George Lucas made his first trip to the San Diego Comic-Con.
He was on a panel with Guillermo del Toro and designer Doug Chiang.
Queen Latifah was the moderator.
Given his legendary status as an iconic creator of cinematic stalwarts such as the ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ movies, it’s perhaps a little shocking that George Lucas hasn’t been to the San Diego Comic-Con.
All that changed today when Lucas made a rare public appearance and took over Hall H for a panel to celebrate his new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. He took to the stage with fellow filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and Lucasfilm Executive Designer Director Doug Chiang (who has worked on ‘Star Wars’ and so much more) for a panel moderated by Queen Latifah.
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The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is a first-of-its-kind institution dedicated to illustrated storytelling across time, cultures, and media.
Co-founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the museum’s collection features works by artists including Norman Rockwell, Kadir Nelson, Jessie Willcox Smith, N. C. Wyeth, Beatrix Potter, Judy Baca, Frida Kahlo, and Maxfield Parrish; as well as comic art legends such as Winsor McCay, Jack Kirby, Frank Frazetta, Alison Bechdel, Chris Ware, and R. Crumb, plus photographers Gordon Parks, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Dorothea Lange.
The museum also houses the Lucas Archive, containing models, props, concept art, and costumes from Lucas’s filmmaking career.
Lucas unsurprisingly got a standing ovation as he took the stage to talk up his new museum.
Part of his impetus for building the museum was a place to store some of his own huge art collection.
This is what Lucas had to say about art:
“It’s a temple to the people’s art. Art is more about a connection and emotional connection with the work, not how much it cost or what celebrity did it. I don’t think it’s anything anyone will tell you. If you have emotional connection, it’s art. If you don’t, just move onto the next painting.”
Among the exclusive items hosted at the museum? The very first character drawing of Flash Gordon from 1934, ‘Peanuts’ comic sketches from the 50s & 60s, original drawings from the first ‘Iron Man’ comic and some original ink art of ‘Black Panther’.
For del Toro’s part, he revealed that art his own extensive art collection survived the LA wildfires earlier this year, he’ll be housing a lot of it at the museum.
The panel wrapped up with a sizzle reel narrated by ‘Star Wars’ prequel star Samuel L. Jackson, which previewed some of the prolific works attendees can expect, i.e. General Grievous’ bike and the land speeder from the original ‘Star Wars’.
Many of the ‘Star Wars’ pieces of art, in particular those from concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, will be housed in the cinema gallery, one of 30-40 galleries at the museum.
When will the museum be open?
The George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art doesn’t have a specific opening date yet, but is scheduled to open in 2026 in Los Angeles.
People mostly know Bam Margera as a skateboarder and prank icon, thanks to his work on Jackass and Viva la Bam. While the 2025 TV schedulewon’t be seeing a return to such projects, thanks to Margera being done with Jackass, there’s another venue at which you can enjoy his particular set of skills: your video game console.
That’s not as unusual as you’d think, as during this press tour, Margera has been sharing his stories with the franchise’s original form – both behind and in front of the controller. That second half is what took priority in my interview on behalf of CinemaBlend, as Bam Margera provided this anecdote when I asked what he felt was the largest change since he started appearing in the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series:
Well, I can tell you this: when we did the very first game, I thought it was really high-tech Hollywood stuff, putting on a spandex outfit with all these lime green balls, tracking my style on the halfpipe. And that was right around when The Matrix came out; so when he did that pause of the, there were 32 cameras that filmed them, and we thought that that was like a real high-tech thing.
Halo 2 (altered ending and all) landing first-day sales that were eventually compared to those of a major blockbuster.
Fast forward to 2025, and video games featuring A-list actors and personalities aren’t a novelty, making the comparisons to the movie industry even stronger. Neither is the usage of Bullet Time, as this year’s 28 Years Later was able to achieve that same feat, with merely a fleet of iPhones. Bam Margera can attest to both, as his description of being scanned into Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 sounds like something out of a Marvel movie:
Activision now has 167 cameras in a globe, scanning you from head to toe, that you could do The Matrix thing, not only just horizontal. Now you can do it every which way. So it was really incredible to see that. And I’ve done a lot of Hollywood stuff, and that was the most high-tech thing I’ve ever seen.
Admittedly, there’s one Bam story that inspired me to ask about the good old days. As you’ll see in the behind-the-scenes video below, the scanning process that brought Mr. Margera into the game is shown off quite well. Though as you watch, you’ll actually learn the tale of how the first two Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater actually led Bam Margera to miss quite a few flights in his heyday:
Bam Margera | Behind The Scenes of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 – YouTube
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Skateboarding has played an important part in Bam Margera’s sobriety journey, with that practice acting as the eventual door to mend his friendship with Tony Hawk. Eventually, a skate session between the old pals led to Margera being a last-minute inclusion in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4.
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Being billed as the “secret skater” of the freshly released title is a pretty cool distinction to have, even more so with Viva la Bam’s titular star being a huge fan. If things go well enough, maybe he’ll be able to continue featuring in hypothetical remakes of other Pro Skater entries.
Or maybe, with this new experience in game acting under his belt, Bam may want to start a new series that translates that experience into something new. That sort of thinking certainly worked out in Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes’ recent Call of Duty experience. Should you be feeling a bit nostalgic for the days of shredding to a killer soundtrack, you can currently purchase Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 on all major gaming platforms and relive some of that past glory.
Anyone who’s a big SNL fan knows that Pete Davidson is a funny guy. But now that he’s done with the sketch comedy series, he’s been branching out into film roles that have shown off his range within the comedy genre and beyond it. Now, while promoting his 2025 movie release The Home, Davidson explained why his comedic roots make acting “so embarrassing” for him, and I totally get it.
While Pete Davidson has had dramatic moments in movies like The King of Staten Island and Meet Cute,The Home will be a big departure from the other roles he has done. That’s because The Home is a horror movie. In the exciting horror release, Davidson will play a broken man who takes a job at a retirement home, only to discover the facility’s sinister plot. While promoting the upcoming horror flick, the Bupkis actor explained to ET why he’s not one for rehearsing his scenes and what makes acting “so embarrassing” for him:
Well, it’s just, acting is just so embarrassing…It’s because I’m a standup, so you know, it’s very ridiculous, so in order for me to get there and be like ‘Ohhh!’ I can only do that two or three times before I start laughing, you know what I mean?
shot a scene of a contraption holding his eye open. Yeah, apparently, no CGI was done during that chilling scene. This makes me give the NYC native a lot of credit because I personally would be running for the hills.
Even though Pete Davidson’s character will go through the wringer in The Home, the stand-up comedian in him did come out on set. The talented actor spoke about how he brought hilarity to the shooting, saying:
And I would add comedy takes.
Of course he would! But that shouldn’t be too surprising. James Gunn previously said Pete Davidson was one of The Suicide Squad stars to improvise the most jokes. If comedy takes could help the crew of The Home feel more relaxed on set, why not?
The Home may be a horror movie that has no intentions of making us laugh. But when you cast a comedic actor for the lead, you know there’s room for a lighter take:
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There is a very funny cut of The Home.
I’m really hoping that “funny cut” finds its way online or makes its way in the DVD bonus features. If Pete Davidson really breaks out in laughter after so many takes, imagine how many entertaining bloopers there must be.
It makes a lot of sense why acting would be “so embarrassing” for a funny actor like Pete Davidson. When you’re used to getting a chuckle from people through your works, the idea of having to act terrified can be just a tad awkward. If you’re curious how Davidson handles being trapped in a creepy retirement home, The Home is in theaters now.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith turned 20 years old back in May, a movie I saw twice in theaters at the end of my junior year of high school. Though not the best Star Wars movie, this has long been my favorite of the prequels and something I still look back upon fondly. However, for as much good that is in this movie (I’ll admit, some of my favorite Star Wars moments are set in Revenge of the Sith), that one bad thing had me peeved back when I was 17.
I recently went back and watched it for the first time in well over a decade, and though I had a lot of fun watching Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi go from best friends to mortal enemies, that one thing I didn’t like then was still a problem this time around.
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)
I Have Myriad Issues With Revenge Of The Sith, But My Main Gripe Is With Anakin Skywalker
best lightsaber duels, and it has the execution of Order 66, one of the most emotional and terrifying moments on the Star Wars timeline. However, it also has a lot of bad. Not as much as Attack of the Clones three years earlier, but enough to sully it some.
deleted scene would have made it so much better), and questionable dialogue are all pretty terrible, my main gripe is with Anakin. I have nothing against Hayden Christensen, but the way his character is presented throughout this movie is awful, annoying, and ick, as the kids would say.
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)
I Thought I’d See It Differently On A Rewatch, But That Wasn’t The Case
Before rewatching Revenge of the Sith, I honestly thought that I would have a different experience when it comes to Anakin. I mean, it was heartwarming seeing Christensen reprise the character in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries a few years ago, and I thought to myself that maybe the 2005 character would age better with time.
I was wrong. So, so wrong. Everything I didn’t like about him 20 years ago still made me mad, still annoyed me, and still made me wish George Lucas would have done something else with the character that made him seem more like an actual Sith and less like a petulant child. He was supposed to be in his 20s by the time the movie started, not a whiny teenager upset because he can’t play with the older kids.
(Image credit: Lucas Films)
Growing Up Before The Prequels, I Thought Anakin Would Be The Best And Brightest Jedi Before His Fall From Grace
I fell in love with Star Wars shortly before the Special Editions of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, and I was obsessed with the franchise at the time. Though the prequels were still a few years out at the time, my friends and I would talk about how cool it would be to see Anakin turn into Darth Vader and how wild it would be to watch his fall from grace unfold a few years later.
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Going off what Obi-Wan said in the first movie all those years ago, plus further explorations of Vader in the expanded universe novels (now called Star Wars Legends), it seemed like Anakin was the best and brightest the Jedi had to offer before he was tempted and corrupted by the dark side. I mean, how could that not be the coolest thing ever, especially with all those stories about how he became a cybernetic Sith lord? Surely, things couldn’t go wrong, right?
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)
But In Revenge Of The Sith, He’s A Moody, Gullible Moron
Again, I admit that the duel on Mustafar is one of the highlights of the Star Wars movies, and Anakin wiping out those younglings at the Jedi Temple is one of the most emotionally charged moments in the franchise. However, both of those now iconic scenes take place during or after Anakin falls to the dark side. Before that, he’s just a moody, jealous, and gullible moron who’ll take Chancelor Palpatine’s word as gospel.
Seriously, I thought Anakin was supposed to be smart, heroic, and in tune with the force, not some man-child who discards everything his friends and loved ones say but falls for everything the bad guy throws his way. I get it, he’s under stress and Palpatine is taking advantage of his weakness, but the way the soon-to-be Sith lord eats it all up doesn’t make the fall all that heartbreaking.
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)
Sure, He’s Great In The Cockpit Or With A Lightsaber, But That’s About It
Make no mistake, Anakin is unmatched as a pilot in the Star Wars universe. Whether he was building and piloting his own podracer, saving the day in a Nabooian starfighter as a kid, or pulling off some heroics in the Clone Wars as a teenager and young adult, Anakin is an ace in the sky, err, space. The same can be said about his skill with a lightsaber. Whether he was fighting Count Dooku multiple times, taking out droid after droid everywhere he goes, or fighting his friend-turned-enemy Obi-Wan on Mustafar in the Revenge of the Sith climax, he’s a deadly and formidable opponent.
However, We never see any of the other cool stuff Anakin does before his fall. That highlights one of my major problems with the prequels: We hear about his heroics, but we don’t get to see them. Instead of watching him do some cool stuff outside of piloting and fighting, we just hear about it and instead watch him mope around and be a child before he becomes one of the most evil characters.
Despite my issues with Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, watching this movie for the first time in forever was a lot of fun. If you feel the urge, you can check it out, along with all the other Star Wars movies and shows, with a Disney+ subscription.
James Gunn’s Superman movie has become the hit that DC has been waiting for. The superhero movie accomplished two box office milestones by surpassing Marvel’s Thunderbolts* and DC’s Black Adam. But it wasn’t an easy journey getting there. Now, James Gun, the head of DC and Superman’s director, writer and co-producer got real on what it’s like to promote a superhero movie around the world with a Krypto meme that’s cracking me up.
According to James Gunn’s tweet, Superman’s global tour started in Manila on June 19th. Then, the tour globe-trotted to Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Los Angeles, New York, and ended in Beijing on July 10th. With the world tour finally over, the Guardians of the Galaxy director got real about what promoting Superman has been like by way of this hilarious Krypto meme:
promoting Superman for the past year. So, what better way to describe working like a dog than with an actual superdog like Krypto? But hey, even a superhero canine deserves a break. And so does James Gunn.
David Corenswet in full Man of Steel attire was a great way to promote the new DC movie, Krypto stole the spotlight in Superman promo footage. With that adorable face rescuing Kal-El as he’s facedown in the snow, dog fans like me love to see the Kryptonian resident with his canine sidekick. But even if seeing Krypto passed out in mid-air makes me laugh, I’d rather see him in an upright position on the big screen.
Going back to the man who wants to nap like Krypto now, it makes a lot of sense why so much work was done to promote the 2025 movie release. DC has been struggling a lot in recent years, and it needed a win. You could argue that 2013’s Man of Steel doomed the DCEU by presenting a brutally conflicted hero compared to the message of hope. Plus, DC movies like Batman V. Superman and JusticeLeague were critical and financial failures. It also didn’t help that the studio’s movies, like Suicide Squad, went through reshoots, and Batgirl got canceled. With all of this bad luck, DC needed a winner, and the newly minted DCU had to start with a bang.
Fortunately, James Gunn’s Superman was the hero the DC Universe needed. It became the eighth highest-grossing movie of the year and proved that DC still has some spark in it. Not only is the superhero flick different due to its casting, heartfelt tone, and Krypto, but it also gave The Man of Steel a temper. Gunn did not want to present a “perfect” Superman, and this can help audiences better relate to the superhero.
Now, with the success of Superman, I have a feeling the DCU is finally finding its footing, which means it’s time for a well-deserved break.
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What better way to show how tiring a global Superman press tour can be than a passed-out Krypto meme? It’s a hilarious behind-the-scenes truth that even a big-budget filmmaker or Superman’s best friend needs a break after creating a box-office success. Be sure to watch James Gunn’s new DC movie in theaters now.
