JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Over the weekend, more than a hundred thousand fans made the annual pilgrimage to Southern California for San Diego Comic-Con.
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KEVIN FEIGE: Familiar with comic books?
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SUMMERS: That's Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. His panel brought some of the weekend's biggest announcements, like Ryan Gosling's official entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he'll be playing Johnny Blaze, also known as Ghost Rider.
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RYAN GOSLING: As you know, this is a character I've wanted to play for a very long time.
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GOSLING: So, Hall H...
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GOSLING: Thank you.
SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
Gosling isn't the only new face entering the Marvel superhero pantheon. Director Ryan Coogler took to the stage to name the lead of his new movie "Black Panther 3."
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RYAN COOGLER: I want you guys to give a warm welcome to our new Black Panther, Mr. David Jonsson.
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SUMMERS: And in notable nonsuperhero happenings, Rick Moranis appeared on a panel for the sequel to 1987 "Star Wars" parody "Spaceballs."
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UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Rick, Rick, Rick, Rick, Rick, Rick, Rick, Rick, Rick.
SUMMERS: And a costumed Johnny Depp surprised audience members at a different panel promoting his new film, "Ebenezer."
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JOHNNY DEPP: (As Ebenezer Scrooge) Have you all no lives?
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DEPP: (As Ebenezer Scrooge) No responsibility?
JOANNA ROBINSON: There was a shock factor to it, a sort of, oh, gosh, Johnny Depp is here. Are we excited about that? Are we upset about this? How do people feel about that?
PFEIFFER: That's Joanna Robinson, a cultural critic for The Ringer. She's been reporting on Comic-Con for a decade and says, despite all these big names in attendance, many Hollywood studios skipped the convention.
ROBINSON: Less and less the big studios are feeling like it's worth their investment to sort of throw everything against the wall at Comic-Con. And the con is sort of slowly returning to focus on comics.
PFEIFFER: Anthony Breznican is a freelance journalist. Over the 20 years he's been reporting on Comic-Con, he saw it become the place for Hollywood to make big announcements.
ANTHONY BREZNICAN: Now it's collapsing a little bit, and I think that actually might be a better experience in the long term for the fans.
SUMMERS: That's because, for Breznican, the best parts of Comic-Con aren't the flashiest. They're all the connections you can make with other fans and creators.
BREZNICAN: There are thousands of other creatives, artists, storytellers. You don't have to wait hours to see them. You can just walk up, shake their hand, buy one of their illustrations.
PFEIFFER: So Comic-Con offers something for everyone, whether they're there for the star-studded panels or to be around the thousands of other nerds.
(SOUNDBITE OF AYHAN MUSIC'S "AVENGERS DOOMSDAY OFFICIAL TRAILER MUSIC") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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