’s been working on this film for nearly ten years. Bridges shared a humorous story about how Leto prefers to be addressed only as his character while filming, but Bridges didn’t want to just call him “Ares,” and instead asked if he can call him “Ar.” Co-star Greta Lee talked about how excited she was to ride the light cycle, and shared that Ares is a film that is for super fans, but will also usher in a new generation.
We had the chance to see two clips from the film, one that takes place inside the grid, and one that takes place in the real world. Both clips featured the trio of Leto, Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith. As expected, the visuals were stunning and the music, by Nine Inch Nails, was a perfect fit. The overall success of the film may hinge on how audiences connect to Leto’s Ares, who is not a villain.
Check out my live Tweet of the TRON: Ares panel here. The film releases October 10th.
THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS DOMINATES COMIC-CON 2025 WITH
HALL H PANELS IN SAN DIEGO CONVENTION CENTER FOR
“PREDATOR: BADLANDS” AND “TRON: ARES”
Filmmaker Kevin Smith Moderates Both Panels Featuring Cast and Filmmakers Exclusive Film Previews, and Surprise Guests
Disney’s “TRON: Ares” Opens in Theaters October 10
20th Century Studios “Predator: Badlands” Opens in Theaters November 7
Cast and filmmakers from “Predator: Badlands” and “TRON: Ares” were in San Diego earlier today for two special Comic-Con panels hosted by the Walt Disney Studios and moderated by filmmaker Kevin Smith in Hall H at the San Diego Convention Center.
The first panel featured the stars of 20th Century Studios’ “Predator: Badlands,” Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, and the film’s director/producer Dan Trachtenberg, who were greeted by the more than 6,500 Comic-Con attendees wearing Predator masks. A 7-foot-tall real-life Predator descended upon Hall H and used its heat signature abilities to scope the room, zeroing in on Smith. A brief Q&A followed, which focused on details of the upcoming action-adventure film and included legendary creature designer Alec Gillis, touching briefly on the recent animated film “Predator: Killer of Killers.” Trachtenberg delighted fans with an exclusive look at the alternate ending of the film, featuring franchise favorites Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Glover. The panel ended with a screening of the first 15 minutes of “Predator: Badlands,” and all attendees were gifted an exclusive SDCC “Predator: Badlands” poster after posing for a selfie with Smith, cast, and filmmakers in their Predator masks before exiting Hall H. The new extended ending of “Predator: Killer of Killers” premieres tonight at 7:00pm exclusively on Hulu.
“In the ‘Predator’ movies, the Predator never wins. They are supposed to be the greatest warrior in the galaxy, and they are always the bad guy,” says Dan Trachtenberg. “The Predator is not a friendly creature…it is ferocious, a bad ass, and very much an anti-hero. And I was really interested in switching that up and pairing a Predator with someone totally unexpected and taking these two unique characters on an incredibly emotional and visceral journey.”
Up next were the cast and filmmakers from Disney’s “TRON: Ares.” Smith welcomed Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, Gillian Anderson, Comic-Con legend Jeff Bridges, director Joachim Rønning, and producer/creator Steven Lisberger to the stage to speak about what fans can expect from the highly anticipated third installment in the groundbreaking “TRON” franchise, which hits theaters October 10. Comic-Con attendees were treated to a preview of the film’s thrilling light cycle chase scene, an extended first look at the Dillinger Grid – an immersive digital world created by Julian Dillinger, and an exclusive look at the music video of “As Alive as You Need Me to Be,” performed by the GRAMMY®-winning rock band Nine Inch Nails, whose exhilarating electronic rock music accompanies the mesmerizing action sequences in the film. “As Alive as You Need Me to Be” is the first single (https://nineinchnails.lnk.to/TRONAres) from the album’s soundtrack. Fans received an exclusive “TRON: Ares” SDCC poster at the end of the panel.
“Ares’s journey is all about what it means and takes to be human. And trying to answer those questions is why I wanted to tell this story,” says Joachim Rønning. “I want to make movies for the big screen. That’s what I grew up with and what made me want to become a filmmaker. Cinema is my art form. And ‘TRON: Ares’ is just that: a full-blooded cinema experience. Myself, and hundreds of amazing craftspeople have worked our asses off for two years to make sure of that.”
20th Century Studios’ “Predator: Badlands,” directed by Dan Trachtenberg, opens exclusively in theaters November 7, 2025. The newest entry in the “Predator” franchise is set in the future on a remote planet, where a young Predator (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Elle Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary. The film is produced by John Davis, Dan Trachtenberg, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt, Brent O’Connor.
Disney’s “TRON: Ares” follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings. The feature film is directed by Joachim Rønning and stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, with Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges. Sean Bailey, Jared Leto, p.g.a., Emma Ludbrook, p.g.a., Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, p.g.a., and Steven Lisberger are the producers, with Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Russell Allen, and Joseph Kosinski serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Jesse Wigutow, with story by David DiGilio and Wigutow, based on characters created by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. Disney’s “TRON: Ares” releases in U.S. theaters on October 10, 2025.
Ron is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of POC Culture. He is a big believer in the power and impact of pop culture and the importance of representation in media.
