Saturday of San Diego Comic-Con 2025 was another busy one for me. If you missed my previous recaps, here are my writeups of Preview Night, Day 1, and Day 2.
My Day 3 included press rooms for Audible’s Dungeon Crawler Carl and Hulu’s Paradise, panels/screenings for CBS’s Ghosts, HBO’s IT: Welcome to Derry, and Peacock’s Twisted Metal, activations for Audible’s Dungeon Crawler Carl and BBC Studios’ Doctor Who/UNIT, and an autograph signing for Starz’s upcoming series Spartacus: House of Ashur.
I started off Saturday early, once again heading to the Sails Pavilion at 7am to pick up my wristband for a signing—this time for the upcoming Starz series Spartacus: House of Ashur—that I had won in the SDCC Exclusives Portal lottery. Then I spent some time prepping, before heading to my first press room, which was conveniently right in the convention center.
Audible’s Dungeon Crawler Carl Press Room
I wasn’t familiar with the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series when I was first offered the press room, but after reading about the beloved LitRPG series, I downloaded the first audiobook, and was excited to talk with author Matt Dinniman, and narrator Jeff Hays, who does an amazing job of bringing the characters to life. Hays is so good at his work that Dinniman mentioned that he gets complaints that he doesn’t give credit to the female narrator who voices characters. We were the first table to get to speak with the pair, so the press room went quick. We talked to them about the narration process, the fandom, and where the books are going. There’s no spoilers for those who haven’t started the series yet. I’ll be posting that interview soon.
Starz’s Spartacus: House of Ashur Autograph Session
This winter, Starz will premiere the new series Spartacus: House of Ashur, which is the follow-up to the beloved and bloody Spartacus series. It is a direct follow-up to the second season, which rewrites events such that fan-favorite baddie Ashur did not die on Vesuvius. I was fortunate enough to win an autograph session with series creator Steven S. DeKnight and stars Nick E. Tarabay (“Ashur”), Graham McTavish (“Korris”, Ashur’s Doctore), Tenika Davis (“Achillia”, a fierce gladiatrix), Jordi Webber (“Tarchon”, a brash and headstrong gladiator), Jamaica Vaughan (“Hilara”, a young, elevated house slave, deeply in love with Ashur), and Jaime Slater (“Cornelia”, the ruthless wife of Julius Caesar).
This signing took place in the Sails Pavillion, so it was really close to my press room, and I ended up arriving early. This was a very different vibe from yesterday’s autograph session. The talent was actively interacting with the folks in line, taking selfies, chatting, asking people their names, etc. Even though the line moved a bit slowly, it was a lot of fun to watch them interact with fans. One deaf participant taught Nick E. Tarabay how to say “Spartacus” in sign language, though he questioned whether or not she was stringing him along as it looked like a bit of an obscene gesture indicating self pleasure, but she assured him it was real.
When it was my chance to go down the line, I asked the actors about their characters, praised Graham McTavish for his work on Outlander, and thanked Steven S. DeKnight for this wonderful franchise. I also got a photo with Nick, and joked that he was much friendlier in person. I was a big fan of the original Spartacus show and its prequel, and look forward to checking out this follow-up, which they described as being bloodier and having more nudity than the original—which I don’t see how that’s possible!
Hulu’s Paradise Press Rooms
My next press room (and last one of the con) was for Hulu’s Paradise, which will air its second season early next year, likely in January 2026. The only folks present in the press room were series creator/executive producer Dan Fogelman (This is Us) and star/executive producer Sterling K. Brown (“Xavier Collins”).
Since the two were paired for all of the interviews, everyone else in the room was pretty much watching and laughing along as they spoke with each of the folks on the press line, followed by the two roundtables. There were some really fun stories, such as Brown regifting a bottle of wine he was given at an awards show to Fogelman, not realizing the bottle had been engraved with his name. We were the last table to talk to them, so it was nice and quiet in the room. They couldn’t really give any specific details about the second season. There will be some big changes due to Xavier leaving the safety of the bunker to look for his wife, and the first season’s murder mystery has already been solved. Even though things will be different, it will still feel like the same series, while following this general theme of the haves and the have nots.
Look for our interview with Dan Fogelman & Sterling K. Brown soon.
Audible’s Dungeon Crawler Carl “The Safe Room” Activation
Next I headed back into the Gaslamp area for the “The Safe Room” activation that Audible had set up for Dungeon Crawler Carl. This turned out to likely be my favorite activation of the con. They had taken over the Coin-Op, a local arcade. All of the video games were free, there was some great free food (corn dogs, chicken fingers, veggies, desserts, and more), a bar with specialty drinks, a temporary tattoo station, a photo booth, a free swag prize wheel, and the chance for visitors to meet with author Matt Dinniman and narrator Jeff Hays. I don’t think I realized just how popular this franchise was until I started to see all the guys walking around dressed up in Carl cosplay, with their heart boxers, “bare feet”, capes, plush cats on their shoulders, and so on.
After getting a Diet Coke at the bar, and partaking in the delicious free food, I got my Princess Donut tattoo, and spun the prize wheel—landing on the ? and receiving a hefty green Dungeon Crawler Carl mug. Then I played some Skee-Ball, and hit the photo booth. As I was about to leave, I ran into a friend I’ve been seeing at SDCC for years and we talked for a bit before hitting the prize wheel one more time. I landed on ? again and this time got a blue mug and pin.
It was a really fun time and I could have easily stayed at that activation for another hour, but the next item on my schedule beckoned.
CBS’s Ghosts Panel
I had a reserved seating pass for the panel for CBS’s Ghosts. I had gone to this panel last year and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to see who they brought this year. This time around it was a whole different slice of the cast. The panelists included co-showrunner/executive producer Joe Wiseman, and stars Utkarsh Ambudkar (“Jay Arondekar”), Danielle Pinnock (“Alberta Haynes”), Asher Grodman (“Trevor”) & Devan Chandler Long (“Thorfinn”). The panel was moderated by Utkarsh’s TV sister Punam Patel (“Bela”).
During the really fun discussion, they mentioned that there would be another Halloween episode in which the mummy from last year would have a big role; Patience would be back again for a showdown with Elias; we’ll meet the Others; and there will be more of Jay’s sister Bela as she works at the restaurant, starts an event business, and has a thing with a ghost (who’s not Trevor). We’ll also see more of Trevor’s daughter as she works at the restaurant for a couple episodes. We’ll see more of the Trevor and Hetty relationship play out, and learn an interesting thing about Flower’s power, among other things.
They also showed off the key art for the upcoming season, and during the Q&A, there was a family who stepped up to the mike, all of them dressed as a different one of the ghost characters. It was really fun—I saw the folks from Paramount+ track them down in the hallway after the panel to interview them.
BBC Studios’ Doctor Who/UNIT Black Archive Activation
BBC Studios had set up a fun UNITs Black Archive activation in the Gaslamp, offering a photo opp, and showcasing various artifacts from recent seasons of Doctor Who. During the day, you could walk through these archives and interact with folks in character as UNIT employees. However, in the evenings, the activation turned into more of an interactive game, where you were put in groups of 5 people for a mission, trying to uncover the nature of a threat and report it.
When entering the building, we were given an ID card, and informed of the mission. We then moved from area to area, talking to the UNIT employees to get clues to help search for things to lead us to the next clues. I was assigned to a group with a family of four (though to be honest, the baby wasn’t a big help in solving the clues). First we met with a scientist who gave us a drawing of a TARDIS and asked us to let him know if we found it. However, this didn’t come into play until later on. First we met with a forgetful woman who was watching the Silence on a CCTV monitor, and we searched for various colored boxes on shelves in this artifact archive. At one point I found a black envelope with a drawing of a TARDIS inside, next to the envelope was a flashlight, and so I shined it on the envelope, which revealed some words under the blacklight. We reported this to the man who had given us the drawing and were onto the next clues.
Eventually, we ended up in an office where there was another blacklight flashlight, and one of the other folks in my group found the numbers 4-3 written on a piece of paper. I was standing next to a bookcase with dozens of yellow coffee mugs, and it hit me that these were coordinates, so I lifted the third coffee cup on the fourth shelf and revealed the information we needed. We wrote a message for the Doctor that the Daleks were coming, and successfully completed the mission. We were handed posters as a thank you and exited the activation.
After the activation I was going to check out the annual Den of Geek party, but on my way there I passed by the Paramount+ Lodge where they were having a special Star Trek themed dance/musical flash-mob style performance. It was very odd, but very entertaining. I watched this for a while before walking several blocks to the Den of Geek party.
By the time I got to the party, it seemed like things were pretty much winding down, so I didn’t stay very long. After chatting with some friends I headed back towards the convention center as there were a couple late panels/screenings I wanted to see, and have learned over the years to get to the room early, not on time!
Panels
I arrived at room 6DE in the convention center just as the panel “Cyanide & Happiness: Stuff We Shouldn’t Show” was about to begin—and there happened to be a seat right up front. I had never even heard of these animated shorts, but I found the panel to be quite fun. The panelists talked about how their shorts evolved, and how trend of vertical Reels affected their business and forced them to adapt. They showed some clips from things thy are currently working on, and shorts they didn’t think were good enough to release (though the audience enjoyed them), and took some questions from the audience. The panelists included Adam Nusrallah (producer, writer), Connor Murphy (director, writer), Mike Salcedo (director, writer), and Kris Wilson (creator, writer).
Next up was the first panel I was waiting for, and it’s a good thing I arrived early, because the room was completely full. HBO treated fans to a sneak peek at the upcoming series IT: Welcome to Derry, which is a prequel to the hit films. First we were shown the opening 10 minutes of the series, which was so creepy and fun. The audience was laughing as Andy Muschietti (executive producer, director) and Barbara Muschietti (executive producer) took the stage. Andy was playing it straight-faced, acting as though he didn’t understand why folks were laughing (the opening was so over the top). The siblings had an interesting 15-minute discussion about the series, talking about the production value, working with Bill Skarsgård, and how they’re even more excited for the series and longform storytelling than the films. The talked about how the series plans to work backwards through Pennywise’s timeline, delving into three key moments/time periods alluded to in the book, starting with 1962, and then exploring 1935 and 1908. They closed out the panel by showing a new teaser for the series.
Following that short panel was an early screening of the first two episodes of the second season of Peacock’s Twisted Metal, which returns Thursday, July 31.
The audience absolutely loved these two episodes, laughing and clapping along. There were lots of gasps and cheers as the game players recognized characters and events that were being integrated into the series. This second season seemed even funnier and more action-packed than the first season, and I can’t wait to see more!
Afterwards, I headed back to my hotel, exhausted and in much need of sleep.
Look for my final Day 4 recap soon.
