ICYMI, the infamous San Diego Comic Con took place this weekend, which meant a boatload of panels, trailers, and announcements flooding the airwaves. It can be difficult keeping track of the revelations spiraling forth from the convention center because for every mainstream Marvel casting announcement, there are hundreds of news items on anime, comic books, and video games that are probably too niche for non-superfans to care about. For example, are you excited that the character Eddie Brock will take back the mantle of Venom in a new series of comic books? Perhaps not. But do you care that Ryan Gosling is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ghost Rider? Perhaps also not, but at some point in 2028, you probably will watch a dozen TikTok interviews with Gosling while he’s promoting the film.

Luckily for you, I spent my weekend reading the Comic Con announcements as they rolled out so that you didn’t have to pay attention. Here are the major revelations:

• Apple announced Neuromancer, a new series about a hacker starring Mr. Dua Lipa himself, Callum Turner.

• House of the Dragon premiered Sunday’s episode early, and spoiler alert, another major character died.

• Simon Pegg is joining The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which is getting a third season.

• The Vampire Lestat, previously known as Interview with the Vampire, is getting a fourth season and a new name, Queen of the Damned.

• Hunter Schafer and Michelle Yeoh are teaming up for a Blade Runner sequel.

• Johnny Depp is playing Scrooge in Ebenezer, because we don’t already have too many versions of A Christmas Carol.

This all leads us to the most important reveal from SDCC 2026…

Update On My Close Personal Friends — A new Black Panther has been crowned

While rumors of a third Black Panther film have been swirling around since 2022, and Denzel Washington told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024 that director Ryan Coogler was writing a role for him, we’d heard very little about Black Panther 3 in recent years. At Comic Con, however, Coogler took the stage to not only announce that the film would release on December 15, 2028, but that it would have a new lead, British sensation David Jonsson. You may know Jonsson from Industry, but he’s also starred in the rom-com Rye Lane, the latest Alien film, Alien: Romulus, and the Stephen King adaptation of The Long Walk. He was also rumored to be a James Bond contender, but I doubt they’d cast the same person as both Black Panther AND James Bond.

According to Coogler, the third film will be about the son of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), growing up and taking on the Black Panther mantle with Jonsson playing the adult version. Letitia Wright and Winston Duke, who were also at the Comic Con announcement, are set to return for Black Panther 3, although they could be getting some old age makeup applied given that T’Challa’s son was an infant when we saw him at the end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and will now be played by a 32-year-old man.

The Couch Report — Horror film Leviticus arrives on VOD

Between Obsession, Backrooms, and Evil Dead Burn, we’ve been on quite the horror run as of late. Leviticus, another excellent 2026 horror film that you might have missed in theaters, is headed to video-on-demand tomorrow, July 28. The Australian film focuses on two gay boys, beset upon by an evil supernatural presence after their parents drag them to a deliverance healer who claims he can cure the boys of their homosexuality. The film stars Joe Bird, who you may remember from another Australian horror film, Talk To Me, and Alice in Wonderland star Mia Wasikowska. Luckily, you can now watch Leviticus from the comfort of your home with the lights on and your doors locked.

Be So For Real — Poor Tom Holland, the first person to throw up on Hot Ones

It’s been a rough week for our boy Tom Holland. First, the internet got upset that he’d been cast as Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic, claiming he couldn’t dance (although true heads were quick to point out not only his iconic “Umbrella” video, but also that he’s a trained ballet dancer). Then he didn’t recognize his wife Zendaya’s pop song, and finally he became the first interview subject ever to vomit on Hot Ones. Given that Hot Ones has released over 400 episodes since 2015, it’s SHOCKING that we’ve lasted this long without some of that hot sauce coming back up. Unfortunately, it was The Odyssey star, who couldn’t keep everything down while filming. He’d later say that the issue was not, in fact, the hot sauce, but his drinking too much milk. And now that I’m thinking about it, I would rather eat a death wing than drink a whole glass of milk, so this makes sense.

Current Hyperfixation — Charli XCX’s new album has some bangers

While Charli XCX claimed that the dance floor is dead, her new album Music, Fashion, Film certainly has some tracks I’ve been dancing to. While the vibe is decidedly different from Brat and Crash, and also unlike her Wuthering Heights companion album that came out earlier this year, it is still danceable. I’ve been listening to “Wink, Wink” and “Camera,” two of the singles on repeat, but “Magic Metal Montana” is also a bop. Of course, audiences are a bit divided on this polarizing (and very short) album, with some loving the directional pivot, while others hate that it’s a little bit weird. Charli also directed a short film to go along with the release and announced a tour that will begin on September 11 (very Deborah Vance).

A quick poll for the readers: Have you listened to Music, Fashion, Film, and what are your opinions? Let us know in the comments.